#I still want to romance Josie at some point because I think she's adorable and worth it

[wolfsong-the-bloody-beast]

You know, the advisor romances are very sweet and all, but it's still not the same, for me, as romancing a companion that you take with you everywhere. Be it for the pure romance of having your lover fight by your side and having each other's backs, which I'm a massive sucker for, or for the fact that they get more screen time, party banter, and you just get to see and hear them more, and also get to know them better, or for the fact that when something happens to you, they are there with you and for you and they may also freak out deliciously.

This post is sponsored by Blackwall fussing over my Inquisitor every time her freak hand acts out, or she gets hit with weird magic, or sometimes for no reason at all, checking on her after combat.

[shivunin]

Ship ask game!!

So, let's say…

3 for everyone (or the most interesting ones)

20 for Elowen

27 for Arianwen

42 and 43 for Salshira and Josie Of course pick only the ones you'd like. ✨

Hooray! Thank you so much, Arja <3

(Ship Asks)

3. What was their first impression of each other?

Wen: Oh, an ambush, cool -> what is this guy's deal why is he looking at me like that?

Zevran: Can be boiled down to "at least the person who's going to kill me is both very fast and very good with those knives" -> why is she looking at me like that what is her deal?

Maria and Fenris are here

I think most of my Lavellans thought something along the lines of, "uh-oh, he must be the military one, yikes." Definitely wary, though they each handle wariness a little differently (Salshira reacted by flirting constantly, for example). In Salshira and Cullen's soulmate AU, there's the added dimension of a sort of uncomfortable recognition without a clear origin

I think Cullen's first impression of most people is a mixture of wariness and circumstances, so I think his was generally "What can they do to fix this?" mixed with "They might have killed the Divine." (I do think there's a cut voice line from the romance where he says something about thinking they were beautiful, but I'd have to look it up).

Salshira: Thought Josie was gorgeous (Josie is very much her type), but also that if she needed anyone on her side it was going to be Josie (Leliana plainly likes her, Cullen is clearly uncomfortable with the nobility, so Josie is the linchpin)

Josie: Sympathy for her position as a Dalish elf in a very precarious position, instant recognition that the charm is a mask

20. How do they comfort each other when one of them is upset? Is this method of comfort effective?

They're both excellent listeners, but not great at expressing their frustrations aloud until they reach a breaking point. So I think they have venting sessions with each other that end with some kind of physical reassurance (a hug or kiss).

It can be effective, but learning how to handle something before it gets really bad works for both of them a lot better. At that point, they have other outlets together (sparring, chess, etc) that help them manage their emotions before they hit a wall.

27. How do they say “I love you” non-verbally?

Wen isn't big on talking, so she has a lot of ways to show Zev she loves him without saying it. She leaves him gifts fairly frequently (later, she sneaks them onto his person as a sort of game and sign of affection, like braiding gold into his hair while he's distracted in the morning). She likes to sit next to him and lean against him when she thinks he needs comfort. Later, she'll play with his hair or help him get ready for the day.

Zevran, I think, is an acts of service person (he was sort of. not given a choice in his early life, so I think some of this is environmental), so he offers things to take care of Wen. He'll give her a massage if she seems tense, steal her little cakes even if she won't admit she wants them, or write her lots of letters because he knows how much she worries when they're apart. It's not so much about what he writes, but about the fact that he makes a point of doing it often so she never has to doubt that he still cares for her.

42. What’s their relationship like with each other’s friends/families?

Josie's family adores Salshira. She makes a great first impression on Yvette, who (of course) immediately tells the rest of the siblings that the Inquisitor is sweet on their Josie. Salshira is endlessly devoted if she feels like she's welcome and wanted, so I think she makes it very easy for them to believe that she cares about Josie and wants to stick around. After the events of the game, they have a long formal courtship while Salshira is living at the family estate in Antiva, so by the time they get married nobody can imagine them doing anything but staying together as part of the Montilyet family.

But oh man. Poor Josie. I think she tries really hard, but it's very difficult to build a relationship with your partner's family when you know said family has hurt them deeply. Salshira's mom is not into the idea of her ending up with a human (in any universe) and I think that's a pretty difficult barrier to scale. Salshira's Keeper likes Josie a lot, though; I think she has an appreciation for Josie's skills at diplomacy, and once they meet she can plainly see that Josie truly cares about Salshira for who she is and not what she is.

43. If they picked out outfits for each other, what would they look like?

I think Salshira would pick something a little revealing to be cheeky, but she'd be totally unable to handle it when Josie actually wore the garment in question.

Josie would pick something in a rich color, I think, just to look at Salshira in it. She doesn't tend to wear very formal or fancy outfits, so it would be a special occasion treat to see her in something a little fancy. Maybe something like this dress from Ever After (shhh pretend it's period appropriate):

[walkwithheroes84]

Saved By the Bell (2020) Thoughts

 When the original Saved by the Bell ended in 1992, I was still in elementary school and certainly hadn’t watched it’s first run. But over the years - via repeats - it has become something of a comfort show for me, that I turn to when I’m feeling down or just need something cheesy to chill out to. So, hen I heard about a reboot on the Peacock network, I was unsure. 

Now, having finished the ten episode season in just two days, I’m really hoping people give this show a chance. It knows what it is and what it is the child of and it lovingly pokes fun at and embraces it. All while actually showing real issues that people are facing today.

Here are my real-time after thoughts on each episode. Warning for spoilers. 

1.01: Pilot

Zack becoming Governor to get out of a parking ticket and then having no idea what to do is a very Saved by the Bell plot line. But, I love that he's not getting away with doing a bad job and the people of California actually seem to be upset with him. Also random, but - I wonder if Kelly is a doctor and why she hasn't kicked Zack to the curb if he's become such a skeevy person? I guess it is true love.

Jessie and Slater and still adorable, even as platonic friends. However, it's sad that she's kept her son so dependent on her and that it appears that Slater peeked in high school.

Lexi and Mac would be completely unlikeable if played by anyone other than Josie Totah and Mitchell Hoog. Right now, they are just unlikeable, but could grow as the series goes on.

Devante and Aisha are good and I look forward to their characters being explored more.

Daisy is fine, but I don't think she's a strong enough character to be the "lead". Many reviews have called her the "lead" and the "character viewers follow the most" and I'm not sure the character is strong enough for that. Haskiri Velazquez is capable in her role and is doing fine, but the character is a bit bland at the moment.

Principal Toddman: finally a principal that is trying to make a difference and isn't bumbling around and letting the students get away with anything.

The "running for school president" story felt straight out of the old series, with Lexi and Mac doing it for a parking space. But, I liked that in the end (it was 2 days show time and just 30-something minutes our time) they only let Daisy have the job because they didn't want to give up their spring break - not because they learned any sort of real lesson.

From previews I was a little worried that they might try and go with a Mac/Daisy pairing, and I really glad that it doesn't look that way. Yes, it feels like they might pair them down the road (if the show gets a season 2 and beyond), but for now Daisy seems more annoyed with him and Mac seems indifferent to her. It looks like the show might go with Jamie/Aisha, which could work.

1.02: Clubs and Cliques 

The theater clique is basically so cliché that its amusing. I love that they were all desperate to get Devante involved and keep him in the group chat, but he was just so disinterested. Lexi's line that she would fall for him if he kept ignoring her? Ha.

Jamie's inability to basically function as a normal fifteen/sixteen year old is alarming. The fact that he couldn't tell he is bad at football and that he makes raw food? Like, Jessie, who did you raise? That said, the football team having a "Feelings Helmet" was just amusing to me. The Bayside students are just so over the top insane.

There is a large part of me that wonders what the heck happened in the raising of Mac. Kelly had six siblings. She was raised in a working class family. I can't see her raising her son to be this entitled brat who apparently calls her stupid. And, I honestly can't see Zack allowing his son to end up an idiot who just floats through life.

But, I guess that's the point of the series: the Bayside students are all clichés and over the top archetypes of rich kids. None of them are really all that likeable and I find myself rooting for Devante, Daisy, and Aisha while wanting Mac, Lexi, and Jamie to grow up.

1.03: The Bayside Triangle

Knowing that Jamie and Lexi have been friends since they were little kids and she now has a crush on him and doesn't know how to handle it? Very relatable and makes me like her a bit more. She's right - for a lot of reasons, it can be weird to have an old friend like you.

Aisha trying so hard to fit in with the Bayside students is a bit sad, actually. It feels like she's giving up a part of herself to be who they think she should be.

Mac and Jamie's fight felt like it was straight out of the original series.

It's sad to know that Zack and Slater are no longer friends. I wonder why.

Devante is totally my favorite at this point. He just wants a fresh start and it's sad that Aisha and Daisy suspected him of wrongdoing because of his past.

Again, the fact that the students do all this weird stuff and no one at the school seems to notice or care . . .I feel that is purely making fun of the original show, but I love it.

1.04: The Fabulous Birchwood Boys

Lexi and Devante need to become best friends and stay best friends forever. Let's keep it platonic and fabulous. Also, his friends from his neighbor? I need to see more of those boys.

Jamie and Mac Freshmen year? Dorky as all get out. Lexi's fear that no one would like her. So heartbreakingly real.

Daisy having access to money for one day and becoming an entitled monster...that also felt very real. And, I'm really glad that she didn't take the easy way out and said she was sorry to the other members.

Since Mac never even asked Post Malone and since he got the other kids back - I'm starting to think the kid has more depth and empathy than I originally gave him credit for. That or Daisy is rubbing off on him. If they did Daisy/Mac down the road, I think it could work.

I felt so sorry when Lexi realized that Jamie had asked Aisha. I think they are headed for a Lexi/Jamie/Aisha love triangle, and I have to say that while I see Lexi/Jamie (because of her crush), I don't see Jamie/Aisha just yet.

Finally, Slater obsessing over the gym floors? He really did become a stereotype of a gym coach.

1.05: Rent-A-Mom

Jessie still having anxiety about caffeine and knocking what she thought was caffeine pills away from Mac was great.

Speaking of which - poor Jessie and her marriage. :( How did she end up with such a wishy-washy husband?

Slater and Aisha bonding while trying to making the team tougher was great. I cannot believe Jamie gives heartfelt speeches before games. What the hell, man? They really are pushing Jamie as the "sensitive man-child".

Jamie also mentioned that he was starting to like Aisha, but I still don't really see it. Am I alone in this? A start of a friendship, sure. But, a romance within the next few episodes - that would move too fast. Then again, it is a "teen show" and romance on those tend to move quickly.

Lexi and Mac trying to help Daisy was kind-of sweet in a weird sort of way. I like the looks into the home lives of the gang. It gives us a better understand of who they are as people.

1.06: Teen-Line

DeVante clearly facing racism and even classism at Bayside was really well done. I love that Lexi was ready to help him, because he has become such a great friend to her. Those two have really bonded and I love it.

Mac becoming a payphone, but not realizing it kind of made me smile. But what was even better was the way the school completely went into chaos after the students lost their phones. It couldn't have been more than three hours and the school already looked like a deleted scene from a post-apocalyptic film. Oh, and Mac using the rope to get in and out of the room, while the rest of the group used the door. . .loved it.

Aisha and Jamie. . .I feel like she's with him because he's attractive and sweet. There doesn't seem to be any real depth to their relationship. Though to be fair, there isn't much depth to Jamie's character - he's a satellite love interest to Aisha and Lexi.

1.07: House Party

Lexi finally seeing that she is a good (or at least better) person? I like that she is growing. Out of all the characters, I think she has gotten the most character growth (out of the kids) this season.

So. . .Mac does all his schemes because he's scared of being abandoned by the people he cares about and feels neglected by his parents? It's cliché, but. . .okay.

I'm still not really feeling Aisha/Jamie, but I'm not hating it. The relationship lacks depth, so I'm not terribly invested. But, I'm sure if I went back and watched any of the TNBC shows (without my nostalgic glasses on) those romances won't have much depth either.

Daisy trying to go wild, but instead having to be locked in a closet and making out with a coat? Eh, I get that they were poking fun at the darker and "edgy" teen soaps, but, eh.

Slater really grew during the episode and realized that it's time to leave high school behind and start acting like a real adult, and I'm proud of him.

1.08: The Todd Capsule 

Lark looked amazing. I'm so happy that she is doing so well these days.

So now we know where Screech is: on the Space Station with Kevin the Robot.

I was actually sad to learn that Kelly didn't follow her dream of becoming an actual doctor and is instead selling a fake wellness brand or some nonsense. Though, I will admit the Zack/Kelly scenes had me giggling a bit. They have become so shallow and weird, but I'm living for it. And when Zack said she was the only woman he's ever been with? That was a great jab, at least to me, at the way teen shows always do the "one true pairing" thing.

So glad Jessie now knows that Slater still has feelings for her. Can't believe her husband is having an emotional affair with one of his characters. This show can be so ridiculous.

The time capsule was a great addition to the episode, especially as they remembered all the plots that didn't make sense or were just weird: Jessie's caffeine addiction, putting on a ballet so Zack could graduate, saving a hotel in Hawaii.

How dare the gang (expect Lisa, who is a Queen) not remember Ron-Ron!

I hate - hate - that the PTA basically went behind everyone's back and is going to use the money to send the Douglas children back to their school. Yes, they can use the money to buy new things, but they will still have issues in that school. It's pure racism and classism.

Devante having a crush on Nadia (I think that's her name?) is super cute.

Loved Lexi and Daisy bonding and Lexi seeing that sometimes guilting people into things works just as well as being fake-nice. Though, you think she would have learned that by now.

So, Mac has always struck me as a character that is straight out of a 90s teen sitcom, and he still acts that way. But, I love that the show is trying to show some depth to him: he's acting out for attention from his dad. He has modeled his whole personality after his dad's high school personality in order to get attention. It's a storyline that has been done a million times (and will be done a million more times), but it fits his character.

1.09: All in the Hall

The Douglas principal saying that every few years people try and come in to "save" the school ,but than get bored and leave, because they've already gotten what they want - to feel good about themselves? Yeah, I felt that. It was so true to life, the way people rush into some new cause and than abandon it once they have gotten praise or its no longer trendy.

