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jeannefostergoriot · 4 days

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The Prophecy x Sophie Foster

(How that, it’s my third analysis of the day?)

« Hand on the throttle, thought I caught lightning in a bottle »: she literally caught starlight as one of her first accomplishments. And then unending fire. Lightning here as a symbol of power. Fire as the fact that she is right.

« Oh, but it’s gone again »: but no one ever let her decide, she always have opposition, whether it’s the Council, the Black Swan, her bodyguards, even her friends, she has to argue. Power never stays hers.

« And it was written, I got cursed as Eve got bitten »: all her life was thought before her, her wars exists before her. She’s cursed from beginning to end.

« Oh, was it punishment? Pad around when I got home » is how she feels after every defeat, after every time she couldn’t keep things from going bad, every time Keefe left.

« I guess a lesser woman would’ve lost hope »: she is still a fighter. As of the end of Unlocked and Stellarlune, we see that awakening, and she starts to take pride in it.

« A greater woman wouldn’t beg »: she has yet no trust in herself. Almost no confidence. She isn’t as great as she could, thinks she.

« But I looked at the sky and said »: through the panakes branches, Sophie is looking at the sky every night, and she is begging.

« Please, I’ve been on my knees, change the prophecy »: everyday wishing, waiting for a change, hoping it could be easy for once.

« Don’t want money, just someone who wants my company » *look to Keefe*. And it’s not just someone, it’s peace, she wants peace by her side.

« Let it once be me… »: let her be just a normal teenager. She deserves it.

« Who do I have to speak to, about if they can redo, the prophecy? »: she’d bargain for so long. If she just knew who to address. She’d bargain for everything and if she’d get a rebuttal for peace for herself, she’d ask for her friends…

« Cards on the table, mine play out like fools in a fable, oh » is about how she’s feeling about the fact that the Neverseen always seem so much further in their plans and their attacks. Like they always know what Sophie will do next.

« It was sinking in, slow in the quicksand »: the progressive realization over the four first books that she has, not only a whole world to discover, but secret organizations to deal with. And in background the fact she actually has to *stop* one.

(Also, yes, I thought of the access to Atlantis and the cover of book 6)

« Poison blood from the wound of the pricked hand »: post Neverseen, post Unlocked. Even more Unlocked. Cause Keefe ran away, refused to stay, to be helped, and even if it’s not treason this time, it hurts. And she doesn’t know who to trust. She doesn’t know who she loves. She doesn’t know who she is.

« Oh still I dream of him ». Sophie, if you ever get sleep, we all know Runaway Boy is in your dreams.

« And I sound like an infant »: she prays, she hopes, she doesn’t want this place. But she gets remorse from this, calls herself an infant who has to grow up and stop complaining.

« Feeling like the very last drops of an ink pen »: she’s alone. The story can’t continue without her, the ink has to be used, but she is terribly lonely and vulnerable. The last on Earth able to do something.

« A greater woman stays cool, but I howl like a wolf to the moon »: Sophie is over-achieving and going to burnout. That’s pretty clear. She has that idea in her mind of the greater woman she has to be. But she’s here, crying, praying, trying to go on, having panic attacks, insomnia, anxiety.

« And I look unstable ». She often looks very tired, it’s said multiple times. Also, at the beginning of Stellarlune, everyone looks at her like she’s crazy for the storehouse fire.

« Gathered with a coven at a sorceress’ table »: her coven is her friends, her team, all around her, doing planes. And the sorceress table is that magic thing Mr Forkle showed us with different views of places and options.

« A greater woman as faith, but even statues crumble »: that’s when she will realize she can actually be enough.

« If they’re made to wait »: and that’s the reason she starts burning. Fighting. Attacking. Cause she doesn’t want to crumble anymore.

« I’m so afraid I sealed my fate ». Sophie is thinking that constantly, about every decision she makes, wondering which one could be fatal.

« No sign of soulmates »: cause she’s unmatchable

« I’m just a paperweight »: useful, a little, but a weight, how she thinks.

« Spending my last coin so someone will tell me it’ll be ok »: she needs so much to hear it. And it’s not said enough in this series.

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #sophie foster #kotlc sophie #the prophecy #ttpd #the tortured poets department #taylor swift #yeah I’m conscious it’d fit even more with PJO #but I’m rusted on PJO #even more than Kotlc #and I have to post on kotlc

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rabbitenn · 6 months

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LAST DIMENSION.

You were warned not to eat or drink anything if you ever found yourself in the place where the starlight can’t reach. And yet, before you knew it, your lips were already sweetened with honeyed nectar. What awaits you in this part of the Underworld?

ft. demon Tsunashi Ryunosuke x gn! reader.

cw/genre: halloween special, fantasy au, romance.

third of the halloween fics based on spooky night ! I hope you enjoy <3

In the months you had spent venturing every corner of this decaying world, you had learned there were certain rules to abide by.

If you wanted to stay alive, anyway.

Your existence might have not been luxurious or even easy.

Nothing in this world was anymore. Everywhere you looked, trees were dying, birds sang off key and strong winds howled.

And yet, you still had hope.

Perhaps any other semblance of joy had escaped with the sun that had vanished a long while ago.

But the stars still remained, the only difference between day and night at this point.

And that rule danced in your mind.

“If you ever find yourself in the place where starlight can’t reach; if you ever succumb to total darkness, with no Polaris to pull you out, keep your wits about you. No matter how much your senses play against you, don’t trust anything you hear or see. And most importantly: if you want to make it out, never drink or eat anything in that lightless pit.”

Well, good to keep that in mind, but you really didn’t intend to begin exploring dark holes; you had enough already with trying to find something edible so as to not starve to death.

Or so you thought.

Until that thunderstorm.

Jagged lightning shot across the sky, the heavy soot-like clouds rumbling with every flash of light.

Staying outside like you used to doesn’t seem like an option tonight.

Sighing heavily, you tug your ragged raincoat closer to your form, heading for the mountains.

You knew there was a cave there, perhaps no wild animals lounged on it today and you were lucky enough to take shelter in it for a while.

The rain gets heavier, your vision impaired by a downpour that looks as if the night itself was melting down in kerosene droplets.

Thunder roars even near.

At this rate, you won’t make it.

Then, you spot something from the corner of your eye.

Between some obsidian rocks, a crack widens into an opening.

It looks wide enough to fit one person and it’s only a few yards away from where you stand.

You hesitate for a moment.

Then, a branch from the tree right before you snaps, falling to the ground as smoke wafts off from it.

An overwhelming roaring sound shakes the ground, almost making you topple over.

You make a run for it.

—

Inside this newly discovered cave, it’s oddly quiet, the sounds of the raging storm outside not even a ripple in the stillness of a stygian lake.

A small fire crackles, lighting up the inky walls.

It’s… unsettling.

“Is there anyone here?” You ask, with your echo as only answer.

This place… there’s no one in here, and yet, it somehow seems… alive. As if the walls themselves were closing in to listen, to archive your secrets, every move recorded.

You really can’t shake the uneasiness, but you’re exhausted and soaked.

It might be better to try and sleep for a few hours and dry up your clothes.

Shrugging off your mud-stained coat, you lie down, dancing flames reflecting on a polished jet-black ceiling the last thing you see before your lids close.

—

Like the night prior, you awake to heavy silence.

The fire has died out, and faint light comes in from the entrance.

Probably not dawn yet.

Still, it’s never good to linger in one place for too long.

Picking up your dry coat, you get up and step outside.

The storm has ceased, and it’s still night.

Grey moonbeams filter through naked tree branches, their elongated shadows like clawed hands eagerly reaching for you.

The air feels hotter than before and then, you realize how thirsty you are.

Just your luck that your water has run out.

With your eyes peeled, you scan your surroundings for any source of decently clean water.

Then you notice it.

A tree somehow still untouched by this apocalypse.

Apples dangle from its branches, emerald green faded to gold, white blossoms flowering all over it.

You rub your eyes for a moment.

Are you hallucinating?

No, this seems real.

You approach it, cupping your hands under the dripping petals, rainwater pooling on your hands.

However when your lips taste it, it’s sweet.

Too sweet.

Then it hits you.

You set your gaze upwards.

The full moon shines amidst a spotless marine sky.

Well, shine wouldn’t really be appropriate.

It just hangs there… stagnant, lackluster.

Like a dull stone.

No clouds drift overhead.

And yet, not a single constellation can be seen.

No starlight.

This isn't your world anymore.

Just as you realize that, thorny vines wrap around your wrists, the ground between you opening wide as you plummet into total darkness.

—

One second you’re free-falling to your death, and the next you find yourself in a throne room.

Your hands are still tied in those vines.

“Ah… Sorry about that.” A gentle voice greets, from the center of the room.

Soft brown hair peeks from underneath the hooded attire he dons, a curved silvery horn curling upward from one side of his brow. Gloves that only cover three of his fingers reach his forearms.

In one of his hands, he fiddles with something round.

An apple, like the one from the tree you drank from, its colors now looking like venom to you.

The stranger’s eyes are a shade you no longer remember. Like summer evenings, when the sun sent its rays over sandy beaches.

Golden? Was that its name?

Then your gaze focuses on his neck. The same vines that bind your wrists loop around it.

That looks painful.

But is he human?

He looks like a demon. However, his demeanor seems so gentle…

“My name is Ryunosuke, but please call me Ryu.” He introduces himself. “I apologize that this land chooses such… uncomfortable methods to bring down here those who taste its nectar and fruit.”

He snaps his fingers, your wrists finally free from one another, though the thorned bracelets still remain.

