#Quest 1 is super tiny

[prokopetz]

Recently I've been wanting to play a metroidvania, and I realized I don't have that many in my backglog. I was looking through some of your game recs like the free games post which made me think to ask you (since you're a Metroidvania Person). So: I was wondering if you had any recommendations for metroidvanias? Ideally on the cheaper side (like, under $10).

Cheap metroidvanias which I'd actually recommend, eh? In the interest of keeping this list relatively short, I'm going to construe the term "metroidvania" narrowly and exclude anything which isn't a 2D side-scrolling platfomer. (i.e., so 3D exploration platformers, top down Zelda-likes, etc. are off the table.) I'll also warn you that I have a fairly high tolerance for jank, so maybe check the reviews first!

Anyway:

A Game with a Kitty 1 & Darkside Adventures*†

Alwa's Awakening^

Aquaria†

Axiom Verge 2^

Blue Rabbit

Dreaming Sarah

Eldritchvania*

Environmental Station Alpha

Ex Vitro*

Flynn: Son of Crimson^

forma.8

Frauki's Adventure!

Gato Roboto^

Grizzland

Guardian

Hunter's Legacy

IN THE DARK

Kalinur

Lorera*

Maya Star

Mech Chip

The Messenger^

Mini Ghost

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

Moonlaw*

Mystik Belle^

Nyaruru Fishy Fight

Omega Strike

OUTBUDDIES DX^

Pankapu^

PSYCRON

qomp

Saira*†

Simona's Requiem

SJ-19 Learns To Love

Souldiers^

Spooky Ghosts Dot Com

Sun Wukong VS Robot

Super Skelemania

Tiny Dangerous Dungeons

Trash Quest

Treasure Hunter Man 2^†

Treasures of the Aegean^

The Vagrant^

Visual Out

Wenjia

Wild West Crops

William and Sly: Classic Collection*

Xenosis*

Zapling Bygone^

* free ^ on sale at the time of this posting; may not still be under $10 if you're viewing this post after the sale ends † older title that's not 100% compatible with modern OSes, so you may need to do a lot of fiddling to get your gamepad working

[detailtilted]

Looking for people who were SPN fans around 2007-ish. (Lost SDCC 2007 Video Files)

Hi! Are there any SPN fans still around from back in 2007 who downloaded and still have the SDCC 2007 videos that were once available at this link? https://scaperanya.livejournal.com/2037.html#t55541

About My Quest

There were 23 videos listed (including a "#6.5") , but only 12 of them have been located on YouTube, published by Mobycat33. Part #'s 1-6, 7-9, 16, and 18 are missing. At one point they were reportedly all on YouTube, but maybe some of them were made private or unlisted or deleted altogether.

Since the videos were made freely available for download on a file sharing site at the time, I'm still holding out a tiny thread of hope that maybe a fan who was around back then might have quietly downloaded them and managed to hang onto them for all these years.

I actually did manage to make contact with scaperanya and she graciously granted me permission to use content from the videos that still exist, but she didn't seem to have the missing videos. I don't think she's in the fandom anymore and the videos are almost 18 years old. I also managed to hunt down a couple of the people who commented on her original post, but I couldn't track down very many of them and I haven't been able to find anyone who still has the files.

A Note for Followers of My Videos

Don't worry, I do have enough SDCC 2007 content already to make a full video. The main set of videos I'm using has a pretty good view of Jensen most of the time. It's just that I could really use more of scaperanya's videos to increase visibility of the other people on the panel. When possible and/or relevant, I have a smaller window in the sidebar showing people who aren't in the main frame. It's similar to what I did for SDCC 2008, but without the perpetually collapsing bubbles. I have now managed to muster up enough sense to not make the windows round! Also, the audio in this panel is reaaaaallly bad at times, so another audio source would be a huge help for the subtitling endeavor.

Contact Methods and Logistics

Feel free to contact me however you feel comfortable, whether in response to this post or via another method. Private messages are fine, and you can also e-mail me at DetailTilted@gmail.com.

If you're concerned about the logistics of how to share the files, I usually use WeTransfer.com which allows limited free transfers. You input the person's e-mail address you want to share the files with and attach your files. It will automatically upload your files and send the person an e-mail with a link to download them. The other person will see your e-mail address, so you'd want to use an address you're comfortable sharing with me or else create a new one. If you have another preferred file sharing service, I'm definitely happy to work with that. I just wanted to explain one way it could work for people who have never shared large files before. I know sometimes I'm reluctant to offer to do something I don't know how to do for fear it will turn into a major ordeal that I don't have time for. Transferring files this way is actually super simple.

If I can answer any other questions, just let me know. I do not pester people, so if you contact me with questions and then decide not to do it and I never hear from you again (or even if I do), I promise I won't follow up and bug you about it.

Relogs for Visibility Greatly Appreciated!

I'd be greatly appreciative of anyone willing to reblog this to help increase visibility. This is my last ditch effort before I give up and declare it a lost cause.

[brucewaynehater101]

can we have chaos gremlin Tim Drake fic recs pls? 🥺

Hullo 👋

Here's some fics where Tim is a bit unhinged. I copied and pasted the summaries the author did:

Tim’s quest to bring Bruce back from his Time-Travel-Super-Vacation goes horribly topsy-turvey when Ra's takes a more pro-active approach to keeping Tim prisoner, and he ends up in an alternate universe where he never existed, and everybody is disorientingly well-adjusted and weirdly obsessed with his “wellness”, whatever that means.

Tim is a clone, Young Justice has a new BFF, and Batman's adoption tendency has been sledgehammered with Post-Ethiopia grief, which means the JLA is now in charge of a miniature Batman despite almost none of them being parents. This can't end badly, can it?

When Tim is 11 he figures it’s not hurting anyone if he. Ya know. Takes a picture in the Batmobile. But then the power goes to his head and all of a sudden he’s hacking the Batmobile and tearing through Gotham on a rescue mission.

Tim Drake fucks around with the timestream and finds out. Now, he has to suddenly deal with a baby face, his family (and hiding from them), the loss of his precious middle child status and the burgeoning realisation that Damian is taller than him.

Beneath Gotham there is something. Anyone who spends time with their feet on the ground can tell you that much. At the surface level it's goons and scared street kids. Beneath them are the sewers, haunted by endless appetites and the scraping of hide against stone. Beneath that is glowing green, craving warmth of blood and rage, hunting for its host. And even further beneath that is something other. Above Gotham there is something. Anyone who spends time in the city can tell you that much. In the shadows of tall buildings or on outcrops of stone there was movement. Flashes of color or shadows taken form. Ever watchful eyes following the movement of the cities beating heart.

He hadn’t been prepared to take on Red Hood in Titans’ Tower. No, Tim had fought cleanly. Fair. But he wasn’t in the business of making the same mistakes twice. And the Red Hood? Well… Jason Todd should have stayed dead.

On a boring night, Tim and Steph discuss their most favorite and stupid yellow-press headlines. Years later, it gives Damian the chance to witness the true unhinged potential of one Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne

Talia doesn't tell Damian his father's name before sending him off to Gotham. This sets off a series of events that no one could have predicted. On an unrelated note, Tim has always wanted to be a big brother

The kid in civvies knocking on the door to his apartment shrieks Jason's name and launches himself at Jason, who catches him on reflex. He realizes it's the Replacement at the same time he notices the kid is so tiny he could barely pass for twelve, let alone fourteen. "Jason," his Replacement mumbles again into his chest, and Jason finally regains the presence of mind to move them backwards into the apartment. If he's murdering the kid now, better to do it with privacy.

Hal Jordan finds a tiny child in the Watchtower, and appropriately decides he should not be there. Robin has other ideas.

Last one: The series "Bird's Night Out" by Calamityjim. Basically, chaotic Robin rivalry with Red Hood

[miqo-tales]

A tiny primer on FFXI, pt 1

With 7.1 approaching next month and with it the Final Fantasy XI alliance raid, I wanted to put something together for FFXIV players that never played the previous FF MMO.

As long as this may end up being, I promise it's not actually going into a whole lot of detail. It's more so to give a general idea of the setting, the different races, and some plot details.

THE WORLD

Final Fantasy XI takes place in the world of Vana'diel, and primarily in what's known as the Middle Lands, composed of the two continents of Quon and Mindartia, and the two islands of Elshimo and Kuzotz. Later expansions feature the lands of Aradjiah to the east, and the western continent of Ulbuka. And there's... other places.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

According to legend, the Ancients tried to reach Paradise, but were rejected and their civilization destroyed. The Goddess Altana wept at the devastation, and five of her tears created the enlightened races. Disguested at her weakness, the God of Twilight, Promathia, cursed the five races by bringing out their darkest emotions and dooming them to eternal conflict.

There are five playable races a player can choose. One interesting difference between FFXI and FFXIV is that the different races in FFXI also have different stats, representing their different characteristics. Fortunately, it doesn't limit what jobs they can be or how effective they are, as gear and gear-swapping can cover a lot of holes.

