#and it seems very obvious in liams characters

[screechingfromthevoid]

I'm obsessed with Robbie and Liam romancing each other constantly like yes yes good.

But I've also been turning Cerkonos and Lieve'tel in my head because of it.

I know there's a lot of angst when it comes to life spans. Especially when it comes to (half) elves and Ashari leaders.

At some point it'll be just be Keyleth and Vex. And then just Keyleth, right? Like idk if we know how old the ashari can get but she is going to outlive all of vm, right? That's like the point?

But elves live for a long ass time? Lieve'tel is already 381. She has about 360 more years. And Cerkonos is here until further notice it seems.

Sure maybe they don't spend the rest of their impossibly long lives together but like? Isn't it nice to have the option? If they wanted to they could. Together they don't have to worry about time moving too quickly. They don't have to worry about watching the other wither while they stay youthful.

Lieve'tel had a fling with Bertrand and he probably wasn't her first bout of love at 350. But she seems to really have really cared for him? And she was his last words? As a cleric for the matron I can't imagine she has a bad relationship with death but how does she feel when it grips someone she cares about? We know the matron wears the mask to hide just how much she cares for each and every soul she ferries. And perhaps Lieve'tel feels that same way her goddess does about death and those who pass on. Especially with her extended life.

So Bertrand dies, she doesn't watch him wither, but she knows when he passes. She is given a dream of it. I wonder how she mourns. How long she mourns. If shes still mourning.

Then, by the same string of fate that brought her and Bertrand together, she is brought to Cerkonos. A man similarly endearing. A little bumbling. Definitely intimidated by her. Sweet.

And he ages like her. Maybe a hair faster.

Maybe that's why Cerkonos shows absolutely no interest in Vesper. In Pike. Their mortality is written all over them.

Robbie made a joke about him "retaining his seed since 28" and like fucking lol first off but also. Keyleth was 23 at the beginning of VM? and she was on her aramente? So depending on how long it took for him to set out on/finish his, has he been celibate this whole time because of the fact that anyone he falls for, anyone he would truly care about, would die in front of him?

Idk elves have a long life span and I'm sure Lieve'tel has had her trists with other elves. But it really is a socially awkward human man that gets her heart. Again they don't have to live their whole lives together, and they probably won't. They each are very important. They have very important positions.

But it must be nice to be able to part and say "until next time" and not really have to worry about how far next time is. Will it be ten years? They haven't aged a day. Will it be a hundred years? Oh, you've gotten slightly gray. Three hundred? My dear, I can see all your smiles I've missed in all these years in the lines on your face.

[sadaveniren]

Hi! What’s your opinion on Maya’s book? There are recaps floating around and it’s so obvious that she wrote about Liam like girl didn’t even try to hide it in a more creative way. I don’t really follow Liam like I don’t really know him or how real were their relationships. I see most of the fans already taking sides. I even saw some louies are upset that he is around Louis this days.

I haven’t read the book and don’t have much interest in reading the book. I have read through some recaps just to get an understanding of what is being said, so there’s that, but the recaps won’t give me the full understanding of how this story is being presented.

I think ultimately the most important thing about the book comes down to the story it is trying to tell, divorced from who the book is about. This is - after all - supposed to be a book ripped straight from a teenager’s diary of a series of very traumatic experiences she has endured. (Think something like “Go Ask Alice” by anonymous) The book describes a harrowing tale, just because being in an abusive relationship like this, with an alcoholic, is harrowing. Not because of who the alcoholic is, or what their job is. This story - this idea of a young woman falling in love with someone who struggles with addiction and his mental health and what that makes HER go through and experience, is an important story to tell and tbh if I was the author I would be sad that this story is being presented in a way where Liam is the one upfront. And the promo seems to be about attacking Liam’s character - his ACTUAL character, like Liam himself - when really the heart of the story should be about this young woman surviving. It’s a shame that all of the promo and the way this novel has been presented takes away from that. Because I could see the story being very impactful for other teenagers, giving insight into how an abusive relationship can happen, and how you can be stuck there even when it’s absolutely horrible.

All of that said, I would like to remind everyone that Maya’s book is by a pay-to-publishing company. That means that she got final say on what the book contained, and any advertising has been paid for by her, in the way she would like it presented.

And as for Louis? I just remember that Liam has heavily alluded to Louis literally saving his life, so the fact that this is going on and Liam has run to be with Louis, as if Louis is a safe space, does make me smile. Hell, with that idea I wouldn’t be surprised if Louis told him to come see him to distract everything. Because Louis is a carer.

[cadybear420]

🔞 Piano Training 🔞

Fandom: High School Story (Original Trilogy)

Pairings: Aiden Zhou x Evie Ayana (female HSS MC)

Characters: Aiden Zhou, Evie Ayana (female HSS MC)

Rating: E

Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content, Minors DNI

Additional Tags: Erotic Roleplay, Professor-Student Implications, Power Imbalance Implications, Hand Fixation, Finger Fixation, Anal Fingering, Pegging/Strap-on Usage, Maledom, Powerbottom Aiden Zhou

Word Count: 4,226

Summary: Aiden and Evie do an erotic rolplay scenario, involving Aiden training Evie's fingers for piano-playing using a very unorthodox method.

A/N: My first smut on this site. I've actually written smut of these two before, I've just been too nervous to share it here lol.

Disclaimer: While finger strength and dexterity is indeed important for being able to play the piano, IDK a goddamn thing about learning piano and so I have no idea if any of the sexy stuff Evie and Aiden do in the fic would actually enhance piano playing skills. I did try my best to look up certain facts when appropriate, but seeing of course that this is an erotic roleplay, any obvious bullshit I make up is obviously not meant to be taken seriously lol.

Tags: @choicesmc / @lover-also-fighter-also / @lilyoffandoms / @where-the-wind-travels / @gaiuskamilah / @loreofyore / @tessa-liam / @dutifullynuttywitch  

Aiden sat on his piano bench with his legs crossed, facing the door of his music room as he waited patiently for his newest piano student. He drummed his fingers lightly on the bench, occasionally checking his watch. 

Soon enough, the prospective protégé entered the room.

“Welcome, Ms. Ayana,” A gentle smile– serious, yet welcoming– grew on his face. “Are you ready for your piano lesson?”

Evie barely heard him as she took in his outfit. The grey argyle sweater vest that fit nicely over the subtle contours of his chest, over a simple black necktie and a white button up with sleeves rolled up to the biceps. The dark grey slacks that hugged his hips, ass, and legs oh-so-perfectly, paired with a sleek black leather belt. And a pair of black oxford shoes to top it all off. 

It was an ensemble he’d worn so many times, yet the way it enticed her never wore thin. Semi-subconsciously, Evie reached down towards her crotch, feeling the bulge of her strap-on under her jeans. The base tickled her clit as she gently pressed against it.

“Ms. Ayana?” he tilted his head sideways, maintaining his serious demeanor. Evie quickly retracted her hand from her crotch, while also noticing how his pupils had grown, how his cheeks had turned pale red. 

“Yes?” she answered, meeting his eyes.

“Are you ready for your piano lesson?”

“I am, indeed.”

“Good. Now, how about you start off by showing me what you know?”

“I… I’m afraid I don’t have any experience. I was wondering if you could teach me, Professor Zhou.”

“You can just call me ‘Mr. Zhou’. You don’t need to call me Profess…” 

He took a moment to repeat Evie’s words in his head a couple of times. Evie raised an eyebrow at him. 

Then, his lips started to curl into a sly grin. 

“Actually… ‘Professor Zhou’ is fine.”

“Alright…” Evie quivered slightly, feeling her heart and her clit jump. “So, uh… you’d be happy to teach me?”

“Of course. That’s my job, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… so what do I do first?”

“Before you do anything… let me examine your fingers.” 

Aiden got up off the piano bench and headed towards Evie, taking both of her hands in his and running his fingers over her palms and fingertips. Her heart fluttered at his firm yet gentle touch, relishing in the familiar tenderness, the way his eyes seemed to darken at the mere sight of her hands. And knowing what it was slowly leading to… made her blood start to rush lower.

But as she spoke to Aiden, she put on a quizzical expression, raising an eyebrow at him. “Wh-what are you examining my fingers for?”

“I’m assessing your piano experience. It definitely does not seem like you have much of it. Or any instrument experience, for that matter.”

“You’re correct. I don’t know any instruments.”

“Well, you came here to learn piano, right? So that’s what we’re going to focus on. However…”

Evie felt her heart thumping faster. 

“Hm?”

“Before we have you attempting to play the piano, I think it’s important we test your finger strength first.”

Evie tensed, forcibly suppressing a very shallow gasp as her clit gave a particularly hard throb against the base of her strap-on, sending a wave of excitement through her body. “How come?”

Aiden held her fingers in his hands, caressing them and subconsciously squeezing them. “Playing the piano requires a great amount of finger strength and dexterity. A lot of instruments do, but especially the piano. If I can assess how good your fine motor skills are, I can figure out how to best train you on this instrument.” 

“Sounds good. So, what’s my first exercise?”

“We’ll start easy, but each of these little exercises will increase in difficulty,” Aiden reluctantly let go of her hands, and then stepped back. “First… remove my sweater.”

Evie almost grinned, but just barely suppressed it. Instead, she widened her eyes. 

“You want me to…?”

“Yes. Pull it off. It should be easy, shouldn’t it?”

Evie took in his unwavering expression, feeling a small tingle in her lower regions. She inhaled deeply, then nodded. As she took hold of the hem of his sweater, though, she got a brief glimpse of the growing bulge in his slacks. But she paid it no mind as she peeled off his sweater vest. 

“What next?” she asked.

“Undo the buttons on…” he paused. “Actually, before that… remove my belt and pants.”

Damn, already? Nevertheless, Evie bent down and quickly undid his belt buckle, pulled the belt out from the loops in his slacks, then unbuttoned and unzipped his slacks. She let the pants drop down around Aiden’s ankles, revealing opaque black lace panties and solid black knee-high crew socks underneath. 

“I think these exercises are a bit too easy…” she said, as her eyes roamed over his hips and legs. 

Aiden pulled himself out of his pants and smirked at her. “Don’t speak too soon. You need to undo my tie next. And I don’t just mean loosening it enough to remove– I mean untying it completely.”

Evie quivered again at his tone. “That shouldn’t be too hard…” 

She got to work– gently loosening the knot, pulling out the short end a bit, pulling out the long end completely with her thumb and forefinger, looping it back, and finally pulling it out. She stepped back, letting the tie hang over Aiden’s shoulders, under the collar of his shirt. His eyes widened. 

“Very good…” Aiden said. “You do have quite the skills…”

“I tend to wear suits to formal events, so I do have a bit of experience with neckties. I won’t lie, though… untying it can be a pain in the ass.”

“But with enough practice, it becomes less so, doesn’t it?”

