#empress sanaki

[asktellius]

Anonymous says: Hey, Empress Sanaki! Do you and Micaiah get to spend a lot of time together? Or are you both too busy running your countries?

[gloamvonhrym]

imagine you’re trying to have a diplomatic meeting with the new president of the laguz nations, the nations with which your country has had a rocky history, to whom your country probably has a lot of things to apologize for, but you’ve heard that while he looks scary he’s actually a bit of a blunt instrument in terms of political philosophy and one-on-one interactions, and you figure he’ll be fairly easy to manipulate as long as you can talk circles around him and avoid giving him a reason to strangle you, and then you walk into the room and tibarn is there with Reyson The Crazed Empath Of Serenes on his lap like knifecat.png and you know immediately that if anything remotely duplicitous leaves your lips you are not getting out of that room without some radical alterations to your life and possibly your face. lethal duo once synergy is achieved. get their ass

[randomnameless]

Where the fuck does this come from?

Sephiran is all about "oh noes if i knew you were alive i wouldn't have continued with my plans" during their only dialogue, so imo, he thought she was already dead?

Who brought Miccy to Daien? Whoever knows.

[saprophetic]

[ID: two pictures of a fluffy grey and white cat sitting behind me in my wheelchair. in the first picture she's looking away from me and ignoring that i'm sitting on her. in the second i'm petting the top of her head and she's looking up at me with wide eyes and her ears and whiskers pointed toward me. end ID.]

sanaki nuisance moments from last night

[queenlua]

Prompt: Sanaki and Naesala and... hmm, "aesthetics"

When Sanaki enters the parlor where Naesala's lurking, garbed from head to toe in her new royal regalia, she's not sure how exactly Naesala will react.

But she was expecting something a little less... monosyllabic.

"It looks fine," he says, with an indifferent shrug, glancing up for only a moment from the armchair onto which he's slumped.  Then turns right back to the book he's reading.

Fine.  Just fine, says Naesala, who's constantly mouthing off about the aesthetics of everything in Sienne.  Naesala, who thinks Mainal's narthex is too drab but its side chapel, too precious.  Naesala, who rolls his eyes at the famed columns and great vaulted dome of the ancient temple on Westover Hill ("dated even in its own time," apparently), but sneers at Mainal's redesigned eastern wing as so much modernist pretention ("did your architect run out of gold before he managed to buy a single shred of color?").  Naesala, who paused, the first time he ever entered Sanaki's chambers, just to call the crown molding tacky.

But Sanaki's currently wearing an entirely new wardrobe for conducting royal business, and all he has to say is looks fine.  Really.

For over a year, Sanaki's royal draper, Ariadne, has slaved over the design of this new regalia.  A special assignment, quite possibly the work of Ariadne's lifetime.  Since Sanaki was no longer apostle and empress, but instead serving as empress alone—she needed attire to match.  Something to project her authority, and her unbroken connection to Begnion's past, all the way back to its founding, while also discarding all traces of religiosity, any symbols of the goddess.  "Can you do it?" she'd asked Ariadne, and the woman's eyes had glittered, then.  She'd pushed up her glasses, pulled a pen from her hair, started sketching at once.

Ariadne was good.  The best.  All the ladies at court, and the aesthetes in their forums and parlors, said so.  And Ariadne herself had not even bothered affecting false modesty: "My greatest work yet," she'd said, the day of the unveiling.

All of that, and yet, looks fine is all Naesala says.

That can't be the whole of his opinion.  So Sanaki waits.

And sure enough, after a few minutes, Naesala glances up from his book to ask, "Who's your draper, again?"

"What is it," Sanaki snaps.

"Nothing, nothing."  Naesala laughs.  "Just might have a word with her, is all."

Sanaki waits again.  And after a moment Naesala sighs, rises from him chair, and crosses the room to give Sanaki a looking-over.  He paces around her slowly, pausing at every step to look closer, sometimes reaching out to touch a bit of fabric, rubbing it between his hands, feeling for the thread count.  When he's behind her, he grazes a few fingers down the back of her neck, and then a little ways down her spine, to just above where the back of the dress dips down toward her waist, and hmms warmly.  That detail, at least, he finds fetching enough.

"It's not a bad effort," he says, once he's in front of her again.  He tugs at the adornment on the edge of her sleeves.  "Very... lacey."  Then he sighs, as though finally goaded into honesty: "It's just that it looks a touch grandmotherish, don't you think.  I mean, Nealuchi'd find it charming, I'm sure, but he's not the one you're trying to impress—"

"It's historic," Sanaki sniffs, with renewed confidence.  He's only revealing his own ignorance.  He's not appreciating all the subtleties that Ariadne explained to her: "These buttons," she says, gesturing toward her sleeve, "are from the very same outfit that that Apostle Yilanti wore at her coronation.  They symbolize—"

"Right, see, I remember when your great-grandmother Yilatni was on the throne," Naesala interrupts.  "Back when filigreed plaster was 'in.'  And back when I hadn't yet learned how to out-cheat my cousins at cards.  Tulips were all the rage, everywhere south of Daein.  And you beorc had just come up with that dreadful little instrument that was going to make my ears bleed in every tavern between here and Melior for the next forty years, the one with the little hand-bellows, what's-its-name—"

"The accordion?"

"Yes.  That."  He shudders.  "Would've served better tending to fires.  Or chucked into those fires.  Anyway."  Naesala steps close again, gesturing at one of her sleeves.  "Those brass buttons have the same little insignia on them as the accordions back then did, all from the same awful maker.  Rather tarnishes the effect for me, personally."  He tilts his head.  "That and.. most of the other little flourishes, really."  He frowns.  "The lace especially.  Are you sure about that bit?  Seems rather unlike you."