Minor edit: So FFXIV apparently has stat differences for different races and clans as well. Still, I feel pretty confident saying the FFXI stat differences were far more significant in comparison. If for no other reason than the effect on HP and MP pools. But again, gear, gear-swapping, and player skill make up for it.

Hume - your standard Human race. Hume's are well known for being extremely adaptable. Balanced stats.

Galka - a male-only race with large bodies and incredible strength. Similar to Roegadyn in some ways, but they also have large tails. They reproduce through reincarnation, and the newly reborn Galka has no memories of their past life. However, one Galka, called the Talekeeper, retains all the memories of every Galka's past lives for the last two centuries. Highest HP and VIT, lowest MP.

Mithra - similar to Miqo'te, but Mithra are a bit more cat-like. Alternatively, you could say they are like smaller, slimmer Hrothgar. Only female Mithra are playable (males do exist, but they are extremely rare, and only one ever shows up in-game). Highest DEX and AGI, tied with Galka for lowest CHR.

Elvaan - similar to Elezen, and I'd say specifically to Duskwight Elezen. Elvaan are tall, strong, (dark-skinned!) and super proud. Highest STR and MND, lowest DEX, AGI, and INT.

Tarutaru - similar to Lalafell, but even shorter and with dark brown noses. Tarutaru are intelligent and naturally gifted with magic, even at a young age. Highest INT and MP, lowest HP and STR.

THE MAIN NATIONS

Player characters can start in one of three nations: the Kingdom of San d'Oria, the Republic of Bastok, or the Federation of Windurst. Unlike FFXIV, each nation has its own quest storyline dealing with issues within that specific nation.

San d'Oria - a nation of Elvaan ruled by the d'Oraguille royal family. It's located in the northern part of Quon, and well known for its knights. (If you thought Ishgardians were pompous and arrogant, hoo boy, you've clearly never been to San d'Oria.) San d'Oria used to be a really major power, but then they tried going to war against the other two nations. We'll just say it did not go well for them.

Bastok - a democratic nation located in the south of Quon. It was founded by Hume miners and grew into a nation of mining, crafting, and technology, and is where you find Cid. Galka later settled in Bastok after being forced from their homeland by Anticans. For various reasons, there's a lot of tension between Humes and Galka in the city.

Windurst - a nation of magic, located at the southern edge of Mindartia. It was founded by tribes of Tarutaru, and at one point conquered most of the Middle Lands. Mithra also live here, acting as hunters and a sort of independent military force. Windurst has a truce with the Yagudo, a bird-like race, but it's arguably not a favorable one.

Jeuno - located at a central point between Quon and Mindartia and bridging the two continents, the Grand Duchy of Jeuno is the central point of trade for the Middle Lands, and currently the only nation with control of airships. It has a massive amount of economic and political power, but also declared itself to be neutral. Gameplay-wise, Jeuno is a key spot for several different storylines, and is where players get their chocobo license, their airship pass, and is the central airship hub.

[is-today-tomorrow-in-nz]

the darkling had a lot of repetitive phrases he used when he was manipulating people. this has been said before, but he says “you and i are going to change the world.” a LOT. like bro please get a new line we’re all tired of your bullshit he also uses the argument of grisha aging against people. he points out to alina that she’ll outlive mal, and points out to nikolai that zoya will outlive him. in both of these situations, he wanted the couples separated. he kept scaring them by making them think of losing each other. and idk i think that’s interesting.

i didn’t even like darklina in the beginning of the first book 1) age difference(he states he super old at the start, the worst part is he’s MUCH older than the age he lies about)2) he was being all mysterious and vague about how the little palace and grisha fit into alina’s life3) he seemed to be avoiding confrontation from alina when she asked him questions. ik that’s mostly because he was lying out of his ass but he was still leaving alina guessing pointlessly in the dark and let alina feel like an outsider. he was giving ALL the red flags even at the very start . But seriously, the two interacted a tiny bit in the first book (and that ended with him stealing her power and taking ownership of her), barely at all in the second, (and even that was just a whole lot of the Darkling being a creep and stalking on her, giving her mental trauma) and a tiny bit more in the third. (In which the Darkling killed several of her loved ones, destroyed her childhood home, and in turn, Alina killed him)

Just wanna say I'm not Anti darklina. I just want to khnow what do you think about this stupid fans :)))

Before I start, I want you to know that I'm staunchly anti-darklina and not for the reasons you think.

I hate Alina as a character and I believe the Darkling deserves a better partner than that village idiot. So don't expect any sympathies from me for her or for her 'trauma'. S&B is a chosen one trope and Alina is a stagnant protagonist. She had no thoughts beside Mal for THREE WHOLE BOOKS. And before you pile on me screaming, 'She's a teenager!', I'd like to point out that so was Katniss, Harry, Hermione, Percy and several other YA protagonists and they all did remarkably well in their quests. Where as Alina is a boring, judgmental and doormat of a character with air between her ears. So no, she's not going to receive any grace from me.

Now repeating phrases is a crime? Did Nikolai not have one? or did you forget about 'When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable.' or 'I love it when you quote me.'. I believe even Kaz had one. Somehow it's just a problem when the Darkling does it; that too he did like TWICE and to two people.

Besides, this whole, Zoya was also conveniently manipulated by the evil villain and was a victim too, was one of the most BS thing LB had ever written. And please, don't pretend like LB doesn't retcon her own stories. Eg. Genya's power was so rare in Book 1 that no one could do what she does till LB needed someone to disguise Nikolai. Suddenly, the Bataar twins could do it too. And by Six of Crows, even a poorly trained, fresh out of school Nina could tailor anybody like a piece of cake(not talking about the parem!Nina). Yeah, that's how much she retcons. So I'm no way believing that suddenly Zoya became so special to the Darkling that he said 'You and I are going to change the world'. Aleksander was like 500-700 years old and for an immortal like him, Zoyas were a dime and a dozen.

Zoya was the result of LB shooting her own foot by writing a stagnant character like Alina. So once LB got rid of her, she needed a new character every bit opposite to Alina-a confident girl boss who makes grown men quiver and yet every man would fall at her feet and bend over backwards to accommodate her. And voila! Zoya was born with the perfect amount of toxic girlboss energy and temper to bring down storms. Plus don't you think Zoya's entire character backstory is copy paste of Danny from GoT?

Anyways, coming back. When Aleksander was pointing out the mortality of their relationships, he was telling the truth. So is he supposed to just sugar coat things to the people who destroyed everything he built? Is he supposed to be nice to them? You seem to have a problem when he hides the truth and also have a problem when he tells them. So…

Coming to your other points;

1) Age difference - In real life, I strongly condemn it. But in this case, it's not like he was asking for it. Sure, Aleksander would love to have age appropriate relationships with someone mature enough to understood the struggles of Grisha. However, he can't because THEY'RE ALL DEAD, unlike him. So what is an immortal being supposed to do? Remain celibate for the rest of eternity?

2)I don't know how old you are but I'm going to assume you're working individual. So every time you have new coworker in your office, you'll spill out all your secrets to them right off the bat? Do you confess your sins and desires to them? Seek their forgiveness? Or beg for their acceptance?

See how silly it sounds? You're holding Aleksander to standard that you, yourself won't practice in real life. Aleksander is not a love sick boy, he's an experienced army general and Alina never earned his trust. You don't even have to look far and wide; Book 1, chapter 5 gives every info you need to know. He told her the reality and as usual it went past her. So no, there were no red flags. Your girl was just that stupid.

And when exactly did he make her feel like an outsider? Please, he never have to gaslight Alina, she can do that all by herself. Besides, did he stop her from training? or mingling with Grisha? Or let other Grisha mistreat her? She never opened her heart enough to actually learn about any Grisha. She even forwent eating at the common table after a few days. Even simple banter like Marie talking in Suli, was offensive and indirect hit on her worthlessness in Alina's eyes. And when she asked Genya to eat with her and Genya tried to explain why she can't, Alina's response was, 'I'm not going to weep into my soup.' She thought they were all mocking her. So how exactly Aleksander play in role into making her feel insecure? She had a major main character syndrome and was in a perpetual state of victimhood. Whatever she felt, I assure you, she did it herself.

Finally, he did not take ownership of her. He learned that she never could be trusted and used her as a weapon. He had bigger things at stake than an idiot's sensitivities. So he made sure the trigger for her powers lies with him. It's a trolley problem and I agree with what he did. In Book 2&3, Alina was his enemy, in case you missed that bit.

Once again, Aleksander is not a teenage boy. He's an army general fighting an active war. If you cannot understand the ugliness of war then you can never understand him. There's a duality to every great leader. Winston Churchill was a war hero but he also caused one of the greatest famines in India that killed nearly 4 million people. So make of it what you will.

PS: If you're the anon who has been spamming Pro-Darkling bloggers these past two days, then this would be the last time, I'm responding to you. You claim you're not against the Darkling and then bring up the same three talking points like every other anti. So I'd appreciate if you could stick to your side of the fandom. However, if you're not, then this is not directed at you and I was not trying to offend you.

