#and I'm saying this as someone who loves Grima

[oh-cool-a-burning-sword]

I'm bored and the Brave Banner's a few days away so... possible predictions?

First possibility I can think of (and kinda hope doesn't happen) is that seeing as 3/4 of the CYL winners primarily use tomes, Instys decides to make everyone on the banner a tome user. I hope this isn't the case cuz I want there to be some variety.

now for what I think each character could be

Robin

For Robin, I think his unit will depend on two things. If they give Corrin Omega Yato, and if this is actually Robin and not Grima stealing another slot. (Grima took F!Robin's Legendary and Rearmed alt, they could do the same to M!Robin).

If Robin gets to use a sword, then it'll most likely be a variant of the Levin Sword. If he's a tome user I can imagine he'd be blue or colorless? Same if he happens to be a dragon unit. I feel like Green'll go to either Soren or Gullveig.

As for his design, had they not given Robin a legendary alt this year I would have said grandmaster. But he has a legendary alt so it's a little up in the air what his Brave Alt'll be. Maybe he'll get a Plegian outfit to represent his past, or a Ylissean outfit to represent his found family.

Or maybe they use this variation of the grandmaster design from the Cypher cards:

Granted, this is only if Robin's not being possessed by Grima. In which case he could look like this:

I'm hoping Grima doesn't steal another Robin slot but you never know.

Gullveig

Gullveig's a weird case. Seeing as she's currently the second Feh OC to win CYL... and she was out for about a month when she won. Back then we barely knew anything about her so it was hard to say what she'd end up like. Though now that we're more than halfway through Book 7's story and we know that Gullveig's the future version of Seidr, I think we have a clearer picture.

I think Gullveig could become a green or colorless tome user. The only reason I'm suggesting Green is because one possibility for Gullveig's design could be putting together some elements of Seidr and Kvasir. Represent all three versions of herself in one?

It's also gonna be kinda interesting if Seidr turns into Gullveig next chapter. Not sure it'll happen but she DID get infected with the Golden Serpents. Imagine if Seidr turns into Brave Gullveig.

Soren

Soren's likely gonna be a tome user, either green or colorless. He COULD be a dagger unit though, as one of his class promotions lets him throw knives. But it's more likely that he'll be tome.

His design varies. I kinda want him to wear something resembling his parents, though I find this to be unlikely as he doesn't know who his parents are. So I think he'll either be a sage, wind mage or an archsage. I feel like Archsage could be more likely though, and if not, then that'll be his legendary alt... if Soren ever gets one.

Corrin

Now Corrin's a bit easier to figure out. There's a 50/50 chance that she'll be either a sword user (and have Omega Yato as her weapon) or a dragon unit (and have something to represent her father Anankos, and she'd likely be a blue unit).

Design wise, there's three possibilities. One could be a design similar to Mikoto, one could be the Hoshidan Noble outfit and the last one Valla monarch. Out of the three, Valla Monarch the most likely outfit, at least in my opinion. Hinoka's legendary design already resembles Mikoto and the Hoshidan Noble outfit should be reserved for Male Corrin should he ever get his legendary alt.

In which case, based off Cypher cards this should be the design.

[asterouslyaesthetic]

concept: kid lucina with grima, but a grima who IS robin—no possessions involved, the closest it gets is to an evil alterego that manifests out of robin's desire to be good and not what her mother fears will be her future

like sample first conversation:

Lucina: "Mommy, mommy! There you are."

Grima, visibly shaken by her appearance and having flashbacks: "You're mistaken, child. I am not your mother. I am the fell dragon who bears her likeness."

Lucina: "Likeness? Oh, like Morgan and Marc! You're her sister! I get it now."

Grima: "That's not it. I am your mother—"

Lucina: "So I was right! I knew it—of course, I know what you look like, Mommy. But why am I not a dragon if you are?"

(she is, but i headcanon the bloodlines did a number on her ability to transform)

Grima: "...Ask your father."

Lucina: "Daddy said to ask you."

Grima: *incoherent curses* "Really, Chrom?"

basically, saying no to a kid lucina is extremely hard and she fulfills a similar role to regular m!morgan. but since lucina isn't quite aware of what's going on, she drags grima everywhere—she just thinks mommy and daddy are having a big fight, like how one of her friend's parents did

it comes to the point where grima no longer throws venom at older lucina nor does she engage with her, because the memories of when they were happier far overpower what she vaguely remembers of their past feud

it freaks lucina out deeply

(she also ends up talking to chrom about it, because it feels so wrong for this to be happening, because this monster ruined her world and took away everything she loved

but now there's visible confirmation that her robin-ness is taking the wheel and the kids aren't nearly as unified on that front as the shepherds.)

why, you might wondering, is that the case? i'm glad you asked because i will tell you very happily

so feh posits the idea that grima is equal parts man hater and equal parts chrom lover.

her lvl40 confession has her dare the summoner to find someone who would accept her, warts and all, and in a few of her lines, she references the idea that she wants to be accepted

then comes the halloween tt+ with s!chrom and h!grima. grima is clearly haunted by her successful murder attempt of her husband, while chrom, whose first appearance has him beg robin to escape and to keep herself safe, is interested in being her friend, claiming that she's robin, so long as a part of her lingers

here is where it slips into headcanon territory, BUT i think that it makes sense for bad future timeline!robin to be more grumpy and angry than her canon timeline counterpart. our robin has no memories of any traumatic events, save maybe physical ones that bleed into her actions.

she's a blank slate and she's molded entirely by her gratefulness to chrom and to the shepherds, rather than any separate life experiences.

but bad future timeline robin likely grew up in hiding, being fearful of the constant threat of turning into grima, and likely resented the grimleal for ruining her chance at an idyllic childhood. she might've been more cynical, balancing out to be more neutral after emmeryn's death

anyway, the point is, robin's lack of memories and lack of lack of a chrom compels her to reject grima. but bad future timeline's doesn't have those things.

older lucina has a lot of baggage associated with her, because she tries to kill grima, while chrom is associated most strongly with his death.

and for a grima who is robin, just all the worst amplified (assuming they're the same entity), nothing is going to be more important than the happy times she had

aka shepherds and chrom and when lucina was younger

she might not warm up to her baby right away, but it will happen.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

for the characters ask - what about eowyn? :)

oooooh, yessss I love me Eowyn-Dernhelm

First impression

You know, I initially didn't like her. At least in the movies. She came off a little too much of "I'm not like other girls~~~" for my tastes.

In the books, though, I always loved her because she was a stone cold bitch for 90% of the time until her personality transplant at the end.

Impression now

I still prefer book Eowyn to movie Eowyn (I personally find move Eowyn too 2D for my tastes).

I like book Eowyn for her flintiness. Strike her at the right (wrong?) angle and you'll start a forest fire. She would walk on you in a sexy way but it would also absolutely hurt. And that would be the point.

I also like book Eowyn's selfishness that runs equal to her brazenness, her fearlessness, her rage, her love. She's just as impulsive as her brother, it's simply masked more. I also really love her as a foil/mirroring to Grima - especially the mutual selfish Oath Breaking aspects of their characters. She's also just as likely to burn the world down, if for radically different reasons and done through a radically different way. I think that's a very nice, subtle touch on Tolkien's part.

The ambiguity of her gender subversion is also fun. It doesn't feel like the "~~I want to be a knight UWU I'm not like other girls UWU~~~" that a lot of characters can fall into who follow the same trope line as Eowyn. I'm so glad she escapes that and it feels more nuanced and complex.

I just love, love, love Book Eowyn's anger and recklessness and yeah. All her faults. She, like her uncle, is deeply human in a way that I appreciate.

Favorite moment

In the books - absolutely her argument/heated discussion with Aragorn before he leaves for the Paths of the Dead. Where she says that line about how when the men have died in battle and honour, women have leave to be burned in the houses the men left behind. And also that if someone tells her do her duty one more time she's going to shank a bitch (perhaps not exactly what she said, but the essence is there).

I also love the scene in the books when Theoden is like "but who will take care of Edoras while we're at Helm's Deep? My son is dead and Eomer won't listen to me if I told him to stay put. No one is left" and Hama is like, "???? Eowyn???? wtf how are you overlooking her???" And then she takes her vow/oath to stay and defend Edoras and she gets the great like about how there will be a Return of the King (to Edoras, she just means her uncle).

In the movies - I'm not sure. I suppose the scene with Grima at Theodred's deathbed is an interesting one.

