#and poses! you can really tell who's chill with it and who isn't

[after-the-end-times]

Eddie's Never Been Chill a Day in his Life

For @steddieholidaydrabbles Prompt: Chill 🥶 Rating: G 🥶Words: 793 🥶 cw: none 🥶 Tags: Established Relationship, Corroded Coffin doesn't understand, Eddie has no chill, Eddie Munson loves Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington loves Eddie Munson

“Oh, will you chill? It's not a big deal”

“Chill? Chill?! Ha!”

Eddie strikes a dramatic pose, one hand on his hip, finger on his lips and, despite the smile spreading across his face, his eyes are wide and angry staring down his friends.

“No, I don't think I will chill! Because I tell you, my best friends, my band, my comrades in arms, that I, Eddie Munson, have finally got myself a boyfriend and you, what? Say I can do better? Tell me you don't like him?!”

Eddie throws his head back laughing.

Gareth looks at Jeff who looks at Freak. They sometimes forget how scary Eddie can be when he turns his dramatics up to 10.

Which means it’s even more creepy in the quiet after Eddie’s laughter cuts off. A car door slams on the other side of the garage door. Jeff’s mom probably getting home from work.

“Dude, we just mean he isn't really- You know.”

“What? He isn't the best thing to happen to me? He isn't the kindest, sweetest, most self sacrificing man that I’ve ever met? Because guess what guys! He is. He's all that and more. He's funny and sarcastic and goofy and so so smart!”

“Eddie, he's a jock! You've always said-”

“And I was wrong! Ok!?” He blows out a harsh breath, continuing calmer “I was wrong and I judged without knowing. So what if he likes sports? He has hobbies and interests. Isn't that a good thing? Or would you rather I be with someone boring? Someone who thinks and acts just like me? So we can just sit there and stare at each other, because we have all the same opinions about everything? 'Cause, actually, I think I like it better this way.”

“Ok, ok we get it. You like him." Gareth huffs out a laugh.

Jeff adds with a chuckle. "Guess even you couldn't resist a pretty face, huh?”

Eddie scoffs. They just don't get it.

“Of course he's breathtaking. But he's all the more beautiful because of who he is inside. Don’t you get it yet? He has a gaggle of children who he loves and would do anything for. He has a best friend who he would literally get tortured for to spare her any hurt. He's even friends with his ex and the guy she cheated on him with! He's just so kind and forgiving, and yes it’s sometimes more than I'd want him to be, but that's- He's just so- I just- I love him.” He looks at them with wide pleading eyes. “Ok, guys? I love him and he's gonna be mine for as long as I can keep him. So, you guys just need to get with it, I guess.”

Eddie runs out of steam after that and crosses his arms protectively across his chest. He's still building his strength back up and he's been gesturing wildly for his whole rant.

The door on the side of the garage opens and Steve steps inside, shivering. The tip of his nose and ears are nipped pink from the cold, his hands are red and slightly trembling; he’s clearly been out there longer than it takes to run from the car to the garage.

“Steve.” Eddie breaths out and walks over to take his hands in his. He cups them and brings them up to his mouth, warming the frozen finger tips with his breath.

Steve’s gaze, so wide and hope filled, has been locked on Eddie since he came in.

“Do you really?” He finally asks, in a low voice just for them.

Eddie flicks his eyes up to meet Steve’s. For a fraction of a second he considers asking what he’s talking about, maybe playing off the moment with a joke, but no. Steve deserves to know. And he wants Steve to know.

“Steve,” He kisses the finger tips at his lips, still so cold, but finally warming. “I love you.”

“Eddie.” Steve’s shaking, though whether it’s still from the cold or from the force of his emotions, Eddie’s not sure. Either way, he suddenly has an armful of a Steve Harrington who is laughing so joyously, like it’s the only way he can release the amount of happiness that has suddenly over taken him. He gasps in a breath. “I love you, too, Eddie. Oh my god, I love you so much.”

Eddie pulls back grinning, he needs to see him right now, needs to see the joy he’s put on Steve’s face just by loving him.

Oh, Steve is glowing.

And in that moment, Eddie knows, without a singular doubt, he’s going to spend the rest of his life making Steve glow with happiness.

And they’re going to have a beautiful life.

~Fin~

[libraford]

I don't mean to keep talking about work shit but I'm back in that place where I like what I do and want to continue to do it, but there are parts of it that are starting to wear on me personally.

Work bitching under the cut.

We have a whole new crew this season except for me. And my boss is getting more stressed out because of her bosses, which means that when the new crew has questions it falls to me. Which is fine- the person who trained me was real knowledgeable and I'm decent at coming up with solutions to problems on my own.

The new people think I'm 'very chill.' But the truth is that most of the problems they're fussing over are things that I've encountered before and I know how to solve them or who to call if I can't. Sometimes my solutions aren't perfect and the overhead bosses notice that we had to rig something.

My immediate boss wants perfection. I told her that I can't promise that. She still thinks that I can do that, but I've never been a perfectionist. She will show you every hair out of place, every wrinkle in every collar, every misplaced crop.

Well?

Our subjects are children and children are imperfect. I didn't wash my hair for a year in fifth grade because I had constant earaches and didn't want to get my head wet. Sometimes kids are just funny looking- they make weird faces when you tell them to smile, they bug their eyes out, they don't sit still. Like I'm sorry, parents, that your kid doesn't sit with perfectly placed hands and a natural smile- but that's your goofy kid. Love and cherish their goofy years.

With most kids, I have a few tricks for getting them to fix their shirts and hair, get into the correct pose, and somewhat approaching a natural picture smile. But when you're doing 60 subjects a minute, some of them are not going to be perfect.

Yesterday I had a student who was special needs, did not like to be touched, and had specific wants for her photo. Her mother died last month and she wanted a photo of her holding the locket with her picture in it. Its the cutest photo ever.

They'll see that I went off-book. They'll see that her skirt isn't perfectly pleated. They'll see that she has some stray hairs.

I made an accommodation for this child. I accepted that we weren't going to get it perfect, but we were going to get a photo that her grandparents were going to cherish forever. Its truly an adorable photo. If I waited for perfect, I wasn't gonna get it.

Another kid was having a bad day. She was crying. I had to take her picture while she was crying, which is insult to injury for a kid who is having an internal crisis. We weren't going to get perfect.

I instruct the special needs teachers to send their kids to me because I'm very patient and I know some tricks and I know my equipment and I know how to make some adjustments to make it easier that some of my new photographers might not. I may not get perfect. I hope for happy, I hope for 'looking at the camera.' Its a win if I get both.

When I'm doing yearbook candids, I do fast and good. I have a system that allows me to take a rather high volume of decent photos that I know will look good in a yearbook without interrupting a class to get them. You literally can't get perfect here except on accident. They're kids in their natural environment.

When I'm doing sports candids I aim for volume. I know where to stand to get the best shots. If I take enough pictures, occasionally I get a really good one. But I don't look for perfect. I can't be like 'hey basketball dude, could you twist your hips a little bit to get that flattering curve of your spine?' Not happening.

I learned to work fast because I am being asked to do multiple things within a short time frame, so I learned how to process tasks in an efficient way: learning the typical building layout to minimize my workload and prepare for certain hiccups that happen often.

I mention them to the new people. I tell them that I am good and fast because I have done these things for three years and I am familiar with thinking on my feet. Often, I have to get things done quickly so that I can go help the new photographers who are struggling. If they prefer to go slow and focus on details first, that's fine. I will focus on volume and speed, I will pick up the slack while they are still learning.

I am told that I am going too fast. I need to slow down, focus on details, get things right instead of get them done.

But which would you prefer? That your kid was just a little messy for their photo or that I didn't take their photo at all because we ran out of time? Last season, one of our photographers had an emergency and I had to photograph nearly 800 students by myself.

The boss was shocked that they were good. Glad to hear we were expecting garbage.

Yesterday, while at a job, the boss was there to help one of the new photographers with one of the more complicated tasks. The new photographer felt that she was being pressed to go faster than her standards would allow. I told her afterwards that speed comes with time, there are some things you can't account for, and it wasn't necessary to push her that hard.

Our other new photographer is a 'perfectionist' and she takes so very much time getting every hair and every position and every expression, but she struggles to put up her equipment every time and if there's a problem she shuts down and can't think of a solution.

I have to be able to set up quickly so that I can make sure she has an extra hand to help her with issues. I have to photograph quickly to make sure that if she needs help I'm available.

And her photos are not really that much better. I'm often coaching her on cropping, on posture.

Slow does not equate perfection. Every person I've met that calls themselves a perfectionist is a perfectionist until it comes to the actual job.

She wants me to do class groups. Every time she trains me on class groups, there is some reason that I have to hop onto a solo unit. The first time it was because one of our photographers, another perfectionist, was taking too long and it created a bottleneck. Last time, it was because our other photographer went into labor and the remaining photographer was slower than hell.

So I'm learning that my speed and ease is an asset in these situations, but in situations where speed is not an asset then I should slow down- which experience tells me that if you slow down you're not guaranteed to do better.

Earlier in the week, I was showing one of the new girls how to do a dance backdrop setup. I had her look over my shoulder while I did the white balance and then exposure. I had shown her how to do it on a previous day and this was just reinforcement. Its also something that we do literally on every job, just in a different context- she should understand the concept and I gave her the option to raise any questions.

The boss told me that if I'm training someone how to do something I should show them how to do it, then mess up the settings on purpose for them, and then have them fix it. We were running behind schedule and I had actually been on schedule to leave like two hours prior but chose to stay so that we could work on this project together. I was not intending on training anyone.

She asks me why I don't want to become a trainer.

Its not usually like this. Usually, I can coast a little. But I'm filling the shoes of a couple people that had to sit this season out and now she's busting my chops to be perfect when 'perfect' was never my goal.

I dunno.

Its exhausting.

[polling-sonic-fans]

I gotta be completely honest with you, I'm a little frustrated with the people who interact with this blog. I don't want to be rude, especially not to you the mod, but seeing how popular the added "unsure" and "haven't heard of this" options can be for some polls, I feel like it takes from the poll entirely. For example, the recent one about Sonic Omens. I think that anyone who doesn't have a leg in the race just shouldn't vote, and the poll isn't for them. I feel like including options for people who can't even answer the question sort of messes with the data. I only mean this as constructive criticism, not to cause harm or hate, and I hope to hear your side of it, as well as submitters who make the polls. What do you think?

This, too, is data I must learn. My thoughts are under the cut, thank you for your feedback.

Joking aside, I understand the point, but I moderately disagree.

For the past month or so this blog has been running completely on user submissions. I only edit options to add something I think is missing and will result in unnecessary distress (see: the lack of chill on the first Sonic Voice Actor Poll. Lest we forget.). I do not currently remove options; I presume people meant what they said unless they tell me otherwise.

I do understand that some polls may have a lot of people choosing the opt out option, and that could pose specific problems. I don't think I agree with your example for this: I for one had never heard of that project, so would have voted the opt out option. And while I could and possibly would just ignore that poll, there's a chance someone might just pick or guess any answer if their response is not encapsulated in the options. People are nosy. They want to know the results even if they don't know anything about the topic.

Also, you can always calculate the proportion of the votes that went to each without the cop-out option with some simple percentage calculations. So the data isn't invalidated, the sample is just smaller. That is also data: it tells you many people aren't aware of or engaged with that topic. I think that is interesting too.

Where I could see your point is on more general but difficult things. If I listed a poll like 'Who's better: Shadow or Sonic?' I expect many people would want to click the cop-out option because they really like both, and there I would lose data. Because if they were really pushed, they could probably manage an opinion, but it would be easier (and give the gratification of button pressing) if they can not think about it and choose a 'I refuse!' button.

However, even in such cases I still think it's important that I do not edit people's polls to remove catch-all options if they have listed them. For all I know, the submitter was actually interested in capturing data on how many people would refuse to answer, and would be dissappointed to have that option removed.

My final note is I have found myself feeling quite protective of my submitters, especially those I suspect are regulars. This is not a massive blog being overwhelmed with asks. I would have given up already without them, I used nearly all of my ideas to get to past the first 100 polls. So if the polls are mislisted, contain errors, or you have grievances with them: raise those with me, that's my job. Give the submitters the kudos for providing the entertainment. I am not the last person you should be rude to but the first.

I don't want to ask voters to do anything except vote honestly, even if the answer is they don't know, and share questions they like. If they could continue to refrain from starting barfights on my posts that would also be swell. But I guess enthusiasm is appreciated.

Those who've read my essay here, please do leave your thoughts on the subject in the replies - I will be reading with interest and will let it impact my own polls, if not alter the submissions. Genuinely, thank you for the ask and your interest in the data we're making here, I am pleased that you are invested and like me want good data!

[bogkeep]

grousing about ai art stuff

every time i open twitter (my mistake) there's a new thread on how to spot ai art or ai photos by finding all the mistakes in it, and like obviously this is useful and it's good to watch out because they kEEP SHOWING UP EVERYWHERE AHHH HELL WORLD HELL WORLD, but it's also a little depressing that we're training ourselves to nitpick all kinds of details within a piece of art.

like even before the artifically generated image boom randos on twitter would reply to fully finished illustrations with the most asinine unsolicited advice possible. art's gonna be flawed sometimes! i'll draw someone in a weird pose because of vibes! i'll wing a hand! i don't fucking know what a house actually looks like!!! like yes of course the way a human artist creates flawed art is different from the way an algorithm doesn't actually know what anything looks like because it has no mind. it doesn't know shit. so it's not that it's UNRELIABLE but it's like. it's like... i've been telling myself and others every time i'm struggling to make something look Just Right that actually nobody i going to be staring as hard at my art as i am while making it. if i don't point it out people aren't likely to notice unless they are going through it with a fine toothed comb BUT NOW WE ARE DOING THAT APPARENTLY. WHICH IS ANYONE'S PEROGATIVE AND FAIR ENOUGH! PEOPLE CAN LOOK AT MY ART HOWEVER THEY WANT IT'S FINE

but it's ALSO so depressing to consider having to analyse every single piece of art you come across like that my goddddddd i just wanna enjoy it!! i wanna enjoy art!!!! i mean the main reason i finally stopped going on twitter regularly was during the NFT boom and i got so tired of having to vet every single artist i came across to make sure i wasnt retweeting nft stuff. like that really ruined my previously enjoyable experience of LOOKING AT NICE ART ON MY FEED WITHOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE.

god another thing that happened during the dark nft times was how certain art styles tended to be nfts. and i don't mean the ugly apes and stuff, like of course there's those, but there were a lot of artists who sold their souls to crypto and there was just a certain Vibe to a lot of those styles. like i got a sixth sense for it, i would see a piece of art by an unknown artists and when i checked - yep, that was a crypto guy now. and you know what!!!! i hated that!!!! i hate that it ruined entire art styles for me!! AND NOW ARTIFICIALLY GENERATED IMAGES ARE DOING THE SAME!!!!! like what tends to tip me off is less because i spotted some wonky hand or a weird flap but because the style is a popular one for the ai bros to imitate. you know what i mean right!!!!!! it's kind of how the ai photos look a bit too clean and crisp and smooth in an unsettling way. it just pings the brain a bit.

