#but.. alas.. i am without proper applications

[ruler-of-nothing-important]

Guys i made this but i have no where to post it for anyone to see 😞

(By nowhere i mean a normal video posting platform like yt, tiktok, or even capcut bc i dont have pro 😞)

[quinn-borel]

Handeloup? :D

Metallic footsteps echoed on hardwood floors as the soldiers wearily entered the barracks of the Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly.  After a long day of training, most were ready for a nice hot meal and their respective cots.  Following behind the group was none other than Ser Handeloup de Daimbaux, jotting down his final notes on the day’s training before finalizing his report.

The main hall emptied rather quickly, leaving the second commander alone with his thoughts as he approached the main writing desk.  Usually, there would be a pile of memos, notes, and applications littered upon said desk as it was his duty to file through them and give each its proper attention.  Though to his surprise, the desk was rather empty as it used to be when the full cabinet of command used to walk those halls.  Alas, with Ser Aymeric’s appointment to the House of Lords and Lucia’s duties in Garlemald, many tasks fell to the aging knight.  But on this occasion, which became exceedingly rare, it appeared that the Lord Speaker was wearing his mantle of Lord Commander for the day.  

How he could do both tasks with a babe on the way puzzled Handeloup to no end.  

“Well, if he’s in his office I should at least give him my report.” he muttered to himself, “Though at this hour, he should really be at home.”

Leaving his personal feelings aside, Handeloup made his way to the Lord Commander’s office with paperwork in hand.  A simple knock on the door was all that was necessary to gain entry, and the second commander marched in with a salute to his superior,

“Evening, Lord Commander.”

“Ah, Handeloup.” Aymeric motioned for him to be at ease, “What do you have for me this evening?”

“Just the day’s report, my Lord.” he approached Aymeric’s desk and offered his notes to the Lord Commander, who gently took the bunch from his grasp,

“Thank you.” he said with a tired smile, “I will review your training report once I finish reviewing our supply report.”

He noticed the usual look of exhaustion in the Lord Commander’s eyes, but something else seemed to exist within his psyche.  Was it anxiety?

He was hesitant to speak on it, but he had to remember first and foremost: Aymeric was simply a man, just like him. And without Lucia, he may have not been able to confide in anyone other than his wife.  But, perhaps, some worries were left unspoken to one’s betrothed…

“…If I may, my Lord.” Handeloup began.

“Speak freely.” Aymeric gave him a nod before turning his attention back to the supply report for a moment, suspecting that the notion was more of an aired grievance rather than actual concern for his own health.  

“You seem…uneasy.”

“Hm?” he lowered the report from his line of sight, bringing his attention to his second commander, “Whatever gave you that notion?”

“Come now,” Handeloup sighed, “ we have broken bread at the same table for years, as knights, as administrators, and even as friends.  There is very little you can conceal from someone who knows you so well, my Lord.”

Aymeric placed the report back on his desk and leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingertips to the bridge of his nose with a loud sigh, “It is noticeable, is it not?”

“Quite.”

“…Handeloup, did you feel the same way when your wife was with child?”

The second commander’s eyes slightly widened with surprise, “Ah, while it has been nearly ten summers now, I do remember my heart fluttering with anticipation for our babe.  However...you seem to be in the opposite disposition.”

“It’s not that I am not excited, it’s rather…” he sighed, “Quinn is house-bound now as we approach her ninth moon of pregnancy.  I...I fear that when the time comes, I will not be as prepared as most men are—”

“Prepared?” Handeloup chuckled, “My Lord, there is little to prepare for.”

Aymeric was taken aback by his knight’s sudden lighthearted mood.  A smile pulled at the second commander’s lips as he looked at his superior with whimsy,

“Forgive me, my Lord.  Please, do not see me as a man mocking you.  Your worry is justified, but know this: there is nothing that can prepare you for fatherhood.  Your babe will arrive in this world and will surprise you in many ways.”

His smile was brought upon by a fond memory of his youth—the birth of his own daughter, and how unprepared he was for the wonderous life she would give him.  

“It really is that uncertain.” Aymeric’s gaze fell to the door of his office, “Here I am, wondering how I can give my child the life my own father failed to give me…and yet there are no instructions on how best to do that.”

“…’Tis trial and error, I’m afraid.” Handeloup sighed, straightening himself back to his normal demeanor, “But, my Lord—no, Aymeric.  My friend.  You are as prepared for your child as any man can be.  Support Quinn, and love both her and your babe with all of your heart.  Things will fall into place as the summers pass.”

For the first time in their conversation, Aymeric broke a small smile towards his second commander.  Handeloup gave him a reassuring nod in response.

“...Thank you, my friend.”  Aymeric stated with a warmth about him, “I should worry less about my capabilities as a father and focus on the excitement of starting a family with my dearest...”

“...And you should be with her more during this time.”  Handeloup muttered rather quickly to add to his sentiment.

Aymeric blinked a few times before bringing himself to his feet, “Well, I do suppose that’s enough work for me to pour over this evening...”

Handeloup smirked before taking the reports off of Aymeric’s desk, “I’ll give you a shorthanded summary of them tomorrow.  Go home to Lady Borel, my Lord.”

[uuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

When banned from using "trivially" in a proof...

“Hello all. In a fellow mathposter's topology class they were not allowed to use the word "trivially" or any synonym thereof his proofs. The person presenting his work then crossed out "trivially" and wrote instead "indubitably." This inspired him to write a program that will insert condescending adverbial phrases before any statement in a math proof. Trivially, this is a repost. Below is the list--please come up with more if you can!

Obviously

Clearly

Anyone can see that

Trivially

Indubitably

It follows that

Evidently

By basic applications of previously proven lemmas,

The proof is left to the reader that

It goes without saying that

Consequently

By immediate consequence,

Of course

But then again

By symmetry

Without loss of generality,

Anyone with a fifth grade education can see that

I would wager 5 dollars that

By the contrapositive

We need not waste ink in proving that

By Euler

By Fermat

By a simple diagonalization argument,

We all agree that

It would be absurd to deny that

Unquestionably,

Indisputably,

It is plain to see that

It would be embarrassing to miss the fact that

It would be an insult to my time and yours to prove that

Any cretin with half a brain could see that

By Fermat’s Last Theorem,

By the Axiom of Choice,

It is equivalent to the Riemann Hypothesis that

By a simple counting argument,

Simply put,

One’s mind immediately leaps to the conclusion that

By contradiction,

I shudder to think of the poor soul who denies that

It is readily apparent to the casual observer that

With p < 5% we conclude that

It follows from the Zermelo-Fraenkel axioms that

Set theory tells us that

Divine inspiration reveals to us that

Patently,

Needless to say,

By logic

By the Laws of Mathematics

By all means,

With probability 1,

Who could deny that

Assuming the Continuum Hypothesis,

Galois died in order to show us that

There is a marvellous proof (which is too long to write here) that

We proved in class that

Our friends over at Harvard recently discovered that

It is straightforward to show that

By definition,

By a simple assumption,

It is easy to see that

Even you would be able to see that

Everybody knows that

I don’t know why anybody would ask, but

Between you and me,

Unless you accept Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem,

A reliable source has told me

It is a matter of simple arithmetic to show that

Beyond a shadow of a doubt,

When we view this problem as an undecidable residue class whose elements are universal DAGs, we see that

You and I both know that

And there you have it,

And as easy as ABC,

And then as quick as a wink,

If you’ve been paying attention you’d realize that

By the Pigeonhole Principle

By circular reasoning we see that

When we make the necessary and sufficient assumptions,

It is beyond the scope of this course to prove that

Only idealogues and sycophants would debate whether

It is an unfortunately common misconception to doubt that

By petitio principii, we assert that

We may take for granted that

For legal reasons I am required to disclose that

It is elementary to show that

I don’t remember why, but you’ll have to trust me that

Following the logical steps, we might conclude

We are all but forced to see that

By the same logic,

I’m not even going to bother to prove that

By Kant’s Categorical imperative,

Everyone and their mother can see that

A child could tell you that

It baffles me that you haven’t already realized that

Notice then that

Just this once I will admit to you that

Using the proper mindset one sees that

Remember the basic laws of common sense:

There is a lovely little argument that shows that

Figure 2 (not shown here) makes it clear that

Alas, would that it were not true that

If I’m being honest with you,

According to the pointy-headed theorists sitting in their Ivory Towers in academia,

We will take as an axiom that

Accept for the moment that

These are your words, not mine, but

A little birdie told me that

I heard through the grapevine that

In the realm of constructive mathematics,

It is a theorem from classical analysis that

Life is too short to prove that

A consequence of IUT is that

As practitioners are generally aware,

It is commonly understood that

As the reader is no doubt cognizant,

As an exercise for the reader, show that

All the cool kids know that

It is not difficult to see that

Terry Tao told me in a personal email that

Behold,

Verify that

In particular,

Moreover,

Yea verily

By inspection,

A trivial but tedious calculation shows that

Suppose by way of contradiction that

By a known theorem,

Henceforth

Recall that

Wherefore said He unto them,

It is the will of the Gods that

It transpires that

We find

As must be obvious to the meanest intellect,

It pleases the symmetry of the world that

Accordingly,

If there be any justice in the world,

It is a matter of fact that

It can be shown that

Implicitly, then

Ipso facto

Which leads us to the conclusion that

Which is to say

That is,

The force of deductive logic then drives one to the conclusion that

Whereafter we find

Assuming the reader’s intellect approaches that of the writer, it should be obvious that

Ergo

With God as my witness,

As a great man once told me,

One would be hard-pressed to disprove that

Even an applied mathematician would concede that

One sees in a trice that

You can convince yourself that

Mama always told me

I know it, you know it, everybody knows that

Even the most incompetent T.A. could see,

This won't be on the test, but

Take it from me,

Axiomatically,

Naturally,

A cursory glance reveals that

As luck would have it,

Through the careful use of common sense,

By the standard argument,

I hope I don’t need to explain that

According to prophecy,

Only a fool would deny that

It is almost obvious that

By method of thinking,

Through sheer force of will,

Intuitively,

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that

You of all people should realize that

The Math Gods demand that

The clever student will notice

An astute reader will have noticed that

It was once revealed to me in a dream that

Even my grandma knows that

Unless something is horribly wrong,

And now we have all we need to show that

If you use math, you can see that

It holds vacuously that

Now check this out:

Barring causality breakdown, clearly

We don't want to deprive the reader of the joy of discovering for themselves why

One of the Bernoullis probably showed that

Somebody once told me

By extrapolation,

Categorically,

If the reader is sufficiently alert, they will notice that

It’s hard not to prove that

The sophisticated reader will realize that

In this context,

It was Lebesque who first asked whether

As is tradition,

According to local folklore,

We hold these truths to be self-evident that

By simple induction,

In case you weren’t paying attention,

A poor student or a particularly clever dog will realize immediately that

Every student brought up in the American education system is told that

Most experts agree that

Sober readers see that

And would you look at that:

And lo!

By abstract nonsense,

I leave the proof to the suspicious reader that

When one stares at the equations they immediately rearrange themselves to show that

This behooves you to state that

Therefore

The heralds shall sing for generations hence that

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times,

Our forefathers built this country on the proposition that

My father told me, and his father before that, and his before that, that

As sure as the sun will rise again tomorrow morning,

The burden of proof is on my opponents to disprove that

If you ask me,

I didn’t think I would have to spell this out, but

For all we know,

Promise me you won’t tell mom, but

It would be a disservice to human intelligence to deny that

Proof of the following has been intentially omitted:

here isn’t enough space in the footnote section to prove that

Someone of your status would understand that

It would stand to reason that

Ostensibly,

The hatred of 10,000 years ensures that

There isn’t enough space in the footnote section to prove that

Simple deduction from peano’s axioms shows

By a careful change of basis we see that

Using Conway’s notation we see that

The TL;DR is that

Certainly,

Surely

An early theorem of Gauss shows that

An English major could deduce that

And Jesus said to his Apostles,

This fact may follow obviously from a theorem, but it's not obvious which theorem you're using:

Word on the streets is that

Assuming an arbitrary alignment of planets, astrology tells us

The voices insist that

Someone whispered to me on the subway yesterday that

For surely all cases,

Indeed,

(To be continued)

[bitch-i-migth-be]

Crash Course | Chapter 03: Ready?

Fandoms: Danny Phantom, Batman,  

Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton,

Characters: Danny Fenton, Jazz Fenton, 

Words: 2′246

Tags: BAMF Danny, BAMF Jazz, Sibling bonding, Shenanigans, Swearing

Summary: He swore his sister was trying to make him go into cardiac arrest - considering his halfa status that was quite the accomplishment-

But there was no other explanation to his sister’s stubbornness, and if he knew her at all there was just no talking her down from interning at goddam Arkham.

A/N: I appreciate the comments, guys. :33  Let me know what u think.

CHAPTERS: 1, 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7

Danny might not be the smartest person out there but he sure was crafty as fuck.

He had needed to be even before the ghost entered the picture. Then, after the portal was up and running the habit of thinking on his feet and the fine art of rolling with the punches had been added to his skill set.

So, Danny knew from experience that no matter how good you could get at improvisation, it was always better to prepare beforehand if you had the opportunity. Because if you let something to chance, it would probably come back later to fuck you over. Or some annoying ghost would get in the way out of goddamn nowhere. He could deal with them, but it was just a waste of everyone’s time. Better get going before someone interrupted him.

Normally one small thing or another would backfire anyway because of his salted luck, but he preferred not to poke sleeping dragons when he could.  

Taking into account all of that, he had decided the first order of business in the Fenton Crash Curse for Suicide Missions: Start packing all the shit they would need to take with them.

Because It’s never too early to pack for the road to hell.

Especially if you are already in a hell all of your own.

-.-.-.-

“What do you mean you are coming with me?” Jazz murmured from the threshold of Danny’s room, eyes wide open, as she watched her little brother try to pack all types of random things into suitcases.

Since she had announced at the Fenton Family Dinner her plans of going to Gotham University and accepting an internship at Arkham, Danny had been behaving like he was possessed, which considering the portal in their basement was not that far fetched; he had started carrying around a book-like-journal and would not stop murmuring about survival-of-the-fittest. Jazz was not going to lie, she appreciated the concern but that part was a little bit concerning. Not the survival in general, they had been playing that game since forever in this house, but they had never really needed to write anything down.

Until now, apparently.

It was kind of weird witnessing all this. Weird as in she wasn’t used to him fusing so much over her. A normal amount, yes. But most of the time it was the other way around, she was the big sister after all. Also,  with the ghosts around and him going all hero on their behinds her brother was in dire need of all the support she could dispatch. So, yes, she wasn’t expecting this reaction at all, and she was even less prepared for her brother declaring his intentions of joining her in Gotham.

She hadn’t asked how he was planning on dealing with the ghost problem yet, but considering he was already packing when she, they now, weren’t leaving until the end of the summer Jazz thought her brother must have had something in mind already.

She didn’t even know how they could need some of the things he was putting in there but it appeared like Danny was on a roll and she wasn’t going to be the one stopping such, umh, productivity.

“I said what I said”

Jazz frowned lightly.

“Are mom and dad aware-?”

“I told them I was going to be your assistant with the research; mostly the field part because I don’t think they trust me with the equipment after what happened the last time,” Danny answered while still hunting down for more essential items to put in bags, those things were handy as fuck. “also, get a job or something”

“A job?” jazz raised an eyebrow and leaned against the doorframe.

“It’s on the list,” Danny waved his journal/diary/thing in the air. Huh, so they were survival tips. “considering you are the only one with a scholarship and I´m not going to school anyway it seemed appropriate.”