Dully, Sanaki notes that this is the most tactful she's ever heard him when it comes to aesthetics.  She'd be touched if she weren't so annoyed at it all.

"Fortunately," Naesala drawls, stepping away, "I imagine the median age of your citizenry runs a fair bit younger than all that.  So probably it's fine."  He flashes a patronizing smile: "Since you asked."

And with that, he turns to leave.

For a moment Sanaki just watches him go.  Watches him close the door behind him.

And then she motions for one of her servants to come closer.

"Fetch me Ariadne," she whispers.  "Quickly.  Before that crow gets to her."  A few adjustments wouldn't hurt.  Sanaki had had a few in mind, after all, even before asking Naesala.  She's not changing it because of him, she just—happens to have agreed with one of his points.  A few of his points.

But she'd be putting in the request herself, thank you very much.  No need for any more meddling on his part.

[nonbinaryspy]

Our Path Ahead: Micaiah and Sanaki Meta

"Stealth is rather thrilling!" "Shh! You'll get us spotted!"

Along with amazing art, a fun unit, and some adorable conversations, the latest duo unit in FEH offers a perfect chance to compare and contrast Micaiah and Sanaki's backgrounds as well as imagine how they come together post-RD. I'll be sharing relevant quotes from RD to showcase how their FEH interactions follow up from it, so this post will be long and spoiler-filled for both RD and the latest FEH update.

I'll first share Sanaki's arc in RD, then discuss their dynamic in the latest FEH update, and end by digging more into Micaiah's arc in RD.

Sanaki's RD arc has her contending with the fact that she can't hear the voice of the goddess, or do anything else associated with the apostle's powers. Of course, this is because Micaiah inherited these abilities along with her brand, but in the meantime, the senate takes advantage of the confusion to call Sanaki a false apostle and take control. This in turn makes her doubt herself.

At first, during 4-P, Sanaki sounds like she believes her upbringing should make her just as, if not more, capable than Micaiah:

Sanaki: “If Micaiah, an untrained girl from the streets of Daein, is fighting, then I shall stand my ground as well.”

However, she quickly learns what Micaiah can do. While she wants to learn more about why Micaiah has the powers she lacks, she is too scared to approach her at first.

Sigrun: “… We seem to have missed our chance to speak with her. What a remarkable girl. Lady Micaiah can hear the voice of the goddess Yune and learn of impending danger. She is much like you, Empress Sanaki.” Sanaki: “… Let us head back.” Sigrun: “Are you sure? You said before that it was imperative you speak with Lady Micaiah…” Sanaki: “It’s not important. Forget it.”

In 4-3, however, Micaiah takes the initiative:

Micaiah: “Yes, it’s me, Micaiah. Um… May I sit next to you?” Sanaki: “What? Oh… Uh…” “…Of course you may.” Micaiah: “Thank you. …This is awkward. I’m sorry. I know that you are not very fond of me, but I wanted to talk to you.” Sanaki: “It’s not that. I like you just fine. It’s just that…you make me feel inadequate.” Micaiah: “It’s because I can sing the galdr of release and hear Yune’s voice, isn’t it?” Sanaki: “How…did you know?” Micaiah: “I can sense the flow of people’s thoughts. By seeing the movement of a person’s mind, I can usually deduce what the person is thinking…” Sanaki: “You can read minds?! What a boon that would be to running a country… If I could read people’s minds, I could tell what the nobles and senators were thinking behind their smiles. I wonder why the goddess didn’t bless me with such power?”

Though Micaiah thinks Sanaki dislikes her, and she doesn't know they're related, she is already drawn to try to connect with her. Sanaki, meanwhile, is still hung up on the idea that Micaiah has the abilities she lacks, and that she could have prevented the current problems if she'd had them instead.

Later in the chapter, she contextualizes this while talking to Sigrun and Tanith, saying that after the last apostle's assassination and the ensuing power vacuum, her birth and ascension led to "a sigh of relief [that] sounded across the country." This is clearly a lot of pressure to put on a child! After all the turmoil the senate causes, Sanaki feels responsible, saying that "the country’s sigh of relief was unwarranted" because she couldn't hear the voice of the goddess. She's convinced the fault lies with her and the powers she lacks. Tanith and Sigrun, however, maintain their motherly banter throughout this conversation, and then confirm that they're loyal to her for who she is rather than any born abilities:

Sigrun: “If you thought that our allegiance was to the office of the apostle, well, you were wrong. Even from a young age, you have been working with Lord Sephiran to fight the senate on behalf of the people.” Tanith: “Our loyalty lies with you, Empress Sanaki. You will always be our empress. Please do not forget that.” Sanaki: “…I am…blessed. Not by the voice of the goddess, but by loyalty like yours.”

As will be shown later in this post, in the latest FEH content, Sanaki describes how even now, Tanith and Sigrun are still supporting her in a new world, helping her train and gain new abilities. Sanaki was raised to value herself for her potential inherited powers, but in the end, it's who she is that wins the love and loyalty of her family and the people of Begnion.

At the end of RD, the siblings come together and decide that Sanaki will continue to rule Begnion, no longer as an empire, but as a nation on equal footing with Daein, which Micaiah will always consider her true home.

