#but am still impressed with the fervor of it here while also engaging

[arecipeforfeels]

francis crozier, final girl

[zer0pm]

Imagine how V would celebrate your birthday.

At the special request of @ikyumie whose birthday is today/yesterday~ Thank you very much for liking my work and I hope this brings a much deserved smile on your special day.

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It started while you were traveling with the Devil May Cry crew, riding through the ruined city in Nico’s trailer. To pass the time, you all struck up a conversation, bringing up random topics of whatever came to mind. Yours evoked the most reactions.

You: “Tomorrow is my birthday.”

Nico: “You’re shitting me!”

The self-proclaimed lethal artisan of the crew turns to look at you. The look of genuine surprise on her face. She was also the one behind the wheel.

Nero: “Hey, Nico! Watch the road! What’s wrong with you?!”

The woman huffs at the young devil hunter.

Nico: “Well, darlin? Gonna do anything fun? May be the end of the world, but that don’t mean you can’t do anything exciting on your special day?”

You: “You mean saving the world and fighting demons isn’t fun?”

Nico: “Ha! Honey! That’s work.”

Nero: “I’m gonna give it to Nico on this one, birthdays only come once a year. Should do something nice, it’ll be a good change of pace.”

You shrug.

You: “And what’s left out there that could possibly offer a good time?”

Nero and Nico began spouting ideas at your direction, urging you to find some enjoyment in an otherwise rather dismal world. So far, their ideas of fun were far from what you had in mind. V, who sat across from you reading his book, was listening to their suggestions and secretly making plans of his own.

The next day...

V: “Do you have a moment?”

You: “Sure. What’s up?”

V: “I have something to show you. Follow me.”

Before you can ask what this was about, the man was already walking away. You followed, trying to keep up with his long strides.

You: “Where are we going?”

V: “You’ll see.”

You: “Not going to tell me, huh?”

V: “Not even if you beg, as tempting as that image would be.”

That made you quiet, you can feel the burn of a blush upon your cheeks at his words. Afraid to ruin the moment, you continued to walk beside him in silence. As you two went along, you took notice of the area around you. Red Grave has always been a city filled with impressive architecture, this building V led you into was no different.

The further you delved inside, the more beautiful the halls became, everything looked clean and were detailed with pristine gold and white details. The paintings that decorated the halls were dated as far back as the early Renaissance.

You: “Are we in an art museum?”

V: “Yes, but the pieces here are not what we came here for.”

Although he confirmed that you were not there to appreciate the art, you still marveled at everything you passed by. How did a place like this survive the demon horde and the qliphoth? It was a question you decided to ask V later. He stops before a set of double doors, steps to the side and turns to you, gesturing towards them.

V: “After you.”

Anticipation getting the better of you, you push open the doors and entered the room. It was completely blank and shaped like a large dome. You turn to V who followed you inside and closed the doors shut, you tilt your head curiously.

You: “What is this room supposed to be?”

He chuckles at your question and moves to a panel next to the doors. Without looking at you, he spoke.

V: “You are standing within the world’s largest interactive hologram projector.”

You: “The inter-what?”

V: “Haha. Watch and see and interact.”

You hear the clicks of a few buttons being pressed and the whirr of a machine coming to life filled the room, the white of the walls soon began to change color. To variations of green until brown and yellow, blue and speckles of red began to join all around. You look down and was immediately shocked to see that you were standing atop of lush green grass. Upon closer inspection, however you found that the floor was completely flat and solid yet as you moved your feet along the floor, the blades of grass parted along with your movements. A tree sprouts out suddenly beside you, making you jumps. It stood in the middle of the changing room next to you, the detail looking so real. Reaching out towards the bark, your hand falls right through it, touching nothing but air. It made you laugh. More and more trees and plant lifeform that you have never seen before began to form all around you until it looked like you were in the middle of a forest.

You: “Where did you take us, V?”

V: “I’m not entirely sure, somewhere warm, I presume. Do you like it?”

You: “I love it! This is incredible!”

V: “Good.”

