#like imagine poor aloy thinking she can choose to not feel

[heaven-cent]

making some progress on a post-dlc brain choice fic.

[dmclemblems]

@randomnameless:

Oh I meant poor Seteth in a shitposting sense lol

Like when he goes "no Rhea, you can't go" she's all "yes, I have already asked Cyril btw, i don't care about what you say :)."

Or when he's all "I'm not sure it's a good idea to take Shez with us", she looks at him and then goes "ok Shez you can come :) "

To end with the ultimate reason why this super sacred shield is hidden in a mountain "Indech made it for Cichol, but Seiros passed it down to Great Emperor Wilhelm because he was just so awesome" and you can see how done he is with all her antics - it might not be the first time she "borrows" his things but he doesn't care anymore

I actually didn't really like how FE16 portrayed their relationship - maybe to highlight Billy's special status - as not downright antagonistic or negative, but Rhea's keeping things from him to the point where he can ditch her in CF because "she's not the same" anymore and he's ok with letting her die against Nemesis V.2. - something this game changed, as we see him doubt and initially refuse leaving her.

From the moment Shez meets them, we see through their interactions they're on the same wavelength - his words to Cyril about how he knows how Rhea thinks because they often think in similar ways have more weight in 3 Nopes, because here, we see how they interact.

Seteth is her (tired) older (brother?) relative and they have been working together for years !

She's not, like FE16 tried to portray, some cryptid he used to know but doesn't anymore to whom he feels some sort of obligation when his allegeance/bond switched to Billy. For instance, Nopes!Seteth would have rushed with Billy (or even rushed in first) as SS!Rhea was crashing in the cathedral, he wouldn't just be "there" letting Billy be the only one who cares enough to go after Rhea.

Even FeH tried to correct what FE16 tried to portray, Billy and self-insert privilege be damned, when Halloween!Rhea complains that Seteth would surely call her dress "immodest", implying he already made similar comments about her various attires (I think there's a 4 Koma gag too? Where he freaks out because she's in a bikini, but she bullshits him to play with other heroes).

FE16!Seteth? With the main plot's script alone, no one could imagine he would ask her to put more "appropriate" clothes, given how they are always talking about work, disagreeing on Billy and whatnot.

I wrote about it in another post, but by removing Billy and the doylist "self-insert", the characters still have bonds with others, bond that cannot be artificially thinned to sever them at will should you choose to create a bond between this character and the self-insert instead which is, thanks to "self-insert privilege" be, of course, the most important bond out of all bonds a character can have.

(iirc Seteth doesn't even mention Flayn in his Billy S-support?)

Back to Seteth and the other bonds he has, it's a damn shame Manuela had to join the Bullshit Eagle Sus Force (when she was the one who rescued Flayn and tries to heal Rhea after the Shambala expedition!!) but he had some professional relationship with her, Catherine and maybe the other knights (where's the Seteth'n'Alois support?? Oh right, Alois decided to ditch everything he is to follow Jeralt, because "Jeralt <3" is more important than anything else like his duty and his love for his job as a Knight of Seiros.)

He develops some relationships through the war with other people, and they can even become great friends, but I always disliked how FE16 proper underplayed the preexisting bond between he and Rhea.

At least 3 Nopes managed to correct it (3 Nopes is a wonder when it comes to Nabateans (bar Sothis), they can shine and flourish when they're not limited by the self-insert and their privilege!).

Now, I really wonder, what are Seteth's opinions on Rhea's various actions, like cooking up the lie about crests, the Elites and relics?

While I want to think he agrees it was the only solution to protect Nabateans without condemning the children of the Elites he would have had a lot more reservations about bringing Sothis back - regardless of what Heroes retconned but would have nonetheless understood where Rhea is coming from, if only on the "I just want this continent to know peace" angle.

(with a firmer "no" though on the homonculus projects).

