#technicall yes...

[muckyschmuck]

omg redraw of old cat . why

[cherryfennec]

what do you think would have happened if Timpani hadn't found Blumiere at the base of the cliff and he would have died? do you think the prophecy would have still happened? if yes, then do you happen to have any theories about who would have carried it out and would they have succeeded?

So this is a very difficult question! The topic of the prophecies in the Dark Prognosticus is just in general one of the more trivial things to consider.

So let's go through over the main scenario: Blumiere falls from a cliff and is probably hidden well under the rubble. Timpani, who happens to be in the area, can't really see anyone under the scarp because of the dirt and rocks so she assumes the pieces fell naturally due to a small earthquake or wind and there's no one there. While she walks away, Blumiere unfortunately is too weak to make it out of the rubble and ultimately dies.

Now...

What would this mean for Timpani and the Tribe of Darkness specifically? Well first of all, neither of them would end up dead/gone.

It is implied through the short snippets of the main villians backstory (which appear in-between chapters) that ultimately after losing his beloved and becoming Count Bleck, Blumiere wipes out his clan, which is rather gruesome but not unexpected for this game tbh. With him dissapearing instead (cause theres a chance they might've not even found him) everyone in the Tribe lives and he himself would be portrayed as an innocent person until the end, the loss of whom only brought sorrow to his family and friends. Other than that the civilization would still thrive for years to come.

As for Timpani: without having met Blumiere, she would've probably spent her days living a normal daily life, not even knowing someone like him ever existed. She could expand her hobbies, travel, make friends etc. She could even find a partner but... it wouldn't be the same and I'll elaborate on that in a bit. In general she would have had more time to discover herself and enjoy the little things.

What does this mean for the prophecy?

The Dark Prognosticus is kinda weird because it describes the future that relies on the book being read. Basically it knows that it will be opened, but because it will be opened the prophecy will happen in the first place, which it also knows. It gets confusing when you think about it too much. In any case the 'end of the world' requires someone to kickstart all the events.

Blumieres and Timpanis love was a very rare kind of love, an extremely strong and dedicated one. And if not for that fact, Bleck wouldn't probably go as far as to destroying everything just for her sake. Now without our specially picked out Champion of Destruction, would it even be possible for the prophecy to happen? As we said before if the Count died at the cliff, the book would absolutely know about it. With this in mind there are 3 options as I see it:

The prophecy couldn't be fulfilled/it wouldn't exist in this timeline. Basically: There was no other person that could play the role of the catalyst nor had the means to obtain the Prognosticus/didn't know it existed and so the danger never arrived and everyone lived happily ever after. (yipie no trauma for the Mario gang and especially Luigi yahoo)

The prophecy could be fulfilled by a new character who also fits the requirements and basically fills in for Count Bleck. Simply put: the book found someone else good for the role and it all plays out as written. This is where the plot is up to interpretation because there are just too many factors to take into consideration.'Who would reach out for help to Mario?', I don't know, maybe this new character could also be doing this for the sake of someone else I and that's who would be our Timpani replacement or something I guess.'Would Mimi and O'Chunks be there to help?', probably not because the reason they joined in on the plan in the first place is specifically tied to the person that the Count was. But you know who would definitely be there?

Technically we don't really need a new character and it's going to be a little obvious who I'm about to mention. The prophecy is much more altered in this scenario, and it basically revolves about Dimentio carrying it all out. So from the gossip you get from the barista about everyone on Team Bleck it is implied that Dimentio was the one who actively sought out the Count, not the other way around. From this we can deduce that he was aware of the Dark Prognosticus's existence and was out to get it by all means. Out of the known to us characters he'd really be the one person who would end up tied to the fate of the book in most cases. So in this scenario he simply steals the book from the tribe and tries to work it out by himself. 'Would he be able to carry it out alone?' I'd say there's a chance he could do it. Being built on deceipt and using others he might've been able to work from the shadows and make his way to the end goal. 'How would Mario learn about it?' Again, I don't know. It's up to the ones interpretation really. Imagine if Dimentio just goes around taking people who have the slightest trace of green on them and thus becomes like this underground villain and no-one knows anything him about other than his existence. He's like this rumour that people like to scare kids with. One day Mario hears about it, laughs it off then Luigi randomly dissapears and the chase is on, during which the red plumber learns about this mysterious figure and it's intentions bit by bit and theres like a side Peach and Bowser plot which ends with Dimentio taking up a fake persona and tricking them into saying their vows to create the Chaos Heart IDK.