So happy to see Principal Toddman standing up Jade and sticking up for his students. He and Devante should have more scenes together. I like how they play off one another. I really just love Devante - he's probably my favorite.

Aisha finding a way to stay at the school via sports was very smart, but I can also see how Daisy would see it as selfish. Aisha does have a way of thinking about herself first and than others after. I think that has to do with her ultracompetitive nature - she wants to win, even if it mean leaving others behind.

Jamie got a bit more depth in this episode - finally. It was sweet that he wanted Aisha to stay, despite only having dated her for six weeks or so. He went about it completely wrong, but it was sweet. It's good that he sees that he's more emotionally intelligent than anything else.

The Aisha/Jamie stuff - eh. I never felt it to begin with, so it was no big. I'm glad that they sort of acknowledged that while he loves her, she just likes him and it was a relationship built more on physical attraction and sweet moments than anything else. I mean, they are fifteen.

Mac and Lexi feeling empathy and trying to help Daisy was nice. It's clear that they have both grown to care about Daisy (and Devante and to a lesser degree Aisha). I also enjoyed the small tease of Mac/Lexi with them both agreeing that they would totally hook up, because they are both so hot. Who doesn't love two shallow people admitting they are shallow? Though, I still think the writers are slowly - maybe - setting up something with Mac/Daisy. Maybe. Possibly.

I laughed out loud when Daisy ran into Jean (or is it Dave?) at city hall and he just kept denying that they had met before, but they clearly had.

Daisy's breakdown and her nearly doing drugs and the group hug - complete with Jamie discussing some random talent show we never saw (a jab at the original show airing episodes out of order?) - was just so classic teen sitcom. I loved that they pulled back from that by showing Mac reaching for the joint during the group hug.

1.10: Showdown

Overall the season was much better then I thought it would be and I'm really hoping that they are able to work in a season 2. I don't know if they could do several seasons, but I think they could probably do 2-3 more seasons of 8-10 episodes each. They still have a lot to focus on: relationships, class differences, the fall of the Morris family, Jessie's marriage breaking down and how that plays out with Jamie and even Slater, etc.

I really liked the two throw away lines of: Zack asking "Remember Tori?" and Kelly responding with a confused: "Huh?" and then Kelly quickly telling Mac that his father is not Jeff.

I wouldn't say Zack learned a valuable lesson, so much as he realized that he only wanted to stay Governor because he didn't want to be a loser. Which I guess is a lesson in a way, but he's still a bit of a slime ball.

I'm so glad that Slater told Jessie he was sorry for teasing her in high school because she protested and that he's happy today's teenagers are more willing to speak out about their beliefs. And, I'm even happier that Jessie stood up to her stupid and selfish husband.

Aisha and Daisy ganging up on Devante and than realizing that the clicks at school need a common enemy was great. What was better was Lexi, who has had the most character grown this season, willingly becoming the scapegoat.

Mac still needs to work on his daddy issues, but he's getting there. Hopefully he and his parents can really bond during quarantine.

Jamie telling Lexi that the only reason he wasn't sure if he wanted to date her was because she's been mean in the past was very sweet. Do I think the show is headed for Lexi/Jamie? Yes. Do I think it will last? No.

I still have a feeling that, at some point, they will do a Mac/Daisy pairing. Or at the very least have Mac develop a crush on Daisy, which will be interesting to see.

Other thoughts: I love that the show was able to poke fun at the clichés, corniness, and weirdness of all the late 80s-early 00s teen sitcoms/dramas that people my age grew up on; while at the same time exploring current day issues, without getting too preachy or pushy. They used pop culture well, without it feeling overly done. Someone else has mentioned in several threads that the show reminds them of the show Community, and I have to agree - it really does have an "early" Community vibe to it. I know a lot of shows are being cancelled or not renewed due to Covid, but I really do hope they give this one a second season. I really want to see where they go next.  

Cast List:

Main Haskiri Velazquez as Daisy Jiménez Mitchell Hoog as Mac Morris Josie Totah as Lexi Haddad-DeFabrizio Alycia Pascual-Peña as Aisha Garcia Belmont Cameli as Jamie Spano Dexter Darden as Devante Young John Michael Higgins as Principal Ronald Toddman Elizabeth Berkley Lauren as Jessie Spano Mario Lopez as A.C. Slater

Recurring Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zack Morris Tiffani Thiessen as Kelly Morris Ed Alonzo as Max Cheyenne Jackson as René

Guest Lark Voorhies as Lisa Turtle

[unholyhelbig]

Hosie where Hope finds out that Josie is dealing... Oregano?

A/N: I wish I had some oregano to get me through this quarantine... 

Title: Searching for a Deal 

Ship: Hope Mikaelson/ Josie Saltzman 

Request prompts here | Read on AO3 

Magic had a scent to it that reminded Hope of home. She could never pinpoint the exact smell, it was more of a feeling than anything, a memory that pulled at the very back edges of her mind until it felt familiar.

Her aunt carried a dark mahogany box; its wood was soft and finished and hot like sage. And that’s exactly what magic reminded her of. Of course, she kept weed in that box and hid it behind the books she knew her family wouldn’t reach for. But not everyone was as cunning as Rebekah. Hope was.

She would reach her hands past the spell books, feeling that cold energy along the way, and pull out the box. It didn’t take much convincing to get one of the witches in the quarter to teach her how to roll the paper around the herb, she would sit on top of the toilet in her bathroom near the small window and blow the smoke through there. Hope probably inhaled more off-brand air freshener than the actual weed.

There were parties at the Boarding School, kids who had a handle on where to get drugs, but part of her always felt horrible about drawing smoke into her lungs and passing it back to the person who had paid for it. She was used to doing things herself, and she had gotten to the itchy point in time where she wanted it on her own.

She couldn’t call her Aunt Rebekah, she had gotten away with too much as a young teenager and she was nice enough not to say anything. And going into Mystic Falls to con Maya out of her supply wasn’t an option either. She needed to find a hook-up within the walls of the school.

Hope tried Lizzie first.

“Oh come on,” she whispered harshly, sandwiched between romance novels and a shelf of non-fiction Norse magic. The blonde let her eyes flick from the finely printed spines to Hope before going back to her task. “I know you have some.”

“And what makes you think I do?”

Hope shrugged and tested her luck “There’s no way in hell that therapy is the only thing that has mellowed you out this much, Lizzie. Just give me a name.”

The blonde blinked slowly at her, fingers running against the nearest textbook. She swiped it from the metal shelf and piled it on top of the other one in her arms before letting out a small breath. “Even if I was about to tell you, which I’m not, insulting me isn’t the way to get answers, Hope.”

“Then what is?” She arched a brow.

“Simple. Ask someone else.”

Hope let out a groan of frustration and the taller Saltzman twin went back to her book report. The library was mostly empty at this time of day, golden strings of light bouncing from the shelves. She wouldn’t be able to find an answer with the librarian behind the counter or the young vampire lounging in one of the leather chairs with oversized headphones.

She was agitated, and albeit, desperate.

That very desperation leads her to the gym; it was vastly different than the study. Its floors gleamed and the sound of rubber against glossed wood pounding against her already existing headache. She lingered by the doors for a few moments, watching a few of the wolves pull themselves effortlessly up the ropes.

As soon as Rafael met her gaze, she beaconed him over.

“Not a chance, Hope.” He said, breath caught in his throat. A fine layer of sweat dripped through his shirt. “Dr. Saltzman is strict about that stuff. You think I would be caught with that in my system?”

It hadn’t stopped him before, not at the same parties that Hope had gone to. He was often sitting right next to her, blunt between his teeth and smoke clouding his lungs. “Fair point, but you know who sells it?”

He stalled for a moment, clenching his jaw and glancing back at his teammates. “No. But I know who might.”

Penelope Park.

Hope was growing exhausted of this game of telephone, and even more wary of rushing around the Salvatore school. It wouldn’t be hard to track down Satan herself, she stuck to the dark corners of the school and often camped out under the bleachers, letting the coolness of her perch soak through her jeans as she breathed in the sharp smoke. She reeked of it, and Hope lingered at the entrance. She kicked a metallic can of off-brand beer to get the woman’s attention.

Two other witches lingered, one with his arms stretched above his head, he clung to the bars like a vice and narrowed his glowing eyes at her. The other witch grabbed the rolled paper that Penelope jutted out to her. Hope despised the smug look on her face and the sloppy grin that followed.

“You have a moment?” Hope asked, shoving her hands into her pockets.

Penelope stood from the cinderblock with little hesitation. With the nod of her head, the blunt was handed back to her and the two witches exited from their position at her flanks. They never took their eyes away from her. Hope hated being alone with Penelope.

“You want a hit?” Penelope asked, stretching out her hand.

Yes, she did, more than anything. She nodded and took the rolled cigarette before taking a deep breath in. The toxic taste coated her lungs and instantly made the tension release from her shoulders. “Thanks. I actually… Raf said that you know where to get this?”

“mm, try in town.” She grabbed the blunt back and then dropped it into the wet soil, using the tip of her toe to ground it into nothing. “The humans at Mystic High thrive on it.”

Hope shook her head “I know someone here supplies it. Just not who.”

Penelope laughed and she hated the sound of it. It was something that mocked her and kept her up on certain nights when she was forced into the same social situations as the girl, which wasn’t often. It made Hope cross her arms over her chest defensively.

“Relax, dude. I just think it’s funny that you’re just now hunting this kind of thing down. Even funnier that you have no clue who sells it. It pays to have friends around here, you know?”

Hope glared at her. “I just need a name, Park.”

“Fine, fine.” She shrugged her shoulders in defeat “Josie.”

She wanted to tell Penelope Park to crawl back into whatever hole she had dug herself last. To lay down and cover herself in dirt because there was no way in hell she had spent this long talking to the girl for a bullshit answer like that one. Josie Saltzman. Yeah right.

Penelope must have read the expression on her face. “You asked for a name, Red. I gave you one. She doesn’t’ sell the best stuff, but it’s high quality for Mystic Falls. And even better, you don’t have to travel into town for it.”

Hope waved her off and walked out from under the bleachers, back into the sunlight. She was instantly washed with an easier scent of freshly mowed grass and off-brand sports drink. Maybe she would find Josie, because if Penelope lied, at least it was about Josie. Soft lipped and kind-hearted Josie. She might get scoffed at, but that was the extent.

She found the girl in her dorm room, the door cracked open as she drew little swirls in her notebook.  Ukulele was on her right side. She had been scrawling notes and lyrics but took a creative break, it seemed. The girl glanced up with a stunningly potent stare, setting everything aside as the tribrid knocked sheepishly on the doorframe.

“Can we talk?” Hope had asked, and she knew the answer before she even parted her lips. Josie had a certain vulnerability to her eyes that spelled everything out. Of course, they could talk. Hope could speak for hours without a breath and Josie would listen.

Josie scooted over at the base of her bed and patted the spot on the carpet with a slight nod. Hope was feeling the few breaths she pulled in under the bleachers, the taste still thick on her tongue. Her mouth was dry and she would kill for one sip of water, but this seemed like the most important place to be right now.

“I���ve been asking around the school,” She started. Josie nodded, her slight curls bouncing “and Penelope Park of all people told me that I could… buy something off of you?”

“Like what?”

Josie got this adorable little crinkle in her nose when she was miffed, or when she was lying. Hope never noticed it at first, but she did after once too many dinners with the family. Josie didn’t like lemon and she didn’t like fish either but she would eat it if they were in a fancy enough restaurant because that was the polite thing to do. Her nose crinkled now.

“weed Jo. I’ve been searching through this entire school, and so help me God if Penelope is fucking with me,” She stilled and sighed “I’m stressed. I need something.”

“I don’t even smoke weed.”

“Christ,”

Hope pinched the bridge of her nose, because she knew this meant having to go into town. She didn’t like Lizzie Saltzman much, but she disliked Dana even more. All the townies had something against each and every one of them, and she wasn’t prepared to drop a good amount of money on something so small.

Josie shifted as she turned towards the bed and pressed her shoulder against the floor. She was reaching blindly under her bed for something, letting out little grunts of exasperation. She said something, but it was muffled by the carpet. Finally, she pulled a small mahogany box from the darkness.

“I asked if you could close the door,” Josie emerged, breathless.

Hope just nodded dumbly and got to her feet before following the order. She remained there, her back against the mahogany as she rose both of her eyebrows. Josie hummed in gratitude before unlatching the container.

“I hide it in my sage because people like you can’t smell it otherwise.”

“I thought you said you didn’t’ smoke.”

“Oh I don’t, but I can recognize a good business venture when I see one. There’s not a dealer within fifty miles of this place. Simply no competition so my margins are great.” She stopped rooting around and pulled out a little baggie, a portioned clump of browns and greens.

“I never would have figured.” Hope laughed.

“That’s kind of the point,” Josie beamed “First ones free.”  

[fizzingwizard]

In winter I discovered the “Anne with an E” series on Netflix. Of course, I was excited, because I grew up with Anne of Green Gables - I am pretty sure I never finished the series, but I read at least half the books. I loved the early ones but lost interest when she grew up. I was not one of those kids who idolized adulthood; looking back, most of the stories I loved best were about kids, so I think I just didn’t connect with Anne the same way when she became an adult. I still adore her story, though, and the first book in particular.

(actually, I wrote my senior thesis on kids in literature, meaning outside of children’s/MA/YA books. It was fun)

The show’s been canceled after season 3, which I’m sad about, but it’s mixed feelings tbh. As usual I have Thoughts.

So there are a lot of great things about “Anne with an E.”

the intro is beautiful and fitting

the casting is pretty well done, imo. Matthew and Marilla in particular were just perfectly cast.

the setting, costumes, etc are really gorgeous, I get such a fresh, pastoral sense looking at it

the appreciation for and development of my quirky girl Anne is there

there is a huge focus on female relationships and friendships without much in the way of cattiness

the addition of some new characters and themes both keeps an old story alive and relevant while also pointing out that what we think of as “modern” problems (lgbtqa+ representation, for instance) are really things that have existed throughout history

and on that, I loved all of the new characters, especially Bash, Mary, and Ka’kwet. Also Diana’s lesbian aunt is Lifestyle Goals.