“Exactly.”

“It’s much the same with learning any skill, piano included.”

“Oh, definitely. So what’s next?”

“Now we’re getting into a truly challenging exercise. I want you to unbutton my shirt…”

“That’s it?”

“...and I want you to try and undo each button in a row. To be able to go from one button to the next, in smooth succession.”

“...oh…” 

“Watch here.”

Aiden sat down at the piano and played some of the first few scales of Für Elise , the twinkling of the keys filling the room. But as she took in the gentle and pleasant melody, her eyes soon roamed away from his hands, and down to his ass on the piano bench. 

When he was finished, he stood back up and turned to Evie. 

“Did you see how my fingers moved across the keys?”

“I… I did, yes.” No, no she didn’t. But of course, having known Aiden for nearly five years now, she was more than familiar with the elegant manner in which his hands glid across the piano keys when he played. “It hardly looked like your hands even stopped moving.”

“Exactly. Being able to play the notes in smooth succession like that is an acquired skill. And to acquire it… obviously, you have to practice it, train the muscle memory. It takes work, so don’t be upset if you don’t get it right the first time.”

“Got it. So when should I start?”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

Evie took a brief moment to herself. Then, she reached up and began undoing each of his buttons in a row– holding each part of the fabric in each hand and pulling the hole over the button. Most of the buttons went out fairly smoothly, but for a few of them, it took Evie a little longer to open. 

After she undid the last button, she withdrew her hands, letting his shirt hang open to expose his chest and stomach. She took a brief moment to gaze at his features before turning her head up to him. 

“How was that, Professor?”

“For a beginner, you did quite well. You, of course, need more practice, but you seem to be on the right track,” he grinned broadly at her. 

“Yay!” Evie bounced up and down a little. 

“And keep in mind, if you do practice it more, you’ll soon realize a big factor of these particular sorts of skills is barely having to think about what you’re doing. When you train the muscle memory well enough, you should be able to go through the necessary hand and finger movement patterns by pure instinct, without even having to think about which one comes next. That’s the key to undoing buttons or playing certain notes in smooth succession.”

“Awesome… so are we gonna practice that some more?”

“Actually… we’re onto the final exercise.”

Evie felt her face heat up, her heart pounding in her chest. This was it. “And what is that?”

“Before we train your fine muscle memory skills on the piano, I want to do something a little more focused on… stamina .” Aiden smirked again, seemingly holding back a smile. “It’s just as important to be able to work the keys without getting tired or sore.” 

“And what will my exercise be for that?”

“Allow me to show you.”

Aiden closed the third highest button of his shirt and then tied the hanging pieces together into a knot just under his chest, covering his tits while fully exposing his stomach. Then he hooked his thumbs into his panties and pushed them down, letting them fall to the floor and freeing his slightly-dripping erection. Evie drew in a sharp gasp, and didn’t even bother to suppress it this time. 

“Is something the matter, Ms. Ayana?”

“N-no, just… what exactly is my next exercise?”

“I’m about to show you. First… you’ll need this.” 

Aiden stepped out of his underwear, then went to his discarded slacks and fished out a small tube of lubricant from the pocket. He returned to Evie and handed the tube to her. 

“Since when did people use lubricant for playing the piano? Wouldn’t that be incredibly messy?”

“No. You’re going to be working your fingers…” Aiden turned around and bent over the piano, his chest hovering just above the keys. Then he reached back and gestured to his fully-exposed, well-prepped asshole. “...in here .”

Evie quivered, her legs trembling slightly. 

“You mean… inside…?”

“Yes. Inside.”

“How will this help with–”

“I’ll show you. Sit on the piano bench and put your index finger in…”

Evie took ragged, shallow breaths, as she sat and then brought the tip of her finger at his opening…

“Ms. Ayana, lube!”

“Right! Sorry!”

Evie opened the bottle and poured a generous amount of lube over Aiden’s hole, making him shiver as some of the slick, cool fluid spilled down his taint and his balls. 

“Okay… now may I put it in?”

“Yes, now.”

Feeling her clit throbbing, Evie brought her finger back to his entrance and pushed in. 

“O- oh ~” Aiden gasped, his body tensing and his hands almost gripping the piano as Evie’s finger slid all the way into him with ease. 

“Am I doing it right, Professor Zhou?”

“Y-yeah you… are…”

“Are you feeling alright, Professor?”

“More than alright… don’t worry about me…”

“If you say so. So what do I do next?”

“Now curl your finger down until I tell you…”

Evie did as told, pushing her finger down until she felt the small, familiar bump of his prostate. Aiden let out a soft, choked moan, tightening around her. Evie inhaled, feeling her head spin. 

“I-is… is that it…?”

Aiden nodded. “Yes… j-just like that, E– M-Ms. Ayana…” 

“Now what…?”

“That… that spot you feel in there? Keep pressing on it with your finger, as many times as you can and as hard as you can, until I tell you to stop.”

Evie wasted no time at all. She thrust her finger into him, over and over again. Aiden bit his lip and drew in a sharp breath. 

“...am I doing it right?”

“Y-yeah… keep going…”

Evie kept going, repeating the movements. Aiden arched his back, instantly bringing her gaze to his round ass. She began thrusting in just a little bit harder, dragging the pad of her finger against his spot, just how she knew he liked it. Aiden gripped the edge of the piano tightly, tensing. Every sound he let out– every gasp, moan, whimper– seemed to come out as only strained grunts and squeaks. 

“How am I doing, Professor?” Evie asked, still pumping her finger into him. 

“Very good. Your st-stamina is incredible…”

She grinned. “Thank you! But… my finger is getting a bit sore…”

“That’s understandable. Your hands are… definitely not going to be poised like this when you play an actual piano. But for now… would you like to switch fingers? Perhaps use your middle and ring fingers for the rest of this practice session?”

“Yes, please!”

Evie withdrew her index finger, and drizzled a bit of extra lubricant onto her middle and ring fingers, before pushing them into Aiden. A small “ Ah~ ” escaped his lips as her fingers stretched him, and it all made Evie’s heart race. 

“May I continue?” she asked. 

“You may, indeed.”

Evie resumed fingerfucking Aiden, but with more ferocity. With every thrust in, she pressed her fingers hard against his prostate, curling them slightly. Aiden managed to remain mostly still, but every so often, he would tense, or arch his back a bit more, or continue letting out those delectable little sounds. Even just one of these reactions seemed to prompt Evie to move her fingers faster, harder. 

Zeroed in on her boyfriend, she reached her left hand up and placed it on his smooth asscheek, holding him tight. Aiden let out a soft moan at her touch as she continued to–

“Miss Ayana! ” Aiden turned his head back towards her with a piercing glare. His voice was loud, clear, almost sharp. Evie jumped in her seat slightly and quickly looked up to meet him, pausing her movements.

“Huh? Wha- what’s wrong…?” 

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Uh… I, uh…”

“This is a formal piano training session. Try to control your hands, would you? Such inappropriate behavior in this setting is not allowed.”

“Y-yes, A- Professor…”

Evie removed her hand from his ass and brought it down between her legs, discreetly fondling her bulge as she resumed thrusting her fingers. Aiden turned his head away again.

She carried on fingering him, and soon, Aiden’s breathing became quicker and heavier. 

“Y-you’re… almost done, Evie…”

Evie’s heart pounded in excitement. She pumped her fingers faster, while lightly brushing her thumb against his taint. He tightened around her, and that only made her speed up even more. Aiden leaned down and against the piano, making notes ring out together in oddly delightful dissonance as his chest pressed against center keys. 

“Professor…?”

“K-keep going…! D-don’t stop until I tell you…”

She did as told, keeping her fingers moving, not stopping for anything. Little by little, Aiden’s moans began to slip out more and more, and soon enough…

“Evieeee-!!!”

Aiden tensed up and climaxed with a long cry. Evie continued thrusting her fingers, massaging hard against his prostate and his taint, causing him to cum even harder and make even more of a mess of the floor beneath. She wiggled in her seat a bit as she watched him, her strap-on shifting against her, making her let out soft grunts and moans. 

Shortly later, Aiden panted softly as his body began to relax.

“You may… remove your fingers, now…”

Evie withdrew her fingers. After catching his breath, Aiden stood up and turned to face her.

“How’d I do… Professor?”

Aiden gleamed at her.

“Fantastic, Ms. Ayana. Especially for a beginner. I already have a feeling that you’ll become an exceptional piano player. 

“With a piano teacher like you? I’ll surely become great, without a doubt~”

A hint of blush grew on Aiden’s cheeks. 

“Of course, we still have to exercise the rest of your fingers… but that can wait. I think you deserve a break. Or even…” he tilted his head slightly, now with a more sly grin. “...perhaps, a prize. For being such an exceptional student today.”

“Oh yeah? And what would that prize be?”

Aiden smirked at her, before leaning down, cupping her face in his hands, and pulling in for a deep, almost ferocious kiss. Evie moaned into the kiss, and gasped loudly once he broke it.

“Professor Zhou!” she gave him a huge, wide-eyed stare, trying her hardest not to smile. “Isn’t this… well… kind of inappropriate? You are my teacher, after all…”

“...well…” 

Aiden hesitated for a moment, blushing softly as he began searching for his next words. But soon enough, they came to him, and his grin returned. 

“Do you want me to stop?”

Evie smiled back at him. “... Fuck no.”

Aiden climbed over Evie, straddling her lap on the piano bench, and pressed his lips to hers as he kissed her hungrily. Her hands gripped his waist, and quickly slid down, feeling his hips and then landing on his ass. She gave his plump cheeks a firm *squeeeeze* . Aiden let out a melodious moan, still kissing her.

“Sorry, I figured that… that would be… more acceptable, now…” Evie panted, speaking between kisses.

“It is, indeed, don’t worry.”

“Oh yeah? Hmm… then what about this?”

She moved her hand away, before bringing it against his ass with a splitting *SMACK!* . Aiden yelped, jolting a little, and Evie could feel his cock twitch against her stomach. 

“Th-that’s acceptable, too. And it’s also convincing me you’d be a fantastic percussionist as well.”

“I… might be interested in learning that, too~” Evie slapped both of her hands against Aiden’s asscheeks– more lightly this time, but still enough such that she could hear him gasp and feel his cock jump again. 

“I’d be… more than happy to train you. But for now, let’s focus on your prize. Alright?”

“Sure…”

“Now, how about we take this to the couch, where it’ll be more comfortable for what I have planned?”

“Oh, yes, please.”

Aiden climbed up off of Evie. He retrieved the tube of lube, then took her by the hand and led her to the couch. She laid down on it on her back, and Aiden reached for the front of her jeans. 

“Professor…”

“This is my prize to you. Let me take care of it.”