I could try writing up a specific scenario for this but it'd require more time to plan out if I were to actually do it, I'd basically be writing a completely new story which tends to be difficult. (I'm currently trying my hand in writing a spm fic based on the 'Bad End Trio' Luigi design of mine and barely reached over 2k words. I'm not even near done and it's already been taking way longer than I thought it would. That's exactly why I very much respect writers.)

[silversdragonemporium]

Hopes Bylie going in her own little silly adventures by herself... Why is Miklan so scared of her? Why does she have a secret handshake with Duchess Ifan? Why does she have matching tattoos with Judith von Daphnel? Why was she named, due to a technicallity, the red star of Enbar (a famous pageant for handsome men in Enbar)? How did she teach briefly in Fhirdiad's Academy of Sorcery? Why was she charged for tax evasion in Albinea? While the blue lions were doing War (tm) in Hopes, my girl perfected her srengsi, was stranded to Brigid for two weeks, accidentally seduced an almyran princess and adopted an ugly turtle that might or not might have been Indech (since she was an awful archer, she ignored The Inexhaustible and tried to keep him as a pet against his will).

[[At camp dining with the blue lions about Duchess Ifan]]

Byleth: We met in prison. She was my cellmate.

Ifan: We even have matching BFF tattoos with Judy too!

Dimitri: Judy?

Byleth: Oh right, I think her name was Judith von Daphnel.

Dimitri: You were ALL in prison?!

Byleth: I think Judy was there for a spying mission.

Ifan: I was charged for treason by Cornelia.

Byleth: I was charged for intent of murder of a noble with a deadly weapon.

Ifan: Oh Byllie, dear, don't be shy, please share the details.

Byleth: I threw an alligator at viscount Kleimann.

Byleth: ... I was spearfishing in the river, and when I finally got the pike I wanted... I realized there was a man reaching for my fish... I just wanted to scare him away from my food... I didn't want to release the fish I just caught so I reached for the closest thing... how was I supppose to know that he wouldn't dodge the alligator I threw at him?... so I was charged with intent of murder of a noble with a deadly weapon.

Ifan: Can you see why we love her so much now, my dear?

Dimitri:

The rest of the blue Lions:

Dedue: Would you like an extra slice of meatpie miss Eisner?

THIS REMINDS ME OF RATATOUILLE more specifically that one dude that went to prison and when asked seems to always change the story but I maintain that he probably did ALL of the things he confesses to in the same crime, somehow. Byleth would have the wackiest backstory, and yet all of it is true or actually understated/downplayed

I can't remember if it was Engage or Heroes, but if I'm not mistaken I think that Byleth says that their lecture style usually consisted of telling stories. So their teaching style seems to stem from their practical experiences as a mercenary and how so-and-so strategy can apply at any given situation.

So all this to say that yes, I can see Byleth having the WACKIEST experiences ever, and being extremely casual about it. And having best friend tattoos with Judith and Duke Ifan.

Judith and Duke Ifan also deserved more time in the limelight I conceptually love these two so much.

Thank you for sharing this ask with me Nonnie! (And sorry for taking so long to reply, I've been in a weird headspace all week)

[blonde-batgirl]

“Soccer and teams are born from an overwhelming striker.” This is what Isagi deduces Ego is thinking in chapter eight, following the match with Barou where Team X rapidly forms around him.

I have a theory that, pre-Blue Lock, Kunigami is used to being that overwhelming striker that teams form around. This is the fourth time I’ve taken a crack at writing this out, because it keeps getting far too long, so to make this easier we’re going to stick to the First Selection and split it into sections starting with…

The Team Y Match

In the Team Y match, Team Z have a bold new plan: each of them (except for Chigiri and Iemon) will be the striker the team revolves around for ten minutes of the game. During Kunigami’s turn, here is what Isagi thinks about his playstyle:

“He lets his teammates take care of moving the ball up… so then he’s free to go right to the front line! Rather than the penalty area, which is crowded with players, he positions himself just in front of it… receives a pass from his teammates… and once his teammates clear a space for him… he drives in the ball with his powerful left leg!!”

