#swordmaster guide

[haplogamingchef]

Dune Awakening Class Guide: Swordmaster to Smuggler

Introduction: Picking the Right Class in Dune Awakening

Starting your journey in Dune Awakening means choosing a class that matches your style of play. Unlike other MMOs, the class you select here shapes more than just combat—it defines how you survive, fight, and grow in the harsh desert of Arrakis. This guide covers all five classes, their strengths, signature skills, and the type of players they suit best. And yes, while you can switch classes later on, your first choice will still define your early-game experience.

Swordmaster: Melee Expert and Frontline Leader

If close-range combat and fast-paced action sound like your thing, the Swordmaster might be your best bet. Trained in precision and agility, Swordmasters rely on skillful timing and quick reflexes instead of brute force or tech.

Starting Ability: Deflection – lets you block incoming projectiles and counter with a swift strike.

Playstyle: Great for aggressive players who love diving into battles and outmaneuvering enemies with fast dodges.

Strengths: High damage, fast mobility, excellent for solo and frontline play.

Advanced Skills: Unlock stamina-based combos, movement boosts, and elemental melee techniques later in the game.

Recommended for: Players who want fast, fluid combat and don’t mind a bit of a learning curve.

Bene Gesserit: Tactical Manipulator with Mind-Control Skills

The Bene Gesserit class is all about psychological warfare and subtle influence. These aren’t brawlers, but they can absolutely control the flow of a fight.

Starting Ability: Voice Compel – forces enemies to follow your verbal commands, like walking out of cover or into danger.

Playstyle: Ideal for those who prefer tactics and control over brute strength.

Strengths: Unique mind-control mechanics, great dodging, and excellent in duels or missions involving deception.

Advanced Skills: Unlock enhanced recognition, advanced dodges, and environmental resistances.

Recommended for: Players who enjoy manipulation, stealthy gameplay, and outsmarting their opponents.

Mentat: The Strategic Genius and Battlefield Support

Mentats are the brains of the battlefield. They process info faster than most computers and play more of a support or tactical role.

Starting Ability: Mark Weakness – highlights enemy vulnerabilities so they take more damage from all sources.

Playstyle: Support-focused but not helpless. These are the players who always know what’s coming next.

Strengths: Battlefield scanning, drone deployment, enemy tracking, and environmental prediction.

Advanced Skills: Tech-based support, hacking, surveillance, and even weather forecasting.

Recommended for: Strategic players who love planning ahead, analyzing combat, and giving their team the edge.

Fremen Survivalist: The Master of the Desert

For players who love exploration and survival, the Fremen Survivalist is unmatched. These desert dwellers are tuned into the terrain and thrive where others struggle.

Starting Ability: Sand Walk – lets you move quietly across the desert without drawing sandworms.

Playstyle: Balanced between survival, mobility, and long-range ambush tactics.

Strengths: Heat resistance, environmental adaptation, and terrain-based combat tricks.

Advanced Skills: Trap setting, desert creature summoning, terrain camouflage.

Recommended for: Players focused on open-world exploration, gathering, and living off the land.

Smuggler: The Independent All-Rounder

If freedom is what you’re after, the Smuggler lets you play your own way. They’re not tied to factions and offer a mix of stealth, ranged combat, and economic advantage.

Starting Ability: Smoke Screen – deploys cover that breaks line-of-sight for sneaky escapes or ambushes.

Playstyle: Flexible. Smugglers are ideal for solo play, trade, stealth, or sabotage.

Strengths: Trade routes, rare blueprints, black market access, and trap-based skills.

Advanced Skills: Black market dealings, vehicle mods, contraband runs, and infiltration.

Recommended for: Players who like sandbox freedom, want to profit from gameplay, or enjoy operating outside the rules.

Quick Comparison of All Dune Awakening Classes

ClassFocusIdeal ForStarting SkillSwordmasterMelee, AgilityHigh-damage combatDeflectionBene GesseritControl, ManipulationTactical and stealthy gameplayVoice CompelMentatStrategy, Team SupportPlayers who like planningMark WeaknessFremen SurvivalistExploration, SurvivalDesert navigation & resource useSand WalkSmugglerVersatility, TradeSolo or stealth-based playersSmoke Screen

Which Class Should You Choose First?

While you can eventually switch classes in Dune Awakening, your first pick really matters during early gameplay. Here's a cheat sheet to help:

Pick Swordmaster if you want to jump into the action and lead fights.

Choose Bene Gesserit if you prefer clever play and manipulating outcomes.

Go Mentat for support and battlefield control roles.

Try Fremen Survivalist if exploring and surviving in harsh zones appeals to you.

Select Smuggler for freedom, trade, and stealth-based versatility.

And yes—hybrid builds are possible later on. Mix and match skills from different paths to create your own playstyle. For example, a Swordmaster with desert movement from the Fremen path, or a Bene Gesserit who dabbles in smuggling tech.

Conclusion: Shape Your Destiny in Dune Awakening

The class system in Dune Awakening offers flexibility and depth. Whether you want to brawl on the frontlines, outwit your enemies, dominate the economy, or simply survive the sands, there’s a class that fits. Don’t stress too much—your starting class is just the beginning. The world of Arrakis rewards creativity and exploration, so dive in and start experimenting.

FAQs

Q1: Can you change your class in Dune Awakening? Yes, while your initial class affects early gameplay, you can switch classes later in the game by learning from mentors.

Q2: What is the best solo class in Dune Awakening? The Smuggler is ideal for solo players due to its stealth abilities, economic perks, and independent playstyle.

Q3: Which class is best for beginners? The Swordmaster is beginner-friendly if you enjoy direct combat. Its simple but rewarding melee mechanics are easy to pick up.

Q4: Are hybrid class builds possible? Yes, Dune Awakening allows players to mix abilities from multiple classes as they progress, creating flexible hybrid builds.

Q5: Do classes affect exploration in Dune Awakening? Yes. For example, the Fremen Survivalist excels in exploration due to terrain skills and resistance to desert hazards.

Q6: What class is best for PvP? Swordmasters and Bene Gesserits both shine in PvP—Swordmasters for raw power, Bene Gesserits for manipulation and control.

Q7: Are there crafting-focused classes? Yes. Smugglers and Mentats offer access to advanced crafting, trade routes, and tech-based tools that enhance economic gameplay.

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[juniferyw]

𝐌𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞.

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬: nothing was ever meant to be yours, so why does this strange man insist he is?

masterlist | ao3 | mdni | take heed: könig x f!reader, afab reader, medieval au, ambiguous religion, size difference, extremely dubious consent, possessive behaviour, forced marriage, horrible courting, power imbalance, angst, stockholm syndrome, dark romance, stalking.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢. | prev

Twelve newly anointed knights calls for a festivity of revelry in the peak of harvest season. The royalty highly favours this traditional induction. It was a chance for the new men to show off their swordsmanship and honour towards the public, all the while displaying the great, militant strength of his majesty. 

The common folks are relieved to have strong men to protect them, and the crown is satisfied with the agenda of the social stratum. 

You’ve stolen simple glances at the new cavalry as they’re gathered along the courtyard. One in particular, Ser Eaton, you have taken a shine to. A nobleman, guided by great swordmasters before him, has been raised proper and pure to the life of men at arms. 

It didn’t help that he had a boyish curl in his smile that reached his eyes, faint dimples appear everytime they do too. His light brown eyes twinkle at a challenge and his hair—the colour of golden barley—fitting him right just for the season. It is as if mother nature had accommodated solely for his arrival. 

The ladies-in-waiting share snide comments and snicker upon eavesdropping the mindless daydreams of maids winning the favour of men at their calibre. However, you kept yourself grounded. You did not let your affection stray into something you could not have. They were what they always were to you, just fantasies. 

But you are also well into the age where you were expected to marry. These days, love fills your endless thoughts; hope fuels your days and nights. You remember turning your nose up at the very subject as a child. Now as countless summers pass, your heart has now softened and grown weary from age. No longer having the strength to see through life on your own, you begin to think that there are no worldly materials that could fill the longingness that you yearn for other than what must be love.

Therefore, you will yourself that by the end of summer you are determined to be matched. 

When the sun hovers just above the horizon after every shift, you make your way to the great altar, praying in earnest on sore knees and raw hands with three repeated mantra:

Let him be good.

Let him be kind.

Let him be loyal.

This faceless man of yours possesses no riches beyond belief, no title to bequeath, and no land to his name. He is made pure of your image. He is love and service reincarnate; he exists only for you and you to him. 

The mountain of candles flicker in the darkness as you silently profess your truest desires in front of holy presence. Wax rolls slowly from the flame as dusk passes by. Indistinguishable figures enter and leave during your hour here, none ever lingers for too long, so it was a surprise when you finally took notice of a much larger company taking residence across from you. 

You flutter your eyelids open, adjusting to the dimness of the room. As you do, you almost expect him to dissipate with the bleariness from your eyes—but alas, he remains.

König.

It was an oddly endearing thought. The knight who is made a spectacle before the public, to be known as a cruel god amongst the average men, on his knees praying. 

You wonder if he believes in the same god as you do—or if this is what he was forced to assimilate to. You wonder what he desires, what burdens he’d like alleviated. Then somewhere in the back of your mind, you wonder if he was ever praying at all.

His eyes hold a sea of storm beneath them, never breaking your gaze once you had set your sights upon him. Instinctually, as if you were conditioned, you place a soft smile on your features as a silent acknowledgement before placing your hands to the cold, stone platform to stand.

König mirrors your move as you rise from the altar. His steps were like a shadow to yours, exiting the chapel in the same stride and pace. Your cold hands brace the heavy, timber doors, ready to exert some effort this entrance always requires. However, your attempt was intercepted. Instead, a single large hand had extended from behind, grazing the back of your hand so softly you wanted to pull away from the innocuous intimacy. 

The warmth from the candles sets a jarring contrast to the cool autumn breeze, prickling uncomfortably at your skin as you breathe in the fresh air. At least that’s what you tell yourself as König still lingers close from behind, making no move to surpass you. 

Turning with a courteous demeanour prepared, you bow your head in respect as you offer your meek appreciation. 

“Thank you, Ser König.” You say, too afraid to meet his face up this close for fear of encroaching social boundaries. Even so, he has breached your senses instead, involuntarily filling you with smells of smoke and iron. 

You do not allow for him a chance to speak as you say your regards for the night before turning away promptly, following the direction to your home. 

Perhaps that was the most you had ever interacted with the mysterious knight. You think about him for a while as you sort your sleeping quarters for the evening. Your hands suddenly went still from your woollen quilt as your mind takes you to the earlier recurrence. 

How people have misjudged this poor man. If they have just a slight empathy within their hearts, they would see he was no threat. Rather his action today resembled that highly of a gentleman. 

How funny, you think. A breath of a laugh escapes you at the thought of sharing news that the local monster had more couth than most of the village men could ever possess. 

There never was enough time in the day. Usually after your shift had ceased, maids of all work would gather in groups and head to the stream to scrub all the dust and grime off their skin. It was much safer in numbers as well, for fear of any indecent men taking advantage and preying on vulnerable women.

Fortunately there hasn’t been a case of any voyeurs. The path down the stream was kept well hidden and guarded by others, taking turns and rotating on which group was to wash up first and who were to keep watch. It was enough to deter any unfortunate predicaments from occurring.

However, your newly added time dedicated to your prayers took up most of your respite with the sun, and so you often missed the chance to string along to bathe with the others. 

It was perhaps the comfort of habit that you dare to venture out into the stream all alone. You speculate most of the people had already arrived and settled well into their homes at this hour. Reasonably, there should not be one soul wandering this area by chance. To further add to your precaution, you also choose a stream further down where river rocks and boulders amassed. It made for a suitable cover should anything happen, but it also wasn’t the most comfortable to wade around in. 

You lay your day’s clothes out in the highest part of the rock where sunlight could reach and unfastened the pins from your hair. Leaving your possessions easily behind, you eagerly step into the body of water. The water was cold upon the first touch but grew tepid as you ease your way in further down. 

