#castle infiltration

[emmys-writing-blog]

- Castle infiltration story: Scene One

Scene Two Scene Three Scene Four

I have begun planning out the scenes for a new story based off of the previous Castle Infiltration Scene that I posted. This serves as the first scene (roughly) in the story, whereas the original Castle Infiltration Scene I posted a few weeks ago happens later on.

Suspicions

(cw: death, blood, fighting)

Hero had served Villain her entire life. Everything she had ever done was to reach this moment—Villain's highest-ranked royal guard. Without hesitation, Hero fulfilled every task, never questioning Villain's motives. She believed she was on the right side, protecting the kingdom from harm. But now, doubt clouded her mind.

Since the king's sudden death, Villain's sanity had dwindled. Her actions became deranged and unpredictable, her orders unrealistic and destructive. The king, Villain's husband, had died in a tragic misunderstanding while seeking peace with neighbouring kingdoms. Now, the kingdom lay in ruins, while Villain vowed to obliterate the kingdoms that had claimed her beloved.

With a heavy heart, Hero realised that the queen she had sworn to protect had become a ruthless monarch consumed by power. She knew she had to take Villain down, to protect the kingdom from tyranny and harm.

Villain couldn't ignore the sudden change in Hero's behavior. The mumbled replies and avoided eye contact—Hero was growing distant. A wicked smile curved Villain's lips as she relished the impending game of cat and mouse. The cruel theatrics of power delighted her as her top-ranked Royal Guard dared to challenge her rule.

Unbeknownst to Villain, Hero covertly plotted her alliance. Hidden chamber meetings under the shroud of darkness, quiet exchanges of coded messages—each step was taken with meticulous caution.

The day of reckoning arrived, and Hero and her newfound allies emerged from the shadows. Swords clashed with the intent to kill, arrows whistled through the air, and the echoes of battle reverberated through the palace corridors. The scent of blood lingered in the air, and Hero could taste the adrenaline on her lips.

Having spent her life alongside Villain, Hero thought she knew her better than anyone. But this fight revealed a new side of her—the ruthlessness and determination to achieve her goal. Hero watched her friends, once sworn to protect Villain, being mercilessly slaughtered by her. The people Hero had shared laughter and jokes with now murdered the fellow guards without hesitation, blindly carrying out Villain's orders.

Hero's heart pounded in her chest as she scanned the bloody scene—she was the only one left.

The alliance, once a beacon of hope, now lay shattered among the broken team.

Villain turned her gaze upon Hero, stabbing the only remaining guard. Hero watched in horror as the guard collapsed, letting out a choked sob before being callously kicked away. As Villain closed in, Hero stood frozen. Danger echoed in her mind, urging her body to move. Surely, Villain wouldn't kill her, right?

Guards flooded past Villain, their intent to kill Hero next. Snapping out of her trance, Hero prepared herself. Despite the chaos, she fought valiantly, her sword dancing with desperate grace. Yet deep down, she knew this battle couldn't be won—not alone, not like this. Bloodstained and battered, she fled from the palace, barely evading Villain's relentless pursuit.

Villain could have ended her life as she fled, sent an endless supply of guards to capture her. Hero’s heart pounded loudly in her chest, her heartbeat echoing in her ears. She clenched her fists, feeling the tension building up in her fingers till her knuckles went white. Was she really doing the right thing? Was she genuinely saving the kingdom?

It didn’t take long for word to get out to the kingdom of Hero’s betrayal, and they proudly rallied behind their queen. Whispered rumours and fearful glances were exchanged among  townsfolk, turning Hero into a fugitive in her own kingdom. Hunted by those she had once vowed to protect, she had no choice but to fade into the shadows.

As she sprinted through the village, she saw the hurt and disgust reflected in the people's eyes. Watching as they held their children tighter, and looked away disappointed. Tears welled in Hero's eyes—for her fallen team, and for the kingdom that had turned against her in an instant. Hero was truly alone.

