#have a nice death claude

[claudefluent]

The Death Inc. crew in my style.

[morismentos]

a whole assortment of stuff

[asp1diske-art]

various have a nice death doodles

[scarceghost]

HaND office personnel Halloween costumes!

yeah oof this is like a day late because I’m a slow worker but uhhh yeah.. happy late Halloween :,)

Death and Quinn first!!! They have matching costumes! Death is Jack Skellington and Quinn is the pumpkin king.

Second is Joe and Jerry!!!! Joe is in one of those silly inflatable dinosaur costumes and Jerry is a bedsheet ghost with a twist.

Third is Patrick and Harriet!!!! Patrick is Rose Quartz with glitter (he’s slaying btw) and Harriet is Jason Vorhees.

Fourth (and alone) is Orville!!! He’s a demon because I didn’t realize he was a cauldron when I was first playing the game. (Graphics aren’t as good on switch)

Fifth are my favorite costumes, Muriel and Claude!!!! Muriel is in a performative (I know it says preformance I'm just stupid) metamorphosis inspired costume! (Gregor samsa), and Claude is a headless horseman.

And finally we have Jocelyn and O’sha!!!!! Jocelyn is a spooky witch (with a bit of green hehe), and O’sha is a (very drunk) vampire. (Man what a bad HR manager…).

Jacob, Mark and Burt aren’t on here because they don’t appear in the office. (And I don’t think Jacob actually celebrates Halloween, at least not after that prank death pulled lol).

[angelamontoo]

With all the really cool Peter Lorre inspired ocs I've been seeing lately I thought I'd draw some art of the closest thing I have to a Peter Lorre oc

Meet Claude Gauthier(whos name I spelt wrong in the drawing cause I'm stupid and have period brain) he's my interpretation of the unnamed main character from 'The Horla', my favourite of Peter Lorres radio shows

Claudes parents encouraged him to study for a mathematically focused career, but he would have rather studied music. He has been singing and playing the violin since he was young and has taken up writing compositions and various other instruments as a hobby over the years, namely the piano, cello and more recently, the harp and concertina. He's fond of opera, especially French(of course) and German, but he has nostalgia for the hungarian folk music shared with him by his mother and grandmother and a more recent appreciation for American and Irish folk music

He works as an accountant and a tax consultant for a wealthy American, named Declan Fitzsimmons, who has a property and a small company near Paris, inherited from his maternal French family. He and Claude have also been having an affair for the last 12 years

Claude is close with his maid, Marie, who he acts as something of a father figure toward. Many people scoff at how Claude "coddles" his help, but with how difficult life can be for young working girls, Claude sees no harm in giving her some extra change to get a pastry when he sends her off for groceries or letting her sleep in an hour or two every once in a while

[erosiism]

A CASE OF REGRETS | YANDERE DUKE X M!READER.

prompt: you die during a rebellion, and he turns back time for you in desperation | reader is childhood friends with claude (OC), both are planning a rebellion to usurp the throne.

character(s): duke, you

warnings(s): nil

note(s): male reader, second person, past tense, not beta read, excerpt from my fic on wattpad, to make amends

FIND MORE MOMENTS OF CLAUDE AND THE READER HERE.

"Y/n!"

Blood spurted out.

"Y/n!"

Your vision blurred.

"Oh gods, are you okay? Are you—"

Your ribs hurt: were they broken? Bloodied? You could certainly taste the horrible taste of iron present in your tongue. It was clear to you that somehow you were dying. That something had turned against you. That you were...

"Please, please, please—"

Through your muddled vision you could make out a figure. A familiar silhouette running towards you, legs stumbling in desperation, breaths ragged.

It was nice to know that when you died, someone would grieve for you. That someone would cry for you.

There was only one person in the world who cared so much for you.

"Claude," you murmured. There was a smile on your face. "There's no need to cry..."

"Y/n, please—no—"

"Save it." You sighed, "there's no way I'm going to be surviving this."

It was true. Blood jetted out of your wound in spurts, staining your tailored uniform with a bright, crimson hue. You had loved that color mainly because Claude had ruby eyes, but now it just seemed gruesome, horrid. Pain had simmered down into a steady brew, and you wondered if your pain tolerance had simply grown stronger, or it was a telling sign of your fading consciousness.

"You were such a brat last time." You murmured. "You used to throw tantrums and everything...for a while, I thought you despised me. Even when we became adults, you were still heartless, cold...so why do you weep for me? Why do you grieve my death?"

I was a fool last time, Claude thought silently. I was a fool. I was a fool not to have shown my affections last time.

Because the truth was plain and simple, written in ink, written in the stars: Claude adored you. Was it not you who had held his hand in the gardens for strolls? Was it not you who accompanied him throughout, was it not you who could make him crack a smile, make him laugh? It had been all you. Every single joyous moment he had was caused by you. When he had finally received the title of the Duke. When he had finally defeated his family and his foes.

But Claude had been so wrapped up in his own troubles he had failed to notice your problems. Your dastardly family. Your...

He had neglected your wellbeing—he hadn't seen your deteriorating state, your weakening smile—he hadn't see any of that. He had been self obsessed, too engrossed in his own matters that he hadn't even—

Claude had taken too long to warm up to you. He could have been sweeter earlier. Made your life easier, no matter what it was. Claude had taken a while to truly open his heart to you: he had been rude, ungracious, curt. And you had been patient. Endlessly patient with him.

"We can save you," Claude said desperately, "we can."

You laughed. A tinkling, magical sound—but at that moment, it was so damned. So fucking painful to hear the cracks inside, the strain hiding inside the tone.

He knew it would be the last time he would ever heard it.

"You are the Emperor. You finally reclaimed your right to the throne. You finally..."

"Y/n," he whispered.

You shook your head.

"You achieved everything you sought for."

Perhaps he did. But the thing he truly wanted had been in front of him this whole time and he had been blind. Utterly blind.

And he would never forgive himself for that.

The tears slipped. His voice felt suffocated; choking.

"Don't cry," you touched his cheek gently and that pulled Claude temporarily out of his panic—"don't cry, alright? It was inevitable, Your Grace. Don't cry. The future Emperor doesn't cry."

Your Grace. Even then, you hadn't referred to him by his name. If he had another chance—just one singular chance—

He would allow you to call him by his name.

You were his everything.

You're my heart, Y/n.

If you die, then that would make me heartless.

There was so much blood, Claude realized. Coating his palms, running down your back. So much of its thick texture, its color, all drenched. Every single bit drenched—

Why was there so much blood? It wasn't his. He  wasn't unhurt, really. He wasn't that well off, but not to your extent. You sounded so tired when you spoke, so faint. So weak. You could have disappeared any second. Claude held you in your arms softly, gently—you could disappear any moment, your breaths wavering and quivering.

No, no, no.

I love you, Claude thought deliriously. I love you. I love you. I love you so much—

The voice grew and became stronger; louder even as you grew cold. Claude rocked you even when your hands fell, holding one to his own cheek. Your hands still had the faintest bit of warmth. He clung onto it desperately; motionless with the tears dried up with his throat feeling like sandpaper.

You can't leave me, he'd thought deliriously, hugging you close and rocking you again and again and again, you can't leave me.

Y/n L/n, I love you too much to let you go.

.

.

Claude had failed to save you. In front of him, your beauty was still visible in his eyes; your (h/c) hair, your (e/c) eyes—because of his arrogance, his incompetence, you had unfairly died. He had not noticed the blooming feelings in his stomach until you had been cold in his arms, and his tears had splattered on your cheek.

The universe has been cruel to you.

He had stood by your side and had watched you suffer and suffer and suffer; and for what? Only for the gods to turn their back on you? What was the point, really? Claude had been with you this whole time. Had seen the sacrifices you poured in, had seen—

He should have been the one that died, Claude despaired. Not you. Never you.

That night he couldn't sleep. The place was too empty without you. He had been crowned Emperor. But there was no you to accompany him by his side.

There was...absolutely no point.

Why was he even alive at this rate? Claude wondered. Everything would go back to life before you. Tedious. Long. Meaningless.

"Your Majesty, the Empire—"

"—do whatever you want." Claude rasped out. "Just...just..."

Please. If the Gods are listening. Please, please—

Turn back time. For me, for Y/n.

For...

[ The Gods have heard your prayers ]

.

.