This is very much where this theory springs from. There’s repeated emphasis here on how much he allows his teammates to do for him. Within the Egoist Four, this makes Kunigami unique – the other three have all expressed the desire to go it alone at one point or another, whether its Isagi’s obsession with scoring his own goals, Bachira trying to take back his lonely soccer, or Chigiri declaring that his ideal self doesn’t want to pass. Additionally, we’ve seen both Bachira and Chigiri carry the ball up the field to the goal entirely on their own with their dribbling skills and speed respectively (Team V match and Manshine City match respectively). We also know that all three of them experienced some level of alienation from their previous teammates: Isagi felt like he couldn’t be himself around them, Bachira was himself (affectionate) and suffered for it, and Chigiri was also himself (derogatory) and got bullied by the Wanima brothers. We don’t really know anything about Kunigami’s backstory yet, but the fact that he’s so willing to rely on teammates he barely knows suggests he didn’t have that problem and implies that he's used to his teammates working to support his goals.

Speaking of which…

The Tag Game

One of Kunigami’s first acts as a member of Team Z is to try and enforce fair play during the tag game. This is after Ego has told them that the only rule is that they can’t use their hands. At this point, most of Team Z don’t even know each other’s names – he has no authority here and there’s no reason for him to believe that anyone will listen to him besides confidence or, perhaps, experience. He’s not doing this from a place of assumed equal footing either – even if some of the guys in the room didn’t know who Kira was, Igaguri has just loudly announced his identity.

It's worth bearing in mind here that we can only speculate on what Kunigami makes of Ego and this whole situation. Isagi, Chigiri, and even Imamura (at the start of the tag game) have established opinions on Ego’s trustworthiness. Kunigami is less bothered by being in the soccer Hunger Games than he is about said soccer Hunger Games not being adequately policed. As mentioned above, we do know that he puts a lot of emphasis on playing fair, and he always shares credit when he feels it’s warranted (yes, sharing the steak, but he also tells the rest of the team in chapter eight that his goal in the Team X match wouldn’t have happened without both Isagi and Bachira). Neither of these seem like very pro-Ego’s-philosophy character traits (although Raichi does point out that there could be a selfish motivation to sharing credit - if people keep passing to him, he can score more).

However, Kunigami plays pretty fast and loose with playing fair when it suits him…

The Team X Match and Kunigami VS Raichi

Technically, Team Z come into the Team X match with a plan. I say technically, because Raichi breaks formation almost immediately and Kunigami charges right after him. There are three ways to interpret this:

Learning from previous mistakes: he already tried enforcing fair play during the tag game and (shockingly) nobody listened

Pragmatism: yeah, he cares about fair play, but it’s not fair play if no one else is playing fair. If this is how things work here, then fine, he’ll play along

Blatant hypocrisy: this one is arguably backed up by Isagi’s thoughts over a panel of Kunigami, Raichi, and some of the Team X guys battling over the ball – “All of them are only thinking about themselves.”

Kunigami himself puts it down to the second one. Regardless, this throws Team Z into immediate disarray. As Team Z are all scrambling to be the main character, Barou is succeeding in becoming that on Team X. He overpowers the rest of his teammates and they promptly fall in behind him – after all, if their team comes in first or second overall, they all get through regardless of who scores. The only reason the same thing doesn’t happen on Team Z is that they’re the main characters none of them manage to score alone.

Kunigami does score in this match, but it’s not his goal that pulls the team together - it’s Isagi’s pass to him. With Barou coming at him, faced with a choice between Raichi (who was free) and Kunigami (who had a defender on him), Isagi chose to pass to Kunigami. Which brings us to one question: why does Isagi pass to Kunigami? Isagi himself tells Raichi that this was subconscious. Later, with the benefit of hindsight, Isagi hypothesises that he did this because he had personal experience with how hard Kunigami could kick and he thought Barou could potentially take on Raichi. But, as noted, Barou was on Isagi at the time and not really any closer to Raichi than he was Kunigami. Of course, this is Isagi’s weapon in its earliest stages – Isagi subconsciously realised that he himself could not beat Barou and, given a choice between Kunigami and Raichi, he identified Kunigami as the one overwhelming striker of the three of them.

