#also apparently he has supports with raphael too???

[siluriforma]

The fact that Ashe in few3h can't support almost anyone outside of his house kinda echoes how Felix in fe3h epilogues has way unhappier endings when recruited outside of his house.

Especially in SB Ashe is just so defeated with his situation that you just see him moping around the camp lamenting his situation it's just really sad to see you reflexively start to pity him. He can't even find a connection or peace in fighting on the same side as Lonato, his adoptive father who he loves and respects. Ashe just looses his identity when he is stripped from his ideals of knighthood and serving his country. He becomes a husk of himself and same happens to Felix in fe3h.

Despite the fact that Felix keeps shitting on Dimitri, knights and Faerghus ideals, ultimately when he leaves Dimitri there's just no hope for him he goes the exact same path as Ashe and is unable to find peace within himself and committing his life to fighting seemingly forever. Like despite hating it he kinda ends up perfectly encapsulating Faerghus knighthood. There's a few endings where there's a happier twist but still the fact that his first response outside of BL is to start wandering around until someone willfully stops him.

I think they really represent the Faerghus in it's core.

[banefultyrant]

I was going to wait on this and another post until I had his carrd completely finished, but here we go.

Enver Gortash & Morality // @banefultyrant

So this has been prematurely kicked off by this post stating, "Tragic backstory explains behavior but does not excuse it."

This is so true, and especially in regards to this disaster dumpster fire of a human being. Because he isn't just a dumpster fire. He's this level of dumpster fire:

Now, to my point.

Enver Gortash—as he will absolutely refuse to acknowledge his original name because of everything tied up in it—has been through a lot. Though I can't remember if it was ever openly stated, I would absolutely agree with general fandom consensus that his mother abused him. I saw a post floating around the other day about the difference between how his parents are treated in game, and I couldn't agree more. [ If I can track the post down again, I'll link it here as well. ]

He was, seemingly at a young age, then sold to a warlock because his parents couldn't settle their debts the right way. Whether his mother is telling the truth or not, she claims she either sold him or they forfeit all of their lives over the shop debt. [ Also, who in the hell were they in debt to that their lives were at risk because of their debt??? Was it actually debt from the shop, or from drinking or gambling? Or did they take a loan from Dangerous People to keep their shop running??? ]

From there, he then ended up at the House of Hope, where he was canonically tormented and tortured by Nubaldin simply because he was 'mischievous' and because Nubaldin found it entertaining.

"I used to work in the prison, ensuring no desirable people left the House of Hope. Now, I guard the portals to ensure that no undesirable people enter." [ Why don't you work at the prison anymore? ] "I made a mistake. Raphael doesn't tolerate mistakes. We had one houseguest by the name of Gortash, a mischievous little blot of a boy, and he slipped through my fingers." [ Gortash was here? Lord Enver Gortash? ] "Lord? Is that what he calls himself these days? The sniveling little shit. He was the son of a cobbler or somesuch meagre tradesman, sold to Raphael by his loving parents to pay off their petty debt. Lord indeed. I used to bruise my knuckles on his whimpering little face. I'd like to have snapped his neck."

So he escapes that literal hell because he just can't take it anymore. He winds up on his own, with nothing but his cleverness and his drive to never be at anyone's mercy ever again.

[ A lot more below the cut. ]

Now, his mother claims he was evil from the start, but I've not once seen any dialogue options that support that. She says he was always making a racket. She says he was too clever. But she never offers anything even remotely adjacent to explain her claim that he was evil out the gate.

[ Perhaps because she was and she simply didn't care for a clever little boy asking questions, pointing out when she was being unreasonable, or saying that he didn't understand why he was being punished when he did something that he's done a thousand times before and she never said anything then, et cetera. Abusers can never have the problem. The other person has to be the problem. The villain. The complication. The scapegoat. There's something wrong with the other person and that's why they are perfectly justified in doing what they do. ]

Regardless, you have a young boy sold to a warlock and placed in the House of Hope, and was apparently a 'desirable person' based on the fact that Nubaldin was in charge of making sure none of those left and when Gortash escaped, Raphael considered it a failure.

[ Considering how foresighted Raphael is in terms of potential, it makes perfect sense to me that he might even have witnessed how clever the boy was once, perhaps he had even stopped by to make clear to his parents that their debt was owed and he would see it paid, one way or the other. Perhaps he saw how Enver was treated and found it contemptuous that such people should be able to waste so clever a mind. Or, perhaps the warlock had done so on his behalf and relayed such information to Raphael who then had them to pass along that he would accept the boy as payment.

Now, though I won't project my thoughts onto anyone else's Raphael, as for my own over at @thishouseofhope , while people claim that 'Raphael loves only himself' coughcoughHaarlepcoughcough, that isn't true. Or, at least, not entirely.

I think Raphael has a hard time connecting with others enough to care anything about them in actuality, yes. But I think where that starts to falter is in cases where he sees a bit of himself or his own situation reflected back at him. Would he admit that? No. But he sees it all the same, recognizes the similarities even if only subconsciously. And though I haven't gone into much detail with Raphael's early years over there yet, suffice it to say a brilliant, clever mind stifled by and suffering under the shortsightedness, derision, and abuse of a parental figure? It would definitely strike a nerve, whether he intended or not, whether he acknowledged it or not. HINT: He most certainly would not. ]

Within my own canon, this meant Raphael saw Enver and saw something of himself reflected in the boy and his situation, and, as such, there was a certain amount of fondness for him, particularly with the potential he could see for the boy's future with so sharp a mind. In a verse with my friend on discord who writes Enver, that included Raphael taking him on as a protege. Had it not been for Nubaldin's pointless cruelty, I have little doubt that Enver might have come to enjoy his time at the House of Hope, as Raphael would always provided new things for him to learn both of practical and educational import, and Enver, who was clever to start, would have jumped at the chance to learn anything and everything he could, particularly if Raphael caught onto his interest in mechanics. No doubt Nubaldin said that the boy simply escaped, otherwise, had Raphael realized the cause, I don't know that Nubaldin would have survived to tell the tale. ]

But, as always, because I can't help myself, I digress.

We have a young boy with promise and potential who ran because he was being abused again and was terrified of remaining where he was, who refused to be at the mercy of anyone else ever again and set his mind on making certain that it never would happen again.

At some point, he throws in his lot with Bane. He starts to accumulate wealth and power and influence through whatever means. His mind, his body, his blood and sweat [ but never tears, because he won't cry anymore, won't show that weakness ]. He will do whatever it takes to ensure that no one can ever harm him again, that no one has the power to do so. And how does one do that?

You make certain that you are the most powerful. Powerful enough that no one can touch you.

Free will, is the problem. That becomes evident to him shortly into his worship of Bane. No matter how many laws and rules and punishments exist, there will always be people who still choose to suffer them—because they could, because it was worth it, because they didn't care, because they didn't think they would be caught, et cetera. So long as free will might exist, then you would continue to have thieves and drunks and debtors and murderers and abusers.

So eventually, this plot of the Absolute is developed and! my! doesn't it solve it all! Not only does it set him in a place of power where nobody could touch him, it also solves all of those other pesky problems because there will be no more free will, only the will of the Absolute relayed to all of its subservients.

"A new age is upon us. Gods have mercy upon those who would stand in our way… I want to lead this city to glory — not scorch its earth."

When the player character approaches, Tav or Dark Urge, he talks about wanting to lead the city into an age of prosperity and safety, etc. And he isn't lying. He means every word.

Because, in his mind, this is the only way to reach that outcome. Does he want power? Yes, because, much as you hear the themes with Astarion's companion quest line: Power means safety. Power means no one can hurt you. Power means that you dictate the lives of others, rather than having your life dictated to you. To paraphrase, when the player character tells Astarion that those with power have a duty to protect those without, Astarion roughly responds, "People with power had 200 years to save me from Cazador, and no one ever did. No, it was the Mindflayers who freed me."

In all honesty, it's much the same for Gortash, except he was at an even greater disadvantage than Astarion in one respect—unless more information comes out about Astarion's past later—and that is this:

Enver Gortash has never known anything else. There is nothing before his abuse, before his servitude and continued abuse, before he set out into the world at a young age and suffered its cruelty on his own.

It is all that he has ever known.

But!

He sells Karlach to Zariel! Yes, just as he was sold, and yet, even still, this is done not out of malice or cruelty, but with the belief that he thought he was doing what was best for her. If she remained on the streets, she would either be jailed or dead in a few years, and she deserved better than that. Being sold to a devil was what set him on his 'right' path, made him who he is, so maybe that's what Karlach needed also? And, knowing her as he did, he truly had no doubt that she could be running the place in no time. She would have power enough to protect herself, just as he intended to claim for himself at the Gate, and it would mean they could be allies. He set a piece in the right place and if she would just do as she ought to have done, she could be doing so much better for herself — just as he has.

He was going to kill the refugee children! In his mind, most of them miserable little orphans with no prospects beyond pain and suffering. It would be a mercy to them, truly, and—as my friend, Shadow, mentioned in one of our discussions about Gortash's thoughts on this—their deaths would at least mean something in the grand scheme, rather than their bodies simply being stepped over and promptly forgotten. Their deaths would sow discord between the refugees and the citizens of the Gate, further unite those within against those without and solidify his position as a protector. With any luck, the refugees would attack in retaliation and affirm the citizens fears that they were followers of the Absolute threat after all. And regardless of how it went, it would create further chaos that he would be able to bring to Order.

This is NOT to say that his behavior should be excused.

However, much in the same way and for the same reason that I would defend Minthara and Nere both, I can fully understand his thought process, why he does what he does, though I certainly don't agree with it. Just as with them, I would question the level of accountability one can be held to when one knows no different. I would very much, in some ways, say that Gortash is nearer to having had a Lolth-sworn drow upbringing than a typical human one. His entire understanding of the world is through abuse, violence, betrayal, and transactional interactions. His solution—the Absolute religious hoax—is one that makes perfect sense within those bounds. It's logical, nice and neat. A brilliant plan, cutting the problems that plague the city—and, indeed, the world—off right at the source.

There won't be anymore murders in the streets. There won't be anymore pickpockets or petty crime. There won't be anymore gambling dens. There won't be anymore children abused or sold to settle debts. There won't be anymore crime, period.

The populace can put all of its effort and energy into making the city more unified and prosperous than it ever has been —

Because that is the only choice they have left to them.

[ Doesn't that sound familiar? "She is, of course, free to choose the only option she has left." ]

In his mind, how brilliant and elegant an answer to those pesky problems that no amount of laws or punishments have ever stopped! A villain? No! He's the savior who will deliver this city to a new age! A great age!

[ And doesn't that sound familiar, too? ]

In the words of Jason Isaacs himself, "It was a thrill to join the Baldur's Gate universe, but I fear that the magnificent Lord Enver Gortash is being mischaracterized as a villain. In a brutal world of betrayals and butchery, he's learned to lie better and backstab first. The joy in voicing him — apart from the obvious pleasure in getting to look so glorious — was that the creative team and I got to play loose enough to find ways that he could enjoy the ride and make the players hate him more!"

Enver Gortash has done terrible and unforgivable things, much as with most of the cast in the game, companions or otherwise…. but the whys. The whys are important, and the whys are what not only further show the depth of the character… but also provide interesting possibilities for futures wherein he escapes his fate in the game.

[itzzaira]

Missing cabin mate - tmnt fandom family reunion

A short story for the tmnt fandom family reunion ^^

Note: some au's are mentioned in the beginning because Michelangelo was happy to have met them, those are not mine. They're the au's my turtles met earlier and belong to those people respectfully. (Links to the meetings below)

Meeting the kitties!

"We're superheroes now?!"

...There's Krang here?

Meeting Donnie from cabin 11

Maria! :D

2012 turtles: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello & Michelangelo

Rise turtles: Leo, Raph, Donnie & Mikey

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion @orangepawn39

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

Michelangelo was having a blast.

Ever since he had ended up at this camp, he met so many people! There were versions of them that were cats! And some other version of him with superpowers! Or the versions of him that had their own cats and let Kitty play with them, oh everyone here was so nice! He hoped his brothers were having fun too.

But now, his dear cat was melting again. Even with the help from the other Leo who helped him- freeze? Make her colder? Michelangelo had been too busy being excited about meeting a real life superhero- she had been out for far too long. Ice Cream Kitty had lost her energy once more, now laying quietly in her bowl, looking around and meowing sometimes when she regonized someone who passed by. Yeah. Time to put her in her freezer. And maybe get something eat- he was hungry.

He smiled once he saw their cabin- a blue cabin with the number 10 on it- but it looked different from the last time he saw it.

Now, it was also decorated with a big, sparkly banner that reminded him of the night sky, with the name The Besties on it.

...

His smile widened.

Oh he loved this place!

So their cabinmates must have picked out a good name- he hadn't met their cabin mates yet!

...Wait, no, he did. Some of them anyway. The one with his future self and the kid called... Maria! Yes, Maria. Kitty had liked them a lot. But surely that couldn't be all?

He knocked on the door, and stepped inside- aaaaand Donnie was clinging to his Raph looking as if he had spotted a ghost. Wonderful.

"Is he okay?" His smile fell at once, and even Kitty meowed worriedly, stretching her paws. But she let them fall. She felt too weak.

"A heads-up for you too." Leonardo took Kitty from his hands at once, moving to the fridge to put her in the freezer. They had been gone all day, after all. "Apperantly Krang has counterparts too."