Evie nodded, and relaxed on the couch as Aiden undid her fly. Evie lifted her hips up, allowing Aiden to pull down her jeans and boxers, and finally release her neon-purple silicone cock from its restraints. Her heart thumped rapidly in her chest as Aiden drew his attention to her cock, his eyes darkening at the very sight. 

Wasting no more time, Aiden climbed onto the couch, straddling Evie’s legs and sitting just in front of her cock. She looked up quizzically, as he took her cock in his hand and gently stroked it, up and down. 

“Ahh…” Evie gasped, the base of the strap-on massaging against her. “You have… quite the talented hands, Professor Zhou.”

He grinned softly. “What else did you expect from a years-long musical genius?”

Aiden began gently rubbing her up and down. At first, she relaxed onto the couch, gasping and sighing and relishing the sensations. But barely even minutes later, she was squirming and looking at Aiden pleadingly. He didn’t notice, though, and only continued to jerk her off. Evie tilted her head, in the hopes that he’d notice, but to no avail. 

“Um, Professor…?”

Aiden finally met her gaze. “Yes?”

“Are we… um… not to be rude, but… uh–”

“Is this all your prize was going to be? No. Don’t worry, it’s going to be quite a bit more than just this.”

“O-okay… uh…”

“And you’re going to get it right now.”

Aiden pulled out the bottle of lube and drizzled some onto Evie’s cock. Then he lifted his hips up and moved forward, positioning his entrance over the tip. Evie bit her lip in anticipation, her heart pounding so hard it was almost sure to burst.

Aiden looked down towards her. “Are you ready?”

“Hurry up… please…”

Aiden slipped his hands under Evie’s shirt, sliding them over her toned stomach as he began to lower himself down, taking her all in. He bit his lip, trying but failing to hold back a moan, as he was slowly filled up by Evie’s cock. 

“Fuck…” she gasped. 

Aiden settled himself on her lap, sighing contentedly as he completely enveloped her. He gently massaged his fingers over her stomach, tracing the bumps and grooves of her washboard abs. His eyes met hers, his gaze half-lidded and tender, yet twinkling with a hint of mischievousness.

“You feel so good, Ms. Ayana…”

Evie grinned giddily at him, facing him back with a delightful little sparkle in her eyes. “A-as do you~” 

Evie reached up to Aiden’s waist and caressed down, over his hips and ass. Aiden inhaled deeply, chest rising, as he took in the sight and feeling of his student under him. Especially that damn smile on her face. The same damn smile she always had when she was under him. The one that made all his insecurities and worries seem to melt away. The smile that said “I trust you”. 

And just then, to accompany this smile, Evie gave his ass a firm *squeeze* that said “Hurry the hell up already, dammit!”. 

Aiden chuckled softly. Then, bracing himself, he lifted his hips up, and then thrust back down onto her. The base of the strap-on ground against her clit as his ass thrust against her hips. Then he lifted up again, then thrust back down again. Again and again and again… 

“Ooooh~” Evie let out a deep groan, throwing her head back against the cushions. “Do you do this with- ahh… all your students, P-professor?”

“Hmm…” Aiden stopped moving for a moment. “No, I have not. You’re an exceptional case.”

“Well, perhaps you should. I bet it’ll be very effective.”

“I’ll consider it. But for now… you’re more important.”

Aiden continued to ride Evie, bouncing up and down on her hips. He quit trying to hold back, letting his moans and gasps and groans come out in perfect harmony with how he moved. He kept a steady momentum, soon building up sensual rhythm with his movements. Frequently, he’d roll his hips back and forth as he thrust down, sometimes twisting them or rolling them side-to-side. 

He didn’t stop for a second. Every movement was smooth, deliberate… like he’d rehearsed it thousands of times before. 

“Ah~ Aiden– Professor… I… hah~ ”

“I take it you’re enjoying this, Ms. Ayana?”

“You… bet I am… haaahh~” 

Aiden’s eyes remained fixed on Evie, who looked back up at him with her classic drunken expression. Her darkened, half-lidded eyes. Her head slightly rolled over to the side. Her big, broad, slightly goofy smile that always made warmth spread through his body. 

He just couldn’t help himself. He rounded forward, leaning down to capture Evie’s lips in a deep kiss. He rolled his hips gently, still fucking her cock, making sure to not let go of it. Meanwhile, his own erect cock leaked with precum. 

“Professor…” she said, in an almost choked whisper. 

Evie could feel his cock twitch slightly as he kissed her again. And again. And again. All while continuing to gyrate on top of her, not missing a beat.

Eventually, Aiden sat back up and continued riding her as per usual again. A few minutes later, Evie began groaning, feeling that familiar build-up in her nether regions. 

“Aiden… I… I’m gonna…”

Aiden made his thrusts smaller, now swiveling his hips against her and intensifying the pressure against her. 

“Hnnh… ohhhh…. fuuuck…” Evie groaned as she felt her body tighten.

Aiden held onto her sides, rolling his hips faster and harder, more and more, panting faster and faster. Evie held on desperately to his ass, fingers digging into his cheeks, and began moving her own hips upwards to meet him. Her clit pulsed harder and harder, and with just a few more thrusts…

“Aiden-!!!”

Evie bucked her hips upwards and held them against Aiden’s ass, holding onto his hips desperately, as her climax raked through her body. Aiden continued to grind against her, making sure her cock massaged his prostate. Even as Evie began to relax, her orgasm washing over, he continued to ride her… and in time, Aiden clenched his teeth, yelling out as he reached his second climax of the day. He quickly grabbed his own cock as he did, spilling all over his hand and onto Evie’s stomach. 

After they both caught their breaths, Aiden climbed off of Evie’s cock. They cleaned up, and then Aiden laid down on top of Evie, his legs draped over her sides and his ass just gently brushed against her cock. Evie wrapped her arms around his upper back, pulling him close and grinning ever-so-widely. Aiden rested against her, nuzzling gently against the crook of her neck and planting a tender kiss onto her skin. 

“Sooo… when’s my next training session gonna be?”

“Hmm… how about the same time, tomorrow? In order to more effectively train you… I’d like to meet with you every day. If that’s okay with you, Ms. Ayana?”

Her grin grew into a devilish smile.

“As long as you’re the one training me, Professor Zhou… that’s more than okay with me.”

[dude-wheres-my-ankheg]

Abdirak - A Contradiction In Faith (Link to AO3)

Word count: 3.2k

Characters: Abdirak, Loviatar

Summary: An essay exploring how Abdirak's behaviour and beliefs tie into the overarching Loviatan faith.

Tags: Essays, Meta, Nonfiction, Analysis, Character Analysis, Character Study

Find my fic master list here.

Because I've heard a lot of people prefer to read meta on Tumblr, full essay is under the cut:

Start Notes

This essay is not meant to diminish or debunk anyone's thoughts, opinions, or headcanons about Abdirak's character. It is simply an exploration of my own findings and a discussion about the lore surrounding him. I fully love and support everyone's own interpretations of the character. However, my own reading of Abdirak is extremely personal to me and the reason why he has resonated with me so strongly. As such, I wanted to explore more about his character and the discussions about him both in and out of the game, and give some context to where my own personal reading of him came from.

Worth noting that I am not an authority on anything, just some guy with an obsession and some books.

Introduction

Abdirak was for many the highlight of the Goblin Camp, despite being a brief flash-in-the-pan of an NPC with a single scene and a potential gameplay buff. So how does such a character captivate the hearts and imaginations of so many? The obvious answer is that he is sexy, dangerous, and fun, and provides the opportunity for some cheeky companion banter. However there is more to him than meets the eye, especially for those who know a little about Loviatar and her worshippers.

Right from the start, Abdirak is a man of contradictions. Charming yet blood soaked. Enticing and yet promising pain. Offering healing through harm. But as we dig deeper, we can see just how deep the contradictions truly go.

A (Very) Brief Look At Traditional Loviatan Beliefs

Traditional Loviatan tenets are fairly clear cut when examining the lore. For all of my research, I have been unable to find any reference to healing through pain as Abdirak claims to.

Loviatar desires pain and suffering through any and all means, including psychological torture and manipulation, seduction and heartbreak. Their goals are to spread discontent and misery. Loviatans are characterised as being cruel and manipulative, often using winning peoples' trust and breaking it as a way to hurt them.

The only reference to healing I have found exists in the following passage from a speech given to those new to the faith:

"Let mercy of sudden abstinence from causing pain and of providing unlooked-for healing come over you seldom, but at a whim so as to make folk hope and increase the Mystery of Loviatar's Mercy. Unswerving cruelty will turn all folk against you." [1]

Here, we see healing used as a manipulation and a break from pain, not a result of the pain. It is simply a trick to convince people to fall more deeply into the devout's clutches. If we trust the lore books, all Loviatans should be gleefully spreading misery. Which would make sense - Loviatar is an evil god with evil followers who thrives on misery and suffering. She likes to be feared and charges her followers with spreading that fear [1].

Abdirak

Enter Abdirak. A charming, handsome, lightly blood splattered man who claims he simply wishes to help the player character. He explains his faith and how he believes that his work is beneficial to those around him and not only his goddess. With what we know about Loviatans, surely this is an act? Loviatans make it their life's work to twist and trick people into harm. A quick encounter within a Goblin Camp may not seem like much of a chance to win a heart and shatter it, but certainly enough to lie about the health benefits of being smacked with a mace.

There are, however, little things about him that are off.

For one thing, he was invited to the Goblin Camp to torture Liam, a task which he is not performing. In fact, he seemed disgusted with the thought of it - pain should be, as Abdirak himself says, an "intimate and loving thing." That doesn't sound particularly in-keeping with the traditional Loviatan beliefs, and neither does passing up the opportunity to torture a man.

Another contradiction is how Abdirak is insistent that those receiving the penance be well enough to do so. While Loviatans may not want broken bones or severe injuries themselves���as such hinders their duties and their worship—what would it matter if a stranger was injured during the course of a penance? Yet Abdirak is insistent. Only those well enough may receive his "gifts" and those who lose too much health during the penance will immediately see it stopped.

Then of course, there is simply the way he is. The way he speaks. The care and consideration in his words. Of course, this could all be a part of his act - a smooth and clever manipulation. A very convincing one at that. However, there are reasons to believe otherwise.

The Contradiction

The idea that Abdirak is simply a smooth manipulator is somewhat thwarted by several factors. For one, an argument can be made about his behaviour as above. For another, the developer's notes within the game files and the comments and context added by Rachel Quirke (Abdirak's writer) and Declan Perring (Abdirak's voice actor) paint a very different picture of his motives to that of a cruel and selfish manipulation.

Let us address the character's actions within the game first, as these are easiest to dismiss. Abdirak does his best to convince the player character to undergo the penance, but makes no move to force them. In fact, beyond his simple pitch—this is good for you, it will help you—he does not push. He doesn't try to find new ways to tempt the player and does not try to twist his arguments to entice. He lets the offer stand on its own merit rather than overly pushing the issue and trying to convince the player character. Of course, this could be attributed to him not wanting to cause trouble for himself. It gets more interesting when we look deeper into the game meta.

