#and she couldn't do it even by defeating the mage who did it and then leorictus killed himself and THEN there was the huppermage genocide.

[jorisjurgen]

i am 01:34 deep into the 04:21-long animatic. we are so winning

however people will kill me for including random MMO npcs in the 2nd verse im sorry for being really enfatuated with what the mmo implies-- I promise that after the second verse it's all back to normal non-obscure characters.

[duncanor]

WHY IT HAD TO BE EKKO

Don't you wonder why he's ultimately the one who defeat The Machine Herald? They never even met, why out of everyone was it him? Why was he sent to this beautiful timeline while Jayce was sent to Dante's inferno ?

It's because Jayce and Viktor are the perfect opposite of Powder and Ekko. All of them were scientists who shared a dream of helping their people. However, while Jayce and Viktor did everything they could to realize their dream together, going as far as to brave Nature, Death and Fate, Ekko and Powder couldn't bear losing themselves and sacrificing others for their own happiness.

Ekko was sent to a world where he got everything he ever wanted. His loved ones were (mostly) all alive and well, the cities were united, he not only got his childhood friend back but had the chance to learn who she could've become without tragedy plaguing her. He even fell in love with her and had the possibility to start a life anew, here, together. And despite this, he never considered staying. Doing so would've meant sacrificing his reality and he couldn't bear it. So he let her and the dream go, and broke the cycle.

But Jayce and Viktor? They've always been incapable of letting go of each others. They first defied nature, re-creating the inate with Hextech. Then they braved Death with Viktor's resurection. Finally, they fabricated fate, Viktor making sure they always meet. The Machine Herald vowed to end the cycles that plagued humanity, but ultimatly, he as the mage was the one purposefully setting them in motion. Because he couldn't bear a reality where he's alone and doesn't have his partner by his side.

It's egoism vs altruism at its core.

It's also why Viktor and Jayce leave together while Ekko stays alone. It's the price of the sacrifice of self for others vs the sacrifice of others for themselves.

Ekko (and Jinx) was the only one willing to break the cycle. It had to be him.

[tealfling]

RolanWeek, Day 1: First Meeting

It's late. I can't believe I forgot Rolan Week!

Now on AO3

Anyway this is Rolan's impression of Coren in the Grove during the canon interaction with the tiefling siblings.

Infernal irritation! She was always like this. Why must she insist on arguing about this? They needed to get to Baulder's Gate, and quickly. They didn't have time for this. And they certainly didn't need to put themselves in danger for people that wouldn't do the same for them. Kin or not. It's always just been them, so why couldn't she see that he was right on this? Rolan didn't understand. Why couldn't she just trust his judgment? Just once. Why did they have to go toe to toe on every little thing? He cared about their lives and she'd called his apprenticeship- the very thing that would better it- stupid. Over strangers. People they'd only known a few weeks.

Things between Rolan and Lia were becoming heated to a point that even Cal was having a hard time deescalating them. She'd been wound up since they'd heard Zevlor’s horn warning of another monster attack. People began shouting about goblins at the gate and Rolan all but had to physically hold her back from rushing out herself. Cal would have surely followed. Their safety was paramount to Rolan and now that things appeared to be calming down, he knew it was their best chance to leave. As always, Lia was being difficult.

"What's the use of blades and spells if we don't bloody use them!?" Lia shouted, nearly stomping her foot like a petulant child. She flailed her arms wide in frustration, almost backhanding one of the new adventurers entering the Grove. The group that had just taken out the very horde of goblins that instigated this particular argument. A short tiefling woman amongst a group of human and elven kind deftly ducked back, barely dodging Lia’s swing.

 Cal reached out in case he needed to catch her, but she righted herself on her own. Her lips pulled up at the side in a small smile, apparently happy with herself for successfully dodging Lia’s hand. 

"We should stay," Lia continued. "These people aren't fighters. We can help."

"Or yell louder. That's fine too." A defeated Cal sighed.

"Agreed. A well wielded weapon or spell can make all the difference." The new tiefling said, adding herself to the siblings' conversation. Lia grinned, having someone to back her up.

Gods. 

Another insufferable hero complex. Rolan thought. Given the male elf's eye roll, he also thought the same of this woman as Rolan.

Lia finished, "Thank you! It's the right thing to stay and you know it! You should listen to-" she turned to the foggy, blue-skinned tiefling.

The woman didn't seem like much at first. A whole head shorter than Rolan and an hourglass figure that didn’t make her seem like much of a fighter. Her entire coloring of skin and hair reminded him of an angry sea, with electric, icy blue eyes. Her mage robes left her arms bare. An electric glow crackled under the skin of her left arm and a softer one feathered on her right. 

The longer she stood in the middle of their conversation the more the air seemed to change. A light static charge had filled the space. Like an approaching storm. Even the faint whiff he caught of her scent reminded him of ozone and approaching rain. Then he felt the Weave radiating off her.

Rolan internally groaned with realization. This woman was even worse than a wannabe hero. A sorcerer.

"Corentine. You can call me Coren." The woman said with a smirk at Rolan. The way her gaze trailed his height sent a chill up his spine. “Who else will help us if we don't help each other?” She asked jutting her hip out and placed a fist on it.

“I'm not responsible for every tiefling!” Rolan snapped.

Lia stomped forward. “Be responsible for yourself then!” she spat pointedly.

Lia and the sorcerer now teamed up against him in their plea to stay and help the Grove. And with the addition of a third party, Cal was emboldened to agree with Lia against Rolan.

"Ugh, fine!" Rolan relented to the majority. "I'll stay, too. Lest you both end up with your throats slit by a goblin blade." Cal looked relieved, but both Lia and Coren rolled their eyes. Coren let out a soft chuckle.

It's not like he could drag his siblings kicking and screaming from the Grove. But this Coren? Corentine. Hurricane. Surely a bad omen. With her party's growing impatience, the tiefling bid them farewell and sauntered deeper into the Grove.

Good riddance. Rolan thought.

[idkjustletmescroll]

Warning: if you liked the dragon prince as it is, go right ahead and scroll on by :) this is basically what I would have done differently/liked to see, even if I did really like the show overall

We're just going to get right into it. This pretty much only pertains to act 2. I liked act 1. Anyways!

1: Ezran stays in katolis in season four; sunfire elf plotline rewrite

It's no secret that most people dislike the sunfire elf sideplot, and, despite the fact that janai and amaya are both my fav characters and my fav ship, it doesn't fit in to act 2's overall story. I'd have liked for them to continue the human/elf plotline both through sunfire politics and katolis', as well; there's no way ezran's speech in the graveyard in season 4 just made it a non-issue. Tbh, I didn't feel like ezran contributed much to the gang's journey in season 4, and, considering that act 1 had it be such a major plot point that the kingdom needs its king, I'd have liked for him to stay in katolis and, along with the sunfire plot, develop a plotline about humans and elves not only needing to reconcile, but come together to defeat aaravos (elf magic + human creativity and resourcefulness).