Idea for a story

Same one as I did for Boromir: What if Boromir lives and Eowyn gets to shack up with him and Aragorn as the ultimate power couple? Let the woman be queen of Gondor!!

Unpopular opinion

I think movie Eowyn is a bit boring/too sad/needs way more rage in her. Be uglier! Be more insane! You're from the House of Eorl - no one in that family is normal!

In both book and movies, I don't think her relationship with Faramir is earned. And I know it's because Tolkien initially intended her for Aragorn then made a last minute change-up so there's really no building up of why they're good for each other and how it is she could possibly be happy settling for something we have been told over the course of last two books isn't what she wants.

Yeah, yeah, "she healed" or whatever and found a happier way to be after the war but it just reads as weak. Like, to me it just seems clearly shoehorned in as Tolkien absolutely pulled his punch so far as Eowyn's ending is concerned. He could have done better.

(Honestly, Aragorn has always made waaaay more sense as a partner for Eowyn than Faramir. It was such a let down to me as a kid watching the movies that they didn't end up together. I was like "whatever, Arwen has 2 minutes of screen time. Don't care. Let Aragorn get with this woman who sword fights and makes him laugh.")

I suspect my other unpopular opinion is that I don't think she and Eomer were ever very close. They do not give off vibes of siblings who confide in one another. It's clearly the sort of relationship where Eowyn is like "yeah that's my brother...I know absolutely nothing about him and vice versa. Despite his absence from my life he is still somehow overbearing and over-protective."

I mean we get that scene in the books where Eomer basically admits he doesn't know his sister at all and was always too busy to make time for her (and he regrets this).

But I know fandom likes to write them as besties.

Favorite relationship

Theoden, of course! I love her relationship with her uncle who is her veritable dad. I think it's so sweet and probably one of the most important relationships in her life. I can't imagine what she felt when he died in front of her. Like, the heart shattering and the anger and the grief and so on. It must have been a red-hot knife to the chest.

I also like her and Aragorn in the book. They have great conversations and clearly are able to push against one another yet still clearly respect and care for each other.

Favorite headcanon

(Power couple with Boromir and Aragorn)

She cut her hair when she became Dernhelm. None of this flowing locks down to her ass somehow hidden under her helmet. Do you know how much hair she would have? Absolutely not. She chopped that shit off Mulan-style. It was somewhere between chin and shoulders in the style of Rohirrim men.

----

Thank you so much for the ask! :D :D

[randomnameless]

I just wanted to say calling Grima a FEH OC is so on point now, him and Altina it's true they had barely anything in their base games so FEH did some expanding. But...well Grima imo got the better deal. I'm still angry about Summer Edelgard with Altina, I can't for the life of me see Altina getting along with someone who wants to wipe out a race when Altina's thing is uniting them. It's amazing she has so many alts, Grima you have he's Robin and Robin is popular as an excuse Altina is because?

Altina because she dual wields (but in her only official artwork she only used one sword, the other was sheathed!) and can be the poster Strong Female Character (tm) of Tellius, since Miccy, Elincia and even Sanaki's journeys are all about caring for their people and growing in their roles of leaders of their respective nations, regardless of their own feelings.

We don't know if Altina fell in the same despair Lehran did when she realised she cut the only direct line to the Goddess Humans had, by bearing Lehran's child, hell, we don't know a thing about Altina bar the "double swords yay" unit FEH sells her as - but you're right, Altina being a duo with Supreme Leader? When Supreme Leader has her particular views about non-humans? Lol

(I earlier joked about their alt was Altina being overjoyed that even in other worlds than Tellius, "beorcs and laguz" can coexist and love each other (maybe this Altina is the one who hasn't given birth to Lehran's child yet, but somehow guesses their resulting kid will have laguz powers?) because Supreme Leader's crest obviously means she has laguz/non-human ancestry right? Cue Supreme Leader raging (it was only a blood transfusion!!!) but having to nod, after all, the official (tm) History pretends she descends from Seiros...)

But that's FEH for you, they make units that can potentially sell (remember Ursula has 2 alts when she was a minor character?)...

[the-priestess-of-dawn]

is there a reason you prefer the chrom sealing grima ending over the robin sacrifice ending? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chrobin fan that likes that one more before :0

Oh boy... Well... I think this is a very unpopular opinion, but I'll explain my thoughts. (If anyone here follows me on Twitter, you may have seen me rant about this before lol)

Alright, in the context of the narrative, the sacrifice ending is quite compelling, I'll admit... But...

It's... kind of an incredibly fucked up ending, and the fact that I've seen many people call it the "good ending" of the game really upsets me. Oh, sure, we all say it's the "sacrifice" ending, but... It's really more of a "suicide" ending. When Robin speaks to Grima, their exact words are "The evils you would visit on this world are unthinkable... In some way, I—we share the blame. It's only right we meet our end together!"

And like... I'm sorry, but WHAT? This is not Robin triumphantly sacrificing themself for the world; this is Robin feeling GUILTY and like they owe their life for their sins??? (And also, this is way worse if you don't think Robin is Grima's soul reincarnated, because if Robin isn't Grima then saying that they share the blame is just straight-up not true; Robin didn't do ANYTHING wrong in this timeline. If Robin IS Grima then at least we can be like, okay yeah, you sure did commit some atrocities a thousand years ago...) In any case, I hate the "Redemption Equals Death" trope, and is that not exactly what Robin is attempting to pull off here?

But here's the thing... What about all the people relying on Robin in the present? Okay, depending on how you play the game, it's possible that Robin has no spouse or children (though Chrom still heavily relies on them regardless of whether or not he's married to them), but if you're doing a Chrobin playthrough, well, not only do you have Chrom, future Lucina, and future (past) Morgan if you did the paralogue, but you also have baby Lucina, the one child who definitively already exists in this timeline. Sorry but I actually think it's kind of bad to choose to die (when you absolutely don't have to) when you have an infant at home!

And look, people like to talk about how Chrom wants to "doom the world" for Robin, but honestly that's an overreaction. If it weren't for the machinations of the Grimleal, Grima wouldn't have been revived in the first place! And the Shepherds just finished killing the leader of the Grimleal, plus presumably a large number of the members were sacrificed to restore the fell dragon's body, then you also have however many died in the Endgame battle (because infinite Grimleal reinforcements get warped up to Grima's back). It kind of seems like the people most enthused about dying in Grima's apocalypse would probably have already given their lives for the cause? So it might well be that nobody will actually WANT to bring Grima back in a thousand years. And even if someone does, they might not be able to, if knowledge of key details has been lost. And even if they do have the knowledge, they might be stopped before they can succeed. And even if they aren't, Chrom is right... "[Grima] may rise to threaten the world again, but he'll never destroy it. One such as [Chrom], or the first exalt before [him]... One will rise up to challenge him."

(I'm going to be honest... it REALLY bothers me when people act like Chrom is somehow in the wrong for opposing Robin wanting to die. What is he supposed to do, agree that someone else should be killed for the greater good? Sometimes I see people using it as proof of how much Chrom loves Robin, but no, I'd say the proof is in every OTHER moment of the game. THIS is simply the proper response to ANYONE saying that they feel like they ought to kill themself to make the world a better place.)

Moreover, I feel uncomfortable with a lot of popular fanon portrayals of this ending... In particular, I can't stand the idea that Robin LIES about not sacrificing themself and then does it anyway. This is not in any way something you're required to do in-game, and I don't think it's super in-character given most popular interpretations of Robin, and to the extent that I can buy there being some universes where it indeed happens that way (you can, after all, hit the buttons to play it out as such in-game if you really want to), it ultimately suggests a complete lack of character development because y'know who else thinks their opinion about good and evil is the only one that matters? Grima. Additionally, in the Chrobin context specifically I think it's even more of an asshole move if you did the Chapter 11 automarriage...

I mean, it's not like I don't enjoy Robin being an asshole (I prefer Grima-flavored Robin, after all. And a lot of my fics do stem in some way from the sacrifice ending, though it's BECAUSE I think it's not a very good choice that I'm interested in it), but... Honestly, a lot of my dissatisfaction boils down to the fact that the game ends, and then Robin abruptly comes back after the credits, and then the game ends for real, and at no point are any consequences shown. Then fans declare that it's the "good ending," that "nobody chooses the other ending," that "they can't imagine Robin doing anything else." People wax poetic about the sacrifice ending as though it's the ONLY canon option and like, I have nothing against people who prefer it, it's just... there are also plenty of valid reasons to NOT prefer it. Stop telling everyone that nobody ever lets Chrom land the final blow!