One of the most noticeable things about the acting direction given within the dialogue game files is the repeated use of the word "sincere." It is applied to Abdirak himself, to his beliefs, to his words. It is used over and over to describe this man and his desire to help the player.

"This is a sincere and genuine offer, He believes in what he is doing and that it will, ultimately, help the player." [2]

"It is a sincere and genuine offer, he believes it will help." [2]

"He's looking the player in the eyes and is concerned - he can see the player has been hurt (emotionally) and is worried. This is sincere." [2]

"Player has told him to bugger off, basically. Abdirak assumes the player is embarassed [sic], he is sincere - he has seen pain in the player's eyes and wishes to comfort him." [2]

"He believes that the beating he is about to offer will genuinely help. Sincere." [2]

"Explaining about his goddes [sic] Loviatar. Sincere. Believes pain is a beautiful thing." [2]

"The priest should look very sincere in this scene. He genuinely thinks he's helping you." [2]

This sentiment is further echoed by his writer, Rachel Quirke, who has also commented directly on his sincerity in online discussions with fans. [3]

In addition to these notes and comments, the following quote is from Declan Perring, the voice actor who brings Abdirak to life, and is a section of the acting direction notes he was given prior to recording Abdirak's voice lines. It goes: "He sincerely believes in what he is doing and that each offering of pain to the Goddess lessens his own pain and that of others." [4] This is a fascinating quote which gives us huge insight into Abdirak's thoughts and far more questions than answers. It is in direct contradiction with the tenets of Loviatan faith, as discussed above, where pain and suffering are shared for the sake of pain and suffering alone. When Abdirak tells us that he wishes to alleviate the player character's pain, he means it. It seems to remove the potential for Abdirak's prior mentioned sincerity to simply be very good acting.

Unlike what the lore relating to Loviatans would have us believe, Abdirak is not lying or twisting his words. He is not concealing ulterior motives. In his mind, he is a healer of sorts. His believes that his desire to worship the Lady of Pain aligns with his desire to help people - and believes that he is succeeding.

There are other small things as well that Abdirak says in his short time with the player character which seem out of place for a Pain of Loviatar. For one, he implies that he does not like to kill. Traditionally, Loviatans do not seem to have many qualms about such, and have frequently been involved in warfare. [1] In addition to this, as mentioned above, Loviatar wants to be feared by the world. Abdirak however preaches about her loving embrace and wants the player character to trust him and seemingly by extension her. Even after the penance, Abdirak makes no move to make the player character concerned, even if they were not deemed worthy of the blessing.

Implications

Abdirak's seemingly unique outlook on Loviatar worship certainly raises some questions, and gives us several potential routes to explore when we consider his relationship to his religion and how it ties into mainstream Loviatar worship.

Is Abdirak some delusional outlier, espousing a false version of his own god's creed? This seems unlikely. Abdirak claims to be in communication with Loviatar, supported by the fact that he is capable of personally handing out her blessings. She seems to approve of his strange methods - is this simply because he is so effective? Loviatar's focus tends to be upon the suffering itself. Abdirak's methods and unique outlook could be tolerable to her simply due to his enthusiasm and success in providing pain and suffering to her, even if he's doing some therapy on the side.

Another potential explanation is that he is part of a smaller sect of Loviatan worshippers, whose values differ slightly to those of the main church. This explanation is without any lore foundation, but it is certainly interesting to think about. Both real life and the Forgotten Realms have examples of religions with disagreeing or even rival branches, so it is not a stretch to believe that a sect of Loviatans could exist who believe their abilities to inflict pain also bestow healing of sort. Though again, this is not supported by any other suggestions within the game or external lore that I have found, but definitely opens some fun headcanon potential.

Another possible reason for Abdirak to be the way that he is is that the church has simply moved on and evolved, much like the modernising of real life religions. Again, this hypothesis is without basis and pure speculation.

There is also the possibility that Abdirak is a model Loviatan, simply following dogma to the letter of the law. Does Abdirak believe his crueller tendencies should be reserved for those who would do harm against him rather than run-of-the-mill penitents? The Loviatan teachings do note striking against "those who offend." [1] This still does not account for the fact that healing through pain is not mentioned in any part of Loviatan dogma I have found. While it does state that they can share their gifts to "those who enjoy them" [1], there is no mention of the health and well-being benefits of the process for the receiver. This appears to be a belief that Abdirak himself has adopted - could this be due to his own experiences? The developer notes imply that the Loviatan practices helped Abdirak deal with his own trauma: "Player has asked how he knew something terrible had happened them. Abdirak sadly replies. He is think [sic] of his own traumatic past, which ultimately led him to turn to Loviatar as a way coping with the trauma." [2] Loviatan dogma states that pain brings pleasure and power, but makes no mention of healing or mental well-being. It is presented as a traditionally evil form of worship, one that centres around hedonistic desires and the pursuit of power [1]. As such, this particularly theory feels very difficult to marry with the existing lore.

A final explanation could be based upon Loviatar's own interpretation of Abdirak's actions. Reference texts tell us that "Her understanding of humanity, for example, relied on the fundamental assumption that they were innately selfish. Truly heroic or self-sacrificing behaviour could untangle her carefully woven plots." [1] Could this suggest that she tolerates Abdirak's methods because she simply does not understand them? Abdirak is a loyal and enthusiastic follower and, as discussed above, perhaps that is enough. Could Loviatar be unable to comprehend that Abdirak's methods are anything other than selfish, that his talk of healing is not simply lies? It's certainly a fun thought that such a large misinterpretation could occur between a god and their follower, especially one that appears to hold a well regarded position within the church.

Notes on Abdirak's Character

"Pain is pain, dear one. It is above 'good' and 'evil'." [2]

These are words spoken by Abdirak, and they are accompanied by the following notes in the game files: "Player has told him that his goddess is evil and that he wants to [sic, presumably should be 'no'] part in this practice. His [Abdirak's] argument about pain is sincere, he sees it as neither good nor evil, simply as proof that we are alive - and that is worth worshipping and experiencing." [2]

Alignment is an important concept within the realms of D&D. While the game rules have moved away from such previously rigid structures, its influence remains thickly throughout the world of Toril.

As previously discussed, Loviatar is an evil god. Traditionally, Loviatan priests could only be one of the three evil alignments, with Pains further limited to Lawful Evil. [1] Evil alignments, particularly Lawful and Neutral, are characterised by a selfishness that comes at the cost of others [5], which does not seem to align (ha) with what we know of Abdirak so far.

That is not to say that the case for either of these alignments could not be made—they certainly could, especially with how little of Abdirak we see. However, the sincerity and care shown by Abdirak lack the selfishness that one would expect to undertone an evil character, as evidenced by the developer notes that go with his dialogue.

Could Abdirak be more easily ascribed to a Lawful Neutral alignment? While it would certainly be a stretch for a follower of Loviatar to be Lawful Good in character, Abdirak displays a certain amount of selflessness and desire to aid others. A Neutral alignment would support his beliefs about pain and allow him the freedom to practice his faith (in his own special way) while still maintaining that streak of altruism he seems to bear.

Could Abdirak represent an evolution of Loviatar worshippers? Rigid class restrictions have changed over the years - after all, there was a time when druids were limited to True Neutral only [6]. Or is Abdirak simply a law unto himself, a complete outlier in the ranks of the church?

Another interesting point of Abdirak's character is his belief that pain is intimate and loving. As stated in the sourcebook:"Loviatar teaches that the world is filled with pain and torment, and the best that one can do is to suffer the blows that cannot be avoided and deal as much pain back to those who offend." [1] This seems to contradict Abdirak's belief that pain is a gift and should be applied with love and care, an act of healing the mind with pain to the body. This opens two possibilities. That Abdirak is simply lying to the player when he says that pain is only loving. The developer notes say that Abdirak is sincere in his desire to help the player character and in his belief that his methods are beneficial, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he reserves that care for everyone. While this might bring into question why he refuses to torture Liam or push the goblins beyond their limits, it could be attributed to a personal code of who he deems worthy of uncaring hurt. That quote could be interpreted as saying that the usual care and consideration should not be applied to those who attempt to harm the priest themselves. This could point to an explanation for Abdirak's behaviours and beliefs, and hint at a far more dangerous side to Abdirak that we do not get the chance to see in game.

Even with the developer notes and the lorebook sources, Abdirak's character requires close inspection and dissection, and still there is no clear truth to his overall life philosophy, leaving the door open of a myriad of fan interpretations and characterisations, and giving Abdirak fans a wealth of opportunity to explore.

Conclusions

Abdirak's contradictions and the way he subverts expectations based upon his faith make him an incredibly intriguing character, in a way he would not have been if he had been written as a classic Loviatan. The subtle and clever writing paired with an outstanding acting performance elevate this five minute character from a single scene of laughs and titillation to an enigma with the potential to stay in the player's thoughts far longer than he has any right to.

As anyone who has known me before this long and convoluted (and absolutely not exhaustive) ramble will be aware, Abdirak has captivated me since I first encountered him. Now this isn't to say that I don't love a sexy villain, because that would be a lie, but without these layers within Abdirak—the subversion of expectations that come with him as a Loviatan—he would not be as compelling, and certainly would not have grabbed my imagination in the way that he has done. The twist that Abdirak, this creepy and unsettling devout of pain itself, is one of only two characters in the whole of Act 1 to help the player character without want of anything in return, who does so only out of their desire to aid another, not only turns perceptions of him on their head but also of the other NPCs within the act.

With this apparent mismatch of Abdirak's motives with known Loviatan scripture, what could have been a one-note gimmick character becomes something far deeper and interesting to those who know the lore behind the deity. A subtle nod to those aware of the world they are playing in and something that has made the character absolutely captivating to me.

And on that note, I leave you with my favourite dev note of them all:

Abdirak: Yes - I must try this technique. Or perhaps this one… Hand on chin, considering the book before him. Pain Priest is reading his open book. He is reading a book on pain and torture techniques, musing out loud which to try, like someone reading a book on cupcake recipes and wondering whether to try buttercream or sugar icing next. [2]

References

(1) Julia Martin, Eric L. Boyd (March 1996). Faiths & Avatars. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 100–105. ISBN 978-0786903849.

(2) Baldur's Gate 3. Directed by Sven Vincke, Larian Studios, 2023. Multiplatform game. (Links to extracted dialogue and development notes can be accessed here: https://www.tumblr.com/roksik-dnd/732776567631183872?source=share)

(3) Quirke, R [@quirkiltons]. (2023, Dec 7). Oh, absolutely! Yes, Abdirak is into pain, but he's incredibly sincere about it. He'll stop if you're hurt badly and only resume once you've healed up. The scripter and I wanted to reward people who tried it, not punish them (that's Abdirak's job 😜) [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/quirkiltons/status/1732734892981600479

(4) Streamily. (2024, Jun 27). Streamily.com Presents: Declan Perring THE Abdirak [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/live/TsIxFkLQp9Y.