ULTIMATELY the absolute main method i have for filtering away ai images isn't so much looking for mistakes, but by checking sources. it's the same way i check that i'm not reblogging from reposting accounts Because That's A Thing I Care About Too - if there's no description or the description seems off and i don't recognise the OP, i check the original post/blog to see what's up. if the image gives me a weird vibe, i check where it comes from and who posted it. oftentimes the comments on posts with ai images will point it out - they're not always accurate and there's definitely been times where people are a little too trigger happy to accuse art of being AI... but it can be a good lead or confirm suspicions. on one hand, i don't want to do detective work while im having chill scrolling time, but on the other hand - i already had this habit for other reasons, so it's less disruptive to me than the alternative. it also helps that it's very rare for ai shit to turn up in my tumblr feed. i don't want to keep looking over my shoulder!!

(also for anyone who wants a little bit of optimism in the middle of all this, here's an episode of Better Offline podcast that outlines how it's very unlikely for generative ai to actually get much better. here's the part two also.)

[classicanalyzer]

The Acolyte - The Acolyte (Episode 8) Thoughts

"I think the Jedi are a massive system of unchecked power, posing as a religion, a delusional cult that claims to control the uncontrollable...Not the Force. Your emotions. You project an image of goodness and restraint, but it's only a matter of time before one of you snaps. And when, not 'if', that happens, who will be strong enough to stop him?... The majority of my colleagues can't imagine a galaxy without the Jedi. And I can understand why. When you're looking up to heroes, you don't have to face what's right in front of you." Senator Rayencourt.

"You poor girl. You've been through so much. The Jedi have failed you. I am going to make this right. But I need your help...I need you to help me find someone...A pupil of mine before he turned to evil." Vernestra Rwoh.

We end the show where it began chronologically, Brendok.

I love how Rayencourt makes good points about the Jedi trying to claim that they can control their emotions and present themselves as pure good with no flaws. What he said also legit sounds exactly what will happen to Anakin in the future. He's even proven right about the former with Sol given Episode 7 and the latter with Vernestra lying in the end. Props to his actor, David Harewood, for doing an amazing job.

I love how Bazil is the bad vibes checker of this show. I'm so happy that he lived.

MOTHERFUCKING DARTH PLAGUEIS! I legit said what the actual fuck when he appeared. His appearance makes a lot of sense and given how the twins were created using the Force, ofc he would be interested in them. I also love how the music used in this scene was very similar if not a reprise to the choir used in "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise." I also legit do not care about if people complain if his age isn't similar to Legends. Well, first of all, there is no set age in Canon. And second of all, I legit do not care.

I also love the ship chase sequence. The CGI looks really well done in there. You feel the ship's weight and the impact of the asteroids.

The show also continues the theme of visions not appearing as they are. The Acolyte killed the Jedi without a (physical) weapon, however, Osha was mistaken. The Acolyte happened to be her.

Also props to Amandla Stenberg for portraying the twins so well. I felt the intense heartbreak and betrayal as Osha realized that Mae was right and the intense hatred then regret after she murdered Sol. The Bleeding of Sol's Lightsaber was so chilling to see.

GOD SOL'S DEATH HITS ME REALLY HARD. I legit got Infinity War PTSD when he told Osha "It's okay" as she was killing him (He couldn't even tell her that he loves her which broke my heart). While we all know it was an understandable accident given what happened (even their mother didn't blame Sol for thinking her attempted protection of Mae was an attack), it didn't change the fact that he killed their mother. Vernestra summed up his character pretty well (despite framing him). Sol's biggest flaw was that he loved Osha so much that he now sees the misunderstanding of killing their mother as something he had to do and covering up Brendok because of the Vergence. I do like how she knew Sol was truly good and well-intentioned despite his flaws and mistakes as she gave him a Jedi funeral.

"He was a kind, brilliant, compassionate man. And he did a terrible thing... A mistake he lived with for so long it twisted his mind. He justified every step with the love he had for your sister." Vernestra Rwoh

THE CHOREOGRAPHY IS SO GOOD! I love the Lightsaber and martial arts fighting in this show. Qimir's change to single blade stance after failing to get past Sol's indomitable defense is so good. Osha's and Mae's fist fight was also amazing and tension filled.

The reveal that Qimi was Vernestra's apprentice was smth I also guessed after Episode 6 which explains why she's in this show. I wonder what she will do when she sees him again.

Despite me knowing how horrifying Sol's death was, I can't help but feel happy seeing the siblings reunite and at peace. It was even more sadder as Mae has to forget Osha to protect her sister. Even I got sad seeing Mae forget the pledge as more of her memories got erased.

Ironically, Mae and Osha switch roles by the end of the show, with Osha being Qimir's Acolyte and Mae being utterly confused about why she's arrested by the Jedi. In a sense my guess about Mae having a redemption arc did come true...but just like the vision, just not in the way I had expected.

I really love how this show critiqued and explored the Jedi without bashing them. We see that they're truly a force of good and have the best of intentions...however those intentions can blind them to what's right in front of them. The Jedi are still sentient beings just like anyone else. We see how their complacency and desire to keep their image good blinds them to the rise of dark forces which includes the emerging Sith Order as the Grand Plan of the Sith takes shape. I had so many chills as Osha and Qimir looked at the sunset with the Acolyte theme playing.

The music in the finale is so good, especially during the fight and emotional scenes. This score really nailed it amtophseric-wise. I love the more creepy reprise of the witch coven's chants from Episode 3 during the credits.

A great season finale and season of SW TV. I really hope Leslye gets her multi-season show because the Acolyte has the potential to be an amazing multi-season show. She truly gave it her all in this season. I also trust her to make that Old Republic show as well.

"Sorry to disturb you, Master. We need to talk." Vernestra Rwoh.

[dandedoodles]

366/366 - Project Completed<3

Long, sappy reflection under the jump

I mean it! This is going to be rather sappy and this is your only other warning, but overall this project of Rydia Every Day has been so transformative for me as an artist.

In 2023 I made very little art and it was rather disheartening. I wondered if I could really call myself an artist at all and I remember being at work thinking about the cycles of things I was stuck in, cycles that are all relatively hard to break. At the very least I knew I could start with art and, unfortunately, I do not really have a chill bone in my body when I decide to make something. I want to go big because, to me, going home simply isn't an option when it comes to creative endeavors. Often my hubris is a huge bite in the ass and the defeat can be hard to shake off when I don't live up to my very high expectations for myself, but I promised myself that, in 2024, I would fully commit to a practice I deeply believe in: I made this for me, but you can see it too. At the same time, every year around this time of year I also have the visual of an arrow being pulled back tight before it's sure to be launched into a grand horizon. It's cheesy and cliche but it really got me thinking about where my arrow could go in 2024.

So I set rules for myself, some of which I realized needed to be appropriately bent here and there as the year unfurled before me. Rydia Every Day had the following rules:

She had to be fully colored even while not necessarily rendered

She had to be in a relatively different pose and outfit

I could only give myself 4 hours and a 1080x1080px canvas to work with (the final is an exception so that she can serve as a page spread in the artbook I'll have made for myself as a physical copy of my year in art. She is 1080x2160px)

I had to post it to hold myself accountable and because of that I had to shake off the feeling of "being cringe" and talk about my art more in person to people I know in the real world.

It all sounded so easy in concept and, most days, it was, but this year was particularly difficult in my personal life for numerous reasons. That's when I started to realize how important the promises we keep to ourselves are just as important as the promises we keep towards others. Learning more about discipline, time management, what my best looked like each day, and ultimately what artistic growth and commitment looked like was a doozy on top of just living a life and being a person who works, has friends, and has a spouse. I'd be lying if I said I didn't go through periods of really hating working on this, some days it was a slog but the positives weighed more than the frustration. Not once did it feel like homework or a chore, but on so many occasions I realized on a bad day "I get to go home and work on Rydia!" or "Well at least Rydia's already finished today" depending on what my day looked like. Slowly I recontextualized and reframed negative aspects of my day and it made me grow as not just a person but as an artist.

My growth as an artist saw me with a whopping 21 commission clients this year that I had never had before. All because people saw Rydia and liked her and what they saw in my presentation of her to hire me, trust me even, with their creative vision. There are no words for what that feels like because it's more than graciousness, more than pride, and more than satisfaction. Art is something I've always viewed as so much bigger, so much more ancient than I am; it's a calling. It's a passion. It is the thing I spend most of my time thinking about. To call my relationship with art a hobby would be doing it a disservice. So I can not thank any of my clients enough for hiring me, you have helped me feel like I "made it" as an artist this year. And all because of Rydia.

She is my favorite character out of any of the characters I've ever made to tell stories with or draw for so much more than her design, her lore, or my connection to the JJBA fandom. She is an embodiment of my endurance, growth, and self love.

So thank you all, especially if you've read this, for joining me over the last 366 days. Your kind words and company meant so much on the good days and even more on the bad. I love you dearly and hope you're here to see what I make next now that I've realized, in the most humble way possible, I can do anything I set my mind to.

This year I:

have spent, approximately, 1,400 hours working on art (that is almost 16% of my entire year)

favored pink, blue, and brown in my artwork most

learned to draw fat and skin folds, enhanced my understanding of the movement of the body, perspective, and flesh tones, & thought about the stories I told without words in my work

made my very first piece of physical "merchandise" (a Rydia keychain of which only 3 exist)

and knew the love and support of so many people along the way

[infamous-if]

As much as i want to ask more angsty questions, i have a more lighthearted one i think? What do the RO’s think of each other? Or maybe what were their first impressions upon seeing or speaking to each other? I kinda wanna see how Orion and Seb’s first impressions of each other were especially lmaoo

I quite like this question!

Sebastian was intimidated by Orion. Orion, physically, is very fit. Broad shoulders, prominent muscles and he's pretty imposing. It doesn't help that he has a RBF lol. But also Orion is classically handsome so not only does the intimidation come from Orion's hulking presence but also how handsome he is.

Orion on the other hand was just like ???? who the fuck is this lmao he was also secretly amused by Sebastian's flustering. Orion, though he likes to pretend he doesn't notice, is very aware haha he finds a lot more things amusing/funny than he lets on. I imagine him going home, remembering something funny Rowan may have said, and actually laughing in the privacy of his place.

Orion and Seven have never actually talked directly but they know of each other and have crossed paths. They both pay no mind to each other. Orion is just a bit more...hmmm about Seven considering Seven can pose as a distraction for the band.

G has a tiny crush on Orion lmao but more like those playground crushes where you want their attention. The fact that Orion is indifferent towards them is the main reason. They're not used to people not fawning over them. Victoria didn't pay much mind to Orion, though she found his personality refreshing.

On the other hand, Orion finds G annoying and wonders why Vic is even with someone like that.

Seven and G met briefly a week before MC's audition at Seven's audition and Seven was freaking out but they managed to keep it cool. Seven did go through a small panic of 'huh...don't think i'd actually like them if they were anyone else' for G, Seven is just another competitor. Though G was intrigued by how calm Seven seems. Their demeanor is pretty chill.

August and Orion....Orion was just impressed by August's skill and likes that August is calm. He's basically like, 'finally someone who isn't annoying' lmao (aside from MC maybe). August doesn't care much about...anyone right now.

August and Seven haven't met officially but they'd get along. They both seem like they would enjoy each other's silent company.

Victoria and Seven....Victoria thinks Seven is hot lmao Seven is really like 'i swear i think i saw a movie she was in but i can't tell.' They met Vic and were mostly just trying to figure out what movie they saw her in LMAO meanwhile Victoria was a bit intimidated.

Have I forgotten anyone? I didn't do some pairings as they haven't met yet haha

[cupid-tune]

hey uhm could you tell us more about your fantrolls? they all look really cool but i dont know much more about them besides that. :P (also i like jhudas shes very pretty :])

OH ABSOLUTELY!! You have no idea how happy I am to get messages like this! This is gonna be a long post just because I want to get all of my guys in here, apologies in advance!

Not all of my trolls have fully fleshed out backstories yet, but the ones with dancestors are part of a fansession I'm in, they've had the most development by far.

Armane

Armane is probably my most neglected character, but I do really love his design and concept! He's a Burgundy with a lot of fight in him, despite his weak stature. He partakes in a lot of underground fighting rings in lowblood districts, usually to take out his anger or earn a little extra money. He's obviously gotten very hurt from it many times in the past, but that hasn't scared him away from a fight just yet. One of the reasons he gets violent so often is just the fact that he wants to prove himself to be tough and independent, since his lusus is very protective of him and has been ever since he was a wriggler. He's just a little problem child.

Armane is very afraid of death, but he hates mentioning or bringing up any of his fears. In general, he just isn't a very social or talkative troll, preferring actions over words and keeping his distance in any kind of gatherings. You could probably get him to warm up to you easy if you don't pose as a threat, but Armane follows the hemospectrum pretty strictly, and usually won't talk to mid bloods or higher on his own.

Nonemu

Nonemu is the leader of a cult called the Anon Trolls. I haven't done very much with their character in terms of backstory yet, since I really like them as a blank slate for whatever I could use them in. Her cult is meant to serve as an escape from society, living in a commune much more isolated from other trolls. To be apart of the family is to denounce your place in the hemospectrum and completely hide your color, as a way of being treated equally amongst everyone else in the commune. It's unknown what caste Nonemu is, but some say all the possible traits are hidden away, like their eye color for example.

Nonemu is a very kind and patient troll, serving as a sort of parental figure over his commune. He takes great responsibility and pride in his work, and can be quite a mystery to talk to. Nonemu is the type of person to speak in very vague terms, never really being fully truthful or transparent. It's up to interpretation whether or not they can be considered truly kind or malicious with their intentions.

Fennek

Ok Fennek is like. Think of troll Jesse Pinkman and that's what you got. My concepts for Fennek are in general pretty scattered, but his main gig is that he participates in a lot of illegal business as a supplier and seller. Having grown up on internet culture and self study, Fennek has taught himself all kinds of useful skills in advancing his unfortunate position to make the most of life. Chemicals and weapons are his specialty, but his skills and personality are nearly opposite.

Fennek is a very chill and easy-going kind of guy, never really taking any situations seriously. It's a wonder he hasn't died yet with the amount of life threatening risks he puts himself in. The mask really is the only precaution he takes when it comes to working with chemicals or other substances, his hair is probably full of toxic shit. It kind of gives off the idea that Fennek knows he won't live very long anyway, so he doesn't care either way. Live life to the fullest while you can.

