#to figure out how to get a dragonstone to work and to transform herself

[toonster]

I love your Draconification au so much can you please do a fluffy headcanon with Alfred and alear (you don't have to draw anything if you don't want to)

I’m glad you like the au, didn’t think people would like it as very much lol. I have a few head cannons with Alfred and Alear that I can share, not sure if they would be considered fluffy tho

- when going back to the somneil after Lumera’s death. Alear wasn’t sure what to do with herself as everyone one else was settling in or cleaning up the somneil. She just explored the area collecting rocks and she sat down by the lookout stacking the rocks she’s found and drawing in the dirt with a stick. Eventually Alfred finds her there and takes her to get paper to draw on instead. Since then she started to draw and paint as well as show him the rocks she’s collected

- Alear always tries to join in with Alfred’s training/runs when she’s available because she likes to see his smile on his face when she and him do workouts together

- Towards the end of the war after they gave each other the embroidery and ring, Alfred would sleep with Alear in her room as Alfred’s attacks would continue to get worse during the night (that’s where Alear used to the spell that accidentally turned him into a dragon because she didn’t want to lose him so early) and Alear’s memories of the past would haunt her sleep.

-After the war, when both Alfred got his dragonstone and Alear figured out a way to transform into a dragon with her emblem ring they would fly to each other to visit the other after missing the other for so long

- once Alfred stepped down from being king and moved to Lythos to be with Alear, he started to help cook for Alear since he new how much she loved sweets and just wanted to see her smile

- When Céline had passed away many years later, Alfred couldn’t get himself to do anything. He would just sleep or spend time in Alear’s art studio. Alear took notice of him taking care of the plants in her studio and how he looked somewhat happy. She decided to gift him a little area within the castle that’s strictly his own personal garden he could work on. Alfred was surprised at first but ended up loving the garden and he got back up from feeling so down. The loss of Céline was still hard on him but the weight wasn’t saying him down so much. Alfred loved to work on the garden and would try to get Alear as involved with the garden as possible

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

She did not, in fact, know it. AU where that whole “blood/heart of Grima” thing is very literal, and Robin is, in fact, a manakete. (As would be Validar.) Featuring my Robin and one of her occasional moments of dense brainlessness. I had lineart of her that I’d never posted so I just repurposed that to edit the ears and then color it. I tried out the alternate green hair just for the sake of it, but decided against it because I also figured she’s at least part human. Manaketes aren’t common, after all, and the Grimleal couldn’t have enough of them in their ranks to keep a pure dragon bloodline going. And then I cut out and edited a portrait of my Robin because I was too lazy to draw her and Chrom for the joke, but I still liked the stupid joke too much to not include it. 

[your-lady-star]

Fallen M!Corrin is Better Than Fallen F!Corrin

Bit of a hot take here for me to do, but I’ve honestly have had complications with Fallen F!Corrin for a while, and now that my baby boy has his own, I figured now is a better time than any to get into my issues with her fallen alt and why M!Corrin does it significantly better.

Now I’m not going to talk about their skills and usefulness in battle, mainly cause I don’t care about that at all, I’m going to be focusing solely on design and how well it connects to the thematic surrounding the story of Fallen Corrin. And that’s a good starting point.

I remember back when last years fallen banner was revealed and I saw a lot of people wondering why Corrin was on the banner since they never turn evil in game. I think people forget what the purpose of the fallen banner is; it’s not to show inherently evil characters, it’s to show, well, fallen heroes. Characters who’s mindsets, goals, an ethics were once just, but have been corrupted by a dark force, whether it’d be psychological or external. And, while it’s easy to forget, Corrin is fighting a psychological battle for his sanity every minute of every day.

Corrin’s dragon blood is very potent and very powerful, more so than any of the other royals, hence why he’s able to fully transform into a dragon. One downside of this is that dragons within the world of Fire Emblem are described as being inherently destructive and blood thirsty, something we clearly see with Corrin as his first transformation into a dragon had him go on a destructive rampage and attack Azura. He’s given the dragonstone for the express purpose of maintaining control of these urges and keeping his sanity in check. 

The fallen version is meant to showcase what would happen if they couldn’t maintain control, whether it’d be from not getting the dragonstone in time or the dragonstone not being of much help or maybe a completely different reason; it’s designed to show what would happen if Corrin surrendered to their draconic urges and became the monstrous killing machine they dread becoming, especially with the implications that Corrin may have possibly killed Aura during the initial attack. A Corrin who is lost to destructive urges and has become a monster that cannot be stopped, that is the theme to their fallen counterparts.

And while M!Corrin does that job fantastic, F!Corrin not so much.

Now we can finally get into discussing the art for these two and how well they do at showcasing this theme.

Let’s start with their default stance.

M!Corrin has a wide stance and is slightly hunched over, akin to that of an animal, and his tail being out further plays into that. The way its wrapped out to the front of his body with the spikes facing outward not only gives his stance a bit of a defensive feel, but also threatening, as though to let other know what they’re getting themselves into by challenging him. The way his hands are tensed up to look like claws makes it very intimidating and the way his left hand is positioned in that almost “come here” gesture gives a sense that he’s daring you to try to stop his, furthered with the way his right hand is placed in that cocky arrogance fashion that FE has used before. But the most telling feature is his eyes and face. That sense of cockiness is present with the way his eyebrows are raised and the slight curve of his mouth as well as that feel of lunacy with the ways his eyes seem to be different sizes, which anyone who has ever watched anime knows is clue number one that a character is a f*cking psychopath. But the most interesting thing is the dead emptiness is his expression. As though he isn’t truly there mentally, that he’s completely surrendered to the madness and is just a vessel for his cursed bloods madness. It’s downright terrifying and incredibly intriguing all at once.

Overall, this default art is fantastic and does a great job at giving a memorable first impression and teases for whats to come. It’s one of the best artworks to come out of Heroes for not only how well it does at displaying the theme of the character, but for being able to say so much with a single image.

On the other hand... 

Alright, so on an objective standpoint there isn’t anything wrong with the default art for fallen F!Corrin. It looks great, it’s nicely detailed and it’s clear that a lot of time went into it. My issue with it is how poorly it does at representing a corrupted Corrin. 

I get that the idea behind her design is that she’s slowly wearing herself down trying to fight back against her dark urges, but the art doesn’t do a good job at portraying that. The only real indication of her supposed exhaustion is a single bead of sweat running down her thigh and (maybe) one on her cheek, and everything from her facial expression to the way her arms are placed to her general stance comes off looking “embarrassed” rather than “tired”. She looks less like a woman desperately battling a losing battle to maintain control over her humanity and more like a typical anime girl who was walked in on by her crush while changing. The over-beautification of F!Corrin’s design already doesn’t do much to help with that (but that’s a discussion I’ll save for another day). Even the tail, one of the most striking features on fallen M!Corrin’s design, doesn’t have the same presence. It being mostly behind her not only loses that sense of defense and intimidation, but it causes the tail to blend into her and become less noticeable. I’m not even joking when I say that I didn’t even notice that she had a tail until the third time I saw this art.

Like I said, the art isn’t bad, it just doesn’t do the core theme justice. Rather than looking worn down, she looks slightly perturbed at best. Rather than looking menacing, she looks meek. And rather than fitting into a banner themed around great heroes falling into darkness, this feels like something that would fit in more in a summer or Easter banner (which is extremely ironic considering what I’ll get into later). It’s a build up for a set of art that’s supposed to make me feel sorry for her, but only accomplishes in making me think of how much she looks like me when I’m waiting for my brothers to hurry up in the bathroom.

Once more the dynamic weight and posing in the artwork shines brilliantly in his neutral attack pose. Lunging forward keeps in with the animalistic nature along with his hands once more tensed like claws, one reeling back to get ready to strike. With the way his cape and tail, curled almost like a snake or scorpion, flow behind him create a real feeling of movement and his expression dark but subdued, it makes for this real intense energy coming from his as he lunges for his prey. My favorite aspect being how the shadows form on his face, hiding it just enough to conceal his murderous intent while still allowing the harsh red of his eyes to shine prominently. And while there isn’t any discernible difference in his hair, the way it’s wrapped around his face and flowing to his movement give that much needed edge to his glare. And with the dark purple miasma flowing and highlighting points of interest, it makes for a truly great piece.

This isn’t really a problem that’s singular to fallen F!Corrin, as IS does struggle to give dragon units unique attack art that doesn’t just have the character either standing still or slightly curved with their arms either out at their sides or holding whatever stone they use to transform. So I can appreciate that they tried to do something different with her attack art. But, again, the problem is how it doesn’t fit with what they’re trying to represent.