Also, the show mentions janai's grandma, queen Aditi, ALL THE TIME, and then never really does anything with her character--or the orphan queen. Since lux aurea canonically has a massive and ultra-important library ("bookery"), time could've been devoted to research there, too. It would have been a way to work in plenty of exposition.

2: The Terry issue

My issue with Terry is that he's just not important. I don't care about this guy. I spent most of act 2 dreading when he was on screen because I just don't care. Sure, he's sweet, but...why is an elf involved with a dark mage? How does he even get involved with claudia? How does he justify all the terrible things they're doing? I think it would've been interesting to see an elf who not only doesn't mind dark magic but defends it, presenting more issues for the main cast (i.e. callum) to think about. In my opinion, he should have either died or abandoned claudia fully in either seasons 5 or 6. He would have been the last person who loved and supported her unconditionally leaving her, one way or the other, and therefore leaving her fully vulernable to aaravos' manipulations. I'm sorry, but most of what he did in season 7 was centered around getting the gang not to hurt claudia, and it was pissing me off. No, you don't have to agree, this is just an opinion.

3: Rayllum

Yes, I know, I know, it's just a kid's show. Yes, I know rayllum is an audience fav, and even if it's not mine, I understand why people like it so much. It's cute, it's fun. My issue with act 2 rayllum is that it feels like the show focuses a lot more on their relationship than on the individual characters. I'd like rayla to actually explain to callum why she left: she was paranoid, she wanted to make sure viren was gone for good. Could she have finished him off herself, if it came down to it, looking him dead in the eyes and using her swords? There's a question that keeps coming back to haunt her: is she able to end a life? Why couldn't she have let callum and ezran help her? She's failed at everything else (in her eyes). She can't go home, her own adopted fathers either banished her or tried to kill her. She couldn't fail at this, too. She had to do something. That's interesting.

And on callum's side, I think it would have been cool to see him connecting with the ocean arcanum...without the finnegrin plot, bc I didn't like it. He sees ezran growing up, and that's kind of scary, not always knowing what his little brother's thinking or feeling anymore. Callum's growing up, too, and, as much as he loves being high mage, he still wants to explore the world and learn new things outside of katolis; he's getting political marriage offers; his life is going to change soon, one way or the other, and that's scary, and he doesn't really have a parental figure to talk to, with Amaya being away. He can't always control or predict rayla, and he can't control or predict or prevent all of his losses, either. Since that's the ocean arcanum's whole deal, I think it would have been a neat way for him to get it.

There we go, plotlines for individual characters instead of the whole relationship, that still include and effect that relationship. Also, I would somewhat tweak callum's decision to help rayla in s7. First, he would also have his own conflicting feelings about runaan. He agrees runaan should be allowed to go to his home and husband, but insists that ezran will be easily convinced as soon as things settle down, "in a few weeks." Rayla goes through with the breakout anyways, callum's hurt but decides to go along with it, and--and this is very important--HE DOES NOT LIKE RUNAAN. He does not FORGIVE Runaan. Maybe they talk it out, but either way, runaan being the one to have killed harrow effects callum in some way. S7 made it more of an ezran thing. Callum also feels a lot more torn up about betraying ezran, maybe seeing some sibling pairs in the silvergrove that make him think back on his brother.

4: The key of aaravos

Just some resolution to the key, guys. It's been emphasized CONSTANTLY in the show since s1 episode 4. Idk what it would be, I just want it to be SOMETHING.

[befuddled-calico-whump]

i dare you to write a drabble or something based off of that dream

Dare accepted. (the aforementioned dream)

cw: beating, broken bones, mean friends (lol)

"Why can't I go with you?" Even as the question passed his lips, Romulus knew how stupid it was to ask.

He wasn't the newest member of the Order of Ruin, and he sure as hell wasn't the weakest. He'd even wager he was the Order's best mage; at the very least their best evocationalist. But none of that changed the fact that he was the grandson of a lord. Even disinherited, his education had been the best money could buy, and his surname granted him a facade of respect in most cities, at least until people figured out who he was working with these days.

"Six people's already pushing it. Seven would be damn near impossible," the leader of their little group, Meryn, said in reply, not even glancing back at him. She was sat on a fallen log, shaping a wrist-thick oak branch with a dagger. "Besides, I have a job for you."

"Oh?" Rom cocked his head, feigning interest, though he was already wary. Only the gods could've counted the number of pointless details he'd been sent on, seemingly for no other reason but to temporarily get rid of him. "What kind of job?"

"Infiltrating Dusken Keep is only half the work," she said, a sliver of bark taking flight as she made a rapid slice down the branch. "We still need to get Sir Gilean and his merry band of nitwits to show up."

"I take it that's where I come in." It sounded useful at least, and even had the potential to be fun. If he played his cards right, maybe he could impress the rest of the team, and the Order would stop letting his talents go to waste. "What were you thinking? I could cut off the roads. Start a storm. Herd them towards the keep and force them to take shelter. Or--"

"No," Meryn cut him off. "They've overcome obstacles before, and I don't like our odds of facing them head-on. The only way to defeat Gilean is by springing a trap on him. " She cast a smile over her shoulder. "And you'll be the bait."

Naturally. Rom couldn't quite hide the scowl that darkened his features. "I see."

"Oh don't look so upset, Hart. Your role is essential."

"What am I to do?" Rom snapped. "Wave my arms, fire a few lightning bolts at the sky, and hope they'll chase me all the way to Dusken?"

"I had something smarter in mind." At last, she spun fully around. Good. If she was hell-bent on giving him stupid orders, she should at least have the decency to look him in the eye throughout.

"You'll guide them there personally," she said, "and ensure they don't veer off course."

"Guide them? You don't think they'll recognize me?"

Meryn rolled her eyes. "Not everyone knows or cares who you are, Hart."

"Gilean's seen my face. He knows I'm with the Order," Rom protested.

"So you'll tell him you've had a change of heart." She sheathed her blade, flicking a residual chunk of bark off the makeshift club in her lap. "That you've 'seen the error of your ways', and wish to redeem yourself by leading him to a secret meeting at Dusken Keep."

Not only did she want him as bait, she wanted him to play a traitor. The insult wasn't lost on him. "I'd never betray the Order," he said indignantly. "Even someone as thick as Gilean will see right through that lie."

The corner of Meryn's mouth quirked up. "You're right. He'll never fall for it, not unless you've dressed the part."

Before he could ask what she meant, the newly-carved club struck him in the stomach. Rom doubled over, more surprised than anything else, and dumbly remained there as Meryn cracked a second blow into his ribcage.

In his peripheral, he could see the rest of his teammates emerging from the treeline, surrounding him, but by then his initial shock had worn off. The incantation for a shielding ward was on his lips; the familiar buzz of lightning sprung to his fingertips---

"I thought you'd never betray the Order."