You nearly jumped again at how close his voice was and found V behind you. You see an almost apologetic smile grace his handsome face. Instead of being sharp with him, you smiled back, too happy over this unexpected and wonderful surprise that was this room.

You: “How did a place like this survive? How did you even know about it?”

V: “That month we took preparing to engage Urizen once more took me to clearing as much of the demons and qliphoth roots as I could. One day, I came across this museum and discovered this room. Since then, I spent almost every day preserving the integrity of this marvelous building from demon hands. I am glad to have put it to good use.”

You: “Good use as in...entertain me?”

V: “Of sorts. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it to inspire a certain...mood.”

You raise your brow.

You: “What mood?”

The tattooed man bends down towards one of the holographic flowers that stood by your feet. The one he held in his hand had long, white petals and sprouting stamens.

V: “They say that the white dittany is considered an aphrodisiac. Said to inspire love and passion.”

The very moment those words left his lips, you felt yourself freeze on the spot, a shiver rubbing across your entire body. It was not an unpleasant feeling either, if anything, you found yourself anxious for him to say more. To confirm the wild thoughts running through your mind. Is he saying...

He takes your hand and places the flower in yours. Although it wasn’t real, although it wasn’t merely a hologram and you were not really touching anything can the warm of his hands sent pleasant sensations across your skin.

You suddenly feel soft lips press against your cheek, the feeling making you close your eyes to relish it. When you felt him pull away, you looked at V intently and found that his eyes glistened to shade of green you have never seen from him before and can only distinguish it as desire and adoration. You open your mouth, wanting to speak, but nothing comes. Instead you are rendered speechless at the way he is looking at you, your heart skipped at the way his eyes were now fixated on your lips. When V found that your silence was due to his presence and his actions, he smiled beautifully, taking this as a sign to hold your face in his hand. His skin was so warm against yours. He bends slightly to lower his head towards yours until his mouth was only a hair’s breath away from your waiting one.

V: “Happy Birthday.”

This place and his kisses were just few of the many gifts that V showed you that day. And you cherished every single one, wordlessly exchanging something infinitely more precious between one another. As he showered you with adoration and you returned his affection with fervored kisses of your own, both of your hands lied on each other’s chests where against yours and V’s palm beat the most precious gifts either one of you could offer. And they both beated in time with one another.

[nanigma]

Can I ask more than one or should I make a different ask? Anw if you're not up to it you may choose just one ! :) 1)Ryouma or Hinoka 2)Leo vs Takumi and 3) Leo + Sakura ! (Or if you want nonfates related then maybe Naesala + Reyson?) Thanks in advance!

Hoo boy, I’ll try and answer all! :)

1. Hinoka

While I obviously don’t adore the older two Hoshidans as much as their baby siblings, I still enjoy both of them a lot. Between the two, Hinoka does come out on top though. I just enjoy her tomboyish attitude a lot, as well as how powerful of a pegasus knight she is in the game. I also think she had a lot of potential as a character, with some very intriguing flaws that the game sadly never explores. There’s a lot I like about her that I basically extracted from bits and snippets of material, so how close my image is of her to canon is unclear at this point. haha;; I also think her design is very very appealing and attractive. haha

Ryouma mostly loses out, because he is a bit too trapped in the traditional role of Samurai Prince. There’s more to him than that, especially some traits to his character I enjoy. I also did some “extracting” when it comes to his material, but Intsys is much more up front with paving over that potential to uphold the standard Samurai image. (ie. him being a bit neglectful towards his younger siblings as an interesting character flaw, which was shown to be unintentional when Warriors just had him shown to be perfectly considerate of them all. Because he is just that flawless, guys. *yawn*).

2. Leon vs. Takumi

Oh gods this actually a very interesting one.

Let’s look at it purely from a gameplay perspective:

Leon’s max stat as a Dark Knight (with Brunhilde) vs. Takumi’s max stat as a Sniper (with Fujin Yumi)

Takumi’s Res stat is pretty pitiful, but still not low enough that Leon could take him out without doubling. Which is unlikely to happen under normal circumstances, since Leon’s max speed is just awful compared to Takumi’s. Meanwhile, Takumi has to go up against Leon’s very good Def stat if he wants to win, but he has the advantage here, because he is A) almost definitely going to double and B) very very likely to crit too because of the Fuujin’s bonus. While Leon critting isn’t out of the question, it’s much less likely to happen. 