I confess though, my vision of Seteth is partly biased because of his JP!VA, I love Koyasu so hearing Whitten's softer Seteth always feels odd lol

(btw, did you know Jp!Arvis in heroes is voiced by the same person who voices Bleach's Aizen? I'll never cease to cry about no dual audio in heroes)

That was definitely a result of the whole Byleth influence and needing to highlight them as the important main character, so Seteth relationship with Rhea definitely suffered from it. Really you could say a lot of stuff suffered from that relationship wise. I like Byleth as a character but I hate the way all the characters just kind of... get obsessed with Byleth. There are a few exceptions where it’s plausible, but the whole cast is too much for me.

The stuff in CF with them retreating and ditching Rhea if you let them survive I feel was more just kinda forced in because they had to somehow fit in the player sparing them but they still have to fight Rhea. Since it’s on Edelgard’s route, I guess you could also chalk it up to like, if the player lets them survive then they can’t just return to stay at Rhea’s side. In GW I guess it’s the same idea except they choose to retreat on their own, plus they’re well loved characters so I guess the devs figured it wasn’t necessary to have them killed?

I feel like Seteth got some better relationships overall in this game, kind of ironically considering his lack of supports. He doesn’t get as much agency in AM/VW despite being part of your main army. I understand the writers had to focus on the lords for each route, but they did better in Hopes as far as incorporating Seteth into the important talks in AG.

Manuela is definitely placed oddly to me because she hates war and bloodshed. I’d be hard pressed to believe she just went along with Edelgard’s motives (same with Hanneman, regardless that he isn’t playable in Hopes).

Houses imo did give a nice relationship to Seteth and Claude, so I’m sad that was taken away in Hopes. I liked the way they didn’t really trust each other but seemed to respect each other by the end of VW? They were able to put their awkward interactions behind them from the Academy and work together.

My guess on Seteth’s feelings/opinions about what Rhea does regarding Crests and all is that it’s a necessary way to keep things from getting out of control in the future. Kind of like, a necessary evil? I don’t think he would agree to that kind of thing with malice toward anyone else, but if it put Flayn in danger for the truth to be out there, he’d probably just accept it.

In Houses he didn’t know about the Sothis-Byleth connection, but I guess that’s because maybe Rhea expected him to not be okay with it and so hid it from him. I have some other thoughts on it too though.

I also love Koyasu! hurr hurr levin’s voice actor too kEK

Heroes techhhhnically has dual audio, but you have to change the language of the text itself too and play the whole game in JP.

[gracevilliers]

Blood of my Blood, Part 3 || Grace & Yamina

It was amazing how many things she had taken for granted as a human. Grace had spent so much time occupying the night. The night was when the vampires came out to play, so it was the time when Grace hunted them. She had never imagined she would be confined to it just like they had been. Stefan had been able to go out during the day. For years she had puzzled over it before discovering the well hidden secret of the daylight charms, but how to get one, and from whom? Grace didn't know. So she had been nothing but a creature of the darkness. Two weeks she had been on the run, leaving Constantinople, travelling through Hungary and then finally, Romania. 

She had left a trail of bloody bodies in her wake, her self loathing growing stronger every time she was unable to stop herself. She'd tried to eat other things. Rabbits, birds, even rats, but none of it ever satisfied her. She had asked everyone who she thought might know of Fane Savin, or his older name, Andrei, but she had found no answers. Only ghosts. Nobody had seen him in years, if they knew him at all. It was the same empty story she had found years earlier when she had tried to find him. His old home was empty of him. She was exhausted. Grace hadn't had a moment of rest of peace since the moment the vampire's blood had touched her lips. 

Even when she slept, there was no peace. It was probably a miracle she hadn't broken down sooner, sheer grit and determination the only thing that kept her going. Until it didn't. The cemetery in the town Fane was from was only filled with ghosts too. She hadn't even been able to find a grave for him, as if it would have shared some sign of where he had gone, some clue. As if it hadn't been just the last piece of closure for a family whose child would never come home. She was only glad most of hers was already dead to be saved such grief. "Why won't you ever let me find you?" she asked the night, something akin to a sob falling from her lips. "You just bloody left me. You couldn't even let me die in that room. You had to be noble... to let me live, for what? For this?" She smacked her hand against a dry tree, bark and wood splintering beneath her fist. "God, I hate you. I hate you." She wished she wasn't lying.