---and immediately fizzled out. Damn it all, this was how it was going to be? He could fight back. He knew he stood a chance, even six to one, but he also knew that was what Meryn wanted. One blow, one move in self-defense, and she'd have a reason to kick him out. The only way to avoid that, to prove all of them wrong, to show that he was serious, that he belonged here, was to shut up and take it.

So Rom did.

As the blows hit him in a flurry---the unskilled kicks and jabs of the mages, the sharper punches from the group's muscle, the bone-cracking swings from Meryn's club---all Rom did was try to protect his face and not bite off his own damn tongue.

Even when he dropped to his knees, then to his side, curling up to protect his abdomen, the attacks didn't cease. The world was a blur of boots. A haze of pain, spiking white-hot whenever someone scored a lucky hit and he felt something break or give in a way it shouldn't.

The beating went on beyond logic, zipping right past 'because it'll look more believable', right into 'because we hate you'. Rom tried to pretend the tears distorting his vision were only because of his probably-broken nose, and dully wondered if a real betrayal was part of their plan. If they wanted him to call it quits and actively turn against the Order. Hell if he would. He wouldn't give up so easily, he'd show them--

"Enough." Meryn's voice rang out above the soft thuds of boot on flesh, and for a moment the clearing was quiet, the only sound Rom's shuddering gasps.

He whimpered through clenched teeth, aware of every inch of himself, how the pain throbbed like an uneven heartbeat, how it drove spikes through his chest with every breath.

Meryn's fingers tangled themselves in his hair, forcing his head up. Not gentle, but not overly rough either. Rom tried to hold her stare, but the world spun around him.

"There. Think that's enough to fool him?" she said, still half out of breath.

Rom didn't try to answer. He knew anything he managed to say wouldn't be coherent anyway.

"Gilean's party will be traveling through these parts in a day or so," Meryn said, releasing him. He didn't have the strength to hold himself up, and went face-first into a cluster of dead leaves.

A day or so. Gods, was she just going to leave him here? Was he supposed to drag himself through the woods, calling for help until Gilean maybe stumbled upon him?

She must've wanted him to protest. To give up, to go home. To cry, and beg her not to make him do this.

But he wouldn't. He'd show her, show them. Romulus Hart was worthy of the Order of Ruin.

When he said nothing, Meryn shrugged. "Well. You know the plan. Bring them to Dusken Keep. We'll be waiting."

Her boots crunched over dead leaves as she walked away, leaving him alone.

[umbracirrus]

3, 8, 12, 15 for Elyse, Ragna and Thorne from the OC ask <3

3. What are their religious affiliations, and how does their worship (or lack thereof) affect their day-to-day life?

Elyse - She technically worships the 8 Divines, but isn't exactly devout beside the very occasional prayer to one or two of them (e.g. a prayer to Arkay when she realises she couldn't escape her execution in Helgen and that their last rites were interrupted, and a prayer to Akatosh to keep her alive as she went to confront Alduin). The only time it really impacts on her day-to-day life is that Balgruuf worships the 9 Divines as opposed to the 8, but she's entirely understanding of the matter and thinks that people should believe as they wish (and she's used to it anyway, her mother worshipped 9 Divines too).

Thorne - she doesn't really have any religious affiliations. She'll on occasion yell things such as 'Divines!' but she doesn't really affiliate with anything. It doesn't really have much impact on her life, though she will get frustrated at Heimskr pretty often over his preaching about Talos. She doesn't even follow Nocturnal, even being a Nightingale.

Ragna - she was raised by her mother to follow the 8 Divines until the incident that led to her family dying and her de facto adoption by the bandits at Knifepoint Ridge, specifically by one called Fenric. When Fenric caught her praying to the 8, he more or less told her 'the Divines won't help you, the only thing that'll help you survive out here is money'. So since then, she's made her belief in the 8 a lot more subtle - money is what controls the sway of her life.

8. What is their favorite kind of food that can only be found in Skyrim?

Elyse - she loves sweet food, so anything sweet really!! In particular she's quite fond of a snowberry crostata - though nothing could beat Lydia's cooking (which is technically only found in Skyrim, and Elyse is very incompetent with cooking so. It doesn't take much to impress her.)

Thorne - She will on occasion indulge on some of Skyrim's different cheeses!! Usually accompanied with some spiced wine.

Ragna - she's admittedly grown quite fond of the meat from creatures hunted in the Falkreath forests. It's quite simple, but it's what she grew used to.

12. What are their prejudices? What groups have they come to think of as 'other'? Mages? Nords? Elves? Lollygaggers?

Elyse - she likes to think that she doesn't have many prejudices, given what her parents experienced in Winterhold being a mage/non-mage couple... But she does have a few, mostly unconscious, prejudices about the opposing sides in the civil war.

Thorne - she has quite the strong prejudice against Altmer, believing them all to be Thalmor or Thalmor-affiliated, after having been a prisoner of the Thalmor for a time earlier in her life, pre-thieves guild. It's mostly out of fear of being tortured again for information that she does not know, but when with the Companions she does try to work on it and move on from some of that trauma.

Ragna - she's very much of a 'everyone is an enemy' towards anyone who isn't in her closest circle of associates. She was simply taught by Fenric not to trust anyone. But money can change her prejudices pretty fast... And Siddgeir pays her enough to keep her on-side. It's admittedly quite useful for her job as a housecarl - it keeps her alert and on her toes.

15. How do they feel about consorting with daedra? Do they collect their artifacts? Are there some they would never interact with vs. some they would consider calling upon?

Elyse does not like daedra, end of. The closest thing to a daedra she trusts is her own conjurations (i.e. Spectre the wolf and her weapons). She's aware that Hermaeus Mora keeps trying to pull the strings to have her as his champion but she refuses any of his boons and will not carry out any of his tasks. The only thing in Hermaeus' favour she has done is defeat Miraak. She also has a distinct dislike for Mephala over what the Ebony Blade did to Balgruuf and his family.

Thorne is a Nightingale, so she is technically under Nocturnal... But she took what Karliah said to heart about it being little more than a contract, so that's all she sees it as - a contract. She wasn't happy about signing away her afterlife though, and doesn't want to make other such sacrifices so won't associate with any other daedra as a result. She's got a storm coming with Hircine then lol

Ragna hasn't associated with any daedra, beyond watching Sinding escape the Falkreath jail from her own cell. She's probably not the sort to associate with them, given her attitude towards others as mentioned in the previous question... But she wouldn't say no if she happened to get hold of any of the artefacts (the chaos she would cause with the likes of Mehrunes' razor would be funny though so maybe uh. Maybe I'll find a way to help her get hold of that...... Maybe a gift from Falkreath's new Thane, aka the not created as of yet dragonborn from her reality.)