Michelangelo turned a few shades paler. "...They do?"

"She was really nice!" Donatello huffed, before sighing. "...However my counterpart, not realizing it wasn't their Krang, had a panic attack the moment he spotted her."

"...Ah, geez."

"S'mores can cheer him up? Donnie likes s'mores!" Mikey appeared out of nowhere, smiling brightly- aaaand he was falling over. Michelangelo caught him at once. Then grinned.

"Hey, mini-me."

"This version of Donnie from cabin 11 gave us a guide on how to make the perfect s'mores'!" Mikey's tail was wagging and his eyes were sparkling, despite looking a bit sickly. "He was really nice!"

Donnie quietly held onto Raph tighter. The snapper patted his back.

"...Is it just us here?" Michelangelo looked around- only now noticing how empty it was. And the amount of beds. Those... were a lot of beds.

"Ah- yeah. Haven't met anyone from our cabin yet- other than this old me!" The box turtle smiled before that smile fell. "... Apparently his friend is missing."

Old him... oh! The mystic one. Did Mikey even know that was him from the future-? Michelangelo decided not to think about it. "Missing?"

"Yeah! The little turtle- ah... Maria?"

...Oh boy. Michelangelo gently set the box turtle on the nearest bed. His counterpart thanked him, then collapsed backward. "What happened?"

"Dunno, he was panicking- Leo and Raphael went out to help. Mikey wanted to but can't get up, Raph and Donnie are stuck and I'm here to be the emotional support."

"You? The emotional support?" Michelangelo teased, poking their fearless leader's shell. Leonardo winced but pushed him off.

"Oh don't be so surprised."

"What is Don doing here then-?"

"I wanted to go." Donatello crossed his arms and huffed. "But apparently my shell phone ran out of battery. I'm waiting for it to charge so that if someone gets lost, I can track them back."

"...Well- I'm going then!"

"You've been outside all day-"

"-If someone needs help, I'm helping." Michelangelo gently pushed Leonardo down, and ran to grab a bottle of water- but only now realized... his big brother was wearing a Besties T-shirt. They got T-shirts? And didn't tell him?!

In fact... Mikey was wearing one too! Raph just had a bracelet, considering he didn't fit into the shirts. Neither Donnie's wore one though.

Seeing where he was looking, the leader in blue rolled his eyes. "Yes, you can have a T-shirt."

He smiled again. "Did Maria have one?"

"Not that we know of-"

"Then I'm taking one for her too."

"...Mikey." Leonardo's eyes fell on the other turtle's shoulders- bandaged up and hurt- but Michelangelo waved him off.

"Oh, please, we'll find her in no time!" He said as he grabbed a T-shirt handed to him, winced when the fabric brushed over his injuries, but ignored the sting as he pulled the shirt down. "Everyone here has been so nice, and there is no danger here! What could go wrong?"

The next part

[torihakaraublog]

Obey Me! Nightbringer "Absolute Zero" Pop Quiz

!WARNING SPOILERS FOR EVENT!

Okay sit down. I have thoughs (both good and bad).

This event did not start off not great... I don't mind another festival event persay cause it's cool seeing different events celebrated in the Devildom, but I didn't really get how this one worked. It's for the frost wolf 🐺 guy, to please/honor him. Dance (okay makes sense), Flowers (not surprising), Ice sculptures (Ooo fun), Fasting (alright). Except apparently only a few people need to participate in the fasting????

I personally have never participated in fasting, but I don't think it works that way normally?? (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

And idk this ^^ also seemed odd to me?

However, I do think think the story does improve a bit. I like that the frost wolf is trying to take us away because it wants the bond everyone has with each other. 💜 and there is a lot of cute individual moments.

Levi picking the frost flower 🌼 petals :3

The side character moments were fantastic! Love squirrels for one thing! Planting with Raphael and hanging up posters with Mephi also super sweet! Like Mephi is trying so hard to help Diavolo anyway he can. What a champ!

Then in the later chapters the support they show you!! Ahhh! I can't wait for them to be dateable 💜

Diavolo was the star of this event for me 🌟 they really showcased his playful side! I was laughing so hard at these parts xD the music change on the ice sculpture one was splendid 🤣

Now back to some negatives... maybe I'm not far enough in the main story, but I think this event implies we live with the brothers. They lay on a bit too thick that they can't live without me. Why do I move to purgatory hall? Why can't I go back to my room in cocytus hall?? They can live without me... I can still visit?

These little 'activities' were fun and I liked how they fit the theme of the festival. But I think it would have been better to fill the lanterns with past good memories or memories of looking back at the festival instead of 'forcing' moments with the intent to fill the memories.

(Activities - not in order)

Satan: going to amusement park.

Simeon: snow globe making.

Mammon: race.

Levi: singing. (Anime love song)

Lucifer: snow fort.

Asmo: dance?

Luke: ?

Bel: ?

Solomon: ?

Barbatos: perfume making. (For eachother)

Diavolo: sherbert making.

Beel: ice block weight guessing.

I did this last night and already forgot half of them 😅

My faves were Lucifer and Diavolo's moments.

So sweet of him to notice we would need a rest + cuddle! :3

This activity was just fun! I wanna make ice cream flavors for people I know!

The timeline where we dress up as an ice lion was so ridiculous lmao they were really tossing so many things in this event. As a whole I didn't really like it, but because some individual parts were so good it kinda made up for that lol.

[temunitu]

Got any 2003 headcanons or Rise headcanons? Do you think thoese 2 shows would work in a crossover?

This would be my favorite crossover idea dhshjf

I think the reasons they work is because, when watching Rise, you can sorta tell they took inspiration from 2003. At it’s core, they’re both very similar in my mind—very heavily focused on family (nigh zero romance!), and 2003 had quite a bit of mysticism and magic which Rise completely ran with the concept of.

That being said, here’s a bunch of random things rattling around in my brain that I wanna see in this crossover:

(for less confusion, i’m calling the 2003 turtles by their full names and Rise by their nicknames)

(This got long, lol. Also CONTAINS SPOILERS for Rise and 2003)

(also apparently i did this a while ago with another ask??? may or may not be outdated idk)

- first off, the reason for the crossover probably has something to do with either the Nexus in 2003, or Leo’s portal sword. The idea of it being All Leo’s Fault… *chef’s kiss* (OR it could have to do with Mikey’s portal opening abilities dhsdh there’s too many ideas that work)

- They first see each other face-to-face and the Rise turtles all glare at Donnie and go “I thought we agreed, NO MORE CLONES” which only leaves the 2003 turtles confused. This might take place after Turtles Forever in which the 2003 turtles are like “aw, shit… here we go again.”

- All of them casually swapping stories that accidentally one-up each other, like this post mentions.

- The whole leadership thing being glossed over by those involved, but the purple and orange turtles all jokingly complaining “when do I get to be the leader??”

- We all know Donnie is very overtly sassy, but I’d like to see him dumbfounded that his seemingly sweet-natured counterpart can dish out sass like nobody’s business. Followed by the 3 other Rise turtles asking to swap because they’d rather have Donatello. (The 2003 turtles all say no. Donnie is offended).

- Raphael is in a mix of awe and jealousy at Raph until he hears the Rise turtles bring up Mrs. Cuddles and then gets into overprotective brother mode, despite Raph being capable of bench-pressing all seven turtles at once.

- Consequently, Raph sees how much the 2003 turtles flick and smack Michelangelo and he confiscated Michelangelo from them. Michelangelo enjoys the attention for exactly 2 seconds before realizing he’s now stuck with an overbearing bodyguard. He asks Mikey how Mikey deals with it. “Scolding him usually works pretty well.”

- The two Splinters swapping recommendations for their favorite shows (they have EXTREMELY DIFFERENT TASTES).

- The two purple turtles creating something insane in one afternoon, like making the base into a giant transforming, flying robot (it was collectively the two orange turtles’ idea).

- You’d think Leonardo would try to scold Leo into acting more mature, but its actually the reverse—Leo corrupts Leonardo into making more bad jokes and puns and smiling more. The 2003 turtles don’t mind. (OR if this is after the Rise movie, Leonardo is the one to encourage Leo into shenanigans. Take your pick).

- Raph is ENAMORED by Klunk. Klunk is happy to soak up the attention. Michelangelo isn’t too pleased with the arrangement, especially when Raph keeps slipping the cat behind his shell in an attempt to steal Klunk.

- Raph and Leonardo constantly yelling at the others to BE CAREFUL and DON’T TOUCH THAT and WATCH OUT and leaning on each other for support as they give an exasperated sigh before following their dumb brothers into the next dangerous adventure. Leonardo introduces Raph to aroma therapy candles to help calm some of the anxiety, and Raph gives Leonardo a teddy bear as thanks. Leonardo keeps the teddy bear.

- I NEED to watch as Michelangelo and Leo both boast of being the Battle Nexus champion, to the groans of the six other turtles. Then they try to decide who is the Ultimate Champion through a series of unrelated trials (skateboarding, cooking, burping the ABCs, coolest moves, etc). Think like the Don vs Raph short from Nick. It’s never resolved.

- Mikey rooting for Michelangelo (so Leo won’t win bragging rights) and just generally becoming Michelangelo’s hype-man. Leo feels betrayed. Michelangelo tries to milk it too hard which leads Mikey to give up the hype-man position (and possibly go Dr Delicate Touch on his counterpart). Michelangelo is heartbroken.

- Raphael joking about offing people, and Donnie pulling out a nuke or something and saying “Would this do?” Raphael doesn’t know where the nuke came from, and he’s not sure he wants to know… (He appreciates the willingness though)

- As far as I’m aware, the Rise turtles have not killed anyone, whereas Leonardo chopped off Shredder’s head (so the intent was there) and Michelangelo blew up a Triceraton at one point. I think those reveals would be very interesting (especially since Donnie is all bark and no bite)

- A weapons swap (where the 2003 turtles have their season 5 mystic weapons). Complete chaos ensues. New York may or may not be repairing itself for the next 3 decades. It also may or may not be the two orange turtles’ fault for chucking skyscrapers at each other (all in good fun, dw).

- By the end they’ve both adopted each other and swapped traumatic stories, so they all fall asleep under a giant heat lamp.

There’s LOADS more that other fans came up with that i usually reblog with #into the turtle verse and now I’m adding #2003 x rise (if any of y’all see crossover stuff, feel free to send it to me)

[randomnameless]

Too late. But I saw your post about the Supreme Leader's family, and how we know more of Glenn than any of her siblings. I would also like to mention Raphael's younger sister, Maya, who, like Glenn, more is known than any of the her siblings. However, there's also Marianne, who I find outshines Supreme Leader in terms of family background loopholes.

It's funny how simple characters like Raphael and Ignatz have less of a problems than supposedly "interesting" characters like Marianne and Lysithea. But I think all of this falls under crests BaD.

Why no mention of Hilda anon? lol

TBH Lysithea is what I'd call here a "pétard mouillé", aka something that had some potential but ultimately ended up as underutilised/wasted.

I know it's because Adrestia 5evah, but the sheer fact Lysithea has nothing - no mention, no words in her useless and worthless support with Supreme Leader about, uh, papa Ionius being angry and sending dark mages to "test some science project" on her siblings, who died as a result, is completely bonkers - and we don't even have a weak "it's not daddy dearest who did it but the bald fatso who wasn't in power because the insurrection didn't happen yet but it's totes his fault daddy told me and if you question me more i'll stop pretending to give a fuck and ignore you" support, no, it's just... not touched.

Then you have the entire Solon/Tomas from House Ordelia thingie she only mentions in VW but goes "nope I'm not telling you" in WC which is completely, uh... ridiculous, and again, never called out. Heck, the game spends more time dissing Lorenz because his dad sided with the imperialists (to protect his people else they'd be Waldo'd) but not a thing is said about Lysithea who knew there was something wrong with Tomas/Solon since the day she saw him at the Academy and worked with the maniacs who tortured her family at the behest of the Empire! Lysithea saying this in WC would have destroyed Supreme Leader's "plans" in half, but w/c.

There are a lot of things completely stupid regarding Marianne, and I'm not even talking abou the Momo sobfest, but imo nothing concerns her biofam?

We could talk all day long on how she swallows Supreme Leader and Clout's nonsensical shit about "Church BaD promotes IsOlAtIoNiSm" when her own father managed to get fame and acknowledgment as one who can be part of the Roundtable because he's so successful in his trade with, uhh, foreign countries (tfw no isolationism?), or how she could tell Claude that sure a free market where goods and people could cross without any difficulties borders would be a good thing, if some people just want to trade goods and don't invade every saturday because I'm pretty sure if her dad managed to become "important" due to all of the trading he does it's also because the people he trades with don't set up raids for funsies once per week.

But instead we have... well, as the Nopes dev put it "cute girls" and apparently it's ok, because the "very serious (tm)" plot dgaf about how the world it depicted works and actually shits on said plot.

It's also too bad that for all the interesting aspects Ignatz and Raph bring as the new bourgeoisie in a world we're told is full of aristocrats who keep the non-aristrocrats down, nothing is ever brought up.

Some people already pointed out how much of a wasted opportunity it was for, say, Doro looking for a wealthy husband, not looking at the Alliance's bachelors who might not be nobles, but are rich as fuck, or my own favourite plotbunny that will go nowhere, maybe Ingrid's dad trying to set up a match between his daughter and... Ignatz. But no.