(5) Jeremy Crawford (August 2014). Player’s Handbook. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 122. ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1.

(6) Ed Stark (August 2000). Player's Handbook 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 9780786915507.

End notes

As I could write endlessly about Abdirak, I wanted to keep this as concise and on topic as possible, focusing purely on how Abdirak relates to the overarching Loviatan church. This might be a one off or the first of a few essays exploring Abdirak's character and the Loviatan faith in general. It depends on when inspiration to actually write the damn things strikes, and whether or not people are even interested in these sorts of posts haha.

Anyway, if you read all the way to the end of my enthusiastic rambles, thank you <3 If you have any of your own thoughts, feelings, opinions, disagreements, etc, I would LOVE to hear them because I love talking about this weirdo.

[supernaturalconvert]

If I may

One criticism of Walker this season (for me) , has been that it has started to focus too much on other characters instead of Cordell ~ sometimes even outside of the core Walker family.

I am sorry but the strength of the show is Cordell and Jared. For whatever reason too much focus has been placed on other characters who can be a hit or miss depending on which character the focus is on and who they are interacting with.

Some actors like Kale have definitely grown as actors and also as characters but others I feel have not been fleshed out well this season.

For instance Abby and Bonham have barely been given anything to work with. Same is the case with Liam, like what is literally going on with him? When S4 was going to kick off, I very much expected there to be a conflict between Liam and Cordell about the break in since Stella confided in Liam and not Cordell. That would have led to a lot of angst apart from the obvious break in storyline along side the Jackal. Keegan and Jared have amazing chemistry and are seriously able to pull angst together which would have even given a solid arc to Bon & Abby as well. Right now everyone is underutilized and nothing seems cohesive.

Right now we have storyline that's trying to do too much in too little time (particularly in the last two episodes that aired). I feel the focus of the last episode should have been on Cordell getting kidnapped and the whole rescue operation. They should have given us clues and make these situation more edge of the seat.

The show has changed massively from S1 and I don't think in a good way in some aspects.

Let me know if you guys agree.

[secretskeepoffandommadness]

Omegaverse Ikemen Prince Poll Results

First, thank you to all who contributed. I didn't expect as many votes!

I will post screenshots if the results and give my opinion on characters briefly, but neither of them mean that it will be 100% the dynamics I will use in my main writings. These will have a proper post on my main blog when I'm ready.

For start, I will say I love the idea of most of the princes being Omegas, but I will start with some guys who I can't say as that at all.

As much as I love the conflict of personalities that seem the opposite of the dynamic's expectation, some characters just fit better with their expected dynamic.

For Ikemen Prince, in my opinion, these characters are: Jin, Leon and Sariel as Alphas.

Results seems to agree with it, because their votes are so close to unanimous, with less than 30% divided for the other dynamics.

And on the same category but a different dynamic from above: Rio as a Omega.

His votes aren't quite as high, but are still over half of them.

A character I like the idea of the conflicting dynamic x personality, but can't see that being my main option, instead I would save this for specific AUs, is Chevalier. So my final opinion is that he is an Alpha (although he seems quite neutral, and I can also see him being kind of adynamic, but that's beyond the scope of this).

Community votes also go in the same direction as his percentage is also quite high.

Princes I'm quite neutral about because I still don't know them enough. But if I had voted, I would go with Alpha for Luke and Beta for Gilbert.

Their votes are more spread out. Gilbert is the first my vote wouldn't be for the most popular option, but people probably know him better than me.

Clavis is another I'm still learning about, but I know him better than the former two, and for me he is the most Beta of the princes.

Seems people agree.

Silvio is very confusing. He comes off as pretty Alpha-like in the begging, but as hus route progresses, the more I can see him as an Omega as well.

In the end, unlike with Chevalier, I lean mire towards Omega Silvio. Mostly because it seems fun.

But I don't disagree with community's opinion being mostly Alpha. It makes the most sense.

Yves is another I'm conflicted on. Omega seems obvious, but I like Beta Yves as well. I would go with the later only to test it.

As expected, his votes for Omega are quite high.

For the twins, I was more sure of Alpha Licht and Beta Nokto, although the later also has strong Omega vibes.

People match my opinion on Licht and the vibes I had from Nokto.

As for Keith, I made another, separate poll, but I will consider the first one here.

Host seems pretty Omega while Alter has strong Alpha vibes. Although I like the conflict if the opposite, the only way for them to have different dynamics is Alter feeling like a different dynamic than the one Host presented as, but they still would have the same biological dynamic that rules some things about them...

They are really confusing and have all kinds of opportunities, but I like their presented dynamic and Host's being Omega and Alter adjusting to it.

But I understand community going for Beta. It balances out having two of them with different vibes and don't go towards the obvious.

That would have been my second option.

I only have vibes on the new princes, since we know little of them. My votes would be for Alpha Matthias, Beta Azel and Omega Kagari. (although I've seem someone post about Omega Matthias and I'm not opposed to all of them being Omegas.

The only one where my opinion differs from community vote is Azel. You probably also know more about him than me.

As for the side characters, I added them late, but I never really thought about them. I would go with:

Alpha: Cyran and Lucien

Omega: Carlo

Beta: Liam, Roderic and Walter

The only one I don't match final vites seems to be Roderic.

Last but not least, Emma.

I was in conflict. General otome protagonist vibe is Omega and I wouldn't disagree with it.

She also has a vibe that would make me think Alpha. But compared to Mai, she doesn't have as much if that Alpha vibe.

So I think of her more as a Beta.

(less decisively, maybe her dynamic could be whatever pairs well with her partner and the kind of fic you want)

Community went with the same dynamic as me, but Emma herself said she's an Alpha 😁

[tmf-confessions]

Back with more Liam ranting because I’m going insane.

I find many things about his character interesting, but one of the most interesting things about him to me is definitely how his character relates to romance.

Like, think about it. Jake has a crush on Daisy(+Hailey?), Hailey is pretty obviously being set up to end up with Jake, Sean has a crush on Daisy (most likely), Daisy possibly reciprocates those feelings, Zander and Luke are dating, Milly has a crush on Elliot, Drew and Zoey used to be dating, Lia has her long-term crush on Jake, even Henry has a long-term, very obvious crush on Lia.

My point is, there are very few characters in this series who don’t have some sort of romantic ties to another character. In fact, the only characters other than Liam who don’t have some sort of love interest are probably Sadie and Maria, which makes sense since they don’t get much screen time (Maria more so than Sadie).

And to me that makes the romance aspect of his character a lot more interesting, especially since his attraction to women is an almost comedically large part of his character.

You’d think someone who’s main gimmick is romance-related would have more of a role in the shipping stuff, whether it be showing romantic interest in any character or being a matchmaker or something, but no. Liam shows no interest in any girl at their school other than maybe one time where it’s mentioned he tried to ask an offscreen unnamed character out, and he actually seems pretty clueless when it comes to things like why Jake is even going through everything he does for Daisy, the show itself even pointing out how he doesn’t understand traditional romanticism. He’s not even the one who realizes Jake might have a thing for Hailey, either. If I remember correctly, it’s Drew who realizes first while Liam just sorta stands and listens.

And honestly, when almost every character has a long-term crush or love drama, having a character who just doesn’t get any of that and thinks they should just cut to the chase and confess or whatever is really funny. It does, however, make Liam a bit of an outlier and makes talk of his sexuality pretty interesting to me, especially since the lack of canon content leaves more room for interpretation.

Like I said earlier, Liam’s romantic interest in women is such a large part of his character that it almost feels performative. And I’ve seen that lead to a lot of people headcanoning him as gay or aromantic. And I think that’s cool!

As an aromantic person myself, I’m probably a little biased as to which one I think about more (even if I do love some of the Liam ships). But him mostly focusing on people he has no realistic shot at being in a relationship with (Stacy’s Mom, that girl he sent the donation message to) does remind me of aromantic experiences.

And I don’t know, I imagine that he’s the kind of person to get a new ‘crush’ every week, ask them out, and when if they say no, he’s a little sad for less than 24 hours then moves on, almost like he never felt anything at all. Which is why he’s so confused over why Jake would go through all this trouble for Daisy when he could just ask her out right then and there.

I guess I think it’d be something like him wanting the emotional closeness of being in a relationship with someone, who he assumes should be a girl, and so he pursues that without realizing what romantic feelings he’s ‘supposed’ to feel in relation to that. He doesn’t understand why people act the way they do when they have a crush because he just doesn’t feel that way when he thinks he likes someone (If we go with the aromantic reading).

As for the him liking guys headcanon, I’m probably not as confident as to what that would look like. But I presume it’d be something like him trying to do what he thinks he’s supposed to do as well, and never realizing that when people say they like a girl it’s different from how he feels, which is just “they seem pretty and nice and relatively pleasant to be around” while feeling no actual attraction. (Maybe idk I’ve never had that experience)

To get back on topic, I guess I just like how out of the ordinary he feels compared to everyone else. In a universe where every other character seems to show their romantic feelings in a similar way, (has long-term crush and feelings for a long time before they finally dramatically confess), Liam does not do that, and that’s pretty cool.

(I have no idea if this makes any sense sorry if it’s just incoherent rambling lol).

confession #830

[starlightiing]

Everything Ends || M || Pierre Gasly & Nyck de Vries

Title: Everything Ends

Rating: Mature (Violence).

Warnings: Blood, light gore, character death.

Pairing: Gen, Pierre/Nyck if you squint

Based on this BEAUTIFUL. STUNNING. GORGEOUS. (tw blood!!!) Piece of art work from @allphatauri - I am begging you to go reblog the art, it is beautiful and I had the honor of watching it come alive before my eyes on stream in my F1 Server <333 This fic was heavily inspired by Nyck and Pierre's story. There may be a part two with Liam and Yuki's.... B)

His heartbeat roars in his ears the moment his eyes focus on Pierre. He’s sprawled on the ground almost like a ragdoll, skin pale and visibly clammy. The twitch of his chest is faint, barely-there, with breaths that come so quickly it makes Nyck feel like he’s the one starving for oxygen.

And perhaps he is. He realizes, now, that he hasn’t taken a breath since stumbling upon Pierre’s body.

In stark contrast to the paleness of Pierre’s skin are the splashes of deep crimson splattered across his chest and dribbling down from his lips. Nyck stumbles forward, his feet betraying his mind’s need to see and understand exactly what has happened by following his heart’s hesitance at experiencing Pierre’s last moments of life.