To Conclude

I don't feel like I should be hitting post without adding some form of conclusion, so a quick summary of my argument: I think, pre-Blue Lock, Kunigami was used to being the one overwhelming striker that teams formed around and I think this informs his behaviour throughout the First Selection. This would also track with the rest of the Egoist Four, who all behave the way they do because of backstory baggage (Bachira has been lonely his whole life, Chigiri is terrified of reinjuring his leg, Isagi passed a ball once...) Once they're officially working together, Kunigami has no problem trusting his teammates to support him in scoring and he also comes into the story with the confidence to believe that he can lay down the law and people will actually listen to him (nope - ball to the face). Additionally, Isagi instinctively identifies him as the character most likely to make a goal out of the two of them and Raichi.

[coeluvr]

Technicallity incoming! He already started it in his family! 😀

Yes, the marriage between MC and him is full of baloney and everyone knows it. But on paper, they are still his consort and as such, in a technical standpoint, his family. So he is actually continuing the cycle in his family by treating the MC probably in the same way his dad poorly treated Luceris and his mom.

Yes, its technical and doesn't hold weight, but if this man can jump through dozens of mental hoops to come to the justification for his treatment of MC, I can jump through dozens of mental hoop to accuse him of something too! 😆

LOL well technically maybe!

Luceris doesn't consider MC his family and I'm plenty sure MC doesn't either. But technically I guess... 🫣

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

An Evil Ball on the Isle:

I need to get my thoughts into order and can't write by hand now so you have to deal with it

It's an attempt to promote VK Day, certainly much more effective than whatever the hell was going on in canon

It also explains why on earth Evie took three to five ballgowns to the Isle of the Lost. Girl's gotta have choices.

And the Isle kids would never miss a party

As you can probably tell, this has not seen canon from the end of D2. Like, Escape?? I don't know her.

Uma slipped to the Isle as Core 4 opened the Barrier. If it goes one way, it works the other too. Whatever. It won't be her PoV, and no one else would know the technicallities.

Lost Revenge is very much thrilled to have Uma back

So is Harry

Yes they're making a big entrance

The pirate crews (= the Hook kids) were one of the only ones who did not receive an invitation, for obvious reasons.

The reasons being two attempts at regicide by the family so far.

The other family who did not receive an invitation were the Mims

Both the Hooks and the Mims will be crashing the party anyway, obviously.

Uma would like to murder Mal, thank you for asking.

Harry just wants to dance with Uma, ngl, but he supports her murder attempts anyway <3

This just causes Harriet to screech at them, „I'm trying to fucking dance over there-“

As I said, Evie does nothing much to stop any murder. An Evil Ball needs something like that to be proper, she learned from the best, after all.

Sammy Smee is suffering.

They wanted to stay as guard on the ship but were dragged along by both Harriet and Marya. They hate it.

Gonzo and someone who's not figured out yet stayed as watch on the Revenge. The reaction to being assigned this task was „At least I won't have to see you rwo make out all night.“ (Random crewmember: „There's literally a murder plan in motion." Gonzo, suffering: „Do you think that's gonna stop them from making out?“)

Look Gonzo knows how it goes, yeah?

I'm wondering if CJ crashes from Auradon, too. She'd get yelled to hell and back.

Freddie might have went with Core 4 to see Celia and Dr F though.

...Why the hell didn't Freddie go in the first place?! She's the persuasive one!

I hate it here.

Anyway. There should be time for a little de Vil cousins reunion. Not sure how it would go though.

I only have first two segments figured out.

Also would Jay voluntarily go on a ball??

Evie dragged him didn't she. He spends the evening outside chatting to the kids who needed a breath of fresh air (and/or more likely a smoke break. Mims are there and business is not gonna wait)

It's surprisingly effective tbh

Mal does NOT want to be on a Ball. She had enough of these in Auradon, thank you for asking.