Trinet

Admittedly, the dancestor designs are some of my favorites. The first concept for Trinet was that I just wanted a troll who was really into explosives, and oh boy is he into them. Similar to his dancestor, Trinet is an inventor who specializes in bombs. Explosives of any kind! He's very loud, probably due to the fact that his hearing isn't all there. It's probably a Snuzek tradition to just not be properly equipped for the shit you're trying to do, precautions aren't a concern whatsoever.

Trinet is VERY outgoing and active! He talks a lot and fast, you might not catch everything he says. Although his personality kind of gives off the idea that he's dumb or aloof, he's much more impressive when talking about the stuff he actually knows, like how to make this specific bomb or what that compound of elements can make! With how bright and joyful he seems, sometimes the things he talks about can be pretty dark or upsetting. There are lots of themes of death surrounding both Snuzeks, which I'll probably elaborate more on another post.

Zuzu

Zuzu is a whole fucking bundle of fun!! Ok the original concept was supposed to be a DJ troll, but somewhere through the designing process, they ended up turning into a Vocaloid. Centered around a lot of 2010 scene-type themes, Zuzu is an underground music artist and singer trying to make a name for herself. She'll take up any gigs available, hoping to be the party of the life and meet all kinds of trolls. Unfortunately, the music business is tough, and trying to get famous off of it is a lot more work than he initially thought.

Zuzu is the type of troll you'd go to for help or advice, a people pleaser with the full intention of trying to look good in the eyes of everyone. They can be pretty pushy at times, and they're not very good at reading the room. Although Zuzu means well, they fuck up social situations frequently, instead making him seem desperate or clingy. It seems like their emotions are amplified on all sides of the spectrum, one bad day can be a harsh blow for them.

Farrow

Although scary looking at first glance, Farrow is probably one of the most harmless trolls you'll meet. A simple farmer with a goal to live a just as simple life, Farrow is a recluse who lives on the outskirts of the city. They hardly ever interact with other trolls, not after an incident that caused them to lose their vision. A long time ago, Farrow worked as a bounty hunter, usually taking culling jobs as a means of getting trades for other goods. Now Farrow has taken up a more harmless line of work, disposing of the bodies from other troll's dirty work. They'll get rid of anything you might need to hide, using it for their own benefit such as fertilizer or food for their lusus.

In general, Farrow is very close to their lusus, using him as a guide around the farm and other places. Laying low is the next best option, but Farrow really doesn't mind. They are a welcoming troll with a habit of appearing much scarier than they mean to. Whether it be a creepy smile or misjudging you for an intruder, Farrow walks the line of good and bad. They don't really see their actions as immoral, simply understanding that their planet is a cruel place, and they really aren't the worst there is out there.

Fichte

Fichte was my first fan troll ever, originally used as a persona and turned into a dumbass philosopher. He is an absolute stuck up prick and will not apologize for any of his behavior. As cold cut as you can get with someone, Fichte is the type that will upright tell you his intentions and then get upset when you don't follow through with them like he wants. He'll study you, use you for research, and completely discard you after if you aren't of any use to him.

While seemingly emotionally distant, if you spend even a little time with him had he not pissed you off already, you might start to see signs of insecurity or loneliness. Fichte always favors logic over emotions, finding comfort in knowledge rather than the untameable pool of socialization. The subjects he studies varies, but his main interest is philosophy and studying the behavior of other trolls. One thing he especially loves doing is keeping notes of just about everyone he meets, and he has plenty of notebooks filled with just that.

Xarlow

Xarlow is just the guy you'd expect him to be, a silly clown guy with a horrible personality. He likes to consider himself popular and well known, running his own circus with his found siblings and performing to his heart's content. Xarlow specializes in the art of extreme performance, commiting acts of violence against others and himself. His tight corset is in fact one of the self proclaimed "art pieces" of his, using his body as a canvas and thereby destroying it. Speaking of, Xarlow had managed to lose one of his horns by accident during a public show, which ended in him tearing out the other to match. That was not a pretty show.

Xarlow doesn't seek sympathy. He isn't a good person outside of performing and he knows it. The general consensus of his personality is that he's bad, but there are so many personalities to choose from that it becomes confusing at times to pinpoint just one. He's manipulative and cruel, hypocritical at its worse. His history with Fichte is a great example of this cruelty, moirails turned kismesis to what eventually became too toxic to keep. They both hurt each other in their own ways, it's difficult to take sides. One thing is for certain is that their experience has had lasting effects, Xarlow isn't someone you should consider for a quadrant.

Onette

Onette is the definition of a gentle giant. What you see on the outside is entirely what's on the inside, a harmless troll who wants nothing more than to just create and enjoy life. A very soft spoken girl, Onette tries her best to appear harmless and approachable despite her size and caste, dressing in delicate clothing and using a gentle, warm voice to reassure others. Onette has a fascination with creation and art, one of her biggest hobbies being that of making dolls and paintings.

Onette has a certain distain for those in her own caste, often chastising them for their treatment of lowbloods, but doing nothing herself to stop them. She's soft, but perhaps too soft. Onette can be frightened easily, and is extremely nonconfrontational, something that she has a difficult time trying to come to terms with. Ironically, Onette has an interest in purplebloods especially, due to their popularity in being known as clowns. Many of her dolls are inspired by them, which can almost be seen as creepy or obsessive if you stepped into her hive.

Jhudas

Jhudas is very different from her dancestor, nearly opposite in nature. My biggest inspiration for her was the song Brutus, which can be seen in both her design and personality. She is a backstabber, often engaging in violence of all kind just to pave her way to the top. Unlike Onette, Jhudas has a clear hatred for the castes above her, purplebloods especially because she believes they rub their position in her face as being the caste right above. Jhudas deals with anger issues, and will likely explode on you with any minor inconvenience. She works as an assassin, usually taking up jobs from fellow highbloods even if she despises that fact.

Jhudas will be subservient to those she works for, but you can tell there are ulterior motives behind it. Waiting for the right moment to strike, to prove she is above everyone else in order to get what she wants. Despite all this, Jhudas may be one of your best allies, especially in quadrants. She's protective of those she deems worthy, and exerts a lot of tough love if she believes you can do better in handling yourself. It's just advised you should watch your back with her no matter what.

Veictr

Just from looks alone, you can tell what his deal is. Crazy scientist troll with the absolute worst intentions, gleefully using others in his nonsensical experiments all for the name of research. Veictr is just that! Everything about him should tell you that he's dangerous, and he very much is. Having stole the headlight of his dear lusus after a particularly nasty fight, Veictr began his work diving into the world of body modifications and mutation. He managed to find a way to hook the light to his own system, forming a symbiotic relationship with his body and the bacteria just as a symbol of award from his lusus.

Veictr is quite a confusing character in terms of personality, showing absolutely no sympathy for anyone while also being a sweetheart to those who manage to stay alive in his presence. He doesn't mean to intentionally hurt anyone, it just so happens that death and injury occurs when experiments fail. He's quite giggly too, with a hyperactive attitude and a great interest in others, Veictr can make for great conversation. His curiosity knows no bounds, and it really is a wonder how he manages to prove some of his theories correct.

Lucius

Lucius is probably the most unfortunate of my trolls. Having suffered the consequences of their own actions, Lucius managed to find herself trapped at the bottom of the ocean by a certain Fuchsia due to an obsession gone too far. Before this incident, she was considered a dangerous troll, perhaps just as much as her dancestor, but unfortunately, she was shut down far before she could get too bad. Although her entrapment was meant to be her execution, Lucius managed to survive with the help of her lusus, escaping after a sweep of just barely making it out.

Now, Lucius is an entirely different person. After so long of being in isolation, they've become paranoid and weak, suffering the many effects the ocean put them through. What was the most interesting part, however, was the fact that they returned with a strange mutation. It is unknown how exactly it happened, but Lucius now suffers with a bioluminescent stomach, her skin seeming thinner or perhaps even transparent.

Her story breaks off into many directions depending on the context, but one involves the scientific interest her own dancestor took of her after being discovered in this state. I'm currently in the progress of making an animatic based on this particular outcome which I'm very excited about! More lore stuff to be expanded on later.

This is the general information for each of my characters so far! There's a lot more detail I'd like to expand on in separate posts, especially considering I'm trying to cram a bunch into one. I really really appreciate the interest in my characters, and I hope to post more content about them soon! It makes me super happy that people enjoy them as much as I do.

This took a while to make LMAO

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam 15 (Final)

As long as this has gone on for, I'm actually bummed to finish this one.

NARRATION

Those special chapters were so weird. It's kind of funny how the plot is like, just ignoring all of that and going back to regular programming. It's like in an old kid's show when they got a dog and then the next episode - no dog anymore. Like there's kinda no point to it.

Ok, so Thales talking to yeeted Edelgard. I will never not get over how funny it is that's the path the writers decided.

Yep, we're really just jumping back into the regular plot. That is so funny. The writing in this game is a clusterfuck at times.

Ok, so we're going to the monastery to save Rhea. MUCH better than saving Bernie's dad.

TWSITD causing chaos again. I feel this route targeted them more than the other two. Like they barely existed in GW.

Everyone's worried about Rhea.

Dimitri wants to wreck TWSITD and the Empire. Let's fucking go!

MAP

No side quests again! Guys, I'm sooooo close to beating this game I can taste it. Both SB and AG have very short final chapters.

Only Claude is annoying, which tracks how this game's gone so . . .

So I've gotten all the supports for: Dimitri, Dedue, Felix, Sylvain, Ingrid, and Rodrigue. Mercedes I'm only missing Jeritza. I didn't use Annette or Ashe, so they're missing a few, but I feel I did pretty good. Hopefully I can get Mercie and Jeritza this chapter.

Ugh, so I missed the opportunity to deepen my bond with Byleth :( Maybe next time.

So in another route, Ashe had no idea what he believed in anymore. In this one, he's confident about his sense of justice.

In another route, Yuri didn't tell me his history with Varley, in this one he trusted me with it.

Ingrid is a queen. She said it's the people who suffer in war, our leaders should reach diplomatic resolutions. Too bad only Dimitri believes in those :(

Aww, Byleth refused to kill Shez during their fight because he could tell she wasn't herself. I soooo wish I'd gotten their supports.

Ok, so I ran into Raphael again and agreed that I didn't like how we were fighting (which, imo, isn't true, but I wanted to see the difference). Shez thinks Edelgard is too cruel, Claude is too haphazard, and Dimitri is too cautious. She pretty much nailed it.

No Arval in the tent :(

Linhardt just said Caspar revels in bloodshed. That's fucked up.

My heart just broke and warmed at the same time. A Kingdom general asked a Duscur general how the people from Duscur pray. He wanted to learn because he lost a lot of good soldiers from Duscur in the last battle and wanted to pray for them in the way their religion would. It's details like this that make Hopes worth it.

Haha, Dedue was fairly chill considering I attacked allies and posed a possible threat to Dimitri. He brought it up, but didn't harp on it.

BYLETH & JERALT A

Man, I'm glad I got this unlocked in time.

Byleth gave Jeralt flowers. First time in Byleth's life lol.

He's trying to communicate his feelings, thankfulness to Jeralt for being his captain and father.

Aw, it's a throwback to Byleth giving out flowers at the Academy.

Lamo, Jeralt just said Byleth may have been a student or led seminars, but isn't qualified to be a teacher.

Jeralt's like, I knew you cared, kid. But I still appreciate it.

Byleth picked the flowers out himself. It's the same kind his mother liked :(((

Jeralt used to give these flowers to Sitri.

Byleth is being so sentimental and sweet. I can just imagine a voiced Byleth saying lines like that in Houses' supports and buying more into the character.

I swear, this game made me really get Byleth more and "buy into" the character. Also, I'm going to cry so hard when Jeralt dies. I still don't really care for Jeralt, but I'm going to just feel so sad for Byleth.

DIMITRI & DEDUE A

For anyone wondering, I purposefully saved this one and Felix A. I've had them unlocked for a while.

Dedue is worried because Dimitri keeps sleeping at his desk. He's grateful or else he'd get sore.

Of course, he had bad dreams about the past.

Ohhhh! Not the tragedy, but arriving home after. Cool to learn some tidbits about that part too.

A child cursed Dimitri after the funeral because his dad died in Duscur and was furious with Dimitri for not killing Dedue, but hanging out with him instead.

Dimitri just ignored him.

Then Dimitri talks about his duty to those who died, and asks Dedue what he would do if Dimitri begged for vengeance while he was dying. OFC, Dedue says he'd do it even if he died.

Then Dimitri asks the opposite, what would Dedue do if Dimitri begged him to live for his own happiness? Dedue said he couldn't.

"I cannot know happiness without you by my side." :(((((((

He'd seek revenge, for his own sake, not Dimitri's.

Dimitri's like, nothing I'd say would change your mind?

Dedue just flips the subject, asking if Dimitri can't just live for himself, and ofc Dimitri says no, he can't.

But imagines another life traveling around as a merc with Dedue or living as a farmer. Dedue's like, why not go?

Dimitri says obviously I can't do that.

So Dedue's like get some sleep.

It worries Dedue every time he sees Dimitri asleep like that at his desk bc he's worried Dimitri died. But Dimitri's like, not why you're here. It won't happen.

Dimitri's like, if I died, that wouldn't go well, so I'll listen.

GUYS. DIMITRI'S GOING TO SLEEP. SOMEONE TALKED HIM INTO SLEEPING. THE POWER OF DEDUE.

They're married, your honor.

DIMITRI & FELIX A

Starts with Dimitri apologizing and promising revenge, killing all of TWSITD no matter the cost.

Felix walks in, Dimitri almost calls him Glenn, but corrects, and apologizes again except to Felix for seeing that.

Felix is like "I've seen all there is of you to see." So, uh, what does that mean?

Dimitri explains that he suffers from a "waking dream," saying he sees the dead like they're real.

Then talks about the violent revenge the dead scream at him.

Felix asks when this all started. Dimitri says 6 years, but the voices started 4 years ago during his first battle? Not sure those numbers line up with lore and age, but I don't know how old they are this time. Anyways, started with Duscur, got worse when Rufus tried to have Dimitri killed by sending him to battle.

The man he killed that freaked Felix out was someone from Duscur, and the voices cheered when he killed the guy.

Felix is like, do you really think Glenn and Lambert would torture you like that? Telling Dimitri he's the one doing it, not them.

Dimitri's like, even if that's true, I can't forgive myself.

Felix talks about how if Dimitri loses his path, he's taking everyone down with him (so Houses, sans AM) and says "keep the whole removing their heads thing in check yeah?"

Felix says it'll be their secret.

"are you offering to let me unburden my heart to you when the time calls for it?" - Dimitri to Felix. Guys, I'm dying a little.

Dimitri credits Felix with the reason he hasn't descended into madness, and asks Felix to continue being his right-hand man.

Hahahah, OMG, Felix picked Dimitri up and is physically carrying him to bed. Dimitri is nearly laughing because he's so much taller than Felix his feet are dragging the floor.

