#and its GOING to be bad for auberon

[maddstermind]

Words Into Potions Intro! Introducing...

~ Auberon Academy: Dark Things ~

Title: Auberon Academy (Book Three) - Dark Things Genre: Fantasy Mystery/Thriller Summary: Ashton and Sutton's quest to find the missing king is coming to a close, but not in the way they expected; Rosamund works with her loved ones to craft a way to finally get a step ahead of their enemies; Addison sets sail for Rasduk in hopes of finding a cure for petrification; and Christie returns from winter break to a terrible betrayal.

The strings of fate binding the four together are drawing closer and closer, as the mastermind is finally revealed and a specter is finally unmasked. The end is drawing near, and it's time to prepare for war.

Here is the tag I use for all Aubie-related things!

Below the cut I have a snippet for you! (From book two, as book three is not yet written!)

     Darkness.       It was oppressive and all-encompassing, making it hard to breathe or think, let alone move. Trapped with a dozen other small bodies, unprepared for the destruction that came with magic. A manifestation that came several years too early, spelling doom for them all.      Behind the fear, there was still a lingering feeling. It was almost indescribable, and had simply been labeled "dark." It was a different darkness than that which surrounded the group, but persistent nonetheless. It had been persistent for some time now, hunting somewhere in the forest at the base of the mountain.      Just as hope was fading and the darkness was on the verge of becoming permanent, there it was — light, bright and welcoming like an old friend. Then came desperate hands and arms, pulling the small, fragile bodies out of the rubble. One by one they tumbled out and went running to their parents, scared that their short lives were nearly ended in an accident.      And then there was the culprit. He was pulled from the rubble by a hand that shone with the light of the suns, yet was cold to the touch. Their body was similarly bright but cold, and a sword hung off their side, the sharp blade hidden in its sheath, away from the curious fingers of children. Despite their cold exterior, they looked at the child with the fondness of a father, of a friend. A handsome, unmarred face, friendly eyes, and dark hair with pale streaks running through it.      They looked like a hero. Something out of a fairytale. Someone who had helped already — and could maybe help more.      He grabbed the cold, shining hand and kept the hero in place. "Please," his voice came out as little more than a whisper, after all the yelling and heavy breathing he'd done in the last however long. "Please, I need your help."      They kneeled, holding his hand gently. "Let's find your parents, yes? You'll be safe with them."      He shook his head. "There's something in the forest."      "Something in the forest?"      "I can feel it. I've been feeling it. It's… I don't know what it is. It's something dark. In the forest, by the mountain."      "Something dark," they repeated, solemn. "Well, let me tell you this, child." They put their free hand on his shoulder, and gave a bright smile, full of teeth. "Not all dark things are bad."      Their words calmed him, despite everything. He was still afraid, but less than he'd been before. He still trembled, but less so.      The hero stood, dusting themself off. "How about this. I'll go check it out now. Just to make sure it's nothing dangerous. Alright?"      He nodded. "I can take you there," he offered. "I can feel it, I can follow it."      They shook their head, looking to the treeline. "No, you need to go home and rest up. You've had a tough day, but you've done a good job and have been very brave. I'll stop by once I've found out what it was. Alright?"      Looking up at them, he believed they could do anything in the world.      "Alright."

This is the prologue of book two, but it's where the phrase "dark things" starts in the series, so I thought it'd be a good excerpt!

[transboykirito]

So Alice and Gabriel are the only characters with real-life names but the others are made up?

no, and while i’m going to assume you didn’t mean this in bad faith, saying that the other characters don’t have “real” names feels very… ignorant at best and racist at worst.

every sao character (with the exception of most underworlders) has a real name!! alice and gabriel just happen to have english names, same with charlotte and alicia. most characters have japanese names, some have spanish/german/hebrew/korean/french/english names. a lot of the underworld characters have made up names because the underworld has its own language and naming conventions.

just from that post, every name on there is a real name. lisbeth is a german version of an english version of a hebrew name (lisbeth from elizabeth, elizabeth from elisheva). humbert is a french name. oberon comes from the old german name auberon. vassago comes from a latin grimoire.

but kazuto, asuna, suguha, shino, keiko, rika, midori, akihiko, etc. are all real names. they’re just not english, they’re japanese, because they’re japanese characters in a japanese series written by a japanese author. they’re not uncommon names for japanese people to have. they’re all relatively popular, actually.

please be careful with comments like this, i’m hoping your ask wasn’t purposely malicious but these kinds of comments can be hurtful and offensive.

[a-byronic-heroine]

@moresaints asked: 🎁

Kly was convinced she would never understand these humans and their holidays. What was even the point of this “Yule”? She recalled during her time as Queen that Eredin reported that some humans left sacrifices and gifts during the cold, short days to try and appease the Hunt and called it Yule. Kly and all the other advisors had laughed at the foolish ways of the short lived, violent little creatures. But now that she was forced to live among them, these strange rituals seemed to have more nuance. Especially in the Kynge’s court. The nobility gorged themselves on feasts and had balls, music and dancing deep into the night. The palace was covered in strange crystal baubles and branches of evergreen adorned with red and white berries and other plants. They offered gifts to each other and the Kynge and whispered of elves and far that would snatch up bad people and eat them. All completely ridiculous and frivolous. It made no sense at all, though Zelda seemed determined to teach her and make her demean and lower herself into participating.

Gifts in her culture were seen as gestures meant for elves assigned to marriage. After the Aen Saevherne assigned elves for reproducing, there was a ceremony of the two families. Each of the couple would give their intended a gift showing their skill and ability to provide. A showing of what they offered in the offspring planned to be had. There were no other times gifts were given, so Kly was reasonably confused when humans just gave each other things. She personally refused at least four already though she suspected the servants were taking them to be put in her rooms, the bastards. She didn’t want their gifts. It was uncomfortable. Insulting to her, in many cases. The only exception was for Zelda. She was an admirable if irritating woman; Kly found her to be tolerable and good company.

She offered the monarch a small, singular cuff link. It was silver and gleaming though the design was plain. She deposited it into the woman’s calloused hand and nodded. “It goes on the sleeve. Dip it into any food or drink, and it will alert you to poison or toxins.” Kly was ever the practical one. She wasn’t about to promise Zelda a tract of land, any horse of her choosing or the finest wine of a Beauclaire vineyard or a hand forged blade encrusted with jewels. Land becomes useless, animals die, wine goes away, blades go dull and rust. A device charmed to alert its wearer to toxins or foul play in their meals? That had permanence and use.

She pulled a phial from her gown and placed a drop on the cuff link. Hopefully she would be too distracted to ask why Kly kept poison on her person. No doubt she’d scowl and pour at the Aen Elle’s reasons. The small device chimed faintly like the ting of a hand bell and glowed pale blue with magic. “It’s a magic I refined for personal use. I’m sure it will be of value to you.” Because she was a target of many assassinations. Most by people in Auberon’s own inner circle. Crevan in particular. She dipped her head. “I hope it pleases you and shows my usefulness.” She paused and blinked for a few moments. That was…a bit uncanny. She immediately defaulted to a close translation of the engagement gifting. She cleared her throat and shook the thought.

[oathofthebedtime]

aaAA

[13thdoodle]

can you explain to me the levi au? i read the original post and i still don't get it

Okay so this is the post about Levi's origin but to summarize

Levi(athan) is an OC of mine who is the Ancient of Heroes (like how Clockwork is the Ancient of Time) and was the First Ghost King.