Her expression is that of either mild annoyance or boredom, giving no indication that she’s in pain from having to fight. There’s no real tensity in any part of her body, having more of a grace and fluidity that is commonly used on dancer units. Her tail is more visible, but nothing is really being done with it. It’s not extenuating anything or highlighting a part of her body, it’s just curled on her legs. And any sense of intimidation is lost because the most threatening part of the tail, the spikes, are no longer in the foreground. Sense of movement is also an issue here. The way her cape and hair are framed makes it feel like she just jumped off of something and is having a rough landing and there’s no feeling for how she moved to attack, no ferocity in her actions. Again, it’s akin to more of a dancer than a feral dragon.

And this is small nitpick I have, but it really bugs me. I don’t like how the purple miasma for F!Corrin is lighter than M!Corrin’s. It might seem like a minuscule thing to be worried about, but the darker tone on his gives a real feel of dread and despair. The lighter tones are hers don’t stand out as much and don’t give any real negative emotion to her state. Yeah, she’s supposed to be fighting to maintain control, but having them be darker would help to represent that desperation and hopelessness. You can still have lighter hues, but they need to work in tandem to the darker colors.

Because when you do, you get beauty like this.

Just look at this masterpiece. The lighter purple flames mixing well with the darker flames, coming together in the center like a twisted mockery of where the dragonstone would be in any other art, curling around his body like a charging beast quickly closing in on you. His eyes glowing an ethereal mix of his natural red and the miasma around him, giving them a horrific shine that stand out a mile away and full of pure demented blood lust. And his mouth; wide open, fangs bearing in a horrific grimace, ready to sink into whatever stands in his way. 

I don’t usually throw this term around, but I don’t hesitate to use it here: this art is flawless.

This art, however, I can’t attach flawless to. The mix of purple and dark pink and the lighting it casts does look really good, but it’s an intense mix to a subdued reaction. Her eyes don’t look anymore ferocious than they do on any of her other alts and there’s no glow to them to make her look like her darker urges are beginning to influence her. The clawed hand could be a cool feature, but it’s hard to see since it’s being blocked out by all the pink! I actually didn’t even notice that her hand was clawed until I looked up her artwork for this post! Such a distinguished feature shouldn’t be this hard to notice. Not to mention, even if the claw was more visible, it doesn’t hold the same level of intimidation as her male counterpart due to how thin and spindly her arms and hand are. This feels like a slight upgrade to her original forms special art and is extremely disappointing.

After the Adrift banner, I am pleased to see a M!Corrin alt where his damaged art doesn’t tear his clothes off. But even with the minimal physical damage, you can’t deny how good this looks.

The rips on his left hand give it a jagged look that nicely compliments how tense his hand is.His right is clawed and raised, poised to attack and surrounded by the miasma in a way that highlights it without overshadowing it. His tail raised and thrashing about in a fit of rage, further complimented by his crouched over stance and, of course, his face. Corrin’s facial expressions across each form of his fallen counterpart has been his best feature, and this is easily the best of the four. That look of pure, unadulterated, unrelenting rage is so disturbing and amazing at the same time. Damage art in Heroes typically has the character looking shocked, sad, perturbed, or not phased by it. This is the only damage art I can think of where the character is f*cking pissed. That is a look that screams “I”m going to f*cking annihilate you for doing that” and it’s utterly glorious.

Oh boy, this art.

Nearly everything I praised about M!Corrin’s damage art is the exact opposite for the female.

The stance is very generic and holds no emotion other than “Ow, I’m hurt”. Her facial expression doesn’t register pain at all, looking more like she’s inconvenienced because someone splashed water on her. Her tail, despite being very dominant, is just sitting there with no fluidity. Physical damage is far greater here, but all it does is distract the viewer who is too busy getting off to her exposed legs and thighs! And whether it'd be because of shaky perspective or shoddy work, but her hands and arms are distractedly small and thin. It looks like her arms would shatter if she pushed someone too hard.

This is my lease favorite of her arts entirely because it exemplifies the main problem with fallen F!Corrin’s design and why M!Corrin did it better.

It focuses more on making Corrin look cute rather than having her actually represent the theme she’s supposed to be.

The titles for the two Corrin’s are Bloodbound Beast and Wailing Soul. M!Corrin perfectly embodies his title while F!Corrin struggles to just barely hint at. Both of them are meant to show a pure hearted and noble individual being corrupted by the very blood coursing through their veins, yet only one of them is really putting in any effort to properly represent this. And while I can’t give any concrete evidence of this, I feel like the main thing that kept the female variant from properly doing the job was because they got the wrong person to draw her.

And look, I don’t have anything against Sencha, fallen F!Corrin’s artist; they’re extremely talented. But looking at their record for art in Heroes can tell you that they weren’t the right one for this. This is the same person who did the summer and adrift art for F!Corrin (they also did bridal Tharja, but that’s not related here), and both of them have a distinctive style to them. They’re graceful, beautiful, serene, cheerful. Sencha is very good at drawing Corrin very pleasant and lovely. However, Sencha clearly isn’t that good at drawing Corrin miserable and withered. And that’s understandable. Making someone completely shift the genre they’re used to is a serous challenge and it’d be no surprise if they can’t handle it. So, despite my claim that they got the wrong artist for her, I don’t blame Sencha for not doing as well.

Then again, I doubt that this wasn’t a challenge for Argon, fallen M!Corrin’s artist. Their Heroes portfolio consists of mostly seasonal alts for various male characters, though they also did Cormag, which shows that they do more dynamic posing and harsher color saturation. If anything, the fact that they did such a phenomenal job on Corrin shows they got some serious skill at drawing more demented characters. Hopefully they get to do this more often, I need to see more of their work like this.

So, at the end of this long diatribe, I’ll once again reiterate that I don’t dislike fallen F!Corrin for any personal bias towards the male version or because the art is objectively bad. It’s a nicely done art, but one that doesn't suit what the character is to represent. And the fact that fallen M!Corrin utterly blew it out the water in his artwork really made it worse for her.

... Was this all just on big excuse for me to gush about fallen M!Corrin’s artwork?

Maybe.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got orbs to hoard. 

[yukiwrites]

A Family Ritual

Thank you so much for your support, @breeachuu! Watch out ye who enters for the sin! ;D

Summary: Nidra felt accomplished with her new life -- being a mother of three and a wife of a wonderful husband couldn’t make her feel happier. Even more so now that she could share her manakete customs with her own blood and feel her husband’s love within her.

Commission info HERE and HERE!

Being a mother was everything that Nidra thought it would be and oh, so much more. Additionally, it had been her life-long dream to have a family of her own, so of course she would feel more than overjoyed to be able to care for and nurture the small bundle of happiness that was her baby boy.

Being Luci's godmother and taking care of her during the year Robin had been away gave much-needed experience to the manakete: although from different species entirely, Luci and Meli behaved mostly like any other baby; their particular quirks easy to figure out once one knew where to look.

And Nidra loved to simply stare all day long at her little baby; to just poke his chubby cheeks or caress his head as well as his tiny and soft pointy ears. They were so cute! The epitome of cuteness!

During one of these musings, Nidra was hit with a sudden revelation: since Meliodas was of mixed blood, it meant that his Naga Bell bath had to be given to him much earlier than if he were pureblooded. And although the Naga Bells were rumored to only bloom once in every two hundred years, Nidra knew better: it was a very special kind of flower, though not in the way the legends painted it to be.

Indeed, it was true that it was only found in high, craggy terrain away from human settlements and that it had a very irregular blooming schedule, but it was a flower that sensed whenever someone needed it -- and it would make itself seen in places one would least expect it if the need arose.

Nidra herself needed the blossom in more than one occasion, either as offerings to Naga or as the simple need of its magical properties, and she found it during some of her rough landings atop of mountains. She knew that it would show itself if it were time for Meli's Naga Bell bath, though of course it would only reveal itself it Nidra looked for it first.

Well, more specifically, if Nidra's blood looked for it.

Worried about leaving Meli out of her sight as well as concerned about the little one's health were she to take him out with her to look for the flower, Nidra asked of Meliodas and Cynthia to look for the flower instead.

"THE LEGENDARY NAGA'S BELL?! Mother!! You've given me the QUEST of my LIFE!" Cynthia beamed the moment Nidra gave her the so-called mission. "Me and my partner are gonna rummage through every nook and cranny from this valley, Mother! We'll find your flower!"

"It is not mine yet, technically, but I thank you for your enthusiasm, Cynthia." The mother chuckled, nudging on her daughter's pigtails, never getting enough of her fluffy hair.

"I myself only heard of this flower once or twice." Meliodas placed one hand over his chin in thought. "I do not recall you mentioning it back in the future, so I must have read it somewhere..." He twisted his lips, searching his memory.

"Ah, but it is an inherent thought to all manaketes, Son." Nidra said, looking from the pegasus knight to her brother, then back at her. "Surely the name feels familiar to you as well, Cynthia."