[lizardsfromspace]

Stealth in stealth games: You were seen? Go run and hide and wait until the guards say "must've been the wind". Or fight back. The important thing is, you have freedom

Stealth missions in non-stealth games: Hide behind everything on the path or else. If anyone sees you it ends instantly. No you can't tell why they can see you across the map sometimes but not others. You just can't

[zimothys-doodles]

[howlsmovinglibrary]

Look, I’m a slut for fictional men and fey princes, but it is now just frankly embarrassing to admit that I am in love with a figment of someone else’s imagination called ‘Wendel Bambleby’, of all things. Like that is crossing some kind of line.

[zuntoshere]

Isn't it funny that Cellbit's castle is so Roier coded? Especially now ???

It's based around Blood entity and not Knowledge. It's blacks and reds. It's a broken bridge that cuts off all strangers and keeps inside his family. It's a secret within a secret. It's a scary facade with happy memories.

And somehow it's big and full and empty .

[quanblovk]

Editting my insanely rushed dametagala fics feels so wild man- like BRUH HOW DID I FUMBLE THAT BADLY-

[swordmaid]

thinking about if there was a masquerade quest in act 3 I think shri’iia would THRIVE that’s her shit but it would be unorthodox to see a drow in such a high class party so I def think she would pretend to be nym or mamzell’s newest drow prostitute and she’d be latching on either gale/wyll/astarion/shadowheart or whoever is pretending to be the high class society member that was invited in the party as their plus one/escort for the night.

i think she’d also put on a new disguise - maybe a wig - maybe some makeup to obscure her features - like just imagine her with some bangs and eyebrows it’s a vibe

[todayisafridaynight]

do you think sawashiro made ichi clean the arakawa family office toilets? i'm so serious

1000% at least once

[huntedsmark]

being slammed by life stuff but can i just say. everyone talks about getting screwed (lol) by the vampires in strahd but absolutely no one talks about how fucked up the houses are. everything is booby trapped. our party keeps getting eaten alive by these home alone castles and towers and we were NEVER WARNED!!!

[ask-dametagala]

Infiltrating the castle!

[Cut content, part 1]:

Underneath the giant christmas tree, where Gala and Dameta were supposed to meet up again, they encounter Cashier Dee.

They were going to ask for an autograph for their little brother, who was hiding right behind him! The poor thing was really shy, not to mention there was a scary guy standing next to his idol....

However, once GK opened up, the little dee immediately came out and became extremely sociable.

Oh btw, his name is Blueberry Dee, here's how he looks like!

Galacta finds it easy to talk to the dees, especially children. So that's why he becomes extra talkative in this bit with little anxiety! They talk about Cashier Dee's family and it makes DMK feel...VERY awkward. He did kind of kill their mirror counterpart multiple times in the past. Even though he techincally had no conscious while doing it, Dark Meta Knight still couldn't excuse his actions. As the convo went on, he became increasingly more anxious and guilt-ridden, subconsciously retreating back into Gala's fluffy wings as he does so (he does that a lot lol).

And after all that was finished, they'd fly to the cliff like in the story.

Here's Cashier Dee's dialouge about his past:

Cashier Dee: Oh, our parents? I think we had a dad in the past...I'm not so sure. Though I remember very clearly that somebody left us at the coast of Orange Ocean to go join some team to explore the galaxy. It's odd, isn't it?

Edit: ^^ Above me is old Cashier Dee lore. It was implied Sailor was their father but now they're brithers! It felt weird making Sailor a deadbeat now LOL

[Part 2]

[came-out-of-the-coffin-desisted]

writing dragon age fanfiction is so so so so hard for me because every time i spot another historical inaccuracy that’s like “i don’t care that it’s fantasy they have the same level of technology this is WRONG” i have to have a moment of like. “kaed NO ONE ELSE will EVER care about this. you watch ‘ranking period dramas on corset accuracy both in construction and writing’ videos on youtube for entertainment normal people simply do not give a FUCK about medieval castle layouts!”

