#established leo/niles

[kimium]

Chapters: 1/1 Summary:

One shot. Gift Fic. Modern AU. Detective AU. Supernatural Powers AU.

“What?” Inigo asked, irritation smoothed by sleepiness lacing his tone.

“My future vision has unfortunately witnessed a reality upon our timeline. The horrific event that played in my brain not an improbability but a truth manifested unto this world. Our assistance is required tonight.”

Another beat passed. Inigo muttered something under his breath. “Send a pin to your location. We’ll be there shortly.”

In where the Trio are detectives with supernatural abilities aiding them in solving crimes.

~

HAPPY BIRHTDAY, @someobscurereference!!! I hope your birthday is filled with amazing things and happiness!!! Here is your birthday fic. I remember talking to you about a supernatural powered detective AU for the Trio and I loved the birthday fic you wrote for me with this idea. I decided for you I also had to write the idea. I love it so much! I hope you love it too!

Hello everyone! This is a gift fic for my friend, ObscureReference. If you haven’t read her stories, I highly recommend them! Please check out her works!

[talonabraxas]

Sirius 'Spiritual Sun' by Talon Abraxas Everything you need to know about the Lion’s Gate Portal and how to manifest dreams into reality.

August 8 is particularly important date in the astrological world. It's known at the peak of the Lion's Gate Portal, a day for manifestation and considered by many as the marker of a new year for resolutions and goals. Here, we explain what you need to know and how to help manifest your dreams into reality.

When is the Lion’s Gate Portal?

The Lion’s Gate Portal technically runs for two weeks, opening in late July and closing in mid August. However, the pinnacle of the Lion's Gate Portal is August 8 (8/8). People will often commonly refer to this date as the Lion's Gate Portal itself - this date is also known to some as the galactic new year.

What is the significance Lion’s Gate Portal?

The Lion’s Gate Portal is the moment where Sun in Leo is in alignment with the star Sirius, Orion’s Belt and Earth. This happens when Sirius "rises" or becomes visible again due the Sun's yearly passing of the star.

Why is this significant? Well, Sirius (the Alpha star of the Canis Major constellation) is the brightest star in the sky and is astrologically considered to be a spiritual sun. It was an extremely important body to the Ancient Egyptians who referred to it as the goddess Sopdet. They used the annual rising of this star to note when the Nile would begin its annual flood, feeding the landing and bringing harvest and fertility.

In astrology, Sirius brings wealth, abundance, fortune and fame. As such, our alignment with this auspicious body means it is an excellent time for manifestation. The breadth of the Lion's Gate Portal portal period is considered spiritually significant. But, the peak of the Lion's Gate Portal falls on August 8 for a few reasons. The numerology of 8/8 is considered extremely powerful, in fact it is the most powerful of all combinations. Additionally, this date sees the Sun at the half way point of Leo, a season associated with boldness and confidence. Of course, the Sun is also the ruler of sign Leo. So in this moment, everything truly is in alignment physically and spiritually.

Aside from the vernal equinox, the 8/8 of the Lion's Gate Portal is regarded as one of the most powerful moments for manifestation in the whole calendar. Much like the ancient Egyptians, you could view the Lion’s Gate Portal as a bringer of the abundant and new. Consider it a time to break free from any habits that may be preventing us from becoming our best selves.

How can I manifest during the Lion’s Gate Portal?

Manifestation can take many forms, and the below is a common guide in how to actively manifest during the Lion’s Gate Portal.

1.Focus on aligning with the positive energy within yourself, then heighten your awareness further to focus on the presence of the Moon, stars and planets.

2.You can then speak your manifestations aloud, silently to yourself or write them on paper, focusing on the words and exactly what you are creating with your words.

3. Continue to write or say your manifestation continuously until you believe they have established a place in the physical world.

4.Then, let all your expectations go and continue with your day believing what has been manifested is – or will be – reality.

Yellow crystals, such as citrine and amber, botanicals and herbs are ideal tools for manifestation during this time, as part of your manifestation rituals. Citrine in particular is used to channel wealth, abundance and good luck.

Alongside manifestation, it is an ideal time for meditation as we can harness the power of the portal and attune ourselves to its vibration. Undertaking meditation under the sun can help us get in touch with our creativity, due to Leo being one of the most creative signs.

[lovely-english-rose]

Is your Corrin closest to any one or two siblings? What do you think Niles and Leo's friendship is like post-canon?

Oh these are interesting- Gotta put these under a cut because hoo boy is it long

I think initially at least, Corrin would be closer to the Nohrian siblings as a whole due to growing up with them and having all memories with them in tact whereas early childhood memories with the Hoshidan siblings were suppressed, so Corrin would probably need a bit more time to bond with them again. For the Nohrians, I feel like Corrin would be closest to Leo and Elise. I feel like they have the easiest relationships with Corrin if that makes sense? Where Xander starts off a bit distant with all his younger siblings and Camilla is kind of pushy and over protective with Corrin. And then with the Hoshidans, I feel like Corrin would be closest with Ryoma and Hinoka. They remember Corrin before the kidnapping, and have somewhat of established relationships, even if they do require some work to get to know Corrin as they are now. Takumi is shown not trusting Corrin at all at first and being extremely wary, so I can see their relationship being strained for a while. And Sakura seems more shy about trying to get close with Corrin (on top of her guilt over the rumor that she was supposed to be the target and not Corrin). I can see the younger two in general having a hard time accepting and getting used to having another sibling only the eldest two would remember since they were too little to know Corrin before they were taken away.

I have so many thoughts about post canon Niles in general, and plenty to do with his friendship with Leo 👀. I feel like some depends on their "endings" and where they end up after all the fighting is said and done- But I feel like no matter what, they would remain good friends for the rest of their lives.

So, for reference, Leo's endings:

Not too much variation for Leo, he always pretty much stays in Nohr and works with Xander.

And Niles:

Niles potentially can be a lot of things. He could stay in Nohr, keeping up the same old routine, which in their supports he did say he would be glad to do for the rest of his life. He could even continue the efforts to help criminals get a second chance and turn their lives around, like was discussed in his supports with Arthur. But with Corrin, it sounds like they will always leave. In those cases, I imagine that they would still make efforts to see each other or at the very least keep in constant contact with each other. I personally always thought they would visit as much as they could manage and send frequent letters. And I do love the note for one of the rev endings that points out remaining close with Leo, that makes me very happy 😭💗 Niles did mention his first happy memory was when he met Leo, so I can't see him wanting to lose the friendship they built. I also feel like without any war or major fighting going on post canon, Leo and Niles would probably have a more relaxed relationship than what they have in game.

Also a fun lil bonus, in the case of Corrin/Niles, I feel like Leo would have an exaggerated "I can't BELIEVE you would go and marry Corrin, and personally torture me by becoming my brother in law" to kinda egg on him. The playful teasing CAN work both ways 💖 (he would ofc be happy for the both on them uwu)

[gloamvonhrym]

I finally finished Awakening lol! here’s my overlong thoughts. a lot of which are comparing Fates & Awakening, which is kind of unavoidable because lot of Fates criticism hinges on comparing it unfavorably to Awakening and also because they’re two games in the same FE generation which reference each other stylistically and in story/cast

a major criticism I’ve heard is that Fates took everything that Awakening did well and tried to expand on it but ended up making it worse. having finally played them both, I don’t think that’s true at all and I think the issues of Fates are mostly unique

gameplay wise, granted I’m a filthy casual, but I thought Fates’ gameplay was overall more varied and fun, gimmicks notwithstanding. I’m just a silly boy who likes to run all over a map and dig up a bunch of stuff and flip a bunch of switches to make stuff happen. awakening had a couple standouts but mostly felt samey to me, and also I had to grind way more to make my cast usable.

Fates and Awakening both had big casts, but Awakening really had almost nothing to suggest existing interpersonal relationships or explain why any of these people were invested in the cause (beyond ”they’re a knight so it’s their job”, or ”there’s an existential threat to the realm so I guess they have to go to war”). I immediately responded to maribelle because the first thing she does is act overprotective towards lissa, which establishes a relationship and a motive. almost no one else had that and I had a hard time engaging with the cast overall, let alone trying to distinguish who I actually wanted to take with me, because I just didn’t care about most of them and most of them didn’t particularly seem to have reasons to care about each other.