The young manakete blinked. "Oh, yeah, true! Now that I think about it, I did say ‘the’ legendary Naga's Bell."

Meliodas' hand fell from his chin. "Ohh."

"Indeed," Nidra only nodded. "It is an important part of a manakete's life, so we are born with this knowledge. Or should I say, with the instinct that will be transformed into knowledge once we apply our rational thought onto it."

"Like with the dragonstone..." Meliodas whispered more to himself than to his family. Not hearing her brother's musings, Cynthia turned to her mother, bright-eyed.

"So! Mother! We're born KNOWING stuff, that's amazing! But I'm gonna be even more amazing and fetch that flower for you before my brother does!" She hopped excitedly, dramatically looking back at her brother to watch his reaction to her letter of challenge.

"Oh, little sister, you are ON." He puffed his chest, narrowing his eyes to her. Cynthia beamed, hopping on her feet.

"C'mon! Let's go already!" She giggled happily, running towards her brother so as to yank his hand.

"W-wait! Mother, do you have a description of the flower-"

Her eyes fond from watching her children interact, Nidra simply lifted her hand in a gracious wave. "You'll know it is the right one once you find it; all manaketes do. But of course I'll tell you two: it resembles a ballerina with both of her arms upwards," she mimicked the gesture so perfectly one would think she had been a dancer in her previous life, "and the large petals make up her skirt."

Cynthia and Meliodas both had their mouths open in surprise. "Wow! A ballerina flower!" The younger manakete said, trying to imagine how pretty a field filled with such beauties would be. Her brother nodded beside her, his braid waving behind his back.

"Indeed. I am certain you two will find it before the sun sets, but do set out quickly just so you'll have more sunlight to aid you, hm?"

"Sure!" Cynthia puffed her chest, jumping on her mother for a good-bye hug before running out of the door. Meliodas followed suit, though his hug was much less rough than his sister's.

"Of course. We will be back soon, Mother."

"Be careful, just in case, alright? Look after your sister, as well... She still prefers to fly on her pegasus, so..."

"No need to worry, Mother. I'll keep one eye on her and another on the flower!" He winked, placing a kiss on Nidra's forehead before leaving. One could hear the sound of his transformation followed by his flight right after.

Still smiling, Nidra walked to her and Henry's room, finding her husband sitting in front of Meli's crib. "They just left," she said in a soft voice so as not to wake the baby.

Henry leaned both arms on the crib, resting his face on one of them just so he could be more comfortable in staring at his baby son. "Mhm. You sure you don't want me to go, too? Six eyes are better than four, after all." He said with a small smile, never tiring of looking at Meli.

Nidra placed both hands over Henry's shoulders, leaning her body weight on him. "Yes, I am. I would rather you stayed with me and Meli, just the three of us." She hummed as Henry placed one hand over hers, caressing his thumb on her skin.

After a moment of silence, Henry snorted. "Well, it is summer right now, right? We got a pretty narrow window to conceive Cynthia, so why not get to work- ouch! Nyaha, you always bonk my head like this when I mention it!" He massaged the bonked area while Nidra took a step away from him, red in the face.

"Ahem, c-conceiving Cynthia was not the reason I sent them away, Henry. Preposterous!" She ruffled her husband's hair with both hands, stealing a few good-natured laughter out of him, "well, not the main one..." she whispered.

"I HEARD THAT!! WHOO!" He jumped out of his seat straight to his wife's arms, laughing at how mortified she looked.

"Henry!" She hissed, glancing at the sleeping baby by the crib. "Do not be so rowdy! A-and do erase that perverted smile from your face; we are not-"

"Noooo?" He tilted his head to the side, looking at her from her chest where he dug his face into.

Nidra puffed her cheeks, making them appear even redder than before. "No!" She said firmly, but then whispered right after: "it's still light out..."

"ONCE IT GETS DARK, GOT IT!" He laughed loudly, immediately slapping his own mouth so as not to wake Meli up. He received a stinky look from Nidra, but her suppressed smirk betrayed her silent reprehension, making both of them dissolve into a silent laughter.

Nidra's days couldn't have been more perfect than simply spending time with her family like that.

True to Nidra's instructions, Meliodas and Cynthia returned a ways before sunset, bearing a single Naga's Bell flower.

"Oh, wow! You're back early! We haven't even had lunch yet." Henry opened his arms to welcome his children's collective hug, laughing at Cynthia's enthusiasm.

"I was the one who plucked it from the canyon, Father!" She blurted out, random twigs sticking out of her hair, her clothes full of dust and all sorts of leaves.

"A dangerous endeavor, but I am glad it turned out okay!" Meliodas pulled Cynthia's cheek, making her giggle.

"What do you mean? My partner was flying right beside me while I climbed down the edge 'cause her wings were too big for her to fly sideways while I reached for it, but it was still perfectly safe! She would've caught me if I fell."

"So would I, but that is beside the poiinnnt," he stretched her cheeks more, making her whine.

"Owowow, but it all worked out, Brother! Isn't that right, Mother? Here's the flower!"

Nidra pulled Cynthia's opposite cheek, stretching it as well. "You reckless child. I am glad you are unharmed, but think of your safety first and foremost."

"Owowow, my face's gonna get all f-flabby!" Her hands full of carefully holding the flower, Cynthia only squeezed her eyes while her mother and brother pulled her cheeks.

"Hahh, I am glad you are alright, however." Nidra sighed, enveloping both arms around her little girl. "Thank you for bringing the flower as I asked, but do be careful next time, for my sake."

"Allright..." Cynthia dug her face into her mother's chest, the mischievous smile still by her lips. "How are you gonna prepare Meli's bath? I wanna watch it!" She hopped out of Nidra's arms, eagerly handing her the flower. "Oh, but wait! I promised I'd visit Owain's new house today... I completely forgot! B-but I wanna watch Meli's bath..."

Meliodas placed one closed hand over one open palm, as though remembering something. "Oh! I also have a previous engagement..."

"Lucina and Morgan called on you for a get-together haven't they?" Nidra carefully placed the flower inside a large bowl, her family following her steps to the kitchen at the back.

"Yes..." Meliodas nodded. "And I have been meaning to take their braids for our jewel. Tonight's a full moon as well, so it's a perfect timing." He absent-mindedly watched as Nidra plucked the petals with utmost care, placing them over a hand towel beside the sink.

The older manakete bobbed her head to the sides, humming. "Meli's bath will only be ready after the moon comes out, as well, so I'm afraid our schedules will not match.

Cynthia looked from her mother to her brother as though watching a ball game. "Whaat? But I wanna watch the jewel-making ritual, too! I'm not gonna spend the night at Owain's but I could go to the castle later, too..."

"Nyaha, I'm sure the kids at the castle will be happy to have two dragon playmates around! Oh, and the babies, too!" Henry joined in after sneakingly making tea for everyone and putting it on the table. "Ni-Ni said the both of us have to bathe Meli at the same time and send a prayer to Naga, so I guess all of us have stuff to 'do' tonight, huh?" He wriggled his eyebrows to his teacup, knowing his wife would get the drift.

Without even looking over her back, Nidra kicked the chair right behind her -- where Henry sat -- while still minding the flower with her hands. "Indeed." She coughed, then raised her chin to the food by the oven. "Let us at least share this afternoon meal before we go our separate ways, hm?"

"Oh yes, please! I'm starving!" Cynthia raised her hand after finishing her tea, hopping out of her seat to help Meliodas put the table.

"YOU should be the one taking a bath later, sister. You can't show yourself to Owain's wife looking like that."

"Hey! I just to brush the leaves out and I'll be good as new! But I guess it would be good to take a bath just in case..."

Nidra and Henry laughed at their children's interchange, watching as they put the table with fondness.

After sharing the meal and the stories that came with the children's hunt for the flower, the family slowly separated: Meliodas was the first one to leave to castle Ylisse to spend the night there, followed by a now-clean Cynthia, who also brushed her pegasus before setting out for the city, and from there to the castle to witness Meliodas' ritual.

After cleaning the table, Henry noticed that Nidra had made two separate bowls for the Naga's Bell. "Are we gonna give him two baths?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Nidra loudly cleared her throat, pretending to be busy heating the water. "The smaller bowl is for tea. A single petal will suffice, so the rest will go for Meli's bath."

"Huh." The dark mage raised one eyebrow. "And we're drinking this tea? Or are you gonna offer it to Naga?" He took a step to be beside her, which made her avert her face away from him so he wouldn't see her blushing mien.

"N-no, I'll be the one drinking it."

"You, alone?" He circled her to look at her face, but she looked away once again. His smirk grew.

"Yes, I alone." This time, she turned her back to him, though her face was so red even the tip of her pointy ears were blushing.

Henry wriggled his fingers, slowly sliding them on his wife's waist. Nidra let out a surprised 'eek', but didn't move from her spot.