Instead they will both swallow the nonsensical "without church there won't be any nobility and the commoners will be happy and able to rise and fall on their own!!" - Raphael's fall not being dictated by his actions but by his parents fucking dying - when their own situation has strictly nothing to do with the Church or the so-called "Crust system".

At least I can write fodlan nonsense about Ignatz's nabatean radar or his wish to be a painter - aka an utterly useless job in a world that's only focused on the military, but maybe reveals that if Ignatz, a merchant's wealthy's son can dream to become a painter, then maybe the world isn't as "martial" and "crust obsessed" as it's supposed to be.

[panigamermauser]

Decided to make my next run as warlock.

Which means I need to brace myself to loose Lae'zel in the creche 💔💔💔

Tavala's flaw is not being good at reading people. If someone says they want X - she will not think any deeper of it. They know better what they want, right?

So if Lae says she's willing to go through with an extremely painful procedure... Well, it's not what Tavala would choose for herself. But it's Lae's faith, so Tavala will be as supportive as she can.

And I - as a player - know it will kill Lae 💔💔💔

And naturally Tavala will fall completely for what Emperor tells her. She already has an Archfey in her head. Another ethereal being promises more power?! Even better! Let archfey and mindflayer fight it out among themselves.

I also planned to make Astarion Ascended this run. But seeing all the shit he says about gnomes while Tavala IS a gnome(I read that Astarion still says all that shit to gnome tavs and durges too)... She will make sure he never gets what he says he wants (aka ascension ritual). Ironically it will be the better outcome for him.

Cannot wait to let Gale to do all the stupid shit with the crown tho. Because he says he wants power, right? 🤣

Not sure how Shadowheart will end up. In Wysteria's run I let her decide, and she freed Nightsong on her own. So idk how it will plays out. But Tavala will not push her either direction.

Wyll will probably stay a warlock. He loves his dad, and Mizora promises his life. And being warlock is not _that_ bad. She knows for herself!

(It does not help that apparently player character never gets to interact with their patron, so she really has no inconvenience from being one!)

Not sure how Raphael situation will go. I do love robbing his house as a mission. So not sure if Tavala will add another patron to her collection. Like, helping Astarion with scars - 100%. The crown deal tho? She does not need the hammer in this run. And I - as a player - love robbing his house. We'll see.

[alienducky]

I DEMAND THAT YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BLORBOS (if you want)

So I had to double check what Blorbo means, and apparently it means your favourite character? In which case may I present a good % of the FE3H cast? ;P

I just... I love most of the students in different ways for different things?

Claude is just... Claude. He has so many layers to him, being both incredibly simple (in terms of what he ultimately wants) and also stupidly complex (in how he goes about getting those things)? He wants to make connections, make friends, bring everyone together, but has been burned too many times while growing up to ever really trust anyone. He's always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for that knife to land in his back. His closest friend is Hilda who openly shits on Almyra because she's a casual racist, and that has to kill him on some level, wondering what she'd say about him if she knew, and yet she's still his best friend who he openly mourns when she goes down fighting for him? Who he can't stand the thought of losing in Hopes? He has to be in charge, of everything. Has to know all the details, make all the plans. And then makes plans for in case the first ones fail. He never stops thinking, calculating, digging up all the information available, because knowledge is power. Not just for blackmail, but because understanding your opponent means you can predict them.

Claude's just great, and I could pick him apart for hours.

Also? He has a wyvern. So, ya know. I'm very simple and predictable, ok?

I also love Leonie. She's solid, very open and honest. Kinda stubborn, but open to learning and can admit when she's wrong. Puts Lorenz in his place which is always a bonus. I want her to be my friend!

Same with Raphael and Caspar to some degree. Caspar is a little less willing to the whole learning thing, but with enough rope to tie him to the chair so he can't run away I think he'd eventually listen? Raph sees the good in everyone and everything, always willing to help, and stands up for his beliefs. They're muscle heads, but fundamentally kind people who deserve way more love than they get

Marianne is a peach who straight up talks to animals! Hilda is a riot when she pulls her head out her racist ass who has way more depth than she lets on, with the whole loyalty till death thing, and her creative side with the jewellery. I want to tease Lysithea like Claude does and feed her cake and sweets while we discuss magic. Ignatz is doing his best and the flashes of backbone he shows in early supports are amazing

Annette and Ashe are wonderful and deserve all the best things in life. Two little cinnamon rolls trying to make the best of their monuments of childhood trauma

Sylvain is.... Um. Ok, he's kinda an ass sometimes, and if he were real I'd probably hate him, but the snippets of who he could have been without all that Miklan and crest trauma? That version of him I love. The one who goes all out for his friends, who is a self sacrificing moron who hurts himself over and over because he somehow thinks it'll make things better? The one who cares so, so deeply when he lets himself, despite trying to push everyone away and keep them at arm's reach so they can't hurt him first. The version of him who is loyal to a fault, through thick and thin, and who is forever torn and on some level broken in non Blue Lion routes.

That Sylvain I love. The one behind the smiling playboy mask he shows the world.

Petra is a Bean. A Very Good Bean. She deserves all the love and kindness and all the help she wants tracking down the bastards who dragged her from her home and then made fun of her being dumped in a completely alien society. She is so damn strong, both physically (srsly she's been a crit machine in every playthrough it's insane) and mentally, I don't have the words

Thea is great in every way. She's kind and compassionate and is lethal with her snark. I want her to adopt me as her little sister and teach me her ways

Bernie needs a hug. And also all the help she wants disposing of her father because I know she's creative herself but I have some ideas if she wants them? Despite how much she wants to hide, and complains about being made to go out, she does go out to help her friends when they need her

Cyril is amazing. I love him to bits. Absolutely no fucks left to give for Hilda's bullshit. Slowly learning how to have friends. Learning to rely on people other than Rhea. He's wonderful and adorable and he'd hate me for it but I want to ruffle his hair and help him with his chores and make sure he's not getting blisters and feed him tasty Almyran food coz I bet he misses it, even if he won't admit it.

Shamir is everything I wanted to be growing up. No nonsense, take no shit, super smart, stealthy, and an archer??? She's great. I need that Marge Simpson meme

Seteth is fantastic, because once you get past that straight faced rules lawyer, he has a wicked sense of humour and a playful side and is such a dad. He's kind and caring, and he honestly does care, even if he shows it oddly

Byleth is whatever I want them to be. Blank slate, who nevertheless loves the people they pick in each route. Fierce and loyal and loving and struggling to express barely understood emotions... And putting up with Sothis being a gremlin

And then omg, Shez. Shez Shez Shez. The embodiment of no thoughts head empty. No filter, at all. Jumps off fucking cliffs for funsies. Multiple times!!!!! I just. I love Shez, ok? I am in desperate need of Shez merch, and Etsy is failing me. All I can find is the occasional sticker and I am a very sad Duckie about it

Ahem

Non FE3H is a little difficult... Mostly because 3H is my current obsession, but I guess...

Arlo and Oaks, from My Time at Portia are great? Arlo eats spaghetti, kicks down doors, and gets sweaty in the summer. Oaks is the Best Bear Boy Bean in the world. Shame the Devs dropped the ball on developing him, or giving him a decent backstory (I have so, so many questions about how he was raised)

Also, probably don't count, but the Cotton Llamas and Panbats. They are my Blorbos too. I need to finish making my third Panbat... As soon as I work out where I stashed it <__<;;;

Dys from I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is great! Little rebel baby. Also Sym, who is... Not really someone you can sum up easily? Cal is also great! I need to get back to playing this game, so I can romance him. Or not, because I want him to be happy with Tammy... Nngh

I think that's everyone I'd consider a Blorbo...? I mean, I love a bunch of other characters from different things, but none I've got out of my way to buy merch for like I have Claude (and the other students to some extent. Looking at my sticker covered table).

Sorry that got so long >__<;;;

[travelling-on-the-octopath]

A break from the GW!Claude negativity, how about some of the few nice things about his portrayal here?

The emphasis his has on how busy he is actually complements how much work he still willingly takes on himself that aren't directly related to his already stuffed workload. Him asking Leonie to keep him up-to-date on how the common people view him, and how they're faring overall? Not part of the job description! But it's work he still willingly chooses to take on because he actually genuinely cares about being a good leader, and he recognizes that he can't do that without knowing of the people's plights that his position otherwise wouldn't let him in on and that he knows he's ignorant on. (ignore how this is erased in his DuTiEs aNd ObLiGaTiOnS tHe cHuRcH fOrCeS oN uS line which is complete ass lmao we're Dev Approves to cherrypick what we take as canon so I cherrily pick that fact off of him lmaooo)

His overthinking!! Actually being visibly apparent! The fact his head gets so full of thoughts that he eventually just starts having whole-ass conversations with himself like his B support with Hilda shows him start to do before she walks in. It's something he lowkey alludes to in his A support with Byleth in 3H (how his thoughts gets so busy that it keeps him awake at night) but it's nice to see that be actually shown off.

His belief on not relying on chance going all the way down to not even liking to gamble recreationally is a really small detail that I really like - it's not just the big spectacle moments that belief affects, but the little enjoyments too. Makes it feel more natural to his character in a way?

Him getting visibly upset at Lysithea for putting her and her men's lives at risk to get a win going back into his survival > winning mindset. And also shows how much he cares for his friends!! I haven't seen the A support yet so I don't know how it ends, but the B one shows a very caring side to Claude.

Him overall trying much harder to be sincere here. Sometimes it falls flat - like with Lorenz in their C - and sometimes it works out - like in Hilda's B - but there's a visible effort on Claude's end now to try to connect with others. And it's good that it initially didn't work with Lorenz! It shows off how the tension in their relationship really strains it, it makes it really feel real and hit harder.

There's a lot less jokey moments with Claude now. Even with more gimmick characters like Raphael, who he only has one support with, the support is still grounded in a seriousness that a lot of his 3H supports just didn't have. Like!-

Ignatz!! His support with Ignatz here is sooooo much better than his 3H ones! He takes Ignatz' dreams of seeing the world and helps him start seeing them to light in a way that still allows him to perform his knightly duties!! And Ignatz appreciates him for it!! And they honestly feel like friends!! It's this kind of relationship that lets me understand why Ignatz would fight for Claude, way more so than the mess that was their 3H supports lmaooo

While the extent of his self-doubt feels a little... weird (it can be a little Much, for Claude), I do like the idea of it being there! We love to see some internal conflict stemming from one's knowledge of the depths they know they can sink to 💞 (which are unfortunately highkey ruined by the writers making those depths the goddamn Mariana Trench BUT POSITIVE TIME NO THINKING ABOUT THAT lol)

These are aspects I will happily try to incorporate into writing Claude <3 I will simply ignore the bad parts lol

!!! This! All of this! Like this is the Claude that does not budge at Derdriu, even when he knows there isn't an army of miracles coming to save him or the city; who wants a better world so badly he's willing to wear fifteen different hats to do it; who wants to feel a closeness to people that proves to him care can overcome manmade differences and borders. There are moments throughout the game that just feel like such a treat. Like THIS is my dude, my little guy, the meow meow.

[emmys-grimoire]

Lesson 73 Summary & Analysis

This lesson was okay. I got a few chuckles out of it. I think they’ve shoehorned in a holiday to make the plot happen, though. Y’all realize we were in the exchange program for a whole year before this, right?

Story

We start the lesson in the RAD stairway with Asmo and Satan. We discuss what happened in the previous lesson. Apparently, we’re heroes now for solving one of the 666 mysteries of RAD.

Simeon asks about our report. Satan tells him it was just for show and the trial really wasn’t about us completing it. Simeon seems confused. Maybe this is further indication that his “keen intuition” isn’t working now?

Simeon asks if it’s time for the final trial, but Asmo tells us we have to participate in Felicity Day first. I don’t recall this national holiday ever popping up in the previous year. Doesn’t stop Mephistopheles giving us grief about it, though! But he offers to explain it to us.

He leads us to the newspaper room to explain.

Diavolo just discovered kindness one day and decided to make a national holiday where you just do something nice for everyone.

The student council is entrusted to do something for Felicity Day, too. Last year Beel gave everyone a free meal and the student council footed the bill. Now it’s Belphegor’s turn to make a proposal.

Beel eavesdrops and enters the conversation. He goes on about how everyone loved the slug saute and it naturally sounds gross.

We track down Belphegor as he’s mulling over what he should propose. We get a flashback wherein Belphegor’s previous suggestion was shot down.

He wants to give everyone more naptime. Lucifer shoots the idea down immediately, claiming Belphegor just wants more naptime. He doesn’t deny this, but honestly it doesn’t sound like a terrible idea? It’s certainly more healthy than Beelzebub’s idea lol

Diavolo is supportive even if he doesn’t adopt the proposal. Lucifer… is not.

Belphegor notices.

So it seems they haven’t backtracked on this relationship progression from S3. Good.

In spite of being lazy, our hard work has inspired Belphegor into actually putting effort into thinking up a good proposal. 

So… he’s putting in a lot of effort. In thinking about it.

Everyone freaks out at breakfast when they see Belphegor is actually awake.

He is not amused.

At class, we run into Solomon, who has also noticed Belphegor’s newfound resolve. He notes how everyone is puzzled and talking about it, and asks us if everything is okay.

We meet up with Beel and Belphegor while they shop. Beel asks Belphegor a question, but he doesn’t answer. He’s sleepwalking. 