Felix calls him a "sack of muscle" lol

Dimitri carried Felix like this when Felix twisted his ankle. And now is calling this a workout. Dimitri's still massively entertained.

They are also married.

Man, so Dedue got Dimitri to fucking sleep, and Felix got him to laugh.

Ok, this game is really Dimilix, the game. I swear a shipper on deck wrote this. It may also be why Felix was one of the few Blue Lions to survive SB. Writers' bias.

My shipping heart is so happy with both supports.

ASHE & FLAYN B

This is their final support.

They're fishing together. She's trying to reel in a big fish, but it's not working. Ashe gives her tips. And she got it!

Though, it seems like it was a bit of a struggle.

Flayn swore she'd not let go no matter what. Ashe says sometimes it's best to not let go, and suddenly understands Seteth. But still compliments her on her determination.

Flayn thinks her mother would be proud of her for catching this, which is part of the reason Flayn loves fishing.

She flirts with Ashe a bit too lol.

And now she's drooling over the fish.

Ashe says Flayn enjoys him of his sister and really had fun.

But then panics thinking of Flayn in the kitchen lol.

ANNETTE & CONSTANCE B

Constance compliments Annette's performance in battle.

Constance is a legendary alumni at the school in Faerghus.

Stories include turning bossy noble kids into horses. And she started using it everywhere.

She argued magical theory with teachers and won.

These make me love Constance, not going to lie.

Annette is nervous being around someone so famous. Constance calls Annette one of the most talented women in the Kingdom.

Constance loves a book Annette work, but it's mostly a cook book, so Annette doesn't make much of it.

Annette wrote a magical cookbook, and Constance is all about it.

Annette tries to give Mercedes credit because she's the cook.

They both want to get to know each other better.

This was really them geeking out over each other, magic, and Mercedes' cooking.

MERCEDES & JERITZA A

It came down to the lack fucking minute, but I got it. Thank you, Shez, for cooking the perfect dinner.

Jeritza finds and old letter from Mercedes' mother. Or, rather, she wrote Jeritza a letter after Mercie told her that they found him.

They both want to live with him after the war, but he says no.

He can't face her because of his past actions. Doesn't seem Mercie holds it against him. And says neither will her mother.

Then Jeritza talks about the Death Knight persona.

Mercie's like, naw, because you're fine right now.

Jeritza still doesn't give in though. He insists he must pay for his crimes, which he thinks he never can. He wants to get judged by the law, which, honestly, respect.

Mercie decides to support his decisions, even though it makes her sad, and that they'll be waiting for him. No matter how long. Even if they're both old ladies.

I really loved that support. Seeing Mercie support Jeritza's decision, seeing Jeritza take responsibility for his actions. All around good support.

ANNETTE & CONSTANCE A

Glad I got this one. I think Seteth/Shez A is the only other support still within reach.

Constance wants Annette's help conducting an experiment outside. Annette knows how Constance's mood changes when she goes outside. Annette's happy to help.

Obviously now Constance is being down on herself.

Annette volunteered before learning the experiment. Thankfully it's just to try and get all the cats from the area.

It fails :( I want a spell like that.

Constance is obviously moping, Annette gives her a pep talk, but it probably useless bc they're outside.

It attracted bugs, and Constance says the cockroach is a better sorceresses than her lamo. Then they attract angry birds lol.

Once back inside, Constance realizes her spell does sort of work, but they just didn't know how to get cats.

Aww, I really liked that support chain.

FINAL BATTLE

How can anyone not tell something is wrong with Edelgard?

It's so weird how they just ignore the special chapters.

Thales is making her fight.

Sylvain said he'll skip the class reunion if this is what they're like.

Ingrid is roaring to go after Thales.

No sign of Claude. Dimitri's trusting him, but I don't know about that. I wonder if he betrays you here too. Though Dimitri makes a good point that if Faerghus falls, Claude's ass is next.

On, cool image! Dimitri giving a speech. It's like a moment in Lord of the Rings before Aragorn and co march on Mordor.

I like this! Dimitri's talking about severing the past and moving on into tomorrow. Good to hear him talking like that.

I only got 40 points too. Guess Claude was the odd one out, getting more points for his battle than the other two.

Kyrona made an appearance.

Felt good to kill Varley for once.

Getting ready to face Thales now. Dimitri about to get his revenge against TWSITD. Feels good.

Shez is reassuring Dimitri that he's not alone. That his friends are here to help. :)

I think I just killed Kyrona for good this time.

Time to kick Thales' ass. Much better than killing Rhea. Again.

We also got to defeat Edelgard. Having a hard time feeling bad about that.

This battle is pure chaos. But in a fun way.

Oh, did I beat Thales? I'm at a cut scene. Shez stopped Edelgard; and Dimitri's marching to kick Thales' ass.

Haha, he just ignored Thales magic like it was nothing. What a fucking badass.

He's not even saying anything, just breathing, and the voice acting is still on point.

Edelgard remembered Dimitri? So he didn't kill her. And outside Rhea, Claude and the Blue Lions are waiting. And sun is about to come up.

This felt WAY more complete than the other two. I was expecting MUCH worse. Maybe if I played the other two first I'd be more surprised, but they set the bar stupid low.

We defeated the Empire, defeated TWSITD - I don't know what would even be left?

I love how hard the narration tries to make it sound like the Empire has a fart's chance in the wind anymore. It's just clean up now.

MVP time. It'll eventually turn into the Dimitri show like SB did Hubert and GW did Lorenz. I suspect it'll take longer though bc I wanted to use the other Blue Lions a lot.

Actually, I lie, it happened like the second I got Dimitri and not just Shez. I think I may just be a stan lol. He's also just so damn strong he killed so much easier and faster than anyone else.

You can tell the chapter Dimitri was missing for since Felix and Ingrid kept trading MVP. Then back to Dimitri.

Hey! Rodrigue got one!

I'm excited for Dimitri's letter. Still wish we got paired endings here though.

Dimitri feels reassured with Shez by his side. He's also the only one who asked Shez to stay in the Kingdom. It's nothing spectacular, but it was sweet.

I'm also a bit sad to see this one end. No more Fodlan unless I replay, but I guess there's still supports I didn't unlock.

Guys, I can't believe I finished. Now I'm finally "free" to play whatever games I want.

Def want to replay Engage and Houses, and some non-FE stuff too. Should I get the Engage DLC?

xxx

[sunny6677]

So a ramble about my Self Insert for Spooky Month in EP 1 and EP 2!! Or at least what I thought of for her so far./lh

@mayisgoingnuts @fymo-blogs @crossover-enthusiast

Episode 1:

So Sunny (my S/I) probably isn't really present for most of the episode since it's kinda short anyway. But she's just kinda chilling in her room during it only for the Spookeez to bust in. When she tries telling them to leave, they tell her that it's Spooky Month. And she nervously does the dance just so they'll go away. Toward the end of the episode though, she's seen sitting on the floor near Lila with a blanket draped over her lap. And she's also sipping some hot coco. She just looks at Skid and Pump with a shrug since she doesn't know why Lila's preparing so early for Christmas either. Or she's just looking down at her mug the whole time. She'd also probably be seen in some background pictures and like posing with Lila & Skid and stuff./lh

Episode 2:

I can see her groggily walking out a few seconds before Lila does (and yes she is wearing the cute lil bunny onesie you guys selected/lh), and she stops in shock because there's two random dudes in Lila's house. She yells out in fear, which causes Lila to walk in tiredly and just glare at the robbers. Sunny probably notices Skid vanish at some point though off screen, and becomes worried about him, but Lila advises her not to go after him since he probably just went out again and it's better that hes not here to see the robbers getting arrested. Sunny still can't help but worry though, and nearly does consider just walking off in the middle of the night to go find them as she anxiously stands beside Lila—who tries to reassure her. But then they finally see the kids in the distance, which causes Sunny to run over to them and practically drag Skid back over to Lila. Lila calms her down when Sunny rather anxiously asks Skid where he went, and calms down a little more when he answers that he apparently just 'met a new friend who showed them the stars'. Sunny brushes it off though. Skid mentions the spooky dance, which causes Lila to get happy and for all three of them besides Sunny to start spooky dancing. Sunny nearly joins, but doesn't and lightly (and off screen) scolds Skid and tells him not to go out without telling her again, before dropping the subject and heading back inside out of exhaustion.

[bl0pers]

𝐡𝐪 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 - 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫

Hello again, hope you are having a wonderful week :). This topic really hits home for some people, and I really do NOT want you to proceed if you are uncomfortable with what is in the warnings.

take care of yourselves lovelies :) Sending love <3

featuring - rintaro suna, kotaro bokuto, keiji akaashi

TW - Female implied reader, Self-harm (Mentioned throughout each character), scars, crying, established relationships, bad mental health (reader). dark content ahead. Name calling (Pet names like love, babe, and others). Grammar errors are intentional (Capitalization & punctutation. Some spelling mistakes).

rintaro suna

scrolling through your phone and while it was approximately around a thousand degrees outside was probably your first mistake. getting a boyfriend who was always observant was probably the second. suna glared at you, well maybe not glared, more like squinted at you, kind of judgingly. you look up from your phone, feeling his heavy gaze. "what is it rin?" you ask with a small smile. you found it funny how rin looked at people judgingly, it reminded you of a fox. cute. "why are you always wearing longsleeves even though it's so hot outside?" not so cute anymore. you shake your head, "it's a habit. and besides they're comfortable." rin rolls his eyes. "being baked in your own clothing isn't comfortable, love." you shrug and for some reason, you shift in your seat on the couch and bring your legs closer to yourself. rin being observant in body language immediately takes notice. he walks over and takes a seat next to you. you're nervous, he can tell. "y/n, you can tell me anything, y'know. I won't judge you." he whispers. you're skeptical, every single time someone says that, you run away from confrontation. he loves me, I can trust him, you tell yourself. and you start to cry. he quickly pulls you into his arms and just lets you sit there. it's a while before you calm down, and it's silent, you're thankful for it though. rin wants to cry himself, because he'll never understand how you feel, and how much pain you must've endured. "can I see?" he asks softly, you nod and he pulls up your sleeves. and there they were. white long scars, covering your wrists and forearm. rin looks over at your face and notices you aren't even looking at them, your eyes are closed shut and his heart breaks into a million pieces. he kisses your wrist and pulls you closer and pulls down the sleeves quickly. "I'll always love you, y'know. you don't have to hide anything from me," you just nod in his arms, "don't ever do anything like this again, okay?" "I'll love you forever, y/n, don't you forget that"

kotaro bokuto

"babe!" you call out. there was a shirt you wanted kotaro to check out on you. and you looked good! it was fitting really nicely, and it was cute. kotaro came in and stars erupted in his eyes. "can I take a picture real quick? you look so adorable baby." you smile and strike a pose. he smiles as he looks down at his phone. you look stunning of course, he pays for everything like a good boyfriend should. as soon as you get home you decide to chill in the living room and scroll through your phone. kotaro puts all the stuff away. being too lazy to go chill with you in the living room, he opts for your shared bedroom and lays in the bed. as he scrolls through the photos he took, he notices something on your shoulder. as he takes a closer look, chills course through his spine.

oh.

oh.

he needs to talk to you. now. kotaro pulls open your messages and types as fast as humanely possible.

ko <;3 : hey babe. <y/n3 : yea??? ko <3: can you come talk to me pls.

fearing the worst, you rush into your room, to find a serious faced kotaro. oh no. something's horribly wrong. he pats the spot on the bed beside him. as soon as you sit on the spot, he brings you close to his chest. it takes you by surprise but you don't mind. he kisses your forehead and lays his chin on top of your head. "you know, i really really really love you right?" you nod. he sighs, "baby, i know." your stomach drops. he has to be joking. there's no way. you covered it up for months, how did he now know? the picture...fuck. you forgot to cover them... tears start blurring your vision and spill down your cheeks. "kou im sorry. i'm really really sorry, please don't be mad at me. i can't help it. i want to stop so bad, but it's so hard, and i don't know what to do. please, please d-don't leave." you choke out. kotaro just grips you harder and shushes you. he tilts your head up with his fingers, "hey, look at me sweet girl. i could never leave you. you're the most kind, loving, caring, funny, smart, and wonderful person i know. i'm stuck by your side forever, remember?" he grins up at you. "we pinky promised it too!" he holds out his pinky, and you strangle out a breathy laugh from your crying. you calm down a bit as you wrap your pinky around his. he takes your hand and kisses the knuckles gently before wrapping you in a hug again. "i could never leave you pretty girl. you and i are in this together."

keiji akaashi

he knew. he had suspicions but now he knew. keiji knew now because while you both were on the subway coming home, every time something, or someone, hit you near your legs, you'd freeze up. you would tense up or visibly flinch away. you both were coming back from a nice little coffee and book date. keiji wanted to talk to you about this, but didn't want to spoil your good mood. the minute you got home you decided to read some of the books you got from the library and keiji decided to finish a bit of his work with you in the living room. after a bit of time had passed, you decided to put on some netflix. just as you grab the remote, keiji gently touches your wrist and shakes his head. he sits on the floor and pats the spot next to him. you raise a brow but comply. he takes your hands in his and holds them tight. he scans your face and kisses you, slow and meaningful. it takes you by surprise, but you're not complaining. after what seemed like too short of a moment, keiji brings you into his arms and keeps your hands in his. "y/n...you don't need to hide it anymore. i know" you freeze. everything goes cold. your entire body is tense. you pull back a bit and look into his eyes. all you see is hurt, and a bit of dread. how? how could this have happened? and why like this? "how...how long?" you ask him. and he closes his eyes for a second before opening them again. "for a bit of time." tears prick your eyes. "and i bet you know where too, don't you keiji?" he nods and brings you into him again. "keiji...keiji i'm sorry i didn't tell you. i won't do it again, don't be mad at me. it was too much. i couldn't stop it. it hurts so bad. i just want it all to end already." you start sobbing. he brings you to look at him again, with his hands on either side of your cheek. he kisses you again through your gasps and hiccups. he's oh so slow, soft, gentle. so loving. "don't ever say that angel. i could never be mad at you. don't apologize, my love . if anything i'm sorry for not noticing sooner. i won't let it happen again." you feel your heart clench and unclench at his words. you look up at him through your tears, "you won't leave me?" he lays a kiss on your forehead, "i could never". you nuzzle into him deeper, as he strokes his hand down your hair and back. "i love you more than the world itself, my dove. i'll always be by your side. i'll be on this journey with you. forever."

[saturnzskyzz]

Hi, I liked your story can you write a fic where Namjoon is Lee?

I love you

𝙰 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚆𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚝

𝙻𝚎𝚎: 𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚛: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚔𝚘𝚘𝚔

𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: The members were given a game to play; should be fun and easy, right?