“excuse me? you are not going to what?”

“May as well-” Seeing his sister’s expression he quickly backtracked, “but I mean, if you are really that opposed there is always online classes”

Danny tried to smile in her sister’s direction, but his nervousness made it come out more like a grimace. He kept trying. Jazz kept staring at him. Danny kept grimacing back.

Then she smiled back. A proper, full toothed smile. Oh fuuck

“I think I can do you one better” And with that, she turned on her heel and left.

Danny blinked two times. one after the other.  

“D-Do me one bet-? Jazz, wait!”

But it was already too late, his sister had another ball to start rolling.

-.-.-.-

Her brother was not stupid.

If her brother choice to appease her by taking online classes had been born merely of a strategic need, and hence the best course of action to take, Jazz wouldn’t have rebuked at all, there were, after all, some pretty good online options that her brother could take. But alas, that was not the real motive of his decision.  

It pained her and enraged her to see people belittle her little brother without even knowing him. See them think they had any right to decide whether he was worth something.

And it nagged at her than even knowing the basics of what was wrong with her brother’s low grades, she couldn’t help him more than she currently did. Not really. Unless she wanted him to end up in the hands of the G.I.W.

Fat chance of that.

But if there was a thing a Fenton was not it was a settler. And like hell she was going to let these people bring her brother down.

The first order of business would be to scout out the G.S.U. properly, some phone calls could prove useful, after all those who search shall find. 

-.-.-.-

When Jazz had retreated to her quarters earlier Dany had been left on his own with an uneasy feeling nagging at his gut. It felt a bit like foreboding.  

Like most things in life that inconvenienced him when it came to family issues he decided to ignore it until it came back to bite him, so he continued with his preparations and eventually took a seat among all the clutter that had become his room. After that, he didn’t have to wait long.

His sister had come back strolling decisively into the room, only pausing briefly to warily give the evil eye to the sheer number of things spread all over the room that appeared to have multiplied since she left the place.

She stopped right in front of her brother’s seated form and trusted her phone into the smallest Fenton’s unsuspecting hands.

“Look! There is still time to apply to a full-ride scholarship at Gotham Academy” Danny blinked up at her without a word, and at his sister’s insistence looked down at the phone to start reading, then he did a double-take and started re-reading.

Jazz had got to be kidding him.

“You want me to apply to some posh elite school?” He looked up incredulously at the redhead “Elite, Jazz? Me? With my grades and the amount of time I would get to study for an entrance exam I would be failing this just by applying.” grumbled the boy.

“That’s the best part.” Said the girl smiling like the Cheshire cat. “This particular exam is practical in engineering”

Danny froze. His eyes shot back to the phone.

“Practical you say?”

“Yes, lately there have been more scholarships granted for demonstrating a great gasp in the practical portions. Gotham is a little, umh, hard to handle, I suppose, and there have been situations in which people with the knowledge to accomplish great things have been turned down because of a lack of proper school background or support. So they decided to start implementing this.” She explained while her little brother continued scanning the document up and down.

Eventually, Danny shook himself back together.

“Ok, look, let’s say I had a shot at this.”

“Which you do-”

“Which I might.” The younger interrupted her, “This still requires to prepare at least three proposals for the faculty’s designated table of judges to evaluate and grade to get the green card, and this is like two weeks -two weeks!- from now, it doesn’t even specify what they are gonna have the applicants doing for the final test. How the fuck am I-?!”

The redhead decided to cut in before he could drive himself into a frenzy.

“Well if you are that sure about joining me then you won’t have a problem acing this, will you?” she smirked, then it softened into something more fond. “I know you can do this Danny, and so do you. And if you are that worried about the time, I can help you, we can start tag teaming together for ways to deal with the ghost from the get-go. It may not be permanent, but it will have to do.”

Her brother started biting his own lower lip and still looked somewhat unsure, so she decided to use the final big gun.

“Did I mention that Gotham Academy is right across the road from Arkham?”

Danny’s shoulder slumped.

“Ughh, fine!”

Jazz beamed down at him.

“I will leave you to it then!”

-.-.-.-

“Also, those things are not going to fit anywhere if you don’t organize them”

“Oh, ye of little faith.”

-.-.-.-

So. Jazz did have a good reason to believe her brother could get the G.A. scholarship.

The Fenton thermos technology was not only useful for capturing ghosts but could also store other things. That’s to say, more tangible things.

And her brother was the one who made it happen.

Danny has been tinkering with his parent’s things a lot more than some people would be comfortable with. The truth is, some of the things Jack and Maddie have invented could be fucking useful for everyday life if you took out most of the ghost shit or rearranged them a bit, it could have gained them a pretty penny, but like we all know the Fentons are not interested in anything if it’s not ectoplasmic.

Danny, on the other hand?

As much as he ends up believing all the bullshit others say about his sister being the only genius child of the family, he had never been afraid of dismantling and mounting up again some of his parents’ equipment. For him, it was not a question of whether or not he was qualified to do so, after growing up watching his parents tinker random machines all over the house he had inevitably started to pick up their ways almost as if via osmosis.

His parents, of course, had never fully noticed the fluffy-sweater clad toddler waddling after them from time to time watching them work, at first this happened when Jazz was otherwise occupied in extracurricular activities and couldn’t keep the boy successfully distracted somewhere else.

If at the time, Jazz had realized what was going on, she may have panicked and stopped her sweetly feral summer child of a brother from getting anywhere near their parents in the middle of a craze. As it was, she had not noticed in those first years, and by the time it had come to her attention even she had to concede that if her little brother had managed his recon missions without no one the wiser - Her brother was sneaky like that -, then he deserved the benefit of the doubt.

And, had that not been enough to convince the big sister, that had been the moment the sudden realization than her brother, unlike her, was more of a hands-on learner hit her full force, which would have been enough to make her relent. Learning was always good in her books.

Later, Danny would find most of the classes being imparted in Casper high boring as fuck. Not necessarily for the subject, but the way they were imparted. The youngest Fenton needed a good explanation along with a hands-on approach applied to something he found interesting to fully commit to something. At school, the most he could get were the theory and the occasional practical classes.

If the classes had been related to something interesting, say, rockets, stars, maybe NASA, it would have been easy to pay his full, unconditional attention to the teachers. But not one of the teachers had bothered to try and link the lessons to the interest of the alumni, not surprising, considering public school stuck to basics and had a timeline to complete and the classroom never seemed to learn things at the same rhythm so concessions had to be met.

It was still boring as fuck. But if he wanted to someday make it into NASA he would have to suck it up and force himself to survive with relatively good notes this torment.

Then the ghost fights had entered the picture and his motive to keep up the grades had all but vanished, and the little time left behind to work with was not enough to make, at least, an average grade. He didn’t have enough reasons to strive for more.

For this though? A new chance far from the ghost and he could keep protecting her sister?

He had the brains. He had the passion. And a good damn motive to drive him forward.

Once he was done, the luggage - and Loony town - wouldn’t even know what hit it.

-.-.-.-

NOTES:

 Also, the thing about Jack & Maddie not trusting Danny with the equipment was one of Danno’s secret tries at messing around with the things. Needless to say, that one time didn’t stay a secret.

Oh well, it was not like he asked for permission in the first place.

-.-.-.-

“fluffy-sweater clad toddler”

Not gonna lie, I made myself crave some cuddles from toddler danno, so. fucking. cute.

There he goeees just waddling like a little duckling asdfghjkl

-.-.-.-

If someone here is a fan of the Gotham Academy Comic I greatly regret -not really- to inform you I’m only taking hostage the place for my evil fanfic purposes. I don’t know if there is going to be references but that particular comic is not the focus of this story, SO. You have been forewarned.

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, Vigilantes 18.6, Replies Part 2

1) ““Some”? Excuse me? I thought that it was pretty clear that all of them were civilians, I can’t remember there being a single actual villain there, unless you guys discovered something we didn’t off-screen.