Beelzebub is initially unbothered because it’s nothing unusual from his twin brother, until Belphegor runs into a signboard. Which is unusual.

It seems we manage to make it safely back to the HoL, though, and tell Lucifer of the incident. He tells us we shouldn’t worry, and the proposal is Belphie’s task to complete. He does suggest we get him to take a break, though, and apparently we’re the only one who can convince him to do it. You can tease him about caring about Belphie and he gets irritated, but “punishes” you with a FTB scene.

We’re back in class, and Raphael is getting annoyed now because Belphegor is now collapsing on school furniture. Namely, his desk.

Raphael contemplates raining spears on him, but the brothers manage to dissuade him.

Raphael also notes Levi’s mysterious absence. Mammon reveals he’s busy playing the newest game he bought.

Raphael is upset that he’s missing class. They ignore him and Asmo suggests they all get together and play games so Belphegor can finally take his mind off his project.

Raphael is roped in without being asked lol

At dinner, Raphael again notices Levi’s absence. They dismiss him again, and Mammon tries to prevent Belphegor from excusing himself from the table so they can drag him into game night. Belpeghor initially refuses, then says he won’t play games unless Lucifer joins them.

Lucifer agrees, foiling his plan.

Asmo and Satan leave us to attend to other engagements, while the rest of us join Levi. Or try to. He doesn’t answer the knock on the door, so we barge in.

We find Levi asleep. Mammon freaks out, thinking he’s KO’d, but Lucifer calms him down. Then he, Beelzebub, and Raphael suddenly fall asleep. 

Lucifer senses magic in the area and asks Crowe if he’s responsible. He tells us the three are in a gamified dream world and those still awake do not meet the qualifications required to participate (individuals need to be sleep-deprived, apparently). Leviathan experienced some kind of great shock so he asked Crowe to purchase the dreamscape so he can escape and experience something pleasant instead.

The great shock?

Yep, sounds about right.

Lucifer asks how he doesn’t qualify, and Crowe states that his magic just doesn’t work on someone as awesome as Lucifer. Of course.

Those still awake decide to just leave them to it. This becomes a problem, of course, when it’s clear they’re not waking up at all. 

Mephisto tells us we should start taking it seriously because Helldown Day happens to be tomorrow. Now that is a holiday I recognize, but we get a refresher.

They might be trapped in the dreamscape FOREVER.

We all decide to return to the HoL ASAP to try to rouse them from their slumber. Before Solomon and Simeon can join us, Luke interrupts them.

Solomon and Simeon agree to tend to Luke and catch up with us later. Luke asks what’s going on, but Solomon and Simeon brush him off, and he looks a little put off by it. Lucifer tells us to go ahead because he needs to stick around to do student council work first.

So it’s up to MC, Satan, Asmodeus, and Belphegor.

We try to wake them up using traditional methods first:

It doesn’t work.

Belphegor asks Crowe how to wake them up.

Apparently, only they can wake themselves up once they tire of whatever dream they’re in. Mammon’s muttering reveals that he’s making out with his credit card, so we have our work cut out for us.

We try more mundane methods and they’re similarly ineffective.

Satan and Asmo try to convince themselves that the sleepers will just be ejected out of the dream once the magic is nullified on Helldown Day, but Belphegor refuses to give up. He doesn’t want to leave Beel in his current state, potentially forever.

Satan suggests we invade their dream and fish them out ourselves. How? Not by simply getting sleepy, but recruiting Barbatos to help us out (did not know he could invade dreams). We text Barbatos and Diavolo agrees to accompany him. It fades to black.

Analysis

Felicity Day…?

This Felicity Day was never brought up in S1 or S2. Helldown Day has been mentioned in past texts, and seeing how it’s apparently occurring around the same time, we should have heard about it in S1 or S2.

But whatever, that’s nitpicking. I do think the dev’s should start keeping a Devildom calendar, though, if they intend to do this again. It’s a good tool for worldbuilding, and nerds like me will start noticing these inconsistencies.

Barbatos the Dream Hacker?

I’m not sure why getting sleepy won’t work if we want to invade the brothers’ dreams because that’s how they got into that state in the first place. The only conclusion I can draw is that doing so will just put us in our own dreams first, and it may be difficult to climb out of our own let alone drag the others out of theirs, even if we’re conscious of what’s happening. Demons are notoriously prone to temptation.

So that means we need Barbatos to transfer us into the dreams directly. I know he can open portals to anywhere and travel through time, but I did not expect him to be able to tap into our minds. They seem to be making him even more OP, which may lead to more questions later. I don’t like it.

The thing is, Solomon has demonstrated this ability before via texts, so it seems like he’d be a more natural fit for this problem... if he wasn’t busy with Luke. I think giving Belphegor this power would have also been cool and fit in with his theme. Why give it to Barbatos? Are we going to try to speedrun his romance even further and trap in him some kind of romantic dream when things go haywire? Lol

About Luke…

I can’t access the hard mode part of this lesson yet because I ran out of glowsticks back in lesson 70, but there are brave soldiers in the Discord willing to get it for me.

The gist of it is: while we’re off doing whatever, Simeon and Solomon are talking about Simeon’s troubles and how much Solomon is worried about him. Luke is hiding and eavesdropping on the conversation. They don’t reveal any particulars, but Luke now knows he’s been left out in the dark about something serious concerning Simeon. He’s none too happy about it, and that’s why he tells Simeon and Solomon he wants to talk in normal mode.

I should probably lay out how complicated the situation will be for Luke. We found out in S1 that he’s unaware that Lilith existed, and in S3 it’s implied he doesn’t know the particulars behind the Great Celestial War: he thinks Michael is personally responsible for the brothers’ expulsion. He may not be aware that Father even exists: at no point in the story has he mentioned him.

Whatever is happening with Simeon is undoubtedly linked to Father. If Luke is unaware of Father’s existence, then he’s likely going to assume it’s Michael’s doing. If it is Michael’s doing, then he’ll have to wrestle with the fact that his hero is responsible for his guardian’s punishment. If it isn’t, and it’s Father’s doing, then he’ll have wrestle with the fact that there’s something greater than Michael, and those close to him (Michael/Simeon/Raphael) have been keeping this fact from him for a very long time. Either way, Luke’s in for a rough time whenever he finally learns the truth behind Simeon’s woes. He’s going to feel betrayed.

And you know what? I can’t blame him. Feels bad man. We know Solomon was uncomfortable with keeping the details from Luke, but Simeon insisted. It’s like when Diavolo was worried about telling Lucifer about the destruction we were unintentionally causing in S2. It always backfires.

Predictions

We’ll find out what Beel, Mammon, and Raphael want the most in their dreams. Beel and Mammon’s are going to be utterly predictable (food and money), but Raphael’s might be interesting. In S3 it seemed like the brothers feared him and had a poor opinion of him, but in this season they’ve been getting along with him fine. Has he changed? Does he secretly miss the brothers? Will we finally get an explanation as to why he, Michael, and Simeon didn’t join the brothers in their rebellion? Haha fat chance.

If they mean for this arc to cover multiple lessons, then I won’t be surprised if we get trapped in other dreams, too… I just won’t get my expectations too high. I can easily predict what a Satan and Asmo dream will entail (cats and Asmo being adored by everyone).

I don’t think this is a bad concept because exploring the subsconscious is usually fun, but seeing how well they did with the boogeyman arc and exposing “greatest fears”... yeah. Sometimes it feels the writers aren’t that invested in their own characters.

The more interesting bit will be whatever happens with Simeon and Luke. We’re still a few lessons off from that, though. There’s going to be a catalyst that makes it obvious to Luke that Simeon is essentially human now, so maybe one of Thirteen’s traps will go haywire and attack him again. That would be the most boring way to do it.

I think I’m going to be mostly asleep until the good stuff happens. It be like that sometimes.

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

To summarise:

In a nutshell: Percival has some railway plans and Tabitha is determined to derail them.

Across the decades, says Jughead, Pop’s has been a battleground. The writers employ some time travelling to affirm the diner’s role as a place of resistance. Which is not the same as a battleground but whatever.

Alice interviews Percival on her TV show. She lists all his accomplishments but forgets the singing. For shame…

In the last episode, Percival had stepped down from the town council. In this episode, he steps right back in. He proposes to build a privately-owned railway. One supposes that, having seen that Riverdale’s only outlet for its youth is a casino, a gang bar and a diner, Percival just wants to offer the teens the opportunity to safely commute to New York for the weekend.

If there was any doubt of the homoerotic undertones between Archie and every male villain, all you have to do is look at the villains’ evil plans: they always involve construction. A coincidence? I think not!

Percival wants to knock down Pop’s and build a privately-owned railway. He is new in town, so he doesn’t know that when the residents of Riverdale say that the Southside is on the wrong side of the tracks, the mean it quite literally.

Do you remember know where the tracks are writers Percival? Do you? They’re behind effing Pop’s, you big boob!

The (privately-owned) railway, according to Pickens, will bring Riverdale “jobs, tourism and revenue”. Tabitha Tate, who is the owner of a struggling diner since last season, knows there’s no jobs, tourism or revenue to be had in Riverdale. At least, not in season 6.

Percival tries to control her mind but Tabitha is a former CEO, so that doesn’t work.

She asks Archie for help -ya know, like he did with her with the micro-homes?- but he replies that he can’t offer her any, now that Percival knows palladium is his weakness. I mean, Archie’s sole ability is his fists, so, that tracks.

Actually, for narrative purposes, none of Tabitha’s friends can help her.

Kevin lets Percival get in his mind, probably in the hopes that he will also get in his pants. Kevin has a type after all and it’s not Fangs. It’s white good-looking male cult leaders, like Edgar, Jason or Percival.

Apparently, it is preposterous to assume that your live-in boyfriend would have told you off-screen everything that’s been happening in the last episodes. A filler scene of bringing Tabitha up-to-date with everyone’s superpowers follows, during which Jabitha’s interaction in 6x7 in regards to Jughead’s mind-reading abilities is completely forgotten.

Strangely, neither Pop’s granddaughter and diner owner Tabitha Tate nor Pop’s enthusiast and uber-nerd researcher Jughead Jones (ya know, the one who was researching Pop for his book last season?) knew about the Chock’litt Shoppe’s history. No worries though, the writers are about to send us back to the past, for a Riverdale History Lesson Extravaganza™.

Someone shots Tabitha in (probably)2021 and, while her body is on life support, she time travels. Thankfully, there is Angel!Jughead to talk her through it.

Tabitha’s back in 1944, where Sheriff Perkins aka Percival Pickens is trying to turn Riverdale into a sundown town. He’s also after the Topaz-Fogartys Tracey, Flynn and Baby Annie.

Angels, Raphael!Jughead says, are only allowed to show themselves on cataclysmic events of cosmic significance. This qualifies. I’m sure the residents of Riverdale would like to have a word or two with Raphael.

Apparently, Tabitha is chronokinetic. Thankfully, there’s a handy time-travelling guide about it written by a certain Milan Elliott. Fingers crossed for this being Bret Weston Wallis’ literary pseudonym!

Tabitha asking archangel Raphael to show his true form to Sheriff Perkins, so that his eyes start to bleed and he goes insane, and Raphael agreeing is Peak. Riverdale. Writing.

Does this mean that Pop’s “alien” lights is s5 might have been Raphael too? Is Raphael the Mothman?

Perkins Percival, eyesight restored, has escaped the asylum and shoots Tabitha. Instead of dying, Tabitha time-travels again. Shoot! cries Percival.

It’s the day before Martin Luther King’s assassination now and Tabitha decides that saving his life is more important than saving the town, with which I agree wholeheartedly. Of course, she’s not allowed to change history, just the show’s narrative, Raphael!Toni explains.

F.B.I. Agent Pierce appears (heh!) to enforce the banning of all public gatherings.

Tabitha calls Edgar Hoover and blackmails him into firing Agent Pierce. Riverdale is top comedy.

It’s 1968, which means Percival’s mind controlling abilities are useless: it’s the peak of the hippie movement, so everybody has had a taste of maple mushrooms; if they heard Percival’s voice in their heads, they’d just chalk it up to the ‘shrooms and go about their business as usual.

Percival then takes a leaf out of Hiram’s book and tries to bomb Pop’s. The shock wave propels Tabitha into November 1999, where Percival has regained his superpower.

Tabitha, a person of colour and advocate against racism, doesn’t know what ‘88’ stands for (or, previously, why alerting the F.B.I. of M.L.K.’s imminent assassination might not have worked). I can only assume that this is but a narrative device to allow the Riverdale writers to educate their remaining 3 viewers on the subject of black history in the U.S. Thinking that we live under a rock is a fair assumption, I suppose, since we still watch Riverdale …

Meanwhile, the Uktena, who?

In 1999  Paul Prince Percival Pickens is the owner of a curiosity shop. Raphael!Betty gives Tabitha a bobby pin to help herself inside. She finds the lance of Longinus and the Holy Grail, because -at this point- why not. In a subsequent visit, she also finds Percival.

“Why does Percival keep popping up in moments of crisis?” asks Tabitha. A better question would be: why does Percival keep popping up in podunk Riverdale?

Gladys and Penny battle with sai swords Tabitha and Percival have a sword fight (spoiler alert: at college Tabitha was on the varsity fencing team) but he vanishes.