Turning back time was unheard of. Something in the legends. Something Claude didn't believe in. Yet when he woke up—there had been disappointment in him, he had assumed that this was heaven yet you were nowhere in sight—there was the familiar surroundings of a room.

Not the Emperor's bedroom.

The bedroom from the manor he once lived when he was the illegitimate son of the Duke.

I must be dreaming, Claude thought. There was a flicker of hope he didn't dare to believe in. I must be dreaming of the happier times and the million what ifs.

Pain was tugging at his heart. It was painful. Everything was painful...

"—don't bother him. He just recovered from a sickness."

What?

What?

Delusional. Hallucinating. Delirious. To hear your sweet, sweet voice in such a dream—perhaps this was heaven after all. Claude didn't ever want to wake up. He didn't.

Because you were there. In front of him.

He sucked in a breath.

As sweet, as polite as he remembered. Every inch of his face had been committed to his memory. Every contour, every line. He had mapped you out in his head and had aligned you with the thousands of dazzling stars in the universe because you were the reason he bothered to continue living. Because you had become his reason for living.

You stood, in regal attire, with your posture as graceful as he had remembered. The sunlight streamed in through the paneled windows, caressing your features and alighting upon your lashes. He swallowed, trying to remember how to breathe.

"Ah, you are awake, Your Grace." You smiled at him.

"Y/n L/n," he said finally. "Y/n L/n." It's been so long since he could say this name to someone who would hear and respond to it. So many times he called your name out of your desperation in vain: hoping for some sort of hallucination to pop up, for some sort of inkling that your voice would carry over to his ears.

And you smiled.

Smiled.

Smiled.

Smiled—

Claude reached out to you and buried his face into your clothes.

You gave a startled smile.

.

.

The Duke had done a 180 complete turn.

"Y/n," he spoke with uncharacteristic fondness that you just didn't understand, "you are..."

Tears. There were tears on his cheek. Had you done anything to offend him? You thought not.

"Your Grace..." you reached out to brush his forehead with your fingers, "are you alright? You don't seem to have a fever."

Claude stared at you with wide eyes.

"Oh," You heard him say, and then, "you are as beautiful as I remembered."

What?

"Your Grace, are you really sure you are fine—"

Claude dashed forward, not even registering your words. He crushed you in his arms, a hand in your hair, head buried in his neck. He missed this. This warmth and this scent. Home, home. It's the smell of home. It's the smell of you. It's you. It's you. It's you. 

It worked, he thought. It worked. It fucking worked. I traveled back in time. 

"... Well then," you gave a small chuckle, confused upon what was happening, "it's a relief to see you have awoken—why are you crying?"

"You're here," Claude breathed, his first tangible words since his return. "You're here."

"Of course I'm here, Your Grace." You looked at him with confusion etched all over your features, frowning. "What's wrong? You..."

The Duke was looking at you like you were the only one that mattered in the world. And that—

Wow. What kind of coma did he have, to be behaving so peculiarly?

You wiped his tears, sighing and fussing.

"You know what—never mind. Tell me later—why are you still crying, Your Grace?"

Claude held onto you tighter.

Maybe he had bad dreams in his coma, you thought. He was holding on to you like you were a lifeline. Like you would disappear any second, any minute.

As though he would never let go of you again.

You patted the Duke's head gently, slowly, fingers running through his hair. "Don't cry. The future Emperor doesn't cry."

Those words. It was so hauntingly painful to him.

Claude didn't want to remember anymore. He didn't  need to remember. He had succeeded. The Gods had listened to him. You were alive and breathing, in front of him. You were—

Alive.

reblog/like the post! comments are appreciated even if you read this before :)

[melonminnie]

How about Planotic Yandere Claude x Daughter reader (who's the FL's twin sister) who is secretly living through her fifth life while she never got executed she always took her own life after her sister died because a life without her sister isn't a life worth living. She hates Claude with a passion and even when he starts to pay attention to his twins. She makes a point of never ever calling him Father or Dad and only refers to him as his Highness or Claude when talking about him. She is very suspicious of his intentions when he starts being nice to them. And while she does say "Thanks". She never ever accepts anything from him. Eventually this results in Claude begging his youngest twin daughter to call him Father Or Dad and she yells at him " WHY SHOULD I LOVE YOU WHEN YOU'VE NEVER EVER EVER LOVED US? HELL YOU BLAME US FOR MOM'S DEATH CLAUDE. EVERY TIME I HAVE COME BACK I WAS HOPING THAT MAYBE JUST MAYBE YOU HAD CHANGED AND YOU DESTROY THEM WITH EASE BY MURDERING MY TWIN SISTER AND THEN PROBABLY LAUGHING AT MY DEATH WHEN I TAKE MY LIFE. CAN'T YOU JUST GO BACK TO ACTING LIKE WE DON'T EXIST? YOU HAVE DONE IT UP UNTIL THIS POINT. CLAUDE PLEASE JUST GO." And Claude at first confused and concerned has a doctor check on his daughters and then reads a book which explains what's happening to reader. Claude realizing how many his other selfs screwed up and he winds up be coming super overprotective and Possessive of the twins and basically locks them away, promising to protect them from everythimg and everyone.

Two puppets (Yan!Claude x fem! Reader) platonic

-Tysm for requesting mwah!! Appearance is the same as athy ^^

The girl stared at the ceiling once again, This scene was almost too familiar to begin with.

She sighed as if she’d gone threw this a million times which she had, this being her fifth life by now.

In each life she’d take her own after her twin sister would get executed, See y/n truly did adore her twin so much so that she couldn’t live without her.

In her first life she’d let it happen, then realized there was no meaning if she wasn’t around.

In her second life, she tried defending the princess, she’d gotten put in jail for trying to frame the imperial family. Then she committed suicide

In her third life she tried running away it didn’t work, it got repeated and she committed once again.

In her fourth life, she committed after she found out.

it was the same cycle again and again, the only thing she was thankful for in those lives was she got relive the happy moments with her sister over and over again.

the girl never once thought of blaming her sister for her own death, in fact in every life she’d blame her father, someone who was okay with murdering his own child over one who isn’t his to begin with.

She knew he probably laughed at her when he looked at her grave, If he ever even went. She knew he probably even laughed when he found out that she committed.

Saying that the princess hated him would be an understatement, she wished he’d burn suffer threw everything she’d been forced to go threw. Only then would she try to forgive the man.

“Athy stop running!” The blonde begged chasing after her sister, her short legs were getting her nowhere at this point.

from exhaustion the girl fell to the ground crying in her head mentally, she heard footsteps, “Y/n what’s wrong?” She tilted her head helping up her sister.

“You’re going to fast!” She cried, she clung onto her chest, Athanasia stared down at the girl.

“okay then we will walk!” She declared holding onto Y/ns hand and moving forward.

Athy at first was quite irritated by how clingy y/n was but she had gotten used to it, she’d adjusted her plan into the two of you running away when you two were older instead.

As usual you were looking out incase anyone was wondering why two toddlers were out.

“Athy do we go no-” for a split second you turned your attention to your sister who was biting gold, quickly you ran to her and scolded the blonde but before you could finish.

A shadow was cast upon the two of you upon looking at who it was, this hadn’t happened in any timeline prior to this.

You wanted to run away no you could, but your body wasn’t allowing you in the slightest, all you could do was stare at the blonde man who’s name was Claude de alger obelia, Who had gemstones for eyes, who was also your father the emperor.

What’s he doing here?, the girl though anxiously, this had never happened before, nor was her sister acting like in the past timelines but she never questioned it.

In fact she’d never actually seen the man, she’d heard about him, but she’d never seen him face to face.

“What is this?are they bugs take them away” the man demanded, y/n peered at her sister nervously realizing she had the same expression as her.

The gold coins and diamonds quickly fell to the ground make loud noises as they hit they hit the marble floor, it was noticeable in the silence making it even more awkward.

after a while he finally spoke again, “those faces I’ve seen them before” he sneered, “was it that dancer from siodonna?, you look like her” he added in the same tone.

When that scene ended, you could barely remember what happened or how you ended up in the emperors office seated next to your sister.

The blonde glanced around the room in suspicion, was he planning on murdering you in front of your sister? Why were you infront of him.

“Athy can talk” Y/n heard her sister speak she turned her attention back to her, right she wasn’t paying attention so what was this conversation even about? Was he about to murder Athanasia because he thought she turned out mute?.

after a while, y/n knew this was all an act from the way her sister was acting. But she didn’t bother speaking not like he was speaking to her anyway.