All this time, Yamina had followed Grace around. Everywhere her progeny went, Yamina followed. She had a new goal now, away from the hustle and politics of the Vampire Councils, and now no longer being hunted down and on the run. Yamina regained some finances at her leisure and then turned her full focus on Grace Villiers. She ended up in Romania of all places, but it seemed she was intent on her search, for someone specific, it seemed. A Stefan Savin. Yamina was sure she heard the name but didn't think much of it. Her focus was on the welfare and protection of her child. When Grace ended up in a cemetery, weeping and talking so plaintively, Yamina's dead heart couldn't take it any longer. She approached, her hand outstretched. "Grace, my child. My poor unhappy child." She looked a the splintered tree. "Still instinctively reacts with violence I see. Your Hunter training still lingers." She didn't even sound angry at that, just observant and sympathetic.

Grace straightened, stiffening as her maker approached. She should have known. She should have felt it. Sensed it somehow. But she was just a newborn as far as nosferatu went, a mere two weeks old. Perhaps the sire bond didn't work that way. Perhaps it remained the same no matter where in the world you were. She cradled her hand. It should have hurt, but didn't. She was too inhuman for those mere aches and pains now. "I told you not to call me that," she replied, but her voice was weaker somehow, less convincing. God, she hated crying, and now this woman had found her, sobbing in a cemetery because she couldn't find her ex-boyfriend's grave. "You weren't supposed to follow me."

"By who's command was I not supposed to follow you? I made you in my image," Yamina said soft but unwavering as always. She reached out and touched Grace tentatively. "You loved this man. I understand what it's like to love, and lost. It tears at your soul. And yes..." she lowered her head, eyes still on Grace. "We vampires do still have our souls. All is not lost. Did you wish to find him? I promised you we would, and I do not break my promises. We don't even have to kill him. Whatever you'd like, my dear. I just hope you don't intend to sleep here..." She gave a light laugh. "I may still slumber in coffins but I am not about to resign myself to a mausoleum."

Grace rolled her eyes, responding with a meager, bitter chuckle. "Really? Funny. I don't think we look alike." Even in such a state, if seemed she still had her sarcasm. She almost regretted it as her sire reached out for her. Grace couldn't even pull away. She had a need for it, one she couldn't explain. As desperate as she was to drink, she was as desperate to be comforted. Her sire had told her if she chose to die, it would make her weak. This felt weaker than anything, and yet somehow it was what she chose. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment, exhaling and leaning against the woman's hand. "I love him. I hate him. I miss him. But he had every reason to leave, and every reason not to want to be found."

Yamina gave a small laugh, appreciative that Grace was able to pull enough perspective in all this to see some humour in it. Not jovial humour but dry and brittle and appropriate for her situation. Yamina didn't stop touching her when Grace let her, stepping a bit closer. It felt good, being here for one of her progeny, taking care of them in her own way. "That's all well and good but my question still stands: do you wish to find him?" A pause as Yamina looked around and she sighed. "Well, I suppose that's exactly what you've been trying to do all this time. If you want to live the rest of your life for him, that is your choice. I will not stop you from doing whatever you feel you need to do. However, I have a proposal, if you choose to continue your search. Allow me to show you how to make the most of who you are. Do not live like a puritanical ascetic, self-flagellating yourself across the continent. Let me show you how to live again, my dear Grace."