and yet this cycle continues, because the dragon age devs so so so so clearly DID research but they did BAD research and it HAUNTS me. like WHYYYYY is there only one courtyard that isn’t even really a courtyard in castle cousland WHY is the “main hall” huge with no furniture while the great hall “dining room” is tiny as fuck and in a horrible to access spot WHY are there no ovens in the kitchens where the FUCK do they bake the breaaaad!! like ok fine cool servants get beds in thedas i’ll bite. that fucks hard, actually! but WHY are there more servant rooms than rooms for visiting nobles do you honestly think anybody in the middle ages fucking had servant rooms???? they slept on the FLOOR in the GREAT HALL! and WHY is there a fucking library and a ‘treasury’ (which what the fuck is THAT there should be a DON-JON in there you locked your valuables in the TOWER at the TOP, not in ONE room centrally located on the first floor with TWO guards!!) like i KNOW it was for level design i KNOW it was but oh my fucking g-d it’s gonna KILL ME to write out creeping through corridors when there WERE NO CORRIDORS! like look at this. look at this.

castle cousland: stupid, awful design, honestly they kinda asked to be coup’ed with their garbage unsurvivable castle that supposedly nobody sieges regularly even though it’s literally a death trap. there is ONE main exit, no way to trap your enemies, and only one official guard post that i can see. fuck awful.

harlech castle in wales: it took 115 years for someone to successfully take this castle, and it’s withstood COUNTLESS sieges, you can go visit it right the hell now if you go to wales (not at all getting into the evilness of the english building castles in wales, that’s not the point i’m trying to make.) see how the outside makes it so that even if your enemies breach the walls, to actually reach anyone important they have to survive the volleys of arrows from the ramparts? and then presumably kill everyone ON the ramparts, or the minute you go to open a door or try to drag someone out, you’re going to get shot full of arrows. that’s after breaching TWO heavy doors (which would require a battering ram both times) which would wake up the entire castle LONG before they got anywhere NEAR the heir to the castle’s wife and child.

and before somebody says “oh well kaed maybe you just don’t know your castle building periods very well” think again. i know my castle building periods. that style above is concentric (harlech castle’s initial construction was finished in 1289 and was one of the first finished castles in england in this style,) which came after the keep and bailey style, which came after the motte-and-bailey style, which came after the burh (which arguably WASN’T a castle but whatever,) etc. there are no fortified castles in english history that look like castle cousland, because it’s fucking indefensible. now, this does lead to the question of “oh, well, what is the timeline for the game, maybe there’s something you missed!” so let’s examine the time period of origins:

at the very, very latest, origins could be based off of the BEGINNING of the british “wars of the roses” (the civil wars between the various members of the house plantagenet) which began in the 1450s— this is personally what /i/ think origins is based off of, for a couple reasons. 1) trevelyan was a real person— g.m. trevelyan was a british historian who wrote about the wars of the roses, and in one instance there’s a quote of his the devs almost verbatim used for the design of the free marches: “the Wars of the Roses were to a large extent a quarrel between Welsh Marcher Lords, who were also great English nobles, closely related to the English throne…” they ixnayed the part about the marcher lords being ferelden nobles, i imagine because it was too complicated, but trevelyan? marcher lords? a close relationship with this country? (i.e. like somewhere that might take in their refugees after a catastrophe?) cmon. 2) because ferelden is fucking huge and the histories are kinda weird, because they aren’t 1 for 1, i’m gonna say that we have to use the norman conquest of england as our unification date. in other contexts i wouldn’t try to argue this, but in this one, i’m saying 1066 is the unification date of the anglo-saxon kingdoms into england. calenhad gives us a hard unification date for ferelden— the first landsmeet was in 5:42 exalted, ergo origins is 388 years later. the wars of the roses started in 1455, 389 years after the norman conquest ended. 3) the wars of the roses happened because of a succession crisis— admittedly, these two succession crises are very, very different, but there are definitely parallels between loghain and henry vi and alistair and edward iv. henry vi was crowned at a young age (loghain largely ruled for maric at various points in his life, starting when he was very young,) and was very ineffectual— he suffered from an unknown mental illness which made him extremely unstable and unable to rule for large periods of time. loghain, on the other hand, ruled when the /theirins/ weren’t stable, so you argue he had the opposite— meanwhile, his policies WEREN’T sustainable, whatever you might think of him. loghain is too shaped by his own experiences to be a truly good leader, and by the time his rule/anora’s rule is threatened by cailan, he’s sacrificed enough of his principles that he’s willing to commit atrocities (notably, margaret of anjou ruled during the worst parts of her husband’s mental instability, which again could apply to loghain OR anora, as they ruled fairly jointly after a certain point.) edward iv was the son of richard of york, who was eligible for the throne at a very young age (18 to alistair’s 19) because his father was dead. he was coaxed and led into battle by his cousin, the earl of warwick (also known as the kingmaker— sound like a protagonist you might know?) that’s about where the similarities end, but that’s largely because alistair is a grey warden— if he weren’t, he’d probably be able to have kids and end the question of succession. but he can’t, which, assuming the devs eventually remember, WILL lead to another civil war. hence why i say this is at the BEGINNING of the wars of the roses.