[ckret2]

who were your 3 previous blorbos that you mentioned in your reblog about the most compelling emotions to give characters (I've only been following this account since after TBoB dropped lol)

(For context anon is asking about this post where I said in the tags that I'd inserted loneliness in 3 of my last 4 blorbos as the primary most compelling additional emotion, and then Bill got loneliness but also a bunch of other fresh new horrible emotions.)

Okay, in chronological order, my past 4 Top Blorbos that I decided to headcanon "I bet deep down they're devastatingly lonely and it's gonna be fascinating to write about":

1. Ghidorah specifically from the 2014 legendary continuity of Godzilla movies.

In King of the Monsters, Ghidorah is an alien monster that, as far as anyone can tell, mainly just wants to destroy Earth.

In various different Godzilla continuities, Ghidorah is: 1) an alien with a history of planet-devastation who travels between worlds encased in a meteor; 2) mind-controlled by a multitude of alien species for the purpose of planet-devastation; 3) made into a giant monster out of three tiny harmless innocent pets for the purpose of nation-devastation; and 4) unlike most other Godzilla monsters, completely friendless and without allies, except for the one time they and Gigan were mind-controlled together.

So I stuck that all together and went "what if they were created by aliens out of three pets for the purpose of planet-devastation, but they escaped and now wander aimlessly between planets destroying them wherever they go because after being used as an apocalypse machine that's the only thing they know how to do, and they've never had any friends or allies except for a brief stint working alongside Gigan?"

And spending an eternity flying from planet to planet without meeting anybody just to destroy it and move on sounds like a very lonely existence.

2. Alastor Hazbin, based solely on the pilot ep & the comic, since that was what was released when I was in the fandom.

He's a superpowered serial killer best known for going on a rampage that devastated the city like 90 years ago; he's also extremely gregarious, charming, and chatty. He tries to strike up conversations with everyone everywhere he goes, and everybody is terrified of him. I think he's a guy that NEEDS a social circle of like 100 friends to feel fulfilled, and when we meet him in show he has like, 2.8 friends. Niffty & Husk each count as .4 friends because from the pilot we can't tell if they're actually friends or if they wouldn't have anything to do with him if they didn't owe him.

Plus he fits into a very specific character archetype that I'm fond of, which is: super powerful super competent guy, unparalleled in his field, desperately bored (& depressed) because he's conquered all challenges and is craving something, ANYTHING to give him mental stimulation, and thus is pursuing more & more dangerous or stupid quests when we meet him in canon; doesn't realize that his "boredom" is actually loneliness and the real cure for his misery is getting emotionally close to other people and getting involved in their lives, something he'd previously shunned during his monomaniacal quest to become The Best.

3. Biiiiiiill Cipher! You came in with TBOB, I don't need to say a lot about this.

He's surrounded by people who worship, adore, and fear him, but emotionally intimate with none of them. He has lots of friends but none of them are real friends, because he can't be open, honest, & vulnerable with them (he doesn't even know how), and because he's closed himself off to the needs of anybody else in return and can only see the people around him as obstacles or resources.

He desperately craves attention because he desperately craves love, but when he gets attention & love, he's lacking whatever it is he needs to feel like he's loved, and so he always needs more.

And that's just one of the many, many things that are Wrong With Him.

4. And the current hyperfixation taking over my life, Aku from Samurai Jack.

He's created as an adult, super-powered and already knowing all about the world around him, as the only being of his kind. His first interaction is thanking his creator for making him, only to be told his creator intended to destroy him and then he gets attacked.

He single-handedly (single-handedly! by himself!!) conquers most of the world; the only minions he has during this time are temporary shadow-things he makes out of his own essence. When he decides solo conquest is taking him too long, he gets an army of unfeeling robots.

There's no evidence he has any friends, allies, lovers—any positive relationships except for a smattering of loyal underlings. Most underlings obey him out of fear. He spends most of his time alone; his socialization comes from hiring mercenaries and from visitors who have come to grovel before the leader of the world in hopes of currying his favor. When he's emotionally struggling, he'd rather split into two people and pretend to be his own therapist than talk to somebody else about his problems. In a side comic of dubious canonicity, he claims that he's not alone thanks to the presence of a guy questing to murder him who hates his guts.

Maybe he doesn't care! Maybe in the little The Sims user interface hovering over his life and showing his needs, he doesn't have a social meter that needs filling. He's never acted lonely.

But I think it's juicier to imagine that's because he doesn't know how lonely he is because he's never had so much as a glimpse of the alternative.

In spite of being proudly evil, when his oppressed subjects start looking to Jack as a hero, Aku's immediate desire isn't for them to stop believing a hero could save them; it's for them to see him as their hero.

[gingersnaptaff]

So you want to read The Mab? - Mabinogion March Madness 2 or how, where, why u should read this fine collection of Welsh myths

So, The Mabinogion, also known as The Mabinogi (which is the more correct version), is a collection of eleven (sometimes 12 tales if you include The Tale of Taliesin but that was added later) mythological tales. The meaning of the title - Mabinogi - is beat translated into Boys' Tales, although it wasn't what they were named at the time they were written down, but by Lady Charlotte Guest when she first translated them. Two copies of the Mabinogi exist - The White Book of Rhydderch and The Red Book of Hergest - and the two are thought to descend from a common ancestor (now lost, sadly.)

Now, the main tales are The Four Branches of The Mabinogi. (Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi) They revolve around one character - Pryderi ap Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed - and tell of his birth (Branch 1), life (Branches 2 and 3), and eventual death (Branch 4). There are also three Arthurian Romances (Geraint ac Enid, Peredur, and Owain/The Lady of the Fountain), another Welsh Arthurian quest in the form of Culhwch ac Olwen, The Dream of Rhonabwy (which is the same self-insert fanfic of Dante's Inferno if it were Welsh and King Arthur adjacent), The Dream of Macsen Wledig (what happens if Tinder was through dreams), and Lludd and Llefelys (a brotherly caper feat. DRAGONS). The Tale of Taliesin - when it's included (for example the Thomas and Thomas edition has it, Sioned Davies' doesn't) - tells the story about Wales' most mythologised bard (and my mortal enemy).

And, uh, you might wanna read 'em so lemme yap about them.

Charlotte Guest's translation is the most accessible. You can find it here:

For me, it's okay. It's heavily Victorianised so there is that but I cannot slag it off. Without Lady Guest's work, The Mab would've probably never've been translated, which does sound incredibly reductive. But to an English-speaking audience, it's so important that Wales' myths exist. I can't tell you how fuckin important these tales are. They're our culture all written down in a book. A tiny fuckin book (The White and Red books are actually quite large but ehhh) contains these stories and I'm ehdjdjdj I GO CRAZY.

ANYWAYS, moving on: You got Thomas and Thomas translation which does include The Tale of Taliesin!!! Gwyn Thomas was the second National Poet of Wales and he, along with Thomas Jones, a scholar whose main interest lay in Middle Welsh prose, translated the Mab in the 1930's. This one was hugely fuckin popular! It's the one I grew up on before Sioned Davies slammed her fist into my face. It's also been illustrated TWICE (thrice, if u count Kevin Crossley Holland and Gwyn Jones' retelling). Once by Alan Lee and once by Margaret Jones. (Too many Joneses. But Jones is just a stupidly popular surname in Wales.)

Next up: SIONED DAVIES. My personal go-to, fuckin amazing. It's of handy dandy footnotes. This one doesn't contain The Tale of Taliesin but it does contain all the other 11 stories as well as a pronunciation guide and a map illustrating Wales at the time. Please don't buy the audiobook though. It's crap. If you prefer audiobooks might I suggest:

Jeffrey Gantz's translation read by Gwyneth Keyworth. This one is the newest translation as came out in 2013 whereas Davies' came out in 2007. Gwyneth has such a fuckin lovely voice and I genuinely can't stop listening. Matt Addis also has a superb voice although his audiobook uses Lady Charlotte Guest's version and consequently a lot of the names have been anglicised (Gwenhwyfar becomes Guinevere. Ugh.)

If you're after either the Jones and Jones version or the Davies version then @queer-ragnelle has them on her Arthurian Preservation Project website. You'll find them under the Welsh section!!!!

All of them are super good and I encourage you to READ THEM. READ READ READ!!!!! You can discover how King Arthur loves a boat more than his wife, how Lludd has to stay in a barrel overnight, how Pwyll nearly fumbles the most loveliest woman in the land, how Aranrhod needs a holiday, and Manawydan!!!!! MANAWYDAN!!!!!!!! GO GO GO GO!!!!