I thought Fates improved on that massively tbh. its cast often gets accused of being one-note, but like, it offered the 4 royals + azura as a really nice grounding core cast with a preexisting relationship with the main character and a strong reason to care about them (not only are they family but corrin is a sheltered/neglected/abused child toward whom they all feel varying degrees of protectiveness and resentment); and then their 2 retainers each, plus jakob/felicia/kaze, almost all have very caring mutual relationships and histories with their charges, and also usually have endearing and/or funny relationships with each other as well. off the bat that’s a solid core of people who not only have histories and personal reasons to be invested in what happens, but also have a suggested story-importance hierarchy built in - I wanted to know more about leo because leo had complicated feelings toward corrin, and I wanted to know more about niles because niles had an interesting relationship with leo, etc. I found most of the cast of Awakening undifferentiated and boring, sorry about it. libra, maribelle, donnel, and lissa being the major exceptions, most of them just did not seem like they had a ton to say, and I was rarely pleasantly surprised

the most egregious thing Fates tried to do with its cast was ape the 2nd-gen character concepts with zero in-story rationale for them being present and mature. and that was extremely stupid and contrived. but also, in their defense, the child characters in Awakening were also almost entirely superfluous and optional except for lucina, and going around to collect them was mostly just kind of a chore. (I also felt like supports…. built slower? I don’t know if I just ran out of patience, but like, I didn’t get any of the kids to the highest tier of support with each other. they just didn’t seem to want to talk. maybe that’s just because I’m bad at this game.)

and in terms of plot: Awakening tried to do way less. and yet somehow I still found it…….. pretty frustrating. I spent 10 chapters fighting Valm and it didn’t matter at all. why was Walhart even there? someone on twitter posited that it was to be part of Chrom’s ”arc” of deciding what kind of leader he wanted to be, but…… where? I don’t remember him having any real internal conflict about that, it seemed like his mind was pretty made up? he struck me as a pretty static character, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, a lot of lord characters are, but if there was any doubt about what kind of leader he intended to be, I think that went out the window when Emmeryn ate it. the problems with Fates’ plot(s) were mostly that it tried to do too much, which resulted in a lot of really cool concepts (a traumatized kid with uncontrollable emotion-triggered dragon powers!) either not getting explored at all, or getting written in contrived or convoluted ways (to whose benefit was the vallite curse anyway, and why did that matter). however, I at least screamed laughing at Fates, which was not the intent, but at least I wasn’t like ”why did I just slog through 10 identical chapters of this plotline only to end up back in plegia fighting a 100% unrelated big bad”

the setup about robin being a vessel for grima was cool tho, and a better payoff than anything in Fates. as a whole I liked the END of Awakening better. although I do wish they hadn’t tried to pull the rug about robin killing chrom. that felt like an insult. robin was in control enough to ”hold back” when they impaled chrom so like ok you just impaled him through the chest…….. gently?? my brother in christ he should still be dead??? I’d have preferred a different deus ex machina where chrom gets revived by the power of love and friendship or whatever

[nowis-scales]

Fire Emblem Fates Mistletoe Headcanons

Part two of my mistletoe headcanons from IG! If you’re looking for the Awakening requests, you can find them here. You can also find Three Houses here.

Features: Camilla/Hinoka, M Corrin/Felicia, Niles/M Corrin, Flora/Joker, Leo/Takumi, Kagero/Orochi, Xander/Charlotte, Ryoma/Felicia

Camilla/Hinoka:

Camilla and Hinoka end up kissing by chance. As the evening grows upon them, Hinoka ventures to the stable to brush and dress up Bashira, her pegasus. She always does this around the holidays, given that they’re such a special event, so it’s no surprise to Camilla when she finds her there. She can’t help but smile at the way the Hoshidan princess cares for her beloved friend, knowing how happy Bashira’s presence makes her. She’s so focused on their joy, she doesn’t even notice the mistletoe hanging from the stable’s roof.

Therefore, up until the moment they notice, the situation is totally innocent. The girls are laughing and chatting, discussing the chilly weather and the upcoming holiday, when Hinoka’s notices the mistletoe hanging above them. Immediately she accuses Camilla, who insists upon her innocence… although she says that if she had thought of it, she would have. Letting out a slight huff, Hinoka asks if she can kiss her — Camilla is more than happy to oblige, laughing in the kiss, for Hinoka has to stand on her tippy toes to match their heights.

M Corrin/Felicia:

For theirs, Corrin probably planned it. There are just too many disaster scenarios that could occur otherwise, and he doesn’t want to leave Felicia out of mistletoe kisses altogether because he knows she loves it when he’s romantic. So he resolves to hang the mistletoe in his treehouse, and calls her over there as his maid because he needs her help cleaning up something. Initially, Felicia’s a bit puzzled. He doesn’t really call on her so much to be his maid anymore, not when he’s got Jakob and Flora to take care of him, too. But she goes anyway, still wanting to prove herself.

The mistletoe is hanging in the centre of the room when she arrives, and Corrin’s just sitting on his bed, crisscross applesauce, waiting for his beloved wife to wander through the door. In spite of Felicia’s distracted tendencies, she catches a glimpse of it the moment she enters, and a warm smile sneaks across her face. Within seconds Corrin is up, wrapping his hands around her waist and enjoying how much she’s blushing.

“I didn’t want you to feel left out from all the romance,” he tells her, “Do you like it?”

She laughs in her usual awkward way, stopping to press her lip to Corrin’s for a long moment, finally breaking apart to whisper: “I love it. Thank you, my prince.”

Niles/M Corrin:

Some of you may think that Niles organizes it. Nope! That’s where you’re wrong: this is Corrin’s turf. With the life he’s lived, Niles has not often been swept off his feet, so Corrin is ready to do some sweeping. He’s pulling out all the stops, candlelit dinner date in the treehouse! A kiss under the mistletoe is the entrance fee. Niles knew his partner had to be up to something the moment he received the invitation, but he’s more than okay with that.

He returns to their shared treetop home after a long day of work, opening the door only to be captivated by all of the decorations all over the room. At the centre is the candlelit dinner, just as expected, with food that smells amazing. Corrin is adjusting one of the place settings when he arrives, and snaps to attention when he sees his husband. Niles is about to walk in and give him his thanks when Corrin stops him.

“Sir, if you’d like to dine at this establishment, you need to pay the entrance fee.”

“Entrance fee?”

Corrin points up. Niles sighs and shakes his head. “Well what are you doing over there, then? C’mere.”

Flora/Joker:

Theirs is pseudo-spontaneous, because it’s spontaneous for THEM, but it only happens because Felicia is a pot stirrer. In the spirit of the season, people have hung all kinds of mistletoe around camp, and she knows just how badly Flora wants to be under that mistletoe with Jakob. So she does what any hopelessly clumsy little sister would do in her position: she throws herself against her sister when Jakob is under the mistletoe, knocking them under it together. “Whoops, clumsy me, running into you like that — oh, look at that, you two are under the mistletoe!”

Flora’s face turns beet red, shooting Felicia the dirtiest look she’s ever seen. She starts to insist to Jakob that it’s not necessary and to not mind her sister, but to her surprise, Jakob just sighs and insists that they shouldn’t forego tradition. He says that if she’s alright with it, he will go forward. Poor Flora can barely stammer out her acceptance, but when she gets there, it’s all Jakob needs to place one hand on her cheek and gently unite their lips. He’s just as warm and soft as Flora dreamt he would be, and his lips taste like coffee… If she died right then and there, she’d die happy.

Leo/Takumi:

These two are just… mistletoe, man. They both think it’s a stupid tradition and they don’t want to do it, but when they end up under it, suddenly their tunes have changed. Well, only because of their stupid rivalry, really. Elise somehow makes sure they end up under it, because of course she would, it’s funny. Once they’re under it, too, neither of them wants to do it. Takumi insists that it’s a childish tradition, and Leo asks if he’s just too cowardly to try it. Takumi, being Takumi, disagrees strongly and says Leo won’t try it because he’s even more of a coward.

Cue a lot of ridiculous arguing and name calling, going after each other until finally Takumi concludes that the only way they can prove themselves is by kissing. It’s begrudging, red-faced, and it takes a lot of effort to work up the courage to do, but once they meet… they’re struck by how pleasant it actually is. Leo is surprised by just how soft his lips are, and Takumi can’t help but be surprised by Leo’s posture and how natural it feels… Later that night, they definitely seek out their younger sisters in a panic, wondering why they were FEELING things during a hate-kiss.