So I’ll have to give the gameplay round to Takumi.

In the story though, Leon is described as a very powerful mage, who could probably stomp Takumi with a single spell. Likewise though, the Fuujin’s power is made out as such that Leon’s armour probably wouldn’t protect him adequately from it. In a situation like that, it all comes down to who hits first. We aren’t given a good indication of how much time it takes Leon to cast a crippling spell with Brunhilde and since we can be very sure that Takumi is going to shoot extremely fast, I am leaning sliiiightly towards the pineapple prince making it. Again, a very very close outcome that could be influenced either way by multiple factors, so don’t take this as me saying Takumi’d definitely win at all times. haha;; (like imagine Leon having Brunhilde’s trees shield him and then attacking at the same time)

Just for fun: If it came to melee combat, it’s an even more interesting question. Of course Leon actually comes with a sword built into his class-set, so he’d be more used to using it in battle. However, the way it’s framed in story, it seems like his sword training is mostly just there to augment his primary fighting style of magic. I doubt he’s a slouch with it, but it’s not something he tries to master fully. Meanwhile, Takumi is shown to be training with Ryouma almost daily with a fervor normally reserved for actual battle. He is very invested in becoming good enough to beat Ryouma and does manage to hit him once. However, we get no indication that he has learned how to fight someone who uses a Nohrian sword-fighting style. Meanwhile Leon probably has some experience engaging Samurai on the battlefield. I’d say Leon would have good chances at winning the first couple of times, but if they continued to spar Takumi would triumph more often than not.

 3) Leon + Sakura

Platonic. 

I think they have a good chemistry and potential dynamic. However, I felt Leon was a bit pushy in their support and I guess that impression has just stuck with me. Most of what I get out of their interactions (Leon developing a good amount of respect for Sakura and being considerate, while Sakura comes to look past his somewhat aloof exterior to see kindness) is something I can get out of a friendship between the two or being in-laws cough  just the same. I just don’t feel the need to ship them romantically, however I have read some nice fics with this pairing

4) Naesala + Reyson

Yes Tellius!

Anyway, this is a complex relationTM for me. I actually like to imagine that they may have had something of a history with each other as more than friends. Not outright lovers, but I imagine there was potential for it. I guess I just have a weakness for young Naesala having a crush on both young heron siblings. haha;;However, Reyson staying with the Hawks after the Serenes massacre put that one on hold (since Reyson was too deeply into grieving and Naesala isn’t exactly the most welcomed guest in Phoenicis). Over time, I feel they both just moved on and then Reyson fell for Tibarn. And then... well the whole deal with Oliver happened.

Look I understand that Naesala couldn’t have just blown off a member of the senate, but he treated that situation very... flippantly. In chapter 19 of PoR he’s just like “Gosh Reyson, it’s not like I wanted to sell you into slavery permanently. I was planning to come by after an unspecified amount of time and pick you up, no need to be so dramatic!” And Reyson quickly comes around to forgiving him for it, without even knowing the real reason, but just because it helped find Leanne. Which is not exaclty an achievement Naesala should be credited for but whatever. I just think that’s a massive betrayal of trust that could have been resolved better and I have trouble shipping them romantically afterwards.

I do still really like them as friends though. Like, they obviously care for each other. Naesala is still concerned for Reyson’s well-being, while Reyson can’t quite seem to believe that Naesala would just betray them out of cruelty. I especially love how when Naesala sees all the herons collapsed when the medallion is about to blow, he shows concern for both Leanne and Reyson. I think it’s a very interesting and often heartwarming dynamic, just marred by one big, ugly incident.  

[falchional]

OK TELL ME ABOUT JOHN /BEFORE/ the rev like. what was he like? how did he act? what would you say people thought of as his defining traits?