Grace pondered the question. So much of what Fane had told her had been lies. Even his name had been a lie. She could find no headstone for Fane in his home town, and upon showing his picture around, locals had reported passing resemblance to the Aloys heir. She'd tried to pull on that thread and found some stories of someone matching Fane's description who had gone missing some two hundred or so years ago, but no real answers, just a cloudy blur of mystery. Fane Savin, Andrei Aloys, she couldn't find either of them, so what did it matter? "I used to want to find him so I could kill him. Then I tried to find him so he could help me, perhaps even forgive me, but he doesn't want to be found." She was Lady Grace Villiers, from a family of Dukes and Earls and a King's Lover. She didn't live her life for any man. Fane didn't want her. It was a cold truth, but a truth nonetheless. "I've never been ascetic a day in my life, but I never wanted to live like this." She was quiet a moment, pondering. "But I don't want to die, either... It seems self-preservation weighs more than duty."

"Self-preservation is certainly a noble aspiration," Yamine replied evenly. She looked down at the graves around them. "My kin - my family when I was human - were killed save one. That child grew and had children, and those children had children...but the longer I lived the faster they seemed to respawn and die, over and over." Grief wracked Yamina's voice, but as always it was controlled, calm. "I've lived in abject poverty and the lowest of forms, and I've risen to the highest of riches and power as a vampire. But in all of my life, the only thing I've truly treasured, were my own children. I want to show you what it's like, Grace Villiers. I want you to know who you are in this new gift of a life, and from there whatever choices you make will be yours. I want you to have freedom and..." She paused for a moment. Revenge had created Grace, made her into a vampire. But Yamina always enjoyed her revenge. And if she could make Grace Villiers into an impeccable pinnacle of vampireness, then her revenge wouldn't just be on the Hunters. It would be on those betraying vampire Councils as well. So she went ahead and said it: "...love. As only a mother can love her child. A unique bond that only we could ever share, together."

Grace didn't see what was noble about self-preservation. It struck her as selfish by its very nature, and yet it was a natural state for living things. She would do her best not to be too hard on herself for it, yet she knew this acceptance would take some time. She shuddered every time she stood over the corpse of one of her victims, no matter how good it felt in the moment. "I'm sorry," she said, because it sounded like the police thing to say, and anything more than that would most certainly be hollow to the point of falsehood. She needed to process the woman's words. "Love?" It seemed a serious offer, but one made so freely? It had taken her months to even think of saying such a word around Fane. Was it the nature of the sire bond, or something else? "I... I don't even know your name. Two weeks ago I was planning to kill you while you slept."

“My name is Yamina Moire. I could give you all the titles that go with it, but you'll learn that in time, child. I already know all of yours. It's handy to learn the names and lineage of my enemies," Yamina said in amusement. It was typical Hunter arrogance in her opinion, that all this time this Huntress didn't even know her name. Hunters relegated vampires as a whole to beasts; but then there were many human groups who were also categorized as sub-human, or primitive, or uncivilised by so-called 'superior' races. Particularly in England. If they couldn't even respect their own kind, how could they ever hope to be sophisticated enough t understand vampire-kind? She held out her hand, an invitation to Grace. "Let us return to my home in Italy. I shall remain there and we can travel together, or you can travel alone. However as you have much to learn and I do worry about my fledglings, I would be honoured to accompany you. Think of me as...." A small smile played on her lips. "A chaperone. For the time being. You're a quick learner, as I've come to observe."

Grace repeated the name in her mind. Yamina Moira. No doubt she would never be able to say it as beautifully as her sire did. Would she ever call her 'mother'? Over the years, she had known vampires make progeny for many reasons. Sometimes it was merely because someone was useful, because someone begged, because they fell in love, and yes, to make children. "I don't want to kill if I can help it." She furrowed her brow. She had killed so many in her life, but they were all vampires. Now the shoe was on the other foot, so to speak. "Well... perhaps some men deserve to die." She shot her new 'mother' a harder glance. "And I'm not sleeping in a coffin. But... I've always liked Italy." She needed someone to help her with this. That much was obvious. If Fane was gone, then why not take a chance on a woman who had offered to love her in the most open of terms?