But there are also things I definitely didn’t like.

the acting... like I’m sure all the actors are very good, but the script I think doesn’t play to their strong points. There’s a lot of stiffness. The character I think who does the smoothest job no matter what is actually Bash. It’s worst with Gil. He can act, I think, he  seemed pretty good with body language, but I cringe when he talks. He only gets pure, wise things to say. He never sounds like a child. Everything he does is right. The same is true of Anne as well, and another thing that bothers me - as much as I appreciate her passion and sense of justice, I don’t like that it overrules her childishness so much of the time. But she’s the main character and has a lot more time to shine in many ways, while a lot of Gil’s storyline outside of Anne is new stuff not in the books, mainly not there to develop him.

three seasons of the show and very little of it seems to actually be from the pages of the books. They did the apple cordial scene, but there were so many others that Iooked forward to and they just didn’t bother with. Those scenes were the reason I loved Green Gables. I don’t mind that they changed characters etc so they could make room to include those so-called “modern” stories - like I said, that adds to its relevancy. But why cut out so much of what was good in the books?

because they skipped so much canon development, the rushed finale in season 3, presumably when they realized they were being canceled, has no tension or impact.

also because they skip so many good parts in the books, many episodes feel like a Hallmark TV show to me. Anne goes from quirky, clumsy, fiery, and interesting to the writers’ social issue megaphone. There’s got to be a way to Be Super Feminist or whatever without sucking all the life out of your main character. She’s not like that in *every* episode, but there are definitely those where you feel like you’re being hit on the head with a protest sign.

I hated them killing Mary, and I hated that they were setting up for Bash and Ms Stacy in season 4. I swear that’s what they were doing. I sensed it from the moment Mrs Lind says Bash has to find a new wife. The show was canceled, but already we’d had a sudden influx of significant scenes between Bash and Stacy that were nonexistent before Mary’s death, and these scenes were specifically themed around loss of loved ones, moving on, parenthood, and family. It was absolutely a set up. And given the incredible pace at which this show liked to tackle Social Issue after Social Issue, I have no doubt that “interracial marriage” was next on the list. Normally I wouldn’t care, except that it feels like Mary was killed in order to make room for this storyline! That’s my beef with it. I don’t think season 3 is all that well written, overall, to be honest.

But my biggest issue of all is with Ka’kwet. I remember reading about residential schools when I was a kid. They were horrifying. The show at least doesn’t mince how horrible it was. The introduction of Ka’kwet and her family was great. The inclusion of indigenous actors was great. The history is incredibly important. And then... we don’t even find out what happens to her. I read a bunch of people saying “That’s realistic! Those schools were terrible and letting her have a happy ending would have had white savior overtones and undermined how awful this was.” Perhaps if Anne with an E were a different kind of show, I’d agree. But everyone else got a satisfying conclusion. Even though Mary died, at least she found her happiness first, and her estranged son even comes back in the end to ask forgiveness at her grave and turn his life around. *Everyone* ends on a hopeful note, except the Mi’kmaq storyline, which ends with Ka’kwet imprisoned at school and separated from her desperate family. Even if you really believe the argument that “it’s realistic so it’s good,” the other issue is that that whole subplot was really short! It was suddenly introduced and had just got momentum when it fizzled out. I was SO confused in the final couple episodes because I could think about NOTHING but Ka’kwet and kept expecting news about her, one way or another, yet the show only wanted to talk about Anne & Gilbert, Diana and going to Queens, fricking Billy and Josie... Sorry, but it was a very, very bad look. I love Anne and Gil in the books, but when you put them up against the story of a 12 year old indigenous girl imprisoned by white people at a brainwashing school... I mean, how can you expect me to get all worked up over Anne’s note to Gil getting stuck under his boot when something much much larger is at stake?? Confusing. Exasperating. I am certain it’s this bad because of the cancellation, but I’m not super hot on the build up to it either.

Regarding Anne & Gil. I was confused through all three seasons about them. Their relationship did not remind me of what I remember from the books, but it’s possible I overlooked some things as a child, or just don’t remember it all. Anyway, I didn’t really care about their romance during the show. On the one hand, that’s good because it’d be a tragedy if Anne were spun into a romantic period chick flick. It’s not. But on the other, I can’t get excited about a character’s romantic journey if it’s underdeveloped. Not everyone may agree with me that it was underdeveloped, but I needed more - not even necessarily more romance, just more of what made Anne and Gil so magnetic to each other. I suppose it’s a moot point because in the books, it literally takes years before they even become close, and the show couldn’t wait that long. Plus they changed so many other things, why not this? That’s fine, but the why not spend more time of them too?

So... ultimately, I’m disappointed in this show. It’s not that it’s bad. It’s not. I enjoyed watching it, for the most part, though I had to struggle through some of the more Hallmark movie moments. It’s just not Anne. It had promise... it has some good scenes... but in changing so much, they lost a lot of what made the books magical. And a lot of the themes they took on appeared and then vanished, like Cole coming to terms with his sexuality and going to art school, and then only making cameos after that. (Though I highly appreciated that he went with Anne and comforted her when she returned to the orphanage.) It’s too bad. I don’t know how much other fans would agree with me - what I’ve seen online has mostly seemed positive. And it’s hard, because my overall opinion is a complicated “I feel positively towards this show but I’m also disappointed in it.”

But gotta be honest - I’d be much less disappointed if I hadn’t felt so let down with how Ka’kwet’s story disappeared. That I just can’t forgive.

[andsmile]

what are your favorite gay ships in rvd?

welcome to my gay agenda!

kevin/moose are the only canon gay ship that i adore even with all the flaws. i feel like ras wants that so he put more effort into writing them and it’s the only kevin relationship that has been meaningful. i will wait until s9e23 when moose comes back from the war or whatever and marries kevin in the last second even if they don’t have any scenes leading up to this.

however, if these writers were braver and went kevin/reggie, BOOM! all the other ships would explode. imagine how iconic, how well written this storyline could’ve been, note that reggie never bullied kevin, how much it would bring to their characters. sighs BE BRAVE @riverdalewritersroom 

still on the very heavy reggie-is-bi!topic, i have a hard time shipping archie/reggie because i feel like they’re too in love with veronica to do anything without her, but in a threesome or ot3 with her, i’m in.

i do ship munroe/reggie too because i think it would be the non-stale version of archie realizing his two boyfriends now like each other more than they like him (kinda what happened with archie and bughead but that was sort of boring)

cheryl/veronica would be a DREAM COME TRUE, because this girls just light up around each other and veronica is the only person who cheryl couldn’t overpower and even though i am varchie or die at this point, i would like to see it, not in an endgame situation, but yes, yes, yes.

josie/valerie wecouldhavehaditall.mp3 but instead we got cheryl being a creeper and josie running for her life. listen, i was never a huge josie fan, but i adored valerie and i always felt like there was something between them.

sweet pea/fangs even though i tend to stay away from all things serpents i cannot deny that they were married and that sweet pea never loved anyone more.

betty/veronica i have a very specific headcanon for beronica, in which i would rewrite s1 so veronica kissing betty would make betty question her sexuality and she’d spend a long time thinking she was pining for archie when she was, in fact, pining for veronica. with that, it would open the way for a slight controversial ship that i kind of dig too, which is betty/toni. i can also see beronica as a forbidden romance in “another era”.

fred is bi and since i still haven’t accepted his death, i will forever ship him with whoever would make him happy.

edit: i forgot to add elio to the list of the gays and i would love to see him with kevin in some fun storyline.

that being said, i do not ship any of the following gay ships: choni (i just hate the way they’re written), kevin/fangs (eh), joavin (joaquin was the trashiest trash), lopaz (i just can’t see it as a ship) and it’s hard to me to ship archie with anyone but veronica, so that counts for bi!archie too, but i could see him living his best tinder life swiping boys and girls right.

anyway, just as a conclusion:

[edelgoth]

Hi! I would like to request a matchup if I may. (I hope I'm doing this right) If its alright with you, and not to much trouble I would like to get a female and male matchup from Dragon Age Inquisition. My mbti is INTP and my enneagrams are The Investigator, The Challenger and The Individualist. I'm creative, polite, non-judgemental and self-confident but also distant, distrusting and cold to people I don't care for. I'm honest and eloquent. Hobbies: art, writing, reading, sports and music.

hey!! you did everything right!! and thank you for waiting. sorry this got so long; i just tend to ramble when it comes to my da babies sljfdlfkj

for the women, i match you with...

cassandra!!

it maybe a long road to getting to know each other; you’re both distant anddistrusting, and it may take a bit of miracle work (probably from varric – hejust wants to get the seeker off his back) to make it happen, but it absolutelywould

but,once you opened up to each other, i think you’d find quite the connection?

i thinka lot of what makes cassandra distant (on top of having lost her first love) isthat she feels like it’s part of her responsibility as a seeker? i think theargument she has with the inquisitor about romance is an indicator of that

thepoint i’m getting at here is that cassandra is quite the passionate soul, and ifeel like she’d be really drawn to your creativity!! i think on the whole,cassandra would be attracted to the qualities of a type 4 (individualist) mixedwith a type 8 (challenger); i just get the feeling that she’d be drawn to thebalance of those qualities?

i thinkshe’d really admire your self-confidence, as it’s a quality i really see hervaluing in a partner. she likes people who can stand for themselves, i think,and would find it quite attractive

also, ifeel like you being more eloquent may help her find the words to expressherself? she feels quite deeply and powerfully, but she often struggles to findthe words to describe that.

cassandrais a very righteous individual, so i think having a non-judgemental partnerwould help balance her out. she can have some trouble accepting ideas thatdiffer from her own, but you (especially as an enneagram 5) would be able tohelp her open up her worldview a little!!

ohbless, and your politeness would help balance out her brashness!! i think youwould likely soften her edges just a little; nothing drastic, and nothing thatinherently changes her as a person. maybe just to help her think before leapingevery now and then

tradingbooks!! as long as your cool with reading dramatic romance novels (probablywritten by varric), of course. but, i think you two would definitely stealquiet moments away, just reading while in each other’s company. she reallyvalues those times.

honestlythe biggest fan of your writing. reads it voraciously.always wants to know what’s going to happen next. very passionate about eachand every plot point and character. and pleasemake art of her. she wouldn’t know how to handle it. it’s absolutely a surefireway to make her a blushy mess (especially if you do portraiture).

may isay, kind of a power couple? although, is cassandra capable of not ending up ina power couple? and i think your honesty would be really important to her; sheneeds a partner who’s willing to tell her what they really think, and frankly ithink it’s one of the key things that would make your equals (also theassumption is that if you’re honest, you’d also be able to handle it when she’sbeing honest sklfdsjdflskj)

i thinkthe two of you have enough similarities to really ‘get’ each other, while stillhaving differences that balance out quite well!!

alternativematchups

vivienne: you share a lot of qualities, such as your self-confidence and youreloquence, so i think it would be quite easy for you two to build some kind ofrapport!! but, i think since you both tend to be quite distant and have atendency to distrust people, it may be hard for the two of you to really crossthat distance and be vulnerable with one another. but you two would be an absolute power couple! i think vivienne would findyou delightful, and she’d adore youreloquence. nothing better than a little bit of wordplay.   

josephine: she definitely appeals to your softer side, andthe relationship would take on a different hue. i feel like josie would appealto the enneagram 4 in you more than anything else, and honestly? Any relationshipwith her would be wonderful. i feel like she’d also be quite drawn to your creativity, as well as the self-confidence and more type 8 qualities in you. but, you’d also be this very lovely non-judgmental couple; you’d probably might make a good political couple? for some reason, i just feel like you’d be good at helping her with work?

male matchup is under the cut!!

for the men, i match you with… 

blackwall!!

i think this relationship would be quite different from the one above,but I still think it would work really well!!

for one, i think blackwall is some kind of ixfj (probaby) and that tends to be a very good fit for intps. there’s some good functional balance with the fe & ti!! 

this is more a case of logos meeting pathos; blackwall, while a bitdistant, is more openly emotional. he’s distant because of his lack ofself-worth as opposed to feeling any duty to be so

i think, maybe, you could teach him to have a bit more self-confidence. despitehis past, he’s shown a sincere determination to repent for his past wrongs,and he should be proud of theprogress he’s made. his actions genuinely reflect a man who is doing his bestto be good, to be better, and i think he would really benefit from havingsomeone point that out

i think he’d need to be with someone honest, because they’re more likely to tell him how they see it; i think blackwall can get very caught up in his mind, so an honest s/o would really ground him

but, i think having an s/o who’s non-judgmental would be very important to him, too. it’s something he not only admires, but tries to emulate in himself;  so someone being honest and non-judgmental is kind of perfect for him!! 

he loves listening to you speak or reading your work because he finds your eloquence charming!! thinks you’re better than varric (but don’t tell the dwarf that) 

oh, it’d be so cute if you sat there making art while he worked on his woodcarving!! better yet, if you’re into painting, you would decorate his woodcarvings for him!! and he’d absolutely love it if you did it for the things that he liked to give to the local kids 

okay, okay, but playing sports games with the local kids?? um?? cute?? you and blackwall are like their aunt/uncle and it’s adorable 

i think at his heart, once you get past his somber and serious exterior, blackwall would be very kind and gentle in a relationship? he’s never going to let you feel unappreciated 

but, at the same time, i think you could help ground his emotions? he’s prone to melancholy and self-loathing, and hopefully you’d be able to help break those sorts of thought loops  

in general, just a good, solid couple that’d do each other a world of good!! please love this man, he deserves it!!

alternativematchups

varric: now, varric is incredibly different to blackwall, but i still think this’d work really well!! he’d be more drawn to your creativity, and i think he’d enjoy having someone to complain about the woes of writing with. varric’s also a very laid-back, open person, so he’d enjoy the fact that you’re not very judgmental; he’d feel more comfortable talking to you about literally anything and everything. while varric still maintains a bit of emotional distance from people (entps represent), he’s still very warm; i think that could help breach the distance between the two of you? i chose blackwall mainly because while varric definitely works, i think i get more of a “best friends taking the world by storm” vibe from this match!! 

solas: i have very similar feelings for this pairing as i do towards yourmatch with vivienne. you have qualities i think he’d admire (a lot of itcomes down to type 5 being part of your tritype dskjd), and i also think he’dbe attracted to your creativity and self-confidence. i think i chose blackwallsimply because he’s more emotionally accessible?? solas can be quite distantand even judgemental at times, and on the whole less open to connection (unlikewith cassandra, who i feel really wants toconnect with someone – especially romantically – but just doesn’t know how).but, should all the pieces fall into place correctly, i think you’d be a prettygood pair. 