Kagero/Orochi:

Despite Orochi’s cheeky personality, they probably get caught in the moment more than anything. To be honest, Kagero’s probably caught in an attempt to paint the mistletoe she’s seeing, but finds that something is missing from it. Painting an object so quaint and cute is rather difficult for her art style, especially since it’s so… harsh. She’s scrapped more than a few paintings in frustration, which naturally attract Orochi to the unusual display of emotion from her. She suggests that perhaps a model for the piece would help support her, so Kagero asks her to give it a shot.

It seems to work well at first, but Kagero has a very particular idea about how the pose would work for Orochi, so she goes over to set her up. As she’s giving the instructions, she can tell Orochi’s distracted by the mistletoe hanging above them and- oh. Her face goes red, and she asks if Orochi really wants to enforce the mistletoe rules. That signature grin of her Orochi’s snakes across her face easily. “Just a little kiss!” she insists. Unwilling to refuse her, even despite her secret crush, Kagero plants a gentle yet surprisingly awkward kiss to Orochi’s lips. Okay, this may or may not have been Orochi’s plan. She’s just really good at playing it off.

Xander/Charlotte:

They probably don’t end up under the mistletoe together until they’re married, because before that, Xander absolutely knows what she’s up to. So he’s only going to end up with her under it as a married man, and with it being a spontaneous plan. They end up there together after taking a walk through the snow, their fingers interlaced as they chat, until they finally come back to Xander’s quarters to settle in for the night… only to find that Camilla and Elise have hung some mistletoe above their heads. Xander is a bit flustered, but Charlotte just teases him about being smooth.

Xander tries to protest, insisting that he really didn’t do it, and that she should feel no obligation to participate in the tradition if it doesn’t please her. Charlotte simply ignores his babbling, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down into a passionate kiss. The tips of the crown prince’s ears burn hot, but the feeling of Charlotte’s lips on his own is too good to pass up. He settles in easily, eyes shutting as he savours the moment.

Ryoma/Felicia:

As I’ve said before, I don’t see Ryoma as a big PDA guy, but I feel like Felicia absolutely loves it. Thus, she surely plotted their kiss. Problem is, Ryoma is pretty tall, and the top of Felicia’s head only comes up to his collarbone, so anywhere she could hang mistletoe wouldn’t work for him. So, she concocts a terrible plan: she’s going to use a ladder to put up the mistletoe. Surely nothing about this will go wrong, right? Yeah… it goes about as wrong as you’d expect. She stretches too far while on the ladder to try and hang it, and the whole thing goes tumbling to the floor… and causes a minor break in her arm.

Ryoma finds her in the infirmary with Sakura, pouting. Knowing his wife well, he’s not reluctant to try and console her, but does want to know what the heck she was doing on a ladder in the first place. She quietly confesses to her mistletoe plan and her hope to earn herself more kisses from him. He can’t help but sigh and shake his head, inquiring as to why she didn’t just ask. Without another word he kisses her temple, and then asks if she still has the mistletoe. She does, and hands it to him with her working hand, so he can hold it above their heads. “Perhaps it’s not the kiss you imagined, but… I hope it still satisfies.”

Felicia can’t fight off her smile as she leans in to meet her partner.

[someobscurereference]

What if the written languages of Ylisse/Plegia/Regna Ferox etc looked so different from Nohrian/Hoshidan/Vallan that it wasn't even recognizable as words? What if Fates takes place in a world where people can have different types of soulmarks? What if Camilla and Beruka were both born with only the name Severa and Leo and Niles were both born with only the name Owain but, not realizing that it was a name, they assumed they simply had a matching symbol to their soulmate? What if Ylisse doesn't have soulmates or just not outward indicators and so they simply believe what they're told, that Camilla and Beruka are soulmates and the same with Leo and Niles, because they couldn't possibly know better? What if one day they catch a glimpse of their names on their skin and realize that they are essentially fated to break apart the people they have grown to care so deeply for? Of course they really do love their partners, but imagine assuming all those soulmate stories were exaggerating until one day your best friend brushes some hair from your face and you feel those fireworks for the first time. How do you even begin to process that?

Not only “How would you begin to process that?”, but also how to do you process that in silence? Because if you’re the person in the established relationship, you definitely are going to feel Super Weird at that shock when your hands touched and then wonder?? Was that Soulmate thing? You’ve never felt anything like that before. But how could that be when you know you’ve already been with your soulmate for years? And if you’re the person outside the relationship, who has realized you’re soulmates, how do you have that revelation without tipping the other party off? Because as tragic as it sounds, I don’t know that any of the Trio would purposely want to reveal that the “picture” marks on their friends’ arms are actually their own names immediately. Best case scenario, you’re believed immediately, little to no questions asked and things work out. Worst case, you break up two people who you care about, who are genuinely happy together—and without you. You’ve given your dear friends a heartache as they realize they may not truly be soulmates with each other, just with you, and what does that mean? And now you have to explain a whole bunch of stuff you were meant to stay quiet about too. Not worth the risk, even if it’s painful to watch from afar with this new knowledge. At least not without really, really thinking about it for a while first. (And it just gets harder as time goes on to keep it to yourselves—as well as easier to consider why rocking the boat would be bad).

[azuregard]

Fire Emblem Fates Shipping Chart Meme Thingy

Includes:

All characters with unique portraits

Outlines denoting each character’s main loyalties (blue for neutral/Valla, red for Hoshido, and purple for Nohr). Capturable bosses also have outlines, only theirs correspond to the routes you can capture them in (red for Birthright, purple for Conquest, blue for both Birthright and Conquest).

Categories:

You are free to interpret the categories however you like, but I figured I’d add my two cents just in case.

OTP, Love, Like, BroTP, Dislike, and NoTP are pretty self-explanatory.

Has Potential is something I added for ships that you could see working, but they don’t really have an established canon dynamic. This is basically here just in case someone cares about this kind of thing when it comes to ships.

Platonic Only is like a BroTP but I personally see a clear distinction between the two. To me, BroTP is what I use to describe a relationship that I don’t ship romantically, but the idea of them being romantic doesn’t bother me. Platonic only, on the other hand, is for a relationship that you not only don’t ship romantically, but one that would bother you if it was portrayed in such a way (i.e., they’re related, there’s an age gap, or there’s a certain degree of power distance).

Squick is what I use for pairs that I just flat out don’t ship on principle, not even in a platonic way. I personally distinguish them from NoTPs because the skeevy elements here are the big problem rather than a smaller part of a larger problem.

If you fill this out, and you want to share it with your followers, please feel free to tag me. It always makes me super happy to see people engaging with my content.

Also, sorry the portraits are so small. I made this on a spreadsheet and then screenshot it. I would have used a different program, but I wanted everything to look nice.

Because of this size issue, here are all of the characters included in this ship chart. Going clockwise, the roster is as follows...

Anankos

Anna

Anthony

Arete

Arthur

Asugi

Azama

Azura

Benny

Beruka

Caeldori

Camilla

Candace

Cassita

Charlotte

Corrin (M)

Corrin (F)

Daichi

Daniela

Dwyer

Effie

Elise

Felicia

Flora

Forrest

Fuga

Funke

Garon

Gazak

Gunter

Haitaka

Hana

Hans

Hayato

Hinata

Hinoka

Hisame

Iago

Ignatius

Izana

Jakob

Kaden

Kagero

Kana (F)

Kana (M)

Kaze

Keaton

Kiragi

Klima

Kotaro

Kumagera

Laslow

Layla

Leo

Lilith

Llewelyn

Lloyd

Midori

Mikoto

Mitama

Mozu

Nichol

Niles

Nina

Nyx

Oboro

Odin

Omozu

Ophelia

Orochi

Percy

Peri

Rainbow Sage

Reina

Rhajat

Rinkah

Ryoma

Saizo

Sakura

Scarlet

Selena

Selkie

Senno

Setsuna

Shigure

Shiro

Shura

Siegbert

Silas

Soleil

Sophie

Subaki

Sumeragi

Takumi

Tarba

Velouria

Xander

Yukimura

Zhara

Zola

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 54: Demigod Shit Magnet

Got a lot of stuff to talk about, no time for intro.