[floral-comet-whump]

consider institutionalized living weapon whump. mmmm. I will now explain this autism fueled hyperfixation that has been going on and off for me in the last 3-5 years

content warnings (all fictional): general whump stuff, child abuse, child soldiers, living weapon whump (kinda), conditioning, discussion of genshin impact (since I'm not tagging this post as genshin in fear of normal genshin likers on tumblr stumbling onto whump and not knowing what it is, therefore whump likers who dislike genshin and have the tags blocked would still view this (maybe. idk how tag filtering works)), multiple whumpers/carewhumpers, multiple whumpees, fantasy whump, briefly mentioned eating disorder

OKAY so back at like 2020 or 2021 I was ACTIVE in the genshin rp scene and one of my friends made a fatui oc that, due to being the only survivor of a snow blizzard, was adopted into the fatui and raised to be a soldier! also this was before inazuma's release so shoutout to [unnamed bc we fell out of touch so I don't know if they'd like to be named] for predicting the house of the hearth!

anyways their oc was not only an absolute BANGER, but also sparked what I now realize was whumperflies in 14 yo me! so I copied it with my own oc. also had the stellar idea to think that if [friend's oc] was integrated, why not make it a whole program? badabim badaboom fatui orphanage. I shit you not the first thing I came up with is that the rejects get sent to dottore

uhhhh as stuff came out and someone leaked a fatui orphanage then the secret shrine maiden quest came out I TWEAKED. my oc got updates. leaks about lyney (and lynette) being from the hoth(house of the hearth) brought me back after I'd gotten bored. I desperately held myself back from telling everyone their surnames. I listened to their leaked voicelines. I read their stories.

it was not as bad as I envisioned in my head. fym arlecchino saved them!! white knight white knight!!! fym they're not sleeper agents!!!! fym freminet has a job he enjoys that is in no way related to the fatui?!!?!!! free time and healthy hobbies on my extremely fanonized interpretation of a fictional orphanage we previously only had teeny tiny crumbs about?!?!?!!!;1!?!

arlecchino releasing made me fully give up on the vision I'd originally had on the hoth. I generally do actually like the canon hoth, but I was super attached to this whole miniature concept I'd invented and shared with so many people.

so I'm making my own child soldier orphanage!!!

CONSIDER CHILD SOLDIERS IN WHUMP. WITH CONDITIONING. consider telling children that have nowhere else to go (and whumper KNOWS they have nowhere else to go) they can either join the military or continue whatever they were doing. consider training and conditioning them. consider reminding them where they'd be, had carewhumper not taken them in. consider "letting them off easy" via punishment, or threatening to put them to other use.

consider teaching those children happy lies of doing good, and shattering that reality when they dare be ungrateful and try to run away. consider always making the expectations on them clear. consider the bonds these children will form both with each other and carewhumpers. parental whump my beloved. consider living weapon whumpee that isn't an on-field combatant. consider living weapon whumpee who's allowed to be a person as a reward.

consider living weapon whumpee who was previously rescued from a different kind of whumper and is just perfect for molding into a killing machine. consider orphans children willingly volunteering for the military because the program is well known. consider generations upon generations of this where previous whumpees retire to work in the same orphanage so that they'll never have to move out, prolonging the cycle of violence with promises of family. and that family isn't even false, just conditional.

whumpee who was rescued from a vampire thrall trade and is constantly reminded where they would've been had carewhumpers not been so generous as to rehabilitate them. ungrateful little thing, always reacting so slow, cowering from the vampires the carewhumpers have taken in as if they're the same one, either hoarding food or immediately wolfing it down.

whumpee who was abandoned as a child and came in to a place they knew they'd be accepted, but gradually realized the danger behind it and tried escaping. they were brought back and thoroughly disciplined. it's obvious that they're using a facade once one simply reads their file or asks them, but that doesn't matter so long as they're obedient.

a whumpee turned carewhumper that sees nothing wrong with what they're doing. they were raised this way, and though it was very scary, so is life in general. they certainly wouldn't have survived in this world without this orphanage, and much less by being coddled. the children brought here have all had difficult experiences that have scarred them, they can't be treated like normal kids.

that's all the ocs I have thought up for it rn soz

yeah!! will also be in a typical high fantasy setting because I prefer it a whole lot more.

I'm honestly unsure of what to call this thing. I can't really go with the house of the hearth. at some point I internally called it erysimum institute because I read destroyer and the name beldam institute just sounds rlly catchy. also erysimums symbolize faith in unfortunate situations which I think fits perfectly. but the loneliness/shyness part of wallflowers (a prominent type of erysimum) is a little less fitting.

I'll definitely change the name because I want it to be as original as it can be!! probably to some kind of flower meaning rebirth or smt but idk.

p.s: it would have art!!!

[not-a-space-alien]

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Chapter 1

Story Masterpost

My writing hiatus is OVER!!! I'm super excited to come back and share this Baldur's Gate 3 fanfiction I've been working on. It will have 6-7 chapters. The main focus is on Astarion. Karlach is also here a lot, and Wyll and Gale are supporting characters. It will also have elements of giant/tiny for the middle chapters!

You can probably figure out from context clues, but the setting for this fic is a playthrough universe where the party does NOT do Astarion's personal quest in act 3.

If you'd like to be tagged when new chapters come out, leave a comment or message me to say so and I'll put you on the taglist :) Or Subscribe over on AO3 （＾∀＾) 👉 AO3

Chapter 1 doesn't have any warnings besides typical Astarion-levels of angst.

***

“We'll do it after all this, Fangs. I promise.”

They wouldn't, of course. Astarion knew better than that.  They weren’t going to help him kill Cazador to be finally free once and for all “after all this crazy shit with Netherbrains and mind flayers and tadpoles and the world-destroying cult is over.”  They were just telling him whatever it took to get what they wanted out of him, which was his help in defeating said cult.  Astarion was very familiar with it because it was how he operated basically all the time, just telling people what they wanted to hear.

If they were all still alive and standing after all this, Astarion very much doubted any of them would want to keep him around, let alone help him with his goals.  All of them had turned down his offering his body to them, and once they no longer had use of his skills with a blade, there would be nothing to keep them around.  Certainly nothing to motivate them to help him.

Everyone had helped Gale with what he wanted because understanding the Netherese magic might help them destroy the brain.  Everyone helped Wyll with what he wanted because his father was a powerful lord and needed to be saved to stop the Absolute.  Everyone helped Shadowheart with what she wanted because she had that whole thing going on with Aylin and Selûne, which they’d needed to do to defeat Ketheric anyway.  Everyone helped Lae’zel with what she wanted because she was a gith warrior and an expert in slaying ghaik and knew about the relic and everything.  Everyone helped Karlach with what she wanted to do because, well, Gortash was one of the chosen three and they needed to kill him anyway.  Everyone had helped Jahira and Halsin and Minsc and Minthara and basically everyone Astarion could count until he ran out of fingers to count on.

But then when it came his turn to ask for help?  The way they kept assuring him it was okay to do?

Apparently defeating Cazador wouldn’t help.  It wasn’t necessary.  Because Cazador wasn’t affiliated with the cult, or the hells, or the mind flayers or the tadpoles or the undead or the Sharrans or the anyone that needed to be dealt with to prevent the sky from falling on them.

No, he was only affiliated with Astarion, and of course nobody would die if Astarion kept living in paralyzing fear.

Gale, Lae’zel, Shadowheart, Karlach–they all seemed to agree it could be put off until after the more pressing matters were dealt with.  Astarion maybe thought he hadn’t communicated well enough how pressing this was for him, personally, but he wouldn’t humiliate himself by getting down on his knees to beg.  He stopped asking after that–he couldn’t bear to be told no anymore than he already had.

“My be-fanged friend, I think we have matters a touch more urgent to attend to first.  Your vampiric sire will be top of the list as soon as getting distracted might not have such disastrous consequences.”

“This vampire lord is chraith, for sure, but our most urgent enemy is far more of a task.”

“You helped me with Viconia, so it’s only fair I help you with Cazador–but after the detour to the Sharran temple, I think everyone feels we’ve wasted enough time on things that can wait right now.”

“We'll do it after all this, Fangs. I promise.”

They wouldn’t, of course.  All this momentum that had built up to stop the cult would dissipate as soon as the Netherbrain was destroyed, and then suddenly nobody would have the interest in staying together.  They’d been talking about going their separate ways after this.  Nobody would want to keep going for yet more high-risk hijinks, especially not to help some random vampire spawn who, all things considered, wasn’t even of much value to the group.

He’d managed to get into a group of people who seemed to care about him, who told him it was okay to ask for help, and then he’d found it to be still another lie.

Astarion found the one member of the camp who wouldn’t judge him for it, Scratch, curled up with the dog in his arms, and wept as quietly as he could.

“I’ve had an infinite parade of lovers.  But a friend? I can’t think of a single one.”  He still couldn’t, not anymore. 

***

They did it.  They actually did it.

They’d managed to somehow beat down the cult of the Absolute, face the Absolute itself, and win.  They’d destroyed a netherbrain.  Astarion could hardly believe it.  He was, somehow, a hero who’d saved the world.