But he didn't like being the king like at all, so at some point he appointed the next King (my partner's OC Auberon ) and then he jsut left, hiding away at the edge of the ghost zone realm so no one can bother him there

He only come out of isolation just once to help kicking Pariah's ass to the sarcophagus and then peace out again

--

the AU kinda starts off with Danny finding out he looks like the first Ghost King and later on just.. accidentally found said guy just hanging around in middle of no where fighting monsters or sth

it's basically just grabbing this short feral man by the scruff and get him to meet and talk to ppl again

--

so when I refer to og!Levi, I meant this version of Levi, the I-haven't-talk-to-ppl-for-thousands-of-years-and-also-am-absolutely-a-feral kind of Levi

there's a reason for him going that far for isolation and I'm gonna explain it under cut bc it is long

So, I have drew this for angst week but in case it's hard read

Levi in this AU, his og AU, actually had lived through this timeline twice. On the first run, he was way more brass and way way more impulsive.

And he didn't really know how to properly do a King's job? so instead of getting help with the whole ruling thing, he took on everything on himself and it weigh him down really bad

I mean that's what heroes do, helping others by taking the burnt of it on themselves. and yes, Levi have a bad case of Saviour/Hero Complex because he literally was made from one akjsdnkajsd

oh yeah, in my AU, I hc that Ancients are made of concepts or stories ppl made. kind of like gods and such, stories and concepts given form. Levi is made from stories of heroes, ones who saved people and protecting others

so that's what he do, thats what his core is

which clashes with being a King all about, because when you're a King, esp on times of chaos n war, you WILL have to make sacrifices. And it cannot be yourself, bc ppl would still need you to lead them. And that fucks him up, because the whole thing with Heroes complexs are sacrificing themselves to make sure everyone else is safe

so he took everything on his own, stretched himself thin, and eventually got caught off guard n he failed to safe a town/village. It was literally destroyed right in front of him n that just broke him

he asked Chronos (the first timeline's Clockwork) to turn back time so he can fix this n Chronos refused bc duh its bad. .....so Levi tried to turn back time himself

But the problem with that is, time magic.. requires compatible magic user to use them. And Levi, who is very much not a time ghost, cannot use it. But he IS a very VERY strong ghost, so he brute force it, and basically broke the timeline all together

Chronos got there in time (lol) and tried to fix/sealed it, but it drains all his power, but before that, he sent Levi back in time to prevent this from happening in the first place

So here's Levi, back in time, to when he was supposed to meet Chronos the first time. But Chronos never showed up, bc he lost all power and essentially died, and have to reform again, to the one we now know as Clockwork.

And now Levi get to live through this timeline knowing what will happen in the future and can react accordingly. But it also made him a bit more distant? Keeping everyone's at arm length bc he is way older and more tired than he was the first time.

like if u know whats going to happen it'll be a bit harder to get super invested into what is going on basically?

So he's now keeping ppl at distance and doesnt really bothers as much to befriend ppl anymore bc what if he fcked up n got em killed again?

and then time goes on and he crowned Auberon and then he leave for good

So, there's Levi.. who haven't had.. or tried to make any meaningful relationship since (he did make frens but he left all of em behind so) and now are being dragged kicking n screaming to socialize agian lmao

[revoevokukil]

I could read your analysis of Cirillac'h endlessly.❤️ Would you mind answering a few more questions? 1.) Who fell in love first? 2.) What annoys them the most about their partner? 3.) What do they like best about each other? 4.) Do they bring out the best in each other, or the worst? 5.) How Ciri feels about Avallac'h's 'obsession' over Lara? 6.) Does Avallac'h ever regret manipulating Ciri into sleeping with Auberon?

Alright, this took a while. Thank you for these excellent questions on Ciri and Avallac'h!

1. Who fell in love first?

I think we can leave conventional pathways to falling in love behind the door with these two, for I believe when brought together both of them take one facet of “falling in love” to its extreme: our tendency to see the other person for “who we want them to be” rather than as the person they are. I think the tendency is pretty common in all of us – our contexts for arriving at mutual understanding are usually simply a little less wrought with barbed wire. We usually want to and begin to see the other for who they are before our make-believes eat them and/or us up. The nature of this dialogue between partners is one which I think Avallac’h’s and Ciri’s relationship should explore.

With Ciri the matter is a little less complicated overall, so I would say she is the one to progress first and faster down this path in the more... ordinary sense. By character, Ciri is outgoing, curious, and hands-on/open personality – moreover, her personality is still in formation. Unfortunately, her softest parts have been repeatedly badly sliced and diced. Neither does she have steady, healthy examples of romantic love to look up to for guidance (if we discount Calanthe & Eist, maybe; although these memories are hidden behind a wall of trauma – the fall of Cintra).

Ciri’s attachment and abandonment issues are a double-edged sword: they make her wary and cynical of affection as such, but they also make her gravitate toward sources of security, stability, displayed affection and understanding. Avallac’h by his personality, knowledge, and power is well-placed to offer all of these things – at face value. Ciri admires, trusts, and looks up to the elf in the books, being jealous even of another elven woman floating around him. The speed of her attachment to silver linings presenting is concerning, but very understandable. It displays hope. For Ciri is also fairly young and the processing of her trauma is on-going, having not really even started by the end of the books. Many bad things can still wash off her if they are supplanted by relatively steady good things. Ciri also gives off the vibe that she took Margarita’s “act now; wrongly or rightly, may that be revealed later” very seriously, which can translate into giving herself into situations, relationships, and unknown possibilities with increased openness and sincerity – even if she doesn’t wish to admit to the existence of feelings or understand them completely. By interacting comes understanding, right?

With her psychological profile, she seems to me more prone to falling into doing things in the name of feeling like she belongs and is loved/cared for, regardless of risks. So, I think, Ciri is the first to sincerely, secretly start entertaining the thought of there being something more meaningful and lasting between the two of them. She wants to be loved – the world’s kind of crap, though. And complementarily damaged people often gravitate toward each other, which doesn’t make things easy.

On the flip side of the coin, I think Avallac’h fell first for the “possibility” Ciri personifies, which is like falling in love with a shadow in Plato’s cave. She might, in fact, be the light shining into said cave after centuries, but he will not instantly and consciously want to tear down former well-known structures and begin studying the nature of this light for what it is. He is worldly, cunning, and messed up in his own web of fates. A person in his position cannot allow a vulnerability like that (it’s almost an insult in itself). Avallac’h at present (let’s say, pre-game canon/post-book canon) is very much more inclined to distance himself from his own emotions and the “target subject” – observe it behind the glass, provide stimuli, get feedback. Make it safe and manageable for himself first, if possible. If she gets something good out of it in the process as well, all the better – I think he is quite a bit more aware of Ciri’s potential triggers and mental hooks than Ciri herself is (may it comfort him when he is so terrified of being at the mercy of his own). He knows how emotions work, he knows how they have worked on him, and how he can induce them in another. Even if Ciri would call it manipulation it really isn’t, because after so long you just understand how some mechanisms evolve and function. Why would you not act in the fullest capacity of knowledge you have? The problem is of course the “self” part: this “self” of Crevan’s hasn’t had the opportunity to develop anything healthy and lasting; it might not even know how to immediately do that because there are so many unresolved issues. Perhaps he even thinks it kinder to spare Ciri of having to deal with and understand that which has piled up in his shadowy heart.

But... the possibilities.

Crevan falls first for the possibility of re-experiencing destiny as manifested in love. (He thinks it’s cerebral, but the joke’s on him. He has been cheated out of his destiny, and the hurt is pretty unambiguously personal.) I do not think this is limited to recapturing the likeness of old love, or about trapping her in Plato’s cave alongside him either (though the danger exists). A journey instead: an opportunity to question, understand, get back at destiny/love and transform it, overcome self and it, and “get it right” this time. To see clearly the other person and yourself, for once. Things can go wrong, since the journey is in essence a gauntlet. I wouldn’t delude myself by thinking he is not considering and indulging in all the ways in which to have his cake and eat it too, given the opportunity. Perhaps though, there are better and worse ways for accomplishing a good, lasting thing? If you have had centuries to wonder about your destiny and how to bring it into fruition in a manner that does not self-destruct, then one hopes you are a tad bit more sensitive to mere shadows on the wall (impressions of “rightness”), and will react accordingly. With love especially, you will know when something rings false. You will feel what you feel; the question is how will you deal with it? In monologue? Or dialogue?