Ryunosuke catches your gaze on them.

“Sadly I still really don’t know what to do about those.” He admits, bashfully.

“What is this place?” You ask, your voice hoarse, throat parched.

The demon sighs.

“We call it the Underworld. A place where the sky is fake and no light reaches. It tempts people with what they need most at a given moment, wrapping its vicious thorns around your soul, never setting you free once you’ve had a taste.”

So, this is the place.

Where starlight can’t reach.

And you’ve just bought yourself a one way ticket, with permanent stay included.

Well, at least this demon guy seems friendly enough.

As you stare at him for a moment too long, he already can read the question dancing in your eyes.

“No, once you’ve broken the rules there is no way for you to get out. I’ve been trying for years.” Ryu admits, with a sad smile.

“Fine.” You sigh.

It’s frustrating, even though it’s not like the Overworld was faring much better, all things considered.

“Why don’t you show me around?” You suggest.

His eyes widen in surprise.

“What? If I’m going to have to stay here from now on, I’d like to become familiar with the environment.” You shrug.

Ryunosuke chuckles, you seem to be taking this well. It’s been forever since anyone showed up, and the ones who did long ago were already driven to madness the moment they stepped into this realm.

“Alright.” He smiles.

And when he does, somewhere in your chest, you think you remember the warmth of bygone sunbeams against your back on early autumn afternoons.

—

After some weeks here, you realize this place isn’t so bad.

You have a roof under which to sleep now, food on your plate and considerably nice clothes.

If you had known the price to pay would have been just thorny shackles, you might have done this sooner.

Besides, Ryu is a very nice guy.

And your eyes can’t help but be drawn to his sculpted chest in that outfit of his.

No, wait, you definitely didn’t think that.

He’s just your companion… friend? Roommate?

It’s complicated to pinpoint right now.

However, one thing you’ve been missing from your world are the stars.

On lonely nights, when you felt you were the lone survivor of a land that knew no hope, you had a sea of constellations over you, at least.

If you were really quiet, you could almost hear them whisper, enticing you to wish upon them.

Even if they were faraway, they kept you company.

They gave you courage. Aim.

Something you don’t quite know how to find now while you stare at a concrete moon.

“[Y/n], are you okay?” A voice that’s become familiar and comforting during the last days asks.

You tilt your head to the side, your eyes meeting a golden gaze.

“I’m fine, I just…” You trail off, Ryu’s encouraging smile an indication to go on. “I was just… reminiscing. About the stars. I miss them down here.”

The demon looks into the distance.

“I might have a way to show them to you.” He offers, tone laced with a little uncertainty. “It’s worked before with the moon, the real one… So maybe I can try for you.”

“Wait, for real?” You ask, wide eyes reflecting the nonexistent rays of a faux satellite.

“I will try. You deserve to see the light of a starry night again, [Y/n].” Is the answer he breathes into the fabricated skies.

“Thank you.” You tell Ryu, putting your hand in his, showing him a genuine smile.

How long had it been, since you felt joy like this?

Wrapping you in his cape, Ryunosuke spirits you away to the place where he wants to make the universe’s light happen.

—

When you arrive, a motionless pool lays before you, chandeliers hanging from the small chamber’s walls, mirrored in the still waters.

This place feels warm, summery almost, a contrast to the bleakness you’ve become so used to.

Dipping his fingers into the pond, your companion closes his eyes.

Ripples start to appear on the previously stagnant surface, an ethereal glow emanating from the water.

You hold your breath, your body inclined towards the surface.

There, beneath the small waves, pinpricks start to appear, as the depths of the pool turn to indigo, mimicking what once was the night sky from above.

“Ryu…” You manage to breathe, in awe. “This is… it’s beautiful.”

You dip one of your own fingers into the glowing water. It feels as if you are catching stars in your palms; except they don’t burn you, they warm your heart, like no fire under sunless skies had ever done.

“Yeah, it is.” Comes his reply.

However, he’s not looking at the stars he created.

His gaze is set on the sparkles dancing in your eyes instead.

Ryu summoned a firmament for you, and yet, to him, no star could ever outshine the person standing before him.

Perhaps one day, he’d gather enough courage to tell you that.

Until then, well, he can wish upon the stars.

#idolish7 x reader #idolish7 imagines #idolish7 #ainana #ainana x reader #idolish7 hadcanons #idolish7 scenarios #tsunashi ryunosuke #tsunashi ryunosuke x reader #idolish7 fluff #idolish seven #idolish7 x you #idolish7 x y/n #anime x reader #anime imagines #anime fluff #halloween

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moltz23 · 8 months

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Three Houses Trivia (& Analysis): How the writers roadblocked a Revelation-like route with impunity.

It’s no secret by now that Three Houses has no Golden Ending/Route where everyone lives and/or the big conflict is solved without the involved factions taking huge casualties, much to the chagrin of fans. IS & KT were even asked about it in a developer interview back in 2020, mainly because a previous entry in the series did feature one: Fire Emblem Fates:

In all four routes the player can go through, each story ends with Fódlan at peace, yet somehow there’s still this air of sadness. In Fire Emblem Fates, Revelation served as the all-encompassing “route” that wrapped up the games’ story. Was there any reason you didn’t make something like Revelation again?

Kusakihara: If we had created a route for Three Houses like Revelation was to Fates, that route would have definitely ended up being perceived as the “correct” route. In Three Houses, each route is its own history, and we wanted players to be able to decide that for themselves. In this game, the leaders of the three houses have their own unwavering beliefs and worldviews that are unique to themselves. We wanted to model the story and its themes after a dilemma that was grounded in reality, so from the beginning there were never any plans to make something like Revelation.

Yokota: I actually really love the big all-encompassing finales, but Kusakihara-san was so passionate about not including it we decided not to go with it. I also felt like we might just end up doing the same thing we did in Fates… I was pretty worried about it, so from the beginning I had decided I’d just go along with Kusakihara-san’s decision.

From a writing standpoint, I haven’t seen much talk about the specific decisions made for this purpose, which is why I wanna tackle the topic here.

To make things more interesting though, the focus will lie in how the Silver Snow route (the first story written for 3H) handles the conflict. After all, if there were truly no plans to make a definitive story branch, then we should be seeing some cues of it on this path alone.

Oh, and I know this is a given, but there will be spoilers for Three Houses (and almost none for Revelation).

With the introduction out of the way, let’s set the relevant context:

Fire Emblem Fates, and Revelation

Fates' artwork was something else man...

Fire Emblem Fates was released back in 2015 in Japan, and 2016 internationally for the 3DS. One aspect marketing made sure everyone would know about was its branching story. And while before Three Houses, Fire Emblem was no stranger to the idea (given games like Binding Blade and Sacred Stones had branching paths which converge later), no game beforehand had previously based its entire narrative on this idea.

Fates was advertised with two main routes which, unless you had the Special Edition, Korean, or Digital version of the game, were sold in separate cartridges: Birthright, in which Corrin supports the Japanese-inspired Hoshido opposing Nohr’s invasion; and Conquest, where instead Corrin’s loyalty falls to the Western-themed Nohr seeking to invade Hoshido. A third path, Revelation, was also announced ahead of time, but not much was said about it beyond being a third option where Corrin sides with no one, and players would need to pay for it sometime after Birthright & Conquest’s launch unless they got the Special Edition (good luck getting it through legal means nowadays, given the E-Shop’s dead and all).

Either way, regardless of the story chosen/bought, the plot’s main goal always lies in finding a way to end the war between the 2 main factions. Of the three stories, Revelation is the only one where by the end, the solution reached allows both sides to come out relatively unscathed, while also directly dealing with the main source driving the war. This is why in the developer interview quoted, the devs talk about Revelation being perceived as the correct path.

In contrast, Three Houses has no such solution, nor were the developers - by their admission - interested in making it happen. As a matter of fact, I dare say that if one analyzes all the key pieces and the nature of their involvement with the game’s conflict, we can find instead three roadblocks complicating the possibility of a Revelation-like route ever happening.

These, for those wondering, are the following:

1. Edelgard: Agency, and Rise to Power

She who commands her crimson destiny.

Silver Snow’s starting point from a story perspective is the conflict between Byleth and Edelgard (according to the game’s director), with the latter going from a big ally and deuteragonist during the first half of the story, to a major antagonist. Edelgard’s character, and her circumstances in which she assumes this role, is the story’s first identifiable roadblock.

As a quick backstory recap: In Imperial Year 1174, Thales (post body-snatching Lord Arundel) leaves the Kingdom along with Edelgard, and establishes a public partnership with the Adrestian Prime Minister Ludwig von Aegir under his Arundel disguise. With the assistance of House Vestra, Ludwig – in secret – had Edelgard and her siblings captured, and allowed his Agarthan partners to experiment on the Hresvelg children for the sake of, in Edelgard’s own words, “create a peerless emperor to rule Fodlan”, all while the actual Emperor was unable to do anything due to previously losing a power struggle vs Ludwig and the Adrestian nobility 3 years prior.

With only these events at hand, it’s clear Edelgard was intended in-universe to be a puppet emperor/super soldier hybrid meant to have the Empire wage war and conquer Fódlan. In any other instance, this context gives the narrative an easy way out for defusing the war; first by rescuing Edelgard, and then by spending the rest of the story dealing with Ludwig + Thales & their allies. That way, Edelgard is able to rise to power at the end and bring official closure to the conflict.