Sighing in relief, you dip your head below the waters before resurfacing with a soft gasp. Your hands automatically begin to work at your arms with a cloth that was dampened with sweet smelling oils you concocted yourself. Scrubbing your skin to your fingertips meticulously, the smell of wild lavenders now follows you around sweetly. 

You lather your hair with the same product. Letting your fingers run past your strands, you made sure to rid of all the built up grease that accumulated from the day’s work. There was still around half an hour to spare before the sun had completely set. Looking up at the sky to see the third quarter moon hanging high, you decide to soak yourself a little while longer to admire the tranquility of having the river belonging to you just for a short while.

Basking in the fresh air and the lulling sound of the babbling brooks, you begin to notice something was amiss when you identify another sound—the sound of soft labored breaths that did not belong to you. Your body freezes all at once; your heart missing a beat.

This is not real. This cannot be real—Please don’t let it be real.

With a flicker of bravery, you cautiously turn your head to look from behind your shoulder—and to your horror, you confirm your worst fear.

König stands formidably, naked in all his glory—apart from his grim hood that religiously cloaks his face. His hips above the waters, hands furiously gripping at the girth of his cock, stroking it back and forth offhandedly.

He doesn’t stop when he’s caught, instead his breath hitches when your eyes lay on his thick cock and fists himself harder. The desperate jerking motion forces a pearlescent seed to drip from his slit and into the running stream.

You’ve never seen anything of this nature before. Always prudishly looking away even when the men worked in the fields clad with only their slacks and their caps to shield them from the sun’s rays. Though you had an idea of what they appeared to be, it was only ever described through hearsay from the girls who enjoyed recounting their latest rendezvous.

So when you gaze upon the sex that could supposedly anchor heavens down to earth, you are sick to your core. 

It was abominably everything like him. 

Big. Ugly. Disgusting. Monstrous. 

There is a film of lust over his eyes, uncaring just how unseemingly he looks. The thick coarse hair at the base did very little to cover what strains under his vigorous grip. His balls swing obscenely at the thrust of his motions as his manhood curves—pulsing furiously as pleasure buzzes through his veins, menacingly growing bigger at each passing second. 

The deep, scarlet tip of his swollen mushroom-like head sprays pre-cum in your direction and it takes everything in you to breathe and grasp your conscience back to your control. 

Dashing beneath the surface, you scramble through the maze of boulders and snatch the clothes you had left behind to haphazardly dress yourself quickly from his sight. You hear him bellow as you leave; staggering sounds of waters being pushed through his heavy, powerful strides alarm you as if he is hailing hell bound for your soul. 

Cotton sticks to you like a second skin as you weave through the woods, desperately leaving behind an angry praetor calling out your name, beseeching you to stay. You cannot hear him—you would not hear him. Squeezing through the tightest crevices from a particularly narrow path you have chosen, you run as if you were escaping your own shadow. 

By the time you reach the safety of your own home, you do not dare to look back until you have shut and locked the door behind you. Your lungs were burning fire by the time you catch your breath, your body trembles from the cold and the adrenaline all the while sweat trickles down your face. You do not even spare the time to change into something dry, instead you reinforce your door with the heaviest desk you could find and anxiously wait by the windowsill, anticipating for the worst.

You imagine seeing him over the horizon; hear the terrible ringing of his chain links, and when he finally arrives at the threshold of your home, you imagine König tearing down your walls pursuing you like a man possessed—a vindictive spirit who won’t rest until he has your head. 

You wait and wait until the moon is at its peak, until your hair is dry—until you can not tell the difference between the shadow of a tree and the silhouette of a man. 

In the late hours of the night, you fall asleep on your kitchen tiles; in the depths of your psyche, you dream of him.

A shadow pursues you relentlessly from behind. In your dreams, you did not gaze upon the creature’s form but you knew just exactly what face this monster wears. He has steel nails for teeth, his open jaw fixed with a permanent smile, his eyes burn hellfire white while he howls his awful laugh. 

You feel taunting sliver of touches at your heel. It is as if the monster knows you cannot outrun him, that he’s just biding his time until he finally swallows you whole—like a predator playing with his food. 

You will your legs to run faster but they are sluggish at your behest. Your heart rate picks up from your arduous labour as you hear the laughter beginning to grow to a deafening screech. The familiar ringing of the chain links was the last thing you hear before a sudden force jolts you awake.

Once you are brought back to the land of the living, your heart continues to pound against your chest. Twisting to sit up from your sleeping position, your back strains painfully from the cold, hard floor. 

Looking up to the sky from your window, you catch the dawn beginning to break. 

Even the most terrible nightmare could not even cease your circadian rhythm. Even worse that it could not even make you shirk your own duties.

The events replayed through your mind incessantly as you prepare yourself some new set of cloths with the current one smelling nauseatingly of mildew. The looming purple sky beginning to turn ochre yellow heralding a new day did little to calm your mental plague. 

You find yourself bending over the toilet from your worries. With no food sitting in your stomach to spill out, your body unnaturally rejects bile. The powerful contractions quakes your entire being. The bitter taste lingers even after you rinse your mouth with water and mint. Your mind becomes light, however your feet feel as if they’ve been dragging the world with them.

Fear consumes you.

You cannot go on like this. You refuse to set your sights on him after what you had seen, but you cannot afford such luxuries to abandon your post. And so you acquiesce like an ever faithful servant, only this time you decide to sequence your own schedule out of order. 

Instead of entering through the gatehouse as you would countless times before, you inconspicuously slip through the back of the kitchens, hiking through an old hidden path that’s been reconquered by nature. In spite of the difficult trek, it was thankfully to your advantage, concealing you from any sentinel that may have been stationed on the bridges or towers anticipating for your arrival. 

Ordering your tasks in reverse was easy. You work in the shadows; cleaning the mud, dirt, blood whatever the men could get themselves in from their capes. As the others heave the baskets onto their hips, you do not make any intention to join them out in the fields. Rather, you busy yourself by attending to another who called out for anyone who had the capacity to help her with husking ten baskets of maize. 

Time passes you by easily like a stranger in a crowd. You even find yourself letting your guard down and enjoying the mundane routine of the day. Wiping the dishes dry in communion with the other maids of your stature, you exchange with small talk to relieve the weight that you carry over your shoulders. 

It wasn’t until you felt a firm hand turning you around to replace your damp rags with a silver ewer of water and clean cloths did the familiar pit of mass resume to drag you down to the underworld. 

“The physician needs assistance while his apprentice is away.” In lieu of a request or a demand, the head of the Housekeeper informs you, expecting your recognised, dutiful obedience. Rather than seeing you off to adhere to her words, she observes a momentary frozen mien. Neither speaking nor moving to your newly assigned task.

“I recall you being of help in his ward, yes?” Her tone is short, eager to get on with the endless work she has ahead. 

You balance the heavy pitcher carefully with both hands; your teeth gnawing on your bottom lip in apprehension. “Yes, ma’am.” Your voice was meek but polite—though your reply did not appease her in the slightest.

“Well?” 

There are no words you can construct in haste to explain why you would rather die than to come across that vulgar man again. 

“You waste a second more of my time and I will write you up for insubordination, is that what you wish?” Her voice is now audible above the surrounding noise.

“No, ma’am.” Her punitive measures against your idleness is enough for you to venture away from the safety of the basement walls. 

Her warning is like coals beneath your feet, and as you move along the halls and away from the formidable woman, the fire wavers into something weak and cold. With each step you take is like a step towards an impending doom, marching slowly towards your own demise. 

You know the schedule of each station like the back of your hand. You know that if you take your post by the physician’s side, you are to be confronted by the man who undoubtedly will look at you as if he is ready to tear the flesh from your bones—for the apothecary pavilion was set up conveniently by the training grounds. 

They would always keep a physician stationed at every session, the appointment being arranged partly due to damages exacerbated by the infamous knight who doesn’t know—nor care—for the sheer strength he unleashes against his comrades. 

Piercing sounds of steel against steel bears the tiding that you have reached your journey’s end. Men at arms here exercise their instincts against nature to slay and bludgeon another. Though they employ their moves with restraint, the sight of blood smeared across their teeth and cuts from their blades was a usual sight. 

You cast your eyes down towards the solid ground of dirt, making yourself small and scarce by endeavouring no sounds from your timid steps, all the while holding your breath as you reach the familiar ivory colour of the tent—as if depriving yourself of oxygen would make you invisible. 

It could just be part of your own making but you feel eyes on you like sunlight on your skin. You choose to ignore it. Like you ignore the ghost haunting your hallway, creaking your floorboards in the dead of night. So you eye your feet, the way it scuffs the sand beneath you. You then busy yourself with the ivy that grows mighty on the stone walls instead of the glorious savagery in front of you; pretending to study its branches and twines as if it was the most fascinating foliage you’ve ever seen. 

Finally, you reach the threshold of the medical bay, skipping your last steps with haste as you open the tarp. 

König sits at the bed, his shirt strewn across the floor. He leans back with his hands spread behind him. Across his shoulder bleeds maroon from a slight superficial cut. A light cock of his head to the side and the strongest intuition that he is hiding a saccharine smile tells you that he doesn’t need any form of medical attention.

Turning your head behind your shoulder, you quickly learn that the physician is occupied with attending to a concussed knight on the other side of the yard.

“Mein entlaufenes, Frau."

He sighs endearingly, as if he was awaiting his woman in the privacy of his bedroom. 

“Don’t you see your fighter is hurting?” He says when you remain unmoved. “Come; take care of your bleeding Romeo.”

You avert your eyes and begrudgingly do as you are paid to. Making yourself useful, you readjust your grip on the heavy pitcher, careful as to not slosh the water around too much around the rim. You conclude the sooner you finish your work, the sooner you would be rid of his presence once more. 

You avoid facing directly from him—despite it providing you the easiest access to dress his wound; the way his wide thighs lecherously invites you in deter you from encouraging him. Instead you set down your burdens on a small desk nearby and begin to skilfully coat a clean white rag with alcohol from the side. 

If he is displeased by your aversion, he would most definitely be pulling a face from behind his hood. 

You oscillate your line of sight from his cold, cyan-like eyes to the cut; nervously approaching the wound slowly as if he was an animal ready to strike at any moment. 

“This might sting,” you whisper, so lightly you could mistake it for a wind blowing in the breeze. 

He doesn’t flinch when the alcohol meets the break of his skin. König watches attentively like a dog, eyeing your delicate fingers, cleaning and patching up his lesion with the utmost care. An act he deems akin to devotion. 

In the midst of dressing his wound with a gentle adhesive, his indecent hand travels to your working one, gripping with purpose. 

“Gute Arbeit, Schatzi," he praises. “But you are not finished yet.”

König leans closer towards you. His hood brushes your hot cheeks as you stare dead ahead—paralysed with fear. 

“I am hurting..” His hand guides you down his chest. “Elsewhere.” 

You pull your hand before he could direct it to his crotch but he keeps the grip around your wrist, preventing your untimely departure. You forget your station and resist him when he pulls you closer by the waist, making you stumble across your own feet and into the arms of a perverted, war-mongering mercenary. With a struggling yelp, your futile efforts to push him away only encouraged him to lock his hold on you even more.

“It’s so painful, Schatzi,” he rasps desperately against your ear. 

König groans when you inadvertently brush against his swelling cock in the middle of your attempt to escape. 

“You feel that?.. My mighty sword?” There is a smile in his question as he suspends you against him fiercely. “You saw it too—ahh.. Had you hiding in your burrow didn't it, mein kleines Häschen?”

“Ja, I know–hah–it’s massive. Don’t be scared, I mean to prepare you for our first time.” His breathing grows haggard; you feel the wild beating of his heart against your terrified ones. 

“S-Ser König! This is–is highly inappropriate,” you beseech, but it falls on deaf ears. He already has a hold of your laces from behind and means to tear it apart. 

You have to do something—

Cry out for help!

Incapacitate him—anything!

SLAP!! 

As if merely possessed for a single moment, you gasp at the inconceivable notion that you had just struck the crown’s most favourable knight. The world has grown quiet and time seems to slow. Your hand, one not currently restrained by him, is raised high and throbbed at the sting of skin meeting his through thin fabric. 