She does not get a choice.

That said, she doesn't detest the assassination attempts as much as one might have guessed. Anything but a Ball, you see.

I think that's all for now??

[zacksfairest]

Top 5 favorite books of 2023 and 5 least favorite books, go!

Oh boy! I was so very kind to myself this year and read mostly bangers. Let's see what we've got.

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang. Now, I love the entire Poppy War trilogy, make no mistake about that. It completely rewired my brain and has firmly taken up the spot of Favorite Series Ever. But The Dragon Republic specifically was just It for me. It gave me everything. A well thought out and executed campaign of war, not sparing us the grizzly details (civilian casualties, civilian displacement, the logistics of moving a large army, how ACTUAL BATTLES work), as well as WAR CRIMES. But in addition to that, I was given Rin and Nezha. The epitome of Show Not Tell where it comes to developing feelings. Hateful schoolmates turned comrades in arms turned almost lovers turned mortal enemies. A tragedy that serves as a mere backdrop to the larger tragedy happening in the country at large due to a lingering invading force and a newly sparked civil war. This was easily my favorite book of the year, and I have been chasing the high from reading it ever since. Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn. Yeah, I've owned this book since 2006 and never read it. What about it? I am well aware that was a major blunder on my part. Perhaps had I read it sooner, I would have been able to hop on the Thrawn train much sooner than 30 years late. This book truly had me sucked in right from the start. Young soldier Thrawn? Dedicated to his troops and his people? Willing to do anything to keep his people safe from the dangers that lurk in the infinite abyss if the universe? Swoon worthy. And also watching Maris be all heart eyes over Thrawn was a big Same Girl moment. Mr. Zahn knew what he was doing to us all along. Yet another book that understands how battles work! And with characters at the helm that are actual good tacticians and understand how battles work also. Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn. Yes. Another Thrawn book. Shut up. I loved the entirety of the (original) Thrawn trilogy, but this one really stood out. Leia was allowed to do her thing and be a force to be reckoned with in her own right. Also it felt good seeing a pregnant woman not be sidelined just because she was pregnant. Leia Organa-Solo does not stop and will not be stopped. This was yet another book that understood war and tactics, as well as the espionage that goes into ensuring proper battle plans can be laid out. I owe Zahn my life for being so consistent with this content, as I am a drowning lass in a sea of books that do not fucking understand how this shit works. Also, Thrawn won this round, which felt good. Felt organic. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo. AH, YES. The book that proved I was right to put my faith in Bardugo and her plans for Ninth House. We got hot demons! We got fucked up journeys to hell! We got vampires! We got it all here, folks! I'm still super hoping that we get to see someone fuck Darlington by the third book. I want to see that demon dick in action. I hope it's fucked up. The Stolen Heir by Holly Black. This one went an entirely different route than I thought. I expected your standard YA fare: hot dude and meek girl meet, are at odds for a bit, fall in love, etc., except with fae. I should have known better. It's Holly Black, after all. Instead I got a viscious girl as my main character, a hot fae dude (Oak, baby. You're all gown up!), but they have most definitely not fallen in love by the end of this book. I got to put this on my Problematic Villain Love Interests shelf on goodreads! And not even for the reason I usually do! I still think about that final line: "I can't pretend that I don't like the sound of him screaming my name."

As for our bottom five... well. It's a bottom three. Like I said, I was kind to myself this year (also I read a lot of manga. Don't look at me.)