2. What annoys them the most about their partner?

In Ciri – thoughtlessness/insensitivity & nihilism/impulse for destruction.

In Avallac’h – hypocrisy/bending of truth & extreme pragmatism/god’s eye distance from “the earthly.”

3. What do they like best about each other?

In Ciri – idealism/hopefulness against all odds (though it causes him pain and frustration too) & straightforwardness about wants/mischief.

In Avallac’h – sensitivity/eye for detail and the unseen at first glance (perspective shifts) & reliability (structure, put together, everything under control, gives strength)/humour.

4. Do they bring out the best in each other, or the worst?

Depends on the circumstances. Generally, I think they bring out the better parts of themselves by the tug-of-war between how they oppose each other, since at heart Ciri and Avallac’h actually share a common pain and a common desire and even a common sense of entitlement/injustice. The difference comes in in scale. So the question starts to be – how come we oppose each other instead of leaning on one another? What can be revealed there and what can change in both of us as a result of our relationship? What is necessary for life instead of barren wilderness?

Ciri and Avallac’h complement each other in many ways – in personalities and conceptually. Therefore, they don’t capsize the boat with too much of one or the other thing, if you see what I mean, but rather keep the thing balanced.

For instance with Lara and Crevan I think there was too much of “one thing” – too much Alder Gold in one cup; too special, too “unproblematic”, too powerful, too “meant to be”, too perfect. It’s like the pitch perfect garden that somehow still manages to look inert, while a wilderness garden thrives thanks to imperfection; thanks to having to struggle to get there. I think a similar capsizing can also happen with Ciri and Eredin – hedonistic delight in the worst of our natures, for example. Those are interesting relationships too. That said, I am more than certain that especially in the first decade of Crevan’s and Ciri’s relationship, there are plenty of moments in which they can hurt each other very badly due to failing to bend at the correct moment (neither does that too well).

5. How Ciri feels about Avallac'h's 'obsession' over Lara?

In Lady of the Lake, Ciri’s reaction to tearing open an old wound of Avallach’s is to apologise to the wizard. Now as readers aware of the context we can see that given the circumstances of Ciri’s stay at Tir na Lia (and the fact Crevan is old enough, I think, to get a grip of himself) this is ridiculous, even if Ciri is being rude and thinking only about herself. Leaving this judgment business aside though, did Ciri perhaps realise in that moment anything at all about the heart of the wizard – or about the way elves feel in general? How strongly and for how long they can feel, hold grudges, hold onto memories with centuries to spare? Ciri’s experiences with Auberon after all (who mourns not one but two people connected to Ciri) culminate in her comforting him and saying goodbye to him amicably, and though LOTL gives us almost nothing in terms of Ciri’s internal feelings, the change of her mental state, her reflections, I still think she does come to empathise on some personal level.

I think Ciri understands how much Lara mattered to Avallac’h without knowing the details. I think she understands the elf loved somebody dearly and sincerely, and it isn’t right to make light of that, especially considering Ciri’s own shaky experiences with “love”. I think it intimidates her and makes her wonder sometimes, and I think she resents it: for progressively changing reasons.

Initially, it’s about the inability to live up to the expectations that are set on her at Tir na Lia – there is very little elf left in her, Ciri admits, as she becomes progressively more subsumed and more willing to please the elves. (This is a longer topic concerning Ciri’s mental state at Tir na Lia, which Sapkowski does not explore.) We’re not only speaking about looks here, but also mentality. Of “playing a role” and impersonating a character with duties. Ciri has not finished forming her own identity in the first place, so the shadow of Lara is not so much about a competition with a ghost of a former loved one as it is about broad sense of identity confusion. It’s impersonal, still.

Later, after escaping and reuniting, after the re-establishing of rapport under different circumstances the resentment would become more personal – anger and sadness intermittently over sometimes being but a mockery of a beautiful memory to somebody with whom you are forming a relationship. It would make her question Avallac’h’s help due to her own shortcomings when she is feeling small and make her shrug and accept his help as one of those life’s weird inevitabilities (what can she do about his feelings, in the end?) when she is feeling strong. It would often sober Ciri, I think, and at times she would resent herself for the part of her that is still trying to be a bit more like an elf she did not know and cannot be – if only not to be alone in feeling the feelings. “If only you could love me just a little bit – for me.” I think that encapsulates it in the end when there is still hope in her. I think though that she realises the catch very quickly, and it will anger her despite ultimately leaving her in a position where the only thing she can do is be herself, and that’s that.

Because Lara is one of Avallac’h’s demons and a part of his life that Ciri can do very little about. She does not have to, in the first place. When Avallac’h tells Ciri “let us not return to that ever again” and hugs her, I think he is aware of something Ciri herself will become progressively aware of once she starts developing feelings for the elf – it is not only Avallac’h’s own thinking that holding onto the past will poison, but also Ciri’s. Bringing it up constantly and keeping it in mind on both of their side will let cynicism run rampant, and everything burns. Past cannot be wiped away (and shouldn’t be in order not to repeat the mistakes), but people can proceed by giving even more value to the present thanks to the past instead of detracting from the present because of the past.

The games give a pretty nice indicator of Avallac’h perhaps having embarked on this journey himself: “For those who remain, death should never be more important than life.”

I think Ciri in her insecurity will just take a little time to believe it.

6. Does Avallac'h ever regret manipulating Ciri into sleeping with Auberon?

In some respect, I would say no – because Avallac’h has a “greater good” in mind, and a duty to his people in the achieving of which a single individual’s discomfort matters very little. In fact, I think Auberon was the kindest choice all in all – if there was ever a marginal amount of choice involved, which there seems to have been with the alternative being Avallac’h himself and his laboratory.

Which leads me to my next point.

In some respect, I would say yes – because the alternative was Avallac’h himself and his laboratory. A laboratory our pragmatist geneticist, for someone so “ends justifying the means” oriented, is very reluctant to use. As a matter of fact, from the cold, ruthless perspective of “matters of state” I would be pretty cross with Avallac’h for not opting for the more fool-proof method (as opposed to Auberon – which is self-explanatory (Lara was his daughter, Auberon is depressed/weary of life, 650+)). Further, it makes me think the alternative was Avallac’h and/or his laboratory rather than simply the laboratory – which makes sense, as even though Auberon is genetically more similar to whatever Ciri (a mutant) retains of the original Elder Blood, Avallac’h himself carries Elder Blood in the form of having been a match for Lara.

So, my theory.

Avallac’h was always supposed to make up for what initially seemed as the loss of the Gene. Perhaps it was a loss, perhaps Lara knew something more about the future when engaging with Cregennan. Upon meeting Ciri for the first time in person, having so far only dreamed of her and observed her from afar, Crevan is left speechless. He doesn’t even give Ciri his name, though he has prepared a tower and a place for her to stay at. He leaves abruptly without a word, for an entire week.

During this week it becomes conclusively clear to him that he cannot do it – neither father the child nor take Ciri to his laboratory. Ciri bears Lara’s eyes. Instead, he turns with news to the one person who is probably even more hurt than he is by the past, by the loss of a daughter and a wife (both of whose eyes Ciri bears) – Auberon. Auberon and him are both ambitious individuals. Auberon’s reluctance to engage with humans is perhaps even greater than Avallac’h’s. They have talked about the Swallow, of Lara’s descendant, before; of what will happen to her. The end matters, and in the end only that. But the ruler of the Alder Folk is a ruler for a reason; his wisdom and maturity surpass Crevan’s. He sees what he has long seen and understood about his once son-in-law – it will be a mess. It will be kinder and safer for their blood not to be put under knife, nor to come in touch with the metaphorical knives of unresolved and revived feelings Avallac’h at that point is virtually full of. Moreover, nothing new can begin, unless something old ends first.