It’s right here however, where Edelgard’s own agency in the story shows the cracks with the idea, as the Black Eagles Route’s first half establishes:

Edelgard has her own bone to pick with the Church - one of the enemies she would inevitably face during the Empire’s conquest - and the social system it helped cultivate in Fodlan under Rhea’s leadership. Also-

Edelgard has been in talks with some of Ludwig’s own allies behind his back to ensure she reaches the Imperial throne on her own terms (which leads to her surprise coup from Ch. 11). And it’s all but stated this is possible because-

Edelgard has no qualms with waging war as long it’s a means to an end (see point 1), to the point she even assumes a secret persona - the Flame Emperor - to stage attacks against the Church before her coronation.

At many points in Part 1 of Black Eagles, Edelgard is even seen testing the waters with Byleth, confiding a bit on her ideology and plans for the future to see if they would be willing to stand by her side once the time comes, before finally relenting and continuing her plans as previously established before Byleth came into the picture.

These facts flip our understanding of the conflict and the key players driving it on its head. And this is considering only how Edelgard factors into everything, because with our other two parties involved, it gets even more complicated:

2. TWSITD: Scheming Outside Their Comfort Zone

Credit to sageofanys for their interpretation of Cleobulus btw.

In the context of Fire Emblem, “those who slither in the dark” stand out like a sore thumb due to how alien they are. For the sake of this post however, I will only focus mainly on how the group’s used in the narrative they were originally created for, as it showcases our second roadblock.

The group assumes the role of the puppeteers behind the scenes, having already infiltrated the antagonistic faction of the story (the Empire) and using them to achieve their goals, while also playing a noticeable role in the backstory of some key players of the conflict. And given the archetype they follow, it appears there’s a clear cut way to stop them: just deal with them directly - while avoiding their puppets as much as possible - and bingo. Problem solved.

…Which would be a viable solution, if it wasn’t for Three Houses complicating the slitherers’ job, forcing them to work outside their comfort zone:

Remember when I mentioned Edelgard did some deals behind Duke Aegir’s back? Well, the Agarthans were part of those deals too due to utilitarian (manpower, assets and tech) and practical reasons (Edelgard is not in a position to get rid of them normally), foreshadowed and implied midway through Part 1. This results in-

Having the puppeteers lose much of their agency in the story once Edelgard assumes the Imperial throne. As mentioned earlier, the “puppet” in question gets control of the Empire once she assumes the antagonist role, and has her own reasons to wage war and conquer. This begs the question: How much control do the slitherers even have in the story once the war starts? Their uncertain input is even compromised further because-

Their success is entirely dependent on Edelgard winning. The slitherers have no trump-card nor a “revive this ancient evil” button freely available which could potentially make the need of a war pointless, meaning that once Edelgard and her Empire is taken care of, they have no choice but go into hiding to scheme again in the future, which is what happens in the story. Lastly-

They are acting on borrowed time. In spite of all their bravado, smugness, hi-tech toys, and hubris (heck, partly because of it), Edelgard, thanks to their established alliance with TWISTD and her own spies (ie. Hubert.) eventually gains the info needed to get rid of the group once their assistance is no longer needed, proven through Hubert leaking Shambhala’s location to Byleth after him & Edelgard are hit with a sudden case of death. Meaning that by the end, any potential win the slitherers gain is bound to become a pyrrhic victory.

So to wrap up this part, TWSITD’s purpose in Silver Snow’ main plot can be summed up as the following:

Remove Jeralt from the story, which leads to Byleth fusing with Sothis while also (unintentionally?) foiling Rhea’s plan for them in the process, which would otherwise never happen without their involvement.

Give Edelgard the means to remove Rhea from the story between Chapter 13 and 19.

Wound Rhea lethally near the end of the story, unwillingly setting her up as the Final Boss.

And speaking of which-

3. Rhea: Snow in the Crimson Gardens

Not so immaculate as she wants you to think.

All I have covered so far comes from the antagonist-side of things. But because Three Houses' story is not done throwing wrenches at our understanding of how the war happens, it seems natural it would add one last, final roadblock within the main supporting roster of characters. And who else to give it than Rhea: Archbishop of the Church of Seiros; leader of Fódlan’s main religion; and Byleth’s boss for all of Part 1.

Within the narrative, Rhea’s role in the plot is very straightforward:

In the Academy Arc, she gives Byleth missions in the story for them & their class to do, while also delivering exposition whenever necessary.

Then in the War Arc of Silver Snow, she has to be rescued from the Empire, delivers one final piece of exposition the story teased late into Part 1 (what is Byleth and what’s up with their mom), and then becomes the Final Boss though circumstances beyond her control.

None of this is really a problem for writing a definitive 3H route. The crux at hand however, comes when we learn about Rhea’s character, painting a different looking picture:

She’s quite secretive, being her reasons for hiring Byleth as a teacher the best example of it in the story, as her vague justification for it puzzles Seteth (her right hand man), Jeralt, and even Edelgard.

As the story goes on, it’s also clear Rhea’s preparing and testing Byleth for something, later revealed to be their status as Sothis’ new vessel - with having them sitting on Sothis’ Throne the intended final step - which, not only doesn’t pan out as planned, it’s also something she kept everyone in the dark about on purpose up until it was too late.

Her answer against insurrections and direct threats against her authority is execution.

She is willing to cover-up truths if it means safeguarding the reputation of Crests and Nobility.

The last two points in particular stand out a lot considering that in Black Eagles’ story, these facets of Rhea’s character are often highlighted right next to Edelgard’s in adjacent events, further showcasing their differences.

Take Chapter 3, for example:

“Even if our enemies are the gods themselves... we must never lose sight of our goal. [...] Really, I'm just like Lonato. I, too, will be the sort of ruler who's willing to risk the lives of my citizens in service of a higher cause. It's not possible to change the world without sacrifice. Dying for the greater good is not a death in vain.” - Edelgard in A Harsh Reality

“I heard some of the students were...hesitant about fighting militia. However, we must punish any sinner who may inflict harm upon believers, even if those sinners are civilians. I pray the students learned a valuable lesson about the fate that awaits all who are foolish enough to point their blades towards the heavens.” - Rhea in Report: Garland Moon

And Chapter 5:

“I have already heard Gilbert's report about what happened. See to it that you keep what transpired at the tower to yourself. People would lose faith in the nobles should rumors spread of one using a Relic and transforming into a monster. All regions of Fódlan would fall into chaos. We must avoid that at all costs.” - Rhea in The Lance of Ruin

“People believe Crests are blessings from the goddess, that they're necessary to maintain order in Fódlan. But the people are wrong. Crests are to blame for this brutal, irrational world we live in. Their power is granted only to a select few, whom we elevate and allow to rule the world. Have you ever wondered if the only way to create a truly free world is to dispense with the goddess and the Crests?” - Edelgard in Crests: The Good and the Bad

The more the plot progresses, the more it becomes clear that both Edelgard and Rhea are not on the same wavelength, are up to their own devices, and that neither is willing to show their cards before their plans have reached completion. This ultimately causes tension, telegraphing to the player that both sides will eventually crash against each other, but without making certain when and how it will happen (one can guess Edelgard will throw the first stone, but…?).

Thus, with these 3 roadblocks set in stone, the seeds of Fodlan’s main conflict are allowed to blossom unopposed, setting the blazes of war loose.

… And all this is just as far as it goes in Silver Snow. Due to my self-imposed restriction, I deliberately didn’t cover stuff like:

Edelgard’s beef with the Nabateans and their involvement in Fódlan (which Silver Snow hints at but never elaborates upon).

The circumstances in which Dimitri’s rage and madness is unleashed towards Edelgard and the Empire.

The complicated relationship between the Alliance and the Empire.

What’s up with the TWSITD’s “Javelins of Light”.

What’s up with Nemesis coming back only in Verdant Wind.

And all the stuff that Warriors: Three Hopes shows, elaborates upon and makes clear with little room for ambiguity (like the fact Duke Aegir and Thales have history together), plus how the war happens in its timeline.

As a conclusion of sorts, I wanna say that: while I appreciate and see the potential of an hypothetical Revelation-like route in Three Houses, to me, it’s abundantly clear that’s simply not the kind of story IS and KT ever intended to write. Considering the sort of roadblocks at play, a major rewrite is required to even start entertaining such an idea, which would need to drastically shake the foundation of its story, lore, and characters as it currently is, to the point it’s worth raising the question if it would be far more practical to just start from scratch and create a whole new universe altogether…

#fe3h #silver snow #fire emblem: three houses #crimson flower #edelgard von hresvelg #rhea #church of seiros #adrestian empire #those who slither in the dark #twsitd #golden ending #golden route #fire emblem fates #revelation #trivia #analysis #story analysis

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randaccidents · 18 days

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Okokok I know I should be asleep but I got hit with the Need to just rant about Heart characterization.

Cause I am Very Aware that from summary alone my AUs seem to reduce Heart to a pawn controlled by the narrative, that he's pretty passive and his own actions don't matter. But that's not true at all!

Heartless first. Heartless starts at ROE. Heartless branches off canon when Soul decides to keep Heart in the pit yes, and Mind is the one to push him to his final decision yes. But this is still his decision. No one held a gun to his head and told him to reject the Emotional Side other than himself. And when he get awoken he makes the ACTIVE DECISION to slide back into nothingness. He also makes the ACTIVE DECISION to throw poisoned words at the people trying to help him, because he is too angry to recognize their help. And in the end, it is his decisions that pull them out of the pit that is the Heartless AU. His decision, and no one else's, to accept the Emotional Side again. If anything Heart grabs the narrative by the throat and drags Perseverance and Penitence around with his anger and bitterness and refusal to heal.