You have not yet considered the weight of your actions. For the only thing you know is how loud the sound of your heart beating inside your chest and how tight the air around you is to even breathe. 

König stares at you with indecipherable eyes. Yours widen; mouth slightly agape at the ready to spill a litany of apologies. 

However, the sound of the tarp fluttering was enough to break the spell that enchants you both. 

Scurrying from his hold and to your feet was surprisingly easy, given how hard it was for you to pull him away with all the strength you could muster just a minute before.

A new figure steps into the closed canopy, but you don’t dare bare your face freely to meet their scathing gaze. Instead, you hurriedly take the pitcher you came in with and take your leave promptly. 

König must have let you, for you did not hear any protest coming from his end.

Taking forceful steps away from the tent, the tears that you fight to hold back suddenly come breaching at your waterline and down your cheeks. Angrily swiping them with the back of your hand, you twist your face and tightly purse your lips, terrified a sudden sob would escape. 

No—you do not want to make this real. Not yet. Only when you’re in the safety of your own self would you then collapse down to the floor, wailing pathetically like a banshee howling in the dead of the night—only then would it become real. 

At that moment you renounce him vehemently. You renounce your sympathies for the seemingly pitiful man who hails beyond the mountains. You renounce his harmless disposition and any vestige of kindness you thought he might hold. 

From now, König has now become the monster everyone says he is.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The Adventures of Mary Darling

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in PITTSBURGH on May 15 at WHITE WHALE BOOKS, and in PDX on Jun 20 at BARNES AND NOBLE with BUNNIE HUANG. More tour dates (London, Manchester) here.

Science fiction great Pat Murphy has written some classics – including books that were viciously suppressed by the heirs of JRR Tolkien! – but with The Adventures of Mary Darling, she's outdone even her own impressive self:

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The titular Mary Darling here is the mother of Wendy, John and and Michael Darling, the three children who are taken by Peter Pan to Neverland in JM Barrie's 1902 book The Little White Bird, which later became Peter Pan. If you recall your Barrie, you'll remember that it ends with the revelation that Wendy, John and Michael weren't the first Darlings to go to Neverland: when Mary Darling was a girl, she, too, made the journey.

Murphy's novel opens with Mary Darling and her husband George coming home from a dinner party to discover their three children missing, the window open, and their nanny, a dog called Nana, barking frantically in the yard. John is frightened, but Mary is practically petrified, inconsolable and rigid with fear.

Soon, Mary's beloved uncle, John Watson, is summoned to the house, along with his famous roommate, the detective Sherlock Holmes. With Holmes on the case, surely the children will be found?

Of course not. Holmes is incapable of understanding where the Darling children have gone, because to do so would be to admit the existence of the irrational and fantastic, and, more importantly, to accept the testimony of women, lower-class people, and pirates. Holmes has all the confidence of the greatest detective alive, which means he is of no help at all.

Neither is George Darling, who, as a kind of act of penance for letting his children be stolen away, takes to Nana's doghouse, and insists that he will not emerge from it until the children are returned. He takes his meals in the doghouse, and is carried in it to and from the taxis that bring him to work and home again.

Only Mary can rescue her children. John Watson discovers her consorting with Sam, a one-legged Pacific Islander who is a known fence and the finest rat-leather glovemaker in London, these being much prized by London's worst criminal gangs. Horrified that Mary is keeping such ill company, Watson confronts her and Sam (and Sam's parrot, who screeches nonstop piratical nonsense), only to be told that Mary knows what she is doing, and that she is determined to see her children home safe.

Mary, meanwhile, is boning up on her swordplay and self-defense (taught by a Suffragist swordmaster in a room above an Aerated Bread Company tearoom, these being the only public place in Victorian London where a respectable woman can enjoy herself without a male escort). She's acquiring nautical maps. She's going to Neverland.

What follows is a very rough guide to fairyland. It's a story that recovers the dark asides from Barrie's original Pan stories, which were soaked with blood, cruelty and death. The mermaids want to laugh as you drown. The fairies hate you and want you to die. And Peter Pan doesn't care how many starveling, poorly trained Lost Boys die in his sorties against pirates, because he knows where there are plenty more Lost Boys to be found in the alienated nurseries of Victorian London, an ocean away.

More importantly, it's a story that revolves around the women in Barrie's world, who are otherwise confined to the edges and shadows of the action. In Barrie's Pan, Wendy is a "mother," Tiger Lily is a "princess," and Mary is a barely-there adult whose main role is to smile wistfully at the memory of when she was a girl and got to serve as Peter's "mother."

And Holmes? Apart from one love interest and a stalwart housekeeper, Holmes has very little time or regard for women. This is so central to the Holmes cannon that the Arthur Conan Doyle estate actually sued over Netflix's Enola Holmes movie, arguing that Enola displayed basic respect for women, a feature that doesn't appear until the very end of the Holmes canon, and – the estate argued – those final stories were still in copyright:

https://www.cbr.com/why-enola-holmes-has-nice-version-sherlock/

Murphy's woman's-eye-view of Peter Pan, Neverland and the Lost Boys dilates the narrow aperture through which Peter Pan plays out, revealing a great deal of exciting, fun, frightening stuff that was always off in the wings. She gives flesh and substance to characters like Tiger Lily, by giving her the semi-fictionalized identity of one of the many American First Nations people who toured Europe and Africa, putting on Wild West shows that won eternal fame and cultural currency for the "American Indian," even as the USA was seeking to exterminate them and their memory.

Likewise, Murphy's pirates are grounded in the reality of pirate ships: democratic, anarchic, and far more fun than Robert Louis Stevenson would have you believe. While Murphy's pirates are about a century too late (as are Barrie's), they are in other regards pretty rigorous, which makes them extraordinarily great literary figures.

If you read David Graeber's posthumous Pirate Enlightenment, you'll know about the Zana-Malata of Madagascar, the descendants of anarchist pirates and matriarchal Malagasy women, who pranked and hoaxed British merchant sailors for generations, deliberately creating a mythology of south seas pirate kings:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/24/zana-malata/#libertalia

This hybrid culture of bold, fierce matriarchal Malagasy women and their anarchist pirate husbands play a central role in the book's resolution, and Murphy's pirate utopia is so well drawn and homely that I found myself wanting to move there.

This is a profoundly political book, but it's such a romp, too! Murphy has a real flair for this kind of thing. Back in 1999, she published the brilliant There and Back Again, an all-female retelling of The Hobbit (in spaaaaace!) that was widely celebrated…right up to the moment that Christopher Tolkien used baseless copyright threats to get the book withdrawn from sale:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_and_Back_Again_(novel)

Billionaire failsons of long-dead writers notwithstanding, you can still read There and Back Again by borrowing a copy of the book from the Internet Archive's Open Library:

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15436385W/There_and_back_again

Murphy's mashup of Holmes, Pan, South Seas pirate anarchists, and other salutary and exciting personages, milieux, furniture and tropes of the Victorian adventure story is an unmissable triumph, a romp, a delight.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/06/nevereverland/#lesser-ormond-street

[birb-catto]

Ever wonder what the “traditional” heroes before Cale were like? I imagine them like this:

Archmage: I studied the arcane arts after my master, a dragon in disguise, took pity on me, a human child. Under their tutelage, I have nurtured my talent in powerful spellcasting. Now I have become an archmage.

Swordmaster: I’ve swung my sword a thousand times, no, a million times. I have swung my sword day after day. It is my way of life, the way of the sword. I trained until I became one with my sword. My aura is proof that I have ascended into the rank of a swordmaster.

Saint: By the grace of god, I will heal the sick and guide those who are led astray. My unshakable faith is the reason why God blessed me as their Saint.

And there's this guy:

Yeah it's heavenly luck to acquire a single AP or whatever, but it's so funny when the hero party asks an AP user how they got their power and dude goes Oh I picked it up in my backyard 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[cindythecyclops]

Twins AU but with Fem! OG! Cale.

Regressor Callie Henituse is unamused with this dongsaeng and his craziness. However, she is a good noona, so she indulges him.

Callie is tired and all she really cares about is saving the world and her family’s safety. Because of this, she has no energy to keep up her trash act and instead of being vitriolic and hostile, she’s kind of distant.

Now, people are confused by this change in behaviour and while Callie is not being nice by any means, she’s allows her diplomatic politeness to guide interactions and doesn’t bother to hide her elegance. She eats food quietly without kicking up a fuss even though she doesn’t compliment it, her drinking has been cut back severely and she’s very quiet. She is not sweet, her walls are still up but there is an undeniable mellowness and gentleness to her.

In the previous timeline, Callie, through intense hardwork and nigh deadly self-training, achieved swordmaster status at the age of 26. She cultivated a suffocating and sharp burgundy aura that had the unique ability to shift temperatures. Whether it be to fill the enemy’s lungs with ice or cool off a feverish ally, whether it be to scorch an attacker or warming up a civilian, she could do it.

Callie sees through Roksoo as if he’s glass and she does NOT let him get away with hiding information or trying to lie. Even if he causes misunderstandings for everyone else, Roksoo has to explain himself to Callie who then clarifies everything for the others if they aren’t already listening in.

Will expand on this later.

[mufos-photo-album]

*knock knock* 🍪?

I want to hear more it sounds cool! (The Spector season au thing?)

To recap, for those who didn't see this snippet attached to a post elsewhere: The Season of Specters (TBH I didn't have a concrete name for it, I'm making it up right now) is a AU/season idea where the Swordmaster and the Spearmaster are now Spirits instead of skypeople (the more general form of a skykid).

The story of the season starts with the player meeting the Season Guide, the Clumsy Apprentice, who wants to take up weapon fighting to fight against the Kingdom of Sky's encroaching darkness. To learn how to effectively do this, they look to the Sword and Spearmaster, heroes of the past whose inner lights shone bright enough to vanquish darkness. The problem is, they are Spirits in this AU, and are inactive for as long as they are trapped inside their husks. For this, the Apprentice enlists the players help. The further events of this "season" are as follows.

1) Locate the Swordmaster / Enter the Spearmaster's shrine

The first or second quest of the season has the player locating the husk of the Swordmaster, who resides in the Valley of Triumph in a shrine dedicated to the Spearmaster. When the player tries to break the husk, they are transported to the void.

This part of the void is a decrepit reflection of the Spearmaster's shrine, and standing guard within is a Specter, something like a hostile version of a Spirit. This one is a "corrupted" version of the Swordmaster who cannot recognize that the player is a being of light and not a threat to the shrine. The Swordspecter will pursue the player, and when she catches them, she forces them out of the void and back into the Kingdom of Sky.

2) Learn to fight (this is where "Sky but Dark Souls" comes in)

After the attempt to revive the Swordmaster fails, the Apprentice will teach the player what little they do know about fighting, enabling the player to summon a shortblade of light, as well as the ability to engage in combat. Once the player is able to defeat the Apprentice, they can then challenge the Swordspecter again.

Once the Specter is defeated, the Swordmaster is properly freed and can now manifest form as a Spirit. The Apprentice is eager to learn from the Swordmaster, but she can't find the will to say anything meaningful without her partner, the Spearmaster.

3) Locate the Spearmaster / Enter the Swordmaster's shrine

This quest takes the player to the Golden Wasteland, to the shrine of the Swordmaster. Inside, the husk of the Spearmaster can be found. Once the player tries to break the husk, they will be transported to the void in a similar manner as before. This time, the void-setting reflects the Swordmaster's shrine and the Specter standing guard resembles the Spearmaster.

The fight against the Spearspecter is purposefully rigged against the player, as their shortblade is insufficient for fighting against someone armed with a spear. When the Spearspecter defeats the player, they are forced out of the void once again.

Learning of the player's defeat, the Swordmaster grants the player a weapon that should be more fitting: her longsword of light.

After this, the player can challenge the Spearspecter again. Upon victory, the Spearmaster is properly freed and takes the form of a Spirit.

4) Reunion / Fighting other dark creatures

The Swordmaster and the Spearmaster are reunited and feel like their normal selves again. They accept teaching the player and the Clumsy Apprentice how to fight some more, as well as how to hunt certain dark creatures. The presence of both of them at the same time could be used to emphasize how taking down some creatures are a collaborative effort rather than a solo battle.