Also, I'm going to make a bold assertion here, but... Chrom CG (which is the happiest he ever looks in Awakening) > the reprise of the meeting cutscene (which doesn't really make much sense in context anyway... Seriously, why are Chrom and Lissa rehashing the conversation they had when Robin was a stranger to them? Chrom should be in tears. I do love "Welcome back. It's over now." at the very end, but it's just hard for me to buy that everything before that goes exactly the same way as the first time they found Robin on a field.)

Furthermore, when you let Chrom land the final blow, I find it really heartwarming to see Robin's family affirming that they're happy Robin lived (and if you want to talk about proving Chrom's love for Robin, he's the only one who doesn't get additional dialogue if he's Robin's spouse... He just affirms his love no matter what.) After everything Robin has been through, it's just... a lot more satisfying to me to see Robin trust in their friends and family and choose to live even though they aren't sure it won't cause problems in the future. I mean, can ANY of us ever be completely sure that we'll never hurt anyone in the future? In fact, it's almost certain that we will. I still think life's worth living, even if it means we have to keep doing battle with the demons that continue to haunt us.

So yeah, the final line of the game when you let Chrom land the final blow makes me really happy.

"Don't you see? You belong with us. We want you here to share our present. ... And help create our future."

[fayesdiary]

oh hmm, your favorite things from Awakening, Fates, and Echoes for the reverse unpopular opinion ask game

Since it's the whole 3DS trilogy I'm gonna keep things brief for each game (but also, first unpopular opinion is that this is my favorite era of FE):

Awakening

Inject the power of friendship directly into my veins. Especially now that the world is going to shit more than ever and I'm struggling with isolation, I hold this silly game about a band of loveable doofuses saving the world and the future from total oblivion dear more than ever.

i mean my favorite videogame series is kingdom hearts for crying out loud, of course I love this game

The characters and themes are great, the music is amazing, Grima is a wonderful villain even if mostly thanks to outside material, and also I know it's a meme, but it's the game that saved the franchise.

This series went from almost dying with a whimper to being reborn with a bang and becoming one of Nintendo's most successful franchises. This game literally defied fate in real life!

Fates

There's something about the world of Fates that drew me in ever since I've heard of it, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. It just feels more... mystical compared to the other worlds of the series, and the locations are some of the most visually stunning and unique we've ever got! Kinda makes me wish we could actually explore them, or at least have a way to see them better.

The royal families are some of the most endearing characters of the whole series- which is good because these are stories are really more personal compared to the rest, and all of Fates would fall flat if you didn't care about them. even if im personally more hoshidan filth tho

And really, the main conflict of the Branch of Fate is much better than the one they marketed, because it's: Do you do the right thing but betray those who loved and raised you, or do you stick with your family even if it means being forced to do reprehensible actions?

Conquest is especially good at this, you see Corrin basically go through the five stages of grief in their resolve to amend for their not-so-good choice.

Revelation is a great catharsis factor since you finally see both Hoshido and Nohr get their shit together and most of the supports there are wonderful, and Heirs of Fate is the best DLC story of all of FE and a wonderful bookend to all of Fates I will die on that hill

Echoes

What can I say about this funny little game I haven't already say a billion times?

First of all, it's my favorite FE and one of my favorite games in general.

Amazing presentation, music and VA, my fav cast of characters, you know the whole deal by now.

But I also love the game's themes and its commitment to duality, and its villains are great and I love that none of them are evil just for the heck of it! Well, except Slayde, but I love that bastard for that exact reason.

Nowadays I both hate and ironically love Rudolf, think Jedah is a more interesting villain that people give him credit for since his motives aren't just for power, or revenge or selfish reason, but rather he believes Duma must reign supreme even if he's completely degenerated because at least mankind would have a chance at survival unlike if he was gone, making him a great foil for Celica.

Also this game is great for Ironmans not for the gameplay, but because it will make you feel like a monster if you let someone die

[kimium]

Ships - Xander/Laslow, Anankos/Trio, Chrobin, Leo Trio

(Let's go with some classics lol.)

(From this post HERE)

Thanks for the ask, friend! These are some great ships!

Xander/Laslow - I Ship It

1.What made you ship it?

It was their supports where Xander is casually taking about punishing Laslow. There was definitely a turning point where it started to sound suggestive and I couldn't believe it when I first read them. Also, I am a big fan of their dynamic with Xander the stoic, responsible one and Laslow the flighty, silly one that sometimes pushes Xander's buttons.

2. What are your favourite things about the ship?

I love their height difference since it is always implied that Xander is tall and Laslow is on the shorter side. I love how Xander puts on hard, responsible fronts in public (how he was raised) but in private he feels softer and is more compassionate than his public persona would lead someone to believe. Coupled with Laslow's romantic nature, I think once they are together they're super sweet and always casually showing how deeply in love they are.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not sure if it's unpopular, but I think Xander is secretly a kinky person. I think he's also very in touch with what he likes/desires and doesn't feel embarrassed by this. Contrasting with Laslow who blushes at the mere idea of holding hands is hilarious to me.

Anankos/Trio - I SHIP IT

What made you ship it?

As soon as I played the DLC I remember thinking to myself: bet Anankos wants to hook up with the Trio. There is no way a dying god with his final wish would waste it and if help are three very attractive people? Well, Anankos can indulge, can't he?

2. What are your favourite things about the ship?

First, my favourite part about this ship is how I thought no one else would ship them as it's a sort-of crack ship. Then, I talked with ObscureReference and our mutual love of the ship helped us bond as friends.

Next, I love how this ship can have multiple angles. Canonically I enjoy writing the ship with a dark, possessive Anankos who feels the Trio are His/Belong to Him. If I write the ship in a modern AU there are also many aspects to play with. (Such as the Trio seeing Anankos and saying "Smash" upon first meeting. Or Anankos as sort of cringe-fail but deeply in love with the Trio.)

Finally, I like how I've dragged you, Shreedle, into this ship. You're one of us now. No turning back.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't know... in order to have an unpopular opinion the ship needs to be popular and I'm certain this is a very niche ship.

Chrobin (Chrom/Robin) - I SHIP IT!

1.What made you ship it?

I'm going to be honest, in my first play through of Awakening I thought Chrom and Robin was the main intended pairing. How could I not think it with that opening cut scene? Or how the two first met? Or how the entire premise of Awakening revolves around the tragedy of Chrom, Robin, and Grima's intertwined relations?

2. What are your favourite things about the ship?

I love how this ship demonstrates the core theme of the game. Awakening asked the question: What if you loved with all your heart and soul but it was your single character flaw? What if despite knowing this you did not stop loving and giving all of yourself to your loved ones? How am I supposed to be normal about this game???

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

It doesn't matter if it's Female Robin or Male Robin with Chrom. Both Robins are fun characters and neither invalidate or validate the ship more.

Leo Trio (Leo/Niles/Odin) - I SHIP IT

1.What made you ship it?

I always liked Leo/Niles as a ship but it was my talks with ObscureReference that reminded me that Odin works well in the ship too. Once I thought about it more I found myself loving their dynamic (Leo, exhausted and tired while Niles causes mischief on purpose and Odin causes chaos with good, but oblivious intentions).

2. What are your favourite things about the ship?

My favourite part of this ship are the many different angles you can take with it. I like my OT3s where even if it's only two of them to begin with, they make a good couple. Normally with Leo Trio I like Leo and Niles established and Odin added in later. However, I also like the idea of all three of them slowly coming together at the same time.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Again, not sure? I don't know what other opinions there are... I just stick with my headcanons and leave them at that.

[mmvalentine]

hi!! would you write another jurdan nsfw? u could surprise us w the prompt :)

my friend what kind of prompt is just you coming up in here like MORGAN WRITE ANOTHER you know if you think you can just order me around like this I'm here to tell you you absolutely can.

I'm Not Sorry

Cardan hates to apologise.

This is one of the most irritating things about her husband, since he is an idiot and frequently the source of Jude's ire.

In the beginning, Jude would simply wrestle him to the ground and hold a knife under his chin.

"Apologise," she'd snarl, honey curls falling around his face and hot breath bathing his infernal cheekbones. Cardan would glare balefully up at her with his nails in her wrists.

"I'm sorry," he'd spit, and Jude would let the blade bite into his neck for just a second longer before releasing him.

But this time, she is tired. She is sick of chasing down her apology like a peasant hunting their dinner; after all she is a queen now and doesn't run unless someone is after her.