[whereismywarden]

OC Masterlist

@kiraia​ pointed out (rightfully so) that I made quite a few vague posts about my OCs, but that I’ve never properly introduced them. It’s true, mostly because I tend to wait until they are well developed to properly do anything with them, which doesn’t happen all that often. So consider this a formal introduction to my current OCs :)

(Under a cut because there are quite a bunch of them. I hope it works on mobile, because otherwise yikes! I’m very sorry.)

Sad Mages Worldstate

It’s probably the one I talk about the most. It’s the most developed worldstate, with the most developed OCs and I’ve written a lot of fics about them.

The Warden: Ana Surana [Tag | Complete bio | Fanfictions]

pairings: Ana x Daylen Amell (friends with benefits), Ana x Alistair (DAO romance), Ana x Carver (current pairing, now married) + I occasionally throw Isabela into the mix because reasons.

Born in the Gallows and taken to an orphanage in Highever until her magic manifested.

Grew up close to Anders, Jowan, Amell and (to a lesser extent) Finn.

Had a baby that she was forced to give to the Chantry.

Main DAO choices include: romancing Alistair, getting her heart broken after making him king, stupidly refusing to do Morrigan’s ritual and watching him sacrifice his life for her.

Later she starts dating Carver (whom she actually met at Ostagar where they had a brief fling before the Battle).

Takes part in the Mage Underground and helps Anders build his bomb.

Starts hearing the Calling shortly before DAI.

Is Hawke’s contact during HLtA.

The Champion: Alwyn Hawke [Tag | Complete bio | Fanfictions]

pairings: Alwyn x Anders (DA2 romance, on and off), Alwyn x Cullen (one time), Alwyn x Rylen (post DAI, considering making them endgame, not sure yet).

Purple Hawke.

Carver becomes a warden.

Supports the mages.

Develops a close friendship with Ana.

Breaks up with Anders after the Chantry explosion, wishing he’d trusted him enough to share his plan with him. They do get back together later on.

Is the first one to learn about Ana hearing the Calling.

Stays behind in the Fade during HLtA, but eventually finds a way out.

He was found by Inquisition scouts in the Western Approach, suffering from amnesia.

Later falls in love with Rylen.

(Note that I still need to update that last part into his bio.)

The Inquisitor: Violette Surana [Tag | Complete bio | Fanfictions]

pairings: Violette x Orsino (once twice), Violette x Samson (current partner).

Ana’s mum.

Orlesian who grew up in Ferelden during the occupation.

Was taken to the Gallows at age 13.

Was a close friend of Malcolm Hawke.

Had her baby (Ana) taken by the Chantry. Later escaped.

Hates the Chantry.

Attends the Conclave in the hopes that Ana might be there.

Starts sleeping with Samson after his capture because he basically said fuck the Chantry to her face and it turned her on.

Hardened Leliana becomes Divine.

Other OC: Neriah Amell-Hawke

Is Ana’s daughter. She got her out of the orphanage after the Blight (thanks, Leliana).

Her father is Daylen Amell. Carver adopted her when he married her mama.

Is 18 as of Trespasser.

Second Chances Worldstate

This one started off as an AU for a fic starring Ana and Alistair which is why these two worldstates are so similar. The point of divergence is that Jowan went to Amell for help instead of Ana for some reason.

The Warden: Daylen Amell [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Day x Ana (friends with benefits), Day x Morrigan (DAO romance and while I did consider for a while not having him follow her through the eluvian, I changed my mind. There’s too much growth potential.)

His father was Maurevar Carver, because I say so.

Main DAO choices include: Sparing Loghain, Alistair becoming a drunk, not doing Morrigan’s ritual because he can just throw Loghain at the Archdemon (which he did).

Helps Ana get their daughter out of the Kirkwall orphanage. Bails on them right afterwards.

Does follow Morrigan through the eluvian and actually ends up being a decent dad to Kieran.

Does not become Ferelden’s Warden-Commander.

The Champion: Alwyn Hawke (yes, again)

Like I said, this was originally an AU, so it made sense to keep the same Hawke. There are quite a few differences, however.

pairings: none.

Does not bring Anders to the Deep Roads. Carver dies.

Suffers from severe depression afterwards.

Goes from purple to full blue after Leandra’s death.

Stays behind in the Fade. Probably won’t make it out in this worldstate.

The Inquisitor: Asaara Adaar [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Asaara x Cullen (starts before DAI, now married).

Meets Cullen shortly before the Chantry explosion. They fall in love.

Not going into too much details because it will be part of Second Chances’ main story.

Other OCs: Ana Surana and Neriah [Main fic | Other fics]

Again, can’t go into too much detail because spoilers.

pairings: Ana x Carver (before the Deep Roads expedition anyway), Ana x Alistair.

Day brings Ana to Kirkwall shortly after the Blight to meet their daughter. She ends up staying after they get Neriah out of the orphanage.

Single mom. Works as a waitress.

They find drunk Alistair in their garbage. Ana wants to help him get better.

Other OC: Issala Adaar [Tag]

pairings: Issala x Varric (post-DAI).

Is Asaara’s overexcited little sister.

Likes to tinker with explosives.

Built a handheld cannon. It’s clunky, not very accurate and is prone to misfire. In other words, it still needs a lot of work.

Varric thinks she’s adorable so he made her his personal bodyguard.

Angry Dalish Worldstate

The Warden: Shaelyn Mahariel [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Lyn x Tamlen (Origin), Lyn x Bethany, (considering Lyn x Alistair between DA2 and DAI but even that might be too cruel.)

Doesn’t want to be a warden.

DAO choices include: Alistair remaining with the wardens because he doesn’t want to be king.

No in-game romance, she was too heartbroken after losing Tamlen.

Eventually starts dating Bethany.

Travels to the Free Marches after the death of her clan to kill the man responsible.

Almost dies in the resulting fight against Hawke (thank the Creators Anders was there).

Goes home and confesses to Bethany that she almost killed her brother and that she would have done it had he not been so badass. They break up.

The two of them reconcile post-DAI, after Hawke and Merrill’s wedding.

The Champion: Kris Hawke [Tag]

pairings: Kris x Merrill (now married).

Blue Hawke.

Sadly couldn’t save Merrill’s clan.

Didn’t want to hurt Lyn that badly during their fight, he was just defending himself. Deeply regrets it afterwards.

The Inquisitor: no one specific yet, but likely a Lavellan romancing Solas.

Alistair stays behind in the Fade.

Elves in Luuuuv Worldstate

The Warden: Kallian Tabris [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Tabs x Alistair (DAO romance)

Probably the most canon-compliant OC.

Main DAO choices include: making Alistair king with Anora as queen and becoming his mistress.

Madly in love.

Will have a happy ending.

No Hawke or Inquisitor yet.

Homecoming Worldstate

The Warden: Elaine Cousland [Tag]

pairings: Elle x Nathaniel (pre-DAO, now ex-husband), Elle x Leliana (DAO romance), Elle x Sebastian (current).

Was BFF with Anora during their childhood.

Actually met Sebastian before he was sent to the Chantry. The two of them had similar lifestyles back then, so when Elle visited Starkhaven with her father, the two of them developed a rivalry of sorts in their romantic pursuits (think Merteuil and Valmont, but a lot more light-hearted). They do spend one night together after learning that he is going to be sent to the Chantry.

Eventually fell in love and married Nate. They kept their relationship a secret, however. They divorced after the Blight.

Main DAO choices include: romancing Leliana, making Alistair king with Anora as queen, sparing Loghain and performing the ritual.

Her relationship with Leliana didn’t survive the distance.

Leaves the Wardens after the Chantry explosion and basically goes on the run from everyone because she feels responsible for what happened.

Helps Sebastian reclaim his throne. They fall in love. (I’m currently writing a fic about this, actually)

Still unsure about her DAI fate. Either she replaces Hawke in HLtA and stays behind in the Fade, or she becomes Inquisitor.

The Champion: Violetta Hawke [Tag | Fanfictions]

pairings: Letta x Isabela (DA2 romance).

Yes, she was totally named after Violette.

Is Kris’ sister.

Carver becomes a Templar.

Spared Anders.

Sails into the sunset with Isabela.

DAI fate will depend on what I decide to do with Elle.

The Inquisitor: no one yet.

Loghain survives HLtA.

I am considering having Neriah (yes, again) be the Herald with someone else as Inquisitor since she’s only a kid. In this worldstate, she grew up in Kirkwall’s orphanage before being taken to the Gallows. She escapes the massacre and Carver eventually takes her under his wing.

I'm planning to have two additional worldstates (I want one per warden origin). One called "Happy Dwarves" with a male Brosca romancing Zevran and one called "Dead Heroes" with a male Aeducan romancing Leliana (and probably Alwyn again, idk). I also have a couple of Cadashes that I want to put somewhere, a woman romancing Josie and a man romancing Divine Cassandra. Idk yet if they'll be Inquisitors or if I'll just add them to one of the existing worldstates. Odds are one will be Inquisitor while the other just tags along.

I probably missed a few things here and there, but that’s basically the gist of it. Thanks to anyone who actually stuck to the end, lmao.

[lavendermuses18]

Anne with an E Season 3 Trailer Breakdown Part II

I saved my very favourites, and the very best, for the sequel post!

Alright, so there are 3 things I am LIVING for this season of AWAE: kindred love, shirbert, and Anne’s search for self. 

So let’s do this:

Kindred Love - Anne/Diana

Those heart necklaces!!!! I mean, who didn’t have some kind of friends forever trinket with their kindred spirit (I still have mine!). Based on weather and clothes, this looks like springtime, so my original theory of the necklace being Diana’s gift to Anne for her birthday is probably way off. 

I can’t tell if Diana has the necklace on in this scene, but the clothes match, as does the forest and the lighting. Plus we get to see Jerry (wow, did he grow up!). The fact he’s fixing his coat makes me think he might be off to meet someone important to Diana (cough*parents*cough). It’s possible this scene could take place after Diana and Anne part ways with those adorable blown kisses.

BTW, what are we calling this pairing. Is it too late for me to throw Diarry into the ring? 

Diana’s necklace appears again in this scene (can’t see Anne’s for all of that magnificent red hair). Once again, it seems it’s springtime as the girls appear to be dressed like Maypole dancers and their bonfire ballet certainly has that same energy. I don’t think the necklace shows up again save for some photos Amybeth posted after their last day of shooting. 

It looks like, despite some romance on the horizon, Anne and Diana’s friendship is as solid as ever. Case in point:

I wouldn’t want to be Josie Pye right now. She’s about to be DESTROYED.

The Anne/Diana kindred spirit friendship is what all best friendships strive to be, and I hope everyone in the world is lucky enough to find their own bosom companion.

Alright. Next, the one ship to rule them all...

Shirbert. How I love thee, let me count the ways...and we’ll be here for years.

I am very excited for the Shirbert we will get this season, and with the upcoming dance and Anne’s search for self, I think we’ll have a lot more of those wonderful Anne/Gilbert parallels that have peppered the show since the start. 

We actually get quite a bit of footage from the dance practice episode, including the above scene. Like most, I do think this particular scene takes place after the day’s dance lessons. Why they are looking at each other like that, I have no idea, but their expressions definitely have me thinking that someone has said something rather reveling about their feelings (unrealized and/or unacknowledged as they may be). 

Other great moments from this episode that appeared in the trailer include:

And...

I’m suspecting this scene will happen before Anne and Gilbert’s staring at each other moment...

...because Anne certainly seems panicked in a similar way. 

As Charlie has his jacket on, this scene is likely happening before the dance lesson, which makes me suspect that the dance partners are assigned not picked (although, Anne appears to be enjoying her dance with Charlie). 

Maybe Charlie’s too obvious affection is worrying Anne, and then maybe she says something to Gilbert in passing conversation about Charlie liking her and that’s why they stare at each other so intently. After all, Anne’s face suggests a ‘crap-didn’t-mean-to-say-that’ expression while Gilbert just looks confused and perplexed and even a smidge worried (I’m not a big fan of the jealous-boys trope, but I do like the idea of Gilbert having to really examine/explore his feelings for Anne when he’s made aware that one of his chums has semi-sort-of declared intentions towards her).

This next shot of Anne walking:

I think could be from the same episode and immediately after the Gilbert look, since Anne appears to be deep in thought, as she often is when she has a charged run-in with the love of her life. Also, the clothing does match, as does the lighting and the time of year as suggested by other scenes.

Plus, and I can’t explain it, something about her expression just says ‘boy troubles’.

Then, of course, we have this promo pic...

...which seems to confirm, based on the costumes, that it was taken the same day as these dance scenes were filmed. If I recall correctly, this pic was posted pretty early in production, so that may mean the dance lessons are an early episode (yay!).

And finally, I end my Shirbert dance analysis on this too, too romantic moment:

I know, the Gilbert Blythe heart eyes are amazing and Anne’s smile is radiant, but have you looked at their HANDS!!!!!! 

I don’t know why I’m obsessed with it, but the way they’re holding hands in this moment makes my heart squeeze and race and fly and flutter and gasp and just ACHE with how wonderful this tender touch is. 

And now, we close on the final theme of AWAE S3: Anne’s search for self.

I am very excited for story and character development. One of my favourite parts of AWAE S2 was Gilbert’s gap year in Trinidad as he searched the world for experiences, knowledge, and adventure, but also for healing, meaning, and identity. I was tickled when it was announced Anne would embark on her own search for knowledge as to who she is, which would include where she came from. 

In fact ,it seems as if part of Anne’s journey will involve having to go delve into her past, and that may take her to some dark places.

Does this brick wall and staircase look familiar? Because I’m pretty sure this is the asylum where the girls tormented Anne with the dead mouse. A recent promo indicated Anne will be returning to the asylum for answers.