Class Profile - Ninja

The Nohrian thief class and base class of Saizo, Kaze, Kagero, and Asugi. Has good speed and skill and that's about it. Wields shurikens, which make them work best for inflicting debuffs. Also oddly good at mage killing. Oddly enough, the game considers them to be the Hoshido version of a Cavalier. Their first skill, Locktouch, is a utility skill that allows them to open chests and doors without a key. Their second skill, Poison Strike, deals 20% damage to enemies after battle but cannot kill, helping establish their niche of injuring enemies from a distance so stronger units can come in and finish them off. Ninjas can promote to Master Ninjas or Mechanists. I like the Ninja design a lot; the light armor fits well and the scarves, headbands, and arm knife thingies look cool.

Class Profile - Oni Savage

This game’s version of the Barbarian class and Hoshidan rival to the Fighter class. Wields axes, can promote into Oni Chieftain or Blacksmith. Weirdly, Rinkah is the only Oni Savage in the game, making the fact that it has two exclusive promotion classes weird. Oni Savages have great strength, hp, and defense, countered by atrocious luck, skill, and resistance. They can do good damage, assuming they can hit anything, or act as a wall, assuming they don’t die instantly to magic or a crit. Their first skill, Seal Resistance, lowers an enemy’s resistance after combat. I do not know why this was given to this class. Their other skill, Shove, is a utility skill that can be used to move a neighboring unit one space away. I actually like the Oni Savage design, despite it being ripe for fanservice, because the male and female designs are similar. My problem isn’t barbarians being shirtless, it’s when the game does stupid shit like have the female version of a class wear a thong while the male wears pants. The mask and beads worn by generic Oni Savages are also a nice touch.

Class Profile - Monk/Shrine Maiden

This game’s version of the Priest and Cleric classes, Hoshidan versions of the Troubadour class. Sakura and Mitama are Shine Maidens, while Azama is a Monk. Oddly enough, despite this game mostly getting rid of gender-locked classes, these two remain separate. They’re basically the same class, though. Both wield staves, have the same skills, and have good speed, luck and resistance, hampered by awful defense and HP. Oddly, Shrine Maiden has 5% better magic, while Monk instead has 10% better skill. Regardless, the job of these classes is to avoid combat and heal allies using staves. These classes can promote into Onmyojis and either Great Masters or Priestesses. Their first skill, Miracle, gives them a luck-based chance to survive a fatal blow with 1 HP. Their second skill, Rally Luck, boosts the Luck of nearby allies for a few turns. They also secretly have a 10% extra crit evade. I enjoy the simple, modest designs, which fit with the class’s aesthetic. 

Conquest Chapter 8: Cold Reception

As Felicia leads the group to her village, Moron and Silas are separated by a blizzard. Moron faints from the cold and is rescued by Kilma, the Ice Tribe’s leader. Moron begins to introduce himself, but Silas reminds him that they’re here to crush a rebellion. Corrin bemoans the fact that everything is so morally grey. Honestly, I wouldn’t call this route morally grey, so much as it’s the same black and white shit as Birthright with Moron being to stupid to understand he’s on the evil side.

Kilma says he only let Moron into the village because he carries Yato, the sword prophecized to save the world. Kilma introduces Moron to his daughter, Flora. The fact that Flora and Felicia are the daughters of the head of a small country colonized by Nohr is kinda weird. Garon conquered the Ice Tribe, took the daughters captive, and forced them to work as servants for his other kidnapped prince.

Felicia and Elise show up and Elise blurts out that they’re there to suppress Kilma’s rebellion. Elis is an idiot. Flora sounds the alarm and the Ice Tribe rushes in to fight the Nohrians. Flora calls Felicia ignorant and says war is the only language Nohr understands.

This chapter uses the same map as Chapter 17 of Birthright. The gimmick of this chapter is centered on five villages spread around the map. A pair of enemy soldiers will try to go to the villages to summon reinforcements, while the player can visit them to get gold. At the start of turn two, Odin and Niles show up to save us, acting on orders from Leo. Moron has to convince them to not kill everyone brutally, because Odin’s a chunibiyo and Niles is genuinely morally grey.

Odin

Owain from Awakening, now a Dark Mage instead of Myrmidon and pretending to be an evil wizard instead of a legendary hero. He also switches his costume to this tight, garish yellow outfit with a v-neck that stretches to his crotch. I’d complain if it was any character other than Odin; for Odin, it fits. I did like Owain in Awakening, but I will admit his schtick can get old. His personal skill gives him a boosted crit rate when using a named weapon with a name more than 12 letters long, something ridiculous that fits perfectly for a guy obsessed with legendary weapons and powerful spells. Also, he can reclass into a Samurai, a Hoshidan class, which makes sense given his class in Awakening.

Niles

Leo’s other retainer, a sadistic Outlaw. His personal skill, Kidnap, works the same as Orochi’s capture. Conquest is a bit harder than Birthright, though, so I’m afraid I won’t be grabbing another Kenshi. Fun fact, Niles is the only non-promoted bow user in all of Nohr. Niles’s design isn’t half bad; I like the eyepatch, white hair, and hood, although I’d like to note that it’s a bit odd that the sadistic criminal has a noticeably darker skin tone.

Flora apologizes to Moron for standing by her actions, calls Felicia a moron, and tells Jakob she wishes she was meeting him under better circumstances. Felicia’s battle quote with Jakob is especially interesting, confirming she was a hostage and hinting that she has feelings for him. Kilma prays for forgiveness for fighting Felicia and says Moron deceived him.

Moron spares Kilma. In fact, he wins the battle without killing anyone. Somehow. Moron has Elise treat the enemy wounded. Kilma is shocked by Moron’s kindness. Moron negotiates a deal where the Ice Tribe stops rebelling in return for more autonomy, something he has the authority to do that totally won’t be ignored by the child kidnapping mass murderer Garon. Kilma says that Moron might be the legendary hero after all. Flora apologizes for defending her people from an invading army who kidnapped her and her sister as a child and swears fealty to Moron.

So, here’s my problem with Conquest. Nohr is evil. Garon is evil. But Moron is good. So every chapter has him win battles without violence or negotiate people into working with him. Rather than having Moron struggle with his morality, it has him keep his hands clean, even as he conquers neighboring nations for the glory of a brutal dictatorship. It’s idiotic. And it will only get more idiotic as this game goes on. But first, we have some Supports to read.

Support: Corrin/Odin

C: Corrin finds Odin posing. Odin says his stance needs a unique name. Corrin gets annoyed by Odin and walks away.

B: Odin asks Corrin to name his pose. Corrin says they need tome to think of a name.

A: Corrin tries to hide from Odin. Odin tracks them down and annoys Corrin for a while. Eventually, Odin comes up with a dumb name for his pose: Shadow Glitter. Corrin is relieved that they don't have to talk to Odin anymore.

S: Odin asks Corrin to marry him. Corrin gets tired of his long-winded proposal and demands he get to the point. Odin gives a heartfelt proposal and immediately gets back on his bullshit.

Review: Not bad. Odin toes the line between funny and annoying and seeing Corrin get sick of his bullshit is a good dose of realism. This is also one of the only times Corrin isn’t ridiculously friendly. Also, by marrying Odin, Corrin joins yet another royal family.

Support: Elise/Effie

C: Elise asks Effie to go on a walk with her, but Effie is full from eating and asks Elise to roll her like a barrel.

B: Effie uses Elise as a dumbell. The two of them reminisce about how they met: Elise snuck down to the underground and befriended Effie and, when the guards tried to take Elise back, Effie tried to fight em off.

A: Effie talks about how she trained for years to become a castle guard so she could protect Elise.

Review: This is what Corrin and Silas’s relationship should have been. That is, free from dumb bullshit about Corrin having the memory of a goldfish. Lore is always good in Supports and this does a great job establishing Elise and Effie’s friendship, while also having some great comedy bits.

Support: Felicia/Niles

C: Felicia spills some soup on Niles. Niles begins stripping seductively. Felicia offers to take his clothes to the laundry.

B: Felicia offers to give Felicia a special, heavenly dessert. Niles assumes she's coming on to him. Felicia gives Niles a cookie.

A: Niles mocks Felicia for not understanding his double entendres. After finding out about Felicia's childhood as a hostage, he apologizes.

S: Niles proposes.

Review: A fun, kinda dumb comedic Support.

Support: Arthur/Mozu

C: Arthur finds Mozu analyzing the soil around camp. Mozu rambles about how farming is awesome.