“I ordered them to bring out something kids would like” he spoke, noticing either of you were eating the food. “If you don’t eat I will have no choice but to punish the cook” he threaten his eyes trained on the two of you like you were animals.

“Thank you for the food!” Athanasia yelled stuffing her mouth with the deserts on the table. You swore you saw a tear fall down her face.

“And you why aren’t you eating?” He questioned, “I’ll eat later…” the girl responded, “thank you for the food your majesty” she added, She could feel Athanasia stare at her with a confused look.

it was left at that, the rest you erased from your memory, once the two of you returned you clung onto one of the maids legs and started crying.

Later that night, Felix came and informed the maids that you two would have tea together every day.

Claude soon found out the difference between the two of you, though you were twins you had shorter hair than her and more quiet, your existence was barely noticeable unless people payed attention.

Athy called claude her father, while you couldn’t even look at him without feeling disgusted in someway. The only thing anyone other than Athanasia was able to coax you into saying was “okay or thank you”. Anyone who wasn’t aware would assume your the older twin based on how you’d act, but Athy knew it was an act.

Everyone shrugged it off as you liking Athanasia more due to you two growing up together.

Once the emperor decided to give you a gift, Exactly to test your reaction. But it was the same. you’d thank him and never use the gift or wear it again. To say that he was irritated would be an understatement, this was the first emotion he’d shown other than his creepy smile.

He’d tried to find an answer as to why his youngest hated him with a passion, but he couldn’t find one he’d let you be and never irritate you once.

Every once in a while he’d ask her the question.

“Why won’t you call me father at least?”

“Why don’t you call me papa I thought younger siblings like copying their older siblings”

Once he resorted to some sort of begging watching your normal expression change into shock.

To say you’d had enough was an understatement, Each and every movement of his every word he’d spoke was irritating.

So the last time he’d opened his mouth and muttered out the saying you finally lost it.

“Why do you care” the girl asked her voice lower than a whisper, “what?” He responded clearly asking you to speak up.

“Why do you suddenly act as if you care do you think buying all this jewelry and junk would make us happy after you blamed us for our mothers death knowing she’d want us to be here you broke your promise with her all because you couldn’t handle losing her! You took it out on us and now you want waddle your way back into my life and bribe us with gifts? You want to kill Athy again like you always do you wanna murder her and make her regret being born when she did nothing! You’d probably laugh at me after I die again wouldn’t you? Life was better when you didn’t even know our names nor our looks I hate you I hate you so much words can’t describe it you’re not my father and you’ll never be! I hate you Claude I hate you with my entire soul”

the emperor was confused, Shocked maybe he stared at her speechless, he turned his attention to one of the servants in the room.

“Call the physician my daughter isn’t well” he spoke, the servant quickly scrabbling around.

“Your daughter seems just fine, your highness just make sure she drinks more water” he reassures leaving the room.

Still even with the rpm doctor confirming it, he couldn’t shake off this feeling that there was something off. From the way you said those words to be exact.

So he ordered Felix to bring him every book known about magic or sickness, he soon found out the reason.

Reincarnation, something that was told to be a myth, he believed a hundred percent that was what happened to you, it was uncanny because you aren’t dead, nor is your sister dead.

Although he doesn’t know how many lives you’ve had or how you even reincarnated, he knew that all of his past lives were why you were so wary of him.

He’d made a promise with himself that day, a promise that till the day he dies he’d keep you safe.

“Where are you going?” The blonde questioned his daughter, “Garden” she responded, without a word he picked her up and drew further away from the garden.

“Your hi-”

”From now on.. The second princess of obelia will only be allowed when requested if I find her out her room without it being brought to me first I’ll hang your heads on the palace walls. The same goes for the first princess” he declared his eyes fixated on the girl.

“Because as long as I’m alive nobody will be allowed to hurt you”

I had a lot of fun writing the request ntg‼️‼️Hope u enjoyed reading pookies 😍💕💕

[iridescent-solstice]

{ᴅɪꜱᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇʀ: ɪ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴅᴅ ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇꜱ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴘɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇꜱᴛ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ꜰɪᴄꜱ. ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ ᴜɴʟᴇꜱꜱ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀᴡɪꜱᴇ.} WARNING: a/b/o dynamics (Alpha x omega), heat(?), yearning, Claude, pre-existing relationship, poor mental health, cling reader

ᴺᵒʷᵃᵈᵃʸˢ ᵉᵛᵉʳʸᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ ⁱˢ ˢᵒ ᵖʳⁱˢᵗⁱⁿᵉ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵖᵉʳᶠᵉᶜᵗ, ˢᵒ ᵃ ᵗᵒᵃˢᵗ ᵗᵒ ʷʰᵉⁿ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍˢ ᵃʳᵉⁿ'ᵗ ᵖᵉʳᶠᵉᶜᵗ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵃʳᵉ ⁱⁿᶠᵃᶜᵗ... ᵛᵉʳʸ ᵐᵘᶜʰ ᶠᵃˡˡⁱⁿᵍ ᵃᵖᵃʳᵗ. ᴵⁿˢᵖⁱʳᵉᵈ ᵇʸ ᵗʰᵒˢᵉ ᵉᵃʳˡʸ ²⁰⁰⁰'ˢ ᴶᵃᵖᵃⁿᵉˢᵉ ᵐᵒᵛⁱᵉˢ ᵃˡˡ ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ᵍʳᵒʷⁱⁿᵍ ᵘᵖ ᵃⁿᵈ ʷʰᵃᵗⁿᵒᵗ ⁽ᴱˢᵖᵉᶜⁱᵃˡˡʸ ᵇʸ ᵗʰᵉ ᵍʳᵘⁿᵍᵉ ᵃᵉˢᵗʰᵉᵗⁱᶜ ᵗʰᵉ ᵒˡᵈ ᵐᵒᵛⁱᵉˢ ᵘˢᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ʰᵃᵛᵉ!)

Fiddling with your pen, your gaze darts around the room. A messy nest, clothes skew and overall looking like a tornado had just taken place. It wasn't usually like this, but you couldn't help yourself now, could you? With only a week left until your heat started and your mate claude nowhere in sight, safe to say you were a little bit of a wreck. Sighing you placed the pen back on your desk, as it was no longer a good distraction from your self-deprecating thoughts. He made you so anxious sometimes…. Scared you to death when he’d disappear like this for days.

You knew he was quite busy, accepted this fact even when he said you wouldn’t have to do a single thing. That he’d take care of you. But quite honestly you preferred him to be next to you instead. To hold you. He was out hunting, or at least that's what you told yourself... Shaking your head, you huff trying to dismiss the intrusive thoughts in your head. The ones of him having replaced you. It was a silly idea, the notion that he'd abandon you… If you thought about it too deeply that is, but still it nagged at you from the back of your mind. Sometimes... much like today, if you thought about it too deeply you would work yourself into hysterics.

You were aware that if you didn't figure something out soon, your body would go through withdrawal. The two of you were a newly bonded pair, the mating mark not even a few months old. Certain physical symptoms like stomach pains, and intense aches all over your body already becoming apparent. Withdrawal, what happens to newly bonded pairs who were ripped apart too soon... before the bond solidifies. It was a great option for those who had been bonded against their will. That is perhaps the whole issue for you, you didn't want yours to break. You wanted him to be yours.

Your lip began to wobble, and you found yourself crawling back into your nest trying to sooth yourself. It didn't work. All around your bed laid gifts of all kind, yet when you laid down, to your surprise, you felt like crying. The familiar comfort of your nest no longer soothing you. The nest was nice. It was lovely, but you missed your alpha... You wanted him next to you. Sobs quickly replacing the silence in the room, as you clung to the quickly fading scent of his tangled into your many blankets and pillows. Hours past and yet the feelings didn't die down at all... only intensifying. Pillow soaked with tears as your nails dug into the soft padded blanket below you. If he did really care about you then where is he? These thoughts refusing to leave you alone. The thought of being abandoned and left to rot away once more riling you up even more. Frightening you enough to ignore the faint turning of the lock, and heavy footsteps entering through the front door.

The bitterness and fear in your scent quickly wafting through the apartment. Garnering his attention without hesitation. An eyebrow raised in confusion he stalks over to your bedroom door. A growl brewing in his chest. The implications of your distress putting him on edge. The groceries left on the counter as he quietly pushes the bedroom door open. He'd put them away later.