5) Finale??

idk maybe fight a big bad creature

I was also thinking about a possible "bonus battle" where the player can fight the Swordmaster and the Spearmaster (and possibly both at the same time) in their Spirit form. These battles are intended to be more difficult compared to their initial battles as Specters. I also just think it's funny to keep up this little trend I've noticed of light-based bosses having difficult fights (see: Empress of Light from Terraria or The Radiance from Hollow Knight)

Emotes!

The Swordmaster offers a friend emote wherein the player and their friend can do a little sword fight

The Spearmaster offers an emote where the player summons a baton/spear-like object and spins it around all cool-like

[mermaidsirennikita]

Do you have any queer historical romance recs? Are there any upcoming 2024 queer historical romances that you’re excited for?

Absolutely, I have recs! As for 2024 books, I'm currently most looking forward to You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian, which is an m/m romance set, I believe in the 50s, set around the world of baseball.

I also just read A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland (out 4/9) which I SUPER recommend if you want a f/f romance set in the 1800s, with a touch of fantasy. It's about a prickly midwife who finds this mysterious woman in the middle of the night, literally about to give birth. She helps her, and her husband turns out to be a local fisherman. But... something isn't right... both with the husband, and with his wife's origins. And when the husband realizes the women are falling in love, he only becomes more possessive. I promise it's romantic and has an HEA and doesn't feature overwhelming sadness (there is domestic and sexual violence alluded to, but it's brief and off the page).

As for historicals otherwise...

M/M

We Could be So Good by Cat Sebastian--set in the same general era and space as the 2024 release, I think, about a pair of reporters slowly and sweetly falling in love, especially after they become roommates (and they were ROOMMATES).

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles--about a guy who moves to the marshland after he becomes a baronet, and has to take care of his estranged father's family left behind. He finds out there is a crime family of smugglers controlling the area, and he rats on them after seeing something sus... But when he goes to testify, who's there to stop him but the guy who he used to anonymously hook up with! JOSS DOOMSDAY. Joss Doomsday is amazing I love him. Super sexy, funny, and definitely focused on a side of England you like, never see in historicals.

The Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ--the standalone followup to the last book. In this case, another title is inherited, and this time the lord's this gruff former soldier. His cousins or something contest his inheritance, and he hires this young, charismatic secretary (especially important because our lord has a hard time reading, which I felt was done in a really touching way). Anyway, the sexual tension boils over and they start hooking up on the low, but there's a SECRET. (Also, the lord is very like "I'M ABUSING MY BOSSLY POWER" while the secretary is like "I mean... abuse it some more.....")

Band Sinister by KJ Charles--kind of a queer sendup of gothics, this is about a young guy whose sister is like, always spying on their scandalous neighbors who hold orgies and shit for the sake of writing her novels. Then she breaks her leg and ends up laid up in the orgy house, and he rushes over like NO ORGIES FOR HER, but he realizes the group of friends is actually super cool, especially the verrrry siiiiiilky smoooooth one who's just soooooo suave. So good, and especially interesting in that, while I would definitely not call this a poly romance, it does explore the complexities of open relationships and polyamory.

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian--Kit is a retired highwayman running a cafe, and suddenly this vERRRY pretty nobleman comes in flashing his very nice ankles and asking Kit to steal this mysterious book from his dad. Kit refuses, but agrees to teach Percy how to steal. Both are great, but omg PERCY is AMAZING. He's kind introduced as somewhat like... conventionally more on the femme side, but he's like a secret swordmaster, and also takes the lead with Kit sexually a lot. One of my favorite moments in this book is when he's blowing Kit and Kit thinks he's gone too deep and is like "SORRY" and Percy rolls his eyes and makes Kit grab his hair and start facefucking him lmao. Also has nice demi rep in Kit.

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall--A frosty duke proposes to a woman he was always supposed to marry, and she subsequently goes on the run. He then has to pair up with her dramatic, fanciful twin brother. It's a really funny romcom, with a ridiculous duel that had me wheezing. Plus a semi-cultlike group of lesbians? Also, enthusiastic ass eating.

F/F

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera--A cold vamp widow wants this business deal with a fun and flirty heiress, and the heiress agrees to make the deal... If the vamp agrees to show her LESBIAN PARIS. Hot, and both of the leads are Latina.

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall--Adding this even though it definitely has a good dose of fantasy, because it's like... Jane Austen meets a Midsummer Night's Dream, with an emphasis on the fairies. This young deb ends up hexed so her dress is unraveling at a ball, and as she hurries into the pushes, she meets the mysterious Lady Duke, who's rumored to have murdered her brother and father. They begin this push and pull of seduction. It's both funny and kind of dramatic.

Trans/Nonbinary

Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall--the standalone followup to Something Fabulous. The runaway fiancee's ex, the genderfluid Peggy, is roped by said ex into attending an opera. The ex wants to seduce Orfeo, this gorgeous castrato soprano, and when they open their mouth to sing Peggy, who's very gruff and in control typically, faints. Orfeo is naturally like "WHO'S THAT" and begins pursuing Peggy rather than the ex. One of my favorite books, so funny (at one point they accidentally incite a gay orgy) with a hint of melancholy and great sex. Also, it has one of the most unique sex scenes I've ever read.

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian--a bisexual marquess makes a new friend in this young dandy in town. They kiss, and he thinks his friend is going to blackmail him... But the friend, Robin, turns out to be chamber maid in disguise! Except they're actually not a man or a woman, and don't want to live as a woman. It becomes as an FWB thing, but naturally our romantic hero falls in love and things become Fraught. Has one of my favorite "resentfully horny" moments, when Alistair is watching Robin from across the ballroom, and they pull a glove off with their teeth, and he's like "THAT IS IMPROPER" and wants to fuck them so bad.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall--Viola faked her death at Waterloo in order to live as her true self. Years later, she's pulled into helping her old best friend, the Duke of Gracewood, who's suffering from a chronic injury and severe depression following the battle. At first he doesn't recognize her... at first. Has an absolutely INCREDIBLE moment of recognition, and I really like that it's this romping old school type romance with a trans heroine.

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa--this one is actually a YA Pride and Prejudice retelling, highly recommend if you're open to it. In this case, the Lizzie character is actually Oliver, a trans boy, and he and Darcy fall in love--molly houses are included in this, which I really like. It's not super about historical accuracy, which I personally dgaf about, and it's very sweet and funny and warm. Also, the author is a trans man.

Queer Polyamory

Scandalous Passions by Nicola Davidson--FFM. A king's former mistress is sent away because the queen hates her, and is also asked to care for the king's ward. She and the ward begin to give in to their attraction, and at the same time their escort is this much-feared knight (who's really quite subby) who's been in love with the older heroine for years. And then he begins falling for the ward as well.... Super sexy medieval, with Dom/sub overtones.

Their Marchioness by Jess Michaels--A playwright is asked to a marquess and marchioness's home... Turns out he and the marchioness were in love before she was forced to marry the marquess. Fortunately, she and her husband are now very much in love, and he's basically gifting her a tryst with her old love for her birthday. Then he joins in... and it begins being more than sex. Has some bi awakening stuff.

M/F with Bi leads

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian--a standalone followup to Kit Webb. Percy's stepmother Marian is having a correspondence with a blackmailer, who unbeknownst to her is her odious husband's secret son. He ends up falling in love with her as they go back and forth with letters, so when she ends up in trouble and on the run, he comes to "save" her, only to find that Marian ain't that girl. Both leads are bi, and the sex is really cool and interesting because Marian doesn't like penetration due to trauma surrounding her pregnancy and labor. So she penetrates him (among other things) instead.

Hugo and The Maiden by S.M. LaViolette--a successful sex worker ends up being transported and washing ashore after a shipwreck. He's very snarky, but finds himself up against the vicar's uptight and uncompromising daughter--but he still has enemies lurking. Hugo is openly (for the day) bi and services both men and women. I really liked that even as he fell in love, his bisexuality wasn't like this background thing--he sees a guy he likes at one point and is basically like "if I wasn't taken......."

Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard--a spy (who's also kind of a lady pirate) ends up being attracted to her super rakish and slutty first mate. She's bisexual, and one of the women on her ship is her former hookup (still her friend), which I like.

Melissa and The Vicar by S.M. LaViolette--a madame goes to a small village to recuperate and de-stress, and ends up falling in love with a virginal vicar she's so sure she can't have. Melissa is bisexual, and I thiiink a woman she used to be involved with is on the page? Her hero, Magnus, kind of has a "oh shit am I bi?" moment when Melissa tries to fake him out by pretending she's hooking up with Hugo. To be fair, everyone wants to fuck Hugo.

In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation--a scandalous woman begins chasing her sister (who ran off with a Bad Man) along with her brother's best friend, who's secretly in love with her. Margo is bi, and her relationships with women are one reason why she's considered scandalous~.

[dpsisquared]

wipwed The Emotionally Constipated Swordmaster's Guide to Love Languages, a special seminar by Flayn

[jamescolton]

New Book about Rapier Combat

Master the Art of the Rapier

In his Academie de l’Espée, Dutch swordmaster Gérard Thibault d’Anvers recorded one of the most sophisticated fencing systems ever devised, blending elegant geometry with a precise, systematic approach to combat. Yet its complexity has often made it a daunting read for new students.

Thibault Rapier: A Systematic Guide to Thibault’s Academy of the Sword presents a structured introduction to Thibault’s fencing method, distilling Academie de l’Espée down to its essential theory. Beginning with high-level strategy, it explores key techniques, their tactical applications, and their connection to the broader tradition of La Verdadera Destreza, the Spanish school of rapier combat. The book also includes essential drills to help readers internalize the fundamental actions of the system.

Sharpen you knowledge. Refine your technique. Step into the circle.

Buy Thibault Rapier, available in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover!

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

In regards to the unit identity conversation going around in FE spaces right now i wanted to throw in my general thoughts...

When people say "unit identity" in regards to gameplay, i feel like most people mean how the character in the story matches how the unit plays.

Fates has the best reclassing system imo, because units have to build support with other units to get their class via the friendship and partner seals. Building support levels has another function in that sense, and it's another incentive to experiencing them.

This creates another way supports effect the ways you can play. As for an example, when Takumi teaches Corrin how to shoot a bow in their support chain, Corrin literally gains access bows via the Archer class.

Fates also has heart seals which change the units class based on stats, skills available, personality, or personal background (They also function as partner seals iirc, but that's more of a waste, i feel).

Three Houses, due to its lack of a weapon lock, essentially created a system where "just put everyone in x, y, or z class to make them good" has become some of the most common advice to new players. This problem existed before, but essentially making classes little more than "this one has good stats, this one has bad stats put them in the one with good numbers."

Sure, it allows those "all mage" runs that are fun to mess around with a lot easier, but it also reduces classes down to just their stats. Want to use bow? Bow Knight's a good class, but can always go for Wyvern. Want to use axes? Try Wyvern. Swords? Swords aren't good, at least use lances or axes in Wyvern.

Engage has the same problem. In fact, despite having weapons locked to classes again, it's now even more of a problem (imo). This time the problem is that so many units are incredibly same-y. The difference between Etie and Alcryst is a couple of points in Str and Spd, same for Lapis and Diamant, for Zelkov and Yunaka it's Spd/Res/Str trade.

The characters feel same-y. Unsurprisingly if you watch build guides on these characters from multiple different people, you'll see the same couple of classes recommended repeatedly. Warrior, Wyvern, Griffin. Few Sages and Personal Classes, but besides that, most characters sit in those three.

Although i like the concept of passive skills unique to certain classes, i feel like they're often times incredibly weak. Or don't synergize well with the class itself. High Movement Bow Knight has a skill that increases hit rate when not moving (the one bow using class that can make good use of Momentum and having high movement and being a Cavalry type should sit still??? It's even more offensive because bows don't have particularly horrible hit rates, and bow units typically have decent Dex/Skill).