The Resistance Girl by Jina Bacarr. We don't talk about this one. I technically started reading it at the end of 2022, but I didn't finish it until we were decently into 2023. So it counts. It was awful. Terrible. An affront to the written word. And not for the reasons that everyone was up in arms about it. Writing was terrible. Characters were awful and indistinguishable from each other. Plot was bad. Dialogue was the worst slop I've ever laid eyes on. Descriptions not much better. It was just awful. A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber. This one was a spirit breaker. The Ballad of Neverafter was so goddamned good. The ending specifically was spectacular and left us off on a wonderfully torturous cliffhanger. I was so excited for what the final book had in store. However, I was so caught up in the euphoria of having a delightful fucked up immortal love interest in Jacks, that I forgot that Garber is Not Great at ending her series. The book overall really wasn't fantastic (a tragedy), but there was a Specific Line toward the end that fucking just. Ruined the entire book for me. Lowkey ruined the whole series, but I fight hard to prevent that from being the case. I loved the first two books so much. I refuse to let terrible storytelling and copouts and a single retcon ruin it for me. Final Fantasy VII Remake: Traces of Two Pasts by Kazushige Nojima. This one was really just a big letdown. It was just a meandering tale of Tifa and Aerith's childhoods. We somehow just completely skipped over how traumatic their respective experiences were at the hands of Shinra. We instead decided to give me boring as fuck stories about their everyday lives. Like. I get it. This is really just a money grab and a way to generate hype for FFVII: Rebirth. But still. Have some pride in your work, Square! Have pride in your characters! Let the writers have fun! I still stand by the idea that the translator might have had a bit to do with why I didn't enjoy it, though. The Kids Are Alright remains one of my favorite books, and the writing for that was fantastic. It was written by the same guy who wrote this book! And it had, what I would say is, the best english translation for a Japanese novel I've ever read. But the translator who worked on the FFXV novel The Dawn of the Future also worked on this Tifa and Aerith centric novel, and I wasn't a giant fan of the writing in the FFXV book either. So while the translator probably played a part in how much this book disappointed me, I don't think much could have saved the meandering plot and redundant experiences contained within.

[nyaskitten]

Is Wu a dilf?

By a technicallity, yes. Morro was sort of like his son, so he counts. As of right now, however, he's more of a gilf. But he was at his hottest when he looked like this

THIS is the type of beauty standard I will hold ALL men to. If you don't look like him, I'm not interested smh. /j

[australet789]

What sort of science do you like?

If we go by technicallities, im into Genetics and Biotechnology because that's what i studied

But in general? I like science in all the areas. I just love learning how to do things, how these things happened. The understanding of our world and how life works is amazing. Yes, Math included!! I loved when i learned about the Game Theory, about Fibonacci and how it works in nature, Fractals and their indeterminism, Biostatistics my beloved.

Chem! Inorganic chem is more appealing to me than organic, but i loved when i knew how to write the name of the Organic Compounds, when we made fire on the water, balancing equations, the way protons move around the atom and how they stabilize, i memorized all the periodic table because it was cool to just do it.

Physics! While my least favorite in theory, in practice is cool af! Pascal and the way water and fluids behave, electricity and circuits, PV=RTn, thermodynamics.

And if i talk about Biology i wont ever stop xD

Probably the only science i dont like is space. Idk it kinda scares me and the complex names dont compute in my brain. But apart from that, i just love...science!!! It's cool to know shit!

[kiibo0the0human0robot]

astroid city

ah yes the third party to the trio in technicallity that it is still in theaters to watch.

it is neutral.

[yanderefairyangel]

I have a question. If IS didn't intended Nel and Rafal to be siblings with Alear why having Nel and Veyle create a sister bond in their support ?

Idk I am not IS but I wouldn't equate "ah yes Nel and Veyle have a sister bond that means she is Alear' sister" cause no ?

Nel and Rafal still hails from a world where they are siblings with Veyle, but that doesn't concern Alear has in their world Alear is not their siblings. And that's simply going by the game's argument and not following the whole ancestor shenanigans.

Anyway I wouldn't read too deep into this. In Japan, there is this rather strict view on family that people are family only and strictly if they are realted by blood, so when people bond using word like "sis" or "bro" or if you prefer "Nesan" or "onichan" it's not considered as weird as the fandom seems to think it is because they have clear and determined bondaries. And at the end of the day, Sombron and Xenobron counts as seperate people so in the strict sense they aren't siblings. But that's only if you want to be technical about it. Unless you are part of the people who will argue that by a way of huge technicallity it still counts.

[thelastlonelywriter]

To be honest with you all, ‘it’s my god-given bisexual right to be dramatic’ applies to the whole fellowship.