Soft rumbling pulled you out of your misery, a rough hand forcing your head off the pillow to stare up at him. Puffy red eyes staring up at him, you noticed the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to the just above his elbows. Thick biceps crossed over each other as he stares down at you as if waiting for you to speak. Your lip begins to wobble again, and tears cling to your lashes. "What's the matter petal?" He practically hums as he leans over you. A bit taken aback by you eagerly hugging and pulling him down onto the bed. yet he lets you.

He smelled great, but he didn't smell like you. Trying to spread your scent all over him as if to make up for lost time, you frantically huddle into him. "I asked you a question," he says not even phased by your excessively nuzzling into his neck. Your breath hitches at the soft kiss pressed to your neck and you whine. Soft and sensually rubbing your back as he coos at you. The other gently smoothing the fizz ontop of your head. Perfectly understanding what you need at this moment. "I wouldn't leave you, thought you'd understand this by now," he groans in irritation as he manhandles you onto your back, him pressed on top of you. His weight holding you down and grounding you as he comforts your naive little heart. How silly of you think you'd ever be granted the luxury of escaping him.

Especially when he has you sitting on his lap later, all tuckered out from his lavish attention, finally being hand fed a proper meal compared to the snacks you been eating lately. Your head leaning on his shoulder as he holds you close to him. He can't help but detest that brat Alois, especially since... he didn't turn out to be the meal he expected him to be. That's not a problem though, since he has an even better one headed your way. He just has no idea how to tell you he wouldn't be coming back for a while... But you'll understand right?

[ᴅɪᴠɪᴅᴇʀꜱ ʙʏ: @firefly-graphics ]

[fireemblems24]

Golden Wildfire Ch 11

On we go to ch 11. Things are . . . uh . . . interesting.

MAIN STORY

So if you didn't see ch 10, I failed to recruit Byleth. I retried the level a few time, but honestly I just want to finish this game so I didn't bother.

Plus, the reason I failed was that Claude just sat there instead of moving forward on the escort mission, which got really frustrating, and honestly I didn't want to bother.

Ugh, I don't want to fight the Kingdom.

So those Houses that wanted to defect to the Kingdom didn't because Claude's battle was that bloody in that fire map.

Poor Dimitri and co seems like he's just betting bullied for no real reason by two imperialistic maniacs.

I love how Arval is getting snooty over Shez getting credit for their tactics lamo.

Man, this dialogue is dragging.

So Nadar is going to cause diplomatic chaos by utilizing the Almyran army without getting real permission.

Wait, Claude riled up Sreng? So much for "ending racism" lamo. Wasn't having two cultures not be prejudice against each other like his MO? The writers really just threw him in the trash, hunh.

I feel so bad for Claude fans. He's really a piece of work in this.

MAP/SIDE STUFF

Everyone missing Judith has a lot more punch than Randolph. Even Monica was like "get over it" to Fleche (but nicely).

So, let me make sure I have this right. Mr. I Want to End Prejudice Between Cultures just provoked Sreng into attacking the Kingdom so Edelgard can take it over because Rhea is the reason for everything bad. Did I get that right?

Unlike SB, GW is entertaining as hell, but man is the logic here is just non-existant. And poor Claude RIP.

Like, I know I'm biased and all, but I don't see how you're supposed to be the heroes and not Dimitri here. The people just defending themselves are getting attacked on all 3 fronts for the crime of *existing.*

Not going to lie. I kinda wish Claude didn't side with you in AG either. It would've been hype to kick everyone's ass as Dimitri after getting cornered by all these land-grabbers.

GW!Claude is really just the mean girl's sidekick. 😂

If Felix and Rodrigue die in this chapter I swear to God . . . (I just remembered Rodrigue is dead in SB now 😭 - LET THIS MAN SURVIVE).

I had to fight Felix in a side mission. Lysithea said they had to "defend this place" - like, girl, you are invading.

When the challenge is "you can't dodge" but you're using Lorenz 😌👌 (FYI, he just does not take damage in this game)

SHEZ & HILDA A SUPPORT

They're talking about how Hilda exerted energy in a battle because she worried about Shez.

Hilda claims it's just self-defense bc she was cheering for Shez on the front lines and enemies were there (honestly, this is pretty boring so far)

It's the same-old Hilda claiming she's weak but that not being true.

SHEZ & CONSTANCE C SUPPORT

I know she's an Empire character, but whatever.

She wants to create new magics to restore her noble house and wants to research Shez bc of their weird magic

Lamo, Constance low-key called us dumb

Shez suggests she get her house back through military accomplishments.

Constance refuses to train right now, she wants to at night (it's her dual personality thing, right?)

CLAUDE & LYSITHEA B SUPPORT

Their first one. Claude's unhappy Lysithea charged in the last battle. But Lysithea kicked ass, so she's upset with Claude.

Claude calls her plan dumb and that he thought Lysithea was smarter than that. Lysithea still argues it ended earlier bc of her.

Lysithea doesn't back down.

Honestly, I side with her here. Claude's being patronizing. And it's rich of him not to care about all the other deaths dragging out the battle would cause and only Lysithea dying because she's *important*

CLAUDE & HOLST A SUPPORT

Oof, this one hurts. Claude accuses the church of creating all the systems to serve their own interests, because he doesn't know the truth here. That the Empire actually created most of it, and that all the church ever did was protect a genocided race from being murdered by more power-hungry humans.

It's also hysterical to hear Claude talk about wanting to improve foreign relations while instigating a war between two cultures.

Oof, Holst doesn't care about any of this. He's only worried Claude's going to send Hilda to marry a big, brown, scary foreigner. NOT a good look.

Holst says he cares more about Hilda's future than the whole Alliance. Yikes.

HILDA & HOLST A SUPPORT

They're preparing a feast.

Oh, it's nice to see Hilda's insecurities about Holst's "perfection" come up in this, bc so far she hadn't said much.

After that last support though, Holst is actually a pretty shitty leader.

Holst wants to make the feast all about Hilda instead of himself though. Hilda likes the attention.

Hilda basically had to set up her own feast lol.

HILDA & LINHARDT A SUPPORT

Hilda's cleaning, and Linhardt's honestly upset that he's lost a fellow lazy person.

Hilda claims she never pushes work on people. That, is a lie.

Linhardt is mostly worried how bad it'll look if he's the only one not working instead one of two.

All this support confirms that Linhardt is by far the superior lazy.

LORENZ & LYSITHEA A SUPPORT

Their only support.

So, not related to their support (and watch it counter it), but I find it pretty amusing how getting a leadership position faster matured Felix and Sylvain, but Lorenz is still a bit of a joke and the butt-end of every support he's in.

He's just bragging about how awesome his position and power is.

Lysithea says she's not inheriting her house. She claims it's because she doesn't like what comes with nobility, but we all know why.

She worried that the land will go to chaos without it's leaders though. Lorenz offers help (which, imo, he's actually mature here!)

Lorenz suspects she's turning it down for another reason and encourages her to rely on others to help.

RAPHAEL & LEONIE B SUPPORT

Raphael keeps snapping bows in half when he uses them. Leonie's shocked.

Leonie seems to actually make one and invites Raphael to test it while on guard duty with her.

IGNATZ & MARIANNE B SUPPORT

Marianne found his picture. He puts it down, but she likes it (it's a horse, well a pegasus, but of course)

Ignatz gets carried away talking about it, but Marianne finds it cute.

Ignatz finds Marianne loving pegasus cute. She blushes.

He wants Marianne's help, helping him paint a pegasus bc they don't like men, but if Marianne is around he can get closer and get a better painting. She's happy to help.

Honestly, this whole support is really cute.

MAIN BATTLE/STORY

It sucks having to attack the Kingdom over and over again when all they want to do is exist in peace.

Oh, joy, Nadar wants to plunder Faerghus. I can see why Fodlan is so evil for not wanting to let them do what they will.

GW really had a chance here to finally do something interesting with Almyra. It even marketed itself as a route that WOULD. But instead it's just doubled-down on Almyra being a one-note lawless place full of barbarians. At least we have Brigid and Duscur so the only brown country isn't some racist stereotype. Since it's only 1 of 3, it's not AS bad of a look.

Fuck. I don't want to kill Felix and Rodrigue. It would be one thing if the Kingdom actually provoked this, but Felix and Rodrigue haven't done anything to deserve this.