On his part, Avallac’h is also conducting a test of fate – if everything is meant to be, everything will be. If Auberon succeeds, then that is that. But Ciri’s role in Auberon’s life is to close a circle, and nothing comes of it. Something ends, something begins. (Crevan has foreseen this possibility in the branching tree of fate too.) Avallac’h, however, has done something similar to what Geralt did at his very first meeting with Ciri – I have written about it here.

Later, I think Avallac’h will regret sending Ciri to Auberon when he is left thinking back on how Ciri herself – the child of Destiny – offered herself to him.

As ending note to you: have you ever listened to Girlyboi's Whole ? That song is Ciri/Avallac'h to me.

---

If you like my writing, consider buying me a coffee. Thanks! ❤️

[icharchivist]

I really wonder now if the whole thing in Grand Lancelot's fate episodes about the fact fairies are waking up being an omen for bad things incoming was actually foreshadowing this event instead of the next knights event. Especially since it looks like there's going to be some element of time travel similar to how the fairy allowed Lancelot to look into past events.

i think it can be both, as it is, since considering the Fairy thing awakening in all of Feendrache seems to be something that'll be relevant for their plot (the awakening, why a fairy paid attention to Lancelot, ect.. i could easily see Merlin try to take up this power after taking the dragon power, esp since the Myth!Merlin has tie to both dragons and fairies, with dragons being his rise to power and fairies being his downfall. Also always holding hope that the Auberon fairy that gave its name to the water fist will be relevent to the kishi story since the Myth!Auberon is tied to both the Arthurian legend and Siegfried)

But for certain it seems that i'll be relevant for the anni event.

I suppose the other take would be to examine why those 4 Primals are shown to represent the war, as they were all born during it. Tiamat was made to protect an island and she still follows her purpose. Lumineria was a warrior who i think helped a bit the skydwellers during the war? which parallel to Noa who, on his hand, was meant to exploit the humans (out of the 4 primals we see, and i'd even argue out of most the war primals we've seen, he's the one who has expressed the most guilt for his actions in the war (even if #HeDidNothingWrong moment he's a primal he couldn't fight his purpose and once he realized the harm he was doing he is one of the few primals who retired as much as possible from their purpose and in this essay i w-)).

Which leaves us with Sylph and the fact she wasn't created as a weapon for the war but as an homage to a lost loved one, who turned out to be a fairy. I wonder if this could at least give us lore about what was the fairies impact on the world pre-war, and why did they go dormant, what was their relationship with the Astrals since they seemed otherwise to protect the Skydweller. And in opposition to the other 3, Sylph being an healer complete the 4 of them which are protection, attack, and exploitation.

So i can see Sylph being here for those reasons, with a reason to touch on the fairy lore at last.

But would the fairies get into action This event? this is also a possibility, like you mention with the time travel happening, and this may be a good way to use the anni event to really implement World Building Lore, even if it's the Dragon Knights saga who will especially have to deal with the fall out of this lore.

so yeah i still think the fairies have a big part to play on the Dragon Knights saga, but i also agree that this is the perfect occasion to have them enter the official lore.

Anni events have been used a lot to further the main lore of the game (wmtsb showing the first time Astrals came to the Skyrealm and the first primals, Moon Sweet Home showing the whole deal with the Moondwellers, Seeds of Redemption gave us a lot of infos about MC's father, and here we at least know we'll be exploring the weird timeperiod Zooey and Geo are from). I think Anni events tend to come from the principle that even casual players who skip most event will try to read them to celebrate, and as a result, if they want to set up big lore changing bits, it's the perfect place to do so, so they can sneak this new lore in any content they want.

so yeah, i think it can be both. But i'm really excited to see how much we may actually touch on the Fairy lore with this event. That'd be fascinating!

[veinereastath]

WIP Sunday

Thank you for tagging me, @fadedjacket! <3 Tagging @starsandskies @red-nightskies @minilev @xbaebsae @spicevalleys @mackie-hattwie and @pd3 :> No art WIPs because I hate everything I do lately, so have some Witcher writing instead~ Long story short, Rhan, at this points aged 27, an ultimate dumbass, got captured by Eredin and managed to escape Tir na Lia after being prisoned there for five months. I added some non-canon faction, Fugitives, who are basically Aen Elle elves either banished from Tir na Lia, or simply those who escaped for various reasons, mostly from death sentences, and they helped her to hide. Which worked.

... For two days, because I love torturing my OCs. :)     […] As soon as Annaya turned around, Rhan heard the sound of horse hooves tapping on a stone becoming louder.     “There is no time for planning, human girl.” the leader of Fugitives spoke, then chuckled. “’His Majesty’ is already here. Stay where you are and when things go wrong, and they will, run as far as legs will be able to carry you.”     Rhan exhaled and made two steps back, looking around. Eredin didn’t come alone; Dearg Ruadhri – at least three dozens of them - surrounded the remnants of crumbled, small city, the last resort of those banished from Tir na Lia.      Fugitives. Murderers. Thieves. Ironically, they were her only hope to come back to her world.      It’s not like she was that much different from them, in the long run.     Huge black-bay stallion slipped out from behind the wall. Eredin stopped his horse abruptly in front of Annaya standing in the middle of the road; he jerked the reins so violently that his mount tossed its head, then huffed like a furious bull.     Rhan expected to see some kind of unbridled fury in those unmistikable green eyes, flashing with a hue so vibrant that they reminded her of basilisk venom; but Eredin didn’t seem to be furious – not at all, actually. Something in his sharp featured face seemed off. Like he was actually expecting, hoping for this to happen.     At this moment, as if hearing her thoughts, Annaya shot Rhan a quick look with a sad smile. I told you he would, girl.     “Out of my way, woman.” He spoke to the Fugitive in ellylon, only to meet her cold stare; Annaya was looking at him with arrogance that was so, so typical for Aen Elle. Rhan suddenly felt incredibly small; even smaller than usual. Most of all, it was because she was surrounded by the Wild Hunt, and there were only twenty Fugitives in total – there was no way they could win in an open confrontation.     And then she understood. Eredin wanted her to run away, pulling the strings in a way that would lead her to this place; he would be able to get rid of the Fugitives, since now he knew where they were, and at the same time had a leverage for a conversation that was to come - because at this point, it was Rhan who broke the deal; not him.      Great. And I have no magic with me, Rhan thought bitterly, looking at the damn bracelet that was stopping her from using her power. And, of course, they’re using this dialect I barely understand.

    “Why would I?” Annaya’s defiance vibrated in her voice, and Eredin’s horse once again tossed its head, noticing its rider’s irritation. “We’re outlawed. Either by you, or Auberon. So, technically speaking, you’re not my king, and neither was your predecessor. Not anymore.”     Eredin remained calm, surprisingly; he raised his chin, looking at the woman from above with clear disgust. He remained silent for a long while – like he was giving Annaya the chance to back off and change her mind. But she didn’t; she was way too proud.      Raven haired elf slowly drew his sword, took a moment to look at it and admire it, then chuckled.     “Well, that was to be expected. But it’s your choice, fool. Your choice, and your mistake.” He raised his head once again, and this time looked straight at Rhan – pointing the end of his sword at her. She was extremely stressed – having no idea what was the conversation actually about, being able to decipher only few meaningless words, and now seeing her captor in this extremely bad predicament.     “Slaughter them all.” Eredin commanded, not breaking eye contact with the girl. “But leave this one to me.”     Annaya turned around and drew her own sword; her piercing, grey eyes locked with Rhan’s, who up to this point had no idea what was happening. “He wants you alive. Get out of here. Now.”     That was enough to make her blood run cold; and in the same moment, Dearg Ruadhri swarmed the Fugitives, who immediately started to fight back.      Rhan wanted to help them, but there was simply no time - especially when she noticed Eredin's horse neighing widly, then galloping straight at her, brutally pushing the Fugitives’ leader aside. King of the Alders held sword in his right hand, while the left one was preparing to catch Rhan’s hair, in the same way sparrowhawk’s claws were capturing its prey. For the shortest of seconds, she noticed how otherworldly majestic the elf looked, with the crimson cape flowing behind him.     It lasted only a one heartbeat before adrenaline kicked in and she jumped into the alley on her right, feeling Eredin’s fingers brushing against her hair, missing their target by just a few inches. [...]