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐: | Tickling |

___

Divider credits

𝙰/𝙽:AAHHH!!! Thank you, Anon!! I'm glad you liked it! I've been wanting to write for Lee Namjoon! And I know that I'll be doing more fanfics that are based on him being a Lee in the future! I'm also very sorry that this took a bit for me to finish! Motivation was not on my side. I do hope you enjoy! Lots of love 🫶🩵

𝙾𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎:

One person is blind folded while the rest have to stay in a certain pose according to the dance choreo of the dealers choice. If that person guesses correctly, then they get a point.

I would like to point out that you may have to look up their practice dances to get what I mean by each pose I mention. I'm not that good at remembering the exact pose, so I apologize in advance.

It was near the end of their RunBTS recording. The members were enjoying each other's company, as well as having fun with the games that were presented to them so far. With each game they play however, they were given points if they complete the game correctly. Out of the 7 members with the most points so far; Namjoon, Jungkook, and Jimin were tied with 4 points.

Both Jungkook and Jimin needed to win this last game to gain an overall of 3 extra points said by their producer. Knowing Jungkook, this last game was going to get hectic at most. Jimin didn't really care whether or not he would lose to this game because he wasn't going to be the member with the least points anyway; hence Hoseok standing in the sidelines with only 1 point.

Their producer gave them the objectives of the game.

"One person is blind folded while the others stand in a certain pose that goes along with a song that I show you. If the person with the blind fold gets it right, then they get a point."

﹏﹏﹏﹏

The game was going smoothly so far. Yoongi, Hoseok, and Jimin already went blind folded, and now it was Seokjin's turn. He put on the blind fold, and silently waited for everyone to get in position. Yoongi decided he was going to guide Seokjin after thinking about it for a moment, and stepped out of frame to attend him so he doesn't wonder off when the game starts.

Said producer held up a piece of paper with the song title, 'Fake Love' on it. With everyone reading the paper, they got into position. Everyone but Namjoon and Jimin went for the kneeling pose with their hands infront of them. The other two both had one arm raised up with the other raised only half way. Their left foot in front, and their right leg slightly back.

Jungkook saw this, then snickered by how obvious they were being. He decided that he wanted to do a different pose. One that isn't brought up much in the choreo. He got up and posed to what appeared to be the beginning of their choreo when each member stepped out of their standing position. He was proud of himself for changing his pose last minute. "He's not gonna get this one." Jungkook thought to himself.

After everyone was in their positions, the producer gave Yoongi the go ahead.

Yoongi put his hands on Seokjin's upper arms and guided him to the first person closest to them.

It was Taehyung who was closest. He was chilling on the ground with his arms out in front of him, waiting for Seokjin to be finished so he can rest his arms. Seokjin had to crouch down in order to tell what pose he was doing.

After a minute, he got up and thought to himself the possibility of what choreography had that pose.

On to the next person, Yoongi guided him to Namjoon And placed Seokjin's hands on his shoulders.

"Okay, so you're standing.." Seokjin said to himself out loud. He decided to follow the arm that was raised all the way up, and then made his way down to go for the other arm that was out half way.

Jungkook watched from afar, noticing that everytime Seokjin got close to Namjoon's underarm, he would bite back a smile and a flinch that was still noticeable. As he made his way to Namjoon's legs, Jungkook also noticed that Namjoon's arm that was raised all the way up fought to stay in position when Seokjin glided his hands down his sides just to get to his legs.

As Seokjin finished his observation with Namjoon's pose, Namjoon let out a soft sigh of relief, and brought both his arms down to let them rest.

Seokjin observed the other poses from the rest of the members. The poses he guessed the members were doing were easy for him to pin point what choreography they were mimicking. But as he got to the maknae, that guess flunked out of his mind.

"What the.. What could this pose be from?! I surely thought I was getting on the right track, but this last pose is hard to conclude." Seokjin said, dumbfounded.

"Come on, Jin! You got this." Jungkook said teasingly. That earned him a poke to the side.

"Okay, I think I have it. You're not fooling me, Jk!" Seokjin said.

Yoongi guided Seokjin to the front. Pulling off his blind fold, his members all counted down from 3 for Seokjin to reveal his answer.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Fake Love!" Seokjin yelled. Emphasizing his answer with a chopping motion with one of his arms.

The members ran up to Seokjin and cheered him on for getting it right.

"I really thought my pose was gonna through you off! Good job, Jin!" Jungkook said with a smirk.

"You almost did, you goof! I'm not gonna win anyways, you could've gone easy on your Hyung, but you didn't!" Seokjin said unseriously and softly pushed Jungkook by the shoulder.

"Alright, it's my turn to guess! Watch me get it right!" Jungkook said, taking the blind fold from Seokjin.

"I'll help guide you." Yoongi volunteered again, following Jungkook out of the camera view.

The manager held up a piece of paper that read, 'Black Swan' on it.

The members, all except for Jimin and Hoseok, chose to pose as their starting stance in the dance since everyone had a different pose at the start.

Namjoon posed with one of his arms raised just enough to cover his eyes, and the other slightly bent below with His legs slightly apart.

The rest were more bent forwards than Namjoon to say the least.

Jimin and Hoseok were sitting on the floor, one leg brought up half way with one of their arms resting on their knee. Should be easy, right?

With all of them getting in position, their producer gave Yoongi a thumbs up, and that's when he guided Jungkook to his first victim; Jimin.

"You have to bend down a little to reach Jimin, Jk." Yoongi told Jungkook.

"We already know he's short, Hyung." Jungkook said with what looked like him trying to pat Jimin's head once his hands reached his shoulders, but he missed big time.

"Why can't I go a day without you guys commenting on my height?!" Jimin fought back with a defeated smile.

Jungkook felt his way to one of Jimin's arms to notice that it was stretched all the way to his knee. When he felt the knee and the other arm that went down to the ground, he instantly knew what it was, but he wasn't going to say anything yet.

"Okay! Next person." Jungkook got up with a slight jump to emphasize that he already knew what the song was.

Yoongi guided him to two other members before getting to Namjoon. Each time he felt the member, the quicker he knew the song.

"He already knows what the song is!" Namjoon said, pointing at Jk.

"Yeah, but he needs to feel all of you guys to lock in his answer unless he already wants to lock in." Yoongi retaliated.

"I know what the song is, but I wanna know what everyone's pose is first!" Jungkook gave a smirk, unknowingly being faced infront of Namjoon when doing so.

"He smihirked!! He's trying to gain something out of this, he knows he will win-HAHA!" Hoseok pointed and laughed.

Namjoon heard this, as well as looking at Jungkook's sly face, and he instinctively became nervous.

Yoongi broke the conversation with guiding Jungkook closer to Namjoon who collectively got back in his pose. He then placed Jungkook's hands on Namjoon's shoulders.

"Oh, this is new. This one has his shoulders kind of scruntched in.." Jungkook said, squeezing Namjoon's shoulders.

Namjoon scrunched his face when he squeezed his shoulders, fighting back a laugh when he quickly became unbearable.

Jungkook than began to feel Namjoon's pose. He played along by feeling both of his arms, one that raised all the way up to Namjoon's eyes, and the other that was slightly bent below. When he couldn't reach any longer, he grazed his arms back the same direction, and purposely glided his hands in both of Namjoon's underarms to have an excuse to try and find his legs to see which way they were placed.

This spiked a heavy flitch and a curse under the breath from Namjoon, but he remained still for the most part. Though it seemed like an accident to Namjoon, he saw the smirk that enlighted from Jungkook, and soon became nervous of what he was planning.

"Jungkook.. That's an innocent smile, riiiight?" Namjoon said in hopes of him dropping the mischievous act.

"You could say that." Jungkook said. He continued to feel where his legs were, and he soon realized that Namjoon was posing in his starting stance. "This is a great excuse to get him now.." Jungkook thought to himself.

Jungkook felt his way back up to stop at Namjoon's sides. "Really Namjoon? You go for this pose out of the whole choreography?" jungkook said sarcastically.

"What do you mean? It's a pose, isn't it?" Namjoon said confused. 'What is he trying to do right now?' Namjoon thought.

"Well yeah, but you can't just go for the starting pose all because it's YOUR pose. Why couldn’t you go for a pose that Jimin and Hoseok did?" Jungkook emphasized the 'YOUR' with a poke to Namjoon's side.

"AHAre you gonna guess the song or what?.." Namjoon became nervous yet again for what felt like the hundredth time in minutes. He was hesitating whether or not he should get out of his pose to grab at Jungkook's threatening hands.

"Hmm.. You know what? I'm not done guessing your pose, it's no wonder you chose it anyway. It's so you can throw me off trying to make me guess that it's 'Black Swan' when in reality, it could be a completely different one!" Jungkook said. He then started to guide his own hands to Namjoon's shoulders to kneed into them.

This made Namjoon flinch, and brought the arm that was raised to his eyes down to grab one of Jungkook's wrists while the other came up to grab at his other.

"Juhuhngkohohok! Stahahawp!" Namjoon giggled out. His face scruntched up again, as well as spiking up his shoulders the best he can.

"What do you mean, hyung? I'm trying to guess what choreo you're posing for." Jungkook said. He didn't let up his tickle attack; in fact, he changed spots to through Namjoon off. He went for his ribs now, starting with the very top ones before they reached to his underarms.

This had Namjoon fold in on himself, and squeezing his arms in on instinct.

"NAHAHA-! JUHUNGKOOK! I KNOHOW WHAT YOU'RE PLAHAHANING! AHAHAHA, GEHET OHOFF!" Namjoon laughed out loud.

"Awee, our leader is too sensitive for his own good to pose correctly for the game. I guess he can loose, and give up his points to me! I'm gonna win anyway~" Jungkook said that last sentence close to Namjoon's ear to shoot a shiver down his spine.

Jungkook grew tired of scribbling his finger on his ribs, and went straight fo the kill. His underarms.

"NAHA-JUHUHNKOHOHAHA, GEHEHAHA- EHAHA!" Namjoon could barely let out a sentence without laughing up a storm by how much it tickled. His legs started to grow weak, so he decided to take the fall, hoping that this will make Jungkook loose track of where he was going and loosen up on the touch so Namjoon can get away.

Unfortunately for him, Jungkook was one step ahead. As he felt Namjoon fall, he took the opportunity to quickly take off his blind fold, and reposition himself once Namjoon was fully on the ground to sit on his waist.

"Hi, hyung!" Jungkook said with his hands places on his sides without moving, giving his nervous, and out of breath leader a sweet and innocent bunny smile.

"Hahaha.. Hi Jk. Are you gonna guess now?" Namjoon said carefully, opening one eye, he had hoped that the maknae would led up and have this moment pass.

"Yeah! But I do say, you are one sensitive leader. Your shoulders being a weak spot I think; but You could barely stand still for Jin when he went." Jungkook gave Namjoon a squeeze to the shoulders and then went back to placin his hands on his sides without moving his fingers.

"Whahat are you talking about?" Namjoon said nervously. Yet again, scrunching up his shoulders.

"Come on Hyung! You almost brought your hand down to stop Jin's hand from almost going for your underarm.. Like this!" and with that, Jungkook played this silly game of his again.

"AH! - JK! STAHAHAWP! OHOHO MY GAHAHAWD!" Namjoon tossed his head back, reaching for Jungkook's wrists once again to try, and miserably failed at, to pry his hands out of his underarms.

The other members stood back to watch the scene unfold once again, astonished that their maknae was THIS determined to get 3 points. They can't lie though; watching their leader this laid back and laughing almost freely took so much relief off of their shoulders. Namjoon works really hard to provide the best work out there for army, as well as for each other. He barely went a day to work on himself an his thoughts due to overworking himself as of late. So seeing his smile and hearing his genuine laughter was a bliss for the members.

"Okay Jk, I think that's enough! You're tiring Namjoon!" Taehyung finally said something after a good few minutes.

"Okay!" Jungkook said, finally getting up from Namjoon and reached his hand out to help Namjoon up on his feet.

Namjoon took the hand, and realized that the camera's was still on them. His face, which was already red due to laughing so hard, somehow became even redder, and he decided to face away from the camera's with a hand covering half of his face out of embarrassment.

Jungkook saw this of course, and instantly felt regret as he became guilty for having Namjoon get embarrassed. I mean, it was a lot to take in because army will most likely see his carefree nature just randomly.

"I didn't go too far.. Did I Hyung?" Jungkook said hesitantly with a worried face.

"Nohoho.. I mean, ihit was a lot, buhut you didn't go too far." Namjoon said, turning to Jungkook to give him a reassuring, and still an embarrassing, smile.

Jungkook felt relieved, and went to go hug his leader.

"So, Jungkook, do you have the answer to what you observed?" The producer finally said after a moment.

"OH! yeah, I do!" Jungkook said, letting go of Namjoon and fully faced the camera to get ready for everyone to countdown.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Like Crazy!"

"WHAT???!" everyone shouted in disbelief. Not only was this JIMIN'S solo song, but it was not even CLOSE to what was written on the paper.

"Huh? Whahait, hold on! I got them mixed up, honestly! I meheant to say Black Swan!" Jungkook said honestly. It was a simple mistake to say the least, but only their producer can give him the points, or to not give him any.

"How did you get my solo song mihixed up?!" Jimin said, walking over to Jungkook. He swung his arm over Jungkook's shoulder, and used his other to nudge his hand into his side playfully.

"Ihihit was an hohonest mistake!" jungkook retaliated. He looked at the producer with eyes that said, "please give me the points."

"Though you did say 'like crazy', you also gave us another answer that was not provoked by others, so I will give you 2 points for the mix up." Their producer announced, writing on a piece of paper where they rallied up the points for everyone.

"YES! I STILL WIN!" Jungkook cheered.

They wrapped up the recording with everyone else going for their turn finally. After finishing, they all said their goodbyes to the camera, and they all discussed about the recording before going home.

"You know, Namjoon. That was the first time in a long while that I've seen you laugh that hard. I'm surprised by how natural it sounded." Yoongi said, taking a sip of his iced coffee.

"Don't remind mehe." Namjoon chuckled, looking down at the ground to reframe from eye contact.

"I agree with Yoongi. It was surprising to hear, but yet cute, Hyung." Jimin said as well, smiling at Namjoon.

"Guhuys! I just wanna go home." Namjoon tried to get out of the conversation as desperately as possible to avoid the certain attention.

Though they kept talking about it, Namjoon couldn't help but feel a warm feeling. He's self aware of how much he works, and over hearing others talk about him finally being laid back an laughing freely, almost, helped him realize that he might've needed that. For the rest of the day, he silently thanked Jungkook.

[youremysatellite]

A Look at Ulipse AF2's Personality

by someone who has been into praf since like march 2019. which i hope makes me sound cool to newbies and makes me sound amusing to oldbies

tl;dr at bottom.

the player's first impression of ulipse is them calling the protagonist stupid idiot moron foolish. they're the first point to blatantly disrespect the player to their face.

the player's second impression of ulipse is them apologizing.