“After Percival vanished, what did you do?” asks Raphael!Betty. The answer is: she burned the shop down and then made a cheeseburger with fries.  She is Jughead’s girlfriend, after all.

There must be a combo meal offer, because Angel!Betty manifests a milkshake in the Holy Grail. Tabitha drinks it and goes forward to the present, where she stops her own murder. She then proceeds into a post-apocalyptic future. She goes back to 2021(?) to alert her friends (the ones who couldn’t help her for narrative reasons).

All the super-residents of Riverdale (minus Percival) gather at Pop’s to make plans for the Ultimate Battle Between Good And Evil (advertised since 6x3). You know things are serious when Cheryl doesn’t throw a tantrum over the fact that Ground Zero is Pop’s rather than Thornhill.

Toffee is reading a manual on how to drive a steam locomotive (which is the only type of train I shall accept for Percival’s infernal plans). She has been meditating in order to contact Honorary Eternal Stationmaster Tama for guidance.

All aboard the Toffee Express!!!

[turtle-go-brrrr]

Hi, may I please request the bayverse turtles x male reader who likes to wear women’s clothes like skirts and dresses, but because of fear of judgment, he only wears them at home, but then the boys come over to visit one night and see him wearing a dress, and at first the reader almost panics and has a mini heart attack, but then comfort ensues?

My first request 🥺

I was gonna stick to headcanons at first, but I just love this prompt so much! Thank you for requesting ^^ I hope you like it! (Took some IRL experiences from my best friend because he's amazing and wear dresses like a champ uwu)

Handsome

Male! Reader

Requested: Yes

Pairing: None, platonic

Word count: 1090

Triggers: none

Summary: You found the prettiest dress last week and have yet to try it on. You know you look good, but an unexpected visit still makes you doubt yourself.

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You were looking hella fine on this late Saturday evenning.

The dress you found is pretty simple, actually. With short sleeves, a defined waist, falling right above your knees. Kind of a vintage style, but the modern patterns really caught your eye. And when you tried it on? You fell in love. You almost didn’t regret that shopping spree April dragged you on.

But here you were, your cool ass dress on, sitting on your couch waiting for the ordered food to come in. You didn’t actually got out with more feminine clothes on for… well, for obvious reasons, shall we say. But chilling in your own home? Why stop yourself?

The food came in quick, and after tipping the delivery guy, you flopped down on your couch once again, putting on the latest show you promised you were going to watch. You put your food on your lap, drolling at the smell, and started the first episode.

Not even five minutes in, you heard a knock. You pressed pause and checked the door, thinking the delivery guy might have forgotten something. But you hear the knock again, and it comes from your window. And you know exactly who it is.

Oops.

Well, turns out your favorite mutants decided to pay you an unnanounced visit tonight. You scambled around your living room, not knowing if you should tell them to wait while you changed, or if you should open anyway.

They’re your friends. They’re not gonna judge you, dumbass. Just trust them.

Apparently, your late response made them think you were in danger. And apparently, that meant they were going to force your window. Sweet. Your window flew open after a few suspicious clicking sounds, and four very big, very mutated turtles fell right after the other in your living room. Michelangelo was the first to recover and get right back on his feet.

“Dude, are you okay? Why did it take so long?” He said, panicked. He looked at your flustered face, then dragged his eyes up and down shamelessely and stopped.

“What’s that smell ? Did you order without us?” He asked sadly before being shoved aside by Leonardo who took you by the shoulders, inspecting you as if you just got ran over by a truck, Donatello following close behind with his goggles in front of his eyes.

“You’re all being ridiculous, you know that?” You try your best to hide your embarassment, but you’re doing a terrible job. And they can all see it. You wait for the laughs, or the snide comments, even the disapointed tooks on their faces, but after a very uncomfortable silence you hear Raphael speak up.

“Cool dress. You never told us you could look this fine.” He smirks, and for once, he’s not being sarcastic.

“I- uuuh... What?”

“Yeah, c’mon bro. You know we love human fashion. Why do you think we’re always nagging April to show off her best outfits?”

“Mikey, leave him alone. And you should leave April alone, too.”

“But dude, look at him! He’s so handsome in that dress, it’s a crime not to show it off!” Mikey throws his hands in the air in defeat as Leo passes next to you, inspecting the other rooms of your appartment for any sign of danger.

“No one’s there except you guys, Leo. Also, did you break my window? Because I’m not paying for that.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure Donnie can fix -” The resident genius interrupts him with a slap behing the head.

Leo comes back, apparently satisfied with his search, and looks right at you. “Why were you so nervous when we came in if you aren’t in any danger?” You swear his super power is asking just the right questions.

You hesitate. They’re your friends. They trust you, and you know you can trust them.

But being vulnerable isn’t easy.

“Well, um…” You take a deep breath. “Okay, how do I put this ?” You can’t stop fidgeting with your hands. Openning up to your friends was harder than it looked like. “I was, uh, scared ? That you’d judge me. You know, for being a guy in a dress and all ?” Your voice is a lot softer than you’d like, and you can hear it crack. Damn you.

They all stare at you, obvious surprise on their faces. And you feel the heat creeping up your neck ana a cold sweat falling down your spine. Your nerves weren’t in your favor tonight.

“Huh?” You think it comes from Mikey. “Why would we judge you for wering a dress? You rock it, man.” Leo puts a hand on your shoulder and gives it an affectionate squeeze in silent support.

“Hey, as long as you don’t wear crocs like Fearless over here, we’re ain’t gonna judge you, bud.” You’ve never seen Raph look at you so softly before, but it quickly washes away by the side smirk he gives you just before saying : “Besides, you’re hot as hell, man. I’m not complaining.”

Leo groans, Donnie laughs, and Mikey shoves your shoulder playfully.

You laugh too, intense relief washing over you as your anxiety comes down, but you have to ask.

“You don’t think it makes me… Like, less manly or something ?” This time, you intentionally show your concern. You know they don’t but you need to hear it from them.

Raph ruffles your hair and passes an arm around your shoulders, directing you to the couch. “If anything, I’d say it makes you more manly. You wear what you wear and look good doin’ it. It’s all about confidence.” You cling to his arm, the biggest smile on your face.

“Y/N, I studied quantum physics, astrophysics, rocket science, number theory and so much more, and I can now understand all of those concepts perfectly. But gender? What the fuck were you guys thinking when you created those? And why give one to a piece of cloth?” Donnie gives you a playful wink as he takes his – your – place on the couch.

“You sharin’?” Mikey motions at the food on the table, and you give him a fork. You all take place in front of the TV, getting comfortable and you start the episode again.

You almost want to cry. You know they wouldn’t judge you for that either.

[pridecomesbeforethefall]

Okay so few nights ago (or was it last night? I'm getting too old for this shit I swear) I saw more than just one post wondering why does someone even like Lucifer. Because to them apparently personality can't be considered as a factor (yes they said that).

Now, I'm not here to call anyone out - you can like or not like any of the characters, that's fine. I also know I'm in no way required to "justify" my reasons of being a Lucifer fan, but something inside me just nags that I still need to say something because it's just annoying as FUCK that people assume everyone has the exact same reasons why they like something/someone.

Okay. So.

That man sacrifices a metric fuck ton of things in order to keep his family and those closest to him safe and well. This behavior is so damn ingrained into him. It's automatic, he doesn't question it. He doesn't show his love by hugging everyone and throwing the words "ilu" around - he would rather keep you safe and happy by other means.

This reminds me of how he came to gain Beel's full support in Celestial Realm. Iirc Beel was kind of picked on because he was so strong and didn't apparently know how to moderate all of his strength. Also iirc he was targeted a lot by Raphael. It was Lucifer who came up with something Beel could do and be useful in. Instead of blaming and pointing fingers, Lucifer would rather try and find use for their skill set.

He spends sleepless nights doing god knows what paperwork to make sure things run smoothly in House of Lamentation. He's not doing it for money or praise, it's because he feels it's his responsibility. Heck, he has enough money to buy himself the items he is interested in or just simply wants.

All of this has gone on for so long that he has forgotten how to ask for help in the first place. (Maybe I see myself in this quality - I don't ask for help either and would just rather focus on helping others and making them happy instead of wasting a second on myself.) Ofc that has changed slightly with MC coming into the picture, but I still see him struggling with it. Why bother someone else when he's perfectly capable of taking care of things himself?

This is what I wanted to get out of my system. Congrats if you managed to read through my ramblings lmao. If you feel like you'd like to add something, feel free to.

[sergeanthopeless]

female Byleth S-supports ranked best to worst

(keeping my personal feelings about the pairings themselves to a minimum)

(Gilbert and Alois omitted, since those are platonic S-supports)

(warning: long post)

1. Seteth 

This S-support is about as romantic as it can get. This thing just makes my heart flutter every. dang. time. and it’s easily the best S-support in the whole game for female Byleth. There’s a REASON why a lot of people hop aboard the Setleth train after witnessing this masterpiece.

Sure, Seteth lectures his way in and out of the proposal, but let’s be real, if it was any different it would be out of character, and acting the responsible advisor is just part of his charm. Plus, he pledges utter devotion to Byleth for the rest of his existence, and we essentially get wedding vows out of this one. It doesn’t get better than that!

He’s so self-assured during this S-support, and that’s sexy. But he is patient and affectionate with her, and takes the time to make sure there’s no room for confusion. He clarifies that his feelings are not those of duty (which is a problem with some other S-supports), or an interest in perpetuating a Nabatean or Crest-rich bloodline. It’s very clear that he just wants her, and that’s it. But where others put Byleth on a pedestal, this S-support feels like an exchange between equals.

Byleth’s reaction to this one is particularly noteworthy — there’s an unusual amount of emotional expression from Byleth during this S-support, INCLUDING A FRIGGIN BLUSH! Byleth does NOT blush often during these supports. Plus, Byleth asks Seteth to promise that he’ll follow wherever she goes. Unlike some of the other S-supports, it’s very clear that she’s invested in him and wants him.

Favorite quotes:

“I cannot conceive of a world without you in it.”

“I love you, deeply. Will you marry me?”

“From this day forward, I will always be at your side. Through good or ill fortune. Through the greatest of joys and the worst of woes. No matter how daunting the task, I will be there.”

“Courage, my love. Let us go forth and face the world - together.”

2. Hubert 

I was genuinely caught off-guard with Hubert, especially since I haven’t played Crimson Flower yet and have gotten all of my impressions of Hubert from the fandom. A pleasant surprise, though, and pleasant enough to snag the #2 best S-support!

He starts with advisor nagging, which is no surprise since that’s his character. However, he doesn’t take too long to get to the point of the conversation, and everything is straightforward yet sweet. It’s very cute how he flustered he gets in the beginning, and his self-consciousness about his suitability as a husband is really sweet. But what really clinched this for me was the privilege of seeing a BLUSHY HUBERT! This surprisingly lovable psychopath gets so dang worked up and excited over Byleth giving him a ring and proposing to him right back.

Favorite quotes:

“[I’d] rather you be with me rather than some dubious individual.” (Yes, I altered the quote, but let’s be real, he wasn’t talking about Edelgard there.)

“I once thought killing you would be a great challenge, but the real difficulty was declaring my love.”

3. Ignatz 

This S-support starts with an angry Ignatz, which had me worried. Ignatz is one of those characters where I expected his apparent youthfulness to cause a problem in his S-support (it definitely causes problems in other S-supports), even though he’s actually 17 at the start of game like Felix, Dimitri, Claude, Raphael, Ferdinand, and Edelgard. So I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer maturity of his proposal!

While he’s definitely self-conscious and doesn’t even expect Byleth to accept his proposal, it says a lot that Ignatz still had the guts to do the proposing. While he expresses surpassing admiration toward Byleth as someone who supported him through troubled times, he’s not dependent or subservient. Yes, there is a prominent fixation on Byleth’s beauty, but he’s an artist, so I think that adds more meaning to what would otherwise be an extremely shallow point to make during an S-support.

Favorite quotes:

“You are my goddess.”

 “You soothed my troubled soul.”

“My beloved goddess.”

“I want to love you for all eternity.”

“I love you with all my soul.”

Hoo boy, this boy’s got a serious SILVER TONGUE on him! *fans self*

4. Lorenz 

Regardless of how you feel about Lorenz, you’ve gotta admit this is a pretty flawless proposal. He reminisces about and apologizes for the trouble he used to cause as a youth, has a smooth transition into the presentation of the ring, and then his composure falls apart when Byleth reveals she’s been wise to him all along. He’s such a perfectionist, and his determination to propose perfectly is very consistent with his character. But I also appreciate that he made sure of Byleth’s feelings before actually asking her to marry him (ring presentation aside).

This S-support makes it very clear just how much Lorenz admires Byleth, which I feel is extremely important in context of his character. He can be incredibly self-centered to the point of being downright irritating, so the fact that he’s now talking about her and is focused entirely on her shows the sincerity of his feelings and how much Lorenz has grown as a person.

The bit at the end where he gets overexcited and uses his full name is hilarious, but I’m glad the S-support doesn’t end there, which would have taken away from it. Instead, it ends with Lorenz swearing to make Byleth happy and work with her in making the world a better place. Equal partners!

The last thing that really made this S-support for me was the voice acting. The broken voice, trembling, and stammering really added emotional depth to Lorenz’s character in this critical moment, and really brought everything to the next level in terms of overall impact.

Favorite quote: “Pedigree and status are no longer priorities for me. I now know that what matters most is the worth of an individual’s soul.”