And yeah, All Might got a tad horrified over the revelation, but still keeping his cool.”-Yeah, as mentioned, Phelps is referring to the ‘instant villains’ as a whole that have been cropping up in Naruhata, all the way back to Koichi’s first encounter with them. Interestingly, this implies that this meeting and Phelps finding out about Yagi’s secret happened slightly before the last extra chapter, given how he mentioned All Might had already been informed by that point.

2) “ALSO, I’M PRETTY SURE THAT PHELPS WILL NOTICE IT”-I mean… Yagi didn’t make it very hard to figure out. The only way he could have been less subtle was if he’d stumbled back into the last meeting with a placard hung around his neck, pointing to himself and written in bold letters ‘I am All Might’. Yagi might be many things, but he’s almost as bad about keeping his identity hidden without help as Izuku is at not breaking his bones in a fight.

3) “I KNOW YOU HAVE THAT “CAN’T ALLOW CRIME TO GO UNPUNISHED” FLAW, BUT C’MON, YOU’RE NOT HELPING YOURSELF HERE. ONE TIME WAS OKAY, IT WAS A COINCIDENCE, BUT I THINK THAT TWO TIMES IN A ROW WILL MAKE PHELPS A TAD SUSPICIOUS, ON HOW CRIME SUDDENLY GETS SOLVED WHEN YOU RUN TO THE BATHROOM”- When we get to the anime edition of this, I suspect they’ll probably do the first robbery with All Might’s theme blaring dramatically in the background, then speed it up for every subsequent ‘bathroom trip’ to underline his need to hurry under pressure.

4) “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. HE IS GOING TO SAVE A CAT FROM A TREE

NO FUCKING WAY, I WAS JUST FUCKING JOKING

GODDAMMIT I’M SO DONE WITH THIS, EVERY SINGLE TIME”- Alas, All Might being the ideal hero, he will not allow this kitty to drive itself off an incomplete freeway whilst rescuing civilians- every human, animal and in-between quirky being will be saved whilst he’s on duty.

5) “OH MY GOD, WAS THE TREE THE CAT WAS ON JUST THAT CLOSE TO THE FUCKING COLLAPSING BRIDGE? ALSO, THAT STEEL BEAM WOULD FALL IN THE WATER, WHY DID YOU HAD TO CATCH IT ALL MIGHT?”- Or, to underline just how goddamm fast All Might is- and he has to be super-fast here to get back in time before Phelps becomes suspicious- they’re all in completely separate locations, yet All might is able to move fast and skilfully enough to reach to each of them at the exact proper timing needed to fix each issue n order of priorty, starting with the little kitty, obviously. There’s a reason he’s considered unbeatable and able to save everybody if he’s nearby- and ‘nearby’ in this case is basically a diameter of roughly a city-size. It’s not just his strength but his sheer speed and smarts under pressure that allows him to reach a problem, identify the fastest and most efficient way to resolve it, and then use his overpowered strength to make that impossible solution a reality.

6) “Alright, on second thought, grabbing the steel beam did make sense after all, it was used as a projectile to stop Nezu’s murdering machine, and use it to prop up the bridge, okay, fine, but WAS THE CAT THAT CONVENTIONALITY CLOSE TO THAT PLACE?”- This whole thing reminded me a lot of the opening scene of the Incredibles.

if you can tell the measure of a man by his actions, then you can tell the measure of a hero by how he resolves the problems and hazards he encounters, not only by using his quirk, but also his mind. Yagi just has super-strength and speed going for him, in comparison to Izuku, who has that plus additional bonus content with his quirk DLC, he’s able to use his strength with some creative applications to resolve issues that go beyond ‘punch the hazard’. Granted, Izuku also has his moments of insane creativity, but Yagi had about 4 different problems going on simultaneously, and rather than leave it to somebody else to fix one of them, and risking people getting hurt, he used his mind creatively to imagine a scenario that allowed him to use the hazards to fix each other, then put his power to use in making that a reality.

Koichi might be on his way to becoming a hybrid spiderman/Flash type hero, But OFA just has so much power and additional tools packed into it by All Might’s heyday, that even unable to activate the additional quirks Yagi can still basically solve any problem just by showing up and using his absurd strength to resolve the problem. Koichi will never reach his level, but if he can also get into a similar habit as Izuku of using creative application of his own base power, then he can resolve more problems that he would think possible with Slide and Glide, even including its expanded capacity and efficiency after remembering it could fly. Basically, like All Might is an inspiration to Izuku of the heights he can reach with OFA, if Knuckleduster can figure out ways to train Koichi in using his quirk like Knuckleduster uses the environment to fight creatively and dirty to solve problems normally handled by literal superhuman, Koichi will be capable of some impressive feats of his own. I really like that a good deal of the principal characters in this series fight smarter, not harder, to get better at what they do.

7) “ALL MIGHT

YOU GODDAMN MORON

YOU DID IT! YOU BLEW UP YOUR DISGUISE AMIDST THE VERY FIRST DATE”-Interestingly, though Phelps might have found out about the secret-Identity thing, this isn’t where he found out about OFA and Yagi’s secret past with the transferable quirk, so I’m wondering what situation ended up causing Yagi to tell Phelps his deepest, darkest secret. Like, there’s a difference between knowing All Might was injured and has a double-life because of it, and knowing that he has a quirk that can transfer itself- we saw that in chapters 1-2, so I’d like to know what made Yagi trust Phelps with that piece of confidential information.

8) “YOU KNOW, IF ONLY HAVING A SIMPLE COFFEE WITH PHELPS LED TO ALL THIS BULLSHIT, IT’S AMAZING THAT SO FEW PEOPLE KNOW YOUR SECRET ALL MIGHT”-We can basically take this as written proof that Yagi flat-out doesn’t have a social life, period, outside of being All Might. Gran Torino’s off doing his own thing in quasi-retirement now AFO’s been turned into a smushed potato, Recovery girl has a full-time gig at UA and hospitals around the country, Nezu is busy running the school, David Shield is in America, and Yagi seems fresh off the heels of his breakup with Nighteye here. He’s met Phelps for only 15 minutes and already managed to accidentally reveal his second-greatest secret to him through his own inability to focus and care properly for himself and his appearance over the course of doing hero work. The only way nobody else knows he’s secretly All Might is if he never talks to other people or has meaningful conversations with them before he has to run off and do more hero work.

He says his greatest hobby is people-watching, which implies that he doesn’t really have any time to set aside for himself to do more than stare out at people living ordinary lives that he’s sacrificing his own life, both metaphorically and literally, to keep safe and stable. Yagi is a good person, but it’s made clear that he’s given a lot to All Might, selflessly, and with good intentions, but without the heroic figure he’s transformed into a legend, there’s not really a lot left over of Yagi himself. No Family is ever mentioned, his friends are, by necessity, few and far between, and he’s probably never really spent a lot of time to leave behind something for himself to do as Yagi. Granted, part of this might be because he’s currently under the impression that he’s going to die in the line of duty thanks to Nighteye’s prophecy, so he doesn’t see the need to invest in his life as ‘Yagi’ when he’s going to die as All Might in the end.

You can see why AFO was so certain being forced to life on as Powerless Yagi Toshinori would be the equivalent of living death of All Might. Not only does he have to endure the humiliation of living unable to properly care for himself anymore in a world of super-powered humans who can break him like a twig by accident, he has no meaningful people in his life who didn’t relate to his identity as All might in some capacity, and who will be too busy dealing with the societal fallout and all-out war Shigaraki will be enacting in revenge for his past mistreatment to spend time with Yagi. If it weren’t for Izuku, and having the goal of training him into a proper future hero to eclipse himself, Yagi would only be able to look on helplessly as his life’s work as destroyed and all those few remaining people he kept close relationships with were caught up in the fallout. That statue of All Might would basically be turned into the modern version of Ozymandias

“And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is All Might, Hero of heroes: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away”

9) “Oh my god, the cops are starting to get mad that All Might isn’t submitting the paperwork, and look at that, Phelps now knows that the message will get to All Might, since he is scolding All Might directly.”- It must be a rare sensation, being able to actually talk to a famous celebrity and help them resolve their personal issues out to continue being the amazing person the rest of the world sees, whilst you get to see behind the curtain and basically act as their number 2. Granted, for Phelps this means he’s regretting that his quirk doesn’t allow him to submit paperwork faster, but it’s still the kind of position somebody like Midoira would have given their left leg to have, and Phelps stumbled into it mostly through the actions of others around him, rather than his own detective’s intuition.