Tangled Wisteria. It's a hanahaki au guys. There's no decisions made in emotions. But. It's still his emotions. And in the mechanics of my specific hanahaki Heart refuses to believe that his love is reciprocated when Mind and Soul try to tell him as much. Actively Refuses To Believe Their Love For Him. And after he forgets, I know I haven't talked about it much but after he forgets he does spend a lot of time trying to puzzle out who the missing figures in his memories are. He also spends time relearning who he is and rebuilding himself, with his complete identity loss. And towards the end of the AU, when Mind and Soul now harbour hanahaki for him? It's his decision whether to reciprocate their love (that he does not fully understand) or whether to reject them both. And he chooses the secret third option: I can't love you the way you want, but I can love you the way I am now. He literally breaks the narrative to give them his version of love, and they accept that happily.

Ok I will be fair to Tangled Wisteria I'm still working on the kinks BUT. The narrative is focused on Heart. A lot of the AU Heart is the only active one, while Mind and Soul give up pretty early and become passive. The narrative follows the footsteps of Purple.

Tridential Whole. The one I havent shared much on this blog lmao. But as my interp that went wild lemme just say. This bitch? Sailor mouth, biter, Would Strangle, leans into the Hateful side of emotions more than any other Heart I have written before, only reahed concord when his own Soul broke. You see this bitch? He is BITING the narrative by the throat and shaking it like the Predator I named him.

Its not a traditional way to like. Have a protaganist or to give a character control over the narrative. But I do love giving Heart a Presence in everything I write. He's just as important a character to the stories I write as Mind and Soul.

idk what I was going for writing this lmao I just wanted to talk about the idea of a character that appears beaten down by the narrative secretly being the entire driving force of the narrative.

#rambles #about aus #kjndsf heres my dead tired in the middle of the night rant about my aus folks #mostly Heart #this little goober is such a major part of my aus I cant help it

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messenger-of-stupidity · 9 months

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NAH NAH NAH

Okay. Let's go through the thoughts of this latest update. There's a lot so buckle up buttercup.

1. Kravitas is literally so based. He's willing to spare Albus the suffering of long travel just because he's bored when typically he would enjoy Albus suffering.

2. Only Albus would risk insanity to spite a demon. Ever heard of cutting off your nose to spite your face, Albus? Seriously, these dude shot himself out of a fucking canon to stop Devlin from touching this hella cursed sword, but in typical Albus fashion when it's his safety and emotional welfare at stake common sense flies out the gods be damned window.

4. Is Kravitas really a demon or was his statement last episode about being more than that the truth that Albus just chose to call bullshit on?

5. Kerano, sweetie, if you don't like the sweater you don't gotta be nice to me and lie. Tis okay

6. Dad is back with his video of a casual demon attack. A normal Thursday. You'd think violence could slow enough for Faithful to get some groceries but I guess not.

7. AN ADULT TALK? EXCUSE ME? also yes now shoo child.

8. Guess I'll just go in a bunker and braid some hair or some shit. Whatever.

9. Don't you love it when the father figure of your child is so obsessed with transformers that he turns into a robot? (Yes I know he didn't turn into a robot. It just sounded kind of robotic in my head and it was funny.

10. What's the song called? It was kind of a vibe.

11. Oh my God we're raising a menace, thief, AND a liar. Where did we go wrong? 😭 Also can Faithful read minds? She was able to hear Kerano's mind about a key or something before Kerano had it, and was able to read the thoughts after that.

12. Move aside, Faithful is coming through like a badass. Hold the child

13. Oh neat. Both Albus and I have yelling voices in our head. 🥲

14. "I AM THE GREATEST GOOD YOURE EVER GONNA GET" - Faithful 2023

15. IS HE CUTTING OFF HIS HAND?! KERANO LOOK AWAY

16. Are... Are you seriously gonna make me choose between my two husbands right now? WHERES MY POLY OPTION? (Albus and Devlin in strictly familial relationship with each other. No condoning incest here)

-Branch-

Albus Route:

- yeah u tell him Devlin! How dare he try to reject us after saying it was our choice. Bitch

- UH I UH UHM ER

- daddy? Sorry. Daddy? Sorry. Daddy? Sorry

- HOW MANY ROUNDS? Albus let her BREATHE before you fuck her to death omg

- I thought we became a bio mom to half demon children. But nah turns out we became a slutty saint

- YOOOO another thing in common with Albus! We both don't like kids. For different reasons but the point still remains

- Awww. He misses Devlin.

- Kerano is wholesome but I ain't forgiving her for snatching that key

- wait does anyone remember when he said he wouldnt tap faithful with a ten foot pole? Does that mean he tapped her with an eleven foot pole to stay true to his word?

- Devlin Route -

- that's what your brother said to me in an alternate reality when I chose him too.

- Albus back with the orgies. My angsty brain McThinks it's some copium since that's his whole "nothing hurts me!" Mask

- "HES A ROCKIN SPACE AGE BACHELOR MAN" I hope he gets his dream of being a monsterfucker

- Faithful got that holy rizz sheeeeeeesh

- astrology 🥰

- wait nevermind. Just some brotherly love

- you can call me darling any day of the week baby. I am living for it.

- Awww starry kiss. 🥹

Update: I keep forgetting there's a high chance that GBA will see this... BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?! I STAND BY WHAT I SAID (/lh) 😤😤😤

Update #2: for those asking about the third route thoughts, that's a secret that I'm saving for a fic.

#messy rambles #good boy audios #gba devlin #gba albus #gba faithful #gba kerano #gba kravitas #gba #gba bastard warrior

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fantasyinallforms · 10 months

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I was struggling on which one to request, so I would like to put forward two bagginshield options- 20, on a scar, or 30, for comfort i am loving these <333 ur writing is so good