another option that could be argued but makes much less sense and i have no evidence for is that alistair has similarities to edward ii (second son who only became king because his brother died, married a more powerful woman to consolidate power, not very good at ruling, no offense to alistair,) but that still puts origins at like 1307-1327. in either case, they would have been using concentric castles— and given what time period castle cousland was originally built in, it would have been built as a motte-and-bailey, which would NOT have lasted four hundred years. so the castle had to have been rebuilt, and bryce cousland would have had to update that rebuilt castle, because no one lived in it during the orlesian occupation. so where the hell does this winding, weird multi-level design come from?

i GUESS— and this is SO charitable— they could have designed castle cousland based off of a country house design from the mid 1500s, but none of them look like that, either. they’re exclusively rectangular, for one thing, and one of the huge bragging rights of owning one was that they weren’t fortified— they came into fashion during a period of relative stability under the tudor rule, when it was considered guache and maybe even treasonous to build a fortified castle. ferelden is NOWHERE NEAR a period of stability, if anything at the end of origins they’re entering their greatest period of INstability, given what happens in inquisition, and that no matter who ends up on the throne, there’s no way for them to have children. so there’s NO way this castle is a country house, or inspired by one.

leaving us with the final conclusion that a) the game devs definitely did do research into the time period because i can fairly directly trace a line between the event i think inspired origins and the plot, but they didn’t do enough research to figure out what the everloving fuck the BUILDINGS looked like. so these castles make no fucking sense and can’t possibly be called historically accurate even with the fantasy defense, and b) i care WAAAY too much about this for somebody who isn’t even a medieval historian. my area of expertise is the paleolithic, i have no clue why this bugs me so bad i spent four fucking hours writing this post.

[emmys-writing-blog]

9 Lines, 9 People

thank you to @rmgrey-author for tagging me! <3

Rules: Post the last 9 lines of your WIP, tag 9 people

this is from my wip of chapter 5 for my Castle Infiltration, it has not been edited yet though, and it is bound to change in the future.

The camp was small, consisting of only a handful of tents and a makeshift kitchen area. Weapons and armour littered the ground, and every surface was occupied with various blueprints of the kingdom. The camp itself was deep in a forest just on the border of the kingdom, far from any guard outposts; keeping it hidden from the queen’s view. Other Hero and Superhero were the only souls who called this place home, their company limited to each other.  Despite all the recent chaos, Hero felt at peace here. It was refreshing to have a place to stay without worry. Refreshing to have a place to think. While she welcomed the idea of joining Other Hero and Superhero and starting new, part of her remained in the castle. Maybe trying to fight Villain was the wrong approach. Hero had known them for years, she had grown up with them - serving Villain when they had first married the King. Hero couldn’t help but feel as though she had overreacted, she  should’ve stayed with Villain, helping her through this. Hero went back on herself, remembering how brutally she had killed the other guards who had once served them too. Hero sighed, laying back down on the makeshift bed Other Hero had set out for her. She stared up at the ceiling, at the tattered cloth draping over the wooden supports, at the rusted lantern that swayed slightly as it hung.

no pressure tagging: @sugar-phoenix @prettyquickpoetry @a-class-attempter @feline17ff @deckofaces @floweryprosegarden @rbbess110 @stanrendipity @arijensineink

[eatsyou-a]

i feel like im obligated to be here idk

[welldrawnfish]

Comic idea about a Knight who is the personal guard and lover to the kingdoms princess, attempts to stop an assassination and is turned into a lil goblin girl, scourge of the nation.