I apologize for being so rude to you earlier. You see, the only pieces I have left are my fear and rage at others. It's left me broken and misunderstood. Please don't judge me for the way I lashed out at you earlier.

they say themself that because of their pointification, the only part of their identity they really retain is their fear and rage. which obviously leads players to believe that they act the way they did in-battle towards everyone. this dialogue just feeds to an interpretation of a short-fused and furious ulipse. however, looking at their other dialogue, this isn't the case.

I must apologize for the way I acted earlier... I was so caught up in my own anger, though I'm not even sure why... Regardless of what happened, I hope we can make amends. (returning after winning)

No, I know what you mean. I had a similar feeling back when I was fighting against the Star Savior. I just lashed out, and for no particular reason at all. It’s almost as if I knew there was something suspicious about the way Cyalm was trying to get the Star Savior to go around collecting Stars and Symbols. (in shattered shardscape)

ulipse reveals in these that lashing out at people is unusual for them. the way they talk, they were confused at their own rage. they only really fought you because their lingering suspicion of cyalm made them jump to conclusions.

and yes, throughout the game, half of their dialogue is suspicious and fearful. but that's because half of their dialogue is found in world 10, when they are coming face-to-face with the truth about the most important event of their life, which made them who they are fundamentally, and is also bringing a backstab 300 years in the making to light. under any other circumstances, any other conflict, they aren't like this.

despite this fear, in all of the finale, you can tell they're angry... but they're level-headed and firm, even being as suspicious as they are. they do yell, but a lot less than you'd expect, and cmon even the sweet and friendly shallare was yelling. the rest of ulipse's dialogue shows their emotion, but a lot of it takes on a level and analytical tone.

after beating celesteal, ulipse is doing so, so much better.

That's fine, I guess… Bye... (returning after winning, rejecting challenge course offer)

That's fine. See you around. (returning after defeating celesteal, rejecting challenge course offer)

the comparison of their lonely disappointed goodbye to their chill seeya goes to show how much the savior has done for them. now that they understand the feelings they've held for 300 years, and now that cyalm no longer poses a threat, they're so much happier.

Sorry for the mess... I couldn't get around to dusting off everything. Can I do anything for you? Perhaps you want to try my challenge level again?

show up to sandbrick sandbox again! they'll be happy to see you, they'll act friendly and a bit playful. this is a sharp contrast from the aggression they showed when they first met the player. they're finally moving forward.

Celesteal has lost their clutch on reality... Now it's up to us to turn it into the kind of world we want to see. (sky emporium, celesteal defeated)

tl;dr, ulipse is not an angry person. they are cool and level-headed throughout the game, and post-game they are much happier.

[tieflingtareon]

My love, are you the devil? (Oh, call me a devil)

Chapter 31 | Words: 8.2k

Summary: Astarion found himself often surprised by his heroic companion. He had one goal. To become the favoured companion of the group, to earn the Tieflings loyalty, to make Tar'eons strength his own. Yet Tar'eon isn't like the usual target of his manipulations. Despite his naivety, he does not seem gullible. There is something very wrong with their 'leader' to begin with. Astarion isn't sure if he wants to control it or eradicate the threat it posed. But can he really do either when Tar'eon himself seems so...unwaveringly kind?

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50668558/chapters/127995079

Tar'eon looked out at the ocean before him, the cold sea air caressing his skin as he closed his eyes, letting the scent of salt and fish fill his nose. His body felt heavy like an anchor. It was tempting to simply thrown himself over the edge and let himself sink to the bottom. To drown in the ocean sounded more painful than to drown in a river, but it was becoming clear to him than drowning in a river, drowning in Astarion, wasn't an option tonight.

He missed his cool fingers against his face, a kinder chill than the ocean winds. He buried his face in his hands, trying to hide from the cold, even if it didn't help his flushed face, his swollen eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he cried, really truly cried. He hadn't been able to stop after it started. He knew he had to tell them all eventually, but being put onto the spot so suddenly...

He wanted to resent Astarion. He wanted to scorn him, to feel that same furious rage he felt for Orin, for his enemies, but he couldn't even manage a flicker of a flame. He felt like he'd been soaked by rain, heavy and cold and wet. There was no chance of starting a fire inside himself when all the kindling was soaked with self-loathing. How could he face them again? After everything he told them...

Karlach and Wyll would hate him for allying with Enver, for damning the Coast. Jaheria, Halsin and Gale wouldn't be able to trust him, the wizard still didn't even know who took his hand. Aylin and Isobel...who knew what they'd think of him, being child and cleric of Selune. Shadowheart would probably side with Karlach, given their relationship.

Astarion...Gods, he didn't want to think about it. Not after how he snapped at him before leaving. He might find acceptance from Lae'zel, given she doesn't care for bloodshed, but...it still didn't feel like a comfort. She may have different opinions now, having abandoned her faith. He felt like there was no one in his corner, and that scared him. He felt...truly alone, for the first time since he escaped the ship.

He'd tried so hard to be a good person...but in the end, was being a good person now enough to rectify all he did in the past? He couldn't see an end to this journey that benefited him if he was honest. When Shadowheart rejected Shar's will, she had suffered the agony of thousands...What would Bhaal do when he rejected him? Would he even be able to? Would his past devotion to his Father win in the heat of the moment?

All the what ifs turned his stomach, but even still...he wouldn't let the world perish. Not if he could help it. Even if it meant the end of his own life, he would sacrifice everything to give his companions their freedom back. To make the world safe again for children like Mol, Mirkon, Silfy, Mattias and Doni, like Arabella - they all deserved to grow up and live. Not become food to mind flayers.

He would fix the mistakes of his former life, even if it cost him his current. It's not like there was any home to return to after the journey ended anyway...Nobody would mourn him. Well, maybe Astarion, but he'd move on. He'd live on for centuries, maybe even a millienia...and he'd heal. He'd forget about him. It was probably for the best. He would free Astarion of Cazador like he promised...and then, he'd free him of the tadpole. Whether he saw the next dawn wasn't important. Whether his friends did was.

Tar'eon looked out at the moonlit waters and admired the rippling of light across the dark sea. The peace was interrupted by a mechanic squeak, a shudder of metal. He looked over his left shoulder, looking at the Steel Watcher that stood a few paces behind him. He quirked a brow.

"Are you spying on me, Enver?" He asked, but the machinery was silent. Tar'eon stared at the helmet a long moment before turning back to the sea. "If you're going to bother me, I'd rather you do so in person. I feel ridiculous speaking to a hunk of junk."

"Now that's quite rude." The clink of the cane against wood made Tar'eons eyes widened, looking over his right shoulder to see the Archduke approach with a smile. "I spent quite some time designing these 'hunks of junk'."

"Why are you here?"

"I was informed by one of my many Watchers that you were alone, and far from your camp. It struck me as odd." He came to stand beside him, both hands on his cane and looking out at the waters with something akin to pride. Like a God marvelling at the beauty of the world he created. "Are you out on a late night hunt, my dear assassin?"

"You know, if I didn't know any better, which frankly, I don't, I'd think you were stalking me." Tar'eon narrowed his eyes, glancing at the man from the corner of his eye. Watching him just as closely as he no doubt watched him.

"It's my duty as Archduke to remain informed, lest chaos ensue in my streets. Your wandering alone has caught the attention of many creatures who stalk these streets at night, awaiting a lone soul like yourself." Tar'eons brows jumped up in surprise, turning to look Enver.

"I...Are we being watched?"

"Oh, most definitely, I'm sure." Enver grinned, looking rather pleased that Tar'eon had caught on. "Orin doesn't appreciate your return. She wants you gone, and her faceless hoard know it. That, and you've somehow gained the attention of vampire spawn from what my Steel Watchers have told me."

"Vampire spawn-" Tar'eon furrowed his brows and cursed softly. "Astarion?"

"Oh no, not his delightful self. But they're certainly Cazador's brood, if that's what you're wondering. Your fanged lover has not run into the night after you, I'm afraid. My condolences." He didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in his tone. From the way he spoke, it was obvious that the city had little to no secrets from him anymore. He even knew Cazador was a vampire lord, and from his tone alone, Tar’eon could tell he wasn’t the man’s biggest fan. One thing they could agree on.

"I'm sure you already know what happened. Since you've got your fingers in every corner of his town." Tar'eon grumbled.

"Unfortunately, I do not know. But I would love to hear it. Lovers quarrel?" His dark eyes gleamed with mischief, obviously hoping for it to be just that. Tar'eon pursed his lips and looked back to the ocean.

"...They know who I am now. They know what I've done. I'm giving them time to decide whether I'm worth the trouble or not, I suppose." Tar'eon picked dirt out from beneath one claw and sighed, closing his eyes. "Just associating with you has ruined more than one of my relationships with my companions, you know?”

"If your bonds are that weak, why bother entertaining them?" Enver scoffed. "They are beneath you. They have no idea of the honour that comes with being the Chosen of one's God."

"I don't want it." Tar'eon told Enver, who looked slightly surprised before he smoothed out his expression into something more neutral. "I don't care what Bhaal wants with me. He is not my Father, not anymore. I will kill Orin, and I will disown him. And when the time comes, I want you at my side when we destroy the elder brain."

"Destroy- you want to forsake all our plans? For what? Once we have all three Netherstones, the brain will no longer be a threat to us. There is no point in trying to kill the damn thing if we can control it."

"Perhaps. But it will always be a liability. Your Steel Watch does enough to maintain order in this city. I doubt you really need it now." He gestured to the metal bodyguard with it's back to them, surveying the area for dangers to its maker. "What is the point in controlling the whole world via some faux religion? Eventually, they'll realise it's all for naught, and it will be your head that they want. Besides, who's to say you won't use the control you have over the brain against myself one day?"

"I would never." Enver actually looked furious at the mere suggestion. "I much prefer you with your free will intact. It would be a waste of your brilliance to make you a mindless slave."

"And all the others in Faerun with their own brilliance? Where will the good things in the world go? People will be too devoted to the Absolute to do the things that make humanity so beautiful." Tar'eon reached back and frowned. He'd forgotten his flute...

"Where will the stories that could have been told go? The songs that would have been sung? The music that will never play...The laughter, the hope, it will all disappear. It will turn into a monotonous grey. All there will be is the Absolute - or fear of it. The ballads will speak only of Her, rather than of a lover or a friend, of family and adventure. There is so much we'll be stripping the world of if we continue on this path."

"I think I just threw up in my mouth a little." Enver remarked with a deadpanned expression. "When did you become so soft, Tir'yal?"

"Fine. You don't want to think of the good? Think of the consequences. We have no guarantee that the elder brain will remain under our control for long. You can barely control it right now as it is; who's to say it won't grow to resist all three stones power?" He challenged. "Who do you think it's going to kill first when it breaks free? The very ones who enslaved it."

He gestured to the both of them and Enver narrowed his eyes at him.

"As long as we have the crown, we don't have to worry about losing control of it. You and I already went over every flaw in our plan, made back up plans for back up plans - trust in our brilliance, Tir'yal. Once Orin is out of the way and the brain is back under control, we'll be able to unify the world beneath our rule. With Ketheric’s army, the Absolute’s army, put to waste, we can share in the rewards of our victory against them. We will be heroes in the peoples eyes.” The same heroes who made such an army to begin with. All to gain the favour of the people. To be see as their sworn protectors; to be adored. At least, that was Enver’s goal. Tir’yal had simply wanted blood for his Father.

"False heroes." Tar'eon stood straighter and huffed. "I'd rather die a true hero than live as a false one."

"You're impossible. If I knew losing your memories would make you into this, I would have put you out of your misery for your own sake when you arrived to my coronation. You’re lucky you still have your uses." Enver shook his head, as if disappointed. "I do hope you see reason the next time I see you, Tir'yal. It would be such a waste of good potential.” He turned his foot, swinging his cane forward to meet the wood as he stepped away, ready to leave, but he was halted by a hand grasping at the sleeve of his robes.

Enver turned to look over his shoulder, quirking a brow at Tar'eon.

"I...I know I'm different from what you remember. Vastly different. I know I'm not the man you knew, but if you still care for him in any measure...please stay with us a little while longer?" Tar'eon asked weakly, hating himself for stooping so low, but he was lonely. So fucking lonely. He didn't want to be alone right now, or he feared he'd be a body washed ashore by morning rather than a returning camper. He wished he’d let Astarion follow after him. Maybe then he’d already be back at camp, wrapped up in his arms and smelling rosemary instead of sea salt and cologne.

Enver stared at him for a long while, his expression giving little away before he stepped back into his prior spot, hands clasped behind his back, fingers wrapped around the length of his cane rather than the handle.

"Thank you."

"By Bane, don't. I'm only here because you're right. We have history. I may not be a fan of how weak you've become, but I still see promise in you yet, Tir'yal." Enver's lips thinned. "It is hard to find an equal in a world such as this one. You were my equal once before...and I still wish for you to be.”

Tar'eon smiled ruefully.

"Lonely at the top, isn't it? Being a leader...can be very lonely."

"I have always been enough company for myself. You were simply an addition I didn't mind. An addition I quite liked."

"You liked me." Tar'eon hummed.

"I did."

"More than Orin."

"An easy feat. The woman is dreadful and grating to listen to. I've never been one for needless bloodshed - I’ve always preferred to use it as a tool. You? You were smart with it. You were quick, efficient, you didn't make a show of it like she does. You were only ever curious about your kills once you were done, not overindulgent."

"I sated my urge as your 'assassin', I'm guessing?"

"You had great control of your urge, but yes. We made a good pair. You got rid of competition. Weaklings and blackmailers...You made climbing the ranks much easier compared to my own efforts alone." He chuckled. "I see death as a grim necessity. You saw death as an act of devotion. As, dare I say it, loving. So I gave you offerings to your Father, and you put more and more political power into my lap with every throat slit.”

"I gave you a lot of things, from what I do remember." Tar'eon pursed his lips. How many did he kill for him during their time together? How long had they known each other? He’d said years, hadn’t he? Less than ten, considering Karlach hadn’t recognised him. Enver grinned.

"Shall I list all the things you've gifted me with, my dearest?"

"I fear to know." Tar'eon admitted. "I feel like it might change things. I'm not sure I can afford that."

"Why deny yourself the truth? You've always been the hungry sort - hungry for knowledge, hungry for gore, hungry to prove yourself to your Father...You were near impossible to sate." Enver chuckled, like it was some sort of inside joke they'd once had. Now, he was the only one who could laugh at it.

"...You're right. I do want the truth. I- I crave it. I want to know everything, and it vexes me that I still know so little despite remembering my service to Bhaal. Knowing I'm...knowing I'm his spawn - it's a lot. I know nothing of my past, but I know I belonged to him. That I still do. I'm not sure I can ever come back from all the cruelty I did in his name."

"Such is the life of a Chosen. We are instruments our Gods play. We create the melodies they've written, and we revel in our duty to them, and the power they pass onto us in return." Enver gestured out to the ocean, the ships, the rippling waves. "They bless us with the power to take what we desire...and in turn, they have our undying devotion. They have our souls - much like making a deal with a devil." He chuckled at the comparison.