10) “Look All Might, as much as I agree 100% with that sentiment, this is one way to keep track of things, to keep organized, which is why you definitely need someone to fill in the forms after you fired your boyfriend. I know you said about keeping distance, but c’mon, it’s only a professional relationship, just swallow your pride and hire someone to do it.”- Ah, but given his time limitation and the close proximity it would require to Yagi himself to submit all those reports, Yagi would have to burn precious minutes of his hero time around this theoretical secretary as well if he wanted to keep the myth of All Might alive and well, meaning said secretary would also need to be somebody in the know about the double-identity for that to work, and All Might’s clearly not at the level of trusting others with his most valuable secrets voluntarily at this point- heck, it’s arguable he’s still not quite at it by the present day. 

That said, the problem isn’t just that he’s not submitting the paperwork, but rather that he’s not submitting it fast enough. Yagi does spend time to sit down and write the reports, but he has to do this for very, single, incident of hero activity he does, and given how busy he got when just sitting down for a cup of coffee, by the time he finishes 1 report, 10 more have been added to his inbox every day, and if he spends time doing those first he’s not doing the earlier reports as well. Plus, that’s assuming he’s not interrupted mid-report writing by another cry for help, which just adds more to the growing pile. Dealing with his work schedule is a full-time job, almost as taxing as actually going out and being All Might himself, and thus, without Nighteye, there’s simply not enough people available to keep up with the demands that All Might has to answer- and if he spends time doing the job-mandated paperwork, he’s sending time that could be necessary to save people in danger. 

All Might might be a terror in the field as an actual hero, but he needs somebody to handle the autocracy and planning departments besides himself or his hero career will start getting strangled by the red tape.

11) “SO THAT’S HOW IT IS THEN, TSUKAUCHI? THE LAW IS ABSOLUTE AND THE RULES CAN’T BE BENT, BUT YOU SURE AS FUCK FOUND WHAT AMOUNTS TO A LOOPHOLE IN THE SITUATION WHEN YOUR BOYFRIEND STARTED COMPLAINING

SO ITS FINE TO HELP SOMEONE THAT DOESN’T WANT TO GO THROUGH ALL THE OFFICIAL CHANNELS TO HELP OTHERS, RIGHT? OKAY THEN, BASTARD, I’LL REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU EVENTUALLY TRY TO ARREST KOICHI.”- Well, kinda? It’s not so much that Phelps is being selective, but rather that he’s doing what he can to fill in for All Might now that he’s aware of the reason why All Might’s not fully complying with the demands of the job, as a respectable top hero should as an example. Phelps’s main problem with Koichi and co is that they’re unregistered and running around doing hero work without oversight or lawful supervision of their hero activities. Yagi is a fully-registered hero, and the only problem he has with how he’s doing his job is that, thanks to his need to keep a secret identity, he can’t really hire a new secretary or underling to handle the paperwork that comes with committing so many heroic deeds. 

Koichi and co aren’t submitting any reports at all, and are running around setting a bad example by basically using their quirks to stop crimes without authorisation. All Might is willing to submit the reports, but doing so would take time out of his day that he can’t afford to spend if it means leaving somebody in danger that he could otherwise save, and despite him being aware that he does have to eventually submit his reports, he just can’t find the time to do so at a pace that would reasonably deal with the backlog, especially since every time he chooses to save somebody, he’s adding further reports to the pile. 

Therefore, since Yagi is willing to do the work and follow procedure, Phelps is simply introducing a workaround for a while, letting him authorise All Might’s more recent endeavours through his daily reports, preventing Yagi from adding any new paperwork to the pile and letting him steadily chip away at the accumulated paperwork he’s still got to do himself with whatever time he can spare. In essence, he’s handling the newer reports for Yagi as emergency dispatches, because he’s aware Yagi really can’t spare the time to handle them, in order to allow Yagi himself to handle the older reports without getting overwhelmed by the mountain of afterword he creates for himself every time he does out and saves the day. Technically, he’s not exactly breaking the law, he’s just letting All Might get some breathing room so he can follow the laws as he’s supposed to, whereas Koichi and the other simply aren’t following the laws at all.

12) “All Might please, he agreed with helping with one or another, NOT to be dumped every single case you ever had right off the bat. Phelps just realized that All Might is a bit of a workaholic, and he’s already regretting this relationship…”- Nah, I don’t think he’s getting dumped with every single case- just the more recent ones that All Might created that morning. All might’s inability to ignore cries for help or distress and his explosive power means he has the drive and the means to be there for every single crime or incident that occurs nearby him, which is a staggering amount of work for one guy when you think about how many crimes must naturally occur with superpowers in the hands of victims and criminals alike. All Might’s caseload is the proverbial boulder that Sisyphus pushed up the hill every day, and poor Phelps just volunteered to help push that boulder every half-hour or so to Give All Might some room to rest and recover.

13) “My, this extra chapter was really fun to read, if only because it was a interesting look on All Might’s life as a pro hero, and a brief glimpse on how much of a fucking disaster he is separating the mask from his personal life.

My god man, it’s really surprising that he managed to never reveal his secret, because it took less than ten minutes for Phelps to get to know the truth, and he literally wasn’t even trying to pry on his personal life. Amazing.”- On the other hand, it’s kidna sad as well, as it indicates how much All Might needs to have people in his life to let him proceed as a rational human being, and not somebody on a slow burnout from sheer overwork. Yet, the very nature of his role as all Might and his ultimate enemy being somebody like AFO made yagi focus on keeping the number of people who really knew the truth, and thus could help him, to the absolute minimum, out of a desire to ensure nobody else would get hurt but him, failing to realise that those around him would be hrt by his self-destructive attitude. Or, perhaps, given how his partnership with Nighteye turned out, he was aware, but intentionally chose to limit the number of close contacts he had in order to limit the people who’d be upset by him killing himself for the symbol. 

@thelreads​

[summerscramble-event]

❝   Just  ♩  hear those sleigh bells  ♫  jinglin’, ring-ting, tinglin’, too ~                   Come ♩ now, it’s lovely weather  ♫  for a sleigh  ♩  ride together  ♫  with you  !!

          Now that I have your attention, let’s say we get this show on the road, eh  ? I’ve a whole list of schedule events to get to today  !

       First off, I would love to thank all of you for attending our events. We understand that schedules get busy and time is of the essence, but it warms our hearts to know that you all are so eager to have a week away to enjoy yourselves. 

        Second off, I would like to introduce two new faces to the moderator tent  ! Robin and I will be returning for the scramble events, but Reflet and Henry have decided to stay home to not be involved in the cold. In that case, we’ve recruited two in their place  !Alm and Clive will be joining us in our event this year  ! Please be as kind and courteous to them as you would for Robin and I  !

         Thirdly, finally, from the dates of JANUARY 7 - JANUARY 13, 

                YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE FIRE EMBLEM FANDOM WINTER EVENT.

         Or what we’ll just simply call our ‘ Snow Ball Festival’.  All events/posts/announcements should be placed under the tag: snowfall and sleigh bells ;; winter scramble.

JANUARY 7 -- Hot Cocoa Social.