Anne’s coat and hat match up. 

The coat and hat also have me thinking that this moment:

Might be Anne departing for Charlottetown on the first leg of her self-discovery journey. I say departing rather than returning, because Marilla looks just a bit sad and reluctant to let Anne go, but let her go she shall. 

The good news: it doesn’t seem as if Anne will be going alone. Besides the fact that Cole appears at her side as she’s approaching the asylum, this BTS pic:

Hints that Gilbert may be taking part in some of Anne’s journey, too. Her hat and coat match up, and we know that’s Gilbert thanks to his ever present book bag and paperboy cap. 

Do Anne and Gilbert go to Charlottetown together? Do they meet up? Does Gilbert go to the asylum, too, or is there another leg of the journey he’ll join her on? Will they go back to the Hammonds? To the Thomases? Will we go all the way back to Bolingbrook?! My heart can hardly wait.

Finally, I end this breakdown/analysis with the theory that no one wants to talk about, but is certainly the one that needs some attention:

The possible, and sadly likely, untimely death of Mathew Cuthbert. 

We know he dies in the books, and we know he dies when Anne is 16. Although AWAE is an adaptation, Mathew’s death feels like an inevitable conclusion; it will happen at some point, and most likely when we won’t expect it, but it will happen.

Mathew doesn’t feature much in the trailer, but he does get one of the rather poetic and emotional lines, speaking of love being like a storm, upsetting your plans, but he reiterates that, though he never could have planned for Anne and the upheaval she brought to his life, he wouldn’t change it, not for the world. 

Truly, it is Anne and Mathew’s relationship that has to capture you from the very beginning if AWAE. If you don’t crumble when he calls her his daughter, then why are you watching this show?

The father/daughter relationship is set up as being important to both of these characters, so the loss of that connection through death is certainly going to have some devastating effects on the young lady left behind. At first I thought Mathew’s death (which, if it does happen, I believe will occur in the middle of the season) might be the impetus that spurs Anne on to learning more about herself, but now I’m wondering if his death may be what makes her realize that her past, the good and the bad, is what brought her to Green Gables, and to Marilla and Mathew. While she may feel glad to know who made her and where she came from, that doesn’t change the simple fact that she is Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, daughter of Mathew Cuthbert, and that girl, well, she’s rather spectacular. 

And so concludes my trailer breakdown for Anne with an E Season Three.

Let me know your thoughts!

Share your theories with me as we make the agonizing wait for S3 a pleasant passage of time with kindred spirits one and all!

[she-walked-away]

We are the only two parents who agreed to attend the school trip” AU (bonus: “so i guess we share this hotel room?”)

Hey guys! So, here’s a sequel to that school drabble I wrote a month or so back. I know this isn’t many people’s cup o’ tea, but this is about as canon-esque as I’ll write LOL.

WARNING: Fluff, Magical children, Magical School, and Flirty AF Klaus.

“Seriously?”

“What?”

Caroline glared over at her immortalpseudo-boyfriend, Klaus, who had the audacity to look confused.

“What the hell is this?” Carolinepractically screeched, gesturing at the huge white charter bus that was parkedon the street in front of her. 

“A bus for the field trip,” he answeredquizzically. “At least for the children. Our transportation is over there.”

She followed his pointing with her eyesand groaned under her breath at the sleek black limo parked behind the bus.

“Absolutely not,” she said firmly.

Klaus rolled his eyes. “Sweetheart, it’snearly a 7 hour trip to Atlanta from New Orleans. I want us and the children tobe comfortable.”

“Yes, but I asked you to get a regularschool bus, not a charter,” she glared at him. “This is so much more expensivethan I budgeted for the field trip.”

Klaus waved her off flippantly. “Don’tworry about that.”

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him,crossing her arms and pursing her lips together. “What did I tell you aboutdoing stuff like this?”

Klaus heaved his bag on his back andwent to take her roller suitcase from her. “Love, just because you tell me tostop throwing money at people to get what I want, doesn’t mean I’m going toride in a ridiculous yellow vehicle with screaming children for seven hours.”

Caroline tossed him a glare. “Then whydid you volunteer to chaperone?” 

Klaus smirked at her, his eyes rakingdown her form lustfully. She rolled her eyes and took back her suitcase fromhim, biting her lip at the low chuckle he let out. 

Damn that stupidly attractive hybrid.

“Okay, just because we are semi-datingdoesn’t mean this is a trip to fool around on.”

Klaus gave her an offended look. “Firstof all, we are together, my love. Not just “semi-dating.” And I didn’t just come to stare at youfor the next two days, love, though, I probably will be-”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t helpthe small smile creeping across her face. A little thrill went down her back athis statement about their relationship as she inwardly marveled at how luckyshe was to finally have someone who cared for her as much as she always dreamedof.

They had been dating for the past coupleof months ever since the twins and Hope played parent trap with the newlyrebuilt Mikaelson Library. Surprisingly, everything was going really good withthem. Their children were thrilled their matchmaking had worked, but weren’ttoo happy with the many hours of detention they had to go through forpunishment.

However, surprisingly, Klaus was anamazing boyfriend-y type partner.

On the other hand, calling him herboyfriend was so weird. He was so much more than that.

“-But I came to make sure Hope would besafe and create some memories with my daughter,” he finished, arching a brow ather slowly forming sheepish expression.

“I know,” she answered begrudgingly.“You’re freakishly overprotective.” 

Klaus just shrugged, leaning into kissher sweetly on the cheek. “I would do the same for the twins too.” 

She wrinkled her nose cutely at him. “Idon’t know why Josie loves you so much. You suck up way too much to be takenseriously.” 

He grinned, bumping her hip playfullywith his arm. “I think it’s because we both like you the most.”

Caroline barked out a laugh. “You’reridiculous.”

He just hummed as he gestured towardsthe limo. “Shall we?”

She shook her head. “We can’t. Part ofbeing a chaperone is actually watching the kids. We have to ride the bus.”

Klaus made a face. “But they are soloud.”

Caroline giggled, poking him in thechest. “Welcome to chaperoning. Call off the limo and then start gathering thestudents’ luggage. We have to leave after they are finished with breakfast.”

He growled under his breath as hestalked towards the limo. Caroline smiled as she watched him, basking in theway her heart stumbled as he walked away.

The School for the Young and Gifted NewOrleans branch was headed up to Atlanta for the opening of the Georgia branch.In addition to the Mystic Falls branch that Jeremy was now running, (Alaricmoved to New Orleans with his latest girlfriend when the twins decided thatthey wanted to attend school in Louisiana), there were now three branches ofthe school.

The opening ceremony was the next day,but she decided to leave earlier the day before so that the students would havetime to explore Atlanta. Klaus volunteered immediately to chaperone with heralong with a couple of other parents and he even offered up some of his minionsfor extra protection.

Caroline wasn’t too worried aboutanybody coming to harm the kids. She was more concerned about what kind oftrouble her students could cause with their shaky grips on their powers.Needless to say, both Hope and her daughters were all wearing their braceletsto contain magic for the next few days.

“Mommy is it time to go?” she heard asmall voice behind her.

Josie stood expectantly in front of herwith a little pink suitcase, Hope and Lizzie chattering away behind her withtheir bags.

“Just about!” she replied cheerfully.“Is breakfast already over?”

The little girl shook her head, herbrown hair waving in the air. “No, I just wanted to make sure I got a good seaton the bus. I want to be able to watch the movie Mr. Klaus promised.”

Caroline chuckled, tucking a lock behindher daughter’s ear. Of course the girls would already know about the charterbus. She heard Klaus come up behind her, his footsteps stopping as he came toher side. 

“Hi Dad,” Hope beamed up at her father,her adoring eyes twinkling as the sun caught a gleam off her auburn locks. 

“Mr. Klaus!” Lizzie cried cheerfully.“Are those for us?”

Caroline looked over at him, fightingthe urge to roll her eyes at the platter of chocolate covered strawberries thathe held in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other. Clearly his limoride was just a tip of the iceberg for the romance plans he had for the trip. 

“Of course they are,” Caroline chirped,smirking at Klaus’ annoyed expression. “Wasn’t that thoughtful of Mr. Klaus?”

“I love strawberries,” Josie grinned.“Thanks Mr. Klaus.”

“Is that grape juice?” Lizzie continued,motioning at the champagne bottle. “Because, no offense, but that’s gross.”

Klaus snorted, handing Hope the platterof strawberries and the bottle to Caroline. “Not to worry, love. I will arrangefor your mother and me to drink it later.”

“I doubt that will happen,” Caroline cutin with a wink. “Hope, why don’t you take that to your seats on the bus? Jo,Liz, will you give your luggage to Klaus? He’ll go load it for you.” 

Klaus growled under his breath as hetook the pink suitcases, annoyed at having been regaled to manual labor. Shesmirked victoriously before asking Lizzie to tell the other students to hurrywith their luggage so Klaus could load it in the undercarriage.

He was still grumbling ten minutes laterwhen the students began to file onto the bus.

“How many more hours?” Lizzie whinedsome time later, peeking over her mother’s shoulder at her watch.

Caroline sighed, rolling her eyes. “Atleast two until we reach the hotel.” 

Klaus didn’t respond, having perfectedthe art of faking a nap. Josie and Hope were settled behind them, thwarting hisplans at trying to flirt with Caroline during the ride, and Lizzie sat acrossthe aisle, constantly interrupting their conversations with questions. 

Klaus had been faking a nap for the pasthour, leaving Caroline to sit and try not to pull her hair out at her daughtersand his daughter’s constant questions about the trip.

“I’m so bored, Mommy,” Lizzie groaned,looking longingly at the sketchbook in Klaus’ hands. 

Caroline pinched the top of her nose.“Why don’t you read one of your schoolbooks? I know that Professor Freya gaveyou an assignment to complete by Tuesday.” 

“I already did it,” the little girl saidobviously. 

“Watch the DVD that’s playing?” Carolinesuggested, gesturing at an animated Disney movie playing on the screen in frontof the bus. 

“I’m tired of that one,” Lizziecomplained. 

“Talk to your sister and Hope?”

“We are rooming together and I can talkto them later.”

“I don’t know what else to tell you,sweetie,” Caroline shrugged. “You’re going to have to entertain yourself.”

“Can I color?” Lizzie asked, looking atKlaus. “I brought my pencils.”

Caroline hid a smile as she nudged Klaussemi-violently with her elbow. She could tell by the twitch of his lips thathe’d been listening to their conversation, happily ignoring them. He let out agroan, but opened his eyes begrudgingly. The girls loved it when Klaus drewthem pictures to color in his sketchbook, and it amused Caroline to no end onhow this totally murderous hybrid was wrapped around the three girls’ pinkies.

“Hmm?” Klaus asked, faking a huge yawn.“What’s going on, sweetheart?”

Caroline refrained from rolling her eyesas she turned back to the book she was trying to read.

“Mr. Klaus, can I have a picture todraw?” Lizzie asked sweetly, blinking up at him. “I brought my colors but noneof the pictures I draw to color are as good as yours.” 

Caroline snorted at her daughter’sobvious attempt at sweet-talking him. There was no need to it, Klaus was worseat resisting her daughters than her. 

“Of course, love,” he said, flipping openhis book and ripping out something from the back. “I drew a couple of picturesbefore I left for you girls.” 

Lizzie’s eyes light up and she took thebeige paper from him. “Thanks Mr. Klaus! You’re the best.” 

Klaus smirked, nudging Caroline with hiselbow. “Did you hear that love? I’m the best.” 

She scoffed, turning a page in her book.“You keep thinking that.” 

He rose to her bait, brushing her earwith his lips as he murmured lowly in her ear. “I intend on thoroughly provingthat to you later.” 

Caroline bit her lip, fighting off ashiver. He smugly grinned, pushing a curl behind her ear before pressing aquick kiss to her cheek. She pushed him back lightly, eyes skimming the bus tomake sure no one saw.

It’s not like she was ashamed of herrelationship with Klaus. But, she didn’t want any of the other chaperones tothink she brought Klaus along to just flirt and make-out with the entire time.The parents of her school trusted her to take care of their children and shedidn’t want them to ever doubt that their education and safety were her firstpriority on trips. 

“Not on this trip,” she managed to getout. “I’m kicking you out of my room after lights out.” 

Klaus drew back with a pout. “You don’twant to be bed buddies?” 

Caroline made a face at him, his lipsquirking up amusedly. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

“I don’t think parents would be happy ifI shacked up in the hotel room with one of the other parents when I’m supposedto watching their children,” she spoke, narrowing her eyes at him. “No sexwhile I’m working.” 

“That’s not what you said last week whenyou begged me to take you on your desk,” he said cheekily, pressing a kiss toher temple. 

Caroline jaw dropped and she elbowed himin the ribs, feeling a frisson of satisfaction at the grunt he let out.    

“That does not count,” she said, herbreath hitching when Klaus pressed a kiss to her neck. “It was a Saturday nightand I was catching up on work and you ambushed me with wine and beignets.” 

He chuckled darkly against her skin,skimming his nose down her cheek. “You loved it.” 

Caroline harrumphed weakly, rolling hereyes. “Whatever you think.” 

Klaus pulled back and grinned at herlewdly. “The memory speaks for itself, love.” 

She just scoffed and turned back to herbook, shivering a bit at his deep chuckle. Her skin prickled at his nearnessand she studiously ignored him as he turned back to his sketchbook. He ran hishand down her thigh, giving her knee a squeeze before pressing a kiss to hercheek and began to sketch. The girls behind her were chattering away withLizzie carefully coloring the wolf that Klaus had drawn. Caroline couldn’t helpbut smile to herself. 

She could get used to this. 

************************************

“Seriously?”

Klaus just rolled his eyes, heaving hissuitcase up on the bed. “It wasn’t my fault, sweetheart.” 

Caroline glared at him. “Really? BecauseI specifically remember booking a room for me and a separateone for you.” 

She glared at the single king-size bedin the middle of the room like it was a pariah. When they arrived at the hotelshe booked for the trip, the front-desk clerk announced that they’daccidentally double-booked some of the rooms. 

Most of the other parents were fine withsharing, Klaus especially since he offered to take Caroline’s room with her. 