Sanaki: “In that case, my sister, please consider staying in Begnion. With your power and charisma, you could do so much good here.” Micaiah: “No, I’m afraid I can’t.” Sanaki: “Why-Why not?” Micaiah: “Daein is my home, and Daein needs me to help it heal and rebuild. Not Begnion.” Sanaki: “But Begnion–“ Micaiah: “Begnion has you, Empress. You will be a just ruler. Make your country proud to have you.” Sanaki: “Will I… never see you again?” Micaiah: “Hardly. I think that what our countries need now is a sense of family and friendship. I ask that you sign a treaty of alliance with Daein and announce that we are equals.”

In this conversation from the epilogue, we see Sanaki continue to suggest that Micaiah would be a better ruler for Begnion, but Micaiah disagrees. She knows that Sanaki is just as determined to keep the people of Begnion safe and happy as she is to do the same for Daein, and assures Sanaki to that end.

In the latest FEH update, we see these traits in practice, as Sanaki is very committed to training for the ninja festival. Even in their friend greeting quote, she is still training while passing along messages:

Sanaki: Urgh… There's nothing to be done if we've been detected. Our infiltration training is over. Let's away, Micaiah!

I also love putting some of their castle quotes in conversation with each other.

Sanaki: A ninja... If only I had such a person at my disposal, perhaps then I might have quelled the senate's rampage.

Here, we see that in FEH's take on a teenage Sanaki, she is still blaming herself for the senate's actions and questioning what she could have done to stop them. She therefore still wants to acquire more power:

Sanaki: People are fragile... Which is precisely why they must learn to have strength. Do you not think so, Micaiah?

Micaiah, meanwhile, has quite a different line about strength:

Micaiah: It's about time for the festivities! Shall we take a short break? Participation in a festival takes ample strength.

As Sanaki's older sister, and having already seen how hard Sanaki is on herself, Micaiah encourages her to take care of herself and be patient. This is also shown in their level-up quotes:

Micaiah: Keep your head up, Sanaki. We are improving slowly but surely.

Meanwhile, we see Sanaki still has her drive to stop those with corrupt intentions:

Sanaki: Stand down! Your ill-intentioned deeds are over!

However, she may have another motive, in her desire for attention from her sister:

Sanaki: Aha! It hit the mark! Micaiah, you must observe this technique!

When they first met in RD, Sanaki was too nervous to even approach Micaiah, and came across to Micaiah as disliking her. But now she is actively seeking out Micaiah's approval and companionship.

All of this clearly follows up from their dynamic in the RD epilogue. What really sells this for me is their level 40 dialogue:

Sanaki: I can scarcely believe how incapable my body is of following my wishes. I can't seem to move like you, Micaiah. Micaiah: I spent my life running between alleys and the underground... I'm bound to have a bit more endurance than you. Sanaki: It may not appear to be the case, but I've done my fair share of training with Sigrun, Tanith, and a few others. Micaiah: You mean to say you've been doing special ninja training with members of the Holy Guard? Sanaki: To train, we've been swatting at fast-growing ivy in the mornings. At times it's so tall, Tanith must lift me. Micaiah: We are quite similar, you and I. We both take these festivals seriously and are earnest in our pursuits. Sanaki: Yes, well...er...we are sisters after all! Though, I simply figured if I was going to participate, I may as well go all in. Micaiah: That's one of your best qualities. You are incredibly decisive and have such strong convictions—a true ruler. Sanaki: Well...this conversation has taken a turn, but I quite enjoy being with you. Shall we continue this discourse? Micaiah: Of course, not only for our sakes but for Begnion's and Daein's as well. But we must watch those sneaky shadows.

In RD, Sanaki initially implied that Micaiah's upbringing would lead to her being less capable, but now it's presented as having given her endurance and survival abilities that Sanaki never had a reason to develop. This conversation also shows Sanaki continuing to train, as she's accepted that she must rely on abilities she cultivates rather than assuming the goddess will grant her power. Like Tanith and Sigrun, Micaiah is able to recognize that Sanaki's strength lies in her determination, which of course is a trait Micaiah shares.

Even as they spend time together incognito as siblings, they still have their political roles in mind, and their conversation turns to focusing on the abilities required of a ruler rather than only treating this as a family vacation. Given the roles they've both found themself in--Sanaki due to birth, and Micaiah due to circumstance--having a normal outing is easier said than done.

Their precious voiced conversation also showcases their different pasts, abilities, and experiences with family, especially in the first half of it:

Sanaki: Excellent. Now that I've slipped in undetected, all that remains is to reach out and take... Micaiah: Found you! Sanaki: Blast! That is the third time in a row you've caught me! What gave the game away this time? I suppose that is a foolish question to ask a diviner. You looked into the future, didn't you? Micaiah: Not at all. I merely took the time to familiarize myself with all the little nooks and crannies in this place. More by force of habit than anything else, admittedly. I needed that sort of awareness to survive, growing up. Sanaki: Ah... Of course. I can scarcely imagine the trials you must have endured in those years... Micaiah: Now, now, none of that. It's all behind us. Right now, I'm at a festival with my sister—and I couldn't be happier. It reminds me of festivals back home, though. I'd often see brothers and sisters leading each other around. It used to make me envious, seeing siblings holding hands, enjoying their time together as family.

I love how FEH presents the idea that Sanaki is learning to not define Micaiah only as the one who inherited Lehran's powers. While she assumes Micaiah relied on future sight, Micaiah in fact used the survival instincts she needed while living on the streets as one of the Branded. Sanaki expresses sympathy, but Micaiah, as a character who has a harsh past and looks ever to the future, is currently trying to live in the present--appreciating what she finally has simply by being there with Sanaki.