You are so sweet!! Well, I did the scars one already, so for comfort, it is! Thank you for the ask! I hope you enjoy!! ❤️❤️

~~~~~~

Bilbo paced back and forth in the back corridor to the throne room. The door he came through to get here led directly to the Kings rooms and was just about the only place he knew he would not be disturbed. He smoothed down his shirt for the third time and readjusted his new diadem. It had been crafted by Thorin with today in mind and styled to look like the flowering branches of an oak tree. Today, he would be introduced to the entire dwarven court and all three leaders of the current dwarven strongholds as Thorin’s One. Their relationship up until now had been an ill-kept secret. Those that lived in Erebor knew that the King was unusually attached to his hobbit burglar. There were mummers of what he was. Some were convinced Thorin would never take anyone, let alone a hobbit. Others thought he was simply a convenient bedmate. No one seemed to entertain the notion that Bilbo was the other half of the king's very soul.

They would after today.

“Calm yourself, you Tookblooded fool. They’ll like you, or they won't. There is nothing you can do about that now.” It wasn't the first pep talk he had given himself that afternoon, and Yavanna knows it wouldn't be the last

It lasted all of ten minutes before his mind was racing again. His head jumped through all sorts of scenarios, not stopping to consider how preposterous some of them were. What if They didn't like him? What if they demanded Thorin be with someone who could give him heirs or decided they could be together, but only if Bilbo was kept a secret? He finally stopped his pacing to slide down a pillar until he was hugging his knees on the cold floor. He heard the door open, and Thorin's voice floated through it.

“Amral, they’re almost rea- Bilbo?” He felt a warm hand brush over the top of his head and down his chin. “Are you feeling alright?”

“N-no! Thorin, I don't know if I can do this! I’m not meant to be the leader of an entire nation of people!” Panic was quickly swallowing his sense, and to his surprise, Thorin just chuckled.

“If I had not known you were my other half, that would have proved it. When I was a prince, I found myself saying that often.” When Bilbo didn't answer, Thorin sat beside him. Head still between his knees, he took the diadem off and slapped it to Thorin’s chest. He really did feel hopeless, and his anxiety was edging toward a full-blown panic attack. He felt himself pulled into the warmth of Thorin’s chest and held there rather firmly.

“Are you… second-guessing this?” It was clear from the forced calm sound in Thorin’s voice that Bilbo had learned was, in fact, distress that the question was more, are you second guessing me.

“Never. I just… what if they make you choose between me and your people? Or what if the people reject me?” He was clinging to the front of Thorin's tunic as he finally voiced his fears.

“They would never be so foolish as to try and make me choose. They know who would win.” A strong hand brushed his cheek, and he dipped down to deliver a long, comforting kiss. Despite his enormous strength Thorin always held him so gently. His hands always found his hair or the small of his back, and he pulled them together. He was like a man who thought this was all still a dream he could suddenly wake up from. Bilbo was putty in his hands, willing to let the dwarf holding him do anything he wanted to him. He had never trusted someone so completely as he did Thorin. “Bilbo, I was made to be with you. Every moment I've spent since my birth has been for you. And I’m sorry, my love, because it does seem like you got the raw end of this deal. I’m sorry that we can't have a simple life, not yet.”

They heard a rap on the door, three sharp knocks, a pause, and another knock. It was the mining code for ready. Bilbo staggered to his feet. “I’m alright with it not being simple as long as youre there.” Thorin was smiling up at him from the floor like a lovesick fool. His lovesick fool. Thorin pushed himself off the floor, and they stood in front of the door to the throne room side by side.

“Bilbo, if you ask, I will abandon all of this. I will ready Fili, and within the year, we can leave for the shire and live there till the end of our days.” Bilbo put the diadem back onto his head.

“No. These are my people too. I want to lead them.”

__________

Fun kissing prompt game to be found here!

#bagginshield #the hobbit #thilbo #bilbo baggins #thorin oakenshield #bilbo x thorin #FIAF(me) fics #kissing prompts

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zacksfairest · 6 months

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Addilyn and Bastion, because I've asked about her and Quigs before

Send me an OC + an alternate love interest for them and I’ll tell you what I think of the idea

WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT I HAVE THOUGHT OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT COULD LEAD TO THIS

Like, I have not thought of This Specifically, but definitely thought of things that could culminate in this.

(no one read what is below this read more. it's awful)

So first off, I have often played with the idea of Addilyn going to Bastion for pymarics that allow her to pass as other castes. I have a dumb fic I want to write in which she goes to a ghers gathering at Duane's ghers just for the chance to interact with Lemuel not as a soldier, but like a woman normally would.

And this is made possible by her being introduced to a Black Tongue doctor through a prostitute she's become friendly with. A certain Black Tongue doctor of the Jet caste, you might say.

It's such a trivial thing to request, especially with the amount of money it costs, and Bastion makes his feelings on the matter known.

But he gets it for her. She's a paying customer, after all, and she gets to go to this ghers gathering disguised as a lovely young Soud woman—though Lemuel sees through the facade with frightening ease. Duane not so much. Both Addilyn and Lemuel deflect enough to get through the night with relatively little suspicion aimed her way.

Bastion forgets this interaction almost immediately. She was just another Semon who wishes for a life better than the one she's been given. She's no different from the rest of them.

It's not until he and Lemuel cross paths on the road to that fateful night that Bastion is reminded of that singular interaction. Of a stupid Semon woman who wished for a glamour to turn her dark complexion golden.

Bastion finds this coincidence hilarious, though mostly keeps this revelation to himself. No need to spill the girl's secrets. He doubts that this son of Alderode knows his favorite little soldier has shaken hands with a dreaded Black Tongue. No need to halt this opera before the curtain's time to fall. Let's watch how this plays out.

And play out it does. Duane dies. Lem marries Leysa and is now the father of two lovely little children. Addilyn remains a Lion, until one day she is suddenly a Lioness, and all of Alderode is aware of the Semon woman who has dared challenge the laws of the land.

Bastion is the one who hears the whispers first. They are terrible, bloody things that call for the woman's head and other rather unsavory things. Bastion sees fit to pass on a word of warning to the golden haired captain, if only because it makes him laugh to watch the Soud sweat. And the girl deserves some manner of respect for the trouble she's caused. It's best to at least give her a fighting chance.

And, believe it or not, NOW we are getting to the circumstances I mused over:

Lemuel does his best to cut out the faction that wants Addilyn dead, but that's an awful lot for one man to take on. Word eventually reaches the Lions and the brass, and Lem's fears are realized. The Lions of Mercy have wanted Addilyn gone since the moment she walked through their gates. Her Copper patron has lost interest in her, leaving her ripe for the plucking. They could give her over to the Gefendur and buy themselves some time. An olive branch, as it were.

Lemuel offers a single solution: offer her Third Option. Make her abide by the stipulations that road requires. Should she stumble, they can spill her blood as they wish.

They agree to this, but only because everyone here knows that they can only too easily make it so her attempts to live the life of a Third Option are not successful.

Lemuel goes to her with this compromise, not exactly spelling out exactly how fucked she really is. He words it like a hypothetical, because she needs to pick this as if she wants it. Because if she is not ardent in her desire for this, they can easily deny her.

But of course she doesn't want it. And she says as much. Leaving a despondent Lemuel to then hand her over to the Lions to do with her as they wish. If only because this buys him time for Mikaila, who waits in the wings to follow in Addilyn's footsteps. And if he cannot dissuade her from such a life, then he can at least scare her away from it.

Now Addilyn does somehow get out of the prison they lock her away in. I'm thinking either Will or Mikaila, as they are her only two friends left.

She then tracks down the only other person she can think of that could possibly help her: Bastion Winalils.

Bastion finds this twist of fate fucking hilarious, and likely says as much. As much as Addilyn hates every moment of this, she still begs him for his help. She has nowhere left to go, after all.

I do think Bastion would reluctantly agree, if only because it's so very funny to see that a single woman managed to cause such an uproar, and it would be a pity to see such a thing snuffed out by Alderode.

The rest is fuzzy, but what better way to deal with heartache and the betrayal of the one you love than to fall into the arms of another? Bastion's never one to say no to a good fuck, why should he start now?

Would love to think of Bastion somehow introducing Addilyn to the March in the midst of their affair. And maybe it leads to Addilyn and Lem facing off in the streets of Durlyne one day. Maybe Bastion watches from the shadows, only too pleased with how the lioness tears into the lion.

#DO NOT READ THIS IT'S STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND TERRIBLE #and also more self indulgence lmao #oc: Addilyn Theron #soartfullydone #answered #bastion winalils #unsounded

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lillypadplumbob · 6 months

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so alot has happened in my game!! First I had her meet a shame and she drank somethin and she was tripping man!! Then I had her get an IVF and it worked so my girl is pregnant!! she also got a promotion!! so shes onto the third level in the secret agent career

Move to Willow Creek with $20,000 in starting funds Complete the Outdoor Enthusiast aspiration(2/4) Max the Secret Agent career in the Diamond Agent branch Max the herbalism skill (4/10) Befriend the hermit in Granite Falls Complete the insect’s collection and display them in your home (9/21) Take camping trips with future child(ren) Optional: also complete the frogs collection(8/25)

#simblr #sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 legacy #sims 4 challenge #and so it begins LC #asib gen 1

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justanothereddiemunsonslut · 2 years

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The Table In The Woods

(masterlist)

Eddie Munson x reader

Summary: you had taken to finding solace at an old table in the woods behind Hawkins High, a place you thought was all your own. Until one day you find that Eddie Munson had thought the same thing.

Note: this is the first fic I’ve ever written so any comments are greatly appreciated! I’m still trying to figure out the best way to post it and everything but I hope you enjoy soft, silly Eddie and a cute slow burn (probably won’t end up being that slow lmao)

Part 1: No One Ever Comes Out Here

——————————————————

“It’s okay, no one ever comes out here.”

Wait. What?

That was the sentence you had thought to yourself a thousand times as you’d sat at the old table in the woods behind the school but this time it wasn’t a thought in your head. In fact it wasn’t even you. Someone else was there. And apparently they also were under the impression that this space was known only to them.

You falter.