Chased from the castle as the suspected assassin she is brought into a nearby tribe of goblins, she must infiltrate the kingdom, and get to the princess, before the next attempt on her life.

The goblin tribe names her twig.

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

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

Blood and Cheese does not happen. Instead, Daemon plots with his connections to kidnap Aegon’s most prized possession: his wife. They ask Agon and the Greens to give up the throne and she will be returned. Aegon is furious

Requests for HotD are opened again! I have a few in the work already, so make sure you are on the taglist to be notified when I post them <3

my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time

—

The guards standing on each side of the small council chamber bowed their heads at their king. Aegon hated these meetings, finding them lengthy and uninteresting, but now that he wore the crown, he couldn't escape them.

He pushed the large door open and stepped in. Inside, one person sat at the table: his mother. Beside her, a man in armor stood. Their hushed conversation ceased as he arrived.

Alicent glanced at her son with a somber expression. ‘’Please have a seat,’’ she beckoned.

Aegon furrowed his eyebrows. ‘’Where is everyone else?’’ 

‘’Council meeting is canceled today,’’ she informed him gravely. ‘’We have more urgent matters to discuss.’’ 

Seating himself at the table's head, Aegon braced himself for what was to come. The tension in the chamber was palpable, and he knew something serious had happened.

Alicent hesitated for a moment, her eyes betraying the weight of the news she carried. ‘’There's been an incident,’’ she began, her voice strained. ‘’Before I explain further, I need you to stay calm.’’ Her eyes held Aegon’s, waiting for a silent promise before pursuing. ‘’We all know that Daemon still has connections in the city. Some of his men breached our defenses and infiltrated the castle and she…she was taken by the Blacks.’’

Aegon laughed dryly. This had to be a joke.

But he found no sign of jest in his mother’s solemn expression. 

The king turned to the lord commander standing to her left. ‘’Where is my wife, Ser Criston?’’ he implored, still in disbelief that you had been taken. 

Ser Criston's gaze fell to the ground, his silence speaking volumes. ‘’I regret to conform, your grace,’’ he murmured, his voice heavy with sorrow. ‘’The queen has been taken.’’ 

Aegon felt as if the ground had been ripped from beneath him. His wife, his beloved, stolen from him — kidnapped — by the hands of their enemies. 

‘’We've received a raven from Dragonstone,’’ Alicent informed, clearing her throat. She forwarded the rolled piece of parchemin to Ser Criston, who handed it to Aegon.

He unrolled the parchemin and read the message: As a result of stealing from the rightful heir, something of yours has been taken. Abandon the throne and she will be returned. 

Aegon's jaw clenched so tightly that the parchment in his hand crumpled beneath his grip. His violet eyes filled with wrath as rage spread through his blood. 

He rose to his feet, his voice dripping with fury. ‘’Ser Criston, tell the dragonkeepers to get Sunfire out of the dragonpit. I will go to Dragonstone myself and—’’

‘’I’d rather not,’’ Alicent interjected, her tone icy. ‘’Going to Dragonstone is driving yourself to your own death.’’ 

‘’I will not stand idly by while my wife is held captive by our enemies!" In a surge of anger, Aegon tore the silver crown from his head and flung it to the ground with all the force of his rage, the clang of the Valyrian steel reverberating off the stone walls like a thunderclap.

At his outburst, Alicent's lips pressed into a thin line. ‘’You may leave us, Ser Criston.’’ 

The lord commander nodded and exited the small council chamber in silence, leaving the king and his mother alone.

‘’You have no idea the sacrifices that were made to put you on that throne?’’ she stated, her tone heavy with implication.

Aegon's frustration boiled over, and he leaned against the back of his chair. He ran his hands through his silver hair, tugging at the roots in a gesture of despair and anguish. ‘’I never asked for that throne!’’ he exclaimed, his voice cracking with emotion. 

All he wanted was his wife back, it was all he needed — you. 