Though Sanaki yearned for the powers Micaiah has, in RD, Micaiah says she always felt they were a burden. She gets overwhelmed among groups of people due to always feeling their emotions, especially the emotions directed toward her. Considering how much hatred she's experienced throughout her life as a Branded in Daein as well as a freedom fighter, this is undoubtedly a traumatic thing to live with. Even when she finds people who support her, she ends up being put on a pedestal she never asked for. Seeing the future can also be a burden, as she may or may not be able to stop the dark visions she sees. So while a festival could be an overwhelming experience for someone with her empathic abilities, being at this festival in FEH, living in the moment with her cherished family and going around incognito as a regular person, would be a healing experience.

Even then, she is unable to turn off her survival instincts that tell her she must be aware of potential danger and places to hide. Meanwhile, Sanaki's own protection relies on being visible--on being able to call for her guards at any given moment, as well as use her status as a shield. Being stealthy at a ninja festival is far from her own wheelhouse, as some of their voice lines amusingly show.

It's clear that Micaiah and Sanaki have lived very separate lives, and they've had different types of family supporting them. Micaiah is used to sneaking around as part of a group with Sothe and the Dawn Brigade, most of whom are younger than her and who she must protect, while Sanaki is used to having the adults around her dote on and protect her as their liege, most notably Tanith, Sigrun, and Sephiran. She is used to being the center of attention, as is shown in the paralogue, where she does not want to have to share her new sibling with Sothe--but she also is used to being isolated on a pedestal rather than being treated as an equal. So in the duo unit's voice conversation, Sanaki is at first awkward about the idea of holding Micaiah's hand to walk around the festival, but quickly latches onto the chance for affection and companionship.

Sanaki: I hope you harbor no intentions of chaperoning me like that. I am an empress, you will recall! Still... I suppose I would consent to holding hands. If you'd like. Micaiah: Oh, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just reminiscing, that's all. But, since you've made me such a generous offer, how could I refuse? Go on, take my hand. Sanaki: Very well! Hehehe...this will be fun. Come, we have a festival to enjoy! Hurry it along now! Micaiah: Oh! Hehehe! Keep swinging my arm like that and you're likely to send me flying!

(Side note: this isn't even the only mention Micaiah makes to flying in this update. I have to respect her commitment to bird puns.)

Part of Micaiah's arc in RD involves her grappling with the idea of belonging. Years ago, she and Sothe were all each other had, due to her experiences being Branded and his own past as an orphan. They are used to relying on and fiercely protecting each other as a result. Still, before PoR, Micaiah tried to leave Sothe, as she didn't think someone who was Branded could really have a home or family. She knew that as she aged, her heritage would become apparent. The rejection that the Branded face gave her understandable issues with attachment, but thankfully, she and Sothe were able to reunite. By that point, traveling with Ike had also taught Sothe greater acceptance of other races, allowing him to support Micaiah better.

Ike: The first time I met him, he’d hidden on a ship we were taking. He mentioned he was looking for someone who was like family to him. It was you he was searching for, wasn’t it? Micaiah: I…I tried to leave him behind. When we went to Crimea, I split off from him and took a ship to Begnion. But when I reached Begnion, war had broken out between Crimea and Daein. I knew I had to return to Daein to look for him. I couldn’t find him, so I went to Crimea. But I still couldn’t find him… We found each other again after the war, in Daein. In the back alleys of Nevassa, where we first met. Ike: You took routes opposite to each other. Micaiah: When I told him why I’d disappeared, he got so angry… I’d never seen him get so emotional before. Ike: I can’t say that I blame him. I’d be pretty furious if I heard someone that I loved was wandering around two countries at war. Besides, I’m sure he’d hidden his feelings about being abandoned until he saw you again. Micaiah: I thought I was reaching the limit of how long I could stay with him. He grew each and every day, but I remained the same… I didn’t want him to be harmed by the curse I lived with. Can you imagine how hard that would have been on him?

Given how she literally has an ability called sacrifice, and is often put in positions of responsibility, whether it's looking after Sothe when he was a child or becoming the leader of a resistance group, Micaiah's first instinct was to sacrifice the bond she had, not understanding that her leaving Sothe behind would be harder on him. Never having been allowed to have a place in society, she underestimated her own importance to someone else. However, she learns that sacrifice is not always the most noble option or the best solution to a problem.

After speaking to Ike more, Micaiah decides that she'll return to Daein, whereas she initially had been thinking she would "travel to a far-off place." Though she was afraid to try to stay with the people of Tellius, as she had always been told that her blood was cursed and that she wouldn't have a place with anyone, she has found a home and a family. The chance to remain with those she cares about is worth the hardships that may lie ahead.

Earlier in the game, as she got involved in wider political plots, she had to make decisions about who to protect when she couldn't save everyone. This includes Tibarn confronting her with the choice to either surrender--thus dooming the people of Daein to the blood pact--or sacrifice Sothe, as well as her decision to protect the people of Daein even if it means fighting the other nations. Sothe is the only family she has known, and Daein is the only home she has known, so these decisions weigh heavily on her.

By the end, Micaiah has found things she didn't know she could look for--an answer to her mysterious origins, blood relations in Sanaki and Lehran, and a family outside of Daein. She and Sanaki can seek international peace together by working publicly from a distance, which is very different than Micaiah having to stick to the shadows or make sacrifices to protect the people closest to her. As someone who values peace, she no longer has to choose between her love and her ideals.

This quote from the latest FEH update (from when you power up the duo unit) sums this up quite well:

Micaiah: Let us unite in strength and mold this world into one of peace, together.