"Whaaat is ittt forrr?" He placed his chin over her shoulder, "wow, your cheek is super hot! It has to do with boinking, doesn't it? It doessss, righttt?" he teased, pulling her closer to him.

"Oh, for Naga's sake, it does! But stop saying this word, I beg you!" She cried out, hiding her face with both hands. "I shall drink it and send a prayer to Naga asking for fertility! H-happy now?!"

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm," he teased, breathing by her neck, his hands tightly holding her waist. "We could just keep trying and trying and trying, though, no prayers needed! That's fun part, too, nyaha!"

Nidra's shoulders sagged in defeat, her face still hidden under her hands. "I'm not saying we aren't trying."

"Aha!"

"I-it's just a guarantee, alright? Since the flower is here and all..."

"Uh-huhhh," he kissed her nude neck, enjoying how she flinched with the touch of his lips. "You better take the pot away from the fire now, though, or there won't be any water left." He noted without even stopping his kisses, making Nidra gasp loudly.

"Oh no!" She jumped, quickly reaching for the kettle and moving it away from the fire. "You distract me so much, Henry."

"Nyehe," he squeezed her in his hug, digging his face into her neck, his breath tickling her skin. "You're not complaining, though!"

"Never." She smiled softly, the shade of red still ever present over her cheeks, her eyes watching the smoke coming out of the boiling water.

Later that evening, the full moon made itself seen, signaling the perfect moment for Meli's bath. Fortunately the nights weren't too cold during summer, so Nidra and Henry could bring the baby-sized bathtub outside so as to enjoy the most the moonlight had to offer.

The Naga's Bell water turned into a silver shade of green the moment the light shone onto it, glittering as though there were manakete scales inside of it. Henry blinked with the sight, letting out an amused 'oohh' once Nidra carefully placed Meli inside.

Sleepy, the baby yawned widely, enjoying the lukewarm water around his body. Nidra felt her eyes burn with emotion by simply sharing that wonderful moment with her husband: the both of them held Meli behind his neck, carefully splashing water all over him with their free hands.

The more they mixed the water around the baby, the more it turned into a silvery rainbow, much like Meliodas' wings in his dragon form. "See how the flower resonates with his inner dragon?" Nidra whispered softly, the warm wind lifting strands of hair as Meli cooed in their arms.

"This is all so magical, and I've been a mage all my life." Henry commented, a fatherly smile splattered across his lips. "Thanks for sharing this with me, Ni-Ni. For choosing me, for loving me... for giving me this family I can call mine." He said solemnly though casually, without even stopping rubbing the water on Meli.

Nidra choked a sob, scooting closer to her husband so she could rest her head on his. "I'm the one who should be thanking you, but instead, I will say this: I love you."

"Mhm," Henry leaned his head on hers as well. "I love you too, Nidra."

The manakete closed her eyes, sending a silent prayer to Naga -- asking for the protection of her little baby as well as of her beloved husband beside her. Of course, she thanked the heavens for such a great amount of happiness, a single tear itching down her face as she did so.

"Meli's gonna start getting cold soon, let's bring him back." Henry noticed a change in the clouds above, reaching for the towel he hanged over his free shoulder.

"Indeed, let's." Nidra dried her tears with her wet hand, drenching her face even more. But she didn't care. The smile almost hurt on her lips as she watched Henry carefully wrap their baby around the towel, her heart bursting with love.

By the time they finished putting Meli's pajamas, he was already deep asleep, his skin glowing in the moonlight much like Nidra's did on occasion. The manakete held her husband as they watched their son sleep for a while, their hearts beating as one.

She could feel Henry sliding his hand up and down her back, caressing her ever so softly in a way she knew he had never done to anyone else before. She closed her eyes to hug him closer, pressing her ear into his chest.

The sound of his heartbeat filled her head, making her close her eyes to enjoy it -- to commit it to memory. "I love you so, so much." She whispered, feeling his hug tighten around her.

"Hey, I love you too." His voice sounded hoarse, almost inviting her to look up at him. Which she did. The moment their eyes met, their lips drifted closer, wanting to taste one another.

They shared a small kiss under the moonlight, enjoying how it grew deeper, their tongues intertwining, never wanting to part. Their bodies moved in unison, as did their breathing -- Nidra turned her head to the side to give Henry's tongue more space inside her mouth as his hands traveled through her back so as to free her from her cape.

Nidra leaned her entire body on Henry's, not noticing how their feet stumbled to get to the bed up until they stumbled and fell on it. Laughing, she rolled to the mattress to take off her top, watching how Henry did the same with his shirt before once again taking him into her arms and lips.

He lied her down on the bed, trailing both hands downwards so as to free her from her shorts as she held his face with both hands, closing her eyes due to the depth of their kiss. She strangled a moan once she was free of her last piece of clothing, promptly opening her legs so her husband could place himself in the middle.

"You're so pretty, Ni-Ni," he whispered as he trailed his kisses from her lips to her jaw, then collarbone and finally breasts. Her skin glowed in the moonlight, the droplets of sweat all around her body glittering in a green and silver light as though she were a work of art.

Her chest had always been so soft and Henry's general favorite spot to play with -- if Nidra's desire didn't rush him, he would play with her breasts and nipples for hours. He loved how he could mold them with squeezes and how she would yelp of pleasure whenever he nipped at them, so he made sure to do it often.

He licked her aureole, then nipped at the tip, enjoying how she trembled under his tongue and teeth. Nidra dug one hand by his scalp, pulling it slightly. "H-Henry..." she could barely speak under the lustful atmosphere, her body going up and down seductively.

The mage snorted by her chest, making a funny noise. "See, I told you this was the fun part!" He chuckled as she puffed her cheeks.

"This isn't the time or place for that!" She growled, immediately deflating. "D-don't keep me waiting..." She huffed, her breathing rasped. Watching her chest moving, once again Henry took it upon himself to lick and suck it, making Nidra wrap both legs around his waist, wanting to rub them against each other -- wanting him to rub himself inside of her.

Giggling, Henry once again trailed his mouth to her collarbone, neck, jaw and finally lips -- the voracity with which she welcomed the kiss made him roll his eyes in pleasure as he reached down for his own pants to free his erection.

The moment it popped out, his glans rubbed on Nidra's vaginal opening, making her let out a long, lustful sigh. "Henry... don't keep me waitingg..." She bemoaned, almost whining.

The mage smirked, prodding his erection by her vulva, feeling her promptly suck it in. "You shouldn't just hit me whenever I mention this if you want it this much, y'know?" He licked her cheek as he penetrated her all at once, enjoying how she struggled to keep her moan as silent as possible so as not to wake up the baby.

"You-ahh... You are too explicit! Keep t-these, hmm, these talks to the bedroom i-instead..." She tried to speak under his thrusts, letting adorable moans out amidst her phrase.

"Dirty talking? Woo!" He teased, pulling it all out then putting it in, enjoying how even her limbs went limp from pleasure. She giggled in response, pulling him for yet another kiss, never tiring of feeling him inside of her.

By then, Nidra had completely forgotten about the tea she had taken earlier that afternoon, or even about the prayer she had sent to Naga -- at that moment, she and Henry were simply being enveloped into one another's love, enjoying the pleasure they could give each other.

No words could describe how right having Henry inside of her felt -- how his teasing and playing around even during the act made her feel whole. It had taken her almost three millennia, but she had finally found the place where she belonged the most:

Inside Henry's arms, specifically while part of him was inside of her as well.

"I'm gonna say it first this time," he huffed, accelerating his movements. Inebriated by pleasure, Nidra's eyes were heavy and her mind, foggy.

"H-Hen-ahh-ry?" She squeezed her hug on his neck, her insides pulsating with the approaching orgasm.

"I love you, Ni-Ni. Forever... and ever," he said in a low voice, his thrusts getting deeper and stronger. Barely were the words out of his mouth, he could feel Nidra closing in around him, being washed over by the climax.

"Th-that's unfair, Henry," she huffed as he still thrusted, the orgasm close to him after it passed from her. "I love you as, ahh, well..."

She felt him liberate himself inside of her, their declaration of love a catalyst for their utmost pleasure.

"Heehee," the mage pressed his forehead on Nidra's, not wanting to pull it out of her, "we still have the whole summer to keep trying."

Tired from the climax, Nidra only laughed, stealing yet another kiss from her beloved. "Our whole lives you mean. Surely we do not plan on stopping after Cynthia is born."

"Oooooh, now you're talking!"