RUBS MY GAY REVOLUTION HANDS TO GETHER ...

there are several stages of john’s character throughout his life----- - &  they were most notably defined in his youth.  the death of his younger siblings,  eleanor,  &  jemmy most definitely shook him right from the get go  ;  while yes,  john was very wealthy,  he was surrounded by death from a young age.  henry often took the children  &  eleanor to homes in mepkin  &  ansonborough solely for the fact that charles town  (  now charleston  )  was riddled with disease during summertime.  (  keep this in mind!  while i don’t believe john was near charles town in 1782,  this area in general tends to be riddled with sickness----- - a sickness he very well could have procured in that august he died,  which would make sense considering he never had proper exposure to it.  but that’s for another time. ) 

the idea of loss  &  the impermanence of people was a concept ingrained into him early in his life.  so i don’t believe john took many things for granted aside from his wealth.  as a young boy,  henry thought very highly of john  ;  he was taking the beginner steps of an artist by impulsively drawing,  &  showed high aptitude---- - later on in life,  people lauded john for being a quick study  (  he knew many languages,  although i wouldn’t say was very familiar with them  ;  look at his latin.  )  he was a very good french speaker  &  caught on quickly to most things.  

furthermore,  john was trained in genteel talents----- - fencing  &  horseback riding in geneva,  most notably,  &  so the idea of upholding himself to this standard was forced on him early on,  coming from an aristocratic family.  however,  being such a good study,  it also raised henry’s expectations of him---- expectations he sometimes failed to uphold.  john held such a rigid set of expectations for himself for this “constructed identity” he created ( a good republican, virtuous, valorous, )  &  this you must understand :  most of the time,  they were not his own.  there was a dichotomy between the constructed  &  private identity.  you can argue here that his abolitionism falls into the constructed identity category,  &  i would argue that his private identity was certainly different from his public----he was much more prone to giving into things he was beguiled by,  &  not,  from what i remember,  outspokenly religious.  he was still religious,  of course,  but not in the degree henry was----- john did,  after all,  lash out  paroxysmally  at religious intolerance.  above all else,  john wanted to appear like a good republican----basically what was “expected” of him at the time. 

he burned at chastisement.  he took it as the ultimate umbrage,  &  when henry reprimanded him for a bad choice in friends,  he quivered  &  dropped all of them immediately,  &  devalued himself to win forgiveness.  

john was also exposed to interesting ideas in geneva  :  abolitionism,  &  a romanticization of suicide.  while i disagree with mass.ey on many things,  i sometimes consider the idea he put forth that john might have learned this ... romanticization of death from goethe’s sorrows of young werther,  which established a movement of teen suicides inspired by goethe.  additionally,  geneva was taking a liberal view toward suicide------ - while the typical belief was that you were damned for hell,  they thought quite different :  they should be shown forgiveness  &  absolved.  i am not saying this is rigid fact----most of this is purely speculation.  i wholeheartedly believe that john was depressed  &  suicidal for a very long time,  &  that his final engagement was intentional.  this influence might have exacerbated it.  i don’t think it is something that should be ignored.

another important facet is his need to do the right thing :  this is demonstrated by his vacillation to pick a profession.  he laments law,  exclaiming that he doesn’t want to profit off of humanity’s woes,  even though he knows how profitable the profession is  ;  of course,  his true heart lay in medicine,  which henry subtly disapproved of.  although he did give into henry’s wishes,  he ended up in the war with a half - baked law degree  &  not really thinking where he would go from there. 

before the war  &  his marriage,  especially,  john was highly idealistic  &  threw himself into this patriotic fervor that had swept up the colonies in the americas,  even though he was living in britain.  he spurned his friend kinloch for harboring loyalist views----he told him to go get fucked in simplest terms.  in london is where you can see this festering cynicism----he was sequestered by a marriage  (  &  also guilty for not loving martha  &  for being gay, )   when he thought his true purpose lay across the sea to achieve what he had always dreamed of:  glory.

all in all,  remember this :  john wanted to be perceived as a man from his class.  people thought of him as intelligent,  handsome,  &  for the most part,  impressive :  he could speak several languages,  was well - versed in the literature of that time,  &  strong - willed in his convictions.  he was an independent thinker,  &  was blinded,  for the most part,  by his heart---hence his recklessness.