[herbalinz-of-yesteryear]

Here’s a compilation of my favorite cards of the Gwent Master Mirror Expansion. Too bad I don’t have time to play the game anymore; I’d love to have the Alder King cards.

Oneiromancy, Auberon King, Master Mirror, Ard Gaeth, Pact, Duny, Mage Infiltrator, Hamdryad, Ethiné Young Queen, Lonely Champion

For more information on the expansion and its amazing artworks, go here

[elegantshapeshifter]

These days on Tumblr

Anon: "Hi I’m a Jew and I want to try the Renouncing Christianity practice on me, can I do it with Judaism?” 

Me: Yes, why not? 

People on Tumblr: “ANTISEMITE!!!1!1!1 You stay jew even if you’re not religious, so you can’t stop being jew!”

Me: Ok, so you stay ethnically jew even if you renounce Yahweh. What’s the problem?

People on Tumblr: “The problem is that you are saying that you can’t be both a magician and a jew!” 

Me: In reality, I’m refering to Witchcraft in a religious sense… So I’m not saying anything about magic. Moreover, as you said, you stay ethnically jew even if you renounced the Abrahamic god and change faith into Witchcraft. So how can this be anti-semite if you stay jew even after renouncing Yahweh?

People on Tumblr: “He is trying to impose his view of what Traditional Witchcraft is on the others! He is saying that you can’t define yourself a traditional witch if you are not religious nor reconstructionist!” 

Me: I’m not imposing anything, I just said that I was referring to Witchcraft as a religion in this case, I never said that it was a definition that everybody should use: you can use another definition, until we understand each other it’s all ok…

People on Tumblr: “You said that Witchcraft is not folk magic!”

Me: I didn’t say that. I say that *historically* most folk magicians didn’t call themselves witches because they associated this term with the ones who went to the Sabbath and so on. But you can define yourself as you want. Moreover, we can call it “Operative Witchcraft” instead of Folk Magic, if you think you like it more.

People on Tumblr: “You said that witches weren’t folk magicians!”

Me: No, I said that while the majority of witches who went to the Sabbath were also folk magicians, the majority of folk magicians didn’t go to the Sabbath and didn’t define themselves as witches. I use this terminology because I’m following reconstructionism and so I prefer using terms that practitioners of the past used, but you can define yourself as you want, you can also call the folk magicians of the past “operative witches” if you prefer. I’m not imposing my terminology or definition on you.

People on Tumblr: “And why would you follow reconstructionism? It’s a nonsense!” 

Me: actually **this** seems to me imposing your definition of what Traditional Witchcraft should be on the others…

People on Tumblr: “You said that jews cannot approach fairies, but there are stories of jewish fairies!”

Me: No, I said that historically non-Abrahamic spirits and the Abrahamic characters were approached in separated moments, but after some times, with the advance of monotheism, in folk magick even non-Abrahamic spirits were approached in the same moments of the Abrahamic characters and eventually syncretized. This is the reason why, even if originally fairies were in opposition to the Abrahamic characters, after several centuries we find jewish or christian fairies. Moreover, not all fairies are masks of pre-Abrahamic spirits. The opposition is valid only for those fairies or spirits whose origin is pre-Abrahamic.

People on Tumblr: “So, if fairies can be integrated inside monotheism, why should you renounce Christianity in order to become a witch?”

Me: Because while the folk magicians or “operative witches” were more and more christianized, the witches who went to the Sabbath or “ritual witches” were more and more demonized and their cult was more and more associated with the worship of Satan, and therefore anti-christian. So while both operative and ritual witches (or folk magicians and witches) started from having separated moments in which to approach Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic spirits, after some centuries, in common folk magic we find christianized fairies, while in the trials of witches we find that fairies became devils and asked for the renounce of the Christianity. This difference between the two approaches can be explicit in the character of the King of the Fairies: while in “The Book of Oberon” he is a spirit commanded by the Judeo-Christian god and in “Huon de Bordeaux” Auberon is Christian himself, in trials we find Oberycon (corruption of Oberon) as a demon and the King of Elphame became the Devil in British trials, who asked her witches (the most famous surely is Isobel Gowdie) to renounce their baptism.

Therefore, since we are talking about Ritual Witchcraft (i.e. Witchcraft as a religion) and not Operative Witchcraft (i.e. Folk Magick) we see that the main approaches were: - to separate moments in which to approach the pre-Christian spirits and the Abrahamic god; - or to renounce Yahweh entirely.

People on Tumblr: “But why should I renounce Yahweh only because in the past they did?!”

Me: You don’t have to do anything. I’m just describing for those who are interested. The fact that I write something doesn’t mean that I want to impose this on everybody else. I write for those who identify in what I write, not for everybody. Moreover, I suggest to not worship two forces in opposition between them. The Abrahamic god is in opposition to the Pagan Gods, he destroyed their temples, so it’s definitely in opposition. I’m not saying that you cannot approach them in the same ritual, I just say that it’s not wise. Because it’s not wise to worship both Loki and Odin in the same ritual, it’s not wise to worship both Seth and Horus in the same ritual, it’s not wise to worship both Athena and Poseidon in the same ritual, it’s not wise to worship both Veles and Perun in the same ritual.  If you are allied to a force it’s not wise to approach the opposite one. Yes, you can do it, but it’s very dangerous.  It’s just an advice. You can do all that you want, but you risk.

People on Tumblr: “But it’s not the jew’s fault for the destruction of temples!”

Me: I know, neither of the Christians of today nor many many Christians of the past. However it’s a question of energy. If you align with an energy it’s not wise to approach the one that is in opposition to it.  It’s not a question of fault or responsability, it’s a question of balance and alliances. In the spiritual realm they don’t distinguish between the baptism or the ritual circumcision or whatever. These are physical acts. They don’t distinguish between jews, christians or whatever. What they see is your alliance. Are you allied to X entity? So please don’t approach Y entity which is its opposite.

There is nothing bad in being jew or christian or whatever, exactly like there is nothing bad in having a horse. However, if you go to the sacred places of Diana of Nemi with a horse you’re risking a lot, because Hippolytus/Virbius, her lover, was killed by horses and horses were therefore not allowed.

In the Metamorphoses of Apuleius Isis says that she hated the donkey shape, because it’s the animal of Seth. Is therefore anything bad in having a donkey? No, but I suggest not to bring donkeys to sacred places of Isis, because it’s disrespectful.

This, as we can understand, has nothing to do with ethnicity or “being jew”. It’s a question of alliances and balances bigger and bigger than our mere human issues.

[perfectirishgifts]

The ‘Bad Sex In Fiction’ Award Is Canceled, Because Everything Is Already Awful

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/the-bad-sex-in-fiction-award-is-canceled-because-everything-is-already-awful/

The ‘Bad Sex In Fiction’ Award Is Canceled, Because Everything Is Already Awful

We’re going to have to wait until 2021 to hear cringe-inducing prose.

The Literary Review magazine has announced the cancellation of this year’s “Bad Sex in Fiction” award, because 2020 has already offered more than its fair share of horrors. 