Not to say that Cardan will be allowed to get away with this. Clemency is not in Jude's nature.

It's just that they've been married a year now and Jude has other ways of making Cardan behave. For instance, she knows that the King of Elfhame is singularly jealous.

By and large, Cardan views displays of emotion as weakness. He is a dramatic creature prone to fits of rage and delirium, but on the throne his legs sprawl and his head lolls and he is only ever irreverent. Irritable at best. Fae would prefer that you only know their true feelings after you have been incapacitated, and Cardan is nothing if not fae.

Of course, a mortal like Jude knows all about being fae.

And so it is that Jude arrives to tonight's revel fifteen minutes late and on the arm of another.

The great doors of the hall open and the crowd parts as she enters. Jude almost forgets the handsome figure on her left, as she puts on her cruelest smile for her subjects. She loves this part.

When they reach the dais, Jude simply levels her gaze at Cardan, and leads her escort toward the dance floor. Her husband inclines his chin to them, and shows no other sign of acknowledgement. But his eyes burn bright in the dim room.

If she is completely honest, Jude cannot remember this young fae's name. She merely picked him out of Grima Mog's army. Strode into the training ring, beat him in a sword fight and told him he was to be in attendance tonight. Jude is sovereign, and he is here.

All fae learn to dance but the soldiers must be exceptionally skilled. Dance and swordplay are not so dissimilar, after all. It is no effort at all on Jude's part to be twirled around tonight. She is wearing a sunset coloured gown that Cardan had made for her, with gold threaded through her hair and her ears and on her fingers. Her hands rest lightly on the shoulders of the fae soldier, who is both taller and broader than Cardan.

The soldier has very little in his expression, but his hands play at her waist. She may be Queen, but she is also a woman in his arms. Looking past him, Jude can see Cardan's eyes tracking them across the floor. Jude ignores him, and lets her head fall back in laughter as the soldier picks her up off the floor in the next turn. He is delighted at her response, and spins her faster and faster as the music gets dizzy with them.

The song changes abruptly and Jude is torn away from the soldier. She lands in the arms of a fae with enormous, curling horns rising from just behind his hairline, and grins at the soldier, who has been snatched up by a girl with gossamer wings. He shrugs, and Jude twists her arms around the neck of her new partner.

And so the night wears on. The music lilts and Jude dances with an endless parade of fae, and although her feet hurt she is well used to the feeling and will not stop until they do. Jude is thrown from one embrace to another, beaming in the face of each, until the song changes again and the next arms around her are Cardan's.

Cardan's feet are steadfast on the floor and Jude hits his chest like a brick wall. Her hair falls into her eyes as she stops suddenly, and looks up at him. "A word, wife," Cardan says tightly. The words ooze through his clenched teeth.

Without waiting for a response, Cardan hauls Jude off the dance floor by the arm, behind a velvet curtain and pushes her so that her back hits the wall. "Ow Cardan, what are you-"

But before she can finish her sentence, Cardan is pressing her back with his whole body and his lips are covering hers. It is long moments before he pulls back, only to wind his arms around her waist and push his thigh between her legs.

"What are you doing?" Jude finally gasps. Cardan doesn't answer, just kisses her again while his fingers dig into her sides and a growl rumbles in his throat.

"You're a cruel and wicked creature, my lady," Cardan murmurs, as his hand finds the slit in her skirts and slides up her thigh.

"Why's that, husband?" Jude asks, her head tipping back to give him better access to her neck.

"Because you delight in my discomfort. The sight of you in someone else's arms is a torture I will not bear." With these words, Cardan bites down into Jude's shoulder, but she pushes him back roughly. Her eyes narrow as her chin lifts.

"Do you deny you deserve it?" she asks him. Cardan looks affronted, then he frowns.

"I'm not sorry," he sneers.

"Exactly," Jude says, and makes to leave the alcove.

But Cardan catches her and shoves her back against the wall.

"And where might you be going?" he hisses.

"To my poor neglected guests," Jude replies. "Do you know I invited a soldier here personally and yet I've barely seen him."

"Oh you've seen him," Cardan growls. His hands push at Jude's dress, sliding the skirts up so he can grip her thighs. "Seen him, touched him, smiled at him. Hateful," he spits.

"Ought I not to?" Jude asks, all feigned innocence.

"Don't forget to whom you belong, mistress mine," Cardan says, and he lifts her up against the wall before kissing her again.

Jude forgets herself for the minute, and her ankles cross behind Cardan's back. Cardan rolls his hips against her, and it does not escape her that he is often hard when he is angry. Jude yanks at the roots of his hair, and Cardan thuds her harder against the wall. His tongue lashes against hers, and their teeth click together in the dark.

"Jude," Cardan murmurs.

"Apologise," she whispers.

"Don't make me," he begs.

"Fine," Jude replies, then lets go of him and her lovely golden shoes land on the floor. Cardan swears, but drops to his knees before she can step away, and pulls one of her legs over his shoulder. Jude falls back against the wall, and he steadies her with a hand on her hip, before laying his tongue against her pussy.

Jude cries out in surprise, and her hand lands on his shoulder. Cardan strokes back and forth insistently, not giving Jude space to think. Her focus narrows to his mouth between her legs, and the way he is now sucking on her clit.

"Don't go out there," Cardan says between movements. "Make this my apology. Only don't dance with anyone else tonight."

Jude doesn't say anything, just laces her fingers through the curls on his head and rocks her hips forward. Cardan keeps his tongue moving while he slides a finger inside her, pushing in and out while flicking over and over her clit. The music outside swells and drowns out Jude's moans, as she slides lower down the wall.

"Isn't this enough?" Cardan asks, watching her face as he adds another finger and rubs it against that rough patch inside her. "Come on my fingers, and tell me I'm forgiven."

Cardan kisses the inside of her thighs, bites softly down as he sucks warm bruises onto her skin and moves his fingers steadily back and forth.

"No," Jude gasps. "You're not forgiven."

"Come anyway," Cardan says, and pushes against her clit with his thumb. Jude breaks apart so sweetly, just like she always does, and Cardan kisses the climax from her pussy before standing up and hooking her leg around his waist.

Jude doesn't register his movement, isn't aware of him pulling himself out of his trousers and tilting her hips forward. She just knows that one moment she is shattering and groping at the cold wall behind her for something to hold on to, and the next Cardan is inside her. Her teeth clack together as she is stretched around his cock, and then his cheek presses to her temple as he fucks her.

The leg Jude is standing on starts to buckle, but Cardan holds her up. Fucks her harder, already wet from his tongue and her first orgasm. Jude's thoughts run together, and when Cardan speaks in her ear the words seem to emerge from the shadows.

"This is how you know you're mine," he murmurs. "Because no one makes you feel like this. Because even when you hate me, even when in that hall you might have any fae you want, it's me you're fucking behind a curtain and you don't care who can see or hear you. Isn't that right?"

"Yes," Jude breathes.

"Now tell me you were never going to take that fucking soldier to bed," he said.

"Never," Jude repeats.

"Tell me no one you danced with ever stood a chance."

"None of them," Jude breathes, and Cardan's hips are punching forward hard now. He slides a hand between them and rubs small circles into her clit, and the world blurs.

"Tell me that even when I fuck up, even if I'm not sorry, you're still mine."

And Jude looks him in the eye and says, "You're still mine."

Cardan's hand slams against the wall and he comes, shuddering hard against her and moaning raw in her ear. His hips stutter and his shoulders shake, and the intensity of it has Jude coming too, holding onto his shoulders and biting hard on his lower lip as he empties himself inside her.

They breathe against each other as they come back down, and the sounds of music and voices outside seem to filter back in.

"I'm sorry," Cardan whispers, cradling Jude's jaw in his hand. His forehead is warm on hers, and Jude slides her nose down his before kissing his lips.

"You're forgiven," she says, and true to her word, she does not dance with anyone else that night.

****

JURDAN MASTERLIST

TAGLIST: @asteria-of-mars @swankii-art-teacher @loosingdreams @feysand-loml @cityofbookish @story-scribbler @thebonecarver @realbookloverproblems @nightshade3465

[someobscurereference]

For one: whenever the concept of the Nohrians meeting the young trio comes up, my first thoughts are 1) Inigo being cripplingly shy and terrified of Xander 2) Severa being Extremely Unreasonable and Aggressive especially toward Camilla and 3) Owain gravitating toward Elise because she's reminiscent of his mother, because he's a mama's boy who probably lost his mom very recently and that's pretty fucked up!!