You had been so focused on getting away from, well, everyone as you’d hurried from class. Longing to get to what had become your safest place, where you felt like you could just exist. No expectations, no pressure. Just the surrounding trees stretching up and up around you, standing watch. The gentle breeze swaying the branches and rustling the leaves. But now you stand still as you try to decide your next move. Turn around, which involves either going back to school or going home, neither of which particularly appeal to you, or keep going and find out exactly who the hell it is that thinks this is their secret spot. Your body opts for a third option, freeze where you are. So you attempt to listen. There are two voices, talking quietly, you can’t hear them well enough to make anything else out. You resign yourself to the fact that you will have to make your way back to the school. As you start to turn around and take a step backwards your foot lands in the middle of a discarded tree branch, of course making what seems like the loudest noise you’ve ever heard. You wince, hoping whoever was at the table didn’t hear or would just write it off as a usual sound of the woods.

“Hey, someone there?”

The same voice as before, although this time it was louder and you were pretty sure you recognised it now. As if anyone at Hawkins High hadn’t heard that voice causing a scene before. He was clearly confused at the possibility of anyone being there, having just stated the fact that that never happens. Whoever else was there, however, sounded a bit panicked.

“I thought you said no one comes here!”

It was loud enough for you to hear but sounded like they were trying to keep their voice hushed. You weren’t sure who the second guy was, could be any other Hawkins student.

“They don’t.” he said with conviction. “Usually.” he said with less.

“Usually?! Screw this,” the second guy rushed to grab his things and get out of there, thankfully not coming in the direction of where you were still standing, frozen for fear of making any more noise if you dared move.

You waited. You weren’t actually sure how long you’d been standing there but you figured it must be clear by now. You turned back around to step around a large tree trunk only to come face to face with Eddie Munson.

“Shit!” you jumped back, startled.

So he hadn’t left yet.

“I knew I heard someone!” he pointed at you, seeming pleased that he wasn’t going crazy or something. Your heart was hammering inside your chest, for a second you wondered if Eddie could hear it as he gave you a puzzled look, tilting his head to one side, but then you realised your expression of true horror at having run into someone in the woods was probably more to blame.

“No one ever comes out here,” you stammer, as if this was an explanation of your being out here.

“That’s what I always say,” he leant against the tree, “so why are you here?”

“Uh, because I come out here,”

“Riiight… so when you say no one ever comes out here…”

You regain a shred of composure. “I mean, no one else. Well, I’ve never seen anyone else out here. That’s why I come here.”

“You come here because no one else does?” You nod slowly. He considers this. “Well, that makes sense. Other than the fact that I come here all the time and I’ve never seen you here,” the beginnings of a smile creeping onto his face.

“Well yeah, that’s why I was kind of… shocked. Wait, when do you come here?” You can’t believe that you and Eddie Munson, of all people, had been sharing the same hideaway spot and had never crossed paths until today. At that a blinding smile broke across Eddie’s face as he gave a short laugh.

“Oh, you know, just like all the time.”

You stare blankly at him, unsure how to wrap this up. He just beams back at you, still leaning again the tree, he crosses his arms.

“So,” you begin, “are you leaving or?” You leave the question open hoping he’ll jump in and announce that yes he’s leaving and you can be left in peace.

“I wasn’t. I just had to search the woods,” he started dramatically moving around, demonstrating the tale he was constructing as he continued, “for whomever was lurking within them! Perhaps an evil being hell bent on destroying me, following me out where no one would hear my SCREAMS!” He fell forward on one knee, clutching his heart with one hand, reaching out to be saved with the other. You couldn’t help but laugh and shake your head at his theatrics. Still he went on, jumping to his feet again. “Or perhaps,” he raised a finger, a new idea occurring, “perhaps a spy, a master assassin, from across the seas with a top secret mission to infiltrate Hawkins!” he started creeping in circles around you, hands drawn like a gun close to his chest.

“Okay-“ you go to make your way to the clearing, figuring this could go on for some time but Eddie jumps in front of you, arms outstretched pointing the imaginary gun right at you.

“OR MAYBE!” he shouts, having blocked your attempt to leave. “A mere Hawkins High student,” he lowers his voice and the ‘gun’ and squints his dark brown eyes at you in suspicion, “what motivation could she possibly have to have brought her out all this way? Are her innocent explanations all just a ruse in an attempt to cover up her true intentions?” Eddie raises an eyebrow at you. You shake your head again, this time rolling your eyes as well.

Then he snaps out of his little over the top story time and simply explains, “so now that I’ve discovered who-” he gestures to you with both hands, slightly bowing as he does so, “- it was that was sneaking around these parts, I was gonna head back to my table.”

“Your table?” No way was Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson taking away your favourite place. “I don’t think so.”

Eddie grinned. “You don’t think so?”

“No.” You start marching to the clearing where the old picnic table sits, where you’d spent so many hours, especially in this past year, your last year at Hawkins High. Eddie wasted no time in following you, or rather getting in front of you and walking backwards so he was facing you, trying to read your stony expression. You looked straight past him to the table.

You swung your bag off your back and slumped onto the bench seat, crossing your arms on the table and laying your head down on them. You heard Eddie sit across from you and could feel his stare burning into the top of your head. You looked up with one eye, “what?”

“What?” he repeats back to you, feigning innocence, “I’m just sitting here.”

Now you raise your head properly, leaning it against one of your hands and look at him. What was his deal? “So what, we have to share this table now?”

He gave a fake offended look, “now is that really so bad, y/n?” he inquired.

“Nothing personal, Munson. But remember how I said I come here because other people don’t?” you hoped the point would sink in and he’d leave you alone. No such luck, he was enjoying tormenting you it seemed.

“Don’t worry, you won’t even know I’m here!”

You hoped your unamused expression was showing.

“Come on y/n. What’s up? Like, actually, what’s going on with you?” he tapped his fingers on the table as he waited for a response. Seriously?

“Why does something have to be ‘up’ for me to want one damn minute to myself around here!” you were getting more and more frustrated the longer this went on.

“Okay, okay.” You almost think he’s going to drop the matter when he then adds, “is it Ms O’Donnell’s class? Because that sure is a pain in my ass, don’t know about you.”

“Oh yeah, doesn’t your graduation depend on that class?” He looks at you like you’ve read his mind. “You were ranting about it in the middle of the cafeteria literally yesterday.”

“Ah, right. You were listening?” he gives you a look you could only describe as smug.

“Not by choice, Munson. Not by choice.”

“Sure,” he grins at you.

You over articulate your words as you repeat, “the. middle. of. the. cafeteria. I wasn’t ‘listening’ but it was pretty impossible not to hear.” You weren’t going to give him the satisfaction of believing you would spend your lunch time listening in on his conversations on purpose.

“Well either way, yes. I just have to pass that final and I am out of here.” he declared triumphantly.

“We’re also getting a new assignment tomorrow so you might need to pass that too,” you remind him.

“Wait, actually? Uugghhh,” he groans at the mere thought of yet another assignment and you notice that you were smiling, feeling relaxed in his company.

When had that happened?

***

(Part 2)

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie x reader #eddie munson x y/n #stranger things 4 #eddie munson fic #the table in the woods #if you read this whole thing thank you so much

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pocketramblr · 2 years

Note

Ask game: 3. “Well, if I tell you, then it wouldn’t be a secret.” for Duo Holders, please!

I was just gonna set this in canon but then I realized halfway through. Why NOT make it fae so then I redid it

Yoichi had been three hours into his escape with these strangers before it occurred to him to ask their names.

"Who are you?" He asked, trying to catch the shorter one's eye as he was dragged through the woods.

"That's a secret." He answered without looking at Yoichi.

The other stranger, helping Yoichi over a tree branch, muffled a snort.

Yoichi looked up at him. "I guess you won't tell me his name either?"

"Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be a secret." The other reasoned.

"Then I guess I'll just have to keep calling you two my heroes."

His attempt to pry the names didn't work, but the first stranger did run into a tree.

Now Yoichi was three days into his stay with them, and he still didn't know either of their names.

At least he realized what they were before telling them his own.

The fact that they resided in a living tree was more responsible for that than any of his own intelligence though.

They were careful to feed him human food, likely obtained in the same way he was.

Yoichi was nibbling on the granola bar that was his dinner, appreciating the view of the sunset through the leaves, when the leader sat down at the table with him.

Yoichi looked up. "Yes, Leader?"

"We're running low on our supply of human food." Yoichi had known this kind couldn't lie, but the fact that this just seemed to make the leader blunt half the time was a bit of a surprise.

"Oh."

"There's enough now to sustain you on your way back, if that's what you decide to do." He didn't say more, but Yoichi knew there had to be something.

"But?"

"There are risks to leaving, once you arrive." Yoichi wanted to scream that he hadn't arrived so much as been dragged across the border in a safe while he was sleeping, but that wasn't this man's fault and it would be dangerously impolite.

"Risks like?"

"If you leave now, as you are, you will not be able to return."

That- that should make him happy, that his brother couldn't drag him back.

Yoichi curled back into his chair a little, seeking the warmth this tree home radiated.

"And there may be other risks as well. Have you heard the tale of Oisín?" Yoichi shook his head. " Từ Thức?" Familiar, but Yoichi couldn't place it. "Urashima Tarō?"

Oh. Yes, Yoichi was aware of that one.

"Is there anything I can do to avoid that outcome?" He asked. He could probably handle not opening a box, but magic looked to be trickier than that.

In that dark place, it was easy to say he'd rather die than spend another moment in his brother's possession. Now, in the fresh air, it was still true- but he'd really prefer to look for a third option.

"There's got to be. I don't know them though." The leader shrugged. "I'm no changeling, I never needed to know."

Yoichi stared at him.

"I'm mortal."

"Yes, I believe that's the root of our problem."

"I mean, I'm a human, mortal."

The leader just took a sip of his drink.

Yoichi felt the beginnings of despair and shoved it to the side for after the current crisis. Getting home. Or not.

"Back to what you brought up- what if I choose not to take the risk of journeying home?"

"There's always starving."

"Not what I had in mind."

The leader looked down at his cup. "Well, in that case. You could continue to reside here."

Yoichi hummed. "That's very.... hospitable of you."

"Knowing the rage it causes your brother would make it worth ten houses."

Just as the news that he could not return if he left was more bittersweet than it ought to have been, something in Yoichi's heart panged at that.

He hoped it wasn't sympathy for his brother.

"Still... As much as it is to you, it's far more valuable to me." Yoichi wanted to ask him something he should not. He wanted to thank him, even less advisable.

The leader seemed to pick up on his thoughts, standing quickly. "Right, well- I'll go back to helping the other with watch-"

Yoichi reached out and caught his hand. "Wait, please."

The leader froze.

"Really. What can I do to thank you?"

The leader's breath was sharp, and his voice barely audible when he said, "You should not have said that."