B: Arthur helps Mozu plow a field. Mozu corrects his form. A: While Arthur is plowing, a heard of dragons fly over and shit all over him. Mozu is overjoyed because dragon droppings are great fertilizer. Also, I'd like to note a script error in this Support: dragons and wyverns are not the same thing. Wyverns are the mounts with animal-level intelligence, dragons are ancient magic beings that can transform into humans. Unless a flock of demigods flew by to shit on Arthur, the game means wyverns.

S: Arthur proposes by giving Mozu a special flower that is supposed to be planted by a husband and wife. Mozu accepts because Arthur's bad luck is a good source of fertilizer.

Review: The start of this Support is a bit bland, but Arthur getting covered in shit is great.

[kimium]

Chapters: 6/? Summary:

Modern AU. Supernatural Creatures and Powers AU.

"Glancing around, Owain noted where the other people were in relation to him. Everyone remained a reasonable distance, all glued to their phones or in conversation with one another. Not ideal, but not the worst. Anything flashy would be unwise; a real tragedy he couldn’t shout and defeat monsters as if he were a ranger in a Super Sentai.

With a sigh, Owain began to chant the prayer Father Libra had taught him all those years ago in that stuffy, rosemary and lavender scented room, and pointed his index finger at the Risen. Then, like a child playing “cowboys” Owain tilted his finger slightly backwards.

“Bang,” he whispered."

Risen are a threat to the world, but sadly remain unseen except to a chosen few. Owain takes his responsibility seriously (except the part where he wishes he could be a little flashier) and doesn't realize that this responsibility will land him two boyfriends. (Perhaps he should thank the Risen?) OR: Owain uses his coffee as a weapon and has a meet cute moment. Exactly like a romance novel.

~

Hello everyone! I’m sorry this chapter took so long. There were parts that just weren’t working for me. I managed to work them to do what I wanted (finally)! I hope you like this chapter! Let me know!

[radishleaf]

Hello this is sort of a request but also an ask anyway I was wondering what you think Beruka did after the war because her ending isn't very descriptive and thank you for answering my question I really love Nina x Forrest but a lot of people don't so I wanted to make sure you liked before asking about it sorry this long oh and sorry any mistake in the spelling my autocorrect is nightmare

it's np! always glad to get asks from a fan of a rarepair i also share, haha. nina x forrest is really so good, too, and it's a shame you don't see a lot of people shipping them either. u_u

it's a damn shame so little was written with the endings; if we had gotten unique endings like with 3h, it would've been great, but i guess i can't fault them since there were so many pairings possible. ngl it's been a long time since i've ruminated on beruka's possible motivations after the war (especially in line with fates canon), so sorry if any of this seems ooc or goes against some established facts:

due to the tenacious air after the war and their hand in it, i like to think the first thing beruka did with niles is relocate to someplace remote and quiet so that they might be able to establish a life first. as not just retainers, but also close confidantes to the royals of nohr, they had large targets on their backs and many detractors who would wish to see them dead. their home was located in a remote, but thickly-forested area you'd have to know thoroughly to venture through. i like to think it was located along the border between hoshido and nohr with access to nearby villages for supplies should the need arise.

for a time, beruka withdrew from most of society to acquaint herself with a mundane life. thus, she'd be alone most of her time; since niles is still attending to leo's requests across the criminal underground, she spends her days trying to adjust to a life she never knew in tandem with finding peace of mind from the terrors of war that still plague her. this isn't to say it is an unfortunate life, as niles still comes home to her in the evenings.

the villages she visits for supplies--sometimes with niles--look to them both with suspicion since they just sorta appeared one day. they're known as the couple that laughs too loud (beruka is still adjusting to her emotions, okay), and as a result, most tend to avoid the two and/or keep their interactions with them as short as possible. despite the unfortunate point of view their appearance hold and how it continues to niggle within beruka since she's always had a complex about it, she comes to accept it's inevitability considering their sudden appearances.

once she has established herself with some semblance of comfort, camilla, like leo, requests her help in bringing order to the underbelly of nohr--not with criminal activity, however, as leo has a foothold there, but with the slums' orphans. considering she was once an orphan herself, she knows the pains such children go through growing up in such an desolate world, and is given the mission to establish rapport with them so that she might help them find families.

unsurprisingly, she ends up being very good at the task, as her empathy and gentleness leads her to establishing an orphanage in the slums for wayward children who either lost parents to the war or criminal activity in the slums. rumors float about how the gentle but stern matron who barely comes up to people's shoulders once used to be a merciless assassin, but they're quickly dismissed, as there absolutely no way they're true. why beruka is so accurate with tossing chalk at kids who don't pay attention during class is just something to think about, though.

this is just a vague idea of what i think beruka did after the war! while it might not be in line completely with what might've gone done, i stick to the HC that beruka is very good with children, and would have a hand in helping the slums' orphans one way or another. :')))

[ao3feed-reed900]

by MarvelMerlin

Gavin Reed has been a vigilante for years. Niles Stern has been a hero for a year. Neither of them knows what the other is doing as their night jobs, and both of them remain cold and distant as they work at the DPD as partners. Then an attempt is made on Carl Manfred's life, and the two teams realize they know each other from their day jobs, and most of them are friends.

Except for Gavin and Niles, who both want to be more. So much more.

Words: 6644, Chapters: 4/18, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of DBH Superhero/Vigilante AU

Fandoms: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Upgraded Connor | RK900, Gavin Reed, Gavin Reed's Cat, Tina Chen (Detroit: Become Human), Chris Miller (Detroit: Become Human), Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson, Carl Manfred, Leo Manfred, Josh (Detroit: Become Human), Elijah Kamski, Cole Anderson, Kara (Detroit: Become Human), Luther (Detroit: Become Human), Alice Williams (Detroit: Become Human), Ralph (Detroit: Become Human), Jerry(s) (Detroit: Become Human), Lazzo Fratello

Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed, Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Tina Chen & Gavin Reed, Tina Chen & Chris Miller & Gavin Reed, Chris Miller & Gavin Reed, Connor & Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson & Connor, Cole Anderson & Gavin Reed, Connor & North (Detroit: Become Human)

Additional Tags: superhero au, Vigilante AU, established simarkus, Found Family, Carl Manfred & Markus Parent-Child Relationship, Carl's everyone's father figure tbh, Gavin and Tina and Chris are vigilantes, Markus and Simon and Connor and Niles are heroes with powers, Its all very gay, super villain elijah, has a lot of Detroit: Evolution references, Has a few RWRB references too

[crystalelemental]

Oh man.  GamePress apparently updated the offensive tier list to be AR exclusive, and boy have there been some changes.  You know I have opinions on this one.

Okay let’s start with the obvious part: how in the hell is any Legendary hero considered above Tier 2?  Like, are we not factoring in score?  Or are we only accounting for if they score well?  Because realistically, half the time, a legendary hero is an active detriment to the scoring.  Also it turns out this isn’t just offense, but both offense AND defense, since Mirabilis is Tier 1.  So that’s gonna be...honestly, a bit confusing.  I’m sure some people can tell which is which, but I’m willing to bet others aren’t clear.

Let’s start with the biggest changes at the top.  Eliwood and Brave Roy are now Tier 1, likely because Galeforce.  Nothing else is different that I can tell.  Maybe some demotion?  But nothing substantial.  Lysithea is finally recognized as Tier 1, and I’m certain it’s because of her power on AR-D.  Girl is obscene.  Otherwise, Fallen Julia is the only other T1 Red Mage, and damn good on her.  Idunn demoted, but honestly, fair.  AR is not for her.  Armor units are not hard to handle, and are pretty bad on offense.  Especially with Thrasir existing, armor dragons just have a rough go.  Spring Idunn and Tibarn alone are T1.  What I do find interesting is that Dancer Micaiah didn’t maintain.  I guess the Hardy Bearing effect isn’t as impressive anymore.  Also Karla stayed T2, that’s...astonishing, actually.  Duo Byleth is also T2, which kinda makes sense.  Defense can’t make use of her Duo skill, and her bulk is pathetic, so any typical ranged defense unit can handle her.  On offense, it’s going to be tough.  Desperation effect is good, but conditional on having a fast team, not to mention Galeforce sets can require the foe to retaliate, like with Eliwood/Brave Roy.  So I can’t say I’m surprised she’s not on top.