I get to recruit Ashe again. Is he miserable here too?

Ugh, I was hoping Felix and Rodrigue weren't here. It seems vastly unfair that it's only Kingdom characters who die for reel in this.

Wow. Claude's really an A-class asshole. He told Ashe to surrender because Dimitri wouldn't want him to die. Maybe don't invade for no reason then?

Is Claude also going to single Felix out as a citizen of Faerghus who deserves to live? Or does only Ashe count and not the nobles and unnamed grunts he's slaughtering because he decided to team up with the person who plans on taking over his rule? (not hate to Ashe at all, I honestly feel awful for him in this game)

Ok, so fighting Felix is just a side quest. I'd rather fail a side quest than fight Felix so, going to try to avoid having to kill him. Ugh, he's attacking the engineers. And he's damn right saying he has every right to kill the people who are invading his home.

Thank God, he just retreated.

I still love how Claude got bent out of shape over Ashe, but Lorenz alone has killed 500 citizens of Faerghus this chapter so . . .

Felix is so worried about Rodrigue. I swear the writers wanted you to feel like shit playing this route.

Oh, fuck. Just when I thought I was finished killing people for defending themselves, Daddy Gautier shows up :( He's sacrificing himself to safe Felix and Rodrigue, isn't he?

Oh, fuck. He died for real 😭

It's really hard to like these characters, making mindless chit-chat after killing Sylvain's daddy. I hope Sylvain fucks them up a new one.

I've never wanted to slap a character more than I'd love to slap Claude right now. The moron has the audacity to be surprised people are going to die while he's invading a foreign country. What a fucking stupid moron.

He's also blaming - get this right - chivalry.

I'm like. I'm speechless right now.

That's right guys. Margrave Gautier died defending his king, his country, his home, and most importantly one of his fucking best friends from an asshole invader. But it's CULTURE'S fault he died.

I'm really confused what the hell Claude thinks he's doing. Does he REALLY think killing Rhea will magically allow people to live as they please? Didn't he grow up in another country where they had princes and shit and NO Rhea?? All he's doing is making Edelgard's take over easier.

This is starting to feel like a borderline spoof. Look at us end the war by invading another nation!!! I mean???

What's his plan? Kill everyone in Faerghus - profit - "freedom" from Rhea - Edelgard takes over - no profit???

The writing in this route has gotten really fucking stupid. Like, I LIKE the idea of evil!Claude. Either a Claude who wants to take over all of Fodlan or one who's ruthless and will do anything to preserve Leicester.

But what I don't like is really fucking dumb Claude, which is what GW's devolved into.

Oh, God, now we get a flashback between father and son. Sylvain and Gautier :(

Sylvain better not be fucking recruitable in this route.

Now Sylvain's in charge 😭😭😭😭

I'm convinced someone who's a major Edelgard stan wrote the larger plot of this, but then a Dimitri stan wrote the actual dialogue 😅

We really go from one moment Claude being like - it's Rhea's fault Gautier died bc Kingdom culture bad because church bad to Sylvain being like, naw, he died defending his friends.

At the very least, I'll give Hopes credit here. At least they didn't write anyone opposing Edelgard as either evil or like they're idiots for resisting invasion, but I almost feel like they made the Kingdom especially too sympathetic which makes Edelgard look more interesting (since SB is more honest than CF) and Claude just look like a bozo. Rhea just doesn't look like anything since she's not even here.

Though, I REALLY wish Claude didn't side with us in AG. I really wish we got to see Faerghus backed into a corner and kick everyone's asses. They've very much the underdog and watching them do that would've been awesome.

Felix and Rodrigue are beating themselves up over this.

See, this is what I mean - Sylvain just said he's reserving all his hatred for the foreign invaders who take everything for no reason - I really feel like a Dimitri fan saw how everyone collectively decided to take a dump on the Kingdom in the big plot and got revenge by making everyone look like villains (or morons in Claude's case) for doing so in the writing.

xxx

[morismentos]

moar doodles u get the jist

[sirenjose]

Joseph Theories

(Sorry for the repost, but I wanted to write this up a bit more nicely, and add a few other ideas to it)

TLDR:

Main Story connection

Related to someone else like Mary Kreiburg for Mary

5th birthday portraits

The “hunter” mentioned by Alice?

Joseph wanting to bring back Claude parallels the Orpheus myth

Connections to Count Barriere?

1. Main Story connection

Both Joseph and Orpheus lived happy lives until, while still young, it was taken away due to a bloody tragedy that led to the death of someone(s) close to them, as well as the loss of their home (for a time at least).

They are destroyed by this loss and begin carrying out experiments due to their inability to move past their grief and sorrow, experiments whose intent seems to involve the tragedy or somehow changing the source of their grief.

For Joseph, this is his desire to bring Claude back as well as prevent people from dying.

For Orpheus, this may be to change his or Alice’s memories of the tragedy, maybe to forget, maybe to change a certain part of it, but we still aren’t completely sure what his end goal is.

Both Joseph and Orpheus have a large manor (with other workers) they invite people to for their experiments that end up going missing, which causes rumors to spread. Joseph’s deadly invitation is also very reminiscent of the invitations Orpheus sends out.

And then there’s the mention of the “darkroom in the basement” Joseph spends much of his time in, which could connect to the basement (which is very dark) we visit in Oletus Manor where Orpheus keeps his drugs.

Eventually, something happens that ends their experiments.

For Joseph, it was due to a mob attacking his manor, though they never find him as he has already disappeared.

For Orpheus, it was due to a fire starting during the final game, after which he loses all his memories.

Not to mention how both Joseph and Orpheus are driven by memories.

For Joseph, we see this very well with his 1st letter. All he can think about is Claude, his fear of forgetting, and his desire to keep people (including Joseph) from dying like Claude (“Someone must remember”).

Orpheus we know is haunted by the tragedy, and feels immense guilt for Alice’s parents’ deaths (we know from Bonbon's deduction 4 that he helped them to some degree by taking some "valuable items" cuz of their greed. We know from Alice’s letter to Orpheus in the 2nd anniversary pack that their deaths (and his desire to save Alice) is his driving force. We even know how important memory is to him considering 2 of his drugs involve making people forget or “reconstructing” memories.

Both had someone that attempted, but failed, to convince them to stop or to change their minds.

For Joseph, this was Elliot, who tried to talk to Joseph about “the meaning of life and time”, the things Joseph sought to escape from.

For Orpheus, this was Alice, who tried to get Orpheus to stop his experiments and to “please don’t blame yourself for father and mother’s death”. Both Elliot and Alice are ignored, with Elliot potentially trapped in Joseph’s “eternal kingdom” (camera world). Alice is potentially trapped in a similar way based on her letter to Orpheus in the 2nd anniversary package, where she tells him “I’ll find a way to escape from the prison that locks me in and find my only remaining family member in this world”.

Considering Yidhra’s connection to Darkwoods/The Forest of No Return, where the final game took place, not to mention Alice’s potential connection to Miss Nightingale, who has only ever appeared in Orpheus’ dreams (or in the Illusion Hall, which is likely still a dream), could mean Alice, as well as others that disappeared at the manor, at least the others that were involved in the final game, may be trapped in Yidhra’s dreamlands.

And speaking of Alice, it’s also interesting that both her and Joseph are the only ones who use cameras. Joseph traps people souls in photos when he takes a picture, while with Alice we see an apparition of young Orpheus when she takes a picture.

2. Related to someone else

Joseph and Mary’s stories (backstories/deductions) are closely connected.

Mary we know ended up being involved through Mary Kreiburg, who Frederick is tied to and thus why Alice imagined him as Mary.

With Joseph’s connections to the main story and Orpheus, as well as to Mary herself, it feels like there’s a good chance something similar will happen to him.

Meaning, we may not see literal Joseph as a character in the main story, but we will see someone likened to or similar to him that will be in the story. And considering Joseph is actually very old, it is possible whoever he ends up being tied to could be an older character.

3. 5th birthday portraits

Another theory is that the character portraits (furniture) we get from a character’s 5th birthday could’ve been taken by Joseph himself.

We know he had a wall of portraits in his manor with many “lifelike” people that the mob saw as the ran into his manor based on his backstory. We also know Joseph’s goal involved saving people from death or, in Claude’s case, bringing them back to life. By taking a photo, he can trap a soul in that photo, their body seemingly going missing, which may have been what he did to himself before the mob could reach him.