He was riding the high and the tidal wave of mixed emotions so much that he’d almost managed to forget about his problem.  He was only forcefully reminded as they stood there on the docks, in the sunlight, and the sunlight, well.

He’d managed to forget that the sunlight was his enemy, waiting with hungry, pricking fingers for him to let his guard down.

He started slapping at his own skin like he was on fire and had to put it out, while his companions stood by in horror and urged him to find cover.

He ran blindly.  It was a miracle he didn't fall off the dock into the water.  Ha managed to find shadows under a pile of crates.

He curled up and rocked himself, trying not to let himself fall back into despair.  His life in the sun was gone, burned up just like the sun had burned his skin.

He could very faintly hear Karlach yelling–apparently she also was getting her reward for all her hard work, which was also burning alive.

What a world.

Astarion managed to use his cloak to shield himself from the sun to move away from his hiding spot and go deeper into the ravaged city.  He wanted to get away from his… companions.  He knew no help was coming, and he wouldn't subject himself to the humiliation of being refused help while also having to hide from the sun.

He had enough gold in his pockets to buy passage on a boat when the sun went down.  He had to just get as far away from Baldur’s Gate as possible.  Get somewhere Cazador wouldn’t be able to reach him. 

It was madness that Astarion hadn’t done that in the first place.  He should have just put as much distance between himself and Cazador the second he was free from his command, consequences and mind flayers be damned.

He skulked about in the darkness of the under-city until it was night, then went up to the docks. His companions were gone, which was good. He couldn't face them.

Now he just needed to find a boat leaving Baldur's Gate, any boat whose crew he could talk to here after hours, maybe talk them into letting him below deck now so he wouldn't have to board later in the sun.

He was so busy frantically stretching his neck to find such a target that he didn't notice the presence at his elbow.  But damn if he didn't recognize the voice.  It was the voice driving his nightmares.

“Where exactly do you think you're going, boy?  I've been looking for you everywhere. We've got places to be."

[imagionationstation]

AskBox game

[Sorry that I sent the request in the wrong way].

You are all good! It happens :p

1) It's from Vision Quest! When Splinter decides that after ghosting his children, he needs to be more literal about it kjhkhkh

2) Turtle Temper when Raph is doing that back talk and Splinter ain't letting him get away with it. I've been there. 👀 When one sibling messes up and a parent snaps, and even though you're not in trouble, your first instinct is to huddle down. I'm so good I prommmyyyy-

3) Also from Vision Quest! Mikeyyyy little man he's so cool watch him in this episode he learns to be still and invisible AHHHH I love this for him. He can be such a boss when he can control the H in the ADHD but basically all ADHD peeps that I know are like that so it's a pretty universal statement XD

4) It's from the Super Shredder! WHAT an episode srsly everytime he gets his hands on Leo- and the leader in blue is so angry and determined until he's in an immeasurable amount of pain like??? Devastating his poor shell this kid deserves a canon hug like c'mon you cannot pretend he just WALKED AWAY FROM THAT- 😭😖💔

5) BABY TURTLES AHHHHHHH BABIES LOOKIT THEM SPLINTER LOVES HIS BABIES SO MUCH HE WOULD DIE FOR THEM oh yeah its Lone Rat and Cubs LIL' GUY TINY GREEN BEANS AAAAAAHHHH

Also can we have a conversation about Donnie seeing the dad that's been dead for three months and he's over here checking his phone-

[hellobitchlet]

Mavuika is the first archon that I genuinely have no interest in whatsoever. Like, no matter how badly written most of the other archons have been (no, it's not just Ei), and no matter how bad some of their designs are, everyone from Venti to Furina have been full of unique, interesting potential, and have a super cool aesthetic.

But Mavuika is just... really boring. At this point, I'm sick and tired of younger archons after getting 2 in a row, and we literally JUST had a 'human' archon. The biggest show of her being the pyro archon is portraying her with fire hair, which is a very stereotypical and overused concept compared to how unique the other archons are.

A big part of this is simply because Natlan itself is pretty boring. I know that I previously complimented Natlan on it's deeper connections to the Abyss, but thinking back on it and everything surrounding Natlan, this whole plotline is pretty...generic? Stereotypical? Compared to literally every other nation. You have a generic chosen hero plotline, and not much else. Yes, the plot of the aq is more connected to the nation's lore than the past couple aq's, but beyond a few small lore reveals, this lore is just re-hashing what we already know about Khaenri'ah, the cataclysm, the Abyss, and ley lines with an uglier coat of paint.

Almost everything in Natlan can be divided into 3 categories;

1- very generic ideas (see: the chosen hero plotline mentioned above)

2- plot points specifically made to copy Khaenri'ah, instead of just... oh idk... giving us actual Khaenri'ah stuff that isn't tiny shreads of info? Maybe?

3- stuff that is way too modern to exist in Genshin (and other cultural inspiration messes)

Mavuika's entire character revolves around the archon quest and stuff surrounding it, just like most of the archons, except that the aq this time around is a very generic hero plotline injected with direct copying of what very little we already know about Khaenri'ah.

[ninadove]

Top 5 Miraculous Episodes?

I’m going to be supremely original with this one.

1. Emotion

Everything about it is perfect. The Diamonds’ Dance. The confirmation that Felix is a mythology nerd. How similar it is to Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, because I have not forgotten my roots. Red Moon. Amelie. Snap of my fingers. The colours and the composition of the shots. Felix being absolutely terrifying. Felix being just a child. Felix being the Lucky Charm’s solution. Felix being so lonely and scared yet so willing to break the cycle of abuse once he recognises it for what it is.

It’s the episode that A. made me insane about Feligami and B. made me insane about the cousins, so you could call it my origin story. If I could change one tiny detail, it would be to give Argos a full transformation sequence — but that’s just me being obsessed!

2. Strikeback & Representation

I really can’t choose between these two.

Strikeback is so!!! Everything!!! I liked Miraculous beforehand, otherwise I wouldn’t have watched four seasons of it, but this is where the insanity began (even though the creative drive only came later). Everything happened so fast and my boy was so smart and resilient and proud of himself! That was all I needed to fall in love. And the Ladynoir of it all! This episode alone made it my favourite side of the Love Square! What an absolute game changer in every way!

But oh, Representation… I’d never felt so much anticipation for an episode before, and it definitely lived up to the hype. Felix as a less innocent, sharper, self-preserving child abuse survivor is very close to my heart, and he gets treated with the utmost compassion by the plot. The play itself was brilliant, of course, the Feligami of it all exquisite, and the construction of the episode — with Felix’s successful quest for freedom contrasting Chat Noir’s defeat against Nightormentor — is free brainworm real estate.

3. Gabriel Agreste & Pretension

Strikeback may be the moment I became insane about Felix, but Gabriel Agreste is the moment I suspected I might eventually become insane about Felix. I came into the study scene having already accepted that he couldn’t figure out Shadow Moth’s identity, that Senti-Gabriel would successfully make him doubt himself and that his akumatised form would be a massive problem for the heroes. So imagine my surprise when he said “Fuck you, actually”, pulled the cleverest stunt on a literal super villain and came out of this little misadventure even more confident in his discovery!!! All while introducing the themes of rebellion and freedom that made me go “Oh??? You’re not afraid of his threats??? You don’t need his powers??? Now you’re speaking my language.”

And Pretension! It has my favourite scene ever — Felix returning Kagami’s amok in the movie theatre, Kagami immediately using her newfound freedom to choose him, you know the drill — and the little speech about how you really shouldn’t abuse your kids, people, which lives in my mind rent-free. I think if I were to get a PhD in one episode, it would be this one… At the end of the day, Pretension is all about unlearning unhealthy behaviours and loving your partner in the way they need to be loved. And isn’t it beautiful? ❤️💜

Thanks for the ask! 💜🦚

[mrs-gauche]

Vows & Vengeance Episode 1

ALRIGHT GUYS! As always, I'm super late to the party (although for once, I actually have a good reason, which is that I'm currently kinda in the middle of renovating my place lol), and while I first listened to the episode on Thursday, I just wanted to let it sink in a bit and listen to it again a few times, to really appreciate all the details. :D So here are a trillion few notes on the first episode (spoiler, I loved it! <3333) and I hope this doesn't sound too jumbled, I haven't had a lot of sleep lately. 😂😂💀💀

- Ok, so my first reaction to the ending was basically: "OH MY GOD NOTHING CAN EVER GO RIGHT", "DAMN THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY" and sobbing for Elio, I guess. lol

- My general thoughts: I loved it!! ❤️❤️❤️ I felt like it was gripping and immersive from the beginning, but also genuinely funny and moving at times! I think this first episode did a good job of setting up the plot, the pacing was good and I'm already invested in the new characters! The sound design and voice acting was top notch (albeit maybe a bit over the top and a little cheesy in a couple of scenes lol) and I absolutely LOVED the little nuggets of the Veilguard soundtrack we got throughout (Zimmer and Balfe confirmed!!). There are a few tiny nitpicks, but overall this was fantastic and correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never heard of a game being marketed with an audio drama before? 😂 But looking at Dragon Age's amazing voice cast (and the fact that they all made us develop a voice kink lmao), this makes so much sense and I need like a hundred more of these in the future. lol

Notes on the episode itself:

- The narrator reminds me so much of the ones in these old anime dubs. I was expecting him to be like "LAST TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z". He got lost in the wrong dragon franchise. lol Really cool voice though!