"You don't seem to be the biggest fan of devils."

"Beneath a devil, you are given lies and punishment. Gods are where true power is, and their wrath will not come for you unless you fail them." Enver glanced at Tar'eon. "I worry your rejection of Bhaal will not end well for you, my dearest."

"Perhaps. I worry too, but I can't accept him. As long as I am under his thumb, there is no true freedom for myself. This Urge - it isn't who I am. Not anymore. It is Bhaal's will, an extension of his control over my mind and body. He will use it to remove my loved ones until the world is empty and I am the last soul alive. I would rather die a free man than live serving beneath the heel of a God."

Enver was silent a long moment, and Tar'eon turned his head to look at him, but the man was focused on the moon, the dim lighting making him appear almost ghoulishly pale. His features were so dark, sucking up the shadows, that Tar'eon was sure he wouldn't be able to see him on a moonless night. The sleepless shadows beneath his eyes looked like bruises. He wondered if he ever slept through the night, or if he lived solely off naps.

"Do you ever wonder what life would be like? Without Bane?" Tar'eon asked and Enver scowled, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the tiefling.

"I would be servant to a devil, rather than a God. I much prefer my chances under Bane's hand than under any others. Bane has given me everything I have ever desired." He gestured to the city behind them, the grand place he had called home since his birth. It felt fitting to have it be the first place he took off the map in his journey to rule all. "Bane has given me the power and strength to take this city as my own. To wield it under the Black Hand. He has given me the means to control everything."

He placed a near loving hand to his Steel Watcher, smiling at Tar'eon.

"Even as a child, I saw the world for what it is. Full of chaos and despair. I knew in unifying the people against a common enemy, culling the ones who would not fall into line...I could bring this city prosperity and peace. That I could earn their adoration and loyalty. When people are left to decide their own fates, they will toss even those they claim to care most about into the dirt. If I control every aspect of this city, there will be no need for petty crimes, for debts to be paid, all of it will be delegated to me...Nobody wants the responsibilities they're given. If anything, they'll thank me for fixing all of their problems, for removing the ones that simply don't want to go away. I will be a hero in the eyes of many."

He seemed to truly believe his words, but Tar'eon couldn't read his mind. Only the language of his body. His stature was nothing short of confidant, even if he was physically shorter than Tar'eon.

"You'll be a tyrant who acts like a just and fair king." Tar'eon saw through it with ease and Enver laughed.

"Well...When you worship and are chosen by the God of Tyranny, it only make sense to follow the path he's paved before you."

"Considering all you've told me, I'd say you and I were the ones who actually got you as far as you've come." Tar'eon mused and Enver barked a sharp laugh, the sound more biting than humorous this time.

"I would not have met you again if not for Bane. I would not have lived to see all of our plans come to fruition if not for him." Enver clasped his hands together and came to stand at the railing, his eyes searching the darkness of the horizon. "You may have no love left for your Father, but Bane has my devotion until the end of my days. He was the God who answered when no other would. I was destined to be his Chosen."

“‘Again’? Are you saying Bane organised our meeting at the coronation?” Enver shook his head and grinned.

“We’ve known each other since we were children, Tir’yal. It’s why I have the reserved right to call you by that name, amongst other reasons. I was there before your Father even called upon you…” He seemed to be reminiscing from the shine in his eyes. “I barely remember that far back myself. I was young when we parted. When I returned to Baldur’s Gate, you were already in service to Bhaal I would assume. Your childhood home was nothing but a haunted house.” He chuckled. “Your foster family were sacrificed for Bhaal’s love. I had not yet been Chosen by Bane, so we lived separate lives well into our twenties before I was finally given the honour. I had worshipped diligently, but one must prove themselves worthy if they want to be empowered by a God. It took a decade of blood, sweat and tears for Bane to finally proclaim me as his. Shortly after, fate drew us together again. Almost two decades apart…you hadn’t the scarcest clue to who I was, but I remembered you. I don’t think I would have bothered with partnering together in our first heist if I hadn’t. You were quite arrogant. Though, being a pureblooded Bhaalspawn…Who could blame you for turning your nose up at the Chosen of Bane, your Fathers sworn foe?”

“When you said we had history, you meant it, huh?” Tar’eon couldn’t fathom it. “Did I…I really killed my foster family? For Bhaal?” To think he had a family once…a family who loved him, he'd like to think. He spilt their blood for a God, for his true Father, and he suddenly felt sick. The more he knew of himself, the more impossible if felt to crawl out of the hole he’d dug, unable to be purified by the grace of the sunlight. Unable to be redeemed, or reborn.

“You did. You lived in the house across the wall, opposite mine. Your father brought shoes from us often because you grew much faster than your brother.” He chuckled. “A tiefling adopted by a family of elves. It was an amusing sight in the markets. You always had your nose in a book. You didn’t spare any adult respect that wasn’t earned. You hated my parents with a passion, and always insisted I make your shoes for you despite the fact that I was an awful cobbler. I hated working with leather, but metal? That was my calling. You enjoyed wearing steel boots worthy of a knight. You said it made it easier to squish rats in the street, and easier to clean too.”

“I sound…awful." A sadistic child, was that really who he'd been? Rotten from the start? Or had it been Bhaal's influence, even back then? "It sounds almost like I bullied you as a child.”

“You were the only one who saw my genius, who understood my view of the world. The other children simply didn't understand us. Or, I suppose they feared you." Enver shrugged with a thoughtful expression. Tar'eon noted the distinction between 'us' and 'you'. The children hadn't feared Enver. He didn't have many friends before him, did he? Had he been his first? "You having a blunt exterior was a price I had to pay to have someone to watch my back when I pickpocketed merchants.”

“We were troublemakers then?”

“We were kids. Your brother was the opposite of you, so you two clashed a lot. Ever the sensible soul, he was, saying I was an awful influence. It only made sense that you would hang out with me instead. We were both bad influences, after all. He couldn't blame only me.” He chuckled.

“I wish I could remember…” Tar’eon sighed. “So Bane reunited us when he made you his Chosen?”

“He got me to Baldur’s Gate. He got me home. Making me his Chosen simply increased my chances of seeing you again.”

“Where were you between the time you left and the time you came back?” Tar’eon asked and Enver was quiet. Tar'eon had some ideas, but they didn't really make sense to him.

“Where I was holds no relevance to our past together. The important part is that I returned. And it was all thanks to Bane. He has given me the ability to take everything I could ever desire.”

"And you want for nothing else?"

"I am close to having everything I've ever wished for. There is nothing else I could want." Enver shrugged one shoulder and smiled. He seemed to believe it. His devotion to Bane was true. He both worshipped him like a saviour yet acknowledged the transactional relationship they had. Tar'eon wondered if he'd ever been so devoted to Bhaal, his own Father. He grimaced and leaned against the railing, his elbow brushing Envers.

"You offered to share your kingdom with me. Not very tyrannical of you." Tar'eon mused.

"It took some convincing...but Bane came to see the benefits of our union once we had the crown."

"Bhaal doesn't extend the same regard to you, I'm afraid." He may not want to kill him, and the Urge may not feel insistent about the matter of his blood spilling the floor, but he knew it desired it deep down. To make him a pretty corpse one day. To be the one he gasped his final breathe before, to be the last thing reflected in those shiny dark eyes.

"Oh yes. I was to be your final kill, wasn't I? You used to tell me you'd kill me slowly...so we could breathe our final breaths together."

"That's...so fucked up." And oddly romantic, honestly. In a devastatingly morbid way. "Were you really going to let me do that? Kill you?"

"Well, I had intended to convince you to rule with me for a while. Work our way through each city, each continent; there's so many places to see, so much land conquer and admire...eventually, when the world was finally empty of any other soul, I would have laid on your Fathers altar and died with you." There wasn't a single ounce of deceit in his tone, and it made his stomach flip.

"That's..." Tar'eon stared at Enver with wide eyes, unsure what to say. "I don't know what to say to that."

"It's not as if it matters now. You intend to reject Bhaal and his plans of sacrificing every soul. You've killed an Avatar of Myrkul who now lacks a Chosen. There is a clear path before us both." Enver gestured outwards, the faintest light coming out from the horizon. A lighthouse.

"And what path is that?"

"The path we walk together." He offered his hand to the tiefling with a small smile, something fond in his gaze. "Blessed by Bane, we can take Toril as our own with the elder brain under our control. You can be the just and fair king to the people...and I can be the tyrant needed to keep the peace. Marvellous, is it not? Imagine it. A world in our image. Or, Bane's I suppose, but it's all the same."

Tar'eon stared at his hand. If he could remember the past, perhaps he would agree. But he couldn't. He didn't want that life anymore. He shook his head softly and Enver dropped his hand with a downturn to the left corner of his lip.

"So I'm to clean up your messes to the rest of my life? If that what you suggest?"

"I'd make it worth your while." Enver smirked before shaking his head. "You may deny yourself now, but one day...You'll see. When you're at the top of the world, you're the one making the rules. You could change the world for the better. Or the worst. Whatever you desire." Enver didn't seem to care either way, as long as he was at his side.

"Being a king, above everyone else, it sounds like a lonely life to me."

"You won't be alone." Enver reminded with a soft smile. "Your home will be a palace, your people your pets, your advisers your confidants...and you will have me to share the burdens and delights of our ruling with."

"I'd rather a modest home with animals as pets and a partner to share the burdens and delights of life with." Tar'eon crossed his arms. "I don't want power, Enver. I simply want to live my life as my own. That's why I'm rejecting Bhaal. It's why I'm killing Orin. It's why I will stop the elder brain and remove the tadpole from my skull. I told you. I'd rather die a free man than have other people in my head."

"Not many can be given the offer of a lifetime and turn it down so swiftly." Enver chuckled, but it was a terse one. "I really can't convince you, can I?"

"You may speak with the same silver tongue of a devil, but I have bested a God and intend to best another. I am no longer Bhaal's puppet or his devoted son. I am my own man, or...I intend to be. Which means I choose my own path. My own desires."

"And what do you desire?" Enver actually sounded curious rather than mocking.

"I..." Tar'eon licked his lips. "I want to travel. Settle down. I want a home. A-a family. A real one. I want kids and pets and to not fear harm will come upon us. I want to be strong enough to protect what's mine. I...I want love." He smiled softly, thinking of Astarion's soft red eyes. Of the sunlight gracing his white curls and his fanged smile. "I want to heal my friends of their wounds and watch them live the lives they deserved but never got."

"...You really have gone soft. Entirely. It's like there's nothing of you left."

"Maybe that's all he wanted too, and you just didn't know it. Or he couldn't accept it himself. After all, this is still the same body, the same mind, if a bit battered." He thought back to the note he found in the colony. At the time, he'd thought nothing of it. "...I think he loved you. He just didn't know how to show it properly."

"Don't pretend to know us - It may have been you, but you don't remember yourself the way I do." Enver scowled.

"I remember the feeling though." Tar'eon reached out and Enver stepped back, eyes searching him for possible danger. Tar'eon reached further and Enver didn't move this time, allowing the larger man to take his hand gently in his, pressing his palm to his chest. To his rapidly beating heart. "My heart still reacts to you, even though I should despise you. You've ruined countless lives, you've had me kill people for your own gain, and you've attacked myself and my lover in the span of a single day. I should hate you."

"And yet...?"

"I can't bring myself to. And I hate myself for it." Tar'eon let go of his hand but Enver didn't remove it, his golden talons pinching the skin of his chest. "He must have loved you a lot. I'm almost sorry Orin scrambled my brain. I think you two needed each other to be human, rather than the favourite of hateful Gods."

"You know nothing of how we were." Enver breathed bitterly, almost a hiss, his claws only digging in deeper. Tar'eon didn't flinch away.

"I know what devotion feels like though. I know what love against all odds is like. I know the feeling of duty coming before the heart, of struggling against it. I speak the truth when I tell you he loved you. He still loves you. Somewhere in my brain, he's there, even if I can't find him. You are loved, Enver."

Enver snatched his hand away, leaving behind a small tear in the fabric of his shirt.

"You may think you know love, Tir’yal, because of this dalliance with that fanged friend of yours, but I assure you — it is infatuation at best. You’ve known each other how long? Weeks? Love is not made in weeks, my friend.” He chuckled, but it lacked humour. “That is simply a notion woven into fairytales so children have something to look forward to in the mundane life of adulthood. Love is not even a priority in any successful relationship, I assure you. I doubt it truly exists for those with more than half a brain. What is real, what does work, is trust. Respect. The ability to compromise on things you wouldn’t dare change if anyone else asked. Love is sacrificing. It leaves one vulnerable. And that makes it a weakness you and I never dared to allow. Your mind is muddled beyond comprehension, Tir’yal. All your body is feeling is the physical affects of lust, my dearest. A rapid heartbeat is not a reason to become poetic.”

“Did we not share all of those things?” Tar’eon looked at his torn shirt and clicked his tongue. He’d have to get Astarion to mend it for him. He supposed he’d have to return eventually after all. They’d have to talk about everything…properly this time. “Trust, respect, compromise…”

“Perhaps. We were partners after all, in many senses.” He picked lint off the lapel of his robes, or attempted to. There was no lint to pick. Tar’eon wondered if that was a subconscious habit like his tail. To make his attire impeccable, to seem uncaring about it when perhaps he did care. About a lot of things. “But neither of us could afford to make each other our ‘one and only’s’. We, after all, are Chosens. The only 'love' we can offer is to our Gods.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“It’s something we agreed on.” There was something soft in his tone, and Tar’eon was sure he would have missed it if his voice wasn’t so familiar to his ears even without the memory of it. He had the blueprints, but no manual. It was quite frustrating. Enver turned his gaze out to the lighthouse in the distance, and for a moment, Tar’eon thought he could see someone younger before him. Someone with longer hair, someone who wore white compared to black, lacking a shadow-y stubble and who’s under eyes weren’t so dark.

With only the moon to light him, he thought he saw the lover of Tir’yal, rather than the man before Tar’eon. As awful as his past self had been, he mourned for his sake. They may not have spoken the words out loud…but there had been love there. Their own twisted yet almost pure version of it. As pure as a bloodstained kiss could be; and from his experience, a bloody kiss could feel angelic.

“I’m sorry. That he never told you he loved you. You deserved to hear it. I think everybody does, at least once."

“You barely know me.” Enver scoffed. “Not this new version of you at least.” He gestured to the tiefling before him. He was familiar in the right ways, a spitting image of his lover, but all that had been between them was a mystery to him. He still had the same brilliant mind, always had the right words to make his tongue looser than he liked…but he was fractured. Turned inside out. The man before him wasn’t the same as the one he had near worshipped on the same level as Bane. The one he had trusted and respected above all others. The only one who understood, who knew he didn't want sweet words when he woke from nightmares, who knew when it was time to drag him to bed, who knew when he hadn't eaten all day, and never judged him for it, simply praising his dedication and making dinner for two, stealthily moving papers out of reach and taking up the space on his desk so he would finally take a break.