The editors who run the contest stated: 

“The judges felt that the public had been subjected to too many bad things this year to justify exposing it to bad sex as well. They warned, however, that the cancellation of the 2020 awards should not be taken as a license to write bad sex.”

It’s probably a bit late for that; months of quarantine has left millions of people bored and sexually frustrated – we’re sure to see more than a few budding authors conceive some cringeworthy passages, as the darkest depths of the internet have been plundered, new fetishes discovered, and strange fantasies played out in the imagination. 

Sex scenes are incredibly difficult to describe at the best of times, and writers that have spent too much of 2020 alone with their thoughts are sure to give next year’s competition some eyebrow-raising entries. And really, who can blame them? 

The “prize” was established in 1993 by Rhoda Koenig and Auberon Waugh, with the intention of “gently dissuading authors and publishers from including unconvincing, perfunctory, embarrassing or redundant passages of a sexual nature in otherwise sound literary novels”. 

While the Bad Sex in Fiction awards are (predictably) a male-dominated field, some women have managed to claim the prize, most notably, journalist Rachel Johnson, sister of British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. The judges were “impressed” by Johnson’s enthusiastic use of weird animal metaphors – she compared one character’s groping fingers to “a moth caught inside a lampshade” and his tongue to “a cat lapping up a dish of cream so as not to miss a single drop.”

Johnson is also responsible for the most passive-aggressive sentence ever written in The Mail on Sunday, stating that the union between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would bring “rich and exotic DNA” to the royal family (one can certainly understand how she excels at writing excruciating erotic fiction). 

Although, to her credit, Johnson did receive the award in good humor, describing her win as an “absolute honor.” Johnson went on to say:

“I’m not feeling remotely grumpy about it. I know that men with literary reputations to polish might find it insulting, but if you’ve had a book published in the year any attention is welcome, even if it’s slightly dubious attention of this sort.”

Another notable former winner is Morrissey, for his novel List of the Lost and its description of “the pained frenzy” of a “bulbous salutation.” While many authors view winning the prize as a good bit of fun, Morrissey couldn’t help sounding somewhat bitter, stating that it was “best to maintain an indifferent distance” from the award, “because there are too many good things in life to let these repulsive horrors pull you down”.

Let’s hope for a better year in 2021, along with the inevitable avalanche of clunky metaphors and dodgy descriptions of the human physique – we all deserve a good laugh.

More from Vices in Perfectirishgifts

[myupostsheadcanons]

My loooooong rant about The Aen Elle: The Witcher

Book Spoilers, not so much Game Spoilers.

First off, my “elephant in the room” ... Eredin.

In the books he is nowhere near final-boss material like he was in the games. He’s the “That One Boss” rather than “The Big Bad”. Eredin has less of his shit together in the books tbh. He’s like Kylo Ren Evil rather than Voldemort Evil.  They both did extremely bad things and you can’t deny either of them being villainous characters, just different types of evil characters.

Book Eriden has no filter, literally, he says what’s on his mind and doesn’t hesitate to go after what he wants. He’s arrogant and too the point, and doesn’t know what discretion is.

Some of his semi.... alright.... ? qualities:

1. He accidentally insulted Ciri upon first meeting her and apologized right away, he even gave her a flower. 2. He was the only one to be upfront with Ciri that she was a prisoner and will never be released. Even though he did lie to her about her friends being dead and gone. (Unless he wasn’t in his POV and just didn’t understand that TIME means nothing to her).

3. He wasn’t a bad sport about loosing a horse race with her. While he was competitive while it happened, at the end praised her skill and her horse for winning. Note: Kelpie let him pet her on the muzzle. Kelpie, the super horse with a foul temper that Ciri had made sure to note that would bite.... Either this was to show that he is decent with animals or to prove some kind of point of rebuking the “animals hate them” trope that villain characters often get stuck with.

Side Note: Considering he is the commander of mounted combat shock troops for the past several hundred years, it would be logical enough to say that he has a healthy amount of knowledge on horses and their mannerisms and knew if it was safe to pet Kelpie or not.

4. He was honestly trying to help further their people’s common goal when he offered Ciri the aphrodisiac to give Auberon, enough so that he gave it to him himself anyways. And was surprised to learn that it killed Auberon. 

I highly doubt that Eredin’s skilled enough to make the potion properly 100% of the time, or making it more potent/concentrated turned it into a poison  OR, somebody else made it...... (Avallach???? hmmmm???) and gave it to him with instructions on what it does.

((Avallach making it would mean that him getting the hell out of dodge was intentional, that he wanted to be far-far away when Eredin put the puzzle pieces together.))

Auberon, Avallach, and Eredin had a Triumvirate going on. The Unicorns specifically called out all three of them as being dangerous and behind most of what the Aen Elle had been doing. Together they followed the Face/King (Auberon), Brain/Sage (Avallach), and Hand/General (Eredin) .

Just look at the nicknames the Unicorns gave the three of them: The King of the Alders, The Fox, and The Sparrowhawk. They mean something.

While Alder can be an alternative name for Elder, as in the elder blood, the Aen Elle themselves, an actual Alder is a kind of birch tree common in wet areas and used often in dying leather, charcoal/gunpowder, and for making structures that need to be held in wet areas without rotting. The Alder is also a sacred tree, the tree of Bran the Blessid, and was the inspiration for the Weirwood Trees in GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire, the insides of the Alder tree will turn red/brown/dark when it is cut (weirwoods are blood red on the inside).  Forests of Alder are considered “cursed” and to be avoided at all costs, those that go in unprepared or properly blessed will not be seen again (killed by monsters or taken by Fae, the Sidhe, to their realm (hmm, Aen Sidhe.... any one?). Though irl, it is because Alder Forests are in wetland and boggy areas, people just get stuck in the mud and drown.

(Note: another literary example, The Erl King from The Dresden Files. King of the Alders also refers to the character he is based off of: Erlkonig (Elf/Alder King). And in the Dresden series, The Erl King is a powerful wild-fae, the Goblin King (think: The Labyrinth) and King of the Wild Hunt (The Elk-Horned King). It is a also a common fan theory that he is /the/ Oberon, though he is called Lord Herne by name, another horned-crowned hunter of myth as well. As a lord of the wild-fae, he is neutral to winter and summer.   ((Yes, one character can have many identities. This is a word where Odin the All Father is also Santa Clause)).

Remember, Auberon wasn’t some aloof sassy king. He’s jaded and apathetic from being around for over 650 years. But he’s ordered the deaths and enslavement of millions of humans, a genocide, and Avallach and Eredin were right there carrying out these orders. He was polite to Ciri because they needed her, and that eventually went out the window when given an opening to do so.

The Aen Elle’s entire plan was based on re-opening the gates so they can continue this practice. They tricked the Unicorns into doing this once before, but they grew wise and are now at war with the Aen Elle. Lara was the culmination of the Aen Elle’s breeding efforts to create somebody powerful enough to accomplish this. There is a strong possibility she completely disagreed with her people’s ideals, be it that she knew she was being used and/or because she fell in love with a human and changed her ways. But she completely booked it and left them all to rot, while giving them two big middle fingers  (which were later mailed back to Avallach in an envelope...... bad joke).

IMO, Avallach, The Fox, was the more dangerous of the trio (not necessarily the most evil of them). With Eredin he didn’t hide who he was, but Avallach.... he had an agenda a mile long and lied through his non-pointed teeth.  He would present a kind and helpful facade, and when ever something underneath would slip through the cracks, it wasn’t very pleasant.  Foxes are depicted as tricksters, cunning and wily, an animal most frequently associated with being deceitful, or having ulterior motives. When Auberon threaten to give Ciri over to Avallach and his laboratory,  my mind went straight to Vilgafortz and his plans for Ciri... i don’t think this was unintentional.