We also know that no one else, or any bodies, were ever found besides Orpheus after the final game. We know Orpheus wouldn’t have had time to make any bodies disappear during the final game, so at least those should’ve been somewhere, but they weren’t. And there were Burke, Bane, and Bonbon, who worked for Orpheus, who weren’t found either. So it seems possible something strange might’ve happened.

Though Orpheus should also get a portrait for his 5th birthday too, and we know he isn’t trapped in a photo in the present. Unless something happened as he was traveling to the manor, or while he was there.

And you’d think if there was a fire, that might’ve burned any portraits in the manor, though we can see in the present there’s still a lot in the manor that looks in fair condition, so that could imply the portraits would be fine too.

4. The “hunter” referenced by Alice in the 2nd anniversary package

In the 2nd anniversary package, Alice mentions potentially using “death” or “that ‘hunter’”. Joseph is a hunter who is connected to “death” as well as a way to avoid actually dying via his camera.

If he is connected to the main story and potentially appears in it at all like Mary did, maybe he could end up helping Alice somehow.

There are other options, including Yidhra who is connected to Darkwoods, as well as Fool's Gold and Hunter Melly, who were there in the final game with her, especially if Alice ends up working with Norton and Melly to deal with Orpheus, but Joseph could make sense too.

5. Joseph parallels the Orpheus myth

It’s interesting how Joseph's desire to bring Claude back parallels Orpheus in the original Greek myth and his desire to bring Eurydice back from the dead by leading her out of the underworld.

For Joseph, instead of the underworld, he’s using his “eternal kingdom”/camera world experiments to try to bring Claude back. Orpheus fails when he turns around to look at her, causing him to lose Eurydice forever. Joseph we know via his 4th letter that he hasn’t been completely successful. Orpheus we know was “looking back” because he feared he was (depending on the version you read), either afraid he was being tricked, that she wasn’t following him, or was so elated at being able to see her again that he couldn’t resist looking back. Joseph we know is messing with life/time trying to stop death, not to mention Joseph doesn’t want to move forward, either with his life, in time, or away from his memories of Claude.

6. Joseph’s manor = Oletus Manor?

This is a simple theory. What if the manor Joseph lived in, during his deductions, the one he carried his experiments out in, was Oletus Manor?

We know from the original backstory for Oletus manor that it was already infamous and had gained a not great reputation even before the DeRoss couple bought it.

What if that infamy came from Joseph?

Joseph had rumors spread about him and his manor due to his experiments that caused people to disappear, and the rumors he was able to trap souls in photos.

Rumors that panicked people enough to cause them to try to attack him and his manor.

In his last deduction, after Joseph’s disappearance, they even say “Workers and maids claim that the mansion was cursed by the missing old man”. This could also explain other details in Oletus Manor’s backstory, that mention it having no neighbors, and why it might have been in bad enough condition to require the DeRoss couple to renovate.

In Burke’s backstory, the manor was described as “desolate” and “run down”. After people called Joseph’s manor cursed, that could explain why all of the neighbors fled/left, and if they went as a mob to his manor, especially if they thought it cursed after he vanished, they could’ve been behind the manor’s bad state when the DeRoss couple bought it.

(And there's the parallel how the DeRoss couple died due to what's described as a "mob", like Joseph's, in Burke's deductions)

7. Connections to Count Barriere?

His ties to Count Barriere are similar to his connections to Orpheus. There’s both him and Joseph being counts, Barriere being a name of French origin and Joseph himself being French, Barriere’s ties to Oletus Manor (he owns the land it's on) while Joseph owns a manor too (which could be Oletus), Barriere being an old, wealthy family while Joseph himself is from a noble family, not to mention DM and the Melodis family in Truth & Inference is stated to also be an “old, wealthy family”, and a number of other things.

That as well as Barriere seems to be even more a mystery than Orpheus, and there’s a chance there’s someone manipulating even Orpheus. With how Barriere seems to appear almost anywhere, and is tied to even Dennis of all people as well as the manor, there’s a good chance could be someone behind even Orpheus. Similar to how DM seems to be behind everything in T&I.

(And with Joseph in reality being an old man, and with how old Count Barriere likely is, their ages would potentially fit/be similar enough for it to work.)

We unfortunately don’t know much about Count Barriere, much less his motivations or goals, besides him letting Lily get the money to an IOU and him being tied to Dennis DeRoss and the Mediterranean to some degree. So unfortunately, we can’t compare him to Joseph in this way. Though it’s possible something later could be revealed that’d either increase the parallels between him and Joseph, or do the opposite to separate them.

(This is all I have at the moment. Let me know if I missed anything or if you have any other theories!)

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 2, Match 5: August vs. Claude Frollo

Submitted kids:

August: Hisoka Mikage, Chikage Utsuki

Claude Frollo: Jehan and Quasimodo

Propaganda under the cut!

August:

1. "august is the adoptive older brother of hisoka mikage and chikage utsuki. for context, these characters are all spies, and were invited into the organisation by august. (also known as misha sometimes). hisoka is december, and chikage is april! their collective group name in fanon is ""gekkagumi.""

the first interaction we see of him in game is him adopting hisoka off the street. he was a dying homeless child, and august invited him to join the organisation. at first he declined, but august kept coming back to him until he followed (despite chikage's protests about it) he fed fed hisoka gingerbread, and declared ""we're a family now.""

chikage was adopted before hisoka, but we only learned more about it later in the story. chikage was living in a ""facility"" when he runs into august who lives in the organisation.

despite their very harsh life, august really did everything he could to give hisoka and chikage the best life he could. he loved the idea of family, and always encouraged them to celebrate christmas and birthdays, and play games!

august had a cover job where he owned a candy store. despite it just being a cover, august loved it and had a genuine care for the children. he used to give away free sweets to the point his shop was actively going out of business, and whenever he saw a sad kid he'd try his best to cheer them up. people around the town came in just to talk to him, to the point where hisoka said when he was covering the shop for him, the first thing people would ask was ""where's misha?""

in his shop, he also used to have a myth that if you wrote a wish on a certain brand of cookie's wrapper, the wish would come true. august spoke excitedly of the wishes kids would wish for.

events in the story lead up to august's untimely death. years later, hisoka runs into a kid who used to go to his shop. this child had wished to be a painter, and was now painting. he actually ended up in possession of a wrapper august wrote on which said ""a happy family."" however, the boy couldn't read japanese and didn't know what it said. despite that, he held onto the wrapper for years after august's disappearance. he also manages to draw a picture of him from memory. :(("

2. “he's so . gwahh he just wants to give them a nice family”

Claude Frollo:

“Jehan's Claude's baby brother he raised after their parents die (Claude is 18/19 by then, and something like 37 during the books) and he doesn't kill Quasimodo's Mom in the original. Instead, he takes in Quasi, who has been left on the cathedrale's doorsteps. (Don't worry he also has a lot of faults and you still wouldn't want him to raise your kids)”

[raxistaicho]

Why do you think so many people consider Crimson Flower to be poorly written?

The vast majority of them that I've seen just don't like the route because they disagree with Edelgard, or they confuse a route being shorter than the rest with it being unfinished or poorly-written.

For my own part, I think the pacing of the other routes sucks and a lot of chapters are just about approaching the Empire and have nothing to do with advancing the plot. The Great Bridge, Garreg Mach Defense, and Aillel are good examples of this.

Hunting by Daybreak is really nice from a thematic standpoint, but from a gameplay standpoint it's fucking awful. Then you have Gronder II, which was created purely for trailer bait because it's totally missing from half the routes and the actual battle itself doesn't matter. No, not even in Azure Moon, honestly, because they could have had Rodrigue get shanked in just about any map and it's all the same in the end.

Like seriously, would Crimson Flower be any better if it had a Hunting By Daybreak, Gronder II, or Aillel analogue, which would equalize its chapter total with Silver Snow? Fuck no, lol.

And of course, to refute the "unfinished" argument, Crimson Flower has the most unique set of maps after chapter 11, and it's very clear the developers put a lot of work into rebalancing the campaign around its shorter length (there's a pretty well-done Reddit post that goes into this in more detail). Contrast that against Silver Snow where they did baffling shit like have Edelgard take her deployment slot with her when she left and put Miracle on about half the units in the endgame.