- I LOOVE how it starts off with a minute of just the ambient sounds, chatters and music of the tavern, to really get that immersion, as if you just walked into this place yourself. - That new rendition of "Oh Grey Warden" hit me in the feels ngl.. ;-;

- Nadia just walking it and poisoning Olen to get answers was such a badass introduction to our main character! - I like how the narrative is neatly tied together by making this a retelling of what happened, starting off with loads of questions and by the end we're back in the present again.

- Nadia and Elio are so sweet nawww <3333 - Those sounds of Elio waking Nadia up were straight up ASMR. lol - The tune that's playing in the back here is sooo nice, I wonder if it's part of the new Love theme or something. 🥹❤️

- A sort of forbidden love between Liberati and Altus, oh this better end f*cking well!! 💀💀💀 - Well, that birthday got cancelled REAL fast. lol - I get Nadia's outbreak, but DAMN, she went OFF on him from like 0 to 100 in a heartbeat. lmao I guess something was bottling up for quite some time. - "I'm sorry" Oh no. I notice a certain pattern. *sob* - Again, that track that's playing here, wooow. Goosebumps! It's a super tragic rendition of the main theme. I just know this one's gonna hit so hard whenever that plays in Veilguard. 😭

- I wonder if the docks here are the same we've seen in screenshots. :3 - The soundtrack that's playing here reminds me SO MUCH of Unravel (one of my favorite tracks in recent years! <3333) - I like Nadia and Vik's dynamic. Super authentic. :D

- Nadia's reaction to the gold and then "TRIPLE the bag for delivery??" Yeah, Solas truly is the richest apostate hobo in all of Thedas. Those vaults from Trespasser come in handy now. Good thing the currency of old Elvhenan is apparently still valid. lol - Solas' quest of collecting every ancient powerful artifact continues. - Isn't this like the second time now that Solas indirectly hired someone to break into the Archives? lol They really need to improve that security. (Watch there being a quest in Veilguard where you have to break in there again, but it's impossible due to the amounts of guards now and Solas is like "Yeah, that might be my fault, sorry." lol)

- Super random thought, but judging by the sound design, there's gotta be lots of chickens running around in the streets of Minrathous. lol - NEVE!! <3333 (I'm sorry to anyone who had the wildest conspiracy theories about that teaser image and was expecting someone else. lmao) - So, wait. Does that mean Solas also anticipated Neve to talk to Elio? Or maybe someone else was supposed to do that but Neve got there first? lol

- Nadia and Vik have got to be the noisiest thieves I've ever heard. LMAO HOW did you manage to steal anything until now?? 💀💀💀 - I love how you keep hearing Vik laughing in the distance while distracting the guards. lol

- I wonder if all the turmoil could have been avoided if they just informed Elio about his ancestor's connection to the Eye and the Venatori from the get go. I guess he needed that push of knowing to never be able to return to his life in Tevinter to go along with it, but.. *sigh* poor Elio. - "I trust you." UHGGHH We were on the right track there. 😭😭 - That music AGAIN?? Chilllls!! - Nadia just casually destroying hundreds of years worth of relics. Love it. lol - "FLAME BLAST!!" Oh, this is so anime. lmaoo - Elio going from "WE'RE NOT DOING THIS" to fully enjoying beating up templars and go full criminal in a matter of seconds as soon as he sees his girl in her element. He loves her so much. <33

- "Who's the hat?" lol - That groan after the Dread Wolf name drop? Yeah, that was actually me. lmao - So, I assume this also ties in with Neve already knowing about Solas and his shenanigans in Minrathous when she met Varric in The Missing. Maybe it was this very incident that Neve was talking about? - Noooo, Vik!! 😭😭 (I knew you for like five minutes, but you made in impact. lol) - Sooo... I take it these "assassins" were actually Venatori, since they were the ones going after the Eye in the first place? Or am I stupid now? - "The eye went boom!" Love that delivery. lol - "She's trying to freeze the bay!" Yeah, Neve just DID that. What a boss. - "An elf with a fancy tongue." Oh, I know who THAT is. lmao

- "Me and you." 😭😭😭😭 You two are killing me. - That motif AGAIN. 😭😭😭😭😭 - Oh, for fuck's SAKE. Solas really always has the best flippin timing. They're all sweet and loving and here goes our disaster man "I'm about to ruin this couple's day so good." 💀💀💀 It's her BIRTHDAY, dammit!! - "Ominous looking chap in the road" lmao All I could think of there was THIS (for anyone who gets the reference LMAO)

- How is it that I knew he would appear in this episode from the teaser, and yet I still freaked out so hard. lmaoo After such a long time, it's like any second of new Solas content makes my heart skip a beat (or several). 😭😭 I still can't believe we're getting all this. 🥹

- Look, I may be a Solasmancer and have my biases, but godDAMN.. GDL is so good. HE IS SO GOOD. That Welsh accent. That rolling lilt. A voice like velvet that can be both so smooth and so sharp. There is just something about his performance that has you on the edge of your seat every time he's talking and I looove these little moments when you can so clearly hear that cheeky little smile in his voice. 💜

And it's so nice to hear him talk so calmly (well, at first at least lol) and kinda playful again, opposed to how super anxious he sounds at the beginning of Veilguard. 🥺 It's kinda interesting to compare this performance with DAI now, because now he's fully embracing the Dread Wolf role, and I keep thinking this is him after being isolated for the past ten years. ;-;

- Anway, so Nadia "unknowingly employed by the Dread Wolf" gets her pay from Richie Rich and girl, that would've been the moment to LEAVE. *sob* - "What other choice do we have?" Well, I dunno, RUN?? lmao - *chuckles* "I will demonstrate." Alright, I'm dead. Why did you say it like THAT? T_____T - Hearing Solas talk in elven after so long.. Dead again. Overkill. And yes, he's saying the exact same thing he said to Sera once. No, we don't know what it means. lol Maybe Sera IS actually an ancient magical artifact and he tried to trigger.. something. lol - That whole flippin dialogue. Solas please stop talking like an old witch trying to lure her prey into her lair. 💀 - "I do not play games." *screaming* - Honestly, I was like "NOOO WHY would you GO with himmm" but then I remembered, SHIT I WOULD FOLLOW HIM ANYWHERE. Hell, I *HAVE* followed him anywhere. To Hell and back. 💀💀💀💀💀 - Solas' persuasion game is at maximum at all times.

- "Energy is neither dark nor light." Speak for yourself, Trickster God of In Between. - "It is the Fade. The Veil is fragile here."

- Solas finally gets to answer questions again, but Nadia is rude about it. 😂 Solas slightly approves AND disapproves. lol - "Kindly remove your blade from my neck."

- Those damn Venatori at it AGAIN with their hunt for magical McGuffins. After TN and the Missing, I'm starting to believe that is all Solas did in the last ten years, snatching one deadly toy out of the their hands after another. lmao - "And it is up to me to ensure we arrive at the best possible outcome." Oh, we're so doomed. - "You're sharper than you let on." Here we go again with the backhanded compliments. lol Ohhh, how I missed it.

"Some people confuse a reckoning as an ending." "I seek... regeneration."

Holy shit. The voice. The long pause. The delivery of that last line. Shivers down my spine. It feels eerie. Like he sounds.. desperate.. and maybe a little.. insane? lmao (That's how you start to talk if you've been separated from your soulmate for ten years 💔💔💔)

Ok look, I've seen a TON of people thinking that, because of the way he says this and him using the word "reckoning" ("For a reckoning that will shake the very heavens"), this HAS to be whatever part he took of Mythal speaking now that has taken over his mind or something. But.. I don't think so? lol

I honestly think this is just Solas who, after a thousand years of preparing to "heal" the world again that he broke, even after admitting to himself that this world and its people are in fact real and he has to destroy it, is SO close to getting there now and there's NO ONE who could possibly understand him or how he truly feels or what any of this or the Blights/Titans/spirits/gods/Veil even truly ARE, so no WONDER he sounds a little f*cking unhinged. 💀💀💀

The choice of words is very interesting though.. "Regeneration" is not something he has ever used, BUT it immediately made me think of the line "But still, some hope remains for restoration" in Trespasser. This is what google tells me:

Regeneration represents a form of upgrade from restoration. If restoration means ���to make something well again,” regeneration, for some authors, means “to make it better” than a (supposed) origin condition.

Regeneration: "a renewal or restoration of a body, bodily part, or biological system (such as a forest) after injury or as a normal process/ or a spiritual renewal or revival"

You know.. if I read "restoration of a bodily part or biological system", you know what's the first thing that comes to my mind yet AGAIN.