[crystalelemental]

FE Fates Replay - Part 4

Fun facts: I remembered having a difficult time with Chapter 8 when I first played this game, so I went in scared.  My initial attempt, I was severely over-leveled, and it wound up being hysterically easy.  So I tried again with a normal amount of leveling, and it still wasn’t too bad.  I’m not sure what past me was having such a difficult time with?  If I had to guess, I was really salty about not getting all the towns or something.  Flora being able to Freeze your units is rough, but Corrin with her Dragonstone was just so tanky she could take the upper path almost alone, while the rest of the team went straight across the lake.  Anyway, I bring that up because I started over from the decision point and got back here in like half an hour, so that was nice.  On to actual plot.

Chapter 7!  Having betrayed your birth family like the intelligent being you are, you now realize you failed to account for something really important: that your dad is fucking insane.  Garon immediately distrusts you, because you’ve been with the Hoshidans, so obviously you know the truth are consider them enemies.  Honestly, this isn’t too far out of left field yet.  Iago, however, is a putz.  “Ooh, I bet she’s a spy for the Hoshidans!”  Moron, what kind of spy for the enemy side waltzes in to the fucking throne room to chat up the king after knowingly conspiring with said enemy?  Garon’s also a moron though, so he kinda believes Iago, but doesn’t really push the issue.  At least, until Corrin decides to ask about the exploding sword thing.  Garon says he had no idea what it would do, which...okay, the obvious answer is he actually didn’t, but like...I have played this game before.  I know about Revelations, and about the soldiers from Valla, and that guy that exploded the sword seemed to be an invisible soldier from Valla.  So...maybe Garon’s not actually lying here?  We see in a moment that he’s kinda just following orders of his own, so maybe he’s not as on top of events as he lets on.

Anyway, when Corrin presses the issue, Iago goes on about his spy nonsense, and Garon falls for it entirely, ordering Xander to kill Corrin.  Yeah, that’ll go over great.  Xander, of course, refuses.  Everyone starts getting heated, until Garon announces that he’ll ask the great Anankos for guidance on this situation.  Anankos being some ancient dragon that the king apparently communes with, but no one, not even Xander or Iago, seem to know what the hell he’s on about.  Thankfully, Anankos states that Corrin may live, if she proves herself with a test.  She must suppress the Ice Tribe rebellion, and she must do it alone.  Everyone is fearful for Corrin, as a solo mission against an armed rebellion surely can’t go that well, but honestly?  I’m a dragon.  What are they gonna do?  Unless they’ve got Wyrmslayers, their asses are toast.

In order to reach the Ice Tribe, first we must go through the Forest of the Forlorn.  Which is apparently filled with Faceless.  Go figure.  Corrin gets herself immediately surrounded, and announces a problem with the Dragon transformation.  It apparently takes time to transform.  Which is why, you know, you can shift in and out of that form during combat.  It’s fine, don’t worry about it.  Jakob shows up, saves your ass, but is immediately reminded that she had to do this alone or it doesn’t count.  Of course, immediately after this, Garon does his bad guy thing of loudly soliloquizing about how he doesn’t trust Corrin and just wants her to suffer, so Xander, having some ounce of sense within him, takes matters into his own hands and arranges for Corrin to have back-up, in the form of four new units!

Silas is the first, and he’s your childhood friend you initially have no recollection of.  Corrin does eventually remember he exists, but nothing else.  I am really hoping support conversations explain how the hell this happened.  Elise also arrives, which is great because we can pretty much stop here.  For those who don’t know, when I first played the game, I was so sick of it by Revelations that I basically pumped Elise full of stat-enhancing items, turned her into a Dark Flier, gave her a high crit tome, and had her solo the game.  She’s really good, both as a unit, and as a character.  She’s your little ball of sunshine, and she’s hysterical.  Her retainers, Arthur and Effie, also arrive.  I remember not caring about these two first time through, but honestly?  They’re alright.  Arthur’s a bit clownshoes, but he’s a good guy and can be entertaining.  He mostly works by virtue of those around him, though.  Elise worshiping him as her idol makes a lot of sense, given her youth.  His interactions with Effie provide the knowledge that he takes his role seriously, but puts his duty to the common folk before his duty as a retainer.  Supports really drew out the interesting tidbits for him.  Effie, by contrast...is kind of exactly as “okay” as I remember?  I don’t have anything to dislike her by, she’s just not that interesting.  Comically strong and fiercely devoted to Elise, but that’s all she’s got going for her right now.

The chapter is really easy, but more unfortunate, there’s no boss on a throne so there’s no way to level grind yet.  Worse, the boss moves toward you, so you can’t mess around either.  I don’t remember a ton about the different routes, but I remember Conquest getting tough after a bit, so that’s not ideal.

I then went out of my way to get Mozu.  Her paralogue involves a small town being attacked by Faceless.  Everyone buy Mozu in the village is killed, and she’s hiding out in the woods, until Corrin hears the screams and comes running to the rescue.  Jakob advises that the town’s already gone and they shouldn’t waste time, but Corrin’s insistent on looking for survivors, so let’s get the map started.  Based on having only 6 units allowed in Chapter 8, but having 8 allowed in the Paralogue, I’m guessing you’re supposed to get Mozu after Chapter 8, but that’s dumb.  The paralogue is really easy, even with only six characters.  Effie and Arthur are more than capable of plugging the northern bridge, while Silas and Corrin decimate the path to Mozu.  The only difficult part of the map is getting Mozu any experience.  Fortunately, my Corrin was built with Dragon in mind, and dealt just shy of a clean OHKO on the Faceless enemies.  When paired up with Silas, Mozu was just strong enough to get the KO, allowing her to get some surprisingly decent levels.  Aptitude is such a nice skill.  Thank god for cheaters giving that skill out on everyone else, I tell ya.  After clearing out the Faceless, Mozu joins up because really, the hell else is she gonna do?  Everyone’s dead.  So, hooray for new recruits!

Now, Chapter 8.  A chapter that I remembered having an awful, awful time with.  Corrin and Co press forward, into the snowy north where the Ice Tribe is.  Jakob and Elise run ahead because they’re goobers (but they’re our goobers), leaving Silas and Corrin behind.  Corrin presses forward, but inevitably collapses.  She awakens in a bed, with the head of the Ice Tribe tending to her.  Apparently they have a strict “no trespassing” rule and were going to let her die, but they saw her sword and thought hey, that seems important, we should save her.  So, here you are.  Corrin almost spills the beans on her identity, but Silas successfully plays defense, reminding Corrin that there’s a rebellion going on, and they might not take too kindly to Nohrian royalty in their village.  Enter the rest of your bumblefuck party, as well as Flora, who obviously recognizes you instantly.  Elise...dear, sweet, stupid Elise...announced they’re here to suppress a rebellion, commenting that she thought suppress meant to sit down and have a nice meal and talk things over.  Naturally, the Ice Tribe immediately gets ready to throw down, and you’re treated to a pretty interesting, but fairly difficult, map.

The map is a frozen lake in the center, and five houses around it.  The soldiers for the Ice Tribe will be going to the villages, and announcing that there are Nohrians present.  If the spear soldiers reach the villages first, more enemies appear.  If you reach them first, no enemies appear.  Now, ordinarily, I’m all about the delicious, delicious experience, but you’re given a free warning about rewards for getting to more houses than they do.  If you get to three of the five, you get the most rewards.  I think it’s three out of five because that’s realistically all you can get to without serious power-leveling through DLC.  One of them is outright impossible.  You can’t cover enough distance, and the soldier is right there, as a demonstration of what happens.  That said, it’s still kind of a high pressure map.  The soldiers that escape the first village they contact are set up in such a way that the soldier is well defended, so you have to be tough enough to punch your way through, or be able to go around and handle everyone that comes after you next turn.  But keep in mind, the other side of the lake has two of the villages as well, and a separate soldier slowly making his way there.  Your force needs to be divided in two: one faction heading north to handle the first guard before he reaches the northern village, and one heading directly west to intercept the far west village before the other solider.

Thankfully, you get two more allies to help!  Niles, who...ugh.  UGH.  And Odin!  Those of you who played Awakening may know Odin better as Owain, Lissa’s son!  How the hell did he get here?  Deeprealms.  No, we would not care to elaborate further.  Odin is a bit more...ridiculous, than he was as Owain.  Like, they’re still very much the same, but there’s some difference I can’t quite put my finger on.  Maybe as I get supports with him I’ll figure it out.  Niles, though?  He annoys me.  Very little is going to sway me out of that.  While Odin’s a goon who wants to show off his power and the usual melodrama he produces, Niles seems actively cruel.  Corrin orders them not to kill anyone, and Niles’ interpretation of that is “So I can hurt them as much as I want, but can’t kill.  That’s a neat challenge.”  He just seems mean-spirited overall.