People complain about the lack of fighting the Agarthans, but they forget the Agarthans in and of themselves are always only fought and dispatched in a single chapter after the time skip (CF 16, AM 19, SS 20, and VW 21) and the actual fight with them is always a narrative afterthought (Dimitri doesn't even realize he fought them, in VW they're fought to justify Nemesis's return and in SS they're fought to put Rhea at near-death so Byleth can take over), so it's clear the writers considered them a distant second to the conflict of ideals between Edelgard and her adversaries.

The Agarthans are there to escalate the conflict and serve as a red herring that Three Houses is going to be an FE7-esque story where the conflict is a low-key one against an evil cult before chapter 11 changes everything, not to be the true villains of the story.

Just about the only problem I think is cogent is the lack of high quality cutscenes in Crimson Flower. It could really have stood to have one more (either Rhea striking down Byleth or Byleth reuniting with Edelgard) cutscene to equalize it with the number of unique ones in AM (Dimitri's freakout and Byleth's reunion) and VW (Byleth's reunion and Claude and Nader... shooting at each other.), but much of the problem is it can't reuse the shared cutscenes the other routes have for obvious reasons.

Then there's the nonsense, "Edelgard has no character development in Crimson Flower!" argument which just confuses character development they didn't like for not having character development at all.

Good question, thanks for dropping it!

[calisources]

THE   CW'S   REIGN   SEASON   FOUR   QUOTES.   all   these   sentences   were   taken   from   season   four   of   the   historical   fictional   show,   reign.   change   pronouns,   locations   and   names   as   you   see   fit.   

I'm not looking for a man to love, I'm looking for a weapon to use against her and her throne.

Men forget that women have ears.

My child will be heir to her throne, to both nations. 

Mary, this is a course you cannot step back from. And if you take it, I fear I'm looking at a dead woman.

We all die, Gideon. The question is what we stood for while we lived.

Are you saying that we should marry?

Although I am curious. Have you already named our children? Or did you leave at least that part for me?

Where Knox has sown hatred, we will scatter seeds of hope.

Earn my respect then, as I earn the respect of my men. In combat!

 Duels only lead to dead men, not respect.

Oh really, Lord Darnley? I was unaware that your crushing defeat was an act of charity.

Now, you take your assassin and you get out of our country. Or we will drive you out.

I want you to tell me why you keep pushing me away. I'm going to be your husband!

I had a husband! And I loved him and he was murdered in cold blood before my eyes.

As King and Queen, our lives will always be in peril.

 We're going to be in danger no matter whether we're together or not. Because of who we are, Mary. Because of our blood.

You will be my husband in name only. And we will never be happy. And I will never forgive you.

It is my duty, my God-given birthright and my crown. And I will defend it from anyone who attempts to take it.

I had hoped that our marriage would be a partnership in every way. 

I will be a true King. And we will finally be equals.

We are married because I couldn't take England without you. What makes you think that you can take England without me?

He will hang. And I will enjoy watching him die. 

Men will never willingly bow to the weaker sex.

And they will suffer greatly for it.

The Prince of Spain came to France whole, and left with an enormous piece of wood sticking out of his skull.

A daughter joining her mother for an evening stroll is hardly a crime.

Why, Claude, how nice of you to take time away from your grief to criticize me.

You'll take what under advisement? What, you're just going to mouth kingly words?!

The only monster in this castle is gossip. And we must not feed it, or it will bring us to our knees.

I should have your entire family burned at the stake.

You think that political manipulation and poisoning are my only skill?

When one Valois is weakened, the entire line is threatened.

Tell your son to come to court. Or I will have him dragged here. On his knees.

I will not be remembered as the queen that drew first blood.

 She wasn't your friend, Elizabeth, she was your prisoner. What a grotesque curse of royalty that you cannot even tell the difference.

A royal marriage gives one political clout.

Mary, revenge is not meant to ease pain. It is meant to balance the scales.

I've missed you. Perhaps that's reason enough for you to stop being an ass and stay for the party.

What? I-I can't. You and I are married. Until death do us part.

I lost both the man I love and the man I could have loved.

 My family has royal blood in our veins. 

Trust is given, but loyalty is earned. And you, my queen, have not earned mine.

He does have his father's history to overcome. You knew that when you chose him.

I am married to the most powerful man in the world, and I will not be threatened by my damaged brother who is unfit to rule. 

I suppose there's nothing to be done... Except stay for the King's wedding.

Because being married to a woman who is in love with another isn't exactly the ideal union I dreamed of either.

[francis-writes]

❛ you want me to shut him up for you? ❜ from the horror themed sentence starter, and if it’s ok…

An ask with Dom! Frollo x reader (maybe some yandere vibes, but 🤷‍♀️ go crazy w/ it )

Sooo I mixed it.

And yeah, I put in Gaston, what about it?

Tw: death, dub-con

❛ you want me to shut him up for you? ❜

You nodded and laid your head on Claude's chest. He was like a miracle, when you didn't expect it. Your prince charming. You started a romance with him, because you adored him. He was handsome, smart, caring. Now that he offered to take care of your unwanted adorator, it was only a nice addition to your relation.

That boy bothered you for so long, visiting you uninvited, sending gifts (if you can call animal's head a gift), even arranging your wedding without asking you first. You thought you would never get rid of him. All the people adored him and told you that he's the best option for husband. No one would take your side. But now, when you had heart of powerful minister of justice, Gaston was no longer a problem. Even he wouldn't dare to risk the Judge's wrath, and if he would ignore the warning, he would spend a few weeks in the dungeons. As a reminder.

Claude was caressing your hair as you listened to his heartbeat and thought about bright future awaiting you.

**

You were lost in thoughts, when you heard footsteps on the corridor. You twitched reflexively but then reminded yourself to stay calm. Doors opened and your husband walked in.

"How is my beauty doing?"

You smiled to him as he put the hands on your shoulder.

"Fine, my love"

"I'm glad to hear that" his hands moved lower, sliding under your dress. He squeezed your breasts but you didn't react. You were used to his displays of affection. "I would hate to hear that my wife is unhappy"

"But..." you bite your lip and hesitated.

Frollo leaned over and bite your earlobe.

"Yes? Don't worry, tell me whatever you want"

"When I will be able to go upstairs?"

He took one hand from your breast and started caressing your thigh.

"I don't know, after what happened recently..."

"Oh, Claude, I just missed my family"

"And that's why you ran away?"

You looked at him, trying to melt his heart but you knew inside, there was no point. You can't move what isn't there.

"I didn't run away..."

He squeezed your thigh so hard you groaned.

"You left the house in secret. I thought I would never see you again"

"You would never let me leave the house-" you fell silent as he slapped you. You delicatly touched stinging cheek, looking away from him.

"Then why did you disrespected my decision?!"

You closed your eyes and a few tears ran down your cheeks.

"I- I missed them..." you whispered. "And I would go back to you... you didn't have to set their home on fire"

"I thought they kidnapped you. I needed to punish them as criminals" his voice was stone cold but you could bet he was smiling saying that.

"You want to see the sun again? Feel the fresh air? Sleep on bed instead of cold floor? Then you have to apologize to me"

"Forgive me"

"No, you have to apologize properly"

You holded back the sigh, not wanting to anger him more. You stood up and took of your clothes. Claude was looking at you with a predatory smile. There was a hunger in his eyes as if you were his prey he would devour for dinner.

He pulled you closer and made you sit on his lap. His hands were roaming across your body. You didn't even pay attention to the sensations as you were thinking about when it all started. And if you could notice something and go away before it was too late.

Frollo was pretty possesive even before your wedding but then you thought it was cute and that he simply cares about you. Sure, he wanted you to spend all your time with him instead of meeting your friends, but you were in love and that was what you wanted as well.

First thing that actually made you worried, was during the wedding night when he gifted you Gaston's head. But even then you tried to explain to yourself that Claude was just really angry on how Gaston treated you.

But it became worse when he started locking you in your room. You didn't even had doors leading to the corridor, your room was connected only with Frollo's room so he could see you whenever he wanted. Actually not even servants were visiting you.

When the deed was done, Claude simply got up and went to the door.

"Wait, can I go back upstairs? To... our bedroom?"

Before he managed to answer, you heard the bells ringing. Claude smiled.

"It's a funeral" he explained.

"Whose?"

"Yours. After you died in the fire with your family" He stood in the corridor, lit only by the faint glow of torches "No one will ever look for a dead one"

After those words, he closed the doors of your cell.