Enver wasn't one to focus on the past, he was always looking to the future, but he found it was near impossible not to focus on the past when that's where his Tir'yal was. Where his first friend and true equal lived. The man before him was a mere shadow of his former self, and he couldn't let go of what had been his. He knew he was in there, somewhere. If he simply waited, if he was patient like he'd been with Bane all those years ago, perhaps he'd return to his side eventually. By the Gods, he was actually willing to wait if only to have him back by his side.

“If you did know me, now, I don’t think you’d agree.” Bane had granted him the power to escape the House of Hope, had ordered all living souls be dedicated to him once Bhaal had his slice of death and blood. But he knew Tir’yal was the reason he was here now. Without his help, without their combined brilliance, he never would have made it out of their heist to take the Crown to begin with.

It had been his hand that pulled him out of Avernus when he thought he’d be trapped there again. Not even Bane’s hand had been extended to him in such a way. A God could rarely intervene with mortals after all; that’s why they had to do this. They were the Chosen who could meddle in human affairs. This was the only path where both of them could stay together, under Bane's blessing. Tar'eon could reject Bhaal, could lose his status as Chosen, and Enver would still gladly rule with him. He knew deep down, the man was not weak in the slightest, even if he had softened in some ways. All he needed was the guidance that would return him to where he belonged.

“Perhaps. Our guardians, our tormentors…Our Gods. They form us. They shape us in their images. I’ve seen it - I’ve experienced it.” He thought to Astarion who had been beneath Cazador’s thumb for two hundred years, to Wyll who was leashed to Mizora for seven, Gale forced to be a human bomb by his Goddess and Shadowheart being mislead by a religion that kidnapped her away from her true family. To Aylin who had been trapped, to Isobel who had been killed and brought back, to Karlach who served Hell for a decade, and Lae’zel who had been deceived by her Goddess her whole life. Each and every one of them had had their worlds turned upside down by another. It wasn’t fair to any of them.

He was fathered by the God of Murder. Yet they were all turning their lives around. Starting over. For the better. He wanted to do the same. He wanted everyone to have that chance.

“Yet, we can still break free of their grasp. We can still mould ourselves into a new image. I’ve seen and experienced that too. There is never a point of no return. Not to me.” Tar’eon turned back to the sea, breathing deeply in the salt and fish. There couldn't be a point of no return, or he'd never be able to turn away from his own bloody past. “I will regain control over my own life. I refuse to bend the knee to my Father and be his slayer. I will break away from him and create my own path. What I will do with it, I’m not sure. But I have many ideas.”

Enver was quiet a moment longer than he needed to be before his lip quirked into almost a smile.

“You tell me far too much, considering the advantage I already have. You are far too trusting. Or perhaps, you are simply naive now.”

“I don’t feel the need to lie to you. You’re as familiar as the scars on my back — I know they are there, I can feel them and I trust their placement, even if I cannot see them. Even if they may look different in a mirror compared to in my mind.”

“I’d say I know the scars on your back better than anyone else.” Enver smirked.

“Perhaps. Maybe that’s why I can trust you not to stab me in the back and add to them, with all I tell you.”

“An unwise use of trust, my dearest.” There was a strange note of approval in his tone. Like he wouldn't usually approve of such a decision, but there was something special about this moment that allowed him to agree with the choice. Like this was an exception rather than the rule for him.

“It’s worked for me so far.” Tar’eon grinned, feeling a little silly if he was honest. Enver was right. He was being reckless. He was speaking with too loose a tongue despite being completely sober. He should be careful around the man, but it was hard to remember that when they spoke in this bubble of solitude, shrouded by the night. They were simply two old friends catching up, even though they both knew it was far more complicated than that. “You’re right. I should hold my tongue around you.”

“Don’t you dare. It’s far too entertaining to watch you give yourself away.” Enver gave a throaty laugh, shaking his head and tapping his cane to the wooden boards. “I’m unable to harm you anyway. That was the rule, was it not? We’re unable to harm each other. We made a vow.”

“My arm tells a different story.” Tar’eon mused, showing off the bandaged forearm.

“Yes, well, I did apologise for that, did I not? It was simple precaution, for my own safety. We can’t have the new Archduke dead on his first day. It would send the people into a panic.” He waved the mere idea off and Tar’eon smiled softly.

“I’ve heard people talking about you in the streets. Mixed reviews. But those who speak highly of you — they do not hold back any sentiments. Half of this city adores you.”

“As they should. I’m keeping this city safe from the evil that plagues its borders.” Enver mused.

“Have you ever considered how rewarding it would be to actually do good by people?” Tar’eon offered and Enver laughed.

“Do you know how most heroes lives end in history? Horribly.”

“So do most villains, I'd argue."

“Perhaps. But I’d rather have the satisfaction of knowing I’ve earned my place on top, without even breaking a sweat. Well…unless you count the sweat I broke on top of the fine wives of other Lords.” His words were shameless, his grin nothing short of sleazy, and Tar’eon made a small sound of disgust.

“I don’t want to know.”

“Please, you’ve watched more times than you probably should have.” Enver sounded far too pleased as the tiefling wrinkled his nose, ignoring the heat in his cheeks.

“I take it neither of us were the jealous type.” Tar’eon noted in a slight drawl.

“We didn’t need to be. We knew no one else would compare outside the sack. So who cared what we did in it, together or otherwise?” Enver shrugged, his eyes twinkling with something mischievous. “It’s quite late. Even the taverns will be closing at this hour.”

“That’s too bad. Having a drink with the Archduke would have been an honour.” Tar’eon wasn’t very good at sarcasm in his personal opinion, his voice too rough and blunt to manage it, but Enver seemed to hear it, because he chuckled.

“The establishments may be shelving their stock for the night, but my shelves do not adhere to standard operating hours.” Enver chuckled. “I’d be happy to share if you feel like baring anything else to me tonight.” Tar’eon could feel his murky eyes running down his body and his heart thumped a touch harder, trying to ignore the tickle of heat low in his belly.

“You are...incorrigible.” Tar’eon shook his head and huffed softly. “I’ve already told you I have a lover, Enver.”

“Ah, yes, he - unlike us - does seem the jealous type. How unfortunate. If things change, do let me know. Your mind may be scrambled beyond recognition, but I’m sure your head is still just as good.” Enver smirked and Tar’eon actually laughed, the sound startled out of him. He did not want to ruminate on that thought; most of his thoughts on Enver were hard to pick apart. He could never tell if his imagination was exceptional or if he was remembering something far too intimate at an inappropriate moment.

If he let his mind wander, he’d think far too much about how Enver’s cock might feel in his throat. He’d rather think of Astarions, but he was trying to be respectful of his lovers wish to be seen in a less sexual light. It was hard when he looked so gorgeous all the time; Tar’eon wanted to do many, many loving things to his body - be that sexual or sensual - until Astarion felt as holy and beautiful as Tar’eon saw him. Kiss all the moles on his face and body…trace his scars…twist his curls around his fingers while he made the vampire flush the prettiest pink. Only granted such a fine colour because of his blood.

Gods, it was hard to stay mad at the vampire for pushing his buttons. He knew he’d made Astarion antsy, he could see through his lies so easily, and knowing he was keeping secrets from him…it must have driven the elf mad. No wonder he pushed and pushed until he broke. He just wished he’d done it where they had a bit more privacy.

“You…Gods. I should head back. My companions are probably worried sick. Or sharpening their blades. Fifty-fifty.” Tar’eon shrugged and sighed, losing the attempt at a playful smile. “You’re right. It’s late. I think I’ve told you more than enough for one night. Anymore and I fear I may actually be blackmailed into sharing wine and a bed with you.”

“Dearest, when you come to be my bed, it will be most willingly, and uninebriated, I assure you. Alas, I still have much to do before dawn breaks. I cannot entertain your rambling all night." He said it like he hadn't offered him wine and company a minute ago. "You still have a traitor to find, and who knows when they’ll strike, hm?” He reminded and Tar’eons heart lurched.

He hadn’t even considered it. What if this faceless in the camp hurt someone while he was gone? What if they hurt Astarion? Shit.

“You’re right. Shit. I should hurry back. Goodnight, Enver.” Tar’eon stepped away from the railing and turned to leave, but after a few steps he paused. “I…thank you. For telling me more about my past. It means a lot to me, to hear the stories, even if I can’t remember them myself. I…I might never.”

“Let us hope you do. You might see reason to our rule again.” Enver mused, a certain superficial charm to his crooked smile.

“Then maybe it’s best I don’t.” Tar’eons words were playful, cheeky even, and Enver’s eyes sparkled at the way Tar’eon refused to bend the knee on the subject. He did quite like a challenge. Equals always challenge you in ways no other could. The superficial edge to his smile was gone. There was nothing hidden in his expression, and it warmed Tar'eons heart in a different way to before.

“May your dreams be bloody, Tir’yal.”

“May your rest by restful, rather than restless, pah rihyl.” Tar’eon responded in kind, the words falling off his tongue before he could even consider their meaning, walking away to return to camp. Enver watched after him until he disappeared, tapping the top of his cane with a soft hum, talons clinking in the quiet. He turned to his Steel Watcher and with a wave of his hand and a whispered incantation, he silenced the machines creaking and thumping, allowing it to hide within shadows.

“Make sure he doesn’t get himself killed on his way back to camp. Stay out of sight unless absolutely necessary.” He ordered and watched the rippling figure disappear. It would do him no favours if the man died before he got him Orin’s stone after all. With spawn and shifters skulking about, if only made sense to watch the tieflings back when his companions could not. He trusted his ability to fight; but anyone could be surprised. Except himself, of course.

He smoothed the collar of his robes as the winds from the sea rustled through his hair, flapping the end of his robe like a ships flag. He glanced out to the ocean, to the lighthouse in the distance and took in a deep breath.

One day, he’d own a castle of his own on the rocks of the sea, so he could leave a window open and feel its breeze every day as he scribbled legalisations. It sounded like the closest thing to peace he could ever imagine for himself. He did wonder idly, if that castle would be as achingly empty as the fortress he called home, if his bed would remain cold like it had for months now. It was a thought that was quickly dismissed, making his way home, back turned to the sea and the moonlight, walking amongst the shadows like all liars and thieves did.

[allpaul]

Share allll your All Paul hcs

ALL of them? You want ALL of the Paul? You got it buddey.........

The most(?) lore I've concocted so far is for Paul L. His full name is Paul Lagune, he has a brother who's a sailor(who also owned the cruise ship that the All Paul Cruise took place on. And the same one that got dragged down into the sea mind you). I think when he wasn't with The Boys and being bombarded by fans, he was a secret underground rockstar. but no one recognized it was him because he has a secret identity or some shit. probably something edgy like The Tideripper or smth. He's definitely the appointed "Cool Guy" out of the 3. probably has a cool motorbike too

Paul M.'s full name is Paul Mollusk, & I think he absolutely had the demeanor & attitude of a generic surfer dude like in movies. Being the sort-of "lead" of the band, he may have been just the lead singer but he was pretty much the glue holding the three of them together. He's just a hippie stoner guy with a big heart and a huge love of life(and sharks. he loves sharks). Was probably a marine biologist before

Paul O.-- or Paul Oarfesh-- is.. generally the less-liked one of the three by fans. This is mostly because when All Paul did fan meetups at cons and things like that, he tended to act sort of like a jerk whenever he was posed with questions. And even when he isn't talking he seems pretty angry and reserved. But it's really all because he gets super overstimulated and can barely handle huge influxes of people and questions, which in result has him reacting in ways he doesn't want to. It's all fine though because his two boys are always there for him when it happens & they're always there to support him :] they love eachotharrrrr. Also he's an ex-pilot

Umm umm what else. Oh yeah after they drown & kick the bucket after the cruise ship is dragged down into the Rhombus, they chill in the ship(or at least what's left of it) as ghosts. Ghosts are real in the Psychonauts universe btw and I can PROVE it. look at this concept art below. just try to tell me I'm crazy

We could've had it all.

That being said if they can't perform for people anymore they can perform for the FISH!!! An audience is an audience even if they can't be seen. Gay people will thrive even in the astral plane

[chemzee]

What does Morgan think of Melly and her lore?

Good question!

Morgan is a rather important character for Mel's development actually, as both interact quite a bit (although not as much as Cassandra, Daniel and she do with each other)

Short answer: he's suspicious of Mel in Y4 but doesn't really care. In Y5, he figures out she's Willow and calmly informs her of that. He thinks of her as a friend but finds it rather rude that she had stolen her friend's identity, whatever the reasons she had for it.

Long answer (aka huge lore dump): (BTW THIS IS TENTATIVE AND STILL NEEDS A LOT OF POLISHING)

As most of you already know, Morgan is part of NOTME and that's pretty much how he meets Daniel, aka the dude who's most suspicious of Mel.Morgan is also the kind of person who barely interacts with people but he has a tendency to eavesdrop, secretly observe or even analyze other people, which is why he's aware of a lot of school drama and rumours. So when Daniel tells him about his suspicions of Melly being a completely different person in disguise, Morgan sees his point and starts believing his theory, but unlike Daniel, he's sorta chill with that.

By Y4, Willow Varian aka Melly's real identity, is considered missing (although because Willow was barely known to even exist, most people didn't notice) and there are suspicions dark wizards had something to do with it so ofc Morgan is aware of the case. which Morgan sorta sees as either Melly being involved in an accident that led to her dissapearance be it directly or indirectly or that Melly is Willow. But again, he doesn't really give a shit, so he isn't really giving it much thought.

But Y5 is when his suspicions are confirmed.

Y5 is when Daniel and Melly switch dynamics. In Y4, Daniel was suspicious of Melly and Melly tried to hide her secret, pretty much Death Note style but by Y5 now that Daniel knows she isn't a spy or double agent, while his suspicions of her being a different person are still present, he isn't trying to make her slip up/catch her red handed like last year because as long as she doesn't pose a threat to him/his friends, he doesn't care.

However, in Y5 Melly starts to suspect Daniel is part of NOTME and Daniel can feel that, so he tries his best to hide it, thus doing complete 180 in their dynamic. One day, she decides to abuse her metamorpmagus powers for 162684th time, to follow Daniel to see if her suspicions are correct. Unfortunately, her plan backfires and skipping all the jazz (which I did write out but this post is already pretty big) it leads to Morgan discovering she's metamorpmagus. After that, he sorta informs her he kniws who she is and after a bit of talking, both form an unlikely alliance, which then leads to events of Y6.

Morgan likes people that intrigue him and Melly is certainly intriguing and quite a unique case. However, despite his unceremonious treatment of death, he does feel rather weirded out by how Melly pretty much stole identity of her best friend, which he feels is sorta disrespectful, especially given her reasons as to why she did it.