No, no, surely not. Surely there’s something –

“Pierre?” Nyck whispers, his voice gentle and weak as he pushes himself forward, trembling legs be damned. He collapses as soon as he makes it to Pierre’s side, taking in the magnitude of the wound. There is a gash in his chest he had not noticed before, angry and red and bubbling with every breath Pierre tries to take. The blood pouring from his lips makes sense, now, with the blunt force trauma to his chest so obvious.

His lungs - they must be -

“Pierre, Pierre, please.” Nyck tries again, his voice louder and more urgent as he reaches a quivering hand forward to test the pulse at Pierre’s neck. The beat is feather soft and all but non-existent, like his heart is merely whispering within the confines of his ribs instead of singing with power the way Nyck is so used to. The way he breathes sends a shiver down Nyck’s spine and straight to the core of his soul. The inhales are wet - gurgled and shallow, with a desperation of a rasp to pull air into lungs that may not have the space left in them for oxygen anymore. The exhales are almost worse, rattling with blood that continues to bubble out from the corner of Pierre’s lips. He is choking, suffocating, on the very same blood meant to keep him alive. 

Nyck swallows a mouthful of bile and nearly vomits on the spot. He moves his hand from Pierre’s neck to the side of his face, and only then do hazy, unfocused blue eyes flutter open to meet his gaze.

“Pierre! Hang on, okay? Just hang on. I will get someone to help, just - just don’t go anywhere.” it hurts too much to say ‘don’t die’ even if that is exactly what he means. There is a spark of recognition in Pierre’s eyes that lasts the span of a heartbeat, before that clarity becomes fear, and then that fear becomes chilling horror. Nyck’s blood runs cold at the expression on Pierre’s face, and he grabs his bloody cheeks between both of his hands. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s alright.”

“Run,” Pierre chokes, coughing up an alarming mouthful of blood. He barely manages to pull in a breath to finish his plea, “Please, run. Now.”

“What? I - I will, I will run and get help.” Nyck assures him, though the fear in Pierre’s eyes only seems to grow. Confusion settles over him like a thick and heavy blanket, one that has him trapped and struggling to squirm his way out. 

A soft flicker of movement twists the shadows around Pierre’s body, and Nyck whirls around so quickly it nearly makes his head spin. A gasp claws its way up from the back of his throat when his eyes settle on another presence, a man, looming over him far too close for comfort. He startles, scrambling backwards until his hand accidentally hits Pierre’s arm, and only then does he sober up enough to recognize the man’s face. The panic quells, and his frantic breaths begin to calm as he pulls himself back up to his feet.

“Christian! Please, Pierre – something’s happened to Pierre. We need to get him help, he can’t breathe.”

Christian remains stoically calm, and Nyck watches as his eyes trail down to Pierre, still struggling for air on the ground. Nothing flickers across his face, not one single flash of surprise, of pity, of empathy -

He merely watches Pierre for a moment, head cocked to the side in interest, before his eyes finally trail their way back up to Nyck.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for him, Nyck. He made his bed, and now he has to lie in it.”

“He…what?” 

At that moment, Pierre makes a strangled sort of sound, something that is suspiciously close to Nyck’s own name garbled through a mouth full of blood and breathless lungs. Nyck looks back down at him, noticing the way his chest no longer moves and his eyes, oh, god, his eyes - they’re glassing over. There’s still life left in them, a defiant spark against his fate, but it is merely a blip, destined to fade out.

Nyck feels Christian’s hands on him in the exact second Pierre’s eyes flutter closed, followed by a burst of fire and pain that erupts at the center of his neck. Just as soon as Christian’s arms had grabbed hold of him, they’re gone, and Nyck looks down to see blood pooling from his neck, dripping onto Pierre’s lifeless body on the ground. His heart roars viciously in his ears, pounding away and unhelpfully spilling more blood even quicker as his hands come up in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“What did - what did you -” Nyck sputters, stumbling on his feet as blood crowds his throat and pours from him quicker than he can attempt to stop it. He turns, and Christian is gone completely from sight. It’s almost like he dreamed him up, like he was never really there at all.

But the gaping wound in his neck says otherwise. As quickly as the blood spills, so too does his consciousness and strength wane. He sways slightly, before his knees completely buckle and he falls listlessly to the ground, ragdolled next to Pierre. Fear ignites in his veins, a strong sense of self preservation running through him as he tries to push through. 

But mere will alone is not enough to fight the demons of blood loss. It is not enough to clear his airway or keep his heart pumping in his chest. It was not enough for Pierre, either, whose body is cooling rapidly beside Nyck. This is not where he wants to die, this isn’t where he wants things to end –

But, he thinks hopelessly, it surely wasn’t where Pierre wanted his life to end, either.

“P-Pierre…” Nyck gasps, coughing out blood with a horrendous gurgling sound. He can’t breathe, oh he can’t breathe, and is this what Pierre felt only moments ago when he was gasping like a fish out of water to pull anything into his crowded lungs? If Nyck had the energy, he would be sick. “Pierre.”

Logically, Nyck knows Pierre is already dead. He watched him take his last breath, with Nyck’s name pressed against his dying lips. He can see the stillness of his chest, and yet he still desperately calls for something, anything.

Anything he can have, anything his slippery, bloody little hands can grab on to, not to die alone.

“Pierre!” he calls out again, desperately, spitting blood from his mouth in the process. His next inhale provides him with a lungful of blood, and he begins to choke feebly against the same forces that took Pierre from him.

The struggle for air hurts more than he ever imagined it could, the way his chest burns and aches and spasms for oxygen that can no longer make it in. His entire body shakes viciously with the need to breathe, god he just wants to breathe -

It’s only a few moments later his head hits the ground right next to Pierre’s, his lips only centimeters away from the shell of Pierre’s ear. He heaves a dry sob, which makes it no further than the drowning mess of his crushed lungs, and wheezes out, “Please. I’m so sorry, Pierre.”

His heartbeat stumbles, falters, and then halts as soon as the words leave his bloodstained lips.

.

“I truly must thank you boys for your time, commitment, and service to Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri. Unfortunately for you, it seems you were just not compatible. Those services will no longer be needed, and may you take your shameful display of performances with you to your grave.”

[eneiryu]

do you have any headcanons for characters you haven’t worked into fics yet?

This took me a while to answer, because I genuinely had to mull it over. And I think the answer is no…? But honestly it’s entirely possible that I think I’ve put something into a story that I haven’t, so I decided to list out some of my headcanons that I feel like I have covered, just in case:

This one is glaringly obvious to anyone who’s even glanced at my stories, but I see Theo as incredibly guilty, and with massive…not self-worth issues, exactly, in the sense that he doesn’t think he’s got valuable skills or is an interesting person or whatever, but in the sense that he thinks the things he’s done make him unredeemable. And even with his relationship with Liam and his tighter integration with the McCall pack, he still sees it all as temporary and…a mistake, almost. One that Liam and the McCall pack could wake up from at any moment.

One of Theo’s most tried-and-true methods for dealing with Liam’s anger is just to bait him into expressing it, literally trying to get Liam to attack him because he can take it, heal from the damage, and—because I also headcanon Theo as a great fighter (though I think that’s heavily backed by canon)—oftentimes just kicking the shit out of Liam as well. And it’s extremely effective!

I tend to see Theo as someone who has always seen sex as transactional, whether explicitly or not. And as has come up in numerous of my fics—that he used to use himself and his looks as tools to get what he wanted or was ordered to. I also headcanon this as something that certain people in the pack have figured out, mostly the adults—Argent, Melissa, the Sheriff, etc. I see it as something he doesn’t really talk about and generally doesn’t really see as a problem.

But in that vein, and tying in with the fact that I think Theo is genuinely just tired, emotionally and existentially and a lot of the times physically, that he really just wants someone he can follow, who he can trust to follow, who will guide him and point him in the right direction and make use of him. And, more to the point: use him well. And I think the top three people for him in that vein are Liam, Scott, and Argent.

I see Scott as Liam’s third parent, and everyone is just sort of cool with that, without it really being something that’s discussed. Their relationship is very father-son -ish to me, with Liam looking to Scott for all kinds of guidance, and trusting in what he gets back.

Obviously I’ve got my Argent & Theo BroTP. I feel like with the way I write Theo, they’ve got a lot in common, and more than that, that Theo trusts Argent to see him without subjectivity or clouded judgement, and Theo therefore finds Argent very comforting, because he trusts that Argent would take him out before he could revert back to his old ways—which I genuinely think Theo obsessively worries could happen at anytime, and that he won’t be able to stop himself.

I really do see Malia as incredibly clearheaded in the sense that she just doesn’t see or doesn’t acknowledge things that seem like bullshit. There are just what things are, and I think that’s an incredibly important need for the McCall pack, which I feel like can get very caught up in the metaphysical/existential right-and-wrong of it all.

I adore Deaton and really do think he’s got that silent, “I always know more than what I’m saying” thing going on, and is always, always trying to do right not just by the pack, but by everyone. I also really like the idea—explored in one my fics—that he and Peter have a lot of lived-in history.

I’m sure there are a million others, but coming up with them on my own initiative is hard. 😅 If anyone has specific asks about certain characters, happy to try and answer them.

[whitetaileddeer]

ok listen here nerd, i need some toxic lesbian shit right now or i'm gonna lose it.

please

please

please

can u tell us about vicky and athena and their relationship! i have to know what it was like and if u could share some moments between them!!

thanks love u

ty for the ask, you’re my biggest fan <3

Very soon I’ll do actual character intros so things make a bit more sense. Since their relationship seems to be your fav I've written a lot just for you.

Vicky looks back on her childhood and thinks of grass stained knees and gingham picnic blankets, of pink ribbons in blonde hair and soft brown hands in hers. She doesn’t remember how she, Dawn and Athena came to be friends, but Dawn, always superstitious, called it fate. They shared everything, secrets and clothes and toys. They shared their passwords to their library computer accounts and  shared worlds on whatever games they played. They spent almost every playtime as if it was raining, staying inside to read over each others shoulders or playing games with intricate rules only they knew. Vicky passed clips and bows from her hair to Athena’s, careful of her curls, and always told her she looked pretty. 

To focus solely on Vicky and Athena, their relationship was cut from the purest cloth. Athena had always felt like a jagged edge, a jigsaw piece with a curling corner. Vicky, with hair that shocked the sun and a row of perfect pearl teeth, slipped her hand into Athena’s and softened her. When Athena scraped her knee, Vicky was behind her with a wet paper towel. When Athena lost a toy in the yard, Vicky offered her hers without a second Thought. When Athena’s Mam started rocking their little family, Vicky opened her arms and her home to her.

It’s easy to assume that Vicky always has a crush on her, that she knew from day one that what she felt was romantic, but it wasn’t. Their relationship for the longest time was soft and innocent, Vicky holding no intentions other than wanting to see Athena smile.

It’s in this fashion that their relationship shifted in secondary school.