[shenzaibird-art]

Sooo I watched all four days of Crufts this past weekend and was possessed by the urge to draw various dog breeds. Child me would be so proud. (I still have the book of dog breeds I was obsessed with as a kid, and I still have an old little paper inside it with a list of dog breeds I wanted to draw... and pretty much all of these were there) Info about all of these people under the cut thingy:

Brelyn: A Grand Augur of necromagic. Probably will replace Morrok as Sellatrix's master and head of their team because I like her. Gentle and easygoing, likes to see innovative projects, hence her being okay with taking Verloren into her team. A powerful mage, much more deadly than she looks. Might be a witch as well or at least respect witchcraft. (Rip Morrok the owl, didn't even get a chance to exist and was already replaced, I might reuse the concept for another char or smth) Silverstrand: Was supposed to be a Grand Augur of necromagic but he has SUCH a geomage vibe that I'm not sure anymore. Either way, he's very serious and strict, and prefers things done "the right way" rather than experimental weird stuff. Basically the opposite of Brelyn a bit. If I make him a Grand Augur of geomagic, then he might be head of Lazuli's team. One of the king's most trusted Grand Augurs, warned him that exiling Verloren was a terrible idea (but got ignored anyway). King Harlin Devandell III of Houndsdagger: Proud and stubborn, likes to show off his power and skills. Grew up hearing that his mother the Queen never did enough, so he tries to do too much. Doesn't know much about magic and severely underestimates it. Ended up killed when Verloren didn't take being exiled very well. Wasn't too old, probably just a bit older than Verloren, so not even 50 yet when he died. Pommie: Finella's personal maid since she was a teenager. Very kind and caring, often felt more like a mom to Finella than her real mother. She's a household-wizard (someone who helps with trivial magic tasks, such as preparing baths with warming crystals and fancy fur potions or lighting up light orbs around the house) and taught Finella some basic magic when she asked her. The only one of this batch that I actually already had a full concept of for a while, even the breed, I just hadn't drawn her yet. Nivenyr: One of Sellatrix's witch friends. He's from the village and not related to the castle or any noble business. He works as a mage, making spells and stuff that he sells in his little shop. Somewhat cryptic. Possibly younger than he looks, I have no idea what's his age yet really. Might be more fit for my other setting that's about edgy emo witches (I mean he has emo hair even on his hands) but I'll try to keep him in this setting because Sella can't be the only witch around. Lazuli: A geomagic augur, friends with Finella. Calm and collected, she doesn't say much but judges everyone silently. Kinda tired of everyone's crap but tries to be non-violent, despite sometimes wishing she could kill some people. Her parents were jewelers and when she learned she could do magic with crystals and gemstones, she became a geomage and also learned to make art with magic crystals. Cyrus: A phytomagic augur. Extremely average guy. Obnoxious with his hate of necromagic. Was married to Finella at one point and he constantly tried to prove her how phyto is so much better than necro (Finella is a necromage, she just tried to ignore him when he went on a rant). When Verloren took over, Cyrus was among the phytomagic augurs who tried to ambush him and take him down, and was defeated and killed like all the others. Finella had mixed feelings about the incident. There were more people I wanted to make, like a pumi guy that I couldn't settle on a design for, and a girl that'll be either a papillon or a spaniel of some kind. But yeah I love dogs.

[fangsandfeels]

Oct 01 - Introduce your Hero of Ferelden

Bernadette Cousland.

Champion/Berserker.

A young noble, trained to fight with sword and shield. A doubting Andrastian (if it wasn’t for the visions of her family during the trial, she’d be a 100% non-believer) who stopped going to Chantries and is rarely seen praying. Beloved daughter, hardened by the trauma of losing her entire family in just one night. Lethally determined to avenge her loved ones. Can be a good friend to you, but her mission comes first. No matter how kind-hearted her decisions may seem, they are driven by cold pragmatism more often than not:

Killed Branka and destroyed the Anvil because the weapon was going to be used by Orzammar only and she refused to be one responsible for giving something so potent and dangerous to the people who couldn’t even handle their own damn politics.  

Saved Connor without killing Isolde because she needed Eamon’s full support - even if it meant doing things the hard way.

Supported the mages in the Broken Circle quest because by the end of the day, mages contributed to Uldred’s defeat considerably more than templars who couldn't do shit against anything out of their routine, and were a much more powerful asset against the Darkspawn.

Convinced Zathrian to remove the curse – she understood his pain greatly, but those who destroyed his family were long gone and now he was hurting his own family, not just outsiders. Also werewolves wouldn’t be very reliable in terms of fighting the Darkspawn – who can guarantee they won’t lose control and attack other troops?

Sided with Harrowmont against Bhelen because she only wanted a predictable ally against Blight – Bhelen didn’t look very trustworthy to her and she had no time to think whether or not he’ll be true to his promise.

Recruited Stan and Zevran because she needed more people – initially had no sympathy for them and considered them expendables, but changed her opinion after fighting back to back. Became really good friends with Zevran, got Stan's respect after beating the shit out of him when he tried to take over. Is very aware that she would kill Stan without hesitation should he come to Ferelden among Qunari invaders. Wouldn't have hard feelings about it.

Kept the Ashes of Andraste safe. Didn’t do it out of reverence though. Her faith hadn’t been the same since that dreadful night. But if the Ashes had the healing properties, she’d rather keep them as they were instead of listening to a bunch of mad-eyed cultists.

Killed Howe eagerly, but spared Loghain – but not because she forgave him. She never did. In fact, she still thought he deserved to die for practically approving her family’s execution without even looking for proof of their guilt. She initiated him to Wardens to make him share the same doomed fate she was subjected to because of him and Howe. And when he volunteered to deal the final blow to the Archdemon, she didn’t stop him.

Hardened Alistair and made him marry Anora to have at least some of “her” people among Ferelden rulers.

Refused to let Morrigan do her ritual. Despite her being rather open-minded about mages and not supportive of Circles, despite her friendship with Morrigan, Bernadette didn’t think that preserving an Old God’s soul will be of any good.

Would go full John Wick on anyone who dares to hurt her mabari, the only family she has.

[sacred-stanning]

Chapter 12 Part 3: Disembarking Difficulties

Evidently Ephraim and his army forgot their passports, because they are having a lot of trouble getting off the ship into Grado.

Seth starts us off by looking at the damage he can do to these two guys. He can finish off the one below him, and that guy has 2-range, so I have him take that one out over the one to his right.

Franz comes over to help out. He's a bit faster than Seth, maybe because of his base speed, but also probably because he has an iron sword, unlike the heavy iron blade that Seth has.

Duessel takes care of the cavalier above.

And this clears the way for Ross to get at the mage, and to get a level up in the process. He also gets to B axes! He can use that axe that Dozla showed up with last map now!

Over on the left side, we have these gargoyles floating over the water. One of them has a horse slayer that it'll drop on defeat. Fortunately, none of my horses went over to the left!

Vanessa takes this cavalier out of the way, but I try to keep her low since she'll be part of a wall to block off the gargoyles.

Getting rid of the cavalier also allows Lute to run up and absolutely destroy this mage.