(Blessed thought to add to my ever-growing list of fic ideas: Since the herons can use sending stones, theoretically, Sanaki and Micaiah could use sending stones to communicate Post-RD. Diplomatic phone calls that turn into late-night sister chats!!)

Still, that doesn't mean that she's instantly going to know how to interact with people she just found out she's related to. In her talk conversation with Lehran in 4-final, she's unusually shy:

Micaiah: Um… Lehran: Yes? Micaiah: You’re Lehran, aren’t you? Lehran: Yes. Micaiah: You… Forgive me for asking, but… Aren’t you my– Lehran: Can we talk about this later? Micaiah: What? Oh, I mean, of course… Sorry to bother you… Lehran: Child, you couldn’t possibly bother me. It’s just, the talk you and I must have is going to take a long time. I don’t think Ashera would wait for us to finish. Micaiah: Oh… Very well. Lehran: What is it? Micaiah: Oh, nothing… Never mind. Lehran: Micaiah? Micaiah: Y-yes? Lehran: Looks like you could use some backup. I’m good with a staff, too, you know. Micaiah: Th-thank you.

Unlike Sanaki, Micaiah is not used to approaching a father figure, and trying to broach this topic with Lehran of all people is no doubt intimidating! He, being more used to this role, is able to demonstrate his desire to support her while remaining pragmatic about the urgent situation they're in.

I bring this up because in the FEH paralogue, Micaiah fumbles her initial attempt to spend time with Sanaki, bringing up Sothe rather than paying attention to the sibling she's with. As said, Sanaki is particularly likely to find this frustrating, and due to her trademark bratty personality and Micaiah's teasing big sis instincts, this leads to some banter. In the end, however, they are able to express their feelings and their desire to spend time together as siblings.

Micaiah: Ah! What are— Is this some new kind of ninja attack?! Hee hee hee! Get off, get off! Owowow! …Hey, that tickles! Sanaki: All those who disturb the apostle's peace must be dealt the most severe punishments! …Beg my forgiveness! Micaiah: Forgive me, O Apostle! I will forever more—until the end of the festival—enjoy spending my time with my beloved sister. Sanaki: …That's all I wanted! Micaiah: I know we haven't had a chance to spend much time together as sisters yet, but... I hope we can do this sort of thing together as family from now on. And with practice, I'm sure to get better about just enjoying my time with you while I'm with you. Sanaki: Micaiah... I'm glad you understand. Now, let's get back to enjoying our time here! We're wasting valuable practice time!

This family has plenty of baggage, but they crave connection and have a great capacity to support each other. Though their backgrounds may be different, there's so much for them to learn from each other as they lead their respective nations and become a loving family. I'm so glad that FEH gave them a chance to finally get to know one another and share the affection they deserve.

[aloneditee]

Sephiran and Zelgius Timeline UPDATED

Instead of just having a jumbled idea of the timeline of sephiran and zelgius's relationship I decided I was going to spend my day off writing up my idea of how their timeline works based on cannon information with my own little headcannon flair because i can and you can't stop me.

*THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO @theia-eos FOR COMMENTING WITH THE RADIANT DAWN ARTBOOK TIMELINE I HAVE USED IT TO UPDATE THIS TIMELINE WITH MORE ACCURATE INFORMATION* I also had to remove some sentences because tumblr gave me a fuckin character limit while editing this for some reason

Key:

Bold = explicit canon

unbold = rough estimate canon/ guess

italics = headcanon

urple = sephzelg highlight reel (gay thoughts)

red = year

Complete timeline after the keep reading thing:

625: Misaha’s assassination and the serenes massacre → lehran villain arc. Lehran presents the medallion to ashnard and enters daeins service under the guise of a “wise man”

626: “daeins sudden change” → this is likely when the bloodpact began its effects and the deaths of the daein royal family. I THINK THIS IS WHEN SEPHIRAN AND ZELGIUS MET

Zelgius was serving in the Daein army under general Gawain for a few years. While sephiran is serving as a wise man under ashnard's father he meets zelgius and zelgius confides in him and they agree to be with each other when zelgius eventually leaves the daien army.

Later that year Gawain dips out of Daein with Elena. Zelgius despairs that his Master left him. Zelgius would then enter sephirans service.

627: Ashnard becomes the king of daein, (This was originally when I thought zelgius joins sephiran but I found out Gawain actually left BEFORE Ashnard became king according to the radiant dawn artbook).

I assume Sephiran leaves Ashnards service after Ashnard gets what he wants. Seph doesnt fuck with his bad vibes.

627~635: Sephiran and Zelgius do a bit of travelling and make plans for big evil or something. Sephiran still being a travelling sage and zelgius being a knight not connected to any army until he joins the Begnion military perhaps a decade later

During this time sephiran scaffolds information about himself and his past to zelgius. I do genuinely think that sephiran eventually opens up about everything to zelgius (and vice versa) including him being lehran and the origin of the branded.

634: assuming ike is around 7 when his mom died, this would be around the time point where Gawain touched the medallion and lehran and zelgius saw the aftermath. 

The reason why I think ike is 7 years old here (*he's born in 628*) is because that is how old soren would have been too according to his own timeline (based on his support convos), and those two met the day before the gawain medallion shenanigan occurred

Idrk when seph and zel join begnion as dukes. Based off of the artbook zelgius was actually born into a begnion family before fleeing to daein so maybe he reclaimed the cador family name or something. Sephiran claimed to be from a long line of mages (Persis) and somehow become a noble through this so called mage lineage.