Vicky blended in seamlessly to the quickly forming popular crowd, etching out a name for herself as untouchable and outspoken. She formed a tight group around her, how couldn’t she? Vicky was perfect, well read and strong spoken. She was magnetic. The world around her rolled off her back like water. Dawn was quick to catch up, and Athena felt she was jogging behind. Athena felt once more like a sore thumb, obvious and untethered. It was Vicky who held her hand and told her she wouldn’t want to be anywhere without her, who carved out a space for her. 

The idea that something as trivial as school or popularity would separate her from Athena scared Vicky.

Vicky was very protective over Athena, always keeping a close eye on her, and this overprotectiveness led Vicky to the conclusion that the best way to keep an eye on Athen and to stay aware of all aspects of her life was to have her date her brother, Liam, rather than one of the boys from school who she did not know and did not like. (Subconsciously, the idea of Athena dating anyone made Vicky feel uncomfortable, even when Dawn was beginning to gain the attentions of the boys in their year it never affected her the way it did with Athena. Of course for us its easy to imagine this is because Vicky had a crush on Athena, but she didn’t recognise this and chalked it up to her wanting to protect Athena.)

Vicky pushed Athena towards Liam. Liam (Who is three years older than the girls) had shown interest in Athena for a long time, since she hit puberty essentially, and needed no convincing in beginning a relationship with her. (Being so young, 14, Vicky and Athena saw no issue with dating someone older, someone as trustworthy as Vicky’s brother) Vicky felt so much more secure knowing Athena was with her brother, that she was privy to the progression and all aspects of their relationship. Essentially, Vicky began dating Athena vicariously through her brother, unbeknownst to any of them. She was so invested in their relationship because it felt like it was hers, though she did not realise this at the time.

When, in Vicky’s eyes, Athena breaks up with Liam out of nowhere, she is understandably hurt and confused, feeling as if she herself has just been abandoned by Athena. It’s by unfortunate chance that Liam is the first to speak to Vicky, rather than Athena. He explains to her his theory, which then spirals into a presumed fact, that Athena cheated on him with that new boy Giovanni and left Liam for him. (Vicky was already uncomfortable with the friendship forming between Athena and Gio, seeing him as a threat to her relationship with Athena.)

Vicky feels that she herself has been betrayed by Athena, she’s heartbroken. When Athena fails to apologise or take accountability, Vicky is distraught. 

She doesn’t understand why Athena would do this to her, as if breaking up with and supposedly cheating on Liam is a personal affront to her. When Athena points out the odd reaction Vicky has to this entire affair, Vicky responds with aggression. 

Vicky doesn’t understand why, but it’s as if Athena broke her heart, she barely pays notice to her brother’s spiralling behaviour or reaction, fully focused on soothing her own broken heart through anger and denial. 

(Theres a lot more plot stuff around how Vicky reacts, her relationship with Gio, Athena and Liam’s relationship and the conflict between Liam and Gio but this is long enough already oops. If u wanna know anymore or more detail lmk I am willing to yap about anything.)

[ihaveatypeanditstrickstergods]

Role/Speciality Speculation for the Circle of Tide & Bone

My current guess (assuming there's one of each role)

Gina: Face (Magician) or possibly Weird (Occultist) - the pendulum and talks of the gods of the sea definitely feels like she's communing with something, it's just a question of whether it's real or a show (personally I'm leaning Magician specifically because she dropped the word gods, which doesn't seem to usually be a thing in the Fairelands, or at least not a thing that actually exists)

Noshir: Muscle (Explorer) or possibly Slink (Detective) - I'm mostly going by the aesthetic here--something about his outfit screamed explorer to me. I also think that detective is possible because his voice line seemed kinda insight-oriented, but that might just be wishful thinking from me (show me more Detective, CR cast, I'm begging you)

Sam: Slink (Criminal) or possibly Muscle (either) - Sam's character is definitely a sailor, but there are a few different directions one could go with that. My initial thought was maybe some sort of smuggler, but he could also easily be either of the Muscle roles--either an ex-soldier now working as a sailor or someone who traveled the world on a boat

Ashly: Weird (Medium) or possibly Face (Journalist) - Her situation is very medium, imo, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the trait that defines her role. She could just as easily be playing someone in any of the roles that acquired a passenger during a mission or as part of her inciting incident. I went with Journalist, again, mostly due to the aesthetic.

Liam: Scholar (Professor) - This seems the most obvious to me. He's shown looking over books and talking about Candela, so I'm assuming he's some sort of long-time member who's made a study of the organization's history

[princeescaluswords]

Alma Mater

Written for @teenwolf-meta's Meta May Monday prompt: Place.

Teen Wolf put a lot of focus on Beacon Hills High School as a location. Even the 2023 movie, which took place in 2026, spent significant time at the school. Scott McCall, the lead protagonist, had been graduated for thirteen years; why was this one location so important?

On the surface, it could be as obvious as the show being about teenagers, but I don't think the decision was that shallow . I think there were three very important reasons that it was a primary setting.

To serve production needs. At the end of Season 2, the production moved from Georgia to Los Angeles. The reasons for this I have only encountered peripherally, but none-the-less, it did create a certain disconnect in the minds of the viewers. Beacon Hills High School not only had a sudden change in floor plan but it had a definite change in climate. There were now palm trees! Yet, the series did not avoid the contradictions. Of course, all productions face financial limitations; this production seemed capable of having only a certain number of sets, which, for example, is why the new library in Season 5 was clearly Derek's loft repurposed. Practically, a high school would be an easy location for the principle cast to encounter each other. There would no need to explain why, for example, Stiles and Scott would see Lydia coming up the sidewalk as in Wolf Moon (1x01) or why Mason would be talking about their Friday night plans with Garrett and Violet in The Benefactor (4x04). In addition, it would be an understandable way to introduce new characters, both adult and teenager. There could be new hires, new transfers, or even characters the audience had not met before that the principle cast had and yet not discussed.

To serve thematic needs. I have stated before and I will state again, that I absolutely believe that Teen Wolf is a bildungsroman -- a story exploring the spiritual and psychological transformation of a child into an adult. In our modern culture, this frequently happens in high school, for this is where the protective authority of parents and family begins to give way to acts of self-determination. Relationships with friends become more complicated, with the increased importance of social strata, the emergence of sexuality, and the recognition of impermanence. For the teenagers undergoing this transformation, the world becomes less welcoming even as they gain more agency, and part of that is the transformation of school from a safe space (sorry, Natalie) to an area of contention. There are suddenly consequences to action and inaction. The gulf between the protagonists, who have up until this point been children, and adults becomes less and less clear as they begin to share both opportunities and complications. The teenage protagonists also discover that there is no guarantee of fair treatment from adults, evidenced by the bitter hostility of Adrian Harris to the incomprehensible and comedic self-absorption of Coach to the well-meaning but predatory academic ruthlessness of Mrs. Finch. To be in high school no longer means that is is beneficial to allow others to make their decisions for them. Who are you, really?

It also serves one of Jeff Davis's favorite themes: recursion. Students graduate and are replaced by new students, who must face similar crises in the process of growing up (though hopefully not as violent). Beacon Hills High School showing up in the movie was no more nostalgia than the flashback to Derek Hale's high-school experiences in Visionary (3x08) or 117 (4x02). What Derek experiences in high school has bearing on what Scott experiences in high school has bearing on what Eli experiences in high school. In the series, the differences between Derek's and Scott's and Liam's experiences are compared to each other, such as in the outcomes of their first loves. Likewise, in the movie, Scott isn't longing to be a teenage alpha/lacrosse captain again; he's coming to terms with the terrible trauma of his high-school-era experiences by helping Eli through the terrible trauma of his high-school-era experiences.

To serve as a storytelling tool. Teen Wolf is a tale of danger, terror, and horror. One of the easiest ways to create that tension is to transform the common everyday parts of life into something that is threatening and out-of-control. Think about Night School (1x07), and the utter menace of Beacon Hills High when there are no lights and no people. Think about the twisting of normal fun activities -- lacrosse games plagued by a star player suddenly tearing himself open or pursued by a gigantic beast or being stalked by extra-dimensional cowboys. Think about how many times the locker room -- a place where students are frequently vulnerable while changing clothes -- is a place where teenagers get trapped in lockers or showers or darkness.

It's also a way to signify danger. The enemy invades a place that is supposed to help teenagers learn and grow while hanging out with their friends, and this perverts into a place where they have to constantly be on their guard. The principal is suddenly a man who wants to manipulate teenagers if he can or kill them if he can't. The guidance councilor has her own agenda in fomenting supernatural genocide. Teachers, who are supposed to be showing teenagers the truth of the world they are going to responsible for living in, turn out to be never what they seem, whether as harmless as protecting his nine-centuries old wife by lying or by offering teenagers as human sacrifices or by being a temporally-displace Nazi.

High school, just like the world, isn't all bad of course. High school has a benevolent purpose, just like many people have benevolent intentions. Other guidance counselors can present characters with alternatives to being a victim or running away in terror. Friends made there who will stand together against the darkness. Teenagers can learn leadership skills on the lacrosse field and can learn knowledge in the library that can help one survive. A benevolent and influential family might even have arranged the high school be built on the confluence of ley lines, not only to protect their secret vault, but also because it might keep certain supernatural creatures out.

Beacon Hills High School played a significant role in Teen Wolf not out of lazy decisions but about the focus of the story on transformation. Children become teenagers become adults who help other children become teenagers become adults. Or, those characters with sinister intent transform twist a civilized location into threatening one so often that it becomes an identifying mark. The production made proper use of this setting.

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Do you think william is a polyglot?

Yes, he speaks Math, English, and whatever engineering language Herder goes on in.

Honestly, there's no real reason to believe almost any of the characters speak multiple languages, Herder the obvious exception (as he obviously also speaks German), and perhaps Billy as his real-life counterpart was extremely fluent in Spanish. I know it's very popular fanon to believe Sherlock speaks French but...there's...not really anything to actually base that off.

If William does, it's curious that he hasn't used it as part of any of his plans. It seems like it would be quite handy. And of course that could have happened off screen, but like. IDK, IDK.

Anyway, there's no real evidence either way. In the real world, Liam would have learned Latin and probably Greek at Eton (especially given he and his brothers were all King's Scholars), but YuuMori is extremely anachronistic, so, ehhhh?

[ilikedyourablogithere]

My Dislyte 2023 Awards

Same as last year

Time to rant about the things I liked this year

if you had things you liked this year go ahead and make your own post

anyways

The Element of The Year

Flow

From Intisar to Liam, 4 or 5 Star, every Flow Unit this year has been a banger and very useful

Pantheon of the Year

Greek

while not my personal go to, it is very obvious this was the Greeks year. Having the spotlight on them through out the various stories and bounties

My Favorite Character of The Year

Falken

you don't get any points for guessing Falken is my favorite esper of the year again. And if you're disappointed he's my pick for another year... tell the dev team to make a character I will like more than Falken ?