That being said, I'm screaming at the idea of Owain gravitating toward Elise because mother, Xander because cool sword, and Camilla because cool armor, and Not Trusting Leo because he's a Dark Mage and Dark Mage Means Plegia Means Grima Means Evil (almost always) and Leo being so upset about it. It turns the tables entirely, where Odin was originally the one who thought both Leo and Niles were so cool and they thought he was a weirdo idiot until he proved himself, now he thinks they're creepy and Evil and have to work for his trust. And I will always love the Nohrians realizing the trio were Fucked Up Kids and the idea of them watching the three of them take down a faceless with Brutal efficiency because of how much more dangerous Risen were...I'm so into this. AND!! The trio fucking hating each other!! They're so used to them being Best Friends and Inseparable and understanding each other on a whole different wavelength. And now? Sev and Inigo aren't very kind toward Owain's dramatics, Sev and Owain are Bothered by Inigo's flirtations, and Severa is just so harsh with both of them (and most people). Of all the people they could be stuck with, they would Not choose each other. I'm rambling but I'm so into it I'm so so into it. One of the previous asks you linked spoke a lot about Inigo, but if you could talk a bit more about Severa and Owain? Especially if their adult selves were involved with their lieges and partner retainers and how different the dynamic is now and the way they each react when realizing the trio went through something so clearly screwed up and beyond even what they've seen

(prev ask) Ayyy, glad you got a kick out of all of that, lol. And yes!! Leo Trio origins reversed!! With Niles and Leo being the ones who have to prove themselves to Owain instead of the other way around. And the Trio not getting along!! They're 100% there to save each other when they think they're in mortal danger, but as soon as they realize they're not in Plegia? Don't touch me, don't breath on me, don't look in my direction, any of you. Owain & Inigo can't be alone in a room together or else they'll scuffle, Severa stomps away whenever Inigo tries to compliment her, nobody wants to talk to Owain, etc.

Also sure! I spoke a lot about Inigo in that last ask because I wanted to be clear about what I meant with the shyness thing, but for Severa & Owain...

I don't know if they would have been in romance with their lieges before this! I obviously ship the royals & their retainers, but I don't ever see the appeal of that dynamic in deaging fics? I get the idea of like "oh, this is a new side of my partner I've never seen before," but the deaging part is such a huge part of the plot that I don't really see the benefit to that dynamic in these types of fics.

But just in general! The friendship/platonic shift!

I mentioned before about Camilla trying to dote on little Severa but struggling because Severa rejects her So Hard, lol. In general she'd want to dote on Severa because of her personality and how Severa is a tiny version of her beloved retainer, but the more it becomes clear that Severa has issues (especially re: family, which is a major reason Camilla feels the need to dote on Corrin), the more she wants to spend time with her and make some happy memories with her. Which makes Severa's rejection of this attention even stronger bc who the hell are you to presume you know her? And also you're not her big sister/mom/whoever.

Eventually, I almost feel like Camilla would?? I don't want to say "give up," but eventually you're going to get more flies with honey than vinegar. By which I mean the less Camilla tries to push the relationship, the more open Severa might be to spending time with her. But I'm not sure Camilla would get to this point within the timeframe of the Trio being deaged! I think this would take many days or perhaps even weeks to figure out. If the Trio return to normal before this, I think Camilla might feel different (Hard to say how... maybe guilty??) about the way her Selena dotes on her and wants her attention all the time vs little Severa rejecting her. But!! If the Trio stay deaged for a while and Camilla learns to stop pushing the relationship, Severa may slowly grow to approach Camilla on her own and may then be open to being doted upon once they understand each other more (bc she canonically wants all the foods and fun stuff Camilla is offering; she just wants it from someone she trusts. And primarily from her parents ((see: awakening supports w/ parents)), but they're not here).

tl;dr Camilla would have to go against her doting instincts if she wanted Severa to get comfortable with her. Otherwise Severa would avoid her/take advantage of the things Camilla is offering while not wanting to be near her very much.

Re: Beruka!

Unlike Camilla, who has a lot of sad and sympathetic feelings for Severa, Beruka really leaves feelings out of it. Which is probably to her benefit in this scenario, as she's approaching Severa's trauma's from a logical (perhaps even detachedly relatable) standpoint rather than sympathetic. She's more direct than Camilla, so Severa might be a little more comfortable with her, just because she knows what to expect.

Severa, for her part, may even seek Beruka out once she knows they're partners because (1) she wants to know what sort of person her future partner is and (2) she wants to prove that she's the better retainer than Beruka. Which of course she can't do because (a) Beruka would never compare them like that, nor Camilla and (b) Severa is younger, more hotheaded, and less skilled than her older self, so anything she tries to prove now, she'll probably fail at and will blame on her older self having more experience. This competetive spirit may start as an inferiority complex thing, but with Beruka never really fanning the flames, Severa may eventually calm down about it and just feel more driven to get better on her own/respect Beruka as her partner (sort of like her Cynthia Supports in Awakening, though a little different).

Leo & Owain, I already talked about. Owain will immediately take note of the fact that Leo & Niles are his future lord & partner, which he is very curious about, but once Xander, Camilla, & the other very cool people with melee weapons come into the picture, he's very drawn to them, which makes Leo jealous, lol. Leo dedicates himself to "solving" the deaging issue, using this as an excuse so he doesn't have to spend time around Owain and get compared to his "cooler" siblings. HOWEVER, joke's on him bc the fact he's avoiding Owain means Owain doesn't get the chance to quiz him even more and tell him about how cool Brynhilder is. When this finally happens, Leo feels incredibly foolish for trying to show off for Owain & avoid him in turns. Owain, meanwhile, may or may not have ever picked upon on the fact Leo was feeling weird about him at all (although he will admit he felt nervous around Leo at first bc Pelgian Mage Memories and had to take time to get over that).

Niles is a little hard to consider because I actually think?? He'd be good with young/immature folk when he's genuinely trying to be? (See: Niles's interactions with Elise & Nina). However, he can also be quite cruel to people who don't really deserve it (See: Mozu C & B supports) despite having a motto of only insulting "people who deserve it," (Peri Support). So!! I think Niles's interactions with Owain ultimately come down to how well he respects Odin/how good their relationship was. If they were besties when Odin gets deaged, then I don't think Niles will purposely try to make Owain feel bad, though a lot of what he says with metaphors & double meanings will probably go over Owain's head anyway. I also don't know if he'd purposely go digging for information or not?? Depending on how much he feels asking would be a betrayal to Odin's trust vs his own curiosity and all the hints Owain doesn't realize not to drop?? I think Owain would really determine what Niles does or doesn't learn about him. They have the potential to have a really good talk where Owain talks about his parents' deaths and the struggles he & the kids are going through and Niels talking about his own life on the streets. (BTW, despite Owain literally going through a war & both parent death, I think he might think Niles has the worse situation bc he's never known parental love at all, which baffles Niles).

Similar to Leo, I think Owain would be really cautious around Niles at first, both because he's an intimidating sort and because he takes cues from how everyone acts around Niles too. But!! Also just like Leo, if his future self trusted them, obviously that means something, right? So he'd approach Niles a bit more after a few days of settling in.

Niles & Owain's interactions are really hard to imagine because they depend on so many factors that I haven't decided upon! But hopefully the other ones make sense, lol

Thanks for asking!

[iturbide]

You know what? You forced me to start planning a huge post breaking down Faye, so for "revenge" I'm asking you to do one for Robin too! >:) (oh and Grima too if you want, it's always great hearing you talk about them)

MISSION: SUCCESS

but I will take this vengeance challenge starting with my boy

How do I feel about this character?

Look.  Robin has been my Summoner Support character since the day the system launched.  He’s maxed out on dragonflowers at 15.  I sacrificed a 5-star exclusive dagger with a high-rarity and very potent A passive to him over any other possible unit I could have given it to.  I have written just shy of 500k words of Awakening fanfiction in which Robin is a central figure in every story. 

I kind of love Robin a lot.  That may, in fact, be an understatement for my feelings.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Theoretically I could ship just about anyone with Robin (with a few exceptions *coughFrederickcough*) but my big ones are Chrom (naturally) and Sumia!  Those two are the ones I most enjoy seeing Robin with since I think they play off one another in really enjoyable ways -- and it’s even better when it’s all three of them together!