Now, the map effectively has two bosses.  Flora’s here.  She doesn’t move, but she has the Freeze staff, which locks a unit in place.  So, let’s suppose, for a moment, that Silas tries to run straight to the west village.  As soon as he’s in staff range, Flora locks him down.  Now, you can still beat the soldier to the village, but the problem is...he gets to the one above you as you arrive.  So now Silas is alone, and surrounded.  Odin and Niles help a lot here.  Honestly, I think the reason I had a hard time the first time I played was not using the pair up system correctly.  See, in Awakening, you got all the benefits in one through Pair Up.  But in Fates, they actually did a smart thing and broke it into two types of pair up: offensive, where you occupy adjacent spaces, and defensive where you occupy the same space.  Defensive allows for the stat increases of the main unit, and a gauge fills that allows a guaranteed block from the unit in the back.  Offensive allows for follow-up attacks, guaranteed, as long as the attacking party isn’t defensively paired.  If you have a defensive backup, you can’t get another unit adjacent to you to also attack.  So there’s a give and take.  Knowing me, I probably wanted to be defensive to not immediately die, and defensively paired them up, which led to too little damage in a short amount of time.  Offensive is much better, especially since Niles has surprisingly nice resistance.  In combat, Flora’s fairly tough, but Effie and Corrin, and even Arthur if he’s doing good with levels can handle her easy.  I had Corrin do it.

The boss of the map, though?  He’s what we’ve been waiting for: a fairly frail map on an auto-healing throne, also with a tome that heals him.  Glory be, I thought this day might never come!  Time to farm out those levels, team!  Elise got some excellent levels because she’s a good girl who’s done nothing wrong.  Niles, Effie, Arthur, and Silas got some okay ones, while Odin is basically dead to us now!  Everyone’s level 10 or above, which means it’s go-time.  Really, the boss isn’t hard to handle.  Niles with a pair-up that gives any form of resistance means the boss can’t even hurt him.  So if you need cheese, there you go.

Once suppressed, Corrin tells Elise to go heal up the wounded on both sides.  The Ice Tribe leader, impressed by Corrin’s kindness, agrees to halt the rebellion for the time being, believing that she will be the one to put an end to the hostilities and give the Ice Tribe their autonomy back.  Flora also comments that she would like to renew her vows of servitude to Corrin.  There are hints that Flora never really liked Corrin, and had always planned on some kind of betrayal, but she’s been won over by Corrin’s honest display.  Personally, I think it’s bullshit that Flora doesn’t just join you here, but I guess we have to make My Castle relevant somehow.  The townspeople also thank you for warning them of the conflict, helping to keep them save, and give you what is probably their lifetime earnings in the form of 10,000 gold!  See, everything worked out great!  The Ice Tribe rebellion is over, everyone’s alive and happy, and nothing bad happened at all.  “Garon told you to do it alone and you didn’t so he’s gonna be pissed when you get back.”  AT ALL!

With that, we await the next part where we face Garon’s wrath.  If he’s lucid, anyway.  Hard to tell with that guy.  So far, I’m still not having much to complain about with the game.  The story can be a little heavy-handed.  Mostly I’m talking about Garon and Iago, who are just so transparently evil, and aren’t even really trying to make sense about it.  I can get Garon being suspicious of Corrin coming back after learning the truth, but their explanation for not trusting her and then his insistence on just wanting to make her suffer is just silly for anyone that’s meant to be taken seriously as a villain.  They’re just a bit too ridiculous.  I will mention that the Conquest maps, thus far, are pretty decent.  Chapter 7 and Paralogue 1 are pretty standard “Clear the map” ones, but Chapter 8 is sufficiently inventive.  I actually like how it’s designed to have you not just clear the map, but have little sub-objectives built in that can make the map easier or harder for you.  We’ll see how things keep up.

[ladyjonquilinthenorth]

Stormb*tch

Before I begin my unsolicited recap of the episode, I beg you to please excuse the disorderliness of the piece and lack of direct quotes. I’m at work at the moment and I can’t fact check the quotes right now, so this post is pretty much based off of my impressions of last night and general scrolling through Tumblr. Please excuse the following incoherent jumble of thoughts.

Dragonstone

Ok. First impression, Fire Beast Castle is straight up sinister. It gives me the creeps. It’s all dark and brooding and I don’t know how those poor Targs of Valyria the Old were holed up in there for 100+ years. I would have gone crazy.

D is headed down the path of insanity and I HAVE NO REGRETS. Her little speech to Varys was vaguely threatening AF. Be my dude and bow at the altar of my greatness, and you may live. Poison me like you advised Good King Bob and I will feed you to my dragons. Tell me, o readers, is this what one calls a kind, benevolent, and just queen?  It’s becoming clearer and clearer just how opposite Jon and D are. One is, like I said, just and benevolent, and the other is ruthless, power hungry, and much much much too self-confident.

I gotta say, though, I have a soft spot for wise old ladies, and I loved the little conversation with Olenna, and how she inspired the great and mighty Mother of Dragons to listen to her sage advice. Ignore the men and you’ll survive. Advice that I wholeheartedly agree with, though at this point, I’m kinda rooting for D to disregard said advice because *whispers*I don’t want her to survive. There. I said it. Make it quick, GoT Fandom. I don’t want to suffer.

And don’t even get me started on the Lady Mel’s sudden appearance! Did you see how D’s eyes light up when she hears that the prophecy may not necessarily be referring to a prince?? That lady is headed down the rabbit hole and I am here for it. And D, from one gal to another, you are NOT Jon Snow’s QUEEN until he kneels to you (which I hope and pray that Jon will not be stupid enough to do). He has his own kingdom and until he decides to proclaim you as such, you really need to get a hold of that self-titling obsession you’ve got. It’s not pretty.

Ok, but GWxM killed me. KILLED ME. “I have one weakness” ahjdhflhlsfhlgsjlgsjlgjslg. But to be honest, you know how it is when you play the Game of Thrones. They’re both basically walking corpses now :(

King’s Landing

“In Essos, her brutality is already legendary. She crucified hundreds of noblemen in Slaver’s Bay. And when she grew bored of that, she fed them to her dragons.”

Cersei, pal, I never thought I’d say this, but I agree with you, lady. I agree with you! This woman knows of that which she speaks.

@heathergee25 has a Tarly theory that looks to be on the right track. Go check it out!

Otherwise, idk, bored.

Oldtown

Ew, Samwell, ew. That scene was basically me browsing through another window on my screen while crackling flesh and unholy grunts made their way through my headphones. Poor Jorah and his love letter to his Khaleesi.

But I love the fact that, as JBW pointed out, bookish, shy Sam was never good at anything, yet here, in the library, here he finds his battleground, and I firmly stand behind all those underappreciated BTS players who ultimately save the day!. Sam “I killed an actual White Walker with a blade of glass” Tarly is not here for your “no can do” attitude. Looking at you, Maester Slughorn.

Arya

My baby Arya is going home!!! Hot Pie called her pretty!!! I think that’s the first time in her life she’s been called pretty and she liked it!! And her face when she finds out that her beloved Jon Snow is now King in the North!! Damn you, D&D, making my baby Starklings just miss each other. Can’t say I’m surprised, though.

I don’t cry often when watching things, but I literally had tears of joy welling in my eyes when Arya spotted Nymeria and she let herself be petted. Man, that wolf if huge! And then, of course, when Nymeria backed away, my heart cracked just that wee bit. *sniffs* WHY?????

Somewhere in the Narrow Sea

I’m not one for battle scenes, so I didn’t really follow along. Sorry if that’s your thing. BUT, Yara and Ellaria get it on, obviously, mere moments before their ship is ransacked by Pirate Uncle Euron. Obviously. Never really cared for the Sand Snakes, so I’m glad they’re gone. And Theon. I don’t know what set him off, but that guy has some serious PTSD and that breaks my heart. Are you dead, Theon? Please don’t be dead, Theon. I have so many questions.

Winterfell

Saved the best for last. *rubs hands gleefully together* Let’s get down to it!

I’mma be honest  here for a sec, we got wayyyy too few North scenes and they were much too rushed.  I would be happy to watch an entire 8 seasons of just my Starklings home in their ice castle. But that’s just me.

Boy, they are really laying it on thick with the Ned/Cat parallels. They’re not even trying to be subtle at this point. The first scene begins just the way the Ned/Cat scene begins in S1. An arrow hitting a target with the lord and lady figures looking down from on high. I swear though, that’s a scene straight out of a Jonsa future-fic. Mother and Father gazing down proudly as their Stargaryen babies become the best archers and swordsmen in the land.

Jon looking to Sansa for her take on Tyrion great and if you still think StarkBowl is an actually feasible possibility as cast and crew love to claim, just watch the episode. You’ll have no doubts whatsoever.

Ok. Meeting scene. I know that we all may not agree with Jon’s decisions all the time, but he is just, benevolent, and decisive. All good things in a king. Now, if he would only listen to his platonic-hot-sister-wife-hand-queen, that would be even better.