But it's not that hard to see why. He got his Universal +20% Speed lead, great in boss fights, the new equipment gave him even even more viable builds you can make with him and of course his divinate allows him to do what he does even better

There was more fun to be had with this guy than last year and for that... he's the best

Best Boy of the Year

Javid

Was once told good cops don't end up staying "good" cops. They usually either end up quitting or worse happens to them

and Javid is no exception to that

As chief marshal he ended up forcing a whole marshal department to defend the citizens against a monster swarm, sending them all but him to their death. Meant to die along side them he somehow survived and now riddle with guilt of surviving he's been imprisoned where he also keeps the citizens safe and the miracle a bay

It takes alot to stand by your values especially during the bad times. And that's the thing I like about Javid, he stands by what he mean. He believes in fairness even when if means he ends up on losing side of being fair. He could have left and abandon everyone and everything and saved his own skin but that wouldn't have been fair to all those who died now would it?

He's not winning any popularity awards tho, he's still a hard ass stick in the mud at the end of the day. And his fairness can border on cruelty but that's part of what make him interesting

Best Girl of the Year

Ain

Tragically there no deep reason for choosing her, she's simply a kind person. She has a bit of a temper and apparently a bit of a prankster in her but she's part of her community and is making it a better place for herself and those around her.

From helping those down on their luck, sharing her knowledge and passing down what she knows, being a cat lover or simply being a quirky event in another's life. She's very much a part of her community

It's something the majority of us can do and even strive to make a part of our own lives

She's very inspirational and for that she's 2023s best girl

Husbando of 2023

N/A

yee same as last year, no one has resonated with me like yet. But I'm always open to being surprised

Waifu of 2023

Aquafresh

my dearly beloved who is named after a toothpaste brand for some reason I will never understand

She's so mysterious ... by which I mean I do not understand this npc

Best Billboard Event of 2023

Sea and Song

I mean it made me feel

Norah is an excellent main character with a relatable story of an artist who lost her art mojo

The npcs were very likeable and just make you want to help them and save the day

and while my like of Anna has greatly soured since her released Norah sure make her seem like a cool person and while their ending is sad, I'm glad they got to see each other again

Pretty satisfying end to the Cube Miracle arc

Best Track of 2023

Without You - Northside Nate

it's song that fills in a spot in the musical taste buds that rarely gets satisfied

Best Boss of the Year

Barros

an interesting esper, on one hand he's doing his best with what he can get his hands on the help his lil' nephew. But on the other hand "doing his best with what he can" is him gambling the rest city's citizens to accomplish this and seeing how he's the mayor...it's probably for the best to stop him

Also he's a pretty cool 2 part boss fight

I'm surprised they haven't put him in towers or cube miracle or something

But ya that's my best of 2023 awards for dislyte for anyone who was curious

[haven-of-dusk]

Someone -- I believe it was Hbomberguy -- once said that Steven Moffat should write concepts and pilots for shows and then hand them off to someone else, because he's quite good at concept creation, but struggles on follow-through.

And honestly that type of advice should probably apply to Jeff Davis as well.

The Hale family and their lore is a textbook example of giving yourself a huge vessel for worldbuilding and then never really using it. The chimeras could've been a great expansion of the world, but were instead mostly rehashes or unexplained. The druids were another great concept that got exactly zero expansion. You get the idea.

And possibly the most obvious example of all is the movie.

Having the pack be distant from one another and seemingly depressed could be a great setup for a movie taking place so long after the series, building intrigue for the audience about what exactly happened in the interim to cause the split and even if you don't fill in everything that happened, noodle incident style, you still have a prime setup for conversations between characters, rejuvenating connections, and organic exposition of what the past few years have been like because the characters themselves might not be aware of each others' recent histories. But the movie has so much plot to throw at you and so much Scallison filler to get through that it never takes time to explore those conversations or even let some characters interact (*cough* Liam and Mason *cough*)

Derek having a son who's afraid of being a werewolf could have been interesting, but the botched pacing means the setup is really only a short while before the payoff, and the progression feels plot-driven instead of character driven. And it does not help that Eli is then somehow able to fight alongside Derek and Scott as though he didn't just acquire his powers less than an hour ago.

Allison coming back could've been interesting, allowing characters to finally process grief they had pushed down but never worked through, and giving closure to everyone before they have to say goodbye again, but Chris barely gets to interact with Allison, nor does Lydia, and instead of processing grief, she just gets magically ressurected and reset like nothing happened and we're supposed to be satisfied with implied Scallison despite Allison still being a 17 year old as far as the narrative informs us.

I could go on, but then I'd be typing for hours. Jeff Davis is very good at coming up with ideas and characters, at least it seems (for all I know he's terrible at it and someone else in the writing room has been supplying the stuff he keeps botching), but he should really stick to that part of the creative process, because so much of what he does afterwards turns out middling, lackluster, or outright bad.

The fact so much good Teen Wolf fanfic exists is proof of this, honestly. There are a lot of good characters and ideas in Teen Wolf, and it's telling that a lot of them were explored better by the fans than the show itself ever did.

Stick to what you're good at, Jeff. Learn to quit while you're ahead and hand the reins off to people who are better suited to the other tasks.

[digi-dest-stories]

Miraculous Destiny AU Lore

OC characters in this AU! Most of these are reoccurring or important OCs in the school. There's only one that's not technically an OC and that's Liam. He's just possibly OOC, since I don't know much about him.

Some of them did get changed as I was writing this.

~~~~

Main/Secondary-

Alicia: One of Sammi's best friends and classmates! She's a big fan of animes, specifically ones that contain magical heroines. So when the superheroes appear, specifically Glitter Lucky, she fangirls (which is a bit awkward and flattering for Sammi). She'll try to constantly talk to the heroine whenever she sees her swinging around town and is always excited when they get to have an actual conversation. Outside of this, she's a very sweet girl who does her best to make everyone feel happy and included.

Blake: Another one of Sammi's best friends and classmates! A little more shy compared to Alicia, but still just as friendly. They enjoy hanging out with their little friend group, though they don't really talk much compared to everyone. They just kinda stay around in the background and listen to conversation around them. They don't enjoy getting roped into dangerous situations though, such as when Alicia wants to run off to watch the heroes despite the school telling them to go hide somewhere safe.

Tobias: A character who I changed to appear later on, as opposed to him immediately being part of the group. He's a new kid who arrived later on in the school year, transferring over from homeschooling. He was a bit reserved at first, preferring to keep his own company, before Sammi somehow roped him into her friend group. Despite their friendship, they know little about him, as he doesn't really talk about himself. He's whipsmart and observant, able to identify when Akumas or Digimon are about to be manifested.

Casey: One of Reiner's friends and his 'second-in-command'. They're a rather laid-back person who keeps their other friends in check and makes sure their boss/friend isn't too stressed. Though they're not a flashy hero like Dark Claw and Glitter Lucky, they still do their best to help out during Akuma/Digimon attacks. Usually just trying to herd civilians and bystanders out of the way, so that the heroes can get their job done without worrying about others. It takes a lot to get them upset or overly emotional.

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Completely Secondary (Mostly in the background but sometimes have important appearances)-

Liam: E.R.'s big brother! He's just as friendly and as goofy as his little brother, though much less accident-prone. Though friendly, he is somewhat overprotective of E.R. He won't protest against his hobbies, but he does disapprove of some of the more dangerous stunts. And his friendship with Riot, since he's still skeptical of his change in behavior. He's also good friends with the Mayor's son, Gary. He tries to encourage his friend's interests and hobbies, especially given how happy it seems to make him.

Vivian: One of E.R.'s friends, nicknamed Viv. She's got the biggest crush on him, which he is oblivious too (just like how she's oblivious to his obvious crush on someone else). She gets flustered around him easily, making it obvious. She's friendly, though a bit overwhelming and very chatty. She's also rather clumsy, seeming to trip on nothing but air most of the time. It's a fact that she's embarrassed by, though her friends reassure that it is alright and that she's fine.

Alexander: One of E.R.'s friends, nicknamed Alex. They met at a skatepark competition, where E.R. had accidentally been launched off a ramp and ended up crashing into him. The two became fast friends in the hospital room, sharing tips and tricks with one another. He's a hyperactive guy who enjoys the thrill of life and who is in the hospital almost as much as E.R. He doesn't have nearly as many broken bones though. He thinks the heroes are the coolest and gives them his full support.

Diana: One of E.R.'s friends, nicknamed Dia. The one who's a little more relaxed compared to everyone else. She prefers to just hang out and watch the others, usually being the one to persuade them away from the more dangerous stunts. It doesn't always work, given the nature of her friends, but she still tries. Like E.R., she keeps a medical kit on her just in case of emergencies - Which, between all the akumas and digimon and stuff, happens a lot. She really admires what the heroes do, though she worries about Lucky given her age.

Finn: A self-taught coder and self-proclaimed hacker who is homeschooled. He has declared Grayson as his 'rival', mostly out of jealousy and admiration of the other's computer skills. He always sets up competitions or puzzles to see how the two compare, keeping track on who wins the most. Despite their rivalry, they do hang out from time to time, because they're both just lonely kids at the end of the day. He doesn't have much company (or friends) otherwise. He's a sweet kid, if not a huge dork.

Sammi's Classmates (Just Names): Maria, Juniper, Tyrone, Dennis, Tyler, Henry, Vickey, Gale, Alva, Jake. They have some individual character traits that I won't delve into, at least not in this post.

Reiner's Friends (Just Names): Nico, Kenzo, Arata. Former members of his 'gang', now just a group of friends that like to hang out together. They do still treat him like he's their leader, though most of their actual commands come from Casey.

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Antagonistic Secondary-

Julianna: One of Henrietta's "friends". Typical mean girl, who talks trash about other people and enjoys playing cruel 'pranks'. She instigates the most of the bullying and pressures the other two into helping her. She's from a richer part of town, which is how she met Henrietta, though she only befriended the girl because she was the mayor's daughter. Her parents had told her to get close with her to make their own family look better. She's very unpleasant and little people enjoy her company, not even her friends.

Ariana: One of Henrietta's "friends". Another typical mean girl, who likes to listen to gossip and spread rumors about people. She's almost always scrolling on her phone, texting her friends or posting on social media. She's good at lying and can weasel her way out of any situation with the use of fake tears. She's convinced everyone she's the best of the three, even though she is actually the worst. She wormed her way into the friend group in order to gain a better status, since she's not from a well-known or prominent family.

Ivan + Chris: Riot's former friends, who used to help him bully other kids. They're still bullies themselves and pick on basically everyone in the school. Sammi's one of the few kids they leave alone, only because they're afraid of Reiner, who has previously beaten the shit out of them. They also leave Riot alone for the same reason - Like Reiner, he kicked their asses just by himself.