[taoofshigeru]

The Evolving Nature of Keywords and Antagonists in Octopath Traveler II

Octopath Traveler II is a masterpiece. I find new ways to appreciate this fact all the time. I hit on one specific facet somewhat recently, so want to walk through each of the main quests and go over the extent to which the creators picked out powerful character-specific keywords which do heavy lifting on multiple levels.

I made a similar post about the keywords from OT1, if you're interested in reading that, but essentially, the "keyword" for a character is a single word chosen to represent their journey. It's used to in OT1 to denote the lead-in to Battle at Journey's End in the climax of a character's route, and in OT2 to fit into their "In Pursuit of _" route boss theme.

The keywords chosen for OT2 have had a lot of thought put into them, and represent not just the journey at a glance but how a character's objectives can change, and even how they relate to their primary antagonist.

(I recommend having the tracklist for the OT2 soundtrack beside you for this, if you're not already familiar.)

Ochette (For Legends)

Ochette is on a journey to find the creatures of legend in order to protect the island. Her journey also takes on meaning for her first chosen companion (Mahina/Akala) and Acta, who become legends in the final act of her journey.

In contrast, her opposite number Petrichor is trying to kill or incapcitate the creatures of legend. Cateracta is the only one that dies on account of her efforts, but Tera and Glacis both suffer at her hands. As does the darkling. Petrichor brings not just death, but suffering on those she seeks. It contrasts nicely with Ochette's first contemporary scene, which has her hunting a gator down specifically for eating too much of the local wildlife and disrupting the balance of the forest. There's a strong ethos about how death is faced, and why a hunt is undertaken. (i.e. to protect the larger environment versus for personal gain)

Hers is the storyline that deals most directly with the balance of life and death, and the importance of a good life and a humane death. In that sense, it's less important for Ochette to directly confront Petrichor because a good life and a humane death can be given regardless of what evils others inflict upon the world.

Castti (For Memories)

Castti, an amnesiac apothecary, is on a journey to restore her lost memories. She's also on her journey to extend a helping hand to those in need, in order to honor the besmirched memory of Eir's Apothecaries.

Her opposite number, Trousseau, was the one to taint Eir's Memory, and his poison has taken hers (either chemically or through trauma). Because his continued actions as a mass poisoner threaten to further sully the memory of Eir's Apothecaries, he needs to be confronted and put down directly for the memories to be laid to rest.

Also, the fact that non-evil Trousseau shows up in her last memory at the end is an indication that it's also a fight for Trousseau's memory in her heart. She can't remember the kind man he once was because it would lead her to hesitate about what needed to be done, but she does want to remember her lost loved ones fondly. Even Trousseau.

Throné (For Freedom)

Throné is fighting for her freedom from the Blacksnakes, and her opposite number, Claude, holds the keys to the collar literally wrapped around her throat. So he has to be fought, for obvious reasons. Fighting him also secures the kind of freedom Throné's never had for the nameless baby whose crying voice can be heard at the end of her route as the camera zooms out.

Still, we see that it's not just Throné suffering under Claude's thumb. We see her adoptive father lost the woman he loved to Claude, and orphans like Mira being raised to take the place of whatever snakes might lose their heads in any given heist.

And, despite the "Not my tits, not my problem" way she handles the power vacuum created by Claude's death, her actions do cause chaos that allows some other Blacksnakes and abused orphans like Mira to break free. Which is not to say they become good. They're still seen running rigged casinos and the like after her path is complete. But hey, freedom to be good implies one also has the freedom to be evil, or else it's not really freedom!

(Sidenote: The baby at the end of Throné's route is such a great narrative tool for pushing the readers to ask more questions. Did Throné originally have qualms about killing Claude due to the power vacuum that the need to free the child overrode? Did seeing the woman first, then her child with Claude, make her realize this would keep happening unless she killed him for real, despite her dislike for killing? Did Claude, a questionably suicidal immortal, engineer the whole setup to erase her doubts about killing him?)

Osvald (For Revenge)

Osvald sets out for revenge and gets his revenge at the climax of his route in a direct confrontation with Harvey, his opposite number and the number one object of his revenge.

This is only somewhat subverted, as Osvald's revenge succeeds in large part due to the power of love (as a father who loves and wants to protect his daughter). Really, revenge being the one goal that doesn't evolve as much fits with Octopath's general "revenge is actually pretty reasonable when you've been wronged to that extent" ethos.

Partitio (For Prosperity)

Partitio is on a journey to bring the world prosperity! Economic well-being! For all his friends. And everyone (save maybe a few shitty loan sharks) is his friend.

But he gets TWO antagonists. Roque is doing it For Wealth (choice of words mine), a similar but distinctly different and much more selfish end. One of the more obscure definitions of prosperity is "attainment of the object desired". Roque was fought because he needed it knocked into his noggin that trains can be good for more than warfare.

Ori has, like him, experienced extreme poverty and suffering (though her experience as a wartime orphan was more extreme) and wants to ease the world's suffering. She just initially prefers to do so by ending the world. However, Ori is never fought because Partitio was always fighting the battle for her heart, knowingly or not. And, at the very last, he reached her. ;_;

Agnea (For Hope)

Agnea Bristarni is on a journey to spread hope. And boy, does she ever!

But she also gets two antagonists. Dolcinea Luciel, the boss of Agnea's route, performs not For Hope, but instead For Applause (The first phase of her boss fight has theme music explicitly called called "In Pursuit of Applause"). It's a form of selfishness that does have to be confronted directly, albeit onstage rather than in an actual fight to the death.

Tanzy, Agnea's other opposite number, has already lost all hope. And that void in her heart was taken advantage of to make her a pawn of the moonshades (and ultimately, a sacrifice). Tanzy remains unfought, because the battle was for Tanzy's hope all along and Arcanette won that fight before the story began.

However, very much worth noting is that Agnea is the one character to not get a "The Journey for _ Ends…" theme on the soundtrack. Instead, her route boss track, juxtaposed squarely between "The Journey for Prosperity Ends" and "The Journey for Truth Ends" is the Song of Hope (which she sings herself!). I think this is a thematic choice that reflects that the hope Agnea strives to bring is more ephemeral as a concept. ("Like trying to grasp hold of a cloud", to paraphrase the ending of Hajime no Ippo.) I think this has a lot to do with why the game has the epilogue. Because while all eight travelers go on living and trying to better the world and themselves in their own way, Agnea's journey for hope continues.

Temenos (For Truth)

Temenos' quest is rather straightforward. He's a detective on a murder investigation. He's looking to discover the truth behind the pontiff's death, behind Roi's death, and eventually behind Crick's death as well.

But in a pretty heavy subversion, his "Journey Ends" track plays in the boss fight with Kaldena, well before he actually gets to the truth. He's the one character of the eight to directly fight his HTAPOTCO counterpart outside of his specific story arc. Because the track was incomplete and his journey for truth wasn't over yet. To add to the synergy, Arcanette was the one most responsible for concealing the truth from him, from the depth of the moonshades' duplicity to the truth of her own identity. And she's already succeeded insofar as her goal was to bring about the endless night, so by the time she's actually fought she's happy to spill all the beans, and you fight her not For Truth, but For The Dawn.

Hikari (For Kingship)

Hikari Ku wants the throne so he can govern with compassion.

He's also the third character to get two antagonists. His brother Mugen is a comically evil king who governs with an iron fist and sends his army to make war with their neighbors. He's fought directly in Hikari's final battle, Hikari becomes king, and he's able to begin repairing the damage and attempting to make a better, more compassionate world.

However, Hikari's opposite number in the moonshades, Oboro/Kazan, has a different view of kingship altogether. Arbuably the center-stage antagonist who gets dialogue prior to Vide's resurrection, Oboro rejects the notion that even a king truly can ease the suffering inherent in the world. It's impossible to change, no matter how hard anyone tries. (After all, he was a master strategist and he did his best strategic thinking to reduce war casualties, but it never did a lick of good.) So, throughout the story, he's helping Hikari's cause without believing in it.

He may be directly confronted in the climax of The Journey For the Dawn, but he's never fought because the battle here was not to gain the throne, but to convince Oboro that Hikari's rule could make a real difference once he was sitting on it.

---

And that's the eight. Wish I could say I could end it on a more profound point, but I don't really have one. I guess, writing this convinced me the story design in OT2 being spot on was very much by design. And the fact it was the result of intentional writer choices and not just an accident makes me feel a deeper connection to the game.