Look, that Titan's body is SPLIT IN HALF and we know that this was kinda the catalyst for everything Solas did back then, so... I'll just leave that here and listen to rest of the episode now. lmaoo

- "And the eye will make us fix that?" "More or less." dksdjjgdkfvlf THE SMILE IN HIS VOICE. What does that even MEAN? What do you MEEEAN, SIR?? I would've RUN out of that cave SO flippin FAST. - "And you're sure this is safe?" "As safe as we make it." *literally two minutes later* "SOLAS, SOMETHING IS WROOONG!!" This is a goddamn comedy show. lmaoo - "Silence, please." lol at him still being polite. - "This is all to be expected!" *five seconds later* "WE MUST FLEE!" I BUST out laughing. WHY are you such a DISASTER. Nothing EVER goes right and yet you always keep trying, you fool, omg!! - I don't think we have ever heard Solas so distressed. lol Like, not even when Wisdom died or at the beginning of Veilguard. - "Take my hand!" I would've never thought to hear THAT Trespasser line repeated under those circumstances, but here we are. lmaooo - We know Solas is a hopeless romantic, so for him to see that sweet couple torn apart because of him, and him still trying to save Nadia, I'm not ok. - Solas being responsible for Elio getting banished to the Fade and him being trapped there not long after.. Do you believe in karma? 😂 - "I'M SORRY!" WHY DOES IT ALWAYS END WITH HIM SAYING THAT. 😭

- So.. uh... what even WAS the plan, exactly? lol Like, what was supposed to happen?? Maybe they should've asked a few more questions after all. 💀 - That following scene with Nadia all alone. I got chills again. That hit different. ;-;

- "Where can I find this wolf??" Oh, she is about to hunt him down. 😶 "...I'll be back." Nadia in full Terminator mode now. 😂 - How are she and Elio connected now though? How can she hear him? 🥺 And I can't help but think about whoever was left in the Fade in DAI again, too. 😭😭😭 - Not the credits making me almost sob AGAIN because of the music. 😭 It is so so good.

So there we are. Everything went wrong, a couple is doomed and Solas is sorry. So, nothing changed. LMAO Everything as usual. 💀💀💀 Solas, I swear, if you don't get these two back together again and pay Lavellan a visit afterwards, my Rook might rethink listening to your advice in Veilguard. lmao

I can't wait for that next episode! This was so much fun and an amazing start, and I'm so excited to hear all the other companions! :D ❤️❤️❤️

[tea-twords]

your hcs for them. hand them over

Ugh cant BELIEVE you ask for the one thing I say not to ask🙄🙄🙄 Guess I’m forced to share them🙄🙄🙄 Against my will🙄🙄🙄

Mualani

She’s like 51% Ler 49% Lee

It’s almost 50/50 but she’s verrrry tiny bit more ler

She’s probably like…an 8.5/10 on the ticklish scale

Worst spots are her tummy (obviously), her underarms, hips, and ngl I feel like her shoulders

Whenever she’s tkld, she almost never holds back her laugh

So it always comes out a loud bright cheery laugh (and it’s so pretty)

She FLAILS

As a ler she’s only sometimes mean, it depends on her lee

She’s never a mean ler with Kachina, she’s sometimes a mean ler with Kinich

Definitely loves using “the claw”

HUGE fan of giving cheer up tks

Usually to Kachina cause she gets down on herself a lot

Now I would say Mualani also enjoys getting cheer up tks, but hear me out

Instead of receiving them, I feel like if she’s down and Kinich or Kachina are in her presence, she will drag them down and wreck their shit till she felt better

She often receives wake up tks from Kinich whenever they’re traveling together

I say this bc that scene in the archon quest where Mualani was like if only we had someone who gets up early to wake us up tomorrow and Kinich was like fine

She LOOOVES doing surprise tases to her friends (usually Kinich)

She’s also quite often the victim of revenge tks

Deserved

Kachina

80% Lee 20% Ler

About an 8/10 on how ticklish she is

I honestly feel like she’s just averagely the same level of ticklish everywhere

Esp her sides a little more tho

Always on the receiving end of cheer up tks from Mualani or Kinich

She will never take initiative to be a ler like ever

The only time she ever lers is when it’s her and Mualani ganging up on Kinich or her and Kinich ganging up on Mualani

It will pretty much never be one on one

Maybe there’s a scenario where it’s possible but right now in my head she would not do it alone

Very very gentle ler

Small hands = small quick tks

Kachina doesn’t know she could literally murder Kinich with the gentle tks if she wanted to

She doesn’t want to tho because she’s way too nice of a ler

As a lee she definitely squirms a lot

Usually it’s Mualani who gets her and it usually doesn’t last very long

Kinich and Mualani never gang up on her in a 2 on 1 bc that’s unfair

They are caring older bro and sis

Her laugh is pretty much just giggles

She doesn’t cackle or snort and is never usually loud

She’s adorable tho and I love her

Kinich

45% Lee and 55% Ler

He’s about a 6.5-7 on the scale (I can’t decide which bc it really depends on if you surprise him or not)

Despite his being more of a ler, he’s never usually the first one to initiate the tks

He almost always tickles as an act of revenge (cough mualani)

Kinich for a while thought he wasn’t all that ticklish because last time someone asked the dreaded question and tickled his sides, he didn’t feel a need to react

He’s just really good at not being ticklish when he knows it’s coming (me fr)

However

Mualani asked this question and got the same lack of response to sides

But unlike previous curious people, Mualani doesn’t give up

It didn’t take long for her to find pretty much all of Kinich’s spots after that wrecking

His spots are usually normal but sometimes a little oddly placed

He’s ticklish on his underarms, back, ribs (but only the bottom two), knees, his neck but only in front, and collarbone

He’s really not that ticklish on his sides and therefore assumed he wasn’t at all because before Mualani that was the only place people ever

As a ler depending on who you are and what you did to warrant his wrath he can either be super nice or straight merciless

Which translates to super nice with kachina and merciless with Mualani

Because 90% of the time she does something

Whether it be a surprise taser on those two ribs that are too sensitive for his own good (he screams) or something as simple as a prank

He will give her the wrecking she deserves

And sure he’s merciless with her but not exactly mean

He will remind her that she brought it upon herself

As a lee tho…

I can’t tell if I like Lee or Ler Kinich more

Because Ler Kinich is perfection but Lee Kinich is adorable

He’s honestly so good at holding in his laugh but surprise attacks are his weakness (Mualani’s specialty)

Even if it’s not a surprise attack, anything on his back will get him to crack in seconds

Even when he’s laughing though he’s really good at controlling it

Good at controlling his movements too

He won’t flail like mualani and instead just kinda curl up

Protect whatever he can

Even with all his composure though it’s still possible to get him cackling

That only ever happens when it’s both Mualani and Kachina ganging up on him

The conflict between Mualani’s firmness and Kachina’s gentle scritches just makes him lose it

Sometimes Ajaw (the bastard) tells Kachina to be rougher with Kinich bc he thinks that it’s the rough tks that drive Kinich crazy

But it’s actually the soft tks that he can’t stand

I’m sorry but I just have a feeling he’s weak to gentles

Of course after times like this he will literally wreck both of them at the same time. Bc he’s still a ler at heart and he can do that

Last one and I’m pretty sure we all know this but

Ajaw will definitely sell Kinich’s worst spots to his ler with no hesitation and no remorse

He wants to see him suffer

[lanterns-and-daydreams]

SOME TIG CHB HEADCANONS

Aka part 2

Part 1

-Libby tries using spells shown in media (Wingardium Leviosa, Azarath Metrion Zinthos, etc.)

-It's a 50/50 chance if they work or not.

-The Hermes cabin has a pet roomba

-Rohan thinks it's stupid.

-Jameson, who's always ready to beef w him, defends the roomba like his life depends on it.

-Grayson likes the roomba too, but he only took Jameson's side at first because he doesn't like Rohan either. But then he actually started liking the roomba.

-The roomba's name is Quack.

-Gigi named it.

-As is on brand for the Athena Cabin, Grayson is terrified of spiders.

-Avery, however, isn't.

-She's become the cabin's honorary spider killer along with Percy.

-Grayson always thought his hair and eyes's combination (blond + gray) was super rare and he was proud of it. He was not happy seeing the Athena Cabin.

-The younger Iris kids put colorful clips in his hair and he begrudgingly kept them to keep them happy.

-Xander and Leo finally invented demigod usable phones

-But most campers don't use them because they're already used to not using them.

-Slate plays the guitar for the campfire songs.

-Thalia is really good friends with Libby.

-She keeps asking Libby to join the Hunters. Libby always politely declines.

-Gigi asks Chiron everyday if he can give her a ride on his back in horsey form.

-Savannah thinks it's ridiculous she asks that but she secretly wants a ride too.

-Grayson, Jameson, Max, and Gigi have pegasi.

-Libby and Savannah have a unicorn.