There is several instances in the novels (The Lady of the Lake especially) where events parallel one another (like Auberon’s abhorrence to Ciri ended up mirroring itself with Emhyr rejecting his plans for Ciri in the end. The theme with Ciri escaping people associated with Birds of Prey (Cahir (his helmet), Tawny Owl, Eriden the Sparrowhawk.... Merlin better watch himself)). Vilgafortz was the obvious villain of the saga, the biggest threat at the time, but did not start out that way, he was first presented as a diplomat, somebody who should be respected and came off as being the reasonable authority figure compared to the decadence of the Sorcerers. Then was revealed to be a sick, twisted SOB doing science experiments on abducted women in order to perfect a technique he was to do on Ciri. Everything he did was in order to accomplish this end goal, to harness Ciri’s powers for himself, even his kind and diplomatic facade at the start and him spending decades gathering political influence in both the North and Nilfgaard under it. The disfigurement of his face was a physical representation of his madness, that the mask was removed and now showed on the outside the ugliness on the inside.

Emhyr’s plan for Ciri started out as Vilgafortz’s plan. Vilgafortz was the one that knew of the prophecy and was the person to find out whom Duny was really. He brought the prophecy to Emyhr and put the idea that the heir of Nilfgaard will be the chosen one.  When this was proposed, Ciri was a toddler at the time (keep in mind that Pevetta was only around 20/21 when she died, and wasn’t 15 yet when she met Emhyr/Duny. In perspective: Ciri was 16 by the end of Lady of the Lake).

Avallach was part of the original breeding plan with Lara, a multi-generational slow-burn magical science experiment. It was more than likely that it was arranged that the two of them become a couple. Avallach is a powerful Sorcerer, member of the Aen Saeherne, sages with specialized training and secretive knowledge about the “Lara Gene”.  When the actual Lara, also an Aen Saevherne, broke up with him and left their people he was very upset about it, something he’s still grudgingly bitter about centuries years later. This is one of the cracks in his facade, when people talk about Lara, and when he did snap at Ciri it was because she compared herself to Lara and in anger suggested that Avallach should be the one to knock her up. He pretty much told her that she disgusted him (maybe even more than Auberon was of her), that her human blood was an insult to their people, that a human took their gift away from them and Lara away from him.

Avallac’h isn’t even his actual name, it’s Creavan Espane aep Caomhan Macha. The root of the nickname also gives us the name to Avalon (the Isle of Apple Trees)... Avalon is were the faeries live, where Morgan La Fae learned her powers, /The/ Lady of the Lake lives there in some stories (she was the one to give Arthur Excalibur, the “sword in the stone” is Uthar Pendragon’s sword), and where King Arthur was taken after he was mortally wounded by Mordred. Geralt and Yennifer were basically taken to Avalon by Ciri and the Unicorn. Then sometime between that and showing up before Galahad, she got into a bloody fight (and won/escaped from that).... (If you believe that Avallach betrayed his people intentionally and ran off.... Ciri taking Yen and Geralt to Avallach for help would be quite the literal interpretation)

Eredin being the Sparrowhawk is one of the more straightforward meanings, its practically hanging a lampshade on what his reason is in the over all story. Like the character himself: to the point and doesn’t hide his motives or pretends to be something he is not. Sparrowhawks get their name because small birds are their most frequent prey. Cirillia’s name came from the Aen Elle word Zireael, a word that means Swallow, a type of small bird. Sparrow and Swallow are very similar words.  Book Eriden calls her Zireael instead of her name to put further emphasis that he sees her as prey.

Wiki Note: Falconers have utilized the Eurasian sparrowhawk since at least the 16th century; although the species has a reputation for being difficult to train, it is also praised for its courage.

Falconry is a practice of keeping birds of prey captive in order to hunt small game for sport or food. They are kept on a leash, hooded, and in cages/aviaries.

Who had Eredin’s leash and used him to hunt prey? Auberon, The Alder King. There was very  little indication that there was a conflict of interests between the two, Auberon even trusted him enough to take the vial from him on his word alone. And, again, Eredin seamed not to have expected it to kill Auberon.

Eredin’s name doesn’t seam to have as much significance as Auberon (Oberon) and Avallac’h (Avalon). Eredin Breacc Glas  (fan nickname: break glass)  he’s literally the first thing that comes up, excluding “witcher” from the searches, you get results from League of Legends, Star Wars, and Final Fantasy :/

A shot in the dark is the Eridanos (river of Hades). AND I only thought of that one because of.... Homestuck’s Eridan Ampora being named after it.  It means “Amber” in Greek. And when i think of “Amber” I first think of Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles. Another series based off of Arthur and Shakespeare Mythos (King Oberon, Avalon, Traveling through Time/Space (Shadow), Blood of the Unicorns, Merlin). Amber was written in the 70′s and 80′s, Zelazny died right around the same time the Witcher short-stories were being published.

Note: Ciri escaped while fighting him on a river, because it was the only path to get out of the loop... if that means anything. :/  (water is a common “ground” for magic, it disperses the energy needed in the spell. it is why Vampires can’t travel across moving water).

The mere presence of Ciri among them, her curse of destiny, ended up breaking open the below-surface cracks in their Triumvirate.   Auberon’s disgust, Avallach’s jealousy, Eriden being the unhelpful helper... Ciri’s insistent want to go home... the Unicorns.... Their plans just crumbled in their hands and resulted in the death of Auberon, Avallach possibly deserting them, and Ciri’s escape from Eredin.

Myu Recommends, Extra Reading Material:

Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files.... A Wizard for Hire, solving supernatural cases, and later gets tied up in wars with the Vampires, the Fairy Courts, Arch-Demons, and Ancient Horror Terrors. 

Roger Zelanzy’s Amber and Chaos Chronicles. (As Collected in The Great Book of Amber). Corwin of Amber wakes up with amnesia, discovers that his father Oberon, King of Amber, is missing or dead and he is now on the top of his siblings’ hit-lists. Those born of the unicorn and traversed the pattern can freely walk through time and space, The Shadow. (Chaos Courts have an older and more complex version of gaining the same ability, The Labyrinth/Logrus, The Serpent .... most people die before completing it)

King Arthur: Le Morte de Arthur, The Once and Future King, and (maybe) The Mists of Avalon. The Faery Realm, Galahad ascending into Heaven, Merlin being Trapped in a cavern for centuries, The Isle of Avalon.... The basis of many of the modern “alternate dimension” in fantasy stories, including The Witcher, Dresden, and Amber.

[oathofthebedtime]

gonna be thinking about this scene for a while.

[bustyandauberonvstheworld]

Questions for Auberon, per Abbey's request!