637: sephzelg 10 yr anniversary

635: Sanaki is born. Sephiran may or may not be a senator at this stage

Sephiran begins to rise up the senate ranks through rizz and zelgius rises up the army ranks

At some point between 635-640: sanakis parents are killed by the senate probably

640: sanaki (5 years old) becomes the empress of begnion and sephiran becomes the “senate leader” aka prime minister 

the event lekain talks about when sanaki would stfu during formal proceedings and they discover sephiran has insane babysitting skills occurs right after sanaki becomes the empress i think

645: beginning of mad kings war. At this point in time sephiran and zelgius would have been together for around 18-19 years

Black knight shenanigans. Sephiran travels tellius and gathers intel

Sepiran gets captured in crimea by daein military, probably waited for zelgius to go save him hence why he wouldnt fucking move when ike rescued him lmao

Black knight scraps ranulf, sephiran steps in and tells black knight to stand down

Sephiran eventually returns to begnion, tells everyone to get their fucking shit together, sends zelgius to go help ike (black knight still be existing). Zelgius’ group stays in daein while ikes group goes to crimea. BK does multiple warcrimes in the meant

646: Nados castle falls on the black knight. Sephiran rescues him and uses is epic healing skills to get zelgius to recover before the battle between ikes team and ashnard in the final chapter

646: End mad kings war. Sephiran annoys the shit out of ike by laughing at him for no reason. The black knight is “defeated”. Sephzelg 20 year anniversary aww

646-648: new evil world ending plan just launched

648: war part 2 electric boogaloo

Summer 648: Black knight return arc, sephiran is set to go to daein and tell jarod to stop being a cunt or something but gets thrown in jail before he got the chance to????

Autumn 648: Sephiran captured by the senate while zelgius is at war doing war stuff

Zelgius saves sephiran from jail part 2 electric boogaloo and the two of them start a cheeky uprising in bengion.

Zelgius and sephiran made a pact to die together in the tower. I think they made this agreement way in advance and they knew that was the end goal no matter what happens.

Winter 648: zelgius vs ike gay on gay violence. Zelgius dies. Sephiran either also dies or lives. pain and suffering

~1848: Ashunera returns. Lehran may or may not be there to greet her. Hope he dies soon

[nyankocatnyan]

Empress Sanaki and Happy 16th anniv to FE Radiant Dawn

[calamitaswrath]

Cal Lucia plays Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: Chapter 13

Not much of a lead-in for this chapter, huh? I'm just plopped right into my pre-chapter preparations. But then again, since in previous cases that was always accompanied by a change in location, and we're still very much on a boat, I suppose that makes sense. Let's start with Jill!

"Why are you still here?" - Blunt, Ike. Blunt. And calling soldiers stupid, too! Reminds me of that one post that's like "everyone who died for their country is a clown". It does make me wonder why exactly Jill really is still with us, though. The basic interesting is obvious, but where does it come from, and why is it enough?

Conversation with Daniel, about the best means to defend on a ship map. Very subtle, game. And they're playing an in-universe war game? Fire Emblem-ception?

Aimee continues to simp for Ike. The game really does make a running gag out of him not caring for women romantically or sexually, huh?

Sibling interactions between Oscar, Boyd and Rolf!! Those are always fun. Judging by the fact that it was a three star one, I thought that it would actually lead to something, but I haven't noticed anything yet. Do they get their own triangle attack now, or. . .?

Right, time to start the actual chapter. And we get more worldbuilding! Begnion's got an empress, Crimea and Daein used to be part of it, and we seriously gotta wonder why they want to see Elincia in the first place

Tanith. . . woag. . .

Hmm, we got a high priestess? The only context in which I've heard of priestesses in the context of PoR/RD is with Micaiah's classes, but I really don't think that she's going to make an actual appearance here yet

Heyy, Gatrie's back! And he got himself a new job. Have to wonder about that other character, though. . . her name in the German version is Stella, but I don't think that's gonna be the same in English. And after looking that up, her English name is Astrid. . . okay? Seems to be another instance of the German version carrying over the Japanese name.

Ohoho, defend map! And one with a lot of chests, too. Gimme gimme gimme!

Ah, there's Nasaela. Based on these early vibes, I can already somewhat understand my friend's obsession. I am curious though why the king of an entire nation is out here making deals with rather lowly soldiers for money like this. Is his country not doing well financially speaking?

Ergh, as I'm playing through this map, I'm beginning to realize that I really don't have the turns to actually get all the items with just Sothe. I think I'll need to restart and hand everyone chest keys. . . lovely.

Well, that second attempt went a lot better in general. I got all the enemies on the upper ship, including the boss, by just turn five! Let's see what else is gonna happen on this map.

Ah, so that other character flying near Nasaela is. . . well, a character. Kinda funny to see an old winged man like that. And pfft, he Nasaela doesn't like being called. . . what would it be in English? Hatchling?

Tibarn and Janaff. I would say these two have the look of playable characters to them.

Hold on, Tibarn's a king as well? Do the bird Laguz have multiple kingdoms? So far, I was under the impression that they only got the one. . .

This lot really was just there to show that they're there, huh?

. . .And I left the defend point unguarded on accident. I thought the enemy ravens would make a beeline for the treasure, NOT that point. Guess that's my first game over!

Jesus fucking christ, my luck on this second attempt was terrible. Astrid missed a ~90% to hit twice, Rolf also missed one, I took longer to beat the boss. . . but at least I managed to still turn things around in the end. Still just absolutely stucks about Astrid though, because she did get a lot more kills, and by proxy, exp, the first time around.

Sigrun! I heard the name before, but I don't have any associations. With Sanaki however, there are some half-remembered tidbits there. I think she's related to Micaiah somehow?