-Rohan gets nothing cause the horses hate him.

-Nash just has a regular horse with a cowboy hat on it.

-Grayson and Xander have tiny ponytails.

-Max cut her hair (shoulder length).

-Lacy (from the Aphrodite Cabin) thinks Avery's hair is sosososo pretty and often does her hair in the morning.

-Jameson cannot thank Lacy enough.

-Avery and Nash were worried sick when Jamie went on a quest for the first time.

-Nico always brings back Grayson some kind of souvenir if he shadowtravels to a different country.

-Drew goes to Country Heights.

-Nash loves the chariot races.

-Xander made a little frog out of celestial bronze. It's his pet.

-It's name is Fredrick.

-Percabeth and Javery go on double dates.

-Every year on Max's birthday, Xander hosts the most magnificent fireworks show the camp has ever seen.

-Will keeps all of Libby's stickers in his drawer labeled 'favourite stuff'

-He gives Gigi cat themed bandaids.

-Grayson and Percy have swimming races.

-Percy doesn't use his powers to make it fair. He's impressed by how fast the blond swims.

-Annabeth yaps to Avery about her architectural plans.

-They play Sims together.

-When Libby and Nash announced their engagement, the camp threw a party cause no camper has achieved that in the history of Camp Half Blood.

-They went wild at the pregnancy announcement.

-Rebecca helps paint the necklace beads.

-She's always in awe of Rachel's powers.

-They started hanging out together, and it was awkward at first, but now they're really close. Closer than sisters.

-Rachel HATES Emily.

-Okay I'm tired bye see u in part 3.

-I'm gonna get to Camp Jupiter in the next one I swear.

[whitehairandtraumatized-bracket]

White Hair and Trauma Brawl Round 1; Poll 23

remember, voting is based on swag, trauma, and favoritism!!

trauma and propaganda under the cut!

Trauma!

Tommy: “He's a mutant in the Marvel universe, which is traumatic in and of itself. He ended up accidentally blowing up his school when his powers showed up, for which he was sent to Juvee. That's not to mention the fact that he was erased from existence as a baby and came back from a broken soul that belongs to Mephisto (the Marvel Universe's Satan). In later issues, he's kidnapped into an alternate dimension by a mysterious being dressed like an old friend of his.” “i put a super long loredrop after this but tldr; tommy got kidnapped by the actual devil, was literally a hand for a bit while he was a baby, his parents suck, he got sent to jail and was experimented on by the government when he was a teenager, has had to watch multiple friends die, got kidnapped AGAIN and no one cared, now he delivers burgers because comic writers hate him.

long loredrop:okay so for this to make sense you need to first know that tommy's parents (wanda and vision) are a witch and a robot. so having babies for them was kinda complicated. so wanda made magic babies and she got their souls from the real actual devil. bad idea! ofc the devil wanted them back bc technically their souls belonged to him, so he sent this guy master pandemonium to steal the babies back (tommy and his twin brother billy).

for a little while tommy and billy were master p's hands (THEY WERE LITERALLY BABY HANDS I'M NOT KIDDING THERE ARE PICTURES). then they escaped him (woohoo) and these tiny kids were on the run from the actual devil. their mother doesn't remember them anymore because someone cast a spell on her to wipe her memory. and then because comics logic is complicated the twins got reincarnated except in the past and with completely different families. billy's family was great, tommy's family sucked.

tommy eventually found out he had superpowers except in doing so he accidentally vaporised his school and ended up in jail. where he literally got experimented on because the government wanted to turn him into a weapon. eventually the young avengers (including billy) broke him out of jail and he joined the team.

the young avengers go on a quest to find wanda and in the process two members of the team die and the young avengers disband. tommy really wants the team to keep going but unfortunately it doesn't happen. for a while he lives with billy's family but apparently they're so nice that he can't take it and he leaves. he gets a job and everything's going okay for a while, he actually makes a friend! and then he gets kidnapped by an interdimensional being disguised as one of his former friends/teammates. and he stays kidnapped for AGES while the rest of the team gets back together (WHICH SUCKS SO BAD. CONSIDERING HE WAS THE ONE MOST AGAINST THEM DISBANDING IN THE FIRST PLACE). and everyone's so focused on defeating the other interdimensional being that billy accidentally summoned that they quite literally forget about him being kidnapped. like they defeat this other interdimensional being and instead of then trying to save tommy they throw a party. and the only reason he gets unkidnapped is because his new friend david who he's known for like one day saves him.

then he basically gets ignored by the comic writers for years because marvel sucks. and basically how he's doing currently is: working in fast food delivery (haha fast get it because he's fast) and living with master pandemonium who is no longer a demon and is now just a sad old guy and looking after him because master p has no other family and tommy is wonderful. also him and his boyfriend broke up recently.

(meanwhile his identical twin brother is: happily married, some sort of space emperor, and able to be in comics sometimes)”

Soma: Totally normal Japanese highschooler passes out and wakes up at Dracula's castle with his not girlfriend Mina Hakuba. According to the government agent Arikado Genya, if he doesn't find a way out they'll both die. He also has the power to absorb the souls of monsters. He meets a helpful priest named Graham who tells him about a Nostodamus prophecy that says after the Belmont's defeat Dracula for good in 1999, he'll be reborn and regain his power on a certain day. That happens to be the day this is all happening. You can probably guess where this is going. The priest turns out to be evil and 'was only nice because he wasn't a threat.' Soma watches the priest stab one of his new friends, Yoko Belnades. After finally defeating the priest Soma discovers he's dracula's reincarnation. Before going to the center of the castle to destroy the source of the power of chaos trying to force him to be evil, Soma makes his other friend, Julius Belmont, promise to mercy kill him if he looses the fight or if he wins and still goes full dracula in the future. He wins and they all go back to their normal lives.

A year later he and Mina are attacked on the street by a woman named Cecelia who wants to kill Soma so she can replace him with a new dark lord. Despite being told by all the others to stay back, he tracks her down on his own. Despite telling then at the beginning of each fight he doesn't want to do this, none of the other dark lord candidates surrender. He also absorbs a human soul for the first time. After defeating them all he meets Cecelia again, who has captured Mina and executes her. If you get the good ending Arikado intervenes and reveals it's a fake. The human soul he absorbed earlier posseses the doppelganger and he runs off with Cecelia. Soma finds her sacrificed and Arikado beaten by the dark lord canidate Dimitri. Dimitri can't handle the power because he wasn't meant to have it like Soma so he turns into a giant monster Soma fights in a room made out of corpses.

Propaganda!

Tommy: “He could give you an exhaustive list of why he's cooler than everyone else. Highlights include being a speedster who can blow things up. His twin brother is the savior of reality and king of outer space, but they'd likely both admit that Tommy is the cool twin. Also, he's canonically bisexual.”

“he's my favourite guy in the whole entire universe and he's SO FUCKING UNDER APPRECIATED by the marvel comics writers. he always comes second to his identical twin brother. he's canonically bisexual. he has this whole speech about when him and his brother were hand babies that he repeats whenever someone brings it up. every time he meets another speedster he gets SO EXCITED. captain america got his name wrong one time and he still hasn't let it go.

also here are some quotes from/about him:

david: "even when he wasn't one, tommy always was a super hero."tommy: "out of all the people who hurt me. my moms. my dads. they all... forgot me. they all moved on. hell, even billy - he moved on to a whole other galaxy! but master p, he's... he needs me. needs someone, anyway."master pandemonium, to the interdimensional being that previously kidnapped tommy: "i won't let anything else hurt him again! he is the shepherd and i am the gate and no one comes to hell except through me!"tommy, as a child, while on the run from the devil: "y'know... they think only my brother's important. powerful. i'm just... the other one. that's fine by me. makes it easier to slip by. to protect him. to pull a fast one."

tldr he's amazing and wonderful and he just wants to help and protect people and he probably won't end up in the tournament bc i doubt anyone else will submit him considering the last proper young avengers comic run was in 2013 but still i think he's wonderful and i hope maybe my propaganda will convince you to include him anyway because i really really love him and he deserves to have more people know about him and care about him.” (mod note: great news lore dump submitter! he was submitted twice!)

Soma: First off his soul absorption ability is called 'the power of dominance '. Which I think is cool even if it is a little cheesy. He wants absolutely nothing to do with supernatural stuff going on around him, but he will finish it. Every time he has to fight someone who isn't a mindless monster he tries to get them to stop and none of them ever listen. Also all of his friends are lying to him on some level except Mina and Hammer(the shop) because they're also keeping them in the dark. Dimitri is able to escape with Cecelia after the Mina incident by threatening to tell Soma Arikado's real identity if he doesn't back off. He cares so much it warps back around into being the reason why he might become a threat because both he and Dracula will murder if their loved ones are hurt. In the bad ending he immediately kills Cecelia for 'murdering Mina' and she's surprised. You were in a dracula cult. You have to know what happened to the people who killed Dracula's wife Lisa. Did you really think you would survive.