He makes his decision with listening to the dissenting voices and you know what, I understand him. “The North is my home. It’s part of me and I will never stop fighting for it, no matter the odds”. Jon has no desire to meet D. He has no desire to bend the knee. He needs the dragonglass and that is the one and only reason why he is going south. Sansa knows that he needs the weaponry and the army that D can provide. She knows that the WW are the biggest threat right now. But she protests because she’s SCARED. The last two times that the Starks rode south, they never returned. Also, kinda awkward that one grandfather roasted the other one. Oops.

But that look when Jon turns to Sansa, looks her straight in the eye, and says “I will accept”, did me in. It’s like no one else exists in the room and Hubby just asked Wifey for her consent in their secret married language. But what absolutely killed me was Sansa’s face when Jon leaves her the North. Props to Sophie and Kit, you guys, I have no words. Sansa haters will say that this is all she wanted, for Jon to leave her in charge to do with Winterfell what she wants. I say no. Sansa has been through so much, and as another blogger pointed out, they both have been constantly told that they know nothing. To suddenly have her experiences acknowledged and validated, and to be put in a position of trust by the ruler of Winterfell, I think that is the most gratifying, humbling thing she has ever experienced. And that all is clearly written on her face. Sophie, I love you.

One last thing. When Sansa gives her speech that Jon is abandoning the North, his people, etc, I SWEAR it’s on the tip of her tongue to say “you’re abandoning me”. I swear it. Fight me. 

THE SCENE which I have literally been looking forward to since the trailer came out was everything that I could have wanted, and more! Jon staring teary-eyed at the statue of his “father”, LF creeping up behind him like the creepyfinger he is, muttering unnecessary nonsense about Cat and how she never loved Jon. Jon is all like “why are you here, tho. Go away, asshole”. And as he’s about to leave, LF let’s slip about Sansa. And Jon FLIPS OUT. My lords and ladies, let me tell you, LF had a suspicion and that suspicion was just confirmed. The most fascinating thing about this episode, TBH, was watching Jon’s face transform from calm, annoyed indifference to snarling dragon-wolf hybrid ready to attack. I mean, his lip twitched and he actually snarled! I am always here for baby Jon going all Crazy Grandpa Aerys when somebody insults his platonic hot sister wife. Always here. And that smirk on LF’s blue face as Jon exits the crypts in a huff, that man knows things.

Not gonna lie, super bummed that we got no formal goodbye scene, and Jonny galloped out of Winterfell way too fast. But I do have some thoughts on what we did get. That wave. Now, I don’t remember the Jaime/Brienne scene, but seeing the gifs floating around, yep, I agree. But what I got from that brief moment was that there was a general feeling of controlled, conscious restraint. Sansa agrees that it’s necessary for Jon to leave. But she’s freaking terrified, and I think that if she lets slip something more that a curt wave and shy smile, the whole dam will break loose and she’ll never recover. That’s what I got.

Ok, time to wrap it up. Thanks for getting this far, hope you enjoyed my ramblings, and tell me what you think.

Love ya, Jonsa fam!

[decideroffate]

Since my Fates fan fiction is going down an entirely different path I really wanted to share the original plan. Clearly not all every detail is here, but the key stuff is.

A few things to note that applies to all routes a lot of this still remains true to the current fan fiction, so slight spoilers.

Mikoto is the mother of Takumi and Sakura

Azura is not all-knowing. As much as I like her I could make a drinking game with all the plot twists she spews that comes straight the fuck out of nowhere

Scarlet and her rebellion are a joke. I hate the Cheve chapters because, what the fuck are the rebelling against exactly?! Raised taxes? The equivalent of police brutality? What?! At least the Ice Tribe has justification with Flora and Felicia.

Izana has himself a lady named Mine, who is with child. Whether or not Izana and Mine are married, or if their child is born depends on when he’s met in the route (he’s married and his child is born in Conquest, but not Birthright) At the end of Conquest and Birthright they’re likely married though.

Lake travel is tweaked a little in order to keep traveling somewhat consistent. To get to Valla via lake you need to be from Valla, to get back from Valla it’s… not necessary, but helps to have a Vallite with you. Or at least someone who used to lake travel, for no other reason than keeping calm.

There’s no Deeprealms. Birthright and Conquest take place over the course of ten years.

Birthright

Almost after the battle, the repricautions of Vaiana’s choice hit hard. Not helped by Hinoka treating it as a victory for Hoshido, which leads her and Sakura to have an argument over it (probably not the worst out there, but still jarring considering it’s Sakura). Jakob is the only one Vaiana wants to see. A day or so later there is a bit of discussion about Jakob’s presents in Hoshido, but Vaiana lays down the law, either he stays, or they go.

Shortly after Vaiana is relocated into an empty fort, with the only other people living there with her being Sakura, Tsubaki, Hana, and Azura. She’s kept there for about three years and the fact that she’s gone from one gilded cage to another is not lost on her. Vaiana even outright says that Garon was never cruel enough to tease her with the size.

Vaiana decides she’s had enough when she hears about a border village under the attack of Faceless. Gathering anyone willing to go with her Vaiana marches to the village only to find they’re too late, there are no survivors. Mozu’s dismembered body joins the rest of her village in the funeral pier.

Throught the route Iago (and later Garon) express disappointment in Vaiana and her apparent understanding of the situation. And the meeting with the Rainbow Sage happens far sooner. Throughout Azura is not treated with the same respect as she does in-game, making it clear that she was never really considered a part of the family.

The Chevios rebellion is treated as an utter joke. As Jakob and Vaiana are quick to point out, they have no reason to rebel. As it would turn out, the ‘rebels’ are just a bunch of bored, untrained, over privileged children, who are very much aware that if Scarlet agrees to Ryoma’s alliance, they’re going to march to their deaths. Because of this, a few members of the Chevios rebellion abduct Vaiana with the intent of weaponizing her dragon form. All this earns them is a rogue dragon the Hoshidan army has to subdue before Vaiana loses herself.

The ordeal leaves Vaiana bitter and no longer feeling safe. When Scarlet tries apologize, she makes the mistake of saying she had no part in her attack. Vaiana, using her partial transformations, nearly causes the building they’re in to collapse during her beat down of Scarlet. Scarlet’s soldiers abducted Vaiana because they were afraid of dying because they were untrained. As their leader Scarlet should have done better, she was just as much responsible for Vaiana’s attack as her actual attackers.

Around the same time, Jakob, furious that Hoshido has hurt Vaiana far more than Nohr ever did lays down a mighty Reason You Suck Speech (in the vain of Last Midnight from Into the Woods). It’s because of this that Ryoma refuses an alliance with Scarlet he goes on to lead the frontline while Vaiana tries to recover from her physical and mental injuries from the ordeal. It’s mentioned that the Nohrian armies put an end to the Chevois rebellion and Scarlet was killed via public hanging. What’s left of the rebellion disbanded and went on to live quite lives.

After a slight time skip, Vaiana is still left rather jaded and is only just beginning to feel safe around strangers.

After Kaze dies Vaiana is screaming at Saizo to take it out on her. He doesn’t, only saying Kaze went above and beyond the call of duty, something Vaiana feels is worse than had he actually yelled. It’s not helped at all when Kagero explains that the ninja are taught not to get too attached, or show outward emotion.

Jakob has no sympathy for Flora, calling her pathetic, and a coward. Vaiana realizes just how much he hated her. Jakob sympathies do go to Felicia as she had lost everything and has little means to take care of herself because of it.

In the Woods of Forlorn Niles goes as far as to claim that Vaiana has done worst than he could ever do to Leo. He even applauds her talent. The backtrack to the Rainbow Sage doesn’t happen as it happened during the intial cross to Nohr. Nor dose

Camilla and Leo are very much aware that just talking things out isn’t going to work. Far too late for that. But both decide it’s something Vaiana and Elise need to learn for themselves. They both expected Elise to live, though. After Elise dies Xander’s far more blatant about his suicide attempt, taking things into his own hands when Vaiana refuses to fight. Xander’s passing leaves Vaiana a shell of her former self and adopts the mentality of ‘I’m going hell, might as well get ready for the take-over.’ Laslow and Peri were also killed.

Azura’s husband is present for Azura’s death. (Well, okay, obviously not Kaze but you know…) Despite the pain she’s in Azura both wants to see her children one last time but doesn’t want them to see their mother die in front of them.

As opposed to Ryoma’s coronation, the Hoshidan’s witness Leo’s coronation. Takumi always thought Nohr wasn’t picky when it came to gender. And they’re not, but Camilla claims that a vengeful queen is the last thing Nohr needs as she would surely drag Nohr and Hoshido to hell after everything they’ve done. All with an unnerving smile. Hinoka awkwardly states that she always thought Camilla had no sense of humor. According to Vaiana, Camilla wasn’t lying.