Caroline fumed at the clerk, even tryingto compel them to make sure that Klaus hadn’t done the same to have themsupposedly overbook their reservations. 

Either Klaus got to them before she did,or they really did mess up. 

“You heard person at the front desk,love. They overbooked with that television convention in town,” he unzipped hissuitcase. “Shall I unpack your things too?” 

“Nope,” she said, lugging her suitcaseto the other size of the room. “I’m going to try to get another room tomorrow.” 

Klaus pressed his lips together as helooked over at her. “Is the idea of sharing a room with me so repulsive?” 

Caroline looked up quickly, heartsqueezing when she noted the hidden hurt in his eyes. His tone was nonchalant,but his body language indicated otherwise. 

“Of course not,” she said softly,feeling a pang of guilt. 

Klaus looked away. “You could havefooled me.” 

She sighed, dropping her suitcase andwalked over to him. Pulling his suitcase off the bed, she took Klaus’ hand andmoved him to where they both sat on the foot of the bed. 

“I love sharing a room with you,” shemurmured. 

Klaus’ jaw tightened. “You don’t have tolie to soothe my ego, love.” 

Caroline groaned in frustration. “It’snothing to do with that. It’s this whole trip.” 

He gave her a bewildered look. “Did younot want me to come?”

“Of course I did,” she drew back,blinking at him surprisingly. “It’s just- this is one of our first trips as aschool, and I wanted to stay professional. Yes, we’re together, but I wanted toshow all the other chaperones and parents that even though I dating one ofthem, that I can still remain professional and keep my focus on their children.”

Klaus gave her a confused look.“Sweetheart, you’re always professional. Your school is growing becauseof your dedication.” 

“I know,” she shrugged. “I just wantedto maintain that same focus so that parents will trust me with their children.” 

“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worryabout that, my love,” Klaus answered back, pressing a line of kisses across hercheek. “I’m the most powerful creature in the planet and I trust you with myown child. That should speak for itself.” 

Caroline rolled her eyes, but a smallsmile crept across her face. “Modest as always.” 

Klaus gave her a cheeky grin. “Ofcourse.” 

She nudged him with her elbow. “Fine, wecan share the room. But absolutely no funny business.”

He looked at her innocently, folding hisarms behind his back as he stood up. “You have my word, love. Absolutely nounnecessary touching.” 

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why do Ifeel like you’re choosing your words carefully with that “unnecessarytouching”?” 

His answering smile was wolfish. 

Caroline went to respond, but wasinterrupted by a knock at the door. She shot a quick questioning look at himand he shrugged, placing a protective hand on the small of her back as theywent to answer the door together. 

She checked the peephole, flinging thedoor open when she saw a familiar red head of hair. “Hope?” 

The little girl gave her a sheepishlook, fidgeting uncomfortably in her blue pajamas. “Can I stay with you andDaddy?” 

“What’s wrong?” Klaus asked immediately,checking her over and looked down the hall. “Where are Lizzie and Josie?” 

Hope made a face. “Lizzie snores so loudand Josie was kicking me in her sleep.”

Caroline giggled, all too familiar withher daughters’ restless sleep patterns. She loved her girls, but thank goodnessfor her quick healing vampiric nature because Josie packed a vicious kick. 

“I know all too well about Lizzie’ssnoring,” she said, opening the door wider so that Hope could come in. “Ittakes a while to tune it out.” 

“Auntie Freya usually burns sage whenshe stays at the Compound,” Hope said, bounding over to the bed and jumping onit. “But since we can’t use magic, I could hear it all.” 

Caroline made it a strict rule thatunder no circumstances were the witches and warlocks to use magic when theywere on field trips or in hotels. There was too much that could happen with themultitude of different powers. 

Plus it would be a mess to try to compel anybody who gotcaught up in a spell gone wrong. 

She helped Hope turn down the covers,letting the redhead situate herself on Klaus’ side of the bed. 

“Here,” she tossed a few pillows atKlaus’ face. “Love seat is all yours.”

Klaus grumbled, muttering under hisbreath about his own flesh and blood and his lover kicking him out of the bedhe reserved especially for that night. 

So he did compel the frontdesk. 

“Thanks for this trip Ms. Forbes,” Hopesaid quietly, her red hair fanning out on the white pillows. “I’m having somuch fun.” 

Caroline smiled down at the girl as shehelped tuck the blankets around her little body. “I’m so glad.”

Klaus sat down next to his daughter,pressing a quick kiss to her forehead as he wiped her hair off her forehead.Hope smiled up at her dad, nudging him with her knee. 

“Don’t forget to kiss Caroline goodnighttoo, Dad,” she grinned cheekily, arching her brow up in a way that looked somuch like Klaus. “Don’t mind me.” 

Caroline threw her head back andlaughed. The girl’s boldness reminded her so much of Rebekah and how plainlyshe always spoke. Klaus rolled his eyes, kissing his daughter on the head oncemore before turning out the lamp at her side. 

“Night, sweetheart.” 

“Night Dad,” Hope said sleepily. 

He got up and moved over to Caroline’sside of the bed, pushing a blonde curl behind her ear. 

“Tomorrow night?” he murmured lowly. 

“Maybe,” she teased, lifting up on herelbows. 

Klaus caught her lips with his, placinga searing kiss on her mouth. She sighed softly, swiping her thumb across thestubble on his cheek. He smiled into the kiss, pulling back to press one toher nose and then another on her lips. 

“Goodnight, love.”

She watched him get back to theloveseat, tossing her a quick wink before turning out the light.

“Night Klaus.”

Review Here Please :)

[maniacollisionarchive-blog]

1,2,8,26 for the multi muse ask thing

is there a muse that you wish gets more attention?

most of my originals tbh? very much lilli, pride, and chronos because i have put a lot of thought into who they are and i care so much about them? not that i don’t care about all of them, but they’re some of my favorite to write, and lilli just needs friends? i try to use them for memes if people don’t specify a muse, but sometimes it’s hard to write them without plotting because, with pride and chronos, there’s a bit of meta-gaming involved and some people are uncomfortable with that so. but yeah def them.

if you HAD to choose, who’s your favorite muse?

jamie. hands down. i love all my muses but i have had jamie since 2013. i written 73 pages in short stories on him. he’s moved through 4 blogs, various ships, incredible amounts of backstory and character development. when i see something, i immediately relate it to him. he is my character. and if i hadn’t had all these other muses in my head, i would have never moved him over here. i just can’t physically handle more than one blog, and i couldn’t abandon him. i love him so much. i want everyone to love him. 

what is each of your muses otps? notps?

all 24 of them? okay yo i’ve got this. this is where imma insert a read more

chronos: def ethan/lila is otp because that’s technically canon. he hasn’t had enough interaction to warrant otherselliot: elliot/jasper is climbing quickly. elliot/thomas is canon otp thankselyssa: hasn’t? had? anyone? please change.fabian: fab/remus is a fav of mine. i also like fabian/dorcas. tbh i don’t have notps with fab? he gets along with a lot of people. probably a lot of death eaters though. but i’d try it at least. fenris: *snorts* i love all of fenris’ ships, ahah. fenders, fenbela, fenhawke.. i’d even try fen/dorian just for a+ rivalmance thanks. that’d be… disasterous. idk. have to say probably not fen/merrill if that’s even a thing. and fen probably hates most blood mages. JAMIE: seb/jamie, with my lovely @moriartyproperty is my current canon ship for jamie. there have been past ships (gabe/jamie, the first ship ever. jasper/jamie, julian/jamie, jamie/blair) which are still near to my heart. jamie/nikolai is always important, it made him who he is, but is also very… *cries*. also jamie is basically a walking flirt so he will ship with anyonejim: jim/seb, also with @moriartyproperty because i love her. jim is hard to ship with. i do not typically ship him with sherlock (it’s not really a notp, but i don’t ship it the way the fandom does?) i also don’t ship jim/john, jim/irene, jim.. well basically jim with anyone else in the fandom. except molly. i think that’s cute. but again i don’t ship it the way most in the fandom do.jodie: jodie/jay thanks. i love jay’s arc. i think ryan clayton is an asshole but i give him credit and i played out his romance ending. he’s not a notp, but he’s still a jerk and jodie deserves better and belongs with jay, and i stand by that.karliah: obviously with gallus. ngl i think a toxic relationship with mercer would be interesting. anyone else is really.. not an option. kraglin: i don’t have one? the fandom seems to ship him with yondu but i don’t? not a lot. a little. i can see it. and i’m open to it. but i think he needs to find his own romance. not peter. notp. liam: liam’s canon otp is him/james moore. notp would be him/corin aka his boss, the guy that wants him dead. yeah. idk. lilli: lilli doesn’t have any ships. she doesn’t love her husband and she hasn’t interacted with enough to form ships so. notp her husband ahah.marie: uh, notp her siblings? idk. she’s 17. she doesn’t have sights on romance yet.maya: notp with fang because he treated her like shit and she deserves so much more than that, thanks. persephone: obviously otp seph/hades end of discussion love of all loves end of all days marriage of all marriagespride: pride/humility. the only relationship that he could theoretically be in. i want it so badly. it’s my favorite thing. his cardinal opposite. there are other mythical creatures and beings i’ve dabbled in ships with and stuff, but it’s all been sort of mutual symbiotic relationships, not actual love stuff.reece: reece/josie is canonly my otp, but i redid reece’s playthrough with reece/blackwall and let’s ignore the age difference, it was fucking adorable, i loved it, bye. notp would probs be reece/sera? idk. reece loves people. i haven’t tried them, so i can’t say how she’d react.reggie: reggie/james potter is absolutely my notp he hates james so much. also reggie/sev, i don’t like it. i’m a secret blackcest person sue me. idk. reggie is just… lonely and shut off and doesn’t have time to emotion. reggie/remus probably? i love remus save me. rin: rin/kohaku i adore. but she’s canonically 8, then 11, so nah. i don’t ship rin/sess, but i don’t hate it either. i don’t really have a lot of ships/notps for her though since she’s a bby.sirius  wolfstar is my weakness save me, ultimate otp, i give my soul. i also love siri/marlene. i’ve got some great siri/oc matches too. siri is pretty open to ships. i don’t think i’d ship siri/sev tbh, or siri/most slytherins just ‘cause he’s an asshole in that regard. i also like siri/hermione no shame.suze: suze/jesse is canon also my otp. they get married so i mean. yeah. talia: in my game she marries farkas so. that’s otp for me. i wanted to marry brynjolf but that’s not fucking an option so fuck that. i like talia/mjoll too so. y’know. idk. talia doesn’t give a fuck really. teren: teren/dorian is canon, is otp, is my love, thank. also teren/gavin, love you @foundgold usagi: usagi/mamoru is canon, but i also reeeeeally like usagi/seiya. um. i don’t really notp much for her? she has a specific relationship set and i just adore it to begin with, so that’s end game anyway. but she’s a very loving person anyway.

which muse is most likely to have kids?

jamie already does in some verses, and is pregnant in his lady verse with sebastian so! then reece would love to adopt with josie. elyssa and lilli both. talia might adopt waaaay down the road. teren maybe, but it would be veeeeery later. liam probably, if he ever finds himself safe. usagi has a daughter. rin definitely. persephone does have kids. siri probably would but life sucks, and harry is more than enough. suze will at some point i think. marie will. 

[mistralrunner]

Trespasser Liveblog, Part 1: Ruins and Reunions

I decided to post my reactions to playing Trespasser with my Inquisitor, Menel Lavellan, cause why not. I watched @inner-muse​ play Trespasser with her Trevelyan when the DLC first came out, so I’m spoiled for a good portion of it, but considering I forgot things, didn’t read many of the codices, didn’t have the context at the time to notice some details, and my Inquisitor is rather different from hers, I’m hoping to be surprised by some things.

The game starts out swimmingly as Menel Lavellan’s face isn’t fully loaded and looks derpy for the opening scene. I reloaded.

Negotiations at Halamshiral are always a kind of punch in the face for a Lavellan

I’m so powerful and yet I still can’t get a Dalish homeland.

The march parade thing is two competent diplomats and Cullen, but his whining is very useful for exposition and probably getting the general Inquisition member pov.

Ahh the theme. Ahh the anchor. It’s really happening.

Mother Giselle: The Dales are finally recovering Menel: *knows he should be happy the shemlen aren’t suffering and somewhat is but considering their homes are on land stolen from his people* *is polite and gracious anyway*

I am so happy I get to reference that conversation about the Inquisition putting down their swords in game yesss. I have a fondness for that sort of thing.

Varric you are the best for negotiating a deal with Wycome’s council, especially with cities like Starkhaven around.

I’m honestly surprised they referenced Clan Lavellan’s fate since Inquisition did such a poor job of tying in character origins. Happy, but surprised.

All hail Viscount Varric he who does not wear the silly pointy crown

I wonder what happens if your Hawke took the Viscount position in DA2 though. Cause Tamara Hawke avoided that route like the plague.

I hesitated re: where to go next and then headed over to the tavern cause new songs. Who are these diplomats that I should probably be speaking to first?

I do not regret making Cole more human cause it made sense to Menel and also fit with Menel’s character arc but I do not ship this ship. It came out of nowhere and the implication that romance is a part of becoming human kind of rubs me the wrong way. It’d be nicer if they were just buddies roaming about making people happy. At least Menel’s reaction mirrored how weirded out I am.

Hehehe Menel you nerd distracting Bull are you even taking this seriously. The Veil as a vibration repelling the Fade part is interesting though given what’s to come.

I just realized Dalish and Menel have the same hairstyle. Huh.

Serraaaaa <3

Menel is no Jenny but he is there to be a friend always.

Sera’s journal is a mix of humor and feels as always. I do wonder how obvious Menel’s pain is to the general populace, and not just observant people like Sera. I headcanon Vivienne and her tailor fashioned formal attire for Menel that cloaked the glowing to some extent.

Josieeee my diplomat buddy

I’m so happy she takes a break and that she considers me enough of a friend to invite me.

Glad to see it’s still Leliana despite the silly new hat. Wanting to borrow Scout Harding to find more nugs, and not hiring anyone without first observing them in a room of baby nugs.

Why is there floating cheese?

It’s just hanging in the air near the palace entrance.