Aragorn - upon being questioned for his habit of staring moodily off into the distance, specifically if his crush happens to be in earshot 

Boromir - whenever questioned, on anything- the response doesn’t even have to be applicable to the question, if he thinks the question is dumb then this is the only answer you’ll get

Legolas - constantly. does this really need to be explained?

Gimli - at first he uses it exclusively when fighting Legolas because Legolas gets mad (that’s my thing!), but later he uses it in arguments with Legolas because that + kissing Legolas on the cheek distract Legolas long enough that he effectively wins the argument

 Frodo - only once. to be fair, he had to be pleaded into it by Pippin, but he was very proud of himself

Sam - when he wants to be left alone (tell us another story Mr Gamgee! let me help with the garden Mr Gamgee!) he makes excuses and then, when questioned, uses it as a response 

Pippin - see Legolas

Merry - he’s somewhat more selective in his use than Pippin or Legolas, but if you catch him off guard with a question, it’s his knee-jerk response

Gandalf - when questioned on any poor choice/disappearance/withholding of information, so rather a lot

[moonbrooke]

two month map update ✨

[fablewolf44]

The only time I can go through my drafts is when I’m sleep deprived because that’s the only time they’re funny.

[hopeheartfilia]

Watched couples rhythmic ice skating, was fun

[amatres]

Himiko the Dawn Dragon. Patron Goddess of Hoshido, Goddess of the Dawn, Healing, and Harvest.

The Dawn Dragon is worshiped as a Goddess among the Mortal Plain Nornir, and is most widely worshiped within the Kingdom of Hoshido, championed as their patron. Both the Raijinto and the Mirror of Truth are attributed to her and considered holy artifacts of the Kingdom.

Other Characters of the War of Twelve;

- (old) Sawsan

- (old ver.) Atropos

-The Dawn Clan was one of the many clans that were denied membership among the Council when the decree to ban interpersonal relationships between clans was decreed. Seen as hybrids born from continued joining of Flame Dragons and Storm Dragons, they were shunned and scorned by the council and, in turn, the recognized clans. They were not allowed near recognized clan's territories, though tolerated to exist in what was considered undesirable habitats.

-Himiko was born to the clan's chieftain and was well loved by her people, partly due to the fact the birthrate of children had drastically fallen in the centuries after the first Great Degeneration. She showed a high aptitude for magic and was soon hailed as a prodigy among her peers.

-With her nearing birthday, she was sent on a pilgrimage to a nearby holy ground as part of tradition of all those who would one day run the clan as chieftain. Before she parted, her mother gave her a bronze mirror as a celebratory gift. She had noticed how much Himiko would admire her own mirror, and thought it would be a perfect gift. Unfortunately for Himiko and her clan, this would be the last time she would see any of them while they lived.

-The Dawn Clan had been framed by the true culprits of the Storm Clan's massacre and in retribution the Dawn Clan was wiped out as well. All except for Himiko, who returned from her pilgrimage to find the ravaged remains of her home. She took on the duty of laying her family, friends, and clan to rest, performing the funeral rights all on her own.

-This caught the attention of a nearby human tribe. Upon finding her among the ruins of her people, they offered her a place among them. Himiko agreed, and began to travel with them. In honor of her clan, the tribe named themselves the Dawn Tribe.

-It wasn’t long until the massacre ebcame widely known, and for knowledge of her survival to travel among the scattered communities. For one reason or another, many began to flock to Himiko’s side and rallied her into seeking justice for her people in the only way she could, a war.

-At first the Council of Six ignored her existence, not seeing any point to kill a lone survivor and believed her people would simply die off with her. However, they soon were forced to take notice when her and her growing army gradually increased in number and in boldness. First attacking merchants and travelers, then smaller communities of the Clans. The Council gathered together an army of their own but from infighting and inner mechanisms, the army splintered and began fighting each other.

-Himiko took full advantage of this, and soon enough had managed to put a strong dent into the recognized clan and tribes’ numbers. Her followers just as well had been growing and learning from their allies. Humans most of all grew from this, as they had learned not only the ways of healing and curses from Himiko, but also what would later become the skillset of a ninja from their Kitsune allies and the brutal fighting of the Wolfskin that would influence the fighting styles of Berserkers.