"What a change of heart," Yamina murmured in some amusement, not believing for a second that Grace wouldn't kill again. Not just kill out of desperation, but out of enjoyment. She knew a Hunter like Grace had derived that heady thrill of destroying vampires, that sense of power and (what she considered) goodness. And Yamina also remembered how much Grace delighted in killing that red-headed criminal, despite how much she wanted to fight against that bloody pleasure. "Some men do deserve to die, and the world will be better off without them. You have a hero's heart, my love; it would be a shame not to put it to use, hmm?" She held Grace's hand, then put an arm around her shoulder and walked them slowly out of the graveyard. "Now let's leave this dour and ghastly little country and return to culture and commerce and other charming things." A pause, and then Yamina added. "And you must at least try the coffin, my dear. Something plush and exquisitely made, from purpleheart wood and the finest silks and batting. It's simply the most divine way for a vampire to sleep."

The irony wasn't lost on Grace. There was a certain thrill that came with standing on the victorious end of a blade, She always thought she killed for a reason, but the dramatic change in her life (or afterlife) made her feel more like an animal than a hunter. She didn't want to kill under those circumstances, but perhaps once she felt like a person again, killing when she felt it necessary might have been on the drawing board. "No bloody coffin," she repeated, and for just a moment they were two people boasting about their wealth. "I sleep in a Queen size canopy bed, and I have my own velvet and mahogany."

Yamina snorted delicately. "Tell that to the sun when you forget to close the curtains one morning. Why do you think vampires sleep in coffins, Grace my dear? A well-made coffin is completely light-proof, and portable. Unfortunately, a canopy bed is not, unless you plan on making a spectacle of yourself." Without even realizing it, Yamina was getting a motherly tone to her voice, the tone that disapproved of her child's fanciful ideas. "You mustn't be so obstinate about it without even trying it first."

Grace huffed, rolled her eyes, and started walking out of the cemetary. She could see the logic, but she wasn't so keen to be diving into a coffin regardless of how light-proof it was, but she needed to make this work. "If I try it, will you get off my arse when I decide to go back to my own bed?" Or at least one similar enough. "And I don't forget to close the curtains."

"After a hundred years, you might," Yamina replied, but seemed a little huffy about Grace's language. Of all things, the vampire got prudish about Grace's modern slang. Instead, Yamina tried to turn the conversation to something more civilised. "Perhaps if we end up being suitable traveling partners, we can look into getting...daylight charms. Those tacky little witch trinkets that supposedly keep a vampire safe during the day. Half the time it doesn't even work, but...for you, perhaps. Perhaps..." Yamina smiled to herself. "It's hard not to spoil my fledglings."

That got her attention. Daylight charms. "I know them," Grace said quickly. "Fane had one. That was how he fooled me for so long. The vampire hunting order in London know about them now, but it's one more layer of protection against--" just days ago she'd have been saying 'us' --"them."

Yamina "Of course," Yamina said dryly. She hoped after a few months of good living, that Grace would stop pining after this vampire lover of hers. He seemed like a charmer of the highest sort. Usually she would've found it amusing that he duped a Hunter so thoroughly, but now that Grace was her progeny, Yamina felt protective over her feelings so carelessly mistreated. "It won't solve all your problems, just so you know. It's only a charm, nothing more. It doesn't make you more human to wander in the day. We don't have to adhere to their schedules anymore. We are not slaves to their clocks of industrialist toil and rote."

Grace felt like they were going to have these conversations a lot. "Thank goodness we're both so stubborn..." She said with an arched eyebrow to match her dry tone. Two weeks as a vampire and she was already getting ready to bicker with her maker about what was the best way to live as a vampire. "There's time yet for all these conversations..." she said as they wandered out. 'Thanks to you,' she could have said, but bit her tongue.

 Yamina stayed silent as they walked. She couldn't use her vampire speed since Grace was so untrained, so all they could do was tirelessly walk. And when Grace thanked her, Yamina's throat tightened and she pressed her lips together, thinking of her beloved dead children, and this new one before her. And, of course, of the revenge in all of this. But she said to Grace instead, "Our meeting would've ended in death. Yours, or mine, or both. I chose life - for the both of us. You're too precious to waste on something as paltry as death, my dear."