         By now, we should all know how the first day of our events work. Our designated vacation area is just as beautiful as the last two have been, if not a bit more elegant for the occasion ( we hope you like snow and ice ). Alm will be taking Reflet’s place this event, and thus will take you on a tour once we have all of the details back from Anna  ! Complimentary hot cocoa and refreshments will be served in the grand foyer, and check-in for the ice hotels will be today  ! As always, roommates will be available, and we will have a liaison service for it. Don’t worry, it may be an ice hotel, but it’s just as warm and cozy as any other. 

❄️ - Roommate liaison will be running once again for this event. It is encouraged that if you partake in this, you interact with your roommates you are assigned. If there are problems with the assignment or requests, let us know as soon as possible. 

JANUARY 8 -- Winter Wonderland Bazaar.

         Walking in a winter wonderland ♪~  Oh, for sure ! What festival is complete without our vendors  !?! Never fear, we would never make our gracious vendors stand out in the cold. Instead, we’ve reserved a wing of our resort specifically for all of you who wish to run a booth  ! You will be warm and well cared for, as a thank you for coming and dragging our business all the way out here  ! 

❄️ - Vendor applications will also be opening up soon  ! Vendor spots are unlimited, as always. If you have something you would like to give to the festival, do send in an application  ! Nearly all of them get accepted and will be posted on a masterlist.

❄️ - Please limit muse activity to one booth so as to not overwork yourself or to confuse festival go-ers. We ask that if you run a booth, you remain running that booth and not open another

JANUARY 9 -- Meadow Mingling.

          As they say, in the  ♫  meadow we can build a snowmaaaan ~  ! Tuesday is all about the snow ! There’s a hefty hill that I’m just itching to get a sled on. If you think you can take me, I’d be more than happy to race anyone down it. When you’re raised in the snow, you learn a few tricks. But aside from this, we’re also going to be holding a Snowman Showcase and our jingling sleigh rides from horse and elegant carriages  ! Bring your extra scarves and carrots  ! And maybe you can swipe some buttons from some coats. Don’t worry, regardless, we the mods have an abundance of extra layers for everyone should you need them  !

JANUARY 10 -- Annual Snowball Fight.

          Who’s up for Team Laslow to make a comeback  ? This event will run VERY similar to our Summer Volleyball match ! Captains are encouraged, I mean, unless you’re scared to take me on. So gather some teammates and meet us in the courtyard. It’ll be cold out there so bundle up ! Don’t be afraid of a little snow pelting you in the face on this one, I’ll bet it’s bound to happen. By the end of this competition, you’ll all be one with the snow.

❄️ --  Teams ARE ENCOURAGED. Matches will be generated ala ‘ hunger games simulator ’ style. We will be posting a call for captains very soon, are we’re looking for 4-8 teams to compete gauntlet-style. If you are interested in forming a team of 8-12 players, be on the lookout. Ground rules and more description on this to come  ! 

❄️-- Submissions for snowball teams will open Thursday, January 4th, and will close Sunday, January 7 at 11:59 PM EST. We will have the matchups posted by end of the day Monday. Please have your FULL teams ready to submit by then. If you are a captain, please count your players and make absolutely sure you have at least 8 players, and no more than 12. We will be counting.

❄️ -- We will only accept full team submissions. Once you submit your team, there will be no additions or substitutions. So be absolutely sure your roster is complete before submitting. If you are short on players, ask around and join forces if you must  !

❄️ -- The proper tag will be:  snowfall and sleigh bells ;; snowball fight

JANUARY 11 -- The Snow Ball. 

      Deck the halls with boughs of holly ! And maybe a little mistletoe, too. Tonight, we cordially, elegantly, formally invite you to our Winter Snow Ball. In case you’re wondering, this is a formal event. Music will be playing, refreshments will be laid out, and of course, there will be dancing within the grand ballroom. I would get your commissions in to your seamstresses and break out your glass slippers now, ladies and gents, it’s dress to impress ! Though, I hope that all of you will reserve yourself at least one dance with yours truly  !

❄️ -- The proper tag to post opens and your fancy dresses will be: snowfall and sleigh bells ;; snow ball

JANUARY 12 -- Movie Night.

         As usual, Friday will be movie night in the sitting room  ! Once again, we will be holding two showings to accomodate everyone. One showing will be at 1:00 PM EST ( approximately 7:00 PM/19:00 in EU. ) and the other showing will be at 8:00 PM EST ( approximately 2:00 AM in EU ). Movie suggestions will be opened during the week of the event, and a poll will go up to finalize the choice  !

❄️ -- Once again, there will be a discord chatroom opened for the duration of movie night and the final farewell day. Discord room will open approximately 11:00 AM EST ( 5:00 PM/ 17:00 in EU ).

JANUARY 13 -- Aurora Bourealis Bash. 

         If we’re not mistaken, we have planned the outrealms Aurora Bourealis to appear on this night ! We have a viewing room with an open ceiling just for this event ! Of course, this will end our vacation, sadly, but I think I can already hear the talk of bunny ears in the distance. 

     I think that wraps up my announcement, as always, you have my apologies for being so long winded. In the coming weeks, the events will be elaborated on and applications will go up  ! Keep a look out  ! Also, if you have any questions, feel free to contact any of us here on the mod blog, or our individual inboxes.

Mod Robin / Mod Alm / Mod Laslow / Mod Clive

As always, we wish you well in the weeks leading up to our event. Enjoy your holidays, and have a great snowday, everybody  ! ❞ 

[fheythfully]

an empty hearth dawn by the sea

In which:

The Warrior of Darkness skulks around Ul'Dah, Lieal meets and Arbert who is not Arbert, and a fisherman watches the woman he loves walk away.

Click here or the read more. Part of my “do you remember loving me” series, the entirety of which can be found here.

The sun above the Kugane waters is blazing bright, coloring the ocean landscape with glowing blues and greens and rolling waves. Lieal shields her eyes with one hand, the other bracing herself against the vivid red railing of the pier’s ocean-top deck, and watches the ships come and go. Some as large as the Kuroboro Maru come to dock, others, tiny barges from ships farther out who make land and greet the workers on the pier with hearty laughs and more than one slip of the hand containing a bundle of coin. She is reminded briefly of the ships she’s watched and set sail on arriving at Melvaan’s Gate, with the Limsan waters just as blue and bountiful and calming. Even with entire oceans between them, Lieal thinks with a smile, people do not change.

She is here on behalf of the sultana, with a request to make of Hancock and the East Aldenard Trading Company – something she is rather not looking forward to doing, but the task must be done by someone and by someone the sultana had made it quite clear it could not be anyone but her – and she is hesitant to head to the Ul’Dahn building just yet. She knows that it stems from the fact that she has not had the chance to stop by her own dwellings within the actual Thanalan city as of yet, despite the fact that she had been by to see the sultana; just as she knows that the unease that had been coiled within her for the entire duration of her Ala Mhigan and Othard campaigns (apart from the obvious unease of dying, and violence and Garlemald as a whole) had nothing to do with the ongoing war against the Empire and everything to do with, well, her houseguest.

She hesitated to continue calling him a houseguest – the amount of time he spent within her apartment, both with her in it and during the days and nights she spent in NOX’s member rooms instead, respected him at least the title of roommate. Or perhaps lover was more appropriate.

The sun continues to shine; a breeze catches at her hair and to the sound of hungry seagulls, she heaves out a sigh and blows the strands dancing before her away.

A glint at the corners of her eyes catches her attention and she half turns to see a fisherman’s hook reel in back to his fishing rod. She wonders why he’s chosen here, of all places – the fish must be scarce this close to the hustle and bustle of the pier’s workers and visitors. She turns fully and leans back against the railing to watch him, eager for anything to deter her longer from making the trek to the eastern side of the city and the Ijin District, where Hancock will no doubt ply her with bitter tea and sweet cakes. Or perhaps even Tataru, eager to hear the latest gossip and ongoings from her mouth and not a linkpearl or a letter.

She doesn’t know how long she stands there, watching him, but eventually she feels her shoulders relax and the unease within her settle down. There is something soothing about the line of the man’s body and the dedication to his fishing, even though he’s caught only one fish in the entire time she’s been watching him.