5. Felix

The moment I noticed that this S-support was taking place at the training grounds, I knew it was going to be good. And it goes exactly as you would expect with our favorite tsundere, flustered and deflecting and all, but the sheer effort that he ends up putting into it is so endearing. And I adore how Byleth messes with him the whole time.

It starts rough, let’s be real. He just hands the ring to Byleth and tells her to “take this.” Oh, Felix. This poor boy is so. friggin. hopeless. You can practically hear his thought process leading up to this point. “How do I make sure Byleth never leaves?... Ah, marriage — yes, that’ll lock her in!” *facepalm*

But Felix’s body language is what really makes this S-support, starting with the finger point and then ending with the kabedon. Plus, we get a glimpse of something very rare: blushy Felix!

Favorite quotes:

“Fight me for the rest of my life.”

“I want you to be my wife. Please say yes. Let’s get married and stay together until we die. I love you.”

6. Balthus

I really didn’t know what to expect with this one, although to be honest, what expectations I did have were fairly low. Yet despite his faults, Balthus managed to scrape together a rather charming S-support! His nervousness and stuttering is adorable for such a big, tough-talking guy, and I love that we actually get an impatient “Just say it already,” from Byleth.

It was nice to see Byleth’s good influence on Balthus, although I’m not a fan of the woman-redeems-man trope. And considering that Balthus asks for up to 5 years to get his act together…that wasn’t exactly a point in his favor.

What made this S-support for me was all of the classic lines. Balthus isn’t necessarily a smooth talker, but it would be wrong to say that he doesn’t know how to talk to a woman. The proposal itself had me ROLLING: “Marry me, pal!” The voice acting was flawless, particularly when he said, “my love.” Balthus, I’ll say this on Byleth’s behalf: please stop trying so hard. And never say that again.

Favorite quotes:

“It’s time to take the biggest gamble of my life.”

“Comfort be damned! I need you by my side. Always.”

“Let’s get hitched right away! I know a guy.”

“To look after you...and be brave enough to let you look after me. that’s what marriage is all about, right?”

S-support portraits shouldn’t really matter here, but I’m going out on a limb here and saying that Balthus’ portrait is the best one of all Byleth’s S-supports.

7. Dorothea

I have a lot of Dorothea feels, okay? She’s my baby girl. And by this point in the game, she’s so jaded and used to disappointment that it just breaks my heart. So when Byleth proposes to her, you can hear the genuine emotion in her voice. She’s so in love with Byleth, but clearly talked herself out of it long before this moment. “You won the war. You could pick anyone in the world. Why would you…?”

And then she’s so happy. It’s not fancy, but her pure happiness really makes this for me. The hopeless romantic finally getting her happy ending is just really lovely.

Favorite quote: “I starred in so many operas where I captured the heart of my beloved. But I never dreamed that it would feel this wonderful when it actually happened.”

8. Ferdinand

Oh boy, Ferdie. There wasn’t much of a preamble, and the presentation of the ring wasn’t anything special. He’s still full of himself: “You hear noble Ferdinand von Aegir declare his love for you, and all you say is, ‘I understand’?” and this S-support is more focused on him than it is on Byleth, which is exactly the opposite of what happened with Lorenz’s S-support, even though they’re similar characters.

That being said, this S-support has its moments. We get a good reaction out of him (even though it’s over the top), and we get a sign of his personal growth when he reins himself in. The trembling and feeling faint is very cute (10/10), and considering his ambitious nature, him saying that he considers winning Byleth’s heart to be one of his greatest accomplishments is sweet, as is the way he dreams about their future.

In other words, this one starts rough, but ends sweet.

Favorite quote: “I need you as much as I need my next breath — more, even.”

9. Dedue

Can we just appreciate that Dedue chose to leave Dimitri for Byleth? That is so meaningful. Dedue spends the entire game unhealthily attached to Dimitri, and finally he finds something that he chooses for himself. Of course, there is the concern that he will become unhealthily attached to Byleth, but I don’t get that impression from his S-support.

There are so many wonderful little details in this S-support. The tiny, modest ring. The straightforward proposal. Both of them gazing at each other in loving, comfortable silence afterward. Byleth’s blush. And DEDUE’S LAUGH. Just. the laugh. It’s important.

Finally, Dedue invites Byleth to come with him to visit Duscur. TAKE NOTES, CLAUDE!! Anyway…

10. Edelgard

*takes a deep breath and sets aside my feelings about Edelgard’s stance on the Children of the Goddess*

Alright, so this S-support is significant because it’s one of the few where you can tell that there is genuine affection on Byleth’s end. She really takes charge of the proposal, going so far as to use Edelgard’s nickname, “El,” to convey affection and intimacy.

At first I was concerned when I heard Edelgard say, “This ring…thank you, my dearest friend,” and I was like HOLD UP – did Byleth just get friendzoned?? But Edelgard clarifies by expressing that she has romantic feelings too, which saves the scene. But while sweet, the rest of the S-support focuses on Edelgard’s ambitions and generally lacks romance. Fitting for her character? Yes. A satisfying S-support? Not really.

11. Dimitri 

It’s clear from the beginning of this S-support that Dimitri and Byleth have become close friends. I appreciate the way they talk about their wounds, and although talking about Dimitri’s nightmares is far darker than I expected from an S-support, it shows just how much Dimitri has improved.

What disappointed me about this S-support is the lack of emotion on both sides. Sure, the “my beloved” pet name is wonderful. And sure, Byleth isn’t very emotional as a rule. But Byleth shows more emotional in other S-supports. And there is not nearly enough of a reaction on Dimitri’s side. Come on, dude. You’ve been aggressively simping over Byleth since Day 1, and you’re just taking this proposal in stride?? You should be unconscious right now.

12. Mercedes

I’m so proud of how far Mercedes has come at this point. She’s determined to live in a way that makes her happy, outside of her Crest or anyone else’s expectations. That being said, a lot of this S-support feels more like it could have been an A+ support.

Major points to Mercedes to being the one to do the proposing. A lot of people mistake her kind nature for being demure, which is not the case. She is bold, speaks her mind, and knows what she wants. And in this case, that’s Byleth. Her proposal is gentle and respectful, if a bit bland, and her reaction to Byleth’s acceptance is absolutely adorable. She’s so happy yet insecure, and I wish there was more communication from Byleth to reassure her.

13. Hanneman

Hanneman is an academic through and through, and his nature as a scholar comes through strongly in his S-support. He tries to approach things pragmatically, almost ruins things by talking about Byleth’s role in his research, but fortunately realizes that’s the wrong way to do it and takes a new approach with more feeling. It’s very similar to Linhardt’s S-support, but less self-centered and overall better. Hanneman treats Byleth as an equal, and shows enthusiasm in his own way.

Overall, this is an extremely pragmatic S-support, but it’s not without its charms. That being said, it definitely requires an interpretation of Byleth’s character where she has developed a taste for academia.

Favorite quotes:

“I suppose there’s no reason to hold ourselves back any longer.”

“I don’t want the power of your Crest - I want you.”

“I can’t wait to see the results of this undertaking.”

14. Yuri

This S-support is very consistent with Yuri’s character. The scene opens with Yuri trying to repay his “debt” to Byleth, which definitely lacks in romantic vibes, but works in context. It’s nice to see Yuri nervous and out of composure, but I admit I had been expecting…more…from him with how charming he’s supposed to be. Then again, like Sylvain, maybe the fact that he’s dropped the façade is supposed to make it meaningful. At least he blushes! Blushy Yuri is something I didn’t know I needed. The bit at the end where he whispers his true name in her ear is very nice, too.

But yikes…Yuri talks about his death. And considering that in most of the routes, Byleth ends up being most likely essentially immortal, this hits HARD. She is definitely facing the death of her lover in a few decades at most, and that is not something she wants to think about during a proposal.

Favorite quote: “In return for this ring, I ask for you.”

15. Raphael 

Raphael is a pretty clueless, non-romantic kind of guy. But the sudden proposal is very cute. Considering how awful he is at expressing himself, it works really well with his character to simply have him jump right in and get it over with.

That being said, I couldn’t help but feel that his reasoning for getting married was just a little loose. He always wants to be with Byleth and expresses that he wants to serve as her knight. Uh, you realize you can do that without marrying her right, bud? Byleth didn’t seem to be very into this proposal either, although she does have a wonderful little smile in the S-support portrait, which makes up for that. I love how the portrait emphasizes Raph’s size and strength by having him lift her up bridal style. It’s an actually flattering portrayal of him, too.

Favorite quote: “And…I’ll love you. Forever and ever. And ever!”

16. Sylvain 

Ah yes, Sylvain. Our favorite train wreck. The good news is that he’s finally taking charge of his life, and I like that he’s straightforward in this S-support rather than flirtatious, which means that you know he’s being sincere. It’s cute to see him genuinely happy, and his statement that “I’m going to spend the rest of our lives together trying to make you happy,” is very good.

However, the “If you told me you never wanted me to look at another woman, I’d go blind for you” is going too far. I know it addresses his skirt-chasing character, but I just don’t know if they could have a healthy relationship. I know this is rating the support scene, not the ship itself, but I don’t think that’s a positive indicator for the future.

17. Claude 

This S-support gives me so many bad vibes. Yes, he expresses his love for Byleth as well as his utmost confidence in her, but dude, actions matter more than words, and your actions speak VOLUMES. He’s the only one to just run off at the end of the S-support, and while I understand his reasoning — I really do — it’s clear that his own agenda and ambitions will always come before Byleth.

This is what I heard: “Right now, Fodlan is like a newborn... so that’s why I’m leaving, so you have to do all the hard stuff yourself. See ya, sucker!!” Ah yes. Prime husband and father material there. Obviously.

“I’m sorry that I won’t be by your side at such an important event...” Uh huh, yeah right. You’re obviously itching to get out of there.

I’m sorry, Claude stans, but giving Byleth an engagement ring and then running away for who knows how long is LAME.

18. Jeritza

The first thing that struck me about this S-support is the fact that it takes place in the Agarthan HQ, Shambhala. This is super meaningful because it means that Byleth and Jeritza go there together to use their killing prowess to take out Those Who Slither in the Dark post-Crimson Flower. It’s a nice way to tie up the route. The portrait is super dynamic and unique, too. That being said…

He’s still fixated on killing Byleth. If that’s your thing, then hey, I can’t judge. At least we all know that if he hasn’t killed her by now, it’s never going to happen. It’s such an empty threat it’s probably an inside joke by now. But Jeritza’s clearly still figuring out his feelings, which means I’m not sure it really counts as an S-support (it would have made a better A+ support imho). There are also things about this pairing and S-support that have some serious implications for who Byleth has become by this point and what the future is likely to look like. Good storytelling, yes, but as an S-support…not my favorite.

Favorite quotes:

“It is you alone who can slay the demon inside me.”

“To the very depths of hell, I will tumble down with you.”

19. Linhardt

This S-support falls flat for me. It’s like Hanneman’s, but worse because it’s super self-centered. I feel like it’s a really bad summary of Linhardt’s character because so much more could have been done with it. Linhardt has lots of good traits, and this S-support ignores all of them. Instead, we have a one-dimensional S-support that focuses on Linhardt’s laziness and penchant for napping. He’s so self-centered and consumed by his own interests, so saying that he wants to study Byleth for the rest of his life makes her more like an accessory to his life plans rather than a central component. At least when Hanneman says he wants to study Byleth, he makes it very clear that he loves her and wants her as a person.

And the line where he says "I didn’t honestly think you’d reject me” is just…wow. Much disappoint. If I were Byleth I would turn him down on the spot just for saying that.

20. Ashe 

Ashe’s S-support comes off to me like he’s pledging himself to her as a vassal more than actually proposing. Yes, he does take initiative and does the proposing, which is consistent with the fact that Ashe is a gutsy little guy. But he’s so stuck on being helpful that the S-support ends up feeling immature. Plus, Byleth doesn’t seem very enthusiastic about the proposal compared to other S-supports, and overall Ashe’s worship of Byleth comes off as more dependent than romantic.

21. Caspar

We’ve reached the bottom four S-supports, starting with this disaster. Caspar is juvenile, reckless, and oblivious. (Don’t get me wrong — I adore his character and see him like a little brother.) Byleth has to take charge of the proposal, which is not a problem in itself, but then Caspar confesses that he hasn’t even thought about marrying Byleth — or anyone at all! asaslkjasdflk FAIL

At least the victory shout is kind of cute…if painfully cheesy.

And they get worse from here…

22. Rhea

I don’t have a lot to say here. I know I said that I would keep my personal feelings about the pairings themselves out of this, but I feel like there are certain things about this particular pairing that need to be addressed along with this S support.

Age gap aside (because frankly with immortals, age doesn’t really matter anymore), Rhea CREATED Byleth’s mother, essentially making herself Byleth’s grandmother. Incest vibes, yo. Plus, she fully intended to sacrifice Byleth’s life in order to bring back Sothis — which, granted, is a sentiment that wears off, and Jeritza is just as bad in terms of original intent to kill Byleth. This makes any kind of romantic revelation on Rhea’s side just…weird.

There are some good quotes in this S-support, and we get a ton of reveals about Rhea’s character development in a short amount of time. She’s self-conscious of her other form as a dragon, she acknowledges the wrongs she did in the past, and she expresses a desire to repent. She acknowledges the pivotal role that Byleth has played through her choices and accomplishments, rather than attributing them to fate and the “flow of time.” But honestly this would be more appropriate as a final scene at the end of the game, not a romantic S-support.