We can all agree Berserker getting a pretty weak skill for a weak weapon type that the okay at best defense class typically doesn't want to use... might not be a good balancing tool against the other infantry Axe class with Bow access and better caps in Warrior? Or the flying mobility and Lance or Sword access in Wyvern? Or hell, even the Defense from Great Knight? (although this class is another meme pick)

Don't get me started on S rank weapons also being mid, if not outright bad

I think if there were better skills for classes with lower stats (including movement), less weapon access, then that'd be cool. Or they could do a "Infantry classes have lower growths, but higher stat caps. Therefore they've about caught up midgame, and are better for combat late game, but have less utility due to not being able to ride a horse/flier"

If Personal skills were stronger, and units had more differing stats, Weapons/Proficiencies, or had access to more personal class and/or personal weapons, i think i wouldn't care about how easy it is to get into classes, because the units themselves would actually be unique in how you can play them, even if everyone is in the same class.

I mean, look no further than the bow users in Fates, since that weapon type and its weilders have been getting a lot of attention lately. Takumi has a personal bow with crazy might that gives him the ability to move without being impeded by terrain. Niles doesn't have a unique bow, and his class is already represented in Shura, and DLC Anna on the Adventurer route, and potentially Selena and Laslow for the Bow Knight route, but he has access to capturing generic units to fight for you and has stats that definitely differ from all of them.

Setsuna has a basic archer stats, a weak personal skill, and no personal weapon, and is naturally the perfect example of a bad archer. While Reina has good stats and a useful PS that essentially make her Birthright Camilla except with lances and bows instead of axes and tomes (and Kinshi isn't really seen as a good class!). Shura's whatever in CQ, but in RV he has maxed weapon ranks, giving him access to useful Stages ASAP and decent bow chip, especially with his debuffing PS. (Not much to say about Anna except why is she not in the Merchant class by default?? Magic Anna is not more important than Capitalism Anna 😤)

But i'm rambling, so i'll just say that with the unit/class design we have now, i'd rather have limited classes so that we can at least say:

"They may not be the best unit... But they are the best Swordmaster/Bow User/Magic Unit/etc."

(sorry for the length btw!)

.

[tgrailwar-zero]

Well, sounds like it's time for you to get your sea monster-slaying chops.

You told her to cut through- slash in a way that would be inescapable.

MUSASHI: "…"

She took a breath, and you saw a gleam in her eyes.

Not a human gleam. The gleam that appeared in the eyes of men reflected life and broad possibility. The gleam in the eyes of this woman reflected death, and the 'culling' of possibility in order to reach perfection. Her face, delicate and beautiful like a flower, was suddenly harsh and cold like steel, before--

You could barely track her movements. A blur, a spiral of red and blue-- no, even color couldn't keep up. There was a 'gap', a 'moment', a 'place where something happened' between when MUSASHI prepared and when she struck.

A 'void'.

MOBY DICK's hide was tough, yes. However… a sword saint did not just look at physical strength, but spiritual strength. What was the 'essence' making up this entity, and how could it be cut apart? The art of sword saints had been lost centuries ago, long forgotten-- but this was a Heroic Spirit that embodied one of those great legends!

That being said, before your mind could 'comprehend', she was off the deck and had slashed into the massive monstrosity, her blades having carved a clear line from the front of its face, through its eye, and across the right side of its body.

A scar- no, a message.

'If you live, then you will forever be known as one spared by Miyamoto Musashi.'

'If you die, then all will know that you were slain by Miyamoto Musashi.'

Those two outcomes had presumably become the only two paths for this beast, and she was determined to cut those two down to 'one'.

The kind of 'unbridled confidence' that came with such a dangerous Heroic Spirit.

-

JAGUAR MAN: "It looks like the Null Zero Samurai has landed a critical hit! Only a few warriors manage to spook Moby Dick like that! As expected from our cold-hearted warrior!"

DURYODHANA: "That swordsmanship, dealing that kind of damage to a monster like Moby Dick... you know, even yours truly is finding himself impressed. They've already passed the 10 seconds that usually takes out lesser fighters." -

You whipped your head to the top of the whale's head, where the swordmaster sat crosslegged with a smile as the whale thrashed. She had an expression as if she held the wisdom of a sage, the childish MUSASHI of before long gone.

MUSASHI: "In the Void is virtue, and no--"

The whale suddenly began diving, taking the samurai with it.

MUSASHI: "Hyaaaaah--!! My dramatic moment--!!!"

Ah. There's MUSASHI. Welcome back.

Sploosh.

She was rapidly disappearing beneath the water. The whale itself was so large that by the time she was fully submerged and decently deep, only about one-third of it was under the water.

ADMIRAL: "Fire, fire, fire! Before it goes under! The Samurai gave us an opening, so we're taking it!"

The barrage gave it no room to effectively counterattack. For an opening move- delivering a 'stun' dual attack was quite impressive.

The ADMIRAL yelled, as several cannonballs were fired. They battered into the side of the large beast as it let out a low, long, beleaguered groan and tottered a bit as it sunk, clearly injured by the dual-attack.

The coin she held aloft began to glow.

ADMIRAL: "Oh…! The 'Lucky Shot' is getting stronger! This coin… this holds the essence of an 'Endowed Hero'. It glows when fortune begins to flow my way. A guiding star- no, a 'treasure map'! That strike from the Samurai brought us one step closer to riches, my friends!"

She let it dance between her fingers, deftly moving between her digits as she grinned, wide and wickedly

An 'Endowed Hero'… a hero that 'amassed blessings and fortunes'…

That sounded... familiar.

She cackled, raising the coin high.

ADMIRAL: "The coin amasses 'fortune', I spend 'fortune'. 'Ebb and flow', the Priestess said to me. If I held onto it and didn't do a damn thing with it, I could be the wealthiest, strongest woman in the Solar Cell! Of course, she knows me too well, so she knows I'll spend it! Money is Power, as they say! Ahahaha!"

Your Servant continued to sink with the whale, her swords jammed into the beast to use as handholds. There was one benefit to being a Servant, which is that 'drowning' wasn't a worry unless she was subjected to something that could specifically drown spirits, so--

MUSASHI: "…mm?"

She blinked, with the realization that she was actively holding her breath- a human instinct that would normally have been overwritten by the Servant instinct of 'breathing should be fine'. Which meant…

...This was one of those places that was designed to be able to 'drown' Servants?

Oh no--

MUSASHI: "...!"

Wait, she could breathe? Even with that 'trait' on the water?

From somewhere distant, you could practically feel a certain Rose Emperor puffing her chest out and proudly pointing at the television.

ADMIRAL: "Huh, looks like she's got a pretty nifty Mystic Code on. Guess Jawsica won't have to fish her out after all. Let's keep fighting, everyone!"

See this post to choose SABER's actions!

There are some moves that count as 'critical' moves in this scenario- picking those options will increase the potency of the ADMIRAL's 'Lucky Shot'!

'Critical' moves are guaranteed when spending mana, but it comes down to 'luck' when using regular moves!

SHIP STATS

The ship took some damage from the wave that was reduced by SABER!

SHIP'S HULL: [ X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / ]

MAGICAL ENERGY: [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ]

'LUCKY SHOT': [ X ] (Power: Stage 2)

[allyleetheo]

Manwha recs

Here is a list of Manwha's recommendations. They are sorted into genres, and do not contain any BL/GL.

The list of manwha I have read is here.

I have a separate list for BL/GL manwha's that you can find here.

I have not read any of these yet. (I'll be giving them ratings as I read them.)

Compiled by Lis (Blob / s.class.villainess on Tiktok)

You can click here: https://tinyurl.com/mwreclist for their complete list and ratings.

Note: This list is mostly not up to date with the episode counts, so most of the titles might have more chapters than listed.

total amount of titles: 439

Rating score from s.class.villainess:

5 and less/10 ✖️

6-7/10✔️

8/10 ☑️

9/10 ✅

10/10 ♾️

Key:

🔁 - Complete works

ACTION

Medical Return (100 chapters) ✖️

Mercenary Enrollment (76 chapters) ✖️

ACTION / FANTASY

A Gate Opened on my First Day as a Politician (24 chapters)

Arcane Sniper (73 chapter of ons)

Crimson Karma (118 chapters)🔁

Damn Reincarnation (29 chapters)

Doctor's Rebirth (82 chapters)

Eleceed (210 chapters)♾️

Ending Maker (31 chapters)

Estio (33 chapters)

F-class Destiny Hunter (59 chapters)

Heavenly Demon Instructor (42 chapters)

-

Heavenly Sword’s Grand Saga (28 chapters)

Hoarding in Hell (39 chapters)

I Stole The First Ranker’s Soul (41 chapters)♾️

Kill the Hero (103 chapters)

Legendary Youngest Son of the Marquis House (43 chapters)

Leveling With The Gods (60 chapters)

Maxed Out Leveling (21 chapters)

Murim Login (52 chapters)

My Daughter is the Final Boss (83 chapters)♾️

Nano Machine (101 chapters)

-

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (171 chapters)♾️

Overbearing Tyrant (33 chapters)

Player Who Can't Level Up (95 chapters)

Ranker's Return (remake) (56 chapters)

Reaper of the Drifting Moon (25 chapters)

Reincarnation of the Suicidal Battle God (44 chapters)

Return of the 8th class Magician (29 chapters)

Return of the Mount Hua Sect (72 chapters)

Return Of The Shattered Constellation (42 chapters)

Second Life Ranker (116 chapters)

-

Seoul Station's Necromancer (41 chapters)

Solo Leveling (179 chapters)🔁

Solo Max-Level Newbie (42 chapters)

SSS-Class Gacha Hunter (45 chapters)

SSS-Class Revival Hunter (94 chapters)♾️

Standard of Reincarnation (22 chapters)

Star-Fostered Swordmaster (32 chapters)

Talent-Swallowing Magician (30 chapters)

The Advanced Player of The Tutorial Tower (107 chapters)

The Daughter of The Elemental King (105 chapters)

-

The Frozen Player Returns (50 chapters)

The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (119 chapters)

The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live a Normal Life (35 chapters)

The Hero Returns (38 chapters)

The Martial God who Regressed Back to Level 2 (50 chapters)

The Newbie is Too Strong (31 chapters)

The Novel's Extra (28 chapters)

The Returner's Magic Should Be Special (192 chapters)

The Return of The Disaster-Class Hero (48 chapters)

The S-classes That I Raised (105 chapters)♾️

-

The Scholar’s Reincarnation (140 chapters) ✖️

The World After the Fall (12 chapters)

Tomb Raider King (308 chapters)

Trapped in a Webnovel as a Good for Nothing (140 chapters)

Trash of the Count's Family (85 chapters)

Tyrant of the Tower Defence Game (82 chapters)

Villain to Kill (61 chapters)

Worthless Regression (25 chapters)

FANTASY / ROMANCE

A Capable Maid (59 chapters)

A Good Day To Be A Dog (93 chapters)🔁

A Happy Ending for the Villains (16 chapters)

A Marriage Alliance for Revenge (43 chapters)

A Most Virtuous Villain (83 chapters)🔁

A Princess's Guide to Saving Dragons (18 chapters)

A Red Knight Does Not Blindly Follow Money (66 chapters)

A Single Round at Romance is Enough! (48 chapters)

A Stepmother’s Märchen (83 chapters)

A Symbiotic Relationship Between A Rabbit And A Black Panther (68 chapters)

-

A Tender Heart: The Story of How I Became a Duke’s Maid (110 chapters)🔁

A Transmigrator's Privilege (65 chapters)♾️

A Villain Demands to Be Loved (70 chapters)🔁✖️

A Villainess Is a Good Match for a Tyrant (104 chapters)🔁

A Wicked Tale of Cinderella's Stepmom (109 chapters)

Abandoned Wife Has a New Husband (44 chapters)

Adelaide (85 chapters)🔁

Aileen's on Fire! (20 chapters)

An Unseemly Lady (35 chapters)

Aria of the Withered Branch (87 chapters)

-

Ashtarte (80 chapters)

As You Wish, Prince! (93 chapters)🔁

Baby Squirrel Is Good At Everything (21 chapters)

Becoming The Villain’s Family (43 chapters)