Lieal’s eyes suddenly narrow. Wait, I know those shoulders and that back. She’s seen them multiple times before, both clothed and bare and she would be a horrible woman not to recognize her own lover’s body. What is Arbert doing here?

She could not imagine him making the long voyage across the sea, and having never prior been to Othard, he would not have been able to utilize the aetherytes within the country. Perhaps such travel is a boon to his status as an outsider to our world?  She catches herself musing before an unexpected anger overtakes her. He had not written to her in weeks, had not thought to give word of any progress made with Urianger on restoring him to a proper, breathing body and all of a sudden he was here, fishing?

Fishing, of all things!

Her feet take her to him in a determined stride before she can calm herself. “Arbert!” She calls out once within acceptable range, her fists clenching in the pockets of her jacket. “Pray tell me what you think you’re doing!”

The man turns at the sound of her voice, dark eyes wide in his face as he catches sight of her – and it is indeed him, she realizes, with his face tanner than she had last seen him and a new scar at the corner of his lip. What had he been doing while she was away – losing to monsters and cutthroats?

She doesn’t give him a chance to answer her and plows straight on, her usual demeanour shaken at the presence of him and the turmoil of her emotions regarding him as a whole. “I have not heard word from you nor Urianger in weeks and you think it fine to show up here in Kugane, without even notifying me?”

She is close enough to count the faint dusting of freckles on his nose now, and Arbert opens his mouth to speak—

The sun shines in her eyes; the seagulls caw in the distance; and all of a sudden all she can see is

(a figure as if against the sun, Void dark but radiant—)

nothing. 

.

.

The harping of the merchants on Sapphire Avenue Exchange, Arbert decides with a grimace, must be a sound one expects to hear in at least one of the Seven Hells.

The sun above Ul’Dah is ruthless as it beats down on the citizens below it and Arbert ducks into a shaded corner for relief alone, reaching up to wipe at his brow – an action that he has not had to do since the Before, in his Eorzea, in his Ul’Dah. His body had taken to its restored, proper state as easily as it had taken to breathing again – something that had been unexpected, but wholly not unwelcome.

It still catches him off guard, even a near week later, how much he has missed being alive. It was the little things, he’s noticed, like feeling the sun on his skin (even when it positively burned) and the cool slide of water down his throat. The taste of food and drink as a whole, and sweat on his skin, and an ache in his muscles after a lengthy fight; no more of the sensation of ice burrowed under his skin every waking moment, and even in sleep, haunted with the Void and the faces of those he left behind.

Those still remained, of course, but at least he could now find comfort in a warm hearth upon waking. And a warm body beside his to turn to, if he was so lucky.

In the darkness, Arbert’s grimace deepens. A warm body belonging to the Warrior of Light, you mean.

The absence of one certain miqo’te had been felt deeper than he had expected upon her announcement of intent, although they both knew turning down the Scions and the Eorzean Alliance was not even an option, and her decision to leave was an illusion – one he had indulged her in. The apartment in The Goblet sat empty without her presence to fill the rooms, remembered only by the fading scent on her clothes within the wardrobe and the plants now blooming in her absence. Even the copperfish within the fishtank dominating one corner of the living room seemed to appear sadder without her there to gaze upon them, drawing patterns to catch their attention with on the glass—

Arbert was, decidedly, not sulking over his lover’s absence.  Lover? He debated on what to call her. Roommate? Friend? Enemy?

Well, at least the last one had not been applicable for a lengthy period of time now.

A breeze rustles the tarps of the merchant stalls, bringing with it plenty of sand that Arbert sneezes on and even more of the dreaded afternoon heat. A merchant across the way catches his eye and waves towards his wares, a giant — and most likely fake — gemstone necklace dangling from one hand.

“Beautiful jewellery for that special lady in your life!” He calls out, leering at the passing Ul’Dahns. His yell is met with several others down the avenue in response, competitors vying for attention and profit.

Ifrit take me, Arbert groans, and prepares to head home to figure out how to compose a letter to a special lady in a manner where the phrases I miss you and I have a properly alive body now and I am eager to feel your warmth beneath my skin do not make it into the final copy.

.

.

“I am so sorry,” Lieal addresses the man before her, abashed and face flushed with embarrassment. “I truly do not know what came over me, for me to lose consciousness so. I thank you for catching me.”

The sun is bright above them with nary a cloud in the sky. The fisherman that had caught her in a faint spell offers a kind smile, one hand rubbing at the nape of his neck. “Not a problem, miss,” he offers and Lieal averts her eyes from his, a headache building behind her eyelids. What had she been so focused on beforehand, to result in such a migraine?

Hancock, she remembers with a sigh. Nanamo wants an audience with Hancock.

She thanks the fisherman again and turns to leave, hands burrowed in the depths of her jacket pockets – a handmade work of leather and a soft fur collar, brushing against her neck with each breath. She takes out one hand to smooth down the front of it and pauses, catching sight of the crescent shaped marks on her palm.

A drop of water falls upon them, stinging the red skin and reflexively she glances up for rain; the sky remains cloudless. Frowning, she reaches up to wipe at her eyes and her fingers come away wet with tears. How strange, she decides and turns a corner, only to find herself staggering against the wall there as her legs fail her and she collapses on the dirt, sobbing her heart out into the empty street. Her heart within her breast burns with a grief she has not felt since the frightening moment she saw Y’shtola’s unmoving body in the result of Zenos’ attack on Rhalgr’s Reach – since she watched Haurchefant collapse before her very eyes, smiling at her all the while.

I don’t know why I’m crying, she manages to think through the pain constricting her lungs. The tears do not stop; the street remains blissfully empty; and though it all, all she can think of is Arbert and his rare smile.

.

.

The fisherman on the dock watches the Warrior of Light leave with a bittersweet smile. Her gait remains familiar to him, unchanged in the seven years since he has last seen her up close and not in the midst of a crowd or from a safe distance. The confident set in her shoulders and the tilt of her chin, though – those were new, and had made her look all the more beautiful and so unlike the uncertain, sweet girl of sixteen summers he had once been in love with. Still in love with, he corrects himself and reaches up a hand to cover his eyes. Through his fingers, head craned back as he hides his tears, Arbert stares at the crystal-blue sky and tries not to think on her calling his name (impossible) and her mention of Urianger (did not remember him, just like all the others) before her lapse in consciousness.

It always turned out the same – her glimpse of him, the vacant look in her eyes following, and then a misdirection of attention with a magic unlike anything he has ever seen.

A cold breeze from the oceanfront tugs at his hair and clothes, and in it he feels the warm embrace of a Mother he has not heard from in years. My son, he images her croon. It is time to let go.

“Is it?” He asks back to the empty air.

There is only silence in reply.

Arbert sighs, packs up his fishing gear, and prepares to teleport away. He spares one last glance at the corner where the woman had turned, flexing his fingers that can still recall the warmth of her body as she fell into him and the soft brush of her pale hair against his skin.

I’m sorry, he thinks the words he has never had the chance to say, not since that fateful day in the Grand Palace – and he knows she will never be able to hear them.

[crimsonrevolt]

Congratulations Lana you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Walburga Black!

↳ please refer to our character checklist

I can’t even begin to list a favorite part of this beautiful application since there were countless ones, but I think that what truly impressed me was how much empathy and love you gave a character who is so complex and terrible in her beliefs and made me truly appreciate her for how many intriguing dimensions she has! Your para sample made me feel for her and the loss she still is trying to suppress at losing members of her family, and I’m so excited to see how you make her fit into the rp and the characters and plots already going on! She’ll add a truly interesting perspective and I’m looking forward to seeing her on the dash!

application beneath the cut

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION

Hello, I’m Lana, twenty-three, EST. I prefer she/her pronouns.

ACTIVITY

Other than full-time work, I am free most of the time. I imagine that I’ll be active almost every day and the times I’m not I’ll have a queue to keep up on replies, etc.