23. Cyril

Oh boy. Where do I start with this one? It’s so bad...

This boy is BABY. 19 years old after the war? Sure. Attractive design? Yes. But still, he. is. BABY. And the S-support portrait makes it so much worse by making him look freaking TEN.

And he’s so, so oblivious. Even worse than Caspar. He barely has a personality as a character outside of being committed to the servant mentality, and he has had no opportunity to discover himself as a freaking person outside of his obsession with Rhea. It should be illegal to even consider this kid for S-support. One thing would be if it was platonic, like Alois or Gilbert, but Byleth gives him the ring, and that means it’s supposed to be romantic.

Plus, Cyril says that he loves Byleth, but it’s super casual and comes off more like familial or friendship love rather than romantic love. Unless I missed something, I don’t think Byleth ever says that she loves Cyril in their S-support. And the end is just the worst: “Love ya, see ya in the morning.” That’s IT???? There is absolutely no indication of a mature relationship, and that’s just scary and gross.

I just…really hate this S-support. There’s only one S-support that’s worse…

24. Sothis

Forget everything that I said about keeping my feelings about particular pairings out of this ranking. This is a TRULY CURSED S-SUPPORT.

I don’t care that Sothis is technically a goddess whose age is beyond counting or mortal comprehension. All that matters is she looks like a child. She is lolibait. And to top it all off, she doesn’t even have physical form (thank goodness) — she’s just an apparition in Byleth’s head!

And this quote? “I love you deeply! Overwhelmingly! passionately! Ours is a love without an end!” I only have two words: PEAK CRINGE.

It would be one thing if Sothis came back in her adult form. Or better yet, if she had always been in her adult form as portrayed in the fresco in the reception hall. You can do something with that. But that’s not the case, Sothis is portrayed as a pre-pubescent child in both appearance and personality, and that’s just pedophilia vibes, y’all. I can’t believe this is a sincere S-support option.

[a-pale-azure-moon]

Midnight Plays Azure Gleam: Chapter 10

Finally getting back into this! Three Hopes goes one step past its predecessor by having two timeskips. Does this mean we get double the fun?

The narration tells us that it's been six months since the battle at Arianrhod, but the war's apparently been raging the whole time and nothing significant happened? (Ceasefires are a thing, writers. Friendly reminder.) This arbitrary skip also makes me miss the calendar; as silly as the "one mission per month" thing was in 3H when you thought about it too hard, it did at least give the sense of the passage of time.

Adrestia has undergone a "striking transformation," where the citizens are being killed en mass for...some reason.

Hey, its Rhea! Guess we don't have to put up missing persons posters after all!

Rhea tells Dimitri that Lord Arundel was in league with Tomas. (Where the heck has Solon been all this time anyway?) She mentions that Arundel used to be a generous benefactor to the church, until he suddenly stopped, the same thing Dimitri discovered back in 3H.

Dimitri connects the line to Cornelia and how she suddenly changed. He says he thought Cornelia and Arundel were agents of the Empire, but after seeing Thales attack Edelgard, he now thinks there's a separate faction with their own objectives. (Give the man a gold star!) He also says that's it's difficult to believe Edelgard's claim that Thales murdered Lambert, but admits that the pieces fit.

Holy crap, it's Claude! Are we finally going to get an actual teamup between Dimitri and Claude in this game?! Pleasepleaseplease....

Claude says the Empire's been dealing with endless sieges and uprisings, and that they're knocking on Alliance territory.....and he suggests partnering up! Rhea and Dimitri both readily agree. (It's really happening!) <3

Count Bergliez is heading the Empire's eastern front, while the western front is Hevring territory, and has the problem of rough topography (the Oghma Mountains). But Claude has a plan, saying that if they claim one "vital stronghold" they'll have the upper hand.

And this stronghold is of course Garreg Mach, because this all has to tie neatly together, lol.

Rhea's naturally anxious to get her home back, but she questions how it's possible. Claude's plan is a massive pincer attack (what is it with Fodlan and pincer attacks??) by drawing the Empire's army out on the east and west at the same time.

Rhea suggests getting to Garreg Mach through the Valley of Torment, since it isn't heavily guarded. (Seeing as it's an active volcano, I'm willing to believe this.) Claude likes the idea. First we'll divert the enemy's attention, and then head to the monastery.

After Rhea and the others leave the scene, Claude asks Dimitri if he intends to stay "buddied up" with the Central Church after the war. Dimitri affirms that he will. Then he asks Claude how long he intends to stay allied with the Kingdom, and Claude says he hopes it'll be for many years, even after the war's over. Dimitri's a bit skeptical, but expresses gratitude for Leicester's support. Claude (in a somewhat joking tone) says Dimitri should be more trusting. And that he wants a feast, lol.

Even with this flimsy attempt to cast shade on Claude, seeing him team up with Dimitri and Rhea is like a dream come true. <3

Cut to Shez exchanging a few words with Arval about the six month timeskip, and then Dimitri and Dedue enter with some old/new faces: Lorenz, Raphael, Ignatz and Marianne (!).

(The game makes an attempt to handwave the lack of snow even as Raphael and Ignatz mention the cold. Just once I would've liked to have had a snow map. They existed in previous FE's but it apparently doesn't actually snow in Faerghus despite its reputation.)

We get the option of recruiting the four Deer. I have no idea why anyone would choose not to. What a weird choice to make them optional, but whatever.

Shez is happy to have the extra help. Dimitri is too, though he again expresses some skepticism about Claude's motivations (why?). Shez asks if there's more to things than stopping the Empire. Dimitri wants to uncover the truth about TWSITD. He thinks Rhea probably cares the most about reclaiming Garreg Mach (probably right), but he doesn't know about Claude's ulterior motives, if any.

Rodrigue is apparently "tying up lose ends" in regards to the western territories, and won't rejoin us until later. (I'm assuming that means next chapter.) =(

Camp (Arianrhod Outskirts)

Yuri sounds almost relieved to be here, though true to his nature, he's cagey about it.

Dorothea's worried about "Edie" and the Empire. It's really mystifying why she's recruitable on this route when pretty much all she does is complain about fighting against the Empire. (I'm not saying it's wrong for her to have reservations about turning against her home, just that it would've made more sense for her to be unrecruitable if she has such strong loyalty to the Empire. Because as she's presented here in AG, she comes across as very whiny with her constant "woe is me" attitude.)

There's an NPC Imperial General tucked away in one of the corners. He says Ferdinand and Hubert have "disappeared" and that there's no future for the Empire, so he's joined up with the Kingdom.

An NPC merchant tells a story of a knight single-handedly lifting her wagon out of the mud, and then discovering said knight was actually Dimitri (of course <3). She says she's grateful for his help but is a little frightened of his ridiculous strength. See, this I could get behind as a reason for people to be wary of Dimitri, rather than that "can't tell what he's thinking" nonsense someone spouted back in chapter 3. Because yeah, for someone who doesn't know Dimitri personally, it'd be a normal reaction to be intimidated by a guy who can crack a human skull with the flick of his wrist.

(I've always loved that the effect of Dimitri's Crest is integrated into his character and the greater story, and it's a severely wasted opportunity that none of the other Crests in the games got this same treatment. Such a shame.)

An NPC mercenary talks about Dedue, Miklan and Shez's positions in the army and wonders if that means there's hope for her getting a promotion one day.

Another NPC mercenary drops hints about Balthus. Hard to believe we still only have two of the Wolves on hand at this point.

Sylvain and Ingrid are conversing, first about her going home to see her father for a spell, then about Miklan. Sylvain says that his father's the same as ever, but that his mother's taken it pretty hard.

An Alliance soldier complains that the food and booze in the Kingdom is tasteless. I know this is just a throwaway line, but is the rest of Fodlan really so ignorant about Faerghus' harsh climate and poor economy? Doesn't exactly paint a good picture of the other nations, but maybe that's the point?

Dedue says that after issuing his post-Arianrhod orders, Dimitri collapsed and slept for three straight days! And then of course went right back to work as soon as he woke up. Dedue's worried about that, naturally. So should we all; the man's going to burn himself out before he's 25 at this rate.

Paralogue: Love and Hate in Wartime

Featuring the trio of Ashe, Yuri and Catherine! This combo has a lot of potential.

We start with just Ashe and Catherine as they talk about Christophe. Catherine says that if Ashe can't forgive her for what she did, she accepts his challenge, but Ashe says he doesn't have the right to judge her, since he's also betrayed people for his beliefs. (Presumably he means standing by Dimitri rather than rebelling with Lonato.)

(Also, reminder that Christophe got suckered into an assassination plot against Rhea by the Western Church. It's unclear if Ashe knows this truth in this timeline or if he's talking about the coverup of Christophe being involved in the Tragedy of Duscur. Either way, Catherine's decision to turn in Christophe had little to do with "beliefs" and more to do with stopping/prosecuting a real crime.)

Ashe leaves and the scene changes to Shez meeting with Catherine and Yuri. Yuri reports that a sizable number of Imperial forces have surrounded Ashe's scouting unit. Catherine thinks their true aim was to take out out Ashe himself, which Yuri agrees with, since some of the enemies were flying the Gaspard flag (i.e. Lonato sympathizers, who would view Ashe as a traitor).

Yuri says even the most virtuous knight would still be seen as an enemy to the opposite side. (Too true.) Shez expresses sympathy for Ashe's position and Yuri says that if Ashe isn't ready for people to hate him, he should get out of the killing business. As cynical as Yuri sounds, it's clear he genuinely thinks highly of Ashe, even noting that the two of them both came from nothing and that he "can't help but root for him." <3

Ugh, this is the same map as Chapter 6. Please let this mission be less annoying!

First task, defeating the enemies surrounding the central stronghold. There's catapults again (my favorite /s). After seizing the stronghold and rescuing Ashe, the enemy militia seals off the escape route. Nothing to do but fight our way past them. Yuri notes that it's probably a trap and Catherine's unworried because she'll just smash her way through, lol.

Yup, it's a trap as reinforcements appear. No biggie though.

Ashe laments that this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't betrayed Lonato. (Who really betrayed whom though?) Yuri tells him he did what he did because he thought it was right, and that he shouldn't give in now.

Huh, the boss is Pallardo, of all people. I almost forgot about this guy. Catherine thinks he must've incited the rebellion. When he dies, he says nothing went as planned. Hm.

I got an A Rank because I was TWELVE kills short of the 1200 required for S-Rank. ARGH!! Yuri got MVP honors.

Yuri says he needs hazard pay for this mission, and that he'll send Dimitri an invoice, lol. Ashe chastises him and Yuri says he's just joking.

Ashe wonders if he's worthy of being a knight after fighting people from Gaspard. Yuri reminds him that killing is part of his job, and that ensures he'll make enemies. Ashe says Lonato always told him to hold true to his beliefs, so he'll keep walking his own path of justice. He thanks Shez and Catherine, and Catherine says she owes it to Christophe to keep Ashe alive.

After Shez asks about Christophe and comments that the situation with him sounds complicated, Catherine says that no one can escape their past. Everyone has baggage. Yuri makes a scoffing sound. Ashe says that he intends to help the people from House Gaspard however he can, and Yuri snarkily says that will probably make more work for the rest of them before walking off. Ashe chases after him, and Catherine chuckles, implying that they remind her of herself and Christophe.

Definitely a much easier battle than Chapter 6. Nothing earth-shattering in terms of story, but I definitely enjoy the oil and water of Ashe's idealism meeting Yuri's cynicism. Can't wait to unlock their supports.

There's a paralogue with Lorenz, Ignatz and Raphael open as well, but I'm not going to cover it since it's assuredly available on Golden Wildfire.

Interlude

All of the villages (in Empire territory) have been plundered and burned to the ground by Imperial forces. Dimitri doesn't understand; he wonders if the soldiers were stealing supplies or trying to prevent the Kingdom from setting up a base, and wonders if it's his fault.

(Holy shit, are they really trying to frame the Kingdom as the bad guys here?!)

Let me say it louder in the back for the people who didn't hear it, and apparently for the game's own damn writers:

FAERGHUS DIDN'T START THE WAR.

FAERGHUS. DIDN'T. START. THE. WAR.

(I'd let this go if this was the only instance of this kind of talk, but it's enraging how it keeps coming up. Again, it's in character for Dimitri to blame himself, but there is never any pushback from other characters or the story's narration to point out that this war is not his fault. He's defending his country from an invading force, as any leader would do. He is not responsible for the Empire's actions!)

Dimitri further wonders what wrong the people had done to deserve this treatment, and who would carry it out. (Shez notes that all the villagers were executed too. Jesus.) Shez says the Empire's methods have always been "rough" but never so cruel.

Dimitri can't believe this is what Edelgard wants. Dedue says he suspects Edelgard is a puppet now, or a victim to what happened to Tomas. (What makes him think this? Was he a fly on the wall for that scene with Duke Aegir and Thales?) Dimitri says he may be right.

An NPC soldier enters the scene. The Western Church has launched a surprise attack. Losses are minimal, but their forces are attempting to join with the Imperial army. Dimitri decides we need to deal with the Western Church first.

Neat detail: the map marker for the chapter's main mission actually changes position on the map!