Becoming You (124 chapters)🔁

Beloved by the Male Lead's Nephew (32 chapters)

Beware of The Villainess! (93 chapters)🔁

Birth of a Goddess (199 chapters)

Bloody Sweet (86 chapters)🔁

Carefully Choosing a Husband (31 chapters)

-

Carrier Falcon Princess (79 chapters)♾️

Cat in the Chrysalis (42 chapters)

Catherine's Key to a Happy Life (25 chapters)

Caught by the Villain (The Villain Discovered my Identity) (110 chapters)

Charlotte Has Five Disciples (124 chapters)

Cheerful Countess Sisters (68 chapters)

Chitra (141 chapters) ✖️

Cierra (23 chapters)

Cinderella Disappeared (20 chapters)

Cradle of Heaven (18 chapters)

-

Crows Like Shiny Things (49 chapters) ✖️

Daisy: How to Become the Duke’s Fiancée (98 chapters)✖️

Dear Nemesis (65 chapters)

Death Is The Only Ending For The Villainess (91 chapters)♾️

Disobey the Duke if You Dare (26 chapters)

Divorce me, Husband! (39 chapters)

Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp (143 chapters)🔁

Don't Hire My Brother Your Highness! (35 chapters)

Dream Lover Strategy Guide (57 chapters)🔁

Empress? Empress! (130 chapters)🔁✖️

-

Evangeline's Sword (23 chapters)

Everything's Coming Up Roses (23 chapters)

Extras Don’t Want to be Overly Obsessed (56 chapters)

Falling For The Enemy (49 chapters)🔁

Falling into the Deep End (34 chapters)

Father, I Don’t Want This Marriage! (123 chapters)🔁

Flirting with The Villain's Dad (94 chapters)

Follow The Bread Crumbs (70 chapters)🔁✖️

Forget My Husband, I'll Go Make Money (24 chapters)

For My Derelict Beloved (54 chapters)

-

For Stella (32 chapters)

Fortune-telling Lady (27 chapters)

From a Knight to a Lady (92 chapters)

Go Away Romeo (36 chapters)

Golden Time (47 chapters)

Happily Ever Afterwards (61 chapters)

Heroine's Shares for Sale (39 chapters)

How Did I Become the Princess? (44 chapters)

Honey, I’m Going On a Strike (54 chapters)

How to Be a Dark Hero’s Daughter (40 chapters)

-

How to Get My Husband on My Side (57 chapters)

How to Hide the Emperor's Child (78 chapters)

How to Prey on Your Master (72 chapters)

I Abdicate My Title of Empress (23 chapters)

I Adopted the Male Lead (90 chapters)🔁

I am the Precious Daughter of the Greatest Villain in the Fantasy World (45 chapters)

I Became the Tyrant’s Secretary (54 chapters)

I Became the Villainess in a Disastrous Novel (44 chapters)

I Became the Villain’s Mother (63 chapters)✖️

I Became the Wife of the Male Lead (47 chapters)

-

I Bid You Adieu (101 chapters)

I Can't Keep Up With My Stallion Duke (38 chapters)

I Choose the Emperor Ending (115 chapters)🔁

I Didn’t Mean to Seduce the Male Lead (40 chapters)

I Don’t Love You Anymore (58 chapters)

I Don't Want to Play the Matchmaker! (37 chapters)

I Dream of Health, Wealth and a Long Life (84 chapters)

I Failed to Abandon the Villain (44 chapters)

I Found a Husband When I Picked Up the Male Lead (50 chapters)♾️

I Have No Health (51 chapters)

-

I Listened to my Husband and Brought in a Lover (21 chapters)

I Raised a Black Dragon (74 chapters)

I Raised My Childhood Friend as a Tyrant (57 chapters)

I Shall Kill that Sweet Devil (79 chapters)

Isnelda (26 chapters)

I Stan The Prince (66 chapters)♾️

I Tamed My Ex-husband's Mad Dog (37 chapters)

I Thought My Time Was Up! (30 chapters)

I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword (34 chapters)

I Was Seduced by the Sick Male Lead (26 chapters)

I Was Tricked Into This Fake Marriage! (107 chapters)🔁

-

I Will Take Responsibility for the Welfare of the Male Lead (35 chapters)

I'm Not The Final Boss' Lover! (36 chapters)

I'm the One Who Died, but the Hero Went Crazy (32 chapters)

I've Been Proposed to by a Villain (62 chapters)

If You Touch My Little Brother, You’re All Dead (46 chapters)

Inso's Law (147 chapters)

Into the Light Once Again (48 chapters)

Is It a Fortune or Is It a Woe? (83 chapters)✖️

It Looks Like I’ve Fallen into the World of a Reverse Harem Game (74 chapters)✖️

It Seems I've Transmigrated Somewhere (29 chapters)♾️

-

It Was All A Mistake (61 chapters)

It’s My Destiny To Be The Hero’s Saviour (33 chapters)

I’ll Be The Matriarch In This Life (64 chapters)

I’ll Just Live on as a Villainess (73 chapters)

I'll save this Damned Family! (110 chapters)

I’m a Martial Art Villainess but I’m the Strongest! (72 chapters)

I'm a Villainess, Can I Die? (28 chapters)

I'm Engaged to an Obsessive Male Lead (81 chapters)

I’m Only a Stepmother, But My Daughter is Just So Cute! (65 chapters)

I’m the Male Lead’s Girl Friend (63 chapters)🔁✖️

-

I'm the One Who Died, but the Hero Went Crazy (23 chapters)

I'm the Queen in This Life (50 chapters)

Justice for the Villainess (43 chapters)

Just Leave Me Be (80 chapters)

Kill the Villainess (100 chapters)♾️

Lady Beast (113 chapters)✖️

Lady Crystal is a Man (30 chapters)

Let Me Die in Peace! (32 chapters)

Let’s Hide My Younger Brother First (40 chapters)

Leveling Up My Husband to the Max (97 chapters)

-

Lies Become You (18 chapters)

Like Wind on a Dry Branch (85 chapters)

Lillien of Turin (33 chapters)

Long After The Ending (60 chapters)🔁

Lydia's Great Escape (57 chapters)

Marriage and Sword (39 chapters)

May I kill You, Your Highness? (30 chapters)

Miss Not-So Sidekick (177 chapters)🔁♾️

Miss Time (60 chapters)🔁♾️

More Than You Know (28 chapters)

-

My Dear Aster (45 chapters)

My Farm by the Palace (65 chapters)

My Husband Hides His Beauty (80 chapters)

My Husband, My Sister, and I (26 chapters)

My Mysterious Nighttime Visitor (10 chapters)

My Red String of Fate (90 chapters)🔁

My Sister Picked Up the Male Lead (59 chapters)

My Warmonger Husband (46 chapters)

Necrobride (37 chapters)

No More Nice Sis (64 chapters)

-

No Outtakes (38 chapters)

Not Just Anyone Can Become a Villainess (68 chapters)

Nullitas: The Counterfeit Bride (55 chapters)

One Pair Lady (40 chapters)

Only Realised After Losing You (26 chapters)

Ophelia the Oracle Queen (12 chapters)

Please Don't Come To The Villainess’ Stationery Store! (36 chapters)

Please Give Me The Pacifier (41 chapters)

Please Marry Me Again, Husband! (36 chapters)

Preventing the Making of a Tyrant (46 chapters)

-

Princess of the Animals (16 chapters)

Protecting the Witch's Son (38 chapters)

Protect the Knight (53 chapters)

Queen Cecia’s Shorts (80 chapters)

Regina Rena: To the Unforgiven (24 chapters)

Reporting for Duty, Duchess! (48 chapters)

Revenge Wedding (84 chapters)🔁

Rewriting My Tragic Ending (34 chapters)

Rewriting the Villainess (62 chapters)🔁

Roxana (39 chapters)

-

Royal Marriage (49 chapters)

Run, Meil (50 chapters)🔁♾️

Sacrificed (52 chapters)

Say Ah, the Golden Spoon Is Entering (40 chapters)

Saving My Sweetheart (A Way to Protect the Lovable You) (89 chapters)

Second Life of a Trash Princess (23 chapters)

Secret Lady (43 chapters)✖️

Seven Years Later (36 chapters)

Savor the Taste (59 chapters)🔁

Side Characters Deserve Love too (127 chapters)

-

So I Married the Abandoned Prince (29 chapters)

Straight to the Red Carpet (40 chapters)

Swimming Lessons for a Mermaid (101 chapters)🔁

Taming the Emperor's Hound (31 chapters)

Taming the Corrupted (45 chapters)

Terrarium Adventure (19 chapters)

The 101st Heroine (71 chapters)🔁

The Accidental Heiress (45 chapters)

The Baby Isn't Yours (29 chapters)

The Beast Emperor and I (26 chapters)

-

The Beloved Little Princess (96 chapters)

The Black Haired Princess (107 chapters)🔁

The Boutique at 97th Sheldon Street (26 chapters)

The Crown Princess Audition (80 chapters)

The Demonic Contract (64 chapters)

The Destroyer Fell in Love With Me (71 chapters)✖️

The Duchess with an Empty Soul (100 chapters)

The Duchess's 50 Tea Recipes (143 chapters)🔁✖️

The Duke's 99th Bride (24 chapters)

The Duke's Bored Daughter is My Master (57 chapters)

-

The Duke's Teddy Bear (54 chapters)

The Dungeon’s Dying S-class Lady (24 chapters)

The Empire's Hidden Hope (21 chapters)

The First Night With the Duke (102 chapters)🔁

The Goddess of Healing (159 chapters)🔁

The Golden Forest (55 chapters)

The Golden-Haired Summoner (100 chapters)♾️

The Grand Duchess of the North Was Secretly a Villainess (21 chapters)

The Handsome Male Lead Won't Let Me Log Out! (35 chapters)

The Heroine Is a Man (36 chapters)

-

The Lady and the Beast (72 chapters)

The Lady I Served Became a Master (79 chapters)

The Lady Tames the Swordmaster (70 chapters)

The Lady Wants to Rest (43 chapters)

The Lady’s Butler (90 chapters)

The Lady’s Law of Survival (61 chapters)

The Little Lady Tames the Leads (22 chapters)

The Little Landlady (22 chapters)

The Maid and the Vampire (76 chapters)🔁

The Matchmaking Baby Princess (51 chapters)

-

The Millionaire Divorcee (21 chapters)

The Night Without Shadows (60 chapters)♾️

The Noble Pirate (22 chapters)

The Perks of Being a Villainess (45 chapters)

The Precious Sister of The Villainous Grand Duke (69 chapters)

The Princess is Evil (34 chapters)

The Princess's Doll Shop (33 chapters)

The Princess’s Double Life (42 chapters)

The Princess’s Spaceship (85 chapters)🔁✖️

The Protection of Lariensa Gelinus (90 chapters)🔁

-

The Real Daughter Is Back (21 chapters)

The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion (158 chapters)🔁

The Rebirth of A Tyrannical Empress (103 chapters)

The Remarried Empress (117 chapters)

The Runaway Lead Lives Next Door (41 chapters)

The Second Male Lead is Actually a Girl (16 chapters)

The Stairway of Time (110 chapters)🔁

The Strongest Characters in the World are Obsessed With Me (56 chapters)

The Tyrant Wants To Be Good (32 chapters)

The Tyrant's Sister (121 chapters)

-

The Tyrant’s Only Perfumer (44 chapters)

The Tyrant's Tranquilizer (37 chapters)

The Villainess Empress’s Attendant (20 chapters)

The Villainess Enters the Game! (18 chapters)

The Villainess Flips The Script! (91 chapters)♾️

The Villainess is a Marionette (54 chapters)

The Villainess Lives Again (95 chapters)

The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass (105 chapters)

The Villainess’s Blind Date is too Perfect (29 chapters)

The Villainess's Road to Revenge (20 chapters)

-

The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House (54 chapters)

The Villain’s Daughter-in-Law has limited time (35 chapters)

The Villain’s Savior (87 chapters)🔁✖️

The Viridescent Tiara (69 chapters)

The Wicked Woman's Daughter (38 chapters)

This Girl is a Little Wild (50 chapters)