LUTE!!!!!

This is the wall I make. Actually, only two of the gargoyles can reach. The bottom-right one is out of range of everyone.

Lute went at the mage she destroyed from 1-range so that she would be in range of another mage who's further up. She can take that guy out during enemy phase then.

And that's just what she does! And she gets a pretty good level up too!

Over on the right dock, Ross takes out another mage with his hatchet. I had him use it during player phase even though he was at 1-range at the time just for this reason.

So after enemy phase, this is where we stand. We've got a mercenary and cavalier coming down the left dock, and two mages coming down the right dock, with two spiders just behind them.

Those archers above the ship aren't going to move on their own, so we can ignore them for now.

Neimi does the bow thing and blasts the gargoyle out of the sky.

You can just see it in the left photo, but funny enough, the gargoyle who couldn't reach anyone actually just didn't even move at all.

I check out the mercenary and cavalier to see what we're dealing with up that way.

The merc has a "cut down horses blade". It's called a Zanbato in English, which is actually the reading of the Chinese characters in its name, so they didn't translate it at all for the English version.

The cavalier has a lance reaver.

"Lute, be careful!"

The pegasus rider frowned at Lute and flew in front of her. "Don't you see those two at the end of the dock? What were you going to do, face them all by yourself?"

"Titania, thank you for the book. And thank you for distracting the gargoyle."

"Huh? What are you talking about? We have things to worry about right here right now!" Then the pegasus rider's expression softened a little. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. But please focus on the battle at hand. I don't want you to get hurt."

Lute felt a little confused. She had expected Titania to be happy at being thanked, but it seemed like maybe Lute's timing wasn't so good.

"Also, did you call me Titania again? I'm Vanessa! Titania is my pegasus!"

"Oops", Lute thought. She closed her eyes and visited the pegasus rider section of the library in her head. She filed away the names there.

Titania -> the pegasus

Vanessa -> the pegasus rider with the green hair

Eyes still closed, Lute grimaced. "That's not quite good enough", she thought.

She edited the entry:

Vanessa -> the pegasus rider with the green hair who is nice and gave me the interesting book

question requiring further data: Why is she always looking out for me in battle?

On the right dock, we have these spiders behind the mages. They can do a fair amount of damage, so I'm a little cautious about moving up to attack the mages.

I also still have the guys on the right. I check out this javelin toss from Franz. The hit rate is not great, but it would be useful if Franz could hit this guy, get rid of him, and then be able to counter all of the other 3 enemies on enemy phase. If Franz uses a sword here, he can definitely finish off the pirate, but then he won't be able to counter the other 3 in enemy phase.

What to do...

While I think about that, I put Duessel, Seth, and Ross in place to take hits and counter the mages on enemy phase without being in range of the spiders.

Next time: More trade-equipping silliness

[claire-starsword]

A few pages from the Shining Wisdom novel

That's right baby I'm mooching off bad pictures from an ebay listing again. I even attempted to translate them as well, though take it with a grain of salt as some words are cut off from the scans so I had to make educated guesses or just mark the blanks, also I'm obviously missing context, although it's largely just a novelization of the game's plot.

Also, the narration is first person from Mars' POV, so we get some thoughts from a Shining boy for a change.

[…] he made an exaggerated shocked face. "You really surprised me. You weren't just getting help from an elf, you have more mental fortitude than the average person as well. People like you are what we fear the most," he said, though he didn't sound frightened at all. The frog man watched over as the princess walked out of the room, then turned back to me. "But I look forward to your next efforts. Do prepare some great fun for us," he said, and left the room as well, looking back at me for the last time and waving goodbye. "See you around!" Stop mocking me! I wanted to shout, I tried with all my might. Ugh… I clenched my fists. […]

Notes:

Banbo's lines here are taken almost word by word from the game here, with only some small wording differences. I still preferred to retranslate them on my own instead of copying the EU version though. The same goes for all the following pages as well.

Another minor difference in this scene is that in the game, these lines come by after Satera has already walked off, while here she's still in her room.

Judging by this page at least Banbo does not seem to be hopping around like in game as well. Though since the narration is Mars', he might just be too angry or sleepy to acknowledge that the enemy is not only mocking him but also doing backflips during that.

Note also that Mars is wearing some extra garb in the picture, this is likely because at this point he's still a guard at the castle and hasn't yet been promoted to special boy who adventures as he pleases.

Before I could ask the fairy what did she mean, she began to fly in circles around my head. "We fairies are forbidden from defying the laws of nature, but this much should be fine […] So? Do you remember what happened?" Remember what? She continued to talk with a mysterious expression. "You went to the Royal Crypt to rescue the princess, right? So, did you defeat Pazort there?" "No way!" I couldn't have defeated him. That frog man from before released some sort of smoke that knocked me out, I think. And the princess, they cast a spell on her- That's right, she was turned into a swan. That's terrible, I can't help but worry… But I'd seen the princess safe and sound in the castle. Wait, no! With a shock, I finally understood. That was a fake, a mage named Karry, who had transformed into the princess. This is what I had to remember no matter what. The fog in my mind had finally cleared. But as I realized how dire things were, I froze, unable to think of anything.

This isn't in the game at all! In game, because Mars is the silent protagonist, he just watches fake Satera waltz into the castle and fool everyone and gets promoted as a result. Upon reaching Gudo Valley and meeting the Fairy, she immediately explains how to help the real princess, implying Mars does know the whole situation, and stayed quiet because ???

So yeah, it makes perfect sense that the novel changed/elaborated things a bit, and Mars apparently suffered some sort of confusion/memory block after those events.

Also, as you'll see through the next pages, the Fairy teams up with Mars for the rest of the adventure, which. Makes so much more sense. Makes the ending work so much better. Would make the game so much livelier. I honestly feel robbed, they robbed me of a friend here :(

"Oh, that swan… The poor thing is under a spell, no? Come to me. I can remedy that." The old man - no, the hermit of the Thousand Year Tree - stared at the swam, beckoning for her to come forward. The swan looked at me then the fairy, who gave her a nod. She went to the hermit with unsteady steps. "You just need to endure it a little longer, there's no reason to be scared, girl," said the hermit gently while patting the swan's head. He started to chant magical words, low as a whisper. Then his hand began to glow. The light grew into a sphere, covering the swan's head. "Hyah!" With the hermit's shout, the sphere expanded further, enveloping the swan's whole body, and then it burst in a flash. As the light faded out, who stood there was no longer a swan, but Princess Satera. Her clothes had been dirtied after everything she went through as a swan, but she was just as beautiful as she looked like when I first saw her in her room, no, even more beautiful up close. "How do you feel?" asked the hermit, sounding very proud of himself, "are you back to normal?" "I… Yes, I'm back. I'm really myself again, right?"

Notes:

Again, the dialogue is mostly lifted from the game, with only a few changes in punctuation. Also, the Fairy is here.