Battle

Ingrid wonders why the Western Church would form an army now. Dimitri says that some of Cornelia's associates were seen in their ranks. Sylvain says if they've been working together, the Western Church may have also played a role in the Tragedy of Duscur. Dimitri agrees.

Shez says to themself that Thales, Tomas and Cornelia have been pulling the strings the whole time, and wonders what that means for them.

The mission goal is to rescue some green units (uh oh). The maps's pretty big, but smaller than Arianrhod, and it doesn't have all those annoying doors. Balthus is also on the map as a green unit, and we have the option to persuade him!

Chasing Daybreak remix again! Nice.

First task is taking out the initial waves of enemies and secure the escape route for the citizens. It's an instant loss if any of the green Citizen units die, and there's been a noticeable increase in enemy strength this chapter.

Oh, it's Metodey. I remember that guy. He's in the locked room in the northeast corner with Balthus. Balthus was apparently hired for this job, but he tells Metodey he can have his money back, because he wants no part of it. Metodey tells him to shut up and do as he's told.

After the escape routes are seized, holding them is part of the victory condition, which makes sense. After rescuing the Citizens, we have to escort them to the evacuation points. Naturally, reinforcements show up to impede their progress.

Great, enemy ballistae again. These things are very annoying.

Once the Citizens have exited the map, the doors to Metodey and Balthus' room opens. Reinforcements also appear in the south to attack the evacuation points. Metodey orders his men to attack Balthus. Taking out the assassins allows Balthus to join our ranks, though he retreats from the map for a "breather." That's 3/4 of the Wolves in our ranks now!

And Metodey's dead. He's really a pushover. Felix wonders how he could pass for an Imperial general.

Oh, now Myson appears. I remember this guy too. He'd better not have that Bohr X spell. He immediately starts running towards a green mark on the map. And a bunch of Western Church forces swarm in.

...But it's pretty easy to take them out, as well as intercept Myson. Myson sadly just retreats.

I got an A Rank because I went slightly over the time limit and didn't kill enough bad guys (again). Dimitri was the MVP (again). This honestly wasn't a hard mission, just a lot of running around and a lot of stronger enemies that took more time to kill compared to before. I think I need to grind a bit more, lol.

Shez is looking for Myson, and he teleports in and demands to know why Shez has the power of "Epimenides." Naturally, Shez has no clue what he's talking about and asks if he means their power from Arval. Myson poofs away without answering. Both Shez and Arval are confused. Shez reasserts that they'll keep being themselves, and Arval reiterates Dimitri's words from way back about power itself being neutral. (So even Arval likes Dimitri now? Ha!) He does bring up the need to defeat Byleth again though.

Later, Arval and Shez converse again about Myson. Shez wonders who or what Epimenides is and wonders if it's just Arval. Arval doesn't know because of his amnesia. Arval says Shez shouldn't get distracted and just focus on their goal of defeating Byleth.

Dedue enters to fetch Shez for a meeting. Rodrigue's back!

...But instead we cut to Claude, Hilda and Judith meeting with Count Gloucester. The Count says the Western Church's actions haven't impeded the Kingdom's progress, so Claude's plan is still in place.

Judith asks what Claude intends to do on his end, as crossing the Great Bridge of Myrddin leads right into Bergliez territory. Claude says they aren't really going to invade, just make it look like they're invading, because the real prize is Garreg Mach. He intends to strike at all of the many bridges that span the Airmid, like a "many-headed snake." (He implies this is a common Almyran strategy. Interesting.)

Count Gloucester calls the plan "arrogant and brazen" but that it should prove effective. Claude says that whatever happens, once Garreg Mach is reclaimed, Fodlan will change.

...And that's the end of the chapter. Feels like a strange place to leave it off, but whatever.

These chapters are getting longer in terms of side battles, so it's taking longer for me to get through them, but hopefully I'll have chapter 11's writeup done in a more timely manner.

[azazelsconfessional]

((Azazel's abilities(and some combat abilities for the other Missionaries as they continue to be side characters when this event ends)

Azazel is ridiculously powerful. He's easily the most powerful member of the Missionaries, after Nyarlathotep.

Shame about the chains that keep his power and true form locked away.

Rule of Revelation (Sacred Artifact: Bible "Eyes of the Fallen")

Azazel's Bible is always on his person. He does NOT put it down and does not give it to people except those he trusts. He's willing at times to show its contents to people but he won't let most anyone hold it.

If you do get a hold of it it will stop working/won't show you anything. It will just become a book with glowing symbols on/in it or a regular Bible with an eye on the front.

Eyes of the Fallen allows Azazel to view and proccess anything the pages see, including outside of Missionaries territory.

In order to use Eyes of the Fallen, Azazel needs to expose his chains, causing him to remove his cassock.

Azazel can move the pages wherever he pleases. They're magical so there's some resistance in them, however they are paper and thus easily destroyed or removed or displaced.

Large eyes made of light will appear in the sky over large areas he's searching.

Within Missionaries Territory Azazel can see anything without the aid of his Artifact.

Azazel can see anything there is to be seen and a bit more. Though he can't see "how" someone came to be who/what they are, he can see their current form and see them for what they really are(MC has 24+ souls and he can see and identify them all; Nomad is a human modified into a tiger and he can see his human soul; Shino is a Shadow/ghost/etc and he can see that he's no longer really alive/his original form; when Raphael made them all see zombies and the Fisher King he was able to confirm they weren't real zombies but the memories of a past occurrence; etc)

He can both see and hear things, however the other senses don't work.

There are little to no combat capabilities to Eyes of the Fallen.

Healing capabilities slightly described below.

Magic & Game Unit Skills

Azazel is insanely powerful to the point that his Summopedia page described him as being the most powerful of the Missionaries. However his chains prevent him from accessing his true form or power.

Azazel is able to use bursts of Aether(equivalent Light, Holy, etc) magic despite being a Fallen Angel.

They're not super strong, but they do have a decent range. He can use them more or less infinitely due to his huge power reserve that's otherwise restricted to him.

He's able to heal himself and others. In-game limits this to using Eyes of The Fallen/his Charge Skill and only to allies in his immediate vicinity, so I'll consider this healing happening through use of the pages of his Artifact over wounds.

Applies the effect 'Blessing' to his allies around himself(heals over time temporarily.)

Can remove a debuff of people he hits; weaken(defense) of people he hits; temporarily prevent use of skills of those he hits; heal allies after damaging opponents

Taking damage can strengthen allies(increase their charge points, which isn't really a concern in terms of writing since they can use their powers more or less instantly)

Misc

Azazel has wings he can magically produce/retract. He can use them to fly.

Azazel's pain tolerance is obscenely high. He responds to pain as though it's pleasure.

Azazel cannot be killed. Killing him will change him into his true form.

Breaking his chains(accessible only to beings with powers on level with a Supreme God/King of Gods; Archangel Raphael; and entities with Rules that can cut through/break/open things absolutely(MC's Rule of Rending, primarily) and a few others) will also change him into his true form and return to him his powers.

Eyes of the Fallen and some other things can make his tail turn from a goat tail into a snake tail. His scales are slightly keeled and more keeled when agitated/fighting, making them spiky like a spiny bush viper

Exists but is inaccessible--a spear with the Rule of Corruption inherit in his true body. Cannot access it unless chains are 'loosened' by an Archangel or are cut enough maybe????? I haven't decided how this headcanon works since he can't use it anyway

Under the cut a small rundown on side characters' powers

Arsalan:

Artifact is a shamshir that can spray an infinite amount of sacred oil

Oil is fired at a speed that can knock one off their feet or knock weapons out of one's hand

Oil is obviously slippery and heavy enough to prevent use of wings as well; holding things and maintaining footing is very difficult

Allies are adept at fighting through/with his oil and thus are uninhibited except if their wings get too oily

Always covered in oil himself, hard to hold on to

Oil has healing properties(Unction), hurts enemies after they've been hit by Arsalan(Unction Weakness)

Oil is flammable, Zabaniyya controls his flames and uses the oil to spread Hellfire if need be(see: Zabaniyya)

Sword is strong against demons in particular; sacred oil is all over his body and makes him strong against/resistant to demons as well

Rarely uses sword as weapon, sticks to oil and physical combat unless given permission by Jacob or in a desperate situation that requires it

Physically and mentally extremely strong and resilient, uninhibited by his own oils even when manhandling enemies via wrestling

Sword allows him to resist oil and temptation as well

Teeth and claws are very sharp

Incredible leader, almost all of Aoyama Guild will obey him without question

Maria

Artifact is thorns that can move pain to and from others and herself(including painful memories)

Thorns are able to grow just about anywhere, including inside, and cover spaces

Applies Stigma to herself and those she hits or is hit by(applies damage over time and reduces defense)

Heals self and allies, especially by transferring damage from them to enemies through thorns

Temporarily disable skills

Leader of the Aoyama Guild, obeyed by most of the current members

Gabriel

Rule/Sacred Artifact(undisclosed? May be a microphone?/magical girl wand?) allows her to drive others to madness through the power of moonlight. Dubiously part of her Rule is her ability to make others fall for/obey her simply by commanding them

Likely also has a sword Artifact, rarely uses it, similar circumstances as Arsalan

The latter usually is used to make people stop attacking(Charm)

Very support-based, strengthening, healing, and motivating self and allies through song and magic

Has wings, can fly quickly

Maddened people are probably controllable by her, or at least they adore her and will probably listen and attack allies that threaten her?

Zabaniyya

Role of the Torturer; Rule of Hellfire; Sacred Artifact is a fiery spear, however he doesn't use it, similar circumstances to Arsalan

Fights using martial arts, mastering the 'Fiery Spear Hand' in which he channels his weapon through his hands

Can also fight from a distance using fire, but rarely does

Inflicts internal and external burns through his Artifact. Rule of Hellfire under the Role of the Torturer causes eternal pain.

Internally burning all the time, high pain tolerance, considers pain a penance and doesn't shy away from it very much; probably essentially immune to fire? Basically a firey tank. V high defense.

Applies Stigma and deals additional damage to those afflicted with Stigma and Burn; also applies Stigma to those who hit him

Can harm others from a distance using a chain of cross-shaped flames if they're afflicted with Stigma; chains are probably homing?

Heals allies apparently???

Rule of Hellfire purges people of sin and evil through flames, thus likely more effective against demons

Can ignite flames of passion/love, although he refuses to do this

Has wings, can fly, rarely uses them

Will not fight unless ordered by appropriate parties or the enemy has broken divine law

Kimun/Wen Kamui

Rule allows him to strip others (of their growth). Artifact is the 'Mankiller Sword' which he uses on himself as Kimun and others as Wen.

Mankiller Sword, if it's able to strip someone of their clothing, fur, hair, or flesh, is able to spawn a copy of the person's past self for them to fight--losing the fight against themself will cause them to lose their growth. If they win, the copy disappears.

Can spawn multiple copies if he cuts them multiple times

Can duplicate himself this way as well

Copies(of himself or enemies) might not cooperate with him although they mostly obey, depends on the person and their traumas/what they're struggling to grow or move on from/etc

Temporarily can't attack after doing this????/after using his Charge Skill

Can copy enemy buffs

Able to heal self and allies

Very high defense and pain tolerance due to his role/rule causing him to strip himself of his own skin/pelt/fur to give it to others

Hurts you even if he misses.

Unable to be frozen

Can apply freeze(lowers defense, damage over time) if he misses

Jacob

Sacred Artifact is a Pillar allowing him to remember all previous loops; connected to the Tree of Life in Eden; cannot be killed

Sacred Artifact is the Archangel Uriel's whirling sword of flame. Doesn't use it in flame form most of the time, only uses it to enhance his punches and kicks and movements; it also guides him around due to his blindness; also able to restore people's memories from previous loops(including people he doesn't know and he "can reach even those who have never appeared in this Tokyo with his Rule") and makes a pillar of holy light that leads to the Tree of Life in Eden, making him more effective against either angels or the undead(hard to tell because it was used against undead angels, possibly both)

Blind, thus unaffected by anything that requires sight

Leader of the Aoyama Guild, although a lot of people aren't aware of it due to his absence, thus obeyed by most of its members(if not all of them because the Admins obey him)

Can multihit/punch very fast. He's no Captain Falcon but his fists are Dangerous.

Relies mostly on sound for navigation but can also be guided by his Artifact. Can probably blind others with the massive pillar of light from it.

Cannot be forced to move backwards. Can pull people in a certain range towards him/get in people's personal space easily to fight since he fights with his fists

Weakens enemies, applies Blessing(healing over time) to himself

Artifact heals him, removes ALL debuffs, and makes him highly resistent to damage temporarily

Artifact also provides him a shield that keeps him from being exposed to life-threatening conditions(Korpokkur's blizzard is how we learned about this--also keeps him warm and guides him to people and things he should meet)

Takes less damage from other close range fighters using their bare hands/fists(and any enhancements like knuckles, claws, etc--basically if you're a Blow unit/hit in a singular space in front of you he takes less damage from you)

Can use his Artifact as a sword but generally refuses to. It's a big, spinning sword of flame and would apply burn but he avoids using it because he hates weapons

NPC Angels

Primarily attack in a group. Always guarding the Church and its activities and almost always accompany its admins. The church is rarely unattended.

Fight with spears which can be thrown. Some level of magic?

Apply stigma to hit enemies. Deal more damage to Stigmafied enemies.

Can heal surrounding allies.

Nyarlathotep

You just die. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