For context I should mention I headcanon that Menel was already in talks with Ferelden about disbanding the Inquisition and relocating members and Ferelden is covering it up by acting buffoonishly belligerent cause the Orlesians will absolutely believe that. Of course things are still tenuous cause the Inquisition has power and Ferelden is probably concerned they’ll be betrayed.

Arl Teagan: Redcliffe remembers its savior. Me: Which one?

Aww I can read Alistair’s letter in his voice wait what how dare you

"Someone, presumably His Majesty, has drawn a stick figure weighed down by an oversized crown at the bottom of the page."

I wonder if that letter is different with a warden romanced Alistair, since technically my canon is that @inner-muse’s Cousland and my Mahariel were wardens together and her Cousland becomes queen.

Oooh the landscape is so pretty.

And that makes Menel sad. Cause Halamshiral.

Fitting the journey ends here at the place named for journey’s end

DORIAN

PFFT CYRIL'S THE NEW DUKE OF CHATEAU HAINE PFFT

All references to Chateau Haine amuse me.

Ugh I really hate the reuniting Briala and Celene option. All the options stink but maybe I should have gone for the triumvirate instead. It was out of character to put a warmonger like Gaspard in power for Menel and I headcanoned that the romantically reuniting dialogue didn’t really happen and it was more like Menel and Briala cornered Celene politically but ugh. The commentary is disgusting even without what I know of The Masked Empire and is hard to listen to.

A fountain with Orlesian lions is such a great commemoration for a Dalish elf

Leliana's right next to a chessboard wow

That Leliana conversation was so good on so many levels. Bonus points for the hand focus

"You and I have come so far through the darkness together. It is time for us both to live in the light."

Thanks Leliana I didn't expect these feels

Now can you please please repeat this speech to Rhovan Mahariel

Pupppyy

I'm still angry we didn’t get a mabari. Menel respects the mabari's intelligence and finds it typical of Orlais to abandon one but doesn't understand my resentment

The line about how the mabari should know where they came from is so Dalish

I forgot the dog treats gave you a constitution bonus!!

My initial reaction to said bonus was tied between “Scary mabari magic” and “Honestly Menel will need it”

Dorian needs a hug

Aaaaah creepy purple smoke things even before the Eluvians that spooked me

Okay there are chessboards everywhere. Even more fitting considering who we’re seeing at the end of this DLC.

Spa day with Vivienne! Admittedly I headcanon Menel has full body vallaslin so seeing him in the swimsuit is weird. .

Hehe Sera in the background steals the show.

Glad to know Vivienne still ships Cassandra and Menel

Love how Leliana has her own guard, nice helmets too, oh they still have the same weird face belt thing as Sebastian

I had a weird feeling about that guy and he vanished right in front of me in creepy smoke like the last one

Saved talking to Cassandra for last. I know what Varric tells her in the case of other romances, but would he really lie about a proposal in this case?

Probably

Casssaaaandraaa she’s so adorable when startled and would probably kill me if I said so

Seriously Varric. Not surprised at all, but seriously.

The awkward silence was excellent.

I really like how this was handled. Cause this is not the right time, they’re busy with their respective duties, Menel is increasingly concerned about the state of his hand, and an Orlesian council isn’t really that romantic to either of them, and they both recognize it and accept that.

But her line about not even the Maker can keep her away coming from Cassandra

You know, Varric technically wasn’t wrong. Cause a quasi proposal did kind of happen in the sense of a conversation about are you okay with a proposal sometime in the future

Okay meeting time, which is clearly not going to be interrupted.

Really Teagan those comments about the wardens were unnecessary

The exile meant that there were very few wardens to combat the Blight, which by the way nearly destroyed your country about a decade ago as opposed Sophia Dryden messing things up hundreds of years ago.

I get we have a tenuous secret arrangement but slandering the wardens is not the way to cover it up.

I kind of just want the Hero of Ferelden to barge into the Council cause that would be hilarious.

Also Menel seriously in pain and struggling to cover it up during these tense talks and Josie's look of concern

Nice, this time they actually have guards blocking off the area rather than just no one noticing the obvious bloodstains in the Winter Palace

Eluvian!

*Rhovan Mahariel’s furious screeching in the distance*

*touches the glass and it makes a fun splooshing noise and pretty light effects* *touches again*

Rhovan “DON’T TOUCH THE GLASS TAMLEN” Mahariel is so done right now

The Crossroads is so much prettier as an elf all the colorsss

I don't have to fight the guardian spirits I am so happy. I could only parse some of the elvish but I feel like it’s cheating to look up an official translation if there is one?

We can't imagine why the Qunari think the Inquisition is in cahoots with Fen'Harel it can't possibly be because the Inquisitor talked to the spirit guardians activated by an agent of Fen'Harel and they attacked the Qunari but let the Inquisitor pass

Huh Vivienne is the first to suggest the Fen'Harel as the deceiver thing is propaganda, fitting considering she knows courts

Constant glowingggg Anchor yes

Sera: The Dalish. Are going. To shit themselves. Menel, a Dalish: ...

Cullen shut up Josie's job is important

I'm so sorry Josie. Our plan is falling apart and I'm not helping. You’re so talented but you should not be carrying this weight alone.

Where is the Tirashan where elves like Sentinels supposedly are

I forgot how much I love Cole’s cryptic lyrical statements. All the alliteration makes me happy.

“Your hand hurts. A heartbeat, not yours, hammering the beat of a song in its final verse. I’m sorry.”

“The spirits have fled, flying, fluttering, fast to the farthest Fade. They’re afraid of the Veil tearing again. ”

Also not concerning at all, nope.

Glad to see Sera still ships Menel and Cassandra, even if her humor is admittedly crude.

"Elf-loovians" pfft

Sera: Are you all right with it? The...Creators? Menel: I don't think I am, Sera. Sera: I...don't know words that fix things. But you have friends. We're real. Please remember that.

Excuse me as I cry

Aaaah Sera says the Jenny near Wycome says my clan is doing well aaaaah

Eluvian, part II!

I already know it’s the Deep Roads, so looks like I’m bringing Varric along!

I am really intrigued by this Dalish elf writing these notebooks, and also the fact that there was another misplaced Dalish in Kirkwall besides Merrill and Feynriel’s mother. Admittedly Merrill didn’t really engage much with the alienage community until much later.

I really do appreciate the Qunari ingenuity in finding people who know things and extracting information and then building upon it. The independence and unwillingness to cooperate with anything they don’t control not so much.

Yeah the Fen'Harel and Mythal in cahoots thing is unnerving to Menel. Also it’s been two years and the Well of Sorrows failed to mention anything about that until now? And elfy ruins underground feels so wrong.

[lecriteuse]

Dear Wintersend

Howdy, friend, and thank you in advance for making something for me. I can’t wait to see/read it!! I really hope there’s something in my prompts that you’re excited about. I’m SO looking forward to seeing what you do with these, how you interpret everything and add onto it in your own unique way.

I’m not going to re-iterate my prompts here, but I wanted to give you some extra information about me and why I chose these particular prompts….

General stuff:

- As you probably gathered from my requests, I like happy endings, romance, and fluff. But that’s certainly not the only kind of fanwork I like, and I do understand that not everyone is into that, so don’t feel you have to go hard in that direction. But I’d definitely prefer something that isn’t bleakly dark.

- I am fine with any rating in pretty much any of the prompts, go with whatever you’re comfortable producing! In my requests, I’ve put down the rating I think would work well with what I have in mind, but you do you. Characters are more important to me than rating.

- Things I am into: Unconventionally attractive bodies and faces, fluff, smut, kissing, hurt/comfort, seemingly-unrequited pining, friends-to-lovers, humour, canon-accurate cultural portrayals of Qunari/dwarves/elves, appearances by characters not explicitly requested (any DA-universe characters are welcome), OCs (if you want to put your own Inquisitor/Hawke/Warden into one of my requests, I would be very honoured!).

- Things I am not into: Darkfic, pain or extreme BDSM/kinks, AUs, dub-con or non-con… I mean, as long as no one is unrelentingly miserable, and any sex stuff stays mostly on the vanilla end of the spectrum, I will be perfectly happy.

As for my requests, here’s a bit of context:

1. Sera/Josephine: I love this pairing so much, I mean, it absolutely tickles me to consider these two together. If you decide to do this one, I hope you have fun with it. I will admit that I am a bit of a stickler about Sera’s accent and speech patterns, so that’s something to keep in mind if you’re a writer. Mostly, I think this is a fun and potentially really hot pairing, and it would make me very happy to see another piece of art or writing for it — there just isn’t enough! :D

2. Cassandra/Femquisitor, jealousy: What can I say, I have a weakness for your standard, tropey, ridiculous jealousy story. It lends itself to hurt/comfort and insecurity/reassurance, both of which I am super into, heh. I think that, beyond the tropetastic nature of this request, there’s a lot of possibilities for exploring characters: how would they react to feeling jealous, how would they react to their partner’s jealousy, how does it impact their relationship, how do they resolve it and move on?

3. Morrigan/Leliana: Another pairing I really can’t get enough of. And… to be honest, this is my porny request, haha. If you’re a writer considering this request, and you’d like to do some really in-depth character explorations of these two, that is fantastic… as long as there is also sex, please. Also for writers: I’m fine with a fade-to-black if this request appeals to you, but you’re not comfortable writing explicit sex scenes. But I just want these two to bone. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sometimes I have very simple tastes.

4. Isabela/Josephine, lady pirates! “Do you ever wonder what lies at the edges of the map, past the seas?” - Josephine I want to see what happens if Isabela somehow ends up with Josephine aboard her ship. So I would be fine with an AU — still set in Thedas, please! — in which Josephine never became Ambassador to the Inquisition… though I would also be happy to see Josephine somehow end up on Isabela’s ship after the Inquisition, or perhaps before, when she was a straight-laced young lass visiting home after her disastrous stint as a bard…. How does Josie adapt to life on a pirate ship? How does Isabela respond to the worldly and dignified Lady Montilyet? I love the idea of these two falling into unexpected infatuation, and I’d love to see how you bring them together.

5. Leliana character portrait: My long-shot weirdo non-shipping request. :) I’d love to see this one filled, because I find Leliana fascinating, more and more as time goes by. I always romanced her in DA:O because I thought she was adorable. Encountering her in DA:I is so interesting, trying to reconcile what she was with what she now is. Especially when her personal quest, and her candidacy for Divine, are considered. What I’m hoping for with this one is an exploration (whether visual or written) of her character in DA:I, something that reveals the foundations of her character, why she changed so much, where she might be headed…. (Extra points and all my love forever if you’d consider tackling the Leliana-as-lyrium-ghost possibility, because I find that so odd and difficult to process.)

That’s about it. More than anything, I want you to enjoy this. I want you to have fun creating something out of one of these prompts. I know that if you’re having fun with it and enjoying it, I will absolutely love whatever you make.

Thank you again for making something for me. I hope you enjoy my ridiculous prompts, and I look forward to being able to thank you directly. <3

[elusianknight]

Can you recommend any good tv series, movies, games, books (anything) that has happy lesbians with happy endings? :>