"[…] Kaipa. Strike down the one Mars says is the fake!" "B-but, my liege, that's…!" "Do it! The real one should be protected by the Royal Tiara. Now strike!!" While hesitating, the captain drew his sword and swung it at the fake princess. She dodged it nimbly, jumping away a good distance. "So this farce is done for. Yes, I am a servant of Lord Pazort, the witch Karry!" Laughing loudly, Kari seemed to flash a bluish white for a moment, before changing back to her gorgeous original shape. Light white skin gave way to blue, dazzling golden locks became a cascade of azure hair. Running her hands through her hair, Karry gave the king a challenging look. "I thought I'd be able to fool you to the very end, but you found me out. It's too little too late, though. I got the key to the royal treasury last night, dear king. This very moment, soldiers I bewitched are stealing the Orbs of the Djinns thanks to it! With this, Lord Pazort's dream will become true, the Djinns will be released from the labyrinths!" "That, that's impossible! The key is safe right here…" Flustered, the king searched for it in his clothes. "It's, it's gone!" The king took off his luxurious royal coat, and began searching everywhere on his person. […]

Notes:

Most of the dialogue is lifted from the game, though the part between the king and the captain feels a bit abridged. In game, they hesitate a lot more in attacking one of the princesses before Mars enters the room. It's possible that things were rewritten a bit so that Mars is in the scene from the beginning, as he's the narrator.

I nodded at the fairy's words. "Let's go seal the four Djinns." I drew my sword, and took the path to my right. *** "There are four Djinns. One for fire, water, wind and earth," I heard the fairy explain from behind me as I ran through the narrow path. "Maybe, because the orbs were made to drain their power, it robbed them of their will as well. Pazort might be controlling them now." "Will they attack us, then?" "They… might," the fairy replied, clearly unhappy. "But if you defeat them, their will should be resealed in the orbs, and their true essence should return to the Shrine." "So, I really have no choice but to fight them?" She nodded sadly in response. […] "It's still fine. I see four huge flows of power." "That's a relief…" I sighed. As soon as I took the next turn in the path, the colors of my surroundings changed. Everything was deep red, as if the whole chamber was burning. Not just "as if", with a single step into the chamber I could feel the absurd heat assaulting me. "Everything is on fire!?" "It's the Fire Djinn." With the fairy's words I finally noticed it. A figure befitting of its name. In the depths of the chamber stood a giant, red as bricks, clad in armor and a helmet. […] "That's… a djinn?" It wasn't how I expected a spirit to look like. […] Its face under the helmet looked ferocious like a beast. "The djinns don't have bodies like ours. Because they stole power from the giant Surt, that power oozes from them and makes up their form. You could say they're embodying that evil power." It could be just my imagination, but I thought I saw a round flash of light from the djinn's chest.

Notes:

Original scene, as the fairy isn't around for the Djinn battles in game. I don't remember these bits of Djinn lore anywhere in game as well, though it might be on some unremarkable NPC or book as most lore crumbs in this game.

Perhaps worth mentioning, in game the Djinns are usually referred to with the word in katakana (ジン), while the novel usually uses the word for spirits (精霊), with furigana indicating the Djinn reading only in its first mention. They have been referred to as spirits in guides as well, so this is nothing new, just a stylistic choice I suppose.

A fireball headed straight in my direction. Then a gust of wind. The only way to dodge is upwards! I jumped, but another gust of wind from above knocked me down to the ground. I managed to deflect some of the next blasts of wind and light with my sword, but their impact was still enough to have me screaming in pain. I had no idea just how deep my wounds were at that point. I couldn't help but continue to howl in agony. Somehow I managed to get back on my knees, and in that moment Pazort came to face me. "This is all you've got, right?" He held his finger to my left chest - pointing straight to my heart. "Well then, give me the Orbs," he demanded. "Even if you refuse, I can just take them anyway after killing you. But I dislike taking things by force." "No!" I shouted while getting back on my feet. I had almost no strength left in me. It was my last chance to do anything. But I had to be ready to take Pazort down, even at the cost of my life. "I see… Then, you give me no choice. Die." A bluish-white light began to gather at Pazort's fingertip.

Notes:

Original scene since it's adapting the final battle. I don't remember Pazort having any sort of finger laser in game, and the description of light gathering for a moment reminds me of Oddeye's beam. Not that I think it's a reference, it's a very generic description, I just want to crack a joke on Pazort's mooching off the guy's popularity as usual.

They are this to me

[dragonspined]

"what?" devani's head instantly tilted in curiosity. "but you're human." of course modification of biology was possible, and it made sense given red blood would have given carol away, but for some reason she'd imagined it a temporary thing. did that affect carol's ability to exist in an oxygen environment? kree were built for more nitrogen if she remembered correctly. not that an ill fitted atmosphere seemed to slow them down. gaze flicked toward the beeping sound, neck swiveling to orient exactly where it came from. a few miles off. an easy flight.

when a visual of the ship wasn't offered, they went for the window. "you carry me you lose a hand." with all the grace of a predator devani tipped headfirst out the window. the shift started before legs were even completely out, instantly replacing skin and scaling up mass to well over the largest land creature. momentum carried them back up over the apartment complex on outstretched wings much to the dismay of many birds and persons below. their route is unnecessarily circuitous, but carol didn't need to know that. earthen cities weren't made for such large beings making it difficult for devani to be in natural shape as much as they craved. increasingly small areas of nature left little places for them to roam.

they swung up and around the ship, circling it in lazy rings before landing with a light thud. large head immediately stuck in the entrance. devani carefully maneuvered in after carol save for the occasional stop and sniff. "do you have a cat?" except their companion was already gone-leaving them free to poke around. the kitchen was first and disappointing. nothing for them to snack on that they could eat let alone something for a decent meal. it would be rude to steal anyway as a guest. the bed was decent, soft on white forehead. they straightened at the sound of carol returning, sniffing the box.

she laid by the table, tail curled slightly around one hind foot. long flexible toes picked up a tablet and set it on the table. clearly it was meant for someone significantly smaller than a dragon. but if she could design delicate lifesize glass flowers, she could work a stupidly tiny tablet. it took a couple tries to figure out just how it functioned, thick brows drawn over large eyes in annoyance at the technology. more than a few were irrelevant. other planets or old military commands, shipping orders. "why don't the rusnbek have google on these things?" she grumbled and nudged away another slate for a new one.

it felt like it took hours but was probably only one at most. devani was completely focused on the screens, reading and swiping methodically until she came upon something familiar. then she fumbled in shock, almost dropping the tablet. talons gripped it hard before letting it drop onto the table. tail that had only previously been twitching minutely at the tip started to truly wave, verging on a lash.

none had known what was going on below their mountains. no dragon of any flight wanted to risk going down to check. all they could see from above was explosions, fire and bursts of light. the kree had been systematic. their notes detailed how they'd come from the south where there was less resistance. taken the smaller towns first, easily overcoming resident mages who often did little more than heal a broken bone or boost crops. there were sightings of unicorns and nothing more, the horned ones too fast and wily even for alien invaders. devani was proud of that fact. bases were established quickly to allow kree to spread out. at least one ship was taken down by a flurry of gryphons defending their nests. dragons remaining hidden in their caves hadn't kept their existence a secret.

their exodus was marked as both a triumph and defeat. moving that many at a time made a great big target but that was a one time opportunity. why they hadn't gone east instead, devani still couldn't figure out. flying out over the ocean was substantially safer than by land where they were easily spotted. it had been an absolute mess. a massacre. fire against metal, claws against guns. devani had dug bloody lines in her father's shoulders with the strength of her grip, tucking her head into his back as if it would block out the shrieking. her mother had cleared them a path, breathing heavily but alive.

devani stood without warning, tail sending the tablets flying as they whirled around. wings raised half unfolded as high above their back as the ship's ceiling would allow. their jaws parted with hissing tongue. bright orange lit their chest from within. "this was a mistake."