Nothing in the world was as it should be, though, Yoichi thought.

Why be alone against that, when he didn't have to be?

"But I did. What can I call you?"

The leader sighed, closing his eyes. "Second. Call me Second then, if you must."

Second. An interesting title. It must have a story behind it.

"In return, will you call me First?" Yoichi asked, picking it in the moment to watch the look on his face.

Second's hand tightened against his own.

"Fine."

#eh he heheee #gentrychild #pocket talks to people #prompt game #duo holders

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kuiperblog · 1 year

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The King’s Dilemma is a game about roleplaying

I just played my first game of The King’s Dilemma, which is the most fun I’ve had playing a board game in a long time (and that’s speaking as someone who plays a lot of board games and has a collection that is entirely too big).

This man is suffering, but not from success.

The entire game is about reading cards from a deck that present you (the leaders of the noble houses of the kingdom, who are the the real leaders standing behind the figurehead king) with questions and voting on them (with various consequences, negative or positive). The things you do affect the kingdom’s military strength, economy, health, morale, and knowledge.

A merchant sold spoiled food to your citizens. Do you punish the man and make an example of him? If you do, it will discourage anyone who might try to do the same (improving the health of your kingdom), but it might also have a chilling effect on trade (worsening the economy). Punishment or no? Aye or nay?

You’ve discovered a rare metal that might be useful for forging weapons. Will you use it to bolster your own military, or seek economic benefits through trade?

Each card has printed icons showing some of the immediate consequences...but once you flip the card over and read the prose describing the aftermath of your decision, you’ll often discover that there may be hidden consequences that might have only been vaguely hinted at by the front half of the dilemma card. (This is the part where the game tells you to “open envelope #46, read the story card, then add the rest of the cards from the envelope to the dilemma deck.” The deck is shuffled each time, but the further you progress, the more likely you are to confront the consequences of past votes.)

Every member of the council can commit any number of power tokens from their supply to either an “Aye” or “nay” vote...or take the third option, and abstain. (Because you stayed home to attend to your house’s affairs instead of attending the vote, choosing to abstain from the vote allows you to accrue a bit of power which you can use for future votes, as well as money, which can’t vote directly, but might be used to bribe other players in future votes.) In addition to the direct consequences of your actions, new story cards will be added to the deck, presenting you with branching consequences for whichever path the council decided would be best.

However, what’s good for the kingdom may or may not be what is best for your particular noble house. The game begins with everyone secretly drafting a card which defines their own scoring conditions.

Sometimes your secret agenda will oppose someone else’s objectives: for example, the opportunist (who wants the kingdom to be weak) is directly at odds with the person who desires opulence (and wants the kingdom to be strong along every metric). However, more often than not, your goals are orthogonal to other players: the moderate player wants all of the tracks to be close to the middle, which means that they’ll want to strengthen military efforts if the nation’s borders are looking weak, but they’ll start to do the opposite if the nation’s military starts getting too strong.

This orthogonality of hidden victory conditions around the table leads to natural shifting of alliances throughout the game in a way that’s completely organic, which also leads to great moments of drama and betrayal when the person who you cooperated with on the last 3 votes agrees to help you with another vote, only to reverse course at the last minute. (Of course, you knew that eventually, your interests would diverge, something that you will surely bear in mind as you curse your former friend’s sudden yet inevitable betrayal.)

This set of hidden incentives is what undergirds every vote in the game: everyone’s route to victory looks different, and it may or may not coincide with a prosperous kingdom.

The King’s Dilemma is a game that encourages light roleplaying. Every reviewer who talks about the game says this, and it’s true: a big part of the fun comes from the fact that you’re pretending to be the leader of one of twelve different noble houses, and a lot of the fun happens from picking a house with a philosophy that you get to embody, with each house having a tagline like “Never Break a Deal” (the motto of the merchant house) or “Tranquility In Death” (the house that takes on the unenviable task of defending the southern border, and seems to enjoy war and conflict just a bit too much). It’s exactly the kind of thing that appeals to the sorts of YouTube shows that are “friends sitting around a table, dressed in medieval costumes and playing larger than life characters.”

Funhaus, true to their channel name, clearly had fun with this one.

But the game is also about roleplaying in a different way: there’s a real sense that, within the fiction of the universe that the game inhabits, every single debate that takes place is kind of a LARP.

For example, on the final dilemma of the night, we were presented with the question of whether we should raise taxes on the prosperous and flourishing metalworkers guild for the purpose of feeding the poor. As the first person to vote, I began with an impassioned speech about how as the nobles who had been tasked with stewardship of the kingdom, it was our responsibility to ensure that all people in the kingdom benefitted from the kingdom’s prosperity, and that passing the tariff would be the best way to ensure this.

However, my true reasons for trying to persuade the table of an “aye” vote were far more cynical: it’s true that I wanted the “community welfare” track to stay high, but this was largely because I had a objective token that meant that my house would be blamed (and thus lose prestige) if the kingdom’s welfare got too low. If we didn’t come up with an immediate short-term solution to the current hunger crisis, my house would lose 3 prestige points! And so my character, within the fiction of this world, LARPed as someone who was concerned with the welfare of the people, when in fact he was only concerned with the image of his noble house. How do I know that my character was only cynically LARPing as someone who cared about charity? Because as soon as someone at the table offered me 12 gold to change my vote, I immediately accepted the offer.

It was one of those perfect moments of ludonarrative harmony, where the game’s mechanics perfectly convey the game’s themes and story. What better way to tell a story about cynical, self-interested, backstabbing aristocrats who treat politics as nothing more than an exercise in gamesmanship than by presenting us with a set of game mechanics that would guide us to act out those exact scenarios ourselves?

The game was full of moments like this, where the theme just sang. And what’s best is that these moments will happen, even if you don’t go out of your way to “lean into the fun.” This isn’t a game where you have to choose between doing the “fun” thing instead of doing the thing that will make you win: the game’s mechanics are structured such that the best moments emerge as a result of everyone at the table ruthlessly pursuing whatever tack will result in them having the largest share of victory points at the end of the game.

Every moment is about doing the thing that will benefit you most, all the while trying to persuade everyone at the table that what you’re doing will actually be beneficial for them, and they should totally support you in the resolution that you’re trying to pass (or block)...while also hinting that, while you are definitely defending your position out of principle, you’re not so principled that you couldn’t be persuaded to change positions if they made the right offer.

The game continues until the king abdicates or -- if the council governs well -- until enough years have passed that the king dies of old age. Our king lived long enough to die in his bed, surrounded by his loved ones (and us, his council of scheming advisors). And as I proved more successful in scheming and earning prestige than anyone else at the table, I get to name the king’s heir, who will take the throne for next week’s game. I won tonight’s game, but the campaign has just begun. The king is dead, long live the king.

#board games #the king's dilemma

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kaleidoscopexsighs · 8 months

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kels im obsessed with this concept if you’re still pulling tell the spirits I said be kind 🧡🧡

the spirits said “nothing but the best for amber”:

the two of wands indicates that you know what you want, and now are figuring out how to get it. this applies to both short-term and long-term goals, though the latter is where you’ll want to spend some time really sitting with and exploring your options as you chart your course ahead. use this time spent ruminating to notice what the quality and tone of your thoughts are — positive? confident? a secret third thing? it’s imperative that you remember to treat yourself kindly as you prepare to chase after your dreams. this card may also indicate a decision or crossroads approaching, particularly between sticking with a known entity or taking a risk and branching out. the decision is yours alone, but wands do correspond with the element of fire — and fire loves to spread and grow. 🔥

#full blue moon #oracular spectacular

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colorsunimaginable · 1 year

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the spare // chapter forty-eight // death eater ! tom hiddleston oc x plus size ofc - a voldemort wins au

story summary:

While on a mission to avenge the death of her best friend, Ilvermorny graduate Melisa Alder finds herself in the middle of the fight to defeat Voldemort. Upon capture after the Dark Lord's triumph, she's being sold at an auction with other muggle borns and blood traitors. Her only hope is also her only bidder - the tall, dark, and handsome Thomus Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy's younger half-brother. Is he just another Death Eater or is he hiding more than just his face beneath the mask? Will she realize her true potential to be one of the resistance's greatest weapons?

*a Voldemort Wins AU with Tom Hiddleston cast as an OC x a plus size protagonist* *takes place in The Auction universe by Lovesbitca8*

words for this chapter: 2.6k

warnings for this chapter: none

CHAPTER MASTERLIST

Chapter Forty-Eight:

I’m not sure if I should be concerned or relieved by how easy it is to sneak out of the Manor after dark. The Disillusionment charm gives me some ease, but frankly, even if I didn’t have my magic, I’d still take the risk.

When I’d first read the note this morning, I’d had to reread it several times. The handwriting is barely legible, but I could make out that it said to meet in the same spot at eleven o’clock tonight. It was unsigned, but I’m assuming it’s either Caelan or Kyle. Hopefully not a mysterious third option.

The moon is bright enough tonight to light my way to the secluded clearing, but once past the brush, it’s even darker than before. I wonder if they’ll be within the fence or without. I don’t know what ancient protection spells surround the property, but I’d imagine they’d be more difficult to cross than whatever’s at the cottage that allowed Bellatrix, Caelan, and George to pass through.

At first glance, I don’t see anyone in the clearing. I focus on the area beyond the fence. A canopy of trees don’t block the moon’s light there like my side of the fence. A single tree stands some yards away, darkness swelling below its branches. Still hidden, I cast the illumination spell and send the ball of light to circle the trunk.

It revolves once, twice, before my eyes catch the outline of a human form fitted to the trunk.

“Homenum Revelio,” I speak softly, but swift. The effects are immediate, swiping away the wizard’s Disillusionment charm like pulling a sheet off of furniture.

It’s Kyle.