Lance seems to just be B!Lucina, Duo Ephraim, and Trio Palla.  Which is fair.  Blue mages, though?  Damn is this crowded.  L!Azura and Peony, because obscene dancers.  Ophelia, because bitch.  Duo Alphonse, because immortality.  Brunnya, because honestly Fimbulvetr is perfect for this game mode, and she’s got the infantry status and abilities to do whatever she wants.  And L!Julia.  I’m willing to bet she’s more AR-D focused.  Rafiel and L!Chrom are also T1, of course.  I think what really surprises me is that Reinhardt is T2.  Is anyone else surprised about this?  I guess he’s not the most threatening thing in the world anymore, but still.  Actually wait, what’s REALLY neat is that Naga is T3.  So clearly scoring considerations are not paramount.

Axes have V!Duo Alm, Annette, L!Edelgard, and B!Ike.  Because of course.  All of them are ridiculous.  Mages have L!Celica, Thrasir, and Fallen Lyon, with beasts/dragons having Reyson.  Which, again, makes sense.  I’m glad Surtr demoted to T2.  I really don’t think of him as the most threatening aspect of AR anymore, even on dedicated stall, so this feels overdue.  Yune’s also T2, which..okay, fair.  While I think she’s great, she’s a ranged flying unit who plays defense, and her debuff game is crippled severely by Eir’s bonuses.  It’s super weird that F!Kana demoted, though.  She was T1 before, and that was entirely based on AR potential, so...okay.  Guess the meta has shifted hard enough against her.  Also, big shoutouts to Julia for maintaining T2 status.  That’s my girl.

Bows have L!Alm, L!Leif, V!Faye, and Duo Marth.  I can’t speak for Duo Marth, I don’t have him, but I feel like the fact I’ve never faced one means he’s at least not good on AR-D.  I can vouch for V!Faye, though, holy shit.  In fact can we establish Tier 0 for the primordial beings that break the world over their knees?  Anyway, Bernadetta and B!Lyn are T2, and I’m betting that’s for hit-and-run offense teams.  Also Norne’s T2 now, which is super correct.  I’ve felt this for a while, and the forum backs me up pretty hard on it: Norne’s the best common archer by a mile.  But of course, you all know what I’m going to say.  There is no way Faye is T3.  I have played her ranged defense game long enough to know that she is really strong at it.  While some threats like Lysithea can blow past her, and Thrasir isn’t always one-shot with my current supports, she is very capable of performing better than T3.  Also, poor Clarisse.  Finally gets a kickass refine that’s just not particularly great for AR, and instead of climbing the ranks of the offensive tier list, they change the conditions on her.  Girl can’t catch a break.

Dagger/Mage combos have, of course, Bramimond, Leila, Eir, and Duo Micaiah.  Absolutely no surprises here.  What is surprising, maybe just to me, is that Winter Cecilia is down to T3.  She was considered T2 for a long while, and I’d guessed that was based on AR potential.  I guess Duo Micaiah is causing substantial problems for armors across the board?  But man, Larum is T2.  LARUM.  Larum sucks, what could she possibly be doing that’s useful?

Dragons/Beasts have Fallen Female Corrin, Leanne, Mila, and Velouria.  I love everything about this.  Leanne makes sense for Defense teams, Velouria is a great Galeforcer, Mila is probably the best Light mythic for supertank strategies, and Fallen Female Corrin makes me happy because Fallen Male Corrin is only T2.  Get fucked, loser.  Your higher BST does nothing for your shit ass.  I do think there’s an argument for Caineghis in T1 for an offensive supertank, but honestly, he struggles.  To a degree I’d say he’s worse than Faye.  We don’t have any beast Mythics, and the only offensive dragon is Mila.  His DC is conditional on transforming, and he’s an armor unit.  He can’t run Null C-Disrupt, or Null Follow-Up like she can, so there are defense teams that can beat him by exploiting this.  I feel like Faye’s a lot better, but hey, what do I know.

And finally, staves.  Bridal Fjorm is the only one in T1.  Brave Veronica actually dropped, which is funny because she was T1 before solely on AR.  She doesn’t place in Arena.  I guess the meta has shifted away from Brave Veronica lately.  I haven’t been scared of one in a long time.  And hey, Maribelle is T2 as well, and Forrest got pushed up to T3!  Unfortunately, Brave Camilla was reduced to T3, so she’s still below B!Veronica.  Which in this game mode I guess is fair.

Now for the opposite end of the spectrum.  There are now 6 tiers, which I like.  I feel the subdivisions are appropriate, we have enough units that categorization was tough.  T4 for lances and swords was like 60 units before, I’m glad it got cleaned up a bit.  For red stuff, Alfonse remains at the bottom, but is no longer alone.  NY!Camilla, Chrom, V!Conrad, Beach Fiora, Hinata, and NY!Hrid are also down there.  Haha, Hrid, get fucked you loser.  That’s for January 2019, you fuck.  Mages here include Canas, Julius (ouch), Leo, Beach Leo, Raigh, and Beach Lorenz.  No surprises.  There are no dragons, daggers, or bows for red down here, the lowest they go is T4.  Hysterically, every form of red Tiki is in T4.  Also, maybe this is me not understanding something, but NY!Anna and NY!Eir in T4 surprises me.  I thought their weapons were considered great team support.  Are their stats just not optimized for it? 

T6 lances are many.  Too many, I’m not listing all of that.  What I will say is, tell my Forma Finn running on the double cav Galeforce defense team that he’s T6.  Considering I only lost two matches at all last season, and only 38 Lift, I’d say he’s doing alright.  But there are probably better options out there, I’m just working with what I have.  Mages are just Oliver and M!Robin.  Man, I hope M!Robin goes up with the resplendent.  Leave Oliver to die.  No dragons, bows, or daggers, they’re all up in T4 where...where...no.  No, there’s no way.  Lilith has warp abilities from anywhere.  NAESALA is considered T4, despite being paired with Tibarn for some of the nastiest offensive AR-D strategies out there.  Mordecai has the Smite thing.  I don’t agree with this at all.  And Ninian is T3?  Even though she’s one of the top picks for Infantry Pulse AR-D dancers?  I know Nils exists and is better in every way pretty much, but that’s a bit much to me.  I think the blue dragon/beast section is the most ridiculous by far.

There are also a lot of axes down in T6, but I agree with all of them.  The green mages make me sad, though.  Picnic Leo, Cecilia, and Female Robin.  I do think F!Robin has a lot of utility within the game, but...honestly they’re super right, she cannot possibly compete in AR.  Defense teams have no use for her, and offensive teams using her as a support are a bad idea with Panic Manor around.  Mostly Cecilia makes my heart hurt.  Come on, IS.  Null C-Disrupt Raven Tome when?  As with the other tiers, all dragons, bows, and daggers of this color are higher ranked.  That said, L!Lyn in T5.  Get fucked.  There’s also...absolutely nothing controversial about their T4 picks.  Green’s pretty well sorted, good job team.

The only colorless option with units in T6 are healers, where we have Azama, Mist, Wrys, Sakura, and Lissa.  Nothing controversial here.  In fact, nothing controversial in T5, either.  What is sad but super true, is that F!Grima’s here.  All the other colorless beasts and dragons are clustered in T1 and T2, but she’s down in T5.  Expiration refine when?  Felicia and Jaffar are the lowest ranked daggers, to no one’s surprise.  None of the bows are shocking either, except I’m kinda surprised Niles isn’t at least a little higher.  I feel like his massive Res must account for something when attempting to tank out the many ranged magic threats on AR-D, right?

Overall, I...actually agree with the majority of this.  It’s a solid tierlist for Aether Raids.  There are some things I don’t entirely agree with, but would have trouble arguing in their favor in the current meta.  Like Micaiah.  As we move entirely away from armor units, Micaiah becomes less and less significant.  I do think the blue dragon/beast section could take some revisiting, given that goddamn Naesala is down in T4, but one area that seems off isn’t bad when you have so much to organize.  I like it.  Definitely a lot better than the previous list, because at least now we’re specialized.  Before, there was always an argument that a certain unit was better or worse based on performance in a specific area.  But here, it’s more stable.  I’m not sure if there’s intent to make an Arena one, or if that’s even necessary since scoring is a lot more specific for Arena, but we’ll see.

[gascon-en-exil]

I’m not adding this to that earlier post, because the reblog chain is getting long, but it has to be said.