Ooooh okay!I don't watch many movies, but one that comes to mind is Carol ( (2015) dir. Todd Haynes lmao). It has a happy ending, no one dies, it's Very Gay and honestly #aesthetic. Books: like, anything by Malinda Lo, she's a lesbian Asian YA author who writes great books! Ash is my favorite, it's like a lesbian retelling of Cinderella but I hesitate to reduce it to such simple terms. Huntress is a prequel to that in the same world but centuries before. She has another series called Adaptation but I haven't read it, but I'm sure it's good. Bi protag with a lady love interest I think?Wildthorn by Jane Eagland is also very good! Again I think it qualifies as YA but honestly it has rather dark themes. Takes place in Victorian England where our dear protag is wrongly thrown in an insane asylum. It is very gay, and ends very happily, much more so than you'd expect from such a dramatic, dark premise!Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon was fun to read, too. I'm a sucker for medieval fantasy of any kind so if it had lesbians, I'm frickin there. MC is a butch lady who masquerades as a dude and ends up as a princess's bodyguard. They fall in love and there is drama. But an ultimately happy end! Not YA, by the way. Also, the writing and world building is not the best, but even a writing snob like me really enjoyed it. The Thousand Names is another amazing book! It is the first book of the Shadow Campaigns series, and of the two protags, one of them is a (freaking delightful) lesbian named Winter Ihernglass (what a cool name, right?). It's an incredibly well-written fantasy setting with rich worldbuilding, magic, and also guns... It's amazing. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat, through fierce battles as well as politics. The other main character is also very likable. Also, though the series hasn't ended yet, Winter has had like 783 Prime Death Opportunities™ and yet she's still alive and well, so like, yay for (dare I say it?) plot armor. Lesbians don't get that very often lol.Games: Dragon Age is what first comes to mind here. Fun little story: I bought DA2 when I was like 13 or so and my baby gay self was absolutely in love with the adorable bi elf Merrill, but yanno... I was still Totally Straight™. Anyway, don't start with the second game in the series, because nothing will make any goddamn sense. Start with...Dragon Age: Origins- the first of the Dragon Age games, and personally my favorite. In all three games, you make your own player character however you like, and there are multiple romance options. In DAO, your female romance option as a lady is Leliana, a charming bisexual bard who is just A+ and my favorite character of the whole damn series. The game itself is great and while you CAN net yourself a tragic ending, you have to do very specific things to get there--as in, a happy ending is VERY achievable. I have only ever gotten some ultra gay happily ever afters. Dragon Age 2 has two awesome bi ladies to romance (the aforementioned Merrill and the amazing pirate queen Isabela). People rag on the game a lot but like, don't worry, it's not as bad as anyone says it is. It has its flaws, but it tells a good story with great characters. Dragon Age Inquisition is the latest installment of the series and has, as your available female romance options as a female main character, a brilliant bi lady named Josephine who is your amazingly skilled chief diplomat, and a delightful lesbian named Sera who I love with all my little gay heart tbh. This game has a LOT to do in it, and as for the endings, some Drama™ happens but as for your relationship, they will remain happily together. The lady main character and Sera even get... gasp... MARRIED. Yup, that's right, you get a Big Lesbian Wedding. It's fucking awesome. Also, Sera ends up with a cute girlfriend if you're not in a relationship with her so like... The lesbians are always happy. And Josephine's romance is really cute! I know I mentioned Sera more bc I've romanced her more, but seriously Josie is like a Disney princess. You literally participate in a duel to win her affections until she stops you mid duel because she's afraid of her love getting hurt. It's so fluffy and cute omg.If you've been following me tho, all that dragon age stuff is probably old news lmao. So here are some more games!Mass Effect: another Bioware game, your main character can be gay! Though there is a lot of Dramu and World Shattering Stuff and the ending is not exactly happy, so I can't really add it to the list. But you can be gay and happy throughout the series. It's just hard to get a good ending, and even the happiest ending is ambiguous. Dragon's Dogma: this is one of my favorite games ever. It's so much fun, another medieval ish fantasy RPG, but the gameplay is amazing. There's a romance system that isn't very in depth, but still relevant to the story, and there are no restrictions based on gender, so you can be a gallant lady knight and rescue the damsel in distress and also smooch her if you're so inclined. The whole game has about 0 differences based on gender do honestly that's pretty cool. As for endings, you can get a happy ending with your character and their love interest. You can also get some not-so-happy endings but it's all based on player choice.Life is Strange is another game whose ending isn't all that happy, but the two main characters, based on player choice, can be in a relationship (implied enough that it IS canon) and both live. There is a shit ton of drama and trigger warnings tho. But really it is an amazing game.In the same vein of Dragon's Dogma, there's Skyrim, where like you can kinda do whatever you want in the game, and one of those things is that you can marry characters regardless of gender. There are some characters who you can't marry because of plot or whatever (in Dragon's Dogma there are only... 3 characters you can't romance iirc whereas there are more in Skyrim) but yeah, you can still be a big ol lesbian. I have never finished Skyrim bc like, again, you kinda just do whatever you want, but the ending is kinda inconsequential in that you can keep doing whatever you want after the main plot is over. So yeah, never ending lesbians. Sweet.I should honestly be able to think of more examples but for the moment I'm having trouble D: @soothinghymn @orlesianwardens what gay games am I forgetting hereTV Shows: I'm not a big TV show watcher here, but there are some good shows w lesbians. Steven Universe comes to mind. Yes it's a kids show, but it is a damn good one. There's drama but it's also very feel-good, and one of the characters is literally a lesbian mad up of two smaller lesbians who are madly in love with each other. Like, shit, that's just awesome.I'm a dork so I'll also give you anime recs, so in that regard I'd recommend Shuumatsu no Izetta/Izetta the Last Witch. It's kind of a spoiler that they get a happy ending, but hey, whatever, they do. The main couple doesn't kiss or anything but it is HEAVILY IMPLIED and there are no other love interests for the characters and they share an amazing bond and just love each other so much, it's great. The show is sliiiightly violent and takes place in like an AU of WW2 which is weird (one of the characters, Izetta, is a witch, so it's like an ~alternate history~ situation where a witch is involved in the war) but the show is still very enjoyable, great soundtrack too.Madoka Magica is kinda iffy, bc while it's my favorite anime of all freakin time, the show has a bittersweet ending. It is relatively happy? And kinda sad? The show is filled with tragedy, but I guess that's kinda the point. And then the follow-up movie is more despair, so... yeah, probably doesn't count as happy.A notable mention is Yuri On Ice, also. It doesn't involve lesbians, but the main couple is gay and they ultimately have a happy ending. There's some inevitable drama but the show is about ice-skating, so while it may seem like the world is sometimes ending, everything turns out okay in the end and no one, like, dies or anything.Anyway, I can't think of much else at the moment, but feel free to ask for more! Maybe I'll be able to come up with more examples later lol.

[willreadforbooze]

Hey everyone!!

This week showed us, not for the first time, that this country is going to hell in a hand basket. There is absolutely no reason that black people and people of color are still being murdered by police. We are saddened by the number of people that still don’t understand the Black Lives Matter movement. If your first instinct at hearing that black lives are just as important as white ones is to argue, you are the problem. We proudly stand with BLM and will continue to uplift the voices of black people in this country and across the globe.

On that note, this isn’t the first list of Black content creators that has ever been made (they’ve been circling the internet since the internet was born) but here are some of our faves:

Our very own P$, Parker, Chef Boyar P. The love of our lives. He is a co-founder of this blog, and his content is *chef’s kiss* superb if we do say so ourselves. Check out any of his reviews like this one or this one or this one

Bee, But Bookish

My Name is Marines

Bow ties and Books

BanualCosmos

OhSheReads

and entirely too many more HERE is a great tweet from Bee with a whole list of other black bloggers

Sam’s Update

Welp, this week was a heaping pile of shit.

What Sam Finished:

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow: It is not physically possible for me to scream loudly enough about this book. There are so many things I loved about it. It’s powerful. The characters are well rounded. The mystery is juicy. The message is undeniable. The magic is cool AF. And all while reminding us that teenagers have a fuck ton of shit to deal with and their anxiety is real and warranted. Even when you’re not a mermaid. Drunk review coming.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca: This was adorable. I haven���t read a fluffy romance in so long and I fucking deserved it. This is a hate to love at a Ren Faire. COME AT ME.

What Sam is Currently Reading:

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal: Only barely started this audiobook but I have been excited to read this book since it came out and I was stoked to see my hold come through at the library. I also have a physical copy so we’ll see if I switch back and forth. What I can gather right now is that there’s a woman disguising herself as a man and this other guy is a death god. I really don’t need more.

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender: I’ve had this book for ages but I hadn’t gotten around to it. Then a few things happened, Sam from Thoughts on Tomes review came out and she loved it. And then Kheryn was at Bookconline and I loved what they had to say. And then the world went to shit. The gods were saying “Sam, it’s time” This is an islander fantasy story where our main character, a woman of color serving as a sugar plantation owner. She can read minds. She has this master plan to take down the white man. So I’m in to that.

What Sam put down:

Forged in Fire and Stars by Andrea Roberson: I was pretty excited by the thought of blacksmith magic but I got about 125 pages in and nothing had happened. Ginny reminded me what happened when I read too many mediocre books (a massive slump) so I put it down.

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb: I will get to this one day, but when you listen to the first 45 minutes of an audiobook that’s over 13 hours long and you can’t remember a thing about what happened… it’s not your time to read it. I’ll get there.

Ginny’s Update

Guys, I don’t have to do Jury Duty right now. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done jury duty before and I’ll do it again, but there’s a lot going on right now, and, it’s just a relief. Got a lot done this week.

What Ginny Finished:

The Vicar’s Daughter by Josi S. Kilpack: This book was fine. Basic plot, girl falls in love with the guy she’s been writing letters to while pretending to be her sister, b/c the sister needs to be married before girl goes into society. The ending felt a little rushed but I actually really liked the way the sister grew from this book. I felt there were a few different easy outs, and this book didn’t take one of them.

Hex Vet: The Fly Surgery by Sam Davies: this graphic novel was super cute and easy to follow even though it was the second book in a series (and I didn’t read the first). The art was very stylized and a lot of fun, with a fairly cute magical world.

Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship by Many People: Again, this was quite cute. I enjoy the way the lumberjanes have a variety of friendships and relationships where everyone interacts with everyone in different ways. The story for this was also fun. I particularly enjoyed Jenn’s story line from all of the history I have with Lumberjanes

Before the Dawn by Beverly Jenkins: Support black authors!! Also Beverly Jenkins is a delight. Leah Barnett marries her mother’s boyfriend on his death bed because he wanted to take care of her. This means that his sons (that she didn’t know about) aren’t thrilled. And yet, chemistry… This book feels oddly timely (a major plotline is local lawyers refusing to take a case from a person “of the race.”) Race always greatly affects the way characters are treated in her books and this book is no different. Leah is a fun character and I kind of enjoyed her occasional pettiness and the thought of “He’s gonna feel really bad about this later for reasons he doesn’t know yet,” when someone’s being a dick.

Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank “Big Black” Smith and Jared Reinmuth: This is another book where it was just the right time to read it, painful as it is. This book follows an event in a prison in the 1971 when the prisoners rioted due to inhumane conditions. “Big Black” was one of the prisoners who was fighting for some basic rights (rights that are frankly still being fought for today). The story felt a little disjointed and could be a little hard to follow, but the artwork was stark in a way that made the atrocities of the guards so much more poignant.

Hell on Wheels by Julie Ann Walker: I snagged this book at bookcon a bunch of years ago and boy was right now not the right time to read this book. The main characters are all ex-military with too much testosterone and the belief that just being a patriot is enough to make someone a good person. this book did come out in 2012, but I feel like even then the increasing militarization of our police force was an issue. Regardless kindergarten teacher (whose name I have forgotten) is in danger b/c of her dead brother and goes to dead brother’s bf, nicknamed Ghost (yes, it’s that kind of book, sigh) for protection.

What Ginny is Currently Reading:

Strange Exit by Parker Peevyhouse: Sam grabbed this for me at ALA but I think it came out in January… After a catastrophic war on Earth, a bunch of highschoolers were sent into space, but put in a simulation (and possibly cryogenic sleep) in order to… I don’t know, keep their minds healthy? the explanations of the simulation are fairly interesting and there are a few mysteries that seem like they’ll be interesting.

On Hold Again:

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown: Yeah, another one of these so close to the last one. But hey, that’s how library holds tend to go. I’m liking this one a little better b/c this book deals with “how to live wholeheartedly” which  means accepting your faults and recognizing the good. That’s a little more my speed.

Minda’s Update

It’s definitely been a week. Black lives matter.

What Minda is reading now:

All Adults Here by Emma Straub – A reflection on parenting across three generations “and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not.” I’ve liked her books in the past—we’ll see if I’m in the mood for it right now.

What Minda finished:

Riot Baby by Toni Onyebuchi – Two siblings live the black American experience while wrestling with extraordinary power. A great read for the current climate, to say the least. Parker has an on-point review.

The Jewel Thief by Jeannie Mobley – After being accused of stealing King Louie XIV’s diamond, she only has one chance to convince him of her innocence and win back her true love. Really enjoyed this one

Until next time, we main forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Ginny, and Minda

Weekly Wrap-Up: June 1 – 7, 2020 Hey everyone!! This week showed us, not for the first time, that this country is going to hell in a hand basket.

[little-elf-wanders]

Honestly, looking through the Dragon Age romance options in Inquisition, no one is actually fulfilling me like Zevran did in the first game, or like Fenris did in the second. Y’know THAT romance that we all have, the one that drags you back every time and no matter how many times you replay swearing you’ll romance someone else you end up right back with them again? Or you complete a new one then start a new game just to re-romance the one. I don’t have that one in Inquisition. 

I don’t know what it is, I just couldn’t completely connect this time around. Under the cut I’ve got some gist of the romances but I think my main problem was I wanted the side characters. They seemed more interesting to me.

I love the Iron Bull, it’s just a very physical relationship (ironic coming from the one who romanced ZEVRAN but get off my back he was more than that), so the first playthrough was fun and though I keep romancing him I don’t get that giddy buzz that I still do with Zevran, the reason being the approach is very different and the characters themselves are very different. (still, I love Bull. Just not enough to romance him every single time.) He’s that casual hookup or the friends with benefits guy, which makes sense given who he is, but yeeeah, that just depends on the character I make whether it fits them or not.

Cullen is pretty fluffy and it’s cute admittedly, something I can get through because I don’t get too invested in the mage vs templar stuff anymore. Namely because both sides need to get their shit together - and I’m not getting into debates about it because it’s exhausting. So, when you don’t get too hung up on every little nuance (fair play to those who do, Anders and Solas activates my skeeve out meter so I fully understand why some really hate Cullen, I personally just don’t connect like that with him? Which is all perspective and how involved in the lore you are/views/how you played in previous games ext.), he’s cute. I can argue that I still get giggly but put this down to his personality type and not actually Cullen. I’m always a sucker for the stoic worker but secretly awkward with your crush stuff. But that’s probably all that’s keeping me interested.

Solas? No. Just no.

Blackwall, in theory, I like but I haven’t done a full romance with him. He’s just not my type and I see him as too old right now. (Gimme a few years and I might give it a shot.)

Dorian I’ve romanced once, I think. Not fully because I get bored so easily with romances, and though I adore Dorian, I dunno. Once was enough. I’ll probably try again later now that I have Tresspasser but... shrugs.

Sera is fun but meh, again, I could probably only romance her seriously once or twice. I have when it fit my character and she was a breath of fresh air but I didn’t find myself sticking to her. She’s just not my first choice.

Cassandra, I’m just not interested in romancing. I watched my best friend romance her and she’s cute? But not for me. I hope she does find her prince charming to sweep her off her feet though.

And Josie? Okay, I love Josie too, she’s the sweetest around but again, once or twice and I couldn’t be bothered going back.

My point to all this is there were two out of them all who have only juuust kept my interest. Bull and Cullen. But neither have that spark that has me excited to get to the romance part, or particularly bothered to romance them. And while others probably have that spark with some, I’m glad they do, I feel a bit jaded. It’s not a bad thing, not every single game I’ll get relentlessly invested in the romances, but because of this I ended up looking to the npc’s. 

Like Krem and Harding. Hell, even Bull’s Chargers in general had a better selection of people I really wanted to get to know better but obviously we only get to see two clips of them. Ser Barris was interesting too, actually. Felix - even though I understand he dies pretty quick but still. Hell even that Avvar agent, this is completely stretching now but just...

I hope in DA4 we get a new group and I hope the writers take their time to really flesh these characters out and focus on the content, because with all my griping that’s what’s been different from the first two games. The content is biased and it doesn’t do the companions justice. I think I’m just getting bored with the same old types of characters being favoured over ones who can be great and vibrant.

Iron Bull was exciting at first because it was the first time getting to romance a Qunari, something I’ve longed for since Sten and yeah even the Arishok (don’t @ me), and he’s great, I’m not dissing him, but you can tell who the writers favour when it comes to content. There’s a severe lacking in certain characters who are great and should have gotten the attention they deserved. So I can’t connect when I’m feeling the disconnect in the writing and the content.