Ah. So the high priestess is the empress as well. Then why even make a distinction in introducing her?

Ike and Soren having a little heart-to-heart! That's nice.

Sanaki's found, and Ike really can be rather thick at times. . . let's see where that leads him

It gets him invited to court, is what it does. Fair enough.

[lapinbunwrites]

Title: A Childish Tea Party

Rating: Gen

Warnings: None

Fandom: Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn

Characters: Humor, Friendship, Post-Canon

Additional Tags: Friendship, Humor

Words: 795

Ao3 Link

Naesala couldn't remember the last time he had a pleasant conversation with Sanaki. She was always more condescending than he was, and everyone has told him his is the worst. He, for some reason, took great pride in that. But when he heard it coming out of a small child, he realized, it probably wasn't the best thing in the world. Last thing he wanted to deal with her complaining since that she is an Empress, she could do whatever she wanted. Naesala has done it, and it never worked for him so he's a little irritated a child could get away with it.

"Naesala!" Sanaki demanded his attention.

"What?" He said, focusing his attention to her.

"You haven't paying attention like you should," she pouted.

"I'm sorry your royal empress," he sighed, taking a sip of his tea. He was hoping this little tea party of hers would be rather different from what it was. He thought is going to be more pressing than what she wrote him about. "Listening to you talk about the food you've eaten in the last day isn't all that interesting."

She let out a little growl, giving him a stink eye. "Well I think it's better than hearing you talk endlessly about Leanne."

Naesala pinched the bridge of his nose. "That was weeks ago and I'm surprised you were paying attention."

"Well, I thought I could find something to use as blackmail against you," Sanaki teased.

"I'm surprised that you would use it, considering that you have no need for it," Naesala smiled, taking a sip of tea.

"I was hoping for a something juicy so I could try to con sweets out of you," she laughed, trying to take a bit of her treat.

"Well, you can keep trying, but no one is going to say anything," he reminded her.

"Hmph, I could always ask Tibarn, Reyson, or even Leanne," she said.

"They won't say a thing, or at least I hope not," he said, getting out of his chair.

"Where are you going?" Sanaki asked, yanking him back to the table. "This isn't over."

"Well, I have more important things to worry about having a tea party with a child," he said, trying to pry her fingers off of him. "For someone who is only thirteen, you have one hell of a grip."

"I am fourteen now!" She reprimanded him, roughly pulling him back.

"Yeesh kid," Naesala said, using his strength to pull her out of her seat and holding her off the ground.

Sanaki held onto Naesala's arm tightly as she kicked the air, trying to look for the ground.

"What are you doing?" He asked, waving his arm up and down.

"PUT ME DOWN!" She demanded.

"Fine, but I'm leaving afterwards," he sighed, placing her on the ground.

"Why, I thought you were excited to be here?" She asked, smoothing out her clothes. "I just wanted to spend some time with you."

"I didn't think you would enjoy my company," Naesala grumbled.

"I really do," Sanaki murmured, walking back to her seat. "I don't have many close friends, especially many near my age. So I was hoping that maybe you would like to be my friend."

Naesala wishes he could say that he was hard for him to make friends, but he always had Rafiel, Reyson, and Leanne. He's known them since a very young age so he's never had to worry about being alone in his life. He couldn't imagine what Sanaki would of gone through by herself without any friends. She ascended the throne at such a young age without any true childhood to talk about. Most of her life he could imagine that she was in and out of meetings, war councils, and training sessions. It really wasn't a traditional childhood to him so he could see her not having any friends to have. Sure, she had Sigrun and Tanith, but they were more guardians than anything.

He took on deep sigh before letting giving her a smile. "Fine, I will stay and listen to you-"

"Oh, hooray!" Sanaki said with a sparkle in her eyes.

"But," he smirked.

"But what?" she asked, her earth shattering for a split second.

"You must listen to me and what I want to talk about," he bargained, sitting his seat.

"Fine fine! If you insist," she agreed, taking a bit of her food.

Naesala smiled as he ate his food as he listened to her talk. Thinking about it, being in her presence and listening to her talk, wasn't such a bad thing after all. Maybe he will take her up on more of the tea parties she invites him to. Maybe even make it a tradition only to see that smile of hers.

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

Consistent writing style, who's that? Anyway here is yet another revenge fic @aptericia! Hopefully this two little bickering duos feel you with the same amount of joy you gave me!

[asktellius]

The easier way to save the world

[reneethegreatandpowerful]

Sanaki for the reference-less drawing?

(Also if you want to do someone you don’t know, you could try my lil guy Temenos from Octopath :3)

First off, the empress!

I've drawn her before, and I thought I did pretty well, until I saw what she actually looks like.

She's wonkier with accuracy than I thought she would be, (I think I may have given her Sephiran's turtleneck) but as far as recognizability, I think she's good.

And then there's Temenos:

I don't know whether I've ever seen this guy outside of your drawings, so the memory of them was pretty much my reference. I don't know where that little sprig on his head in my drawing came from, but it's not here:

He's way more colorful than I thought. I thought he had an all white robe like an FE healer.

Thanks for these! This is fun!