-Some time near the end years of the war, Himiko came across an injured human boy in the aftermath of a battle and realized he had simply been an innocent caught in the crossfire. Feeling sympathy for his situation, she took him back to her followers base and personally healed him. While she was unable to do a complete job, he eventually came to and the two became friends.

-The human boy soon was inseparable from Himiko and trusted each other explicitly. However, he was unhappy with his lasting injuries and one day admitted it to Himiko. She offered to create a blood bond with him, in hopes the dragon blood would give him an edge other humans didn’t. He accepted.

-However the war at this point had been dragging on for generations of humans, and those who once sympathized with Himiko were all gone and in their places were their descendants who had become increasingly weary of the fighting. When word spread that the Water Dragon and her companion were offering humans an edge against the dragons, enough members of the Dawn Tribe grew interested and sent a group without Himiko’s knowledge to Notre Sagesse to hear what the two offered.

-When the group returned, they shared that a weapon could be forged that would easily fell even a dragon and that all they needed to craft such a thing would be a dragon’s dragonstone. Soon after, Himiko’s own dragonstone disappeared. Distraught and endangered for being left in a near powerless humanoid form, she begged her human friend to find what had become of it.

-He left and months passed as Himiko’s anxiety grew until he eventually returned. Yet instead of the stone he promised, he instead wielded a blade forged from it’s shards and no longer able to be used for Himiko.

-The Dawn Clan, with the boy now a man as their leader turned against Himiko, and restrained her. At the man’s behest, they did not immediately kill her and tried to reason with her, but the betrayal had cut to deep and instead she cursed her former friend and the sword he so proudly wielded. 

-’All those who wield that blade born from your betrayal shall never know a peaceful end until I myself lift this curse from you and all after you.’

-Unable to bring himself to kill her, he instead took a second method advised to him by the Water Dragon and sealed her away within the mirror given to her all those years ago and her last remaining memento of her massacred clan.

-The man was named the tribe’s new leader and he soon after the war’s end founded the Kingdom of Hoshido, where he was crowned King. 

-Despite marrying and having children of his own, his deeds haunted him and he became more and more reclused as he would spend hours praying at the shrine set up to Himiko with her mirror. He begged for her forgiveness and for her to speak to him like she did his children, but was met with silence. One day, his retainers convinced him to leave for once and spend time with his family he had been neglecting. But their peaceful outing was shattered by an attack of bandits. His wife and children escaped as he remained behind to defend them and in the battle he was killed. 

-The blade made from Himiko’s dragon shards, the Raijinto, was passed onto his eldest son when it seemingly chose him on his coronation day, the curse placed onto it forgotten. 

-The mirror soon became hailed as a holy relic to communicate to their goddess with, and it became tradition for at least one of the royal family bearing the blood bond would join the priesthood as they could hear her the clearest. However, this honor was also considered a curse, as those who got too close to the mirror were rumored to go mad. So, the mirror is contained within the Temple of the Dawn, once the Royal Palace, near Fort Jinya.

Finally finished Himiko! Her hairstyle was supposed to be somewhat based off an interpretation of her namesake, albeit altered. In the end it... doesn't look anything like the hairstyle I had originally wanted to base it off of, taking on the look of another hairstyle I had found while looking for references. Is what I ended up with a realistic hairstyle? Probably not. But mmmm I like it so. The mirror originally was supposed to a reference to her namesake as well, as the Queen Himiko was said to have received mirrors from China when they officially recognized her as Queen. 

However, mirrors are also used as a representative of the kami or even a conduit for which the kami will use to communicate from. Read about that here. I thought it fit well, especially since the considerably most famous one is that of Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun. Considering I assume the Dawn Dragon was probably meant to act as a reference to Amaterasu, at least somewhat, in the original game, I thought it was fitting and kept with the idea. The pattern on the non-reflective side shown here is based off the design in the town square in game which is underneath, what I assume is supposed to be, a statue of the Dawn Dragon.

If you want to discuss or ask about my ocs, feel free to! I know I’m slow making these profiles h aha sorry.