TRIGGERS

*removed for privacy

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

I originally found this group through the tags but I’ve been lurking for a while. It was hard to wait but I’m glad I did because now I have a lot of time to dedicate to this.

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

Remus Lupin. I’m not a hundred percent sure why I identify with him but I do. He has always been my favorite character in the books and being around a lot of roleplays has just given me a deeper love for him and the multiple characterizations I’ve seen. He is such a quiet, low-key person with this hidden strength and intelligence that I feel he barely trusts. Then there’s the werewolf piece of his identity that he tries to hide and overcome - I just adore him. That’s not much about me so I’m sorry, but I do identify most with Remus!

ANYTHING ELSE?

Nope!

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER

Walburga Black

FACE CLAIM

Charlize Theron

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER

I could speak a thousand words about Walburga Black and it still would not be enough. The entirety of the Black family, in my opinion, are highly underrated (I could write a novel just on why they deserve more attention for the sake of background on their children). So let me talk about mother ice queen for a moment and hope that my wording conveys just how much I love this horrifying character without making anyone reading this believe that I myself am also an extremist with terrible beliefs.

Walburga Black is a character with very little redeeming quality, I will start off by admitting that. Her ideals closely resemble those of a true psychopath yet she does a better job of keeping them hidden than her younger brother, Cygnus. In fact, she believes that her caution is to be admired and chides her husband often and extensively for his lack of it. It is no secret that the Black family name is spoken as an insult and the knowledge crawls under her skin and leeches at her blood. For decades her family had been noble and pure, but the sight of it now draws her to her wits end. It is her largest desire to rid of the rumors of incest and insanity that have filtered through the country, making her a laughing stock.

She despises the men of her family who have loomed above her to pluck the crown from her golden hair. It has been a relentless fight to gain power and composure against her brothers, but she believes she is the strongest of them all. Intelligence that knows no bounds, beauty above all, and a cold facade that could have grown men slinking away - those are the traits of an heir and a queen. But instead of holding a bounty of wealth and inheriting her family home, she was married off to complete her only goal as a woman, child birth. It was against everything she believed, but she did her duty while whispering in the ears of the pureblooded men and women who would listen. Fear her, love her, hate her, it never mattered to Walburga.

There is still humanity underneath the perfectly crafted creature she has spun to walk the Earth, and she showed it only when her first born son abandoned them. She had always known he would leave so that came as no surprise, but the ache in her heart did. There was a hole ripped out of soft flesh that never seemed to heal, no matter how many years had passed. It had taken days of screaming agony and threatening curses before Walburga had allowed herself to put her mask on again. The memory felt weak, like cowardice. She never wanted to feel like a woman or a mother because that wasn’t how you gained respect in a world of sexism.

I could go on for days about her past and what led her to the moments that created such a silently heartbroken creature. It’s mostly speculation on my end but I love to talk about it and I hope I get the chance to portray her for the first time!

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

Walburga identifies as female with she/her pronouns.

Orion/Walburga.

I don’t want to write much on my opinion of their relationship because I know that there is an active Orion player in this group, but I have a lot of feelings on the matter. In a weird way I do ship them because I feel that their marriage has gone beyond duty and has touched on something close to love, or solace and comfort, whichever is the easiest for them to admit. I believe that Walburga would do anything to protect her husband and expects the same from him. There’s much more I’d love to explore, too!

Her sexuality is closest to straight, I suppose, yet I do feel that she would fall into bed with many after a particularly gruesome fight (Chemistry/Walburga). She loves the adrenaline and the fear, it makes her feel alive when she has been surrounded by dull affairs and parties while acting as a socialite. Still, she would never label herself as anything but straight and would keep her sexual intentions behind closed doors for fear that it would make her family name any less noble.

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

Here is the mock blog. xxxxx

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

“And why would I waste my time on tinkering with ingredients or waving my wand uselessly when I could press a galleon into the hand of a poorer man to do it for me?” Walburga remains still as ice save for the twitch of her index finger against the silk of her dress. “Still, the question isn’t utterly foolish.” She weighs the answer and the consequences before deciding that this conversation will lead to little other than conversation. Boring, really. “They could make me the true heir of father’s inheritance, or they could kill the men who doubt me. The women, too. I can’t decide. Perhaps I’d do both.”

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you:

“The Forbidden Forest is filled to the brim with filth, I’ve found. It should be burned to the ground along with the creatures inside. Alas, if I must go, I would bring my dear husband. He can get eaten while I walk away unharmed.” The thought seems to amuse her but the words are false and she lets the corners of her lips fall in an instant. “An object other than my wand? I suppose the necklace mother left me before she died. It has always brought me strength.”

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

Walburga laughs and the sound is almost as cruel as the coldness in her eyes. “I have no difficulty making decisions. Everything comes easily to me. How could it not? I’m a Black by blood and by birth. The women are queens and the men are pretenders, so we of the ‘gentler sex’ are left to make the real decisions. I whisper in my husbands ear just as I did father’s, and I’ll continue until I have what I want. Does it sound like I’m having difficulty?” But even though her words ring true, she cannot help but think that her weakness is hard to overcome.

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

“People speak of me every day and their words are envious. I don’t care to listen to what those peasants choose to utter nor would I do a thing to stop them. I care only for my family name and what they choose to say of me is nothing in comparison to the filthy way they speak of my brother.” She shudders at the thought of him. “I am a queen and I deserve just what respect my father had. The thing I would not stand for is those filthy demons calling me weak. I could kill them in an instant yet they think we, as the noble house of Black, are jokes. Every day I will prove that that is not true.”

WRITING SAMPLE

It felt like ice slithering up her larynx with the threat of suffocation. Pale and gaunt she stood and stared at the emerald green tapestry that hung across the walls of a room she had not thought to enter in some time. They sat like ghosts stitched in time, woven in silk, and colored with fading dye. But she held their fate in the palm of her hand with the magic that stretched and flexed between the core of her wand. It had become a simple pleasure to view those faces and read the cursive letters she had memorized as just a little girl. There was Pollux Black, her father, and Irma Crabbe, her mother. They sat under the elder Cygnus II with an air of nobility, and further below were Alphard, Cygnus, and herself.

Her fingers were light as they traced the tiny lines of her own face and read the words that followed. Walburga Black. The name meant little beside the brothers who held their fortune and inheritance close to their chests. As a woman she would never be allowed the luxury of claiming her proper title, nor would she be absolved of her duty to a husband who often cast a shadow, but this day was a step forward. After years of waiting for her brothers to fall from high grace, she had finally gotten her wish. And how joyous the occasion was.

Alphard Black would be removed.

The image of his face stitched into a tapestry so regal had her stomach boiling with internal rage yet her composure remained frozen in disinterest. A long, curved nail came up to tear at the thin fabric with intentionally slow movements. Soon half of his white, left cheek was swallowed up into a mess of string and material. Still, it did little to quell the disgust. She took a step away and pointed her wand though the spell didn’t form immediately. How could he have done that to them when he knew how much Sirius had hurt her?

The parchment conjured in her memory and she sucked a breath inward. Her eldest brother had left his entire fortune to a traitor despite her clear warnings. Sirius was to be left in the dark with the scum he called friends, yet Alphard had not heeded her threats. As she hadn’t expected him to. While it came as a relief to find her smarter brother fail so quickly, it also hurt. She had cared deeply for him whereas her younger brother she had come close to despising.

Finally the flames came, flickering and alive as they ate away at the lasting image of his face. Two times in the past few months that she had come to view the tapestry and remove another traitor and both had hurt just as much. A dull ache began in her chest and pounded upwards until there was a lump in her throat too big to swallow. She wouldn’t let the sob rise, however, no matter how much it tried. “Not this time.” She whispered, and her eyes moved to stare at the black hole that had once been her son. “I’ll never let you filthy traitors make me show weakness again.“