VICE - What bad habits do they have? Is there something they would be ashamed of? - Auberon definitely likes to drink a little too much. It doesn't take much to get him drunk, and he abuses that fact ("What do you mean I'm drunk? I've only had two!"). He's pretty high strung generally, and it's one of the few ways he actually unwinds. That being said, he's made some terrible decisions because of it, and had more than one hungover walk of shame. SING - Do they like music? Do they listen often/sing/hum/play songs in their head? - Auberon can't sing to save his life, but he will tap his toes and hum along to a tune at the tavern. He might even sing along off key if he's had a few drinks. He was never a fan of classical music, but was made to listen to a lot of it, and can name several of the most famous compositions. He can play a few melodies on the violin, though he is by no means proficient. TOUCH - How do they handle contact? Is their personal bubble big? - Nope. Nope, nope, nope. No touching please. PISTOL - Is this character skilled with a weapon? What’s their opinion of violence? - Auberon is actually surprisingly skilled with swords and bows, having been formally trained from a young age, and he did alright in the fencing and archery competitions held amongst the nobility. But in a real combat situation, where the circumstances are less controlled, and the stakes are higher, he is much more comfortable relying on his spells than his sword. He does not seek out opportunities for violence, but when someone truly deserves a fireball to the face, he isn't one to shy away. QUESTION - How often do they feel doubt? What topics are they defensive about? - Auberon, internally: "FUCKFUCKFUCK I REALLY RAN AWAY WHAT AM I DOING IM GONNA GET MYSELF KILLED OR WORSE IM GONNA BE POOR AND I MADE THE WRONG DECISION AND I CANT GO BACK AND IM GONNA REGRET IT FOREVER AND" Auberon, externally: "Of course I know what I'm doing, fuck off." FLUFF - What hits their soft spot? Does anything turn them into emotional goo? - "Absolutely not. You think my composure is that easily broken?" (*cough, cough* He cries when he reads romance novels. Paulette just wants to tell the handsome guardsman how she feels! But their love is forbidden. :o) GRUDGE - How bad does an insult go over? Do they hold a grudge long? - Auberon, whether he likes it or not, is his father's son, and this is one of the ways he takes after Gaspard. He is quick with a friendly smile, and well-versed in the niceties of social interaction. But in his mind he is constantly sizing up potential enemies, and when he's made a decision about a person, it is difficult to convince him otherwise. He keeps a mental list of those who have wronged him, fully intent on getting retribution at a later date. X-RAY - How’s their health? Any problem areas? Do they take care of themselves? - Auberon tries to eat well and exercise (the latter has been sort of a given recently), but he's no athlete, and he acknowledges that. He gets pretty bad migraines if Fleur strays too far from him, but he's learned to manage them pretty well, and now doesn't hesitate to send her ahead if he needs to. YACK - What’s their favorite thing to talk about? What do they go on about? - For the love of all that is holy DO NOT ask Auberon to explain magic to you. He will deliver a five page book report to you complete with sources, citations, and references should you wish to read more about it. He's been spending more time in the practical application of magic than in its study since he joined the party, but his heart is still in the library.

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 33: Azure Rathalos, the Azure Fire Wyvern

Now that we’re done talking about the tighty-whiteys, I can finally start using the Quest List to order these monsters properly. And man, is this a strong start. I guess it makes sense in-game, considering the missions you had to complete to get to this point, but from the standpoint of this project, we’re going from 0 to 100 real quick. Let’s see what Azure Rathalos has to offer!

(How it appears in Monster Hunter G)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Tri Ultimate)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Online)

Appearance: I...do I even need to say anything? It’s Rathalos but blue. An already great design has been perfected. They even made the wing membranes green, which complements the blue very well. By far, it looks the best in MHO, where both the colors are made more vibrant--kinda disappointing, considering that MHO isn’t considered one of the main MH games by many fans, but the last game Azure Rathalos appeared in was World, where they made it look worse by making its wing membranes the same color as regular Rathalos’ are, so who knows if the traditional MH team will get it right in the next game Azure Rathalos appear in? MHO might be the only game we ever see where the design reaches its peak, so if nothing else, I’m grateful for that.

Look, if you were expecting me to say that this I didn’t like this better than the normal Rathalos design, then you don’t know me at all. It’s sad that the game that did it best wasn’t one of the mainline ones, but at least Azure Rathalos’ appearance was perfected somewhere. This is probably tied with Plesioth for my favorite monster design so far, so I’m giving it a 10/10.

Behavior/Lore: Rare to the point of some people considering them a myth, Azure Rathalos are even more feared than their red counterparts; even monsters that would willingly tangle with a Rathalos will think twice about aggressing these blue behemoths. This is due to Azure Rathalos being stronger and more territorial than regular Rathalos are, to the point of attacking the latter in midair. After they mate, Azure Rathalos will actively patrol their territories to ensure that there are no threats to their young in the vicinity.

Y’know, I’ve been complaining about how little there is to talk about these subspecies’ that I didn’t talk about when I covered the base monster, but now that I think about it, I miiiiight have set my expectations too high; I shouldn’t expect a monster’s subspecies to act completely differently from them and have a lot written about them because they’re meant to be slightly different (and often more threatening) forms of existing monsters. I still have to judge what I’m given, though, and all I’ve been given here is “Rathalos+,” which is clearly what Azure Rathalos are meant to be, but that doesn’t necessarily justify it. I’ll stick with the score I gave original Rathalos, but I’m very close to docking it a point for not doing more. 6/10.

Abilities: The mutation that gives Azure Rathalos their scales also increases their elemental resistance, so even if your weapon’s element is strong against them, it won’t do massive amounts of damage. They, on the other hand, will, as like I said in the behavior section, they’re stronger than normal Rathalos, which can already put most of the monsters in MH on a stretcher. With this increased strength comes increased stamina, allowing them to fly longer; this gives them the chance to use more advanced aerial attacks that would likely tire out the average Rathalos rather quickly. Azure Rathalos have also learned how to painlessly land on the ground with great force, preventing attackers from getting close to them when they tire. Other than that, they have the same powers as Rathalos do, though the Azure Rathalos in MHW can spit out more than 5 fireballs in quick succession.

This is more what I wanted to see from the subspecies’ abilities; even though Azure Rathalos just have better Rathalos abilities, they use them in interesting ways. From how the wiki described them, White Monoblos were just “Monoblos but more armored and with a stronger horn,” which doesn’t really present too many possibilities for changing up their battle (though to be fair, Monoblos in general don’t have a lot of abilities to alter). Azure Rathalos, on the other hand, have greater aerial prowess, allowing them to stay airborne for longer and use new techniques, likely making battles against them noticeably different from those you have with Rathalos. It would have been cool if Azure Rathalos had different elemental properties, but at that point I’m just being a choosy beggar. 7/10.

Equipment: The Rathalos equipment is already awesome, so making it blue automatically makes it better in my eyes. Still, I want to show off some weapon classes I didn’t show in my Rathalos review. First off is the Azure Rathalos Lance from MHO:

Oh, heck yes. The vamplate (handguard) is based off of an Azure Rathalos tail, which works out great since their tails already have a long spike to make into the lance head. The shields not anything amazing, but it doesn’t look bad (not like it could with that shade of blue). Next is a Great Sword called Auberon:

Not sure what the practical point of the spikes is, especially since they aren’t on the cutting edge, but at least they look cool. In fact, the whole sword looks cool; the blade is clearly made of scales that have been bound together into an alloy, and the handguard could slash open arteries by itself. But I gotta put a weird weapon here, so here’s a Hammer called the Huracan Blueblaze:

Honestly, the reason why I haven’t shown any Hammers like this off in a while is because they’ve kind of gotten predictable. “We stuck the monster’s head on a stick and called it a Hammer” can only be done so many times before the theme becomes tiring. Here’s a fun fact, though: I looked up “Huracan” after seeing that my browser’s autocorrect didn’t find it erroneous, and it turns out that Huracan is the name of a Mayan god of fire and wind. It’s a really cool touch! On to the armor, starting with the Blademaster set from MHO:

ALL OF MY YES. Do I need to say anything more? Fine, I will: it takes the awesomeness of the Rathalos armor and makes it blue. There are a few differences between it and the Rathalos set--which isn’t surprising considering the renders are from a different game--but for the most part they look identical. The same can’t be said for the Gunner set from Online:

Honestly, I prefer the design of the Gunner armor I showed in the Rathalos review more than this. Don’t get me wrong, the blue does a lot for it, but something about it doesn’t really gel with me.

Like I said at the beginning of this section, I think the Azure Rathalos equipment is better than the Rathalos equipment just because it’s blue. The fact that Rathalos equipment is already awesome just makes it even better. This comes really close to having a perfect score, but there’s nothing wrong with a 9/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: Don’t pretend you didn’t see this coming. If you take a monster that isn’t blue and make it this shade of blue, I’m almost guaranteed to like it more than the original. In Azure Rathalos’ case, it’s everything Rathalos was and more. Move over, red boy; there’s a new king in town! 8/10.

[oathofthebedtime]

so about crop.