This Villainess Wants A Divorce! (118 chapters)🔁

This Witch of Mine (58 chapters)🔁

To a Happy Ending for The Tragic Novel (20 chapters)

To Those Who Long for My Destruction (38 chapters)

-

Tricked into Becoming the Heroine's Stepmother (50 chapters)

Trophy Husband (55 chapters)🔁

Truthfully, They Only Remembered Her (76 chapters)

Under the Oak Tree (50 chapters)✖️

Untouchable Lady (51 chapters)

Valia, Tribute to Shuden (20 chapters)

Villainess For Hire (32 chapters)

Villainess in Love (95 chapters)🔁♾️

Villainess Maker (72 chapters)🔁

Virtues of the Villainess (82 chapters)🔁

-

Wake Up, Warrior (53 chapters)

Welcome to Sylvia's Garden (20 chapters)

What it Takes To Be A Villainess (163 chapters)🔁

What's Wrong with You, Duke? (133 chapters)🔁

When I Quit Being A Wicked Mother-in-law, Everyone Became Obsessed With Me (23 chapters)

When The Count's Illegitimate Daughter Gets Married (34 chapters)

When the Villainess Loves (70 chapters)

Why Are You Obsessed with Your Fake Wife? (34 chapters)

Wished You Were Dead (37 chapters)

Your Majesty, I will raise you well in this life (41 chapters)

-

Your Majesty, Please Spare Me This Time (73 chapters)

Your Throne (126 chapters)

SUPERNATURAL / ROMANCE

A Chance At Last (69 chapters)🔁

Act Like You Love Me! (126 chapters)

Bitten Contract (95 chapters)

Eaternal Nocturnal (60 chapters)

Goodbye, In-Law! (75 chapters)🔁

Marry My Husband (66 chapters)🔁

Operation: True Love (70 chapters)

Perfect Marriage Revenge (95 chapters)

Rewriting Our Love Story (62 chapters)🔁

The Time We Were Young (39 chapters)♾️

-

Villain with a Crush (Pure Villain) (62 chapters)♾️

ROMANCE

200% in Love (62 chapters)🔁

A Morning Kiss at Tiffany's (52 chapters)

A Business Proposal (106 chapters)🔁

A Step Closer to Your Heart (94 chapters)🔁

Before It's Too Late (41 chapters)

Charming You (72 chapters)🔁

Date First, Love Later (46 chapters)

Day by Day (74 chapters)🔁✖️

Daytime Star (77 chapters)🔁

Faking It In Style (75 chapters)

-

His Devilish New Hire (73 chapters)

Idol House (71 chapters)🔁

Interview with the Crazy Rich (53 chapters)

Love Lies (83 chapters)🔁

Maid for Hire (43 chapters)

Match Made in Hell (45 chapters)

Maybe Meant to Be (79 chapters)

My Boss's Special Request (38 chapters)

My Ex, Client (47 chapters)🔁

My Far Too Tumultuous Marriage (35 chapters)

-

My Irresistible Ex (100 chapters)🔁

My Sweet Girl (98 chapters)🔁

Nice To Meet You (67 chapters)

One Step Away From Happiness (30 chapters)

Our Secret Alliance (71 chapters)

Painful, but Desirable (73 chapters)🔁

Positively Yours (80 chapters)🔁

Revelation of Youth (51 chapters)

Secretary Out-of-Order (20 chapters)

See You in My 19th Life (85 chapters)

-

Sixth Sense Kiss (51 chapters)

Substitute Boyfriend (55 chapters)

The Lady with a Mask (55 chapters)🔁

The Losing Streak (40 chapters)🔁✖️

The Omniscient Point Of View Of An Unrequited Love (83 chapters)

The Pharmacy Where the Wolf Howls (77 chapters)🔁

The Second Lead Syndrome (38 chapters)

Two Steps Away (50 chapters)🔁

Unlovable Replacement (84 chapters)

Wedding Impossible (72 chapters)🔁

-

What's Wrong With Your Online Life? (31 chapters)

When the Day Comes (52 chapters)🔁

Wished You Were Dead (96 chapters)

Writer's Block of Romance (27 chapters)

OTHER

From Today On, I’m a Boy (68 chapters)🔁

Ice Lamp - The Chronicles of Kira (74 chapters)🔁

I Work at a Witch's Mansion (36 chapters)🔁

I Became a Doting Father (48 chapters)

Level-Up Doctor (29 chapters)

This Is The Law (44 chapters)

[baelpenrose]

Under Avandra's Eyes II, Exile's Path: Chapter IV: Pest Control

hey everyone! it's Malzan's first ever POV! Enjoy! Thank you to @canyouhearthelight for beta reading this one, and enjoy a truly fucked up take on a classic D&D monster

Malzan

It was just past sunset when Iris rejoined the team, and Malzan had been restless for hours. He had walked the city, but he knew little of it beyond what he’d been told by Vixen when she’d first ensorceled him as a youth. A place of dark rituals and cruel gods, she’d said, and not one that men should tread lightly. Not one my designs will take you for many years.

Either those many years had passed, or Vixen’s schemes had finally ceased to guide his life. He barely dared hope, even now that he’d finally seen the Witch’s broken body. This eerie place reminded him of her - not in its manner, nor its bearing, both far more grandiose than ever she’d been, but in some manner forgotten by the scholars of settled peoples. Just as Vixen had ever reminded him of a spider, waiting for a luckless fly to blunder into her web, the city’s sprawling streets and great bronze-bound buildings reminded him of nothing so much as a massive beast crouching and waiting to devour anything foolish enough to wander close.

Still, what to be done about it? The soldiers moved with the precision that the swordsman told him was indicative of professionals, and he could well believe it, having fought well-drilled pikers before and loathing the experience, even if the mercenary dogs that roamed the streets impressed both of them less. What concerned him was the sigil on the temple they’d seen - it had set him prickling at the sight of it, and when both the Khymer huntress and the child mage had been drawn to the crucified men, beyond Neith’s mere medical curiosity, he’d known they were dealing with something unnatural.

He’d stayed silent - not because of this group. Too often he’d been dismissed as an unlettered savage by companions he’d fallen in with while travelling when calling out risks by instinct. Even more so when voicing concerns of the dark powers. The child would believe him, to be sure, now that she was, herself, dabbling in the occult. The Wanderling, as well, who knew too well histories long forgotten by every other people, buried in stories and songs, would have few doubts about the veracity of a Chimmerian’s instincts. The huntress…her Khym was already warning her, he had no doubt, and she’d likely speak first, and it was better to let her confirm what they were up against. He knew it was dark powers, he didn’t know which ones. The thief - he’d have doubted it if not for having heard the name Thomas Grey in his travels, in truth. A man unwilling to listen to his instincts and others didn’t steal jewels and more from sleeping barrow kings, nor pilfer artifacts from the very Tower of Ahriman. 

That only really left the swordmaster and the knight - and based on his conversations, both had had adequate reason to temper instinct with experience. It made sense for them, their trade was one where acting on instinct alone got a man killed, but it meant that instinct alone would not convince them of much, or anything at all. The women would convince them, as would the thief, but…whether it was because of trust or companionship, Malzan couldn’t say. He hadn’t been travelling with them long enough to know.

He wished once again that Vixen had bothered to teach him of the sigils of the various dark gods. It would have been useful to identify them as Neith identified plants. Instead she’d more or less treated him as an errand boy, trusting him to survive and operate by cunning and strength - and few, if any, of the things he’d been told to deal with had used heraldry of any kind.

Men made space for him on the street as he walked - it was hard not to notice a Chimmerian. There was a common belief that they were descended of the long-dead giants, and even Malzan was unsure of that legend’s validity. Either way, he towered above any human he met - and looked orcs eye to eye. 

He saw a low grate leading to some kind of tunnel or maybe a prison - the chain pulley meant to allow it to be lifted was high out of reach, even for him, but for him…Malzan put his hands under the grating and strained his body against the weight of the door, bending his knees before he started to lift and slowly straightening his whole frame. With a scream of rust, the grate lifted up, slowly, and Malzan stepped through, loosening his axe in the straps on his back. He looked around, slowly, waiting for his eyes to adjust. It was dark, and he heard something moving down in the tunnel with him, and realized, with a sense of regret gnawing at his gut, that he had been a fool to not bring the thief if he was going to do this.

He could hear something move up ahead, and held his axe at a defensive grip. Something got closer. It sounded first like the slapping of bare feet on cobblestones - but the rhythm was entirely wrong. It could have been a crippled beggar who came down here to hide, which would account for the uneven footsteps - but not for the strange rhythm or the staccato nature of them - or the way the slaps seemed to echo the way he’d once seen a rich man drumming his fingers against a desk. 

A group, maybe - or strange echos, the lightness of steps indicated it may not be anything too horrid, but this city disgusted him and had him on edge. “Who goes there?”

His voice boomed into the tunnel and something rushed into the dying light of the setting sun. For a moment it did look like an emaciated youth in a slave tunic, but something was wrong, he moved wrong, sliding instead of… Then the rest of it came into the light. The tips of the youth’s bare toes did not touch the floor - and a long tendril moved away from the back of the boy’s neck. Malzan tensed. The tendril was rotted, foul, and the boy’s flesh was mottled, dried foam at the corners of his mouth. The young man’s eyes were glazed over. A horrible sound, like a crying child, came from deeper in the cave. 

Disgust came over Malzan - and fear. The dread of the unnatural. Everyone hated mimics, but the Acheronian breed was particularly vile. The creatures tore into the spines of prey and slowly devoured them - relied on the decency of most beings to pull in new prey. A crying child, the image of an injured youth or a distressed young woman - and then you’d find yourself hauled towards the vile creature’s jaws. 

But why was one here? No one would be insane enough to breed the damn things…

Or…well, if someone would, then obviously it was so they could keep altruistic intruders out of their dungeons. 

He unlimbered his axe and stepped sideways, hacking the tendril loose from the boy’s back, knowing full well he was getting himself into a fight that might not favor him. The boy’s body dropped to the ground with little enough sound that Malzan knew the poor lad’s organs had long since been eaten away by the beast he now fought. He stepped lightly, a tendril snaking towards his leg, and clove down hard enough to see it struck to the floor, ripping his axe free from the mortar as he did. 

A horrible scream came out of the darkness, and some kind of barb came at him, to glance off the hydra hide jacket he wore. He knew where the sound came from - but knew the mimic would come to him. More tentacles came from the darkness, and he hewed at them, frantically - he realized he may have erred. The creature seemed to be slinking away into the darkness, and if he did not attack soon, did not chase it, did not risk entanglement, he risked the beast escaping and becoming a problem later.

This was more or less an accident, to be truthful. He had only found the creature by mistake. 

But a good man didn’t see an Acheronian mimic without trying to put the damn thing down. He’d already drawn blood, and something about letting a wounded monster withdraw to heal and kill again later would bother him like an unscratched itch. 

So charge he did, ducking around a tendril, feeling another attempt to wrap around his right arm. He ripped himself free, feeling the stingers draw blood, the pain burning as he closed the gap to the awful mass of misshapen flesh in the gloom. His axe was raised high as he saw the thing open its mouth, and the tentacles began attempting to shove him towards it. 

Then the axe came down, from above his head, the blessed steel crashing into the creature’s brains and splitting organs. He raised the weapon again, heedless of the shower of stinging gore and digestive juices, and the barbed tentacles flailing, and struck again, roaring. Then again. And again. When the beast at last no longer resembled a proper mimic but a shattered, pulped ruin of meat that a butcher would be shamed to sell, he hefted his axe back over his shoulder. He pushed himself back to the grate, feeling the stinging wherever the beasts’ juices had touched flesh and reminded himself to wash with the oils Neith made for such a problem, thankful as ever for the poison resistant qualities of the hydra hide he wore…

He glanced at the dead boy, and raised his arm in salute. In a better place, the boy would have burial rites, but here…He could be afforded no such thing. To be fed to a nobler creature than this would be the kindest Malzan could offer. And few, other than scavengers, would touch a body in this condition.