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Lissa.  I LOVE Robin and Lissa as best friends and confidantes who can tease each other but will always, always have each other’s backs.  Robin and Henry being super tight as siblings is another favorite dynamic, Robin and Sully is right up there with Robin and Lissa, and when I’m not shipping them Robin and Sumia as best book buddies is near and dear to my heart.  Also Gaius, Libra, Panne, and Kellam -- I love Robin and Kellam bonding so much it does my heart good (which is why so many of these relationships are, in fact, integral to Future Built).

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

oh boy I have a million of these haha but the biggest one that really is an unpopular opinion is that Robin is proud of their Plegian heritage and would never EVER forsake it.  I’ve seen a not insignificant amount of fanart that puts Robin into clothing that’s clearly Ylissean in cut, style, and/or pattern, and this drives me up the wall because Robin is canonically one of our very few characters of Plegian heritage, someone who goes around throughout the entire game in a coat that bears the literal emblem of Grima in the eye-patterned sleeves -- something that’s preserved in their Grandmaster class, no less, rather than quietly done away with.  That coat is clearly important to them, and deep down -- even with all their memories buried out of direct reach -- I think their cultural heritage as a Plegian is of the utmost importance to them, such that they would only go without some show or sign or it if they were forced to do so. 

Basically, in my personal opinion, Robin should always have Plegian touches in whatever they wear but ESPECIALLY if it’s otherwise Ylissean in appearance.  Erasing Robin’s Plegian heritage is really gross to me personally, and funny enough, even IntSys didn’t do that for once, so fandom should really have no excuse.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

For Robin?  Either meeting their mom should she still be alive, or at least getting back their memories.  It does make sense that Robin started the game as an amnesiac because it let us learn through them, and made a lot of the revelations really pack a punch -- but after a certain point?  I really, really wish that Robin’s memories would have come back to them so that we could find out more of who they were before and what their experiences had been.  Even before a full return of those memories, they could have done simple things, stuff like reactions based on muscle memory or reflexive training that surprise them sometimes, or stated feelings of deja vu -- but later in the game (and supports) I really wish they would have give us something that tells us more about their life; what would be especially nice is if those returning memories involve Grimleal rituals or teachings, because I think it would have been really powerful to have someone we love and care for so much (as our player avatar) shining a better light on the much-maligned faith of Ylisse’s neighboring nation.

I’m very, very biased about that, though.

and BONUS: Grima time

How do I feel about this character? 

I’m pretty sure that at one point, if you searched up the #grima tag, mine was one of the top blogs that came up (though I’ve been getting lazy and tagging less by character lately so I’ve fallen out of there).  I’m also pretty sure that most of the people following me ended up here because of all the Grima content I started pouring out when the first one dropped in Heroes.  Grima is one of those characters who I write about exhaustively and who subtly manages to play a role in most of my Awakening fic, including the ones where they don’t physically appear (I call those Grima Sightings and frankly I would love it if people tried to spot them). 

...I think Grima has just taken over a part of my brain and to be perfectly honest I’m okay with that.

Who do I ship this character with romantically? 

Emmeryn.  That’s it.  That’s the only character I have ever or frankly will ever ship Grima with because that was already something that came out of left field I literally cannot imagine anyone else managing to spark the same reaction a second time.

Who is my brOTP for this character? 

Robin, honestly.  I love the idea of Robin and Grima interactions where the two end up becoming close as friends and confidantes, regardless of the situation.  Is it kind of heartbreaking when it’s the whole “Grima’s in control and Robin’s in the backseat” situation?  Undoubtedly, but it’s also really moving to consider that they might learn how to work together and help each other and work toward a shared purpose. 

And also Grima getting parenting advice from Robin in Heroes during the early days of the creche is A+++ in my opinion.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character? 

Aside from the idea that Grima is in fact the most parental of dragons and broods in the literal chicken sense or my giant conspiracy theory that Grima came to the past to do the same thing Lucina did (avert the ruined future)?  It’s probably that Grima is not an instigator of conflict or chaos: they’re antisocial and would prefer to distance themselves for the sake of having some peace and quiet rather than getting dragged into yet more conflict based on human preconceptions or judgments based on appearance. 

Fandom at large loves to play Grima as unrelenting evil and constantly in competition with the Awakening folks (especially the Exalted lineage) but...that doesn’t make any sense to me personally?  Grima hasn’t really asked for anything that’s happened to them: they’ve been used and abused by humanity by their own admission, and Validar is just the latest in the line to do the same, causing unspeakable harm for the sole purpose of raising Grima to destroy the world at his own bidding.  Yeah, maybe Grima doesn’t have the best feelings toward the Exalted Lineage, but also why would Grima be the one picking the fight?  If you mess with Grima the Fell Dragon will step up (Vengeful Fighter is their innate B passive in Heroes, quite likely for a reason), but I really don’t see them going out of their way to cause trouble.  They just want to be left in peace, but humans really don’t seem to get that.  Yes, the fanart can be funny, but it also rings false to me, because I really think Grima would just flat-out ignore the Exalted lineage unless they make the confrontation, at which point Grima won’t hold back.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon? 

First of all I really do wish we could have seen a peaceful resolution with Grima rather than having to destroy them, especially considering that the Fell Dragon really didn’t seem all that interested in hurting anybody even after raising the dragon form (see the aforementioned conspiracy theory).  Grima has been hurt so many times throughout their life that I think it would have been deeply meaningful if we could have reached out in an attempt at understanding, to have come to a non-violent resolution, and found peace without someone needing to die for once.  When Grima purposefully abstains from nuking the group that poses a threat to their life upon resurrecting their impossibly huge and powerful dragon form and instead flies out over the ocean -- so far they need Naga herself to teleport them -- it kind of says a lot about how much Grima really wants to fight (answer: they clearly don’t).

Other than that, though?  Just...give us more of Grima in general.  Tell us more about their history, especially the thousand years between their emergence from Thabes Labyrinth and their fall at the hands of the First Exalt.  I want to know more of that history, I want to see how they treated the humans that flocked to them, even knowing that those same humans would eventually break Grima’s spirit.  We just have so few crumbs about Grima, I want more than anything to get a meal instead.

Give Me a Character

[with-the-same-tattoos]

I think the fundamental difference between the hobbit and lotr is the target audience. The hobbit was written for kids with this slight cyclical undertone, bilbo comes off as quite naive to me at least, kinda for kids to project themselves onto, and becomes a story about reevaluating the trust between yourself and the people around you, even if you care for them, which is a pretty good thing for kids to learn.

Lotr however was written for cynical adults, and the purpose for me at least was to allow downtrodden adults to add a bit of whimsy and joy back into their lives. You get beat down a lot when you’re older, and when you’re younger, everything seems great, both books aim to restore a bit of balance in their target audience, which reflects through their adaptations.

As someone who watched the hobbit first, it’s a lot better viewing experience when you’re a young kid huddled into the local cinema with your entire family (seriously there was like fifteen of us for all three movie releases, my grandma was fuckin hype), I fucking loved the barrel scene, and I still do. It’s probably one of my favourite fight scenes ever.

However, I wish the movie had worked a bit harder on goofy aspects, tonal dissonance is definitely a bit of a problem on reviewing for me, and also just not dragged poor Orlando Bloom back. Legolas does not need to be there. He’s not there in the book. It’s just weird.

I love the Hobbit movies, they’re flawed but I feel like people compare them wayyyy too much to lotr. They may be in the same universe and contain linked characters, but the books are fundamentally written for different people in different stages of their lives, and that shines through the movies.

Kinda like how the Silmarillion is written for people who want to suffer.

^^^^^ i think you have a lot of good points here!!!! Again, I DID ENJOY the hobbit movies. They were fun!!! I think Thorin was a lot of fun- I wasn't expecting to enjoy him as much.

I haven't read the books yet so I can't be too specific what I think abt the difference- ill get back to that when I have but itll take a while to finish, I think 😭💞

I havent, this far, however felt like lotr is cynical????? I think it might be like a difference between how we two see the word!!! Not sure. To me cynisism feels like that "well, nothing matters, things are shit for the sake of being shit" type of nihilism, and Hobbit comes to a lot closer to that w SOME of the characters, specifically in the water-town-whatever. I think i just mainly didn't like the town leader & Alfrids inclusion. It might be unfair of me to compare, but it is. Seriously such a stark contrast to having Théoden (cursed to silence and afterwards hindered by doubts of his own power and of loyalty, feeling alone) and Grima (clearly desperate for something; approval by others; coniving and cruel but made so by desperation) vs. dude likes gold & dude likes gold.