His look of surprise doesn’t go unnoticed before he steels his expression. Dressed down in jeans and flannel over a white t-shirt, he pulls his wand from his waistband, pointing it in my direction.

When I remove my own disillusionment charm, his stern expression lightens and he lowers his wand.

“How’d you know where I was?” he asks. The ball of light hovers between us as he approaches the fence. “I didn’t even see you.”

I shrug. “Casting and detecting a Disillusionment charm was part of the W.M.T.”

“Right,” he says and I can’t tell from his expression if he’s impressed or annoyed. Either way, he changes subjects. “How long have you had your magic? I’m assuming you arrive here the day Thomus left?”

“I got it a few days after that. It was three days this time, instead of four.”

“Are you due for another dose soon?”

I hesitate, pressing my lips together. “I don’t think they’ll be giving me any here.”

His eyebrows raise. “What? Why?”

I take a deep breath. I’m not sure why I’m hesitant to say anything. It feels like I’m about to reveal a secret that isn’t mine to tell.

“To be honest, I’m not sure,” I say. I recall Narcissa’s comment about how Hermione has different prerogatives than I do. “While I’m here, my treatment is the same as Hermione’s.”

“They’re not suppressing Hermione Granger’s magic?”

“… No,” I say slowly.

He tilts his head. “Do you think they’re playing both sides?”

“I think they’re closer to doomsday preppers than anything else,” I say. “Bargaining chips and the like.”

“When this… regime inevitably falls?”

“Exactly.”

Kyle’s eyes are on me, direct and contemplative. “Did you mean what you said to Thomus?” he says.. “That you’re just biding your time, playing along, waiting for this nightmare to be over?”

My eyes widen. “You were listening in the stairway?”

He laughs once, the noise dry. “You weren’t exactly whispering.”

I consider his question, looking away into the darkness. When I glance back, he’s expectant.

“I might’ve understated what I said to Thomus,” I admit. “I might be biding my time, but it’s not just for this to be over. I want to do what I can to help.”

“How far are you willing to go?” he asks.

“I’d like to kill Voldemort myself, but I don’t think I’ll ever have the privilege.”

“If you had the chance, would you?”

I give a modest smile. “There’s definitely not a shortage of people who’d take that chance.”

“Yeah, but I’m not looking for just anyone.”

“Who are you looking for? What do you even want?”

“It might be inevitable, but regimes don’t just fall on their own. It’s my job to ensure someone like you will be in position to have the most impact when the time comes. Maybe even deliver the final blow.”

My heart is racing. This is what I’ve been waiting for, hoping for, begging for.

“You just let me worry about the hows and the whens,” he continues. “I’ll keep you updated as things progress.”

“I haven’t said yes yet,” I point out.

“You also haven’t said no.”

“What’re you going to have me do first? Are you gonna whisk me away to plant me somewhere?”

He smiles. “No, not yet. Our first goal is ensuring the suppression potion won’t be an obstacle for you. Does Thomus suspect you’re becoming immune?”

“Not yet.”

“Good,” he says. “I’m going to bring you a batch of the suppression potion and leave it here for you by the morning. I want you to practice overcoming it until no matter how strong it is, it won’t affect you.”

I sigh. “That’s a big goal.”

“I understand it’ll take a while, but we need to start now.”

“So that I’ll be ready… when the time comes?”

“Exactly,” he says. “So is that… a yes?”

“Yes.”

~*~

I’d hoped that it would be easy, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be.

The potion that Kyle left isn’t as minty as Thomus’, but it still takes me two days to feel any sort of spark. I wait a day before taking the next one. After the second dose, my magic comes sooner, but flickers on and off like a light with a loose wire. It lasts for a few minutes to a couple hours before suddenly vanishing. It’s extremely discouraging and makes me reluctant to take the third dose.

Everything I need to develop the film finally arrives. Hermione shows me Draco’s potions lab where I’ll be able to work. It’s on a lower floor, so there’s no windows, which makes it basically perfect.

“Would you mind if I watched or helped you?” Hermione asks.

I smile as I light candles and the flame beneath a cauldron. “Yes, sure. I’d like the company.”

Making the developing potion is like making my favorite meal. I know the recipe by heart with knowledge of what happens if I make any mistakes or changes. With the potion being highly volatile, through many trial and error, I can make the potion knowing the exact minute that the liquid will implode on itself.

“What do you do to contain it?” Hermione asks. “Or can you stop it from exploding?”

“I can’t really stop it from exploding, no. Diluting it helps, but really it’s only a few ingredients short of an actual bomb.” I grind down the willow root and make sure my face is far away from the cauldron when I add it to the potion. It pops with a purple cloud of smoke. I quickly turn the heat down and check the color for the familiar dark purple like the skin of an eggplant. “Normally, wizard photographers use an enchanted box to contain the explosion, but I don’t know how to make one and I didn’t wanna ask Narcissa because they can be pretty expensive.”

“What’re you planning to do with this?” she asks, her tone wary, but curious.

I laugh once. “You’re not gonna like my answer.”

While letting the potion cool, I get the room ready. Hanging a string from one end of the room to the other, aligning the fixer, wetting agent, and stop bath next to the sink. I stuff a throw blanket along the bottom of the door and snuff out the candles, checking to make sure that the room is pitch-black.

“Lumos Rubrum,” I say and a ball of red light floats over the palm of my hand. I gesture my hand for it to hover over the center of the room.

I pull out the film canister and get Narcissa’s roll ready in the film tank now that it’s not going to be ruined from candle light. I check the temperature of the potion and calculate how long the film is going to take to develop. With a small clock I’d stolen from Thomus’ room sitting within clear sight, I begin the process.

Hermione has few questions. She has a basic understanding of how it works, but she’d grown up with her parents already using digital cameras. With the exception of a disposable camera she’d been given for Christmas one year when she was five. I laugh with her when she recalls how many of those pictures were of herself, only her hair and a corner of her forehead within frame.

I go through the motions like I’ve done this a million times – because I have. Usually I’d have my wand to use as a timer, but with an analog clock, I have to pay more attention. All the liquids get poured into the sink, even the magical developing potion, but with cold water to running down the drain with it. The remaining developing potion gets poured into a glass vial.

I pull the film from the tank and snip the frames that hadn’t been used. Severing the rest of the film every frames, Hermione helps me hang them up on the string with bobby pins to dry. Once they’re all hanging, I bring the red light closer and shift the color to its normal white glow.

The twenty frames are sectioned into four strips of five, and I focus on the strip closest to me. There’s a blanket spread out in some grass, a baby maybe six or seven months, lies on their stomach. They wiggle around, hands reaching for a black cat curled up near them. It’s the wisps of dark hair that gives away the identity of the child.

Thomus.

The next he’s sitting up on the blanket, blinking at the camera with big blue eyes as he gnaws on the end of a toy wand. I find familiarity even in the baby version of his face. My chest tightens and swells at the same time with a multitude of emotions as I scan the small frames.

Toddler Thomus is standing, giggling at someone behind the camera. His little fists wrap tightly around feminine fingers helping him stand between two thin legs. Long dark hair falls and stops just above his head as he takes shaking steps forward.

The same black cat from before curled around a sleeping Thomus, it’s eyes blinking and tail swishing softly as it stares at the person behind the camera.

A young dark haired woman in burgundy robes holds Thomus in her arms. Her cheek is pressed against his temple as she tries to get him to look at the photographer. He’s clearly more interested in the stuffed badger in his hands, it’s limbs waving limply around as Thomus gets bounced on the woman’s hip. She gives a light exasperated look towards the camera, a smile never leaving her face.

It has to be his mom.

I move to the next strip and see Thomus a few years older, nine or ten, sitting with Lucius. Lucius’ white blond hair is already in a low bun and he relaxes in his seat while Thomus’ dark mop of curls hunches over a game of wizard chess. Thomus doesn’t see the familiar haughty side-eye Lucius gives to the camera. Or maybe the person behind it.

Thomus sits at an upright piano, legs dangling over the bench while his fingers jab wildly over the keys. He looks over his shoulder, beaming at the camera. The next frame his mom has joined him, camera sitting on a side edge of the piano. Their lips move like they’re singing as she moves her fingers over the keys with far more precision than his.

Another frame has Thomus shakily straddling a broom. A man whom I’d assume is Lucius, based on his hair, but his frame is unfamiliar, holds it steady for him.

Another strip contains another young Thomus, I’d guess six or seven, sitting in a large reading chair with a tiny little elf next to him. A book is open across their laps and Thomus flips the page, lips moving as he clearly reads aloud.

There’s a set of pictures clearly taken in close succession of each other. First is a children’s book, a feminine hand holding it open, her knees popping up on either side of the edge as she adjusts. Next is a thumb, right on the lens, appearing and disappearing within the time of the picture. Last is the camera turned and pointed up at Thomus’ mom, her long hair framing the view of the underside of her jaw. She notices the camera is pointed at her when she looks down and she smiles, the most loving and affectionate look in her eyes.

“Is that… Dobby?” Hermione gasps.

My eyes jump back to the picture of Thomus sitting with the elf. “I think so,” I say softly. I wasn’t all that familiar with what the elf looked like, but it would make sense.

“Also, do you smell that?”

I sniff the air and when my eyes find purple smoke leaking from the cork stopper of the vial, I immediately jump into panic mode.

“Let’s go!” I snatch the vial off the table and magically whip the blanket from beneath the door. “What’s the closest door to get us outside?”

“Uh-um, to our left!” Hermione replies.

The door swings open and I drop the illumination spell as I bolt into the hallway. Hermione’s at my heels, her steps longer as she strides in front of me to push open a side door. It opens to a short stairway that takes us to the vegetable garden by the kitchen. Elves heads pop up in surprise as we make our way on the gravel path around leading away from it. My eyes dart around, looking for the best place to do this.

I spot the pond and make a beeline for it. The white peacocks littering the edge seem to have some good sense to back the fuck away from me as I approach the shore. Vial in my hand, my arm rotates back as I side-step into what I believe is my best baseball pitching form. I throw the vial as hard as I can over the pond. It flies through the air, spinning on its head, a spiral of purple smoke on its tail. It splashes into the water and the smoke ripples with the surface of the water.

Breathing heavy, a moment ticks by with my eyes focused on where vial sank. A peacock screeches at me from the side. I blink at it, realizing that’s the bird noise Thomus used to make me take the suppression potion that one time.

“I thought it was supposed to explode,” Hermione says, her voice coming from a few feet behind me.

“It will,” I say, my eyes back on the pond. “In three – two – “

There’s a boom that shakes the ground beneath our feet, a geyser of water shooting far above our head. It sends the peacocks running and screeching, the elves in the garden give tiny screams that barely reach my ears. I look back at Hermione and she’d crouched down, her hands over her ears.

A belly wrenching laugh escapes from my mouth when I see her expression. “I told you,” I say, breathless. “You weren’t going to like my answer.”

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