Malzan walked back to the inn, ignoring the faces of the cultists in the streets. Finding himself wondering if they knew what their lords bred in the tunnels under their city. Meeting the eyes of every slave he saw, wondering whose child had been fed to that thing just to bait the trap. 

He was seething again by the time he arrived back to the inn, well past nightfall. One thought had pierced his fury. That body wasn’t that old. It was true that such mimics could eat and replace their victims, but there should have been more bodies down there if it was eating a lot. That could have been a beast captured or bred more recently. Which meant that the enemy might have known they were coming - or maybe knew that someone was.

Neith saw him and whistled at the stench. “Where’d you even find a mimic in this city?”

“Acheronian mimic. And it was in the tunnels. Used some slave kid as a lure.”

Thomas wasn’t back, but Liza was, and she was staring. “You killed one of those on your own?”

“Is not hard if you know what to look for.” Neith threw him a bottle, and he began rinsing himself clean of the poison, taking a towel to dry it. “I did not expect to see it, but I figured we do not want to get lured by one while trying to escape this place later.”

Liza smiled. “Thoughtful and entirely correct. Iris and Marcus are swapping what they got up to, but they should be in to explain what happened with us and Itene in a bit.”

Malzan grunted. “And what happened when you went to the temple?”

“I got stonewalled. Then I threw enough khym at a guard to convince a gelded horse to mate, and I still got stonewalled. Then I tried to drift into the palace and sing for my supper like a normal bard, and that did give me more information, but not enough. Sargonny is concerned about some of the other Hykranian cities - apparently a lot of the other desert peoples are getting sick of their ancient neighbor.”

Neith shrugged. “That’s only a good thing, right?”

“If it weren’t for the fact that someone resisted me, I’d say so. The problem is that a normal human shouldn’t be able to do that absent either strong and actually holy convictions, which we’re all fairly sure these people don’t have, or something else entirely.”

“I did want to mention. This place feels foul. Beyond what’s underneath it. There’s something unnatural here.”

“I noticed. I’m hoping that Itene and Iris have something more concrete but…yes. I have a feeling we’re going to be grateful for Baldor’s nature again soon.”

“What does that mean?” Malzan forced himself to ask. Neith had picked up more about the knight than he had during their journey in the desert. “I know he’s resistant to magic, but…”

“No. He’s immune to magic. True paladin. That whole knight’s oath of Faldrea? ‘My convictions are my armor. My faith is my shield. My will against the darkness is my hammer.’ He actually lives his convictions and has faith so hard that it is literal in his case. He doesn’t need special weaponry to slay daemons, either - he can just hit them with his hammer and they will die.”

Malzan absorbed that, a smile spreading across his face. “Ah. So, for cursed dungeons, him and the thief. And…is that why Vixen could do nothing against him?”

Liza smirked. “Yes. He is truly virtuous to a degree that is terrifying to daemons. And also, apparently, to Vixen.” 

Malzan had to start laughing. Knowing that Vixen’s final enemy had been someone she could do literally nothing to, who she was helpless against, brought him incredible satisfaction and peace. 

[nutcasewithaknife]

Thinking about postcanon difang again and just. They came this far together only because of Li Lianhua. He was the hinge between them, and also what made them fail to consider the other as a person in their own right. Di Feisheng was the one who was trusted more than Fang Duobing, and Fang Duobing was the one who kept being lied to, left out, running to catch up and belong. Fang Duobing was an annoyance, a constant reminder that Li Xiangyi was no longer the man Di Feisheng once knew and understood. They just started learning to really see the other, and then. Li Lianhua leaves them to each other, to fill the space he thinks he's left in both - Fang Duobing as the young swordmaster who will grow to be a more worthy opponent to Di Feisheng. Di Feisheng as the man who has learned to survive in the Jianghu better than Li Xiangyi did and can be a better guide to Fang Duobing.

But of course these two find each other beyond all that. They were just learning to see each other, but then that hinge is gone and it changes every equation. Di Feisheng is left behind just like Fang Duobing is. They're equals in a way Li Lianhua never allowed Fang Duobing to be. That intricate tug-of-war they play about who is closest to Li Lianhua ends in a draw with both of them on the ground, defeated. Of course I'm going insane about them helping each other up after!

[donovaneagle2098]

Bear Witcher/Arnaghad Headcannons

Here's a list of Bear Headcannons because I can't stop thinking about them. They won't leave my brain no matter how much I try.

-their fighting style is more about dodging than a lot of the Bears' lore says. (Actually I don't think this is a headcannon I think they have confirmed in like the TRPG and that "what Witcher school are you?" quiz that their armor is super flexible for dodging and that they're just very good with quen so the school got a reputation for tanking blows)

-they hate authority/are possibly anarchists. Another low key cannon one. The Cat School lore in Gwent lists the Bears as "firebrands", Arnaghad is cited over and over as having trouble with authority, as does Gerd and Ivo's lore. Honestly so many people connect Lambert to the Cat School but he'd fit right in with the Bears too.

-Arnaghad got a following and respect from other Witchers because of his hatred for authority. Most Witchers, ESPECIALLY early era Witchers, did not come to the Order of their own choice, and I think Arnaghad speaking his mind about the school not needing a code that further takes choice away from future Witchers is what earned him support.

-Arnaghad was a slave. I think this because he comes from Gemmera, a country bordered by several nations that practice slavery, and we know the Order was not above buying test subjects. It also explains why he "hated anyone who tried to impose their will on him."

-Arnaghad attacked Rhys because he lost a student. I have no evidence to support this one at all, I just like the idea of Arnaghad losing a student to the Trial of the Grasses, and him going off to hunt a monster, so he can work through his grief with violence, finding Rhys already took the contract, and not getting to picky about what target he tried to kill while grieving. I especially think it's be sad if Rhys, seeing Arnaghad, went to comfort him about his dead student, only for Arnaghad to draw his sword before he can get a word out. It humanizes him without excusing his violence.

-Gryphon, the Order's swordmaster who inspired the creation of the Griffin Witchers, picked on Arnaghad. Gemmera, Arnaghad's homeland, supposedly constantly attacked it's neighbors including Gryphon's home country, so I think the idea of Gryphon treating Arnaghad as a barbarian fits his character, and a lot of Witcher esque themes of knightly hypocrisy.

-the Bears were the most successful school. This one is just economics. When the Bears left the Order of Witchers, the location they picked to set up shop was on a massive mountain range bordering the North and South. Anyone who wanted to pass through or around that mountain range for things like trade would need a guide, and who better than a Witcher who had been trained on those mountains? Toussaint especially would need protection to get their wine across the mountains, and the Bear's final trial was on Mt. Gorgon.

-Skellige hero worships the Bears. Kind of implied already, but I love the idea that the Skellige armor sets you get, which look a lot like the Bear school gear, were inspired by tales of the Bear school, since we know the Skelligers loved them.

I got more but this post has gone on long enough. If you made it this far, thank you for reading, you're awesome and I hope you have a day that's just as great as you are.

Oh and, uh... my ever wonderful friend and Witcher TRPG game player @aerllette , my always incredible mutual @loganyeehawhowlett who I know loves a good Witcher story, and my new super amazing Witcher mutual @seainthestars , any Witcher Headcannons you guys have?

[malsfefanfics]

OC Profile: Tancred

art by @/nessiemccormick, edited down to icon size by me

"He was always very sickly, according to his family. But from what I've seen, he's very enthusiastic and wise beyond his years. Tancred seems to really like it when people say his name, or when they compare him to his brother. I expect great things from him in the future." -- Edelgard, about Tancred

Full name: Tancred von Vestra Nicknames: Tanc (most people), Mini-Bert (Hapi and Yuri), Treasure (Ferdinand and Dorothea), Sweet-Breeze (Medee) Birthday: Day 31st of the Wyvern Moon, 1174 Age: 6-7 (Pre-TS), 11-12+ (Post-TS) Crest: None Family: Marquis Iason von Vestra (Father, Deceased), Medee (Mother), Hubert (Older Brother), Rosamund (Older sister) Nationality: Adrestia Titles: Hidden Treasure, Mage of Mercy Voice Claim: Maxey Whitehead (Child voice, similar to Alphonse from FMAB), Zach Aguilar (as he ages, hitting somewhere between Tanjiro in Demon Slayer to Aether in Genshin Impact)

Interests: History of Fódlan and surrounding nations, Opera, Magic Studies, Language Learning Likes: Sweets, His brothers and sisters, Gardening, Riding Dislikes: His father, People who are mean, seeing others in pain

Favorite Meals: Saghert and Cream, Sweet Trio Bun, Peach Sorbet, Sautéed Jerky, Liked Meals: Vegetable Pasta Salad. Country-Style Red Turnip Plate, Vegetable Stir-Fry, Small Fish Skewers, Disliked Meals: Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew, Daphnel Stew, Bourgeois Pike,

Tea Preferences: Dandelion Root Blend, Dagda Fruit Blend, Southern Fruit Blend, Sweet Apple Blend, Lavender Blend

Liked Gifts: Hunting Dagger, Board Game, Sheet Music, Armored Bear Stuffy, Tea Leaves, Exotic Spices Disliked Gifts: Goddess Statuette, Blue Cheese

Lost Items:

Bag of Herbs: A velvet pouch of strong smelling herbs that remind you of mint leaves. You find they make you breathe easier.

Small Toy Soldier: A toy soldier that looks to be part of a set. The handmade clothes remind you of someone sinister.

Tin Whistle: A small musical instrument that plays an airy tune. It's size seems best fit for a younger musician.

Starting Class: Noble Preferred Class Path: Noble --> Monk/Myrmidon --> Mage/Dark Mage/Priest/Thief --> Swordmaster/Bishop/Dark Bishop/Warlock --> Dancer/Mortal Savant/Trickster Strength: White Magic, Black Magic, Dark Magic Weakness: Heavy Armor, Brawling Budding Talent: Sword Personal Skill: 'Calming Winds' - Restores 10% HP to nearby allies each turn.

Weapons Starting Levels:

Sword: E+ Lance: E Axe: E Bow: E Brawling: E Reason: D+ Faith: D+ Authority: E+ Heavy Armor: E Riding: E Flying: E

Base Stats:

HP: 17 Str: 5 Mag: 10 Dex: 10 Spd: 7 Lck: 8 Def: 6 Res: 6 Cha: 10

Learned Faith Spells: Heal, Nosferatu, Physic, Restore, Seraphim Learned Reason Spells: Wind, Miasma Δ (Dark Mage) Thoron (Mage), Cutting Gale, Death Γ, Dark Spikes Τ

Recruit Requirements for Canon-Compliance AUs: CF exclusive - Must have up to B support with Hubert.

Potential Supports:

Byleth

Hubert

Rosamund

Medee

Linhardt

Dorothea

Ferdinand

Ashe

Mercedes

Jeritza

Lysithea

Marianne

Ignatz

Hapi

Constance

Dimitri (Through Meals Only, up to B)

Dedue: (Through Meals Only, up to B)

Crit Quotes: (Pre-Timeskip)

Stay back!

Stop it!

I can't falter!

I need to fight!

Just a little more.

I'm sorry!

I need an opening.

Must one of us die?

Crit Quotes: (Post-Timeskip)

For my brother!

For my sister!

I am your pyre!

I will make an opening!

You will be silenced!

Mind and Heart guide me.

Your head is mine!

I do what I must.

I must stay alive.

We shall prevail!

Defeat Quotes:

I can't be here. I need to go.

I...don't feel good....

I'm scared....I want to go home....

I don't want to die alone.....

Hubert....Rosa.....I'm sorry I made you sad.....

Skill Level Increase Quotes:

This is so much fun!

Glad I could get out of bed today.

I think I'm getting stronger. (Weaknesses)

That was too easy. (Strengths)

I never knew I could do that! (Budding Talent)

Level Up Quotes:

I hope I can make everyone proud.

I'm so much stronger now.

I'm know I can be stronger.

This is to help everyone.

You sure I can't learn a bit more?

Gift Quotes:

Liked Gifts: My absolute favorite! Thank you, thank you!

Neutral Gifts: You're so nice to me. Why?

Disliked Gifts: Did I do something to upset you? I'm really sorry.