I might be hanging onto this one point bcs of my. MASSIVe crush on Grima, but 👁 — 👁 im not a professional movie critic I'm a dude w a crush on fuxkinh Grima Wormtongue from Lotr.... 💞💞

Anyways, yeah, idk, that just felt OFF to me. Idk id the books will have the same thing, but if they do, I gta say, not super into it? Maybe im being pretentious askinh for more complex characters in childrens media but AgAIN. The reason I was so enamored w Grima as a kid was. He was complex. That was interesting.

And you defi get that w the dwarves in hobbit!!! I'm just never a big fan of drawing clear lines between the enemy & the protags. I don't like othering evil characters, m a big believer in that seeing them as someone like us makes us understand that anyone can make bad choises, and makes us concider our own choises more?

I think the comedy to both of us is the issue. The baddies were mostly used for comedy, and the comedic parts were the least fave for me in general :( dunno.

I also have a mild weird thing for uncanniness and weirdness in movies. vISUALLY im more into Lotr; the weird constant fake moon light, older cameras, and i love the orc makeups..... augjdjj.. just more for me. But hobbits were fun!!!!

Sorry im rambling this is incoherent but u had fun thouthts so i thought id share some of my own ; v ;

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

BRING ON THE NOVEL!!! Oh, I love your responses to my questions BECAUSE they're always so in-depth and informative, and I just drink it up because it's SO GOOD! I love the amount of thought you put into your answers, I can see the passion plain and simple, and it gives me a lot of food for thought for my own interpretation of Grima, so thank you!!

hahaha I'm glad you enjoy them! I love answering questions about him, so it's always a joy to see one in the inbox.

It's really fun thinking through what we know from the various canon sources (granted I don't really go into unfinished tales, save for the Grima-Nazgul-Face-Off reference [Grima loses]) and logicing out what we can from it. Then, of course, just making shit up. Love that sweet, sweet world building.

But I'm always curious to hear what other people think! I love seeing different interpretations and what people run with, given that we're all working with the same, rather limited, base material.

And lolol yes. Grima's type is absolutely "can they kill me with their bare hands and I wouldn't stand a chance? yes? excellent."

Re: Eowyn and Grima - I've always much preferred Eowyn in the books (pre-Faramir personality change up) to Eowyn in the movies, because Eowyn in the books is a stone cold bitch with a bit of ruthlessness in her (aside from her being obvioulsy high-hearted as Hama says, and generous - she is beloved by her people for a reason) and I am here for Grima simping after her and she's like "What is this? did I trod on a cockroach?" and Grima is like "please trod again my lady" etc. etc.

With Eomer it's basically the same dynamic plus the added benefit of Eomer being able to do the slinging-over-a-shoulder-like-a-sack-of-spuds. Not that Eowyn's a light-weight, she's not, but it's more just a bit of a larger size difference and it makes for a funnier visual. Granted Eowyn would win the yearly Husband-Carrying competition. She doesn't have a husband for them, of course, so she just picks the biggest guy she can find who isn't married or whose wife can't enter for whatever reason and carries him through the ridiculous course that's been set up. (It's Hama most years, they're a great team. If not him then Grimbold.)

One year she had to skip it because she was down with flu and everyone was pleased because it meant there was a chance for someone else to win. Grima offered to go in her place and she was a little tempted by it, if only to have some rep at the game and he's built like her so it's a bit of a fair switch, but she ended up turning it down. ("You'll die. Hama will squish you. It's a prospect I'm not adverse to, save that it means you'd lose in my name." "My lady, I'm the youngest of many brothers, I'm used to being at the bottom of the dog-pile. I'll be fine." "...yes. yes you would have been at the bottom." "Anyway, I've a few tricks up my sleeve." "No. Cheating." "Just think about it, my lady." "No. Cheating.")

I think Grima also has a bit of a hard-on for competency and so that's where the intellect and confidence come in. Which, when I write Eomer/Grima, it's Eomer showing up and being very good at his job, and his cousin's future-job, that has Grima going "oh no. There are stirrings and they shouldn't be stirring."

Grima carrying Eomer for the husband-carrying competition is objectively hilarious. It's not about roles or anything, because that's a nonsense, it's just something funny to do of a summer afternoon. I feel like he's surprisingly strong for a man who avoids physical labour as much as possible. That said, he'd be dead for the next four days after the competition. ("You broke every part of me, Eomer." "...isn't that what you're into?" "Not quite like this. I can't move my arms above my head.")

Anyway. Now I've become distracted with Rohan's left-of-centre highland games (Eomer would be stellar at log tossing. Grima runs a betting ring on it every year and somehow makes a killing despite everyone knowing the odds. Eomer keeps trying to get him to not fiddle the books but it never works).

Thank you so much for the asks! I love this stupid, greasy snake man and any chance to natter on about him is a blessing. <3 <3

[ur-wurst-nitemayor]

I feel like as a community, Fire Emblem fans need to address the issue with the most recent seasonal banner. In the Halloween banner of 2020, we got a duo unit of Ninian... WITH TIKI?!?! Nils was right there!?!?!?!??! I can't even comprehend how smooth and small one's brain would have to be to think when someone says, "Hey, we need a child dragon unit to pair with Ninian," that "Tiki is the perfect match!" I'm actually furious. How would such a rookie mistake make it through all of the customs of a unit? In this post, I will explain exactly why it should not have been Tiki, but rather Nils who was paired with Ninian in this most recent Halloween banner.

1. It's Nils! Look at him! You become entranced seeing him even once. I fell in love with him after watching one 30 second video in 2018.

Look at his little dance!

2. Tiki has nothing to do with Ninian despite being a dragon. What is the relation? With this logic, they could have just as reasonably used Nowi, Myrrh, Rhea, or even Naga. Even Grima could work! What kind of logic is this. >:( or, if they need another dragon, they could use Nils!!!

Look at that!!

3. Nils deserves to see his sister again! In most players' ideal playthrough of Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade, Nils is forced to go through the dragon gate without Ninian. Isn't that absolutely tragic?! And then she passes away! Our boy misses his sister so much. Look at how much he cares about her.

And she cares about him, too!

4. INTSYS would make so much money because I would single handedly fund them for the rest of my life. I would assign them half of my life insurance money after I die. I would give them my first born. I would feed their whole company for the rest of my life if they would just let him be Ninian's Halloween buddy! I would spend thousands on orbs and form 10 parties of just +10 Nils and Ninian duos.

5. They knew what they were doing. If you listen to Tiki's and Ninian's lines, Tiki gets to mention all of her friends! She gets to say she wants to share candy with Mar Mar! Ninian doesn't even mention that she has a brother! Why did she dodge it so nimbly, huh? Why? They knew. WHY DOES THIS SIENNDJFOWKJWKDKF https://youtu.be/sUCPVyDPs_w

Skip to 7:10 to hear this absolute whack.

6. Nils is very cute. And everyone knows this. More people know this now that he is in Heroes! He made it into Heroes, so now all he needs is an alt! Why must they deprive the fans so? Nils has a growing fandom that was kicked up by his Heroes appearance. I can guarantee that this fandom would be very satisfied if he got an alt. I doubt there would be very much complaining from anyone. Right. Right guys. Mmhmmm, I'll take that as a yes.

7. Just think about how cute it would be to have Nils in a costume with candy in his hand! Just look at him! He's so sweet already! Give him more sweetness.

8. Please please please please please please please please please please. I just want him so bad. Please. He's so sweet! I'm sure he'd be... well... received I... I'm positive that it... do people really n-not? Not want him? Do they... it's okay. Just, just keep Tiki. It's okay. It's OK. You can add Tiki if you want, Mr. Systems. You can betray him and his little scarf. Wait. Speaking of...

9. Nils has a scarf already! His little scarf is so cute, and it keeps him ready for Autumn! Tiki is wearing shorts! Put on a coat you fanged human! >:(

SCARF!

10. He has the same hair color as Hatsune Miku. Need I say more? Yes. I will.

11. We need more musical units! All of the units we have so far sing or dance, but only Nils plays an instrument. This is bollocks.

12. Tiki has so many alts. Nils has none.

Thank you for reading.

https://youtu.be/xzX5uq3IZng

[whiteladyofrohann]

I'm just curious as to why you like Faramir and Eowyn as a couple. I know a lot of people love them but I've never seen the appeal. It always seemed like she viewed him as second choice like 'oh i can't have Aragorn so I'll have his steward'. And then she sacrifices her fighting in order to be with him. It just seemed unnecessary imo (btw this isn't me hating because I love your blog, I'm just genuinly curious)

I’m going to split this into two parts just to make it easier to read because I could write about these two all day and it would become a mess. First I’ll talk about the Aragorn situation and how quickly she moves from Aragorn to Faramir.