"i bleed blue, so," she mumbled, a bit awkwardly. she seemed so miniscule now in comparison with the fucking dragon who stood in front of her. now carol noticed how her body language was a bit different than other humans, although hidden well. she wondered what dragon powers exactly came out and when; did they breathe smoke when they were irritated, scratch talons when afraid? was it painful to transform back into a dragon? she had so many questions but tabled them for now; there were more important things at hand. (that didn't erase the excitement that still shone in her eyes, though.)

"that's okay," she started to explain, waving her hands. "i can fly, obviously. my ship's not parked far." despite living on earth not, she tended to drift her ship around sometimes; old habits died hard, and she HATED hotels. she'd parked it just outside the city, hovering above with its cloaking on. she raised her arm again, a soft beeping coming from the technology on her wrist as she turned off the cloaking (and probably scaring some people standing near it, although they must be used to weird earth shit by now). "it's just outside the city. you should be able to find it. not sure if you want to... fly or not." she tried to resist the urge to geek out even further at that statement. "or i can carry you, but i'll never assume that."

whatever the case, they eventually found their way over to carol's ship. once close enough, she opened the back entryway, which led directly inside of her ship. from there, the main area had everything she needed in one giant room -- her kitchen, her bed (on the far side, near the giant side windows, and admittedly unmade) and the console in question. it sat in the center of the room, on top of a table in a little divot in the floor. most of the ship was bare of her own personal belongings (most were at her house now). "make yourself at home," she said once they were inside, giving devani -- her new dragon friend, how fucking cool was that? -- a chance to look around. "i'll be right back."

she entered the small door near the left side of the ship until she was downstairs, in the control room/weapon storage room that was just as bare as the rest of the ship. popping open the panels below the control panel, she sorted through for a while until she found what she was looking for. the specific kree files she remembered stealing were virtually stored on a series of small tablet-like devices that sat inside of a box near the back of the storage space. she grabbed them all and headed back upstairs. hopefully this had was devani was looking for. as a woman of earth, she didn't really know what it was like to have your entire civilization be lost. as an ex-kree agent, though, she DID know what it was like to have the kree take everything from you.

"this is all of it," she said once she was back upstairs, setting the box down. "you may have to power these back on. set them down on top of that table and they'll charge up and turn on automatically. i hope you find what you're looking for."

[nhularin]

OT7 ★

crack! headcanons

bf! Text messages

bf! Text messages pt.2

bf! insta stories

enha as newjeans songs

SOUR PROM

SERIES

hey reddit! AITA...

hyung line x reader

→ in which four idiotic lovesick men try to find comfort in a shitty app after their break up. but! what happens when you find their burner account?

HEESEUNG ᵎᵎ

Hes cool! But...

→ OR : three things that make you question your relationship

cool with you

-> you loved him, and always will.

do you get deja vu when shes with you?

-> nothing hurts more than seeing lee heeseung doing the stuff you both used to do with another girl. Watching him wrap his jacket around her, playing the same song you both liked around her. everything, from the way he touches her, gives her gifts, was a carbon copy of your relationship. does he get deja vu when he’s with her?

HEADCANONS

boyfriend heeseung who...

BLURBS

hee with an idol s/o

JAY ᵎᵎ

HES COOL! BUT....

→ OR : three things that make you question your relationship

im not gonna be the one to get hurt

→ right person, wrong time, and a lot of miss communication

1 step forward, 3 steps back

-> you had to describe your park jongsaeng in one word, it'd be unpredictable. he was a gentleman, absolutely selfless when it came to his loved ones. somehow you seem to be the only exception. you didn't understand then, and you sure as hell don't understand now.

downpour.

JAKE ᵎᵎ

Forever, always (soulmate! au)

→ In this tale of destiny, two souls longed for that extraordinary connection

SHAME GAME

smau, coming soon!

→ yn has no ambitions. Except for graduating and getting as far away from this mess of a town as quick as possible. With too much free time and an oh so annoying teacher coming at her back, she signs up to be the broadcaster of the Basketball club. Only problem is: she suffers from chronic shit talking and Jake Sim is having none of it!!

you dont even know my name do ya?

-> in which jake is head over heels with that cute barista

HEADCANONS

hes COOL! BUT...

-> OR : three things that make you question your relationship

SUNGH00N ᵎᵎ

Perfect duo

→ when sunghoon forgot his lines, you just know what to do

WHATS YOUR ETA?

→ your friends have warned you about him, will you listen to them now?

GET UP

written series

→ A mage who struck himself and a heroine who couldn't defeat her inner monster

ENOUGH FOR YOU

-> you tried everything, you really did. as the school's hottest student, park sunghoon was in constant spotlight, might it be with classmates or being the light of the party. and for that, you did your best at making your presence worthy in his life. but deep down, you knew you couldn't compete with the girls who seemed much better than you, people who are enough for him

DRABBLE

Bloodlust

HEADCANONS

boyfriend sunghoon who.....

SUN00 ᵎᵎ

oh my, oh my god!

→ your friends are curious about the mysterious guy you've been seeing. well! today's not the day!

JUNGW0N ᵎᵎ

WHATS AFTER LIKE ?! y.jw

Idol SMAU !

→ Life is not easy as a rookie and you know that! After going viral with your fancam you have gained not only the attention of the public but also that of Enhypens cat like leader. What happens if you wake up one day with your names trending on twt ?!

late night shenanigans

→ two lovers enjoying their presence in the glistening moonlight

breezy mischief

-> you and jungwon spend a summer evening with joy

oh, say it ditto

→ you love him, you really do, but does he feel the same? or in which you hope for his words of affirmations

Yang Jungwon's goal of being Employee Of The Month

-> the two of you have always been competitive. from the moment you both started working at taco bell, there had been an unspoken rivalry: who could wrap burritos better? who could handle the most customers during rush hour? with your good for nothing manager announcing a new incentive to boost team productivity: the employee of the month, a race between you and your oh so annoying co-worker begins

HEADCANONS

BOYFRIEND JUNGWON WHO...