I think perhaps my biggest issue with self-insert pairings, in FE or in any other medium, is that they are fundamentally egotistical. They’re great for feeling like you’re in the story, like you’re doing all these amazing things and falling in love with the fictional character of your choice - but how do you share that experience with anyone else? FE Avatars are always going to be in an awkward place in fanwork, and in fanfic especially where an author who’s including them any more than in passing is going to have give them some character likely beyond what they display in canon. The totally silent and personality-free Byleth has it worst of all; this game has been out for months and I’m still thrown off whenever they so much as speak in fics, because it’s just not something they do in canon and I’ve never cared enough to imagine them ever doing so. Avatars in fanwork are barely more than a step above self-insert OCs, and just like those characters can be infamous for they can be very difficult for the reader/viewer to engage with unless they happen to share the specific concept of the character and/or the wish fulfillment they generate as the author or artist.

And when it comes to the subject of the kinds of same-sex representation that are the most impactful for fandom, I do think that’s a serious problem. Personal engagement with a piece of media can only develop a fandom so much; fanwork is what creates a sense of community and gives longevity to a work. Using Fates as an example and AO3 as a metric (not a perfect one, but a good starting place), Leo/Takumi has more than twice the number of fics as m!Corrin/Niles and is the most popular pairing for that game, M/M or otherwise. In five years or so when the fandom at large has moved onto FE17 or 18 it would not surprise me in the slightest if the M/M pairings with the most lasting legacies for Three Houses were Sylvix and perhaps Ferdibert, with Byleth’s canon gay pairings passing into comparative obscurity. (Now, as regards queer representation more broadly I think Edeleth will have more staying power, but it’s got something no other Byleth pairing can claim - direct story relevance and scenes dedicated to developing it as an explicitly romantic relationship outside of supports.) Avatars might be popular for the individual experience they offer, but even people who can get deeply invested in them have trouble doing so with other fans’ similarly invested concepts of the character and their relationships. With the Lions pairings, Ferdibert, and so on one can establish the parameters of these relationships based on who these characters are and what their arcs are like and how they fit into the broader scope of the story and the world they inhabit, and that’s something people in the fandom who support those ships can agree upon and explore together with that foundation in mind. With Avatar pairings half of all that is the individual player’s projection, and the other half is an expression of how the chosen character would act in response to that projection.

[rachelchristy13]

Rules: answer twenty questions and tag twenty bloggers

Tagged by @klutcherov

1. Name: Rachel

2. Nickname: gangster ray, death ray (my rap name) and sting ray (my boing name)

3. Zodiac sign: Leo ♌️ and proud of it

4. Height: 6’9” 👌🏻

5. Language: none, I’m 19 and I never learned how to f*cking read

6. Nationality: AMERICA

7. Favorite season: fall

8. Favorite flower: sunflower or lavender

9. Favorite scent: vanilla or lavender

10. Favorite color: gray for sure

11. Favorite animal: lion 🦁

12. Favorite fictional characters: Niles from Frasier, Castiel and Jack from Supernatural, ari and Dante from Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe, and Hiccup from the how to train your dragon books only

13. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate: COFFEE

14. Average hours of sleep: ummm we’re supposed to sleep every night? 😬😬

15. Dog or cat person: dogs, but I love kitties too

16. Number of blankets you sleep with: 2-3

17. Dream road trip: a resort to Thailand or Iceland

18. Blog established: 2019

19. Follower count: ur mom

20. Random fact: I hate @klutcherov 🥴

@obama @berniesanders @gordonramsay

[sakumosowainthirst]

I’m running on 4 hours of sleep and coffee; let’s make a controversial post! Today’s topic: Fates/Awakening ships I hate!  :D

Preface: I’m not hating on anyone who ships these.  I’m also not saying you can’t/shouldn’t ship these.  I’m merely voicing why I dislike them, because I usually keep it all to myself and just feel like screaming into the void today.  So all of this is just my opinion, and you don’t have to take it seriously, okay? C:  Also, I don’t want to have to type “to me” after every opinion, so just take it as implied.

Now then, let’s begin.

Lonliss/Lon’qu-Lissa

Easily my biggest dislike on the list.  I will never, ever, ever understand why this is Owain’s most popular parentage.  Their supports weren’t all that great, and they are just so different from each other in ways that I think they would just clash.  I’ve seen people who ship it say, “He would be so supportive of Owain’s banter!  He would encourage his playfulness!”  And all I can think is, “Are we thinking of the same Lon’qu?  The one who’s stoic, doesn’t talk much, is very serious and grumpy?  That Lon’qu?”  He’s the token tsundere, sure, but I really don’t see him accepting Owain; I actually see the opposite.  I feel like Lissa and Owain’s upbeat personalities would grate on his nerves, to the point he’d find them both unbearably embarrassing.  Lissa and Lon’qu also just have MUCH BETTER ships/supports with other characters, and tbh, they both deserve better.  Lissa and Owain deserve someone who gels with their sunshine energy, and Lon’qu deserves a more reserved partner.  Of all Owain’s dad ships, Lonliss is the only one I truly cannot, “see,” and no explanation has made me able to, “see,” it as they both are in canon, and probably never will, tbh.  Every other Lissa ship, I can find some sort of merit, even if I don’t ship it, but when I look at Lonliss, there is just none.  No chemistry, no commonality, no anything that makes them a good couple.  Not in canon, anyway.  I’ve heard a ton of headcanons for it (I’m an Owain stan and this is quite literally his most popular dad, it’s very common), and fanon is fine and dandy, but when it bends canon too much, it just doesn’t sit well with me, and Lon’qu being any sort of okay with Lissa and Owain just bends canon too much, to me.  They’re too hyper, he’s too reserved.  As a final thought, I’m admittedly not a fan of any ship that takes Lissa and Owain away from Ylisstol, and Lon’qu (along with Donnel) does.  Their ending states they live in Ferox, and I just don’t like that.  I like Owain growing up alongside Lucina.  Also, Cynthia and probably Morgan would be in Ylisstol, and Owain canon has the Justice Cabal with them in his youth, so that’s kind of contradictory if he’s born and raised in Ferox.  (I also personally headcanon both Lissa and Owain hating the cold, tbh.  Odin has a line about hating the cold in Anna’s DLC in Fates, and I think Lissa mentions hating snow at some point, too, though I could be wrong.)

Owainigo/Laslodin/Owain-Brady

Grouping these together because I’m equally meh on both.  I can definitely see them, but I don’t like them.  Owain and Inigo do become bros, but I kind of feel like they would still squabble like petty children like their Awakening supports.  It’s more in a brotherly way, though; they start off teasing each other and end up in a slap-hands fight.  I like them as a friendship, just not a romantic ship.

Owain/Brady I have more trouble seeing because their only commonality is their mothers, and their supports make them seem like casual friends at best.  I feel like their mothers is a big part of why they’re shipped, tbh, which is just kind of :T for me.  I can see them if I squint, but it’s not a ship I care for.

The saddest thing is, look up anything spicy for Owain, you’re going to find one of these two in it.  Either these two or...

Odiniles/Leodin/Leotrio Threesome

Oh boy, here we go, SakuMo disliking another popular pairing(s).  Odin and Niles canonically bicker.  Like, they are nasty to each other.  Odin says as much in their A rank.  He says they should try to get along more, but I’m not really sure how well that would turn out.  To be honest, the only thing they really have in common is their loyalty to Leo.  Lacking that, they’re two wildly different people.  I’m not saying that different people can’t work as a couple--it happens all the time--but if you lack at least some common ground, it makes it really hard for a relationship to work.  Devotion to your master isn’t really much common ground.  Given their canon history, dramatically different personalities, and lack of common interests, I just don’t see them being compatible.  Every Odiniles fic I’ve ever read had Niles uncharacteristically understanding of Odin, to the point it didn’t even feel like Niles at all/he was very OOC.  One again, fanon is fine--you do you!--but bending canon too much and/or in ways that don’t make sense to the character is just not my scene.

Leodin is one that I can kind of see, definitely more than Odiniles, which in no way works in my head, but I’m just not a fan of it, generally.  My dislike isn’t as strong as with Odiniles, but it’s still there.  And I’ll just say that I am not into poly, don’t like OT3s, threesomes, etc., so that should sum up my feelings on the Leotrio as an OT3.