I personally don’t believe that Eowyn ever truly loved Aragorn, and I fully believe that he was always aware of that. When she first meets Aragorn, she’s in a pretty dark place in her life. Theodred is dead and Theoden is completely under the influence of Grima, a man who makes her incredibly uncomfortable and has an unhealthy obsession with her. She is clearly suffering and then she meets someone who is genuinely kind to her, the first person to truly do so who wasn’t related to her. He talks to her, shows a genuine interest in her (and lets not forget that he is very handsome). And he also arrives and is part of the group that free her beloved uncle from the spell he has been under. There is also the high possibility that Eowyn had very little experience with men, I imagine she didn’t see many men interested in her, so it is easy for her to imagine that because he is interested, that he may love her. Of course she is going to take an interest in him when you consider all of that. Eowyn is in love with the idea of Aragorn, the handsome hero who saved her from the darkness that was hanging over Edoras, the man who will become King, but is not in love with him. 

Skip forward a bit and then she has been rejected completely by Aragorn, throws herself into battle hoping to die, kills the Witch King and then ends up severely injured in the Houses of Healing. Enter Faramir. He clearly shows an interest in her from near enough the moment they meet, but Eowyn doesn’t have the ‘oh you’ll do as a replacement attitude’, she essentially rebuffs him at first but over the short time they spend together, gets to truly know him in a way I don’t believe she got to know Aragorn. They spend a long time together, and then the little gestures he makes such as giving her his mother’s mantle are the type of things that let her know he is interested in her in a way that Aragorn wasn’t.

Then there is the whole talk after Sauron has been defeated, where Faramir acknowledges that she thought she was in love with Aragorn. I think the reference he makes of her admiring Aragorn as a soldier would his captain (or something like that) almost perfectly describes Eowyn’s feelings for Aragorn and I think that is where she also realises. And then there is her quote of ‘no longer do I desire to be a Queen’, which I think is her almost assuring Faramir that he is not a second choice, that she is not settling for him just because Aragorn is taken. 

The most important thing about the time she spent in the Houses is that when she arrived there, she was still searching for death. She literally says to Faramir ‘I wish to ride to war like my brother Eomer, or better like Theoden the king, for he died and has both honour and peace’. By the end of her time in the houses, she is talking about healing and life and is happy about the future she has ahead of her with Faramir, and it wasn’t Aragorn who brought about this change, it was Faramir, so he wasn’t her second choice.

The second part is the claim that she gave up fighting to be with him. I disagree with this massively. I am sure people have written about this before. I loved the ending of her story and it is a perfect end for her character development. She plays her part, and then wants to live in peace. Her aim was to show that women are capable of protecting themselves and those they love. In a very similar way to what men in the first world war did (and tolkein may be included in this, perhaps his experience may have come into her story a bit). When the First World War started, men were eager to sign up to the army and to go to war, defend their country and family and to prove themselves, and that is exactly what happens with Eowyn. Then like the men in the First World War, when Eowyn actually gets to war, she realises how horrifying it truly is, how much death is involved and things you see that will haunt you.

Eowyn played her part in saving Middle Earth, just as the soldiers in World War One did their part in defending the people and I believe that Faramir helped her see that, but didn’t force her to. He didn’t ask her to stop fighting and to become a healer, she did that herself. She has seen death and destruction that comes with war and then chooses to be on the flip side of that, to heal and help life grow and thrive and it’s a wonderful contrast. She doesn’t sacrifice it, it is something she wants. I doubt that Eowyn never picked up a sword again, and she would defend Ithilien if the need came to it, but she chose a different path, one of life.

[eolewyn1010]

if we're doing variety eowyn? (and now i'm picturing you crouching over franz like gollum saying my precious)

(...now I wanna draw that. Me, crouching over Franz and going happy Gollum as he squints up to me, mildly disturbed, and Ivo sitting nearby and giving me a look like "what the fffuuuu..." Don't plant ideas into my head; I don't have the time!)

character: Like her with a tendency to loving her, although it's been a while and my fandom feelings for LotR aren't super strong currently. Also gotta admit that I never read further than the first book, so I'm working with movie Eowyn here. Shame on me.

ship with: Faramir, Aragorn, and Merry. She deserves them all. No, like - I think her relationship with Faramir is sweet and a good ending for her, but I also think she and Aragorn wouldn't have been half bad for each other and she feels like more of a character to me than Arwen does. I also read a fanfic once that shipped her with Grima - which is admittedly not a healthy concept, but the story was *chef's kiss*. And of course she and Merry are the ultimate power duo, so... poly-armory, anyone? I'll see myself out.

brotp: Merry! I really love the bond these two have going on, they're awesome together. Don't even wanna ask the number of brain cells these two share, but they're a treat.

general opinions: Something I like about Eowyn is that, for someone who naively dreams of glory and fame and of a man who's not hers, and who has a bit of an emo teen streak, she's ultimately given the chance to become a grown-up character. She has to step up for a responsibility role in her family, suffers wounds and heals from them, gets over a love she can't have.

[fayesdiary]

Chrom and/or Robin for the ask game :)

I'll do both!

Chrom

First impression: I don't even remember when I first got properly introduced to him. Heroes, maybe? No, I think it was before Heroes got released. It's definitely not when I first played Awakening though, since that was just last year.

Impression now: Truly the most male character of all of Fire Emblem. He's amazing. The perfect combination of Marth and Ike. His voice is perfect. He singlehandedly puts my sexuality into question.

Favorite moment: It's got to be either his battle convo with Walhart or his reaction to Lucina's reveal, immediately believing and comforting her without asking how or why.

Idea for a story: Something about his journey in search of Robin after the ending, that and him fitting into the role of Exalt (granted he's already been at it for two years by this point, but you don't exactly learn how to govern properly in just two years)

Unpopular opinion: I feel that Chrom's approach to trusting people is, as always, really misinterpreted by the fandom (and honestly one of these days we need to have a whole discussion on how this fandom treats naive characters and the belief that naive = stupid).

He knows the danger of trusting everyone, but he still chooses to- as he explains in his support with male Robin, he'd rather risk falling into a trap than turn his back on someone in need. Heck, if he didn't do this, Robin wouldn't be with him now.

Besides, he's got Frederick to watch his back and do the suspecting for him.

And you know, the fact a good chunk of fans just shrug it off as "lol he's so stupid" is just annoying, when the whole philosophy is yes, dangerous, but also fascinating and noble!

Favorite relationship: Romantically with Robin, no question. The two pair each other so well it's baffling, especially with male Robin. I feel they have even more chemistry there!

Platonically with Lissa, mostly because I like they act like actual siblings. Well, besides the occasional "big brother".

Favorite headcanon: He's a huge mythology nerd. He knows a lot about the lore of other worlds, even if he doesn't know they're real until Heroes or his trip through the Outrealms. He actually learned Aether by reading about Ike's stories and imitating him.

Robin

First impression: Again, no idea. They're one of those characters that feel they've always been there.

Impression now: I'm just so fascinated by them. They're by far one of the most intriguing characters in the entire series, through their personality, their relationships, their special connection to Grima and their metanarrative role. I literally wrote a whole essay about it! Of all the FE avatars, they're the only one who I think actually works better as an Avatar, even if I still thing they get restrained by the role sometimes.

Also I like female Robin (those pigtails are iconic and her map sprite looks so fluffy), but I still like male Robin a lot more. His default look and voice is just perfection, and I feel his supports are overall better!

Favorite moment: Their ending where they sacrifice themselves and the bad ending of Future Past. Those scenes are just *chefs kiss*

Unpopular opinion: They're a lot more interesting than people give them credit for, and it saddens me that a lot of fans think they're just one-note and generic. (But really, you can say this about almost every 3DS FE character, they just shrug them off as "lol anime stereotypes" and then some of them go on explaining why a character of the Kaga games that only has three lines is better written than all of Fates or some other bs)

Favorite relationship: Romantically again, with Chrom. But I really like Cordelia and Tiki too!

Favorite headcanon: I love the idea of the line between them and Grima being even more blurry than normal and they keep rubbing off on each other, like for example Robin feeling this near unstoppable rage when their loved ones are being horribly threatened or wronged, or Grima having a strange fondness for the Ylissean family despite them being technically their enemy.