It’s noted that Odin resigned as Leo’s retainer and explained that he was old friends with Laslow and likely returned to their unknown homeland. The implication being that Owain returned to Ylisse to inform Olivia and her husband (in this case Lon’qu) of what happened to Inigo. It’s also mentioned that of the Awakening Trio, Selena’s staying in Nohr, even after Camilla abdicated her royal title and essentially reclassed into a Witch. Camilla is essentially roommates with her old retainers.

When meeting Azura at the lake Vaiana’s convinced she was just imagining things. To her, it’d make more sense for Azura’s ghost to stick around her children. It’s also noted that Vaiana’s holding on to the pendant. She and Azura’s husband will later decide who to give it to.

Vaiana, broken by war, stars dulling her pain by drinking. It’s implied she’s also gone to self-harm. The people of Nohr have started pressuring Leo to retaliate against Hoshido for that they’ve done in the war. The subject of marriage has come up in an attempt to ease tensions, however, Hinoka is already married with a child on the way. Leading Vaiana to suggest she offer herself.

Ryoma and Yukimura talk about it in private. Yukimura mentions that, though it’s through marriage, Vaiana is still a princess of Hoshido. And he would not have been surprised it Sumeragi and Mikoto discussed the idea. However, Vaiana, looking to talk to Ryoma about her suggestion, suddenly appears inside asking what Yukimura meant when he called her a princess through marriage. Slowly, her reeling mind figures it out herself, she’s not Sumeragi’s child.

Both men try to explain it, no she’s not Sumeragi’s daughter, but he was there where her real father wasn’t. He was there since she was born. Vaiana, however, demands to know when they planned on telling her. Neither Yukimura nor Ryoma has an answer for her. Not only does Vaiana realize Ryoma had absolutely no intention of ever telling her, she get’s it in her head that Mikoto was never going to tell her either (having no proof, either way, muddles it just a bit).

Realizing she had no more obligation to Hoshido than she did Nohr finally pushes Vaiana over the edge. She puts her all into destroying her dragonstone, and like steam released from a pot, her troubles are gone. Vaiana’s mind deteriorates, consumed by one thought alone; the continent was not worth saving. Allowing the beast to completely take over, Vaiana sets her sights on bringing an end to Hoshido and Nohr.

Conquest

The earliest changes in this comes in Jakob essentially taking Silas’s place when explaining things to Vaiana. And, skipping ahead a little, there is a bit of discussion between Silas and Vaiana when Vaiana made Kaze her second retainer over  Silas. The fact of the matter is, Vaiana really does not like how Silas refuses to acknowledge that things have changed, and REALLY doesn’t like how he’s essentially using her to make himself feel better. She’s had enough of that with both sets of siblings.

Unlike Birthright, Mozu is actually saved by Leo. When they do meet, Vaiana offers to take her in. And when Garon and Azura do meet, Garon ends up having something akin to a heart attack

After defeating Hinoka in Notre Sagesse, Kaze switches sides, noting that Mikoto was very much aware that Vaiana may want to return to Nohr, and only asked her children to respect it. The only one doing that is Sakura. Meanwhile, Rinkah, realizing that Vaiana’s been avoiding deaths, and having warmed up to her while bringing her to Hoshdio, informs Hinoka that the Flame Tribe will no longer cooperate with Hoshido.

A little later Vaiana and Kaze have their talk about what happened the night she was taken, something they never had until the last moment in Hoshido.

Elise and a few other members of the group end up getting sick. Vaiana is far, FAR angrier with Ryoma for the tact he’s using, even saying he would fit in pretty well in Nohr just to get a rise out of him. Meanwhile, Kaze tries to explain his reasons for defecting to Saizo, and Kagero. Kagero is a bit more willing to listen.

A reoccurring theme is that Vaiana will not allow herself to be bullied into feeling guilty for leaving Hoshido. Especially since she barely knew them. Takumi was unwilling to give her a chance, Hinoka was unwilling to get to know Vaiana as she is now over the girl she was then, and Ryoma was busy. The only person who get’s any guilt out of her is Sakura, the only one she really bonded with and the only one who really has Vaiana’s happiness in mind.

As is the case with Birthright Scarlet’s rebellion is a joke, and Garon’s finally had enough for their mischief and the people coming to him about raising taxes because of their actions (property damage, wasted food that could be harvest). And as is the case with Birthright Scarlet ends up being put to death in a public hanging. This time, however, Vaiana get’s to see the public reactions, and she does pity Scarlet slightly as no one’s going to miss her.

In Cyrkensia Azura dose her ritual in an attempt to purge Garon of Anankos’ influence. When that fails, rather than ordering the performers killed, Cyrkensia is searched for the singer. Unfortunately, some maidens who bare a passing resemblance are also brought in for further questioning.

When Vaiana follows Azura into Valla Azura starts to suspect that Mikoto may have been from Valla. But before she can dwell on it too long they’re met by Gunter, prompting Azura to explain that she struggled to get him out without the risk of getting them both killed. Then there was the issue of finding the lake. In private Azura explains that she has when she looks at Garon. And the fact that the castle healers couldn’t find a definitive answer to what was ailing Garon when he had his ‘heart attack’ which further causes unease. She had hoped that she could find something of use in the surviving archives of Valla, but she decides not to push her luck for the time being.

Beruka finds the three shortly after they return to Cyrkensia. Garon was attacked while they were gone, the only thing witnesses could agree on was the assailant has short, vibrant red hair. While the princesses follow Beruka to Garon, Gunter stays behind and mentions that things were going according to plan.

All of Cyrkensia is on alert after Garon’s attack, the king himself is in the infirmary with Iago, leaving Xander to lead the search parties. Vaiana asks if it was really Hinoka, and while Xander agrees she fit’s the description, he chooses to believe that she isn’t stupid enough to do something like this without covering her most promenade feature. Meanwhile, Iago starts muttering to himself, wondering why Hinoka hasn’t been caught yet. Garon, speaking quite clearly for someone who was just attacked, isn’t all that concerned. The last thing Iago smells is death before an ax flashes.

The search goes on for hours, and it’s only after the royals regroup do they hear one of Cyrkensia’s healers scream. The scream in question came from Garon’s room. Xander and Leo find the healer dead on the floor beside Iago, and Slime Garon standing above them. Whether or not Garon’s attack put a sort of enchantment over him is unknown, but Garon starts attacking without rhyme or reason. It’s noted in the description that the stench of decay follows Garon wherever he goes, and in certain lighting, one could swear they can see bones under the slime. Though the royals try to talk sense into Garon, Xander is forced to realize that it’s a losing fight and kills Garon in the hopes he’s released of whatever claimed him.

As an ‘epilogue’ of sorts it’s revealed that Garon’s real attacker was the late Queen Ikona as a Vallite Soldiers and that the recently deceased Iago has been resurrected as one such soldier. Some bits of Iago’s original personality remains, as he’s giddy as soon as he realized what Anankos’ plan was. With everyone thinking Hinoka was the one responsible for Garon’s attack and subsequent madness Xander will be pressured into retaliation.

Sure enough, sometime after Xander’s coronation the people of Nohr are demanding Hinoka answer to her alleged crime. Xander, however, is not so quick as to call for Hinoka’s head just yet and tries to set up a meeting with Ryoma to talk things out, he refuses every time until Xander is left with little choice but to invade.

From then on what happens for a while happens as it dose in-game. Sakura is captured, but Elise tries to explain that they initially just wanted to talk things out with Ryoma and Hinoka, even get an alibi. But Sakura counters with the fact that it’s too late now. Nohr’s people are convinced.

I’m going to have to cut this part short as I’m actually reusing it for the revised version.

Revelation

I actually never got around to writing an outline for this one, but I do know of some points that were going to be in it.

While it’s true for the other two routes, Vaiana suspects she isn’t Sumeragi’s daughter as she realizes she did not inherit anything from him. Likewise, she figures out her relation to Anankos on her own.

Izana dies, and Mine takes over until their child comes of age. The child is born by the time of Vaiana’s corrination

After the battle with Xander and Ryoma’s forces in Nestria Azura and Vaiana return to Valla to talk freely, but as it turns out, Takumi followed them. Vaiana realizes that Mikoto had to have been from Valla because of it.

The Rainbow Sage is confirmed to be Vaiana’s paternal grandfather (likewise the case with Lilith, who already knew).

This is the only route Scarlet scurvies, ironically, because she doesn’t go along on the adventure. The one who takes her place to die however is either Yukimura or Flora. I hadn’t fully deiced either or, both work, and both wouldn’t have been so painfully obvious.

Fuga and Flora would have had a Big Damn Heroes moment, arriving during White Flames.

Ryoma and Vaiana actually talk about what happened when she was taken. And during Ryoma’s support with Xander he decides to put his trust in Xander by revealing Vaiana’s true origin to him (or at least what he knows).