Odilise, Lazura, Selbaki, a.k.a. “The Oedipus Complex Ships”

Don’t make the Trio marry their moms, fam.  Odilise is the most egregious one, tbh, because Elise is so much like Lissa and it’s so, so creepy to ship her with Odin.  Never mind that canon Elise is supposed to be like...14-15 (I reject this canon and substitute my own hc of 18, but I digress), and though we don’t know how long the Trio is in Nohr before the start of Fates, we can assume anywhere from six months to a year or two considering they are well-established as retainers, so Odin is probably in his early 20s, at youngest maybe 20-21.  (Granted, using the canon ages makes a lot of ships suspect, especially with the younger characters, but I digress.)  I get that Elise is a good stat mom for Ophelia and gives the “canon” hair, but the ship itself is just problematic on a lot of fronts.  She’s basically his mom, their supports are playful but it def feels brotherly-sisterly (granted most of Elise’s supports do) and throws in the romance literally out of left field in the S rank, and they just look kind of suspect together, fam.  I have unfortunately in my travels across the internet for Owain content seen Odin/Elise porn, and the fact it makes me uncomfortable in a, “this looks really illegal,” way speaks volumes.  And again, yes, I know the same would be true for other ships with Elise, and it’s why there are few I actually like with her.  But Odin/Elise just in particular bothers me because like Lonliss, I see it the most, and it’s made me irrationally bitter toward it.  This one and Lonliss are my two, “hair-trigger rage,” ships.  I see either, I get really annoyed.  I don’t voice this, mind--I keep on scrolling and ignore the content--but it does make me grumpy, lol.  They’re the two I can honestly say I hate instead of just saying I dislike.

Selbaki is a bit lesser, but it basically makes Severa her own grandma, don’t do that. xD  Severa already has a complex with trying to be perfect like her mom, so making her feel the same not only for her husband but also her daughter is just cruel to her.  Give Severa a break, y’all.

Lazura is the least similar, admittedly, but it’s still in the same vein.  Performer marrying a performer.  Of the three, I can tolerate it the most, but it’s still not great for me.

Corrin/Any sibling, including Azura

Look, I get it.  Corrin is, by technicality, not blood-related to any of them, with the exception of Azura, who is their blood-related cousin.  H O W E V E R, just because they find out that they aren’t blood-related to the Nohr siblings doesn’t mean the familial bonds just go POOF.  The Nohr siblings would definitely not be like, “I guess we can bang Corrin now.”  If this were the case, adopted families would never “truly” bond because they aren’t related by blood.  Corrin growing up in Nohr means that they would most likely always see the Nohr siblings as family, and vice-versa.

Hoshido, on the other hand, is a bit trickier.  While it’s true they aren’t blood-related, I want to say Ryoma is the only one who knows?  Like, I think he’s the only one who brings it up in the S Support?  But lacking that, Corrin and the rest of the Hoshido siblings do think they’re blood-related.  Hidden Truths states that Corrin never learned the truth about their real father, nor that Lilith is their sister.  All 3 routes play out with the assumption that Sumeragi was Corrin’s father, and if it’s stated otherwise, it’s maybe only in the beginning as a throwaway line during the Mikoto section.  You could make a plausible argument that the Trio could tell Corrin the truth, since all 3 of them have heart-rank lines where they reveal their real names and that they’re from another world, but that’s leading into possible canon rather than actual canon (and is also why I hc it).  But for all intents and purposes, Corrin thinks they are blood-siblings with the Hoshido fam, so that would make them less likely to pursue them romantically.  And even if they knew, they still all all each other brother/sister.

Azurrin is the trickiest.  It’s only in Revelation that the connection between Arete, Azura’s mother, and Mikoto, Corrin’s mother, is made, afaicr, so in Birthright and Conquest, Corrin technically wouldn’t know they are cousins.  However, Azura would.  Azura always knew everything, because her mother told her about Valla and taught her the traditional song and such.  She most likely knew Mikoto was her aunt.  Even on the off chance she didn’t know, it would still be an awkward down the line thing when they find out they’re cousins.  I know Japan is more lenient on the whole cousin-marriage thing, but...don’t have Shigure and Kana coming out looking like the Habsburgs, please, I beg you, lol.

My rule of thumb: if two characters refer to each other as, “brother,” or, “sister,” at any point, don’t let them fuck.  xD

Kana/Any Romantic/Sexual Ship

Kana is a child.  Stop it.  Stop it right now.  They are a baby.  I’VE SEEN FICS, I KNOW IT EXISTS, YOU SICK FUCKS.  Even aged up feels a little awkward, but I can be a little bit more lenient on that.  I just never will.  Kana is asexual and aromantic in my eyes, lol.

That’s all I can really think of right now; coffee is wearing off, I need a nap, lol.  Once again, please don’t be offended if I dislike a ship you like!  We are all different!  I just wanted to throw this out there on the off chance I do requests again and someone wants one of these written, because I would respectfully decline.  I don’t mean these to be hateful, just sort of venting into the ether in a mildly-exhausted stupor.

Also, you can try to counter me on some of these, but tbh, a few of them, I am stubbornly never going to change my mind, so we’d just go round and round in a circular argument if you tried.  xD  I like what I like and don’t like what I don’t, lol.  I’m not typically a multi-shipper, either, so you’d probably be hard-pressed to get me to shift at all, lol.  I mean that in the most loving way possible, too.

[someobscurereference]

"Fe fates leo trio possession au" and "fe fates leo + odin after odin defected to revelation route"

(Referring to this WIP meme) I literally don’t get alerts whenever I have an item in my inbox, so I did not see that you sent this until just now. Thanks for your patience!

“FE fates Leo Trio Possession AU” is a horror WIP I created a year or two ago involving modern AU Leo, Niles, and Odin moving into a new house together and kinda getting ready to start a new chapter in their lives (like their jobs are established and they’re maybe gonna think about adopting/having a kid or two in the next couple years. That kind of established). Except Odin works from home as a writer, so while Leo and Niles are gone all day, he’s left alone. Which would be fine if the house was not haunted and the ghost was not actively attempting to possess him (which would start off small with Odin having trouble with his chronic sleepwalking almost taking him down the stairs, which would be dangerous, and then progress to losing bits of time throughout the day). It would be noted early on in the fic that Azura had once lived in the same house with her own family as a little girl, but the (haunted) reasons they left would not be disclosed until later.

I must have started this fic like a year or two ago and got like 4K into it? I had floor plans laid out and different pictures of the architecture of the house on the word doc I was working on to reference, and I even got so into it I talked to @kimium about the plot at some points for help at the time. I was really excited to write another horror fic! I love horror!

But unfortunately, I realized really quickly that the signs of possession/things that would realistically worry a caring partner like Leo & Niles (Odin acting out of character while being possessed, forgetting things, etc.) while building up to the Haunted House reveal were very similar to mental health issues going on in my family at the time, and that was a hard roadblock for me, even if it made sense for the story. I ended up not getting as far as I liked, although I did write a sleepwalking scene I enjoyed and may reuse in something someday. I kind of hope I can go back to it at some point when I’m feeling braver or can figure out some way to rework the parts I don’t like entirely because they hit too close to home, but it’s not at the top of my priority list atm. I do like the premise a lot though.

“fe fates odin + leo after odin defected to revelations route” is another WIP I also made a year or two ago revolving around the idea that the Trio were originally sent to Nohr with the intention of finding and protecting Corrin, as they promised Anankos originally. In canon, enough time has passed that they have come to care for their lieges more than their duty to help Anankos/they think sticking with their lieges is the best way to get to Corrin and don’t realize they’ve totally lost control of the situation before it’s too late/whatever your justification for why they don’t join Corrin on the Revelations route until the royals do. But in this AU, the Trio recognize what their duty is and, as much as it hurts, jump ship when Corrin defects at the start of the game because it’s the right thing to do and they know they have bigger fish to fry (Anankos) than the opposing kingdom. 

This fic was not going to be a focus on the Trio leaving; it was going to focus on the immediate aftermath of the royals joining back up with the Revelations army (in canon, which would be like 1 chapter before the whole squad jumps into the canyon, iirc) and seeing their most trusted retainers, who did abandoned them without warning, now on the same side again and what that might do/have done to their relationships. Duty vs Love and all that.

Sadly I didn’t get super far in that one either, lol.

Thanks for your interest in both of these! Feel free to ask about anything else if interest strikes.