[randomnameless]

@themoomoorn replied to your post “Who's winning the racism contest, Three Hopes with...”:

Finally, someone who states it plain that Ike did not in fact defeat racism (even if it's of the magical kind), but rather fucked off afterwards because he's a chad or some bullshit

​TBF Tellius doesn't say racism can be solved by rekting a religious person and no one praises the moron who suggests this plan

But there's still something to be said about how FE10 ends with Ike fucking off after the war, when said game started this way - no one gave a fuck about Daien and the "post war" situation in FE9, so Begnion ruined it scott free :/

Hopefully this time Elincia, Miccy and Sanaki are going to get along - even if in the crap world that is Tellius, Sanaki will basically have to deal with the consequences of a civil war in Begion (Senate vs Empress who is NOT the apostle!), Miccy will only bank on popular support to become Daein's ruler despite not being part of its royal family - and Elincia already had to deal with "politics" in part 2.

I'm more interested in a post-Tellius scenario when the hawks leave Serenes because even if Tibarn is Reyson's "friend", they need to eat meat, and they might want to slaughter some ravens for what happened to Phoenicis ; depending on how we played, given that all of Goldoa's population was in the Tower of Guidance, Kurthnaga might only rule over 25 peons and the "beast" tribe will have to deal with King Skrimir.

Oh well, I'm pretty sure if a third Tellius game was released, the devs would still find a way to push Ike, even if he's released as a FE6!Karel.

[saprophetic]

we gave sanaki a new hiding spot

[queenlua]

Stefan brings a delegation from Grann, to petition Empress Sanaki for his nation's independence. But the real negotiation occurs between their respective unlikely attendants: Zihark and Naesala. ~7k words.

happy birthday @walonvaus!!

a million years ago i remember us having some kind of conversation about zihark/naesala so. hope this delivers :P

[dirtyoldmanhole]

guilty pleasure ramble about how i'd slot my self insert + zihark into fates since it feels inevitable after tellius/fe13(<where it got started)/feh

ironically mostly tellius & fates magic nerding, no worries. worldbuilding!

this is going to be incomprehensible without context lol, so: long story short i've spent the past uh. 20 years plopping those two in various FE worlds.

while tellius was naturally where it started, the story really solidified with fe13's spotpass characters and me trying to retcon (a) how tf they're viewed to the other living characters (shades, ghosts?) and how they got there, and (b) the avatar-tactician being all but a necromancer nosferatsu tank raising ghosts from her past and how the hell chrom + co would actually find that creepy.

(i need to name her at least for talking publicly. let's uh - bright eyes was ironically a name that a lot of dark mages started calling her way later on once she started hunting them down in tellius proper (the OG world) and she kind of likes that power trip. so let's go with that.)

anyway - bright eyes' (tellius) backstory is that she almost died as a kid from a sickness while growing up in begnion and unintentionally became a spirit charmer when making a pact out of sheer desperation of 'i don't want to die'. (-so be it, said the spirit).

so she gets regeneration and stunted aging at the cost of health.

a lot of the resulting tension of the story comes from playing with the dark sides of regeneration - not being able to die but still feeling pain, how can it be twisted into an advantage, etc. (if you've read the manga ajin, i loved how it really knuckled into the body horror and psychological horror of simple regeneration alone and how creatively it can be taken. are you yourself after being decapitated? if those two "parts" stay separate who *is* your true self? is the only way to stop somebody who can infinitely regenerate to cut them up in pieces and bury them alive? etc .... it gets dark yea)

anyway as time goes on, empress sanaki notices bright eyes during the mad king's war (being a simple mage that tags along with ike's army), and has her on retainer much like tormod investigating daein. (you can probably figure how things go when radiant dawn kicks off, and who she runs into again).

but while tormod's more there to investigate whether begnion's occupation is legit, bright eyes is there keeping tabs on dark mages and taking them out since she's gotten vastly better at combat.

since here's the thing - especially in tellius dark mages are much rarer/either begnion-sanctioned/branded/spirit charmers. there's a lot of fascinating social power dynamics i think are hinted in who gets sanctioned mage education and which kind of accepted mage training ... holy priests vs like, underground hedgewitches.

with the begnion empire and worship of ashera as monocultural? universal? as it is, i get the feeling that dark mages are seen as the "other evil" much like yune ("dark god" and all) - likewise, i am so fascinated by that one dark mage boss you get to see in p3 of radiant dawn. who'd he get trained by.

"dang bright eyes is a cop???" lol. yes, but rest assured that too is played with - when does it hit about hunting down kin, more similar than those who are your handlers? i love this kind of messy shit. consider it the ex-fundamentalist background of the author.

anyway, which! brings me to fates-verse.

nyx' whole eternal-youth-but-what-cost-curse-backstory instantly stood out to me as something similar (writing YRMR solidified my thoughts on how incredibly powerful and prestigious mages are in nohr compared to tellius; almost like minor nobles in their own regard) - but i also don't want to take that and copy it wholesale. that said bright eyes being nohrian feels patently obvious with the vampire background that nation has, lol; she'd always be the monster of the two.

zihark on the other hand feels easy; dead ringer for a hoshido mercenary - sort of like shura in he's willing to take on dirty jobs and crosses the borders into nohr unusually often for a hoshidan. almost frequently enough that a few folks mistake him for a nohrian at first (kind of like how no one in ike's army knew he was daein despite sothe himself also being daein).

but going back -

i kind of like the idea of bright eyes actually starting off in iago's mage guild; i want to explore how deeply fucked up nohrian's magic power dynamics are with the most emphasized bits of magic are mind wipes, faceless, sapping willpower, assassination via illusions ... simply controlling fire/ice feels positively tame in comparison.

anyway bright eyes basically trading health for regeneration as a way to survive in the mage's guild training feels remarkably on script there. all the baby mages trying to figure out how to "cheat" survival and the backstabbing until they graduate....

and well. can't kill a monster that just keeps coming back.