During his father’s reign, the castle had never been threatened. Viserys was a peaceful king, one who stayed away from conflicts. Therefore, he never had to worry about the loyalty or competence of his kingsguard.  

Now that he had fallen and that a civil war had begun, the safety - and life - of those who lived in the castle was at risk. In the days following Aegon's coronation, all who had refused to swear to him had been beheaded. So, how could this have happened?

‘’I want these men’s heads,’’ he declared, his voice filled with a mixture of vengeance and determination as he straightened. ‘’Plot against the king and I will pay it back a hundred times over.’’

—

House of the dragon taglist: @khaleesihavilliard @domoron @ididliquorice @lover-of-helios @lover-of-helios @shine101 @tanyaherondale @mikariell95 @serrendiipty @lantsovheiress @gilliananderfuckme @shine101 @tetgod @clayzayden@memeorydotcom @tnu-ree @futuregws @blackravena @winxschester @mysteriouslydelightfulchaos @xxlaynaxx @secretsthathauntus @pilarxxxaguayo @emmavan39 @stargaryenx @erylilly @bbblackmamba @rainedrop97 @dreamer087 @gothicgay14 @ashlatano7567 @superkittywonderland @justaproudslytherpuff @evesolstice @buckysmainhxe @padfootsvixen @scarletmeii @evesolstice @dkathl @kaywsworld @tetgod @padfootsvixen @domoron   @weird-addiction @angeliod @xjennyx2 @adaydreamaway08  @mymultiveres  @secretsthathauntus  @puffycreamcakes@thirsty4nonlivingmen@naty-1001@katiepie67@moshpot24x@hc-geralt-23@lovelynerdytraveler@saturn-sas  @zgzgh @sssjuico10@tabloidteen@timetoten@deekaag@wondxrgurl@aerangi@strmborns@astridyoo15@daemonslittlebitch@queenbeestuffs@severewobblerlightdragon@agentstarkid@msliz@vane1999-blog@fairyfolkloresposts@todaywasafairytale07@otomaniac@zgzgzh@thebeardedmoon@golden-library@kikyrizuki@hnslchw@camy85@winxschester

[jus-tea]

Dream: The man formerly known as Hot Pirate

Half dressed but deciding to up and fly away anyway. Flying over the city buildings far away, trying to find some peace, away from the place I came. Away from the system where you had to compromise your values to get ahead. Had to steal to get more points. Flying away, at least for a break. But instead of hills and forest, the air traffic is getting busier. I don’t know where I’m going. I take refuge on some building ledge. There’s new intakes for the company arriving through an air portal. From nowhere a familiar face- or he finds me. Swept up in his jacket; Is this his assistant, taking me to him? Or does he become him, as I begin to realise? As his coat gets bigger, warmer, darker. The recognition dawns on me. Nuzzled under his cloak as he carry’s me. I’m not dressed- I left in such a hurry, I thought no one would see me, but this isn’t empty sky over hills and trees and rivers; this is a busy sky street in a bustling city. He’s covered me with his dark fluffy attire. Warm feathers. My legs are bare, his fingers hold firm against the edge of my knickers as he carries me. Nuzzling into his warmth. Where did he go before? I thought he was gone for good. Why does he feel like home all of a sudden? He chuckles, as through reading my thoughts and finding amusement in my silly little crush. He has a phone-call. I hold on tight as we fly along. Business. He’s confirming something, or something needs looking into.. they need him.

“You have to go again, don’t you?” I ask. He nods as we begin to land. I ask for one favour before he leaves, please, because I never know how long it’ll be before I see him again. He gently sets me down on the ground. It crosses my mind I’ll need to fly all the way home on my own… wherever home is. I’m going to miss him so much again. Already I feel the heart in my chest tightening. “Could I have a big hug before you go?” Of course. But he says it’s not always months. It’s sometimes days. Sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. It changes, but we’ll find each other again. I want to believe him so badly. I flew so far out of my way for this to have happened, for me to see him this time. But He kisses me, and says he’ll see me again soon. Then he’s gone. I can smell him on me. Feel him on my lips. I crumple into a ball and cuddle unicorn puppies 🦄