NI-KI ᵎᵎ

perfect sacrifice

→ niki realizing that despite the hardships, he will alwas have someone by his side

oceans away

→ young love doesn't always last, but the memories do

you got me looking for attention

→ you had done all you could to subtly show your affection, and yet, it seemed he remained oblivious to your efforts

EGOIST

-> "show the world whar a real egoist looks like, nishimura"

TUMBLR.COM

smau, fluff

-> being a writer is hard, especially when you're a hardcore stan on tumblr.com. so when the legendary niki writer disappeared out of the blue, the readers were naturally heartbroken! but! what happens when their beloved nishirikithinker got revealed as THE yn of the hot new girl group?!

HEADCANONS

boyfriend niki who...

[writingonesdreams]

What you show me

Summary: Skye and her best friend Juno talk about Zephyr, relationships and desires. 

There was a tiny girl sitting in the half-opened tulip. She was almost transparent, a figure of water copying a human shape, with tiny hands, tiny but long bird wings and long hair flowing after her as if blown by the wind.

She was sitting inside the tulip, her feet hidden by the orange petals, her wings folded above the flower's head. The fairy didn't even lift her head at them, basking in the afternoon sun.

"Isn't it incredible?" Juno said, her dark brown eyes sparkling. She had the cutest childish amazement spilled over her face.

Skye huffed out a small laughter. "When did they start appearing?"

"More like they were always here, they just didn't want to show up. I have been taking good care of the gardens, if they finally trust me to relax like this." The excitement fought the forced down whispering in her voice.

"They must be impressed indeed," Skye nodded and straightened up, looking around the vast garden and the greenhouse beside it. It was Juno's work and it was astounding.

"Of course. I'm amazing. And you don't have to pretend like you care about the flowers," she winked at her, "I know you don't understand gardening worth a damn."

Skye wrinkled her nose. "You don't have to mention it every time I visit."

"If you visited more often, I might stop saying it. But then you would have to give priority to the flowers over me and that's not a fair fight. For them." Juno threw her bright red hair back as she stood up from the crouch and took Skye's arm.

"So what is so urgent, that you sniffed me out in my lost paradise?"

"Does it have to be urgent? Maybe I just wanted to see how you are doing."

"And that couldn't have waited until dinner." It was a statement, and with Juno giving her that sideways look of hers, like she was reading into her soul, she couldn't but concede defeat. The mind mage could read everyone, but only one person could read the girl behind the mind mage, and that was Juno.

"It's nothing new, unfortunately," Skye sighted as they reached the wooden bank under the lilac wrapped around and above it.

"So Zephyr is being too nice again?" Juno snickered as they eased themselves into the bank, elbows still held together.

"If that's what you call being secretive. Leander escorted him to my apartment with a bandage over his head, and he refused to tell me about it. Just the typical 'nothing happened Skye, you don't have to worry'. It's always the same thing!"

"Isn't that neat. What's a guy worth, if he lets his girl worry?"

"Come on. It's not like he has to be perfect all the time. And if he is worried, then I want to be part of it. I want to be worried with him, help him, solve it for him. But I can't, if he doesn't tell me what's on his mind."

"You know Zephyr's not the type to whine and complain."

"But I'm his girlfriend. His partner. He should be able to open up to me."

"And that is so important to happen right now, because...?" Juno let the question hang in the air. 

Skye looked away.

"I want to be able to do something for him. I want to show him-"

"You don't have to show him anything. You are together. You are figuring stuff out. He will get there in his own time and you shouldn't push it, because you are proving something." Juno reached out to put a blond curl behind Skye's ear. "This isn't about Zephyr. This is about you. What are you trying to prove?"

"You know how hard it is for me to make friends." For some reason this admission always constricted her throat and pushed tears into her eyes. "And you know how my mom always worried I showed my intelligence too much? Especially to men? How it would scare them off? Well, Zephyr isn't scared off yet, and I want him to feel..."

"...attached to you the same you feel to him?“

„I just want to give him something in return!"

"Look, Skye, what you are talking about is a requirement for anybody who cares about you. People who won't feel threatened or jealous. It's not a nice thing of him to do, it's basic courtesy. Common sense. It doesn't make him special, it just puts him on the playing field. You don’t have to feel so indebted to him for that.”

“He is perfect, Juno! He is friendly and likeable, the way I’m not, and strong and capable and I like talking to him and I never thought I would meet someone who could combine all that. I know what I can do and I know what I can’t do, and he makes me feel safe and protected. I want to feel protected.” The words left her in a confused barrage, she wasn’t even sure what she was talking about anymore. Her heart was too loud in her ears to think or to stop.  

“And what’s wrong with that? Those are completely natural feelings. Guys show off, they want to be the strong ones to protect their girls. And girls want to be protected. You just want what most girls want.”

Skye finally raised her gaze to Juno’s, eyes blury with tears.

“What? Is it so bad, the oh so special Skye wants to feel protected? That you might have something in common with everybody else?” Juno said it mockingly, but then she wrapped her arm around Skye’s back and brought her close. Skye leaned her head against her shoulder, Juno’s silky hair tickling her cheek.

„I assure you, that’s exactly what he wants too. To protect you, to be the strong one who can do that. You keep showing him your strength and how perfect and intelligent you are, testing if he can take the best of you, and he will just want to do the same thing.“ Juno ran her hand over her arm.

"Show him this. Show him what you show me. You are trying to be too perfect for each other, and that’s leaving you both cold.“ 

[blisschi]

• Cold •

Pairing: Diluc x GN! Reader •

Warnings: Major Character Death,,

Notes: Reader is a Knight of Favonius here! c:

"Diluc, look!" Your cheerfull voice rang across the place, instantly alerting the red-haired winery owner. His head turned towards you, gaze followed your finger that pointed on the huge pool of water. "Such large lake.. so much water!"

Diluc frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. It was barely bigger than the one next to Dawn Winery. What's so special about it?

"I can't believe.. it's such a beautifull place.."

"What's so special about it? It's rather common sight-" Diluc couldn't finish the sentence because of your hand suddenly grabbing onto his wrist. Before pulling him towards the water, all you could offer as apologies was your warm smile. Light reflecting in your eyes, visible happiness that made his heart ache. Beautifull - He thought, before getting hit by the realization what you're about to do.

"Wait-- [Y/N]!-"

"Yahoo!"

SPLASH

Your laugh was muffled by the loud splash of water. While you certainly enjoyed so called 'bath in the lake', Diluc looked more upset than usual. Of course, getting wet wasn't something he found entertaining - by cold water on top of that.

"[Y/N]." His voice cold, tone annoyed. He knew that every member of Knights of Favonius were just as childish as possible, but that outgrew his biggest expectations. During moments like that, he seriously wondered if keeping in contact with you was the best choice. "Do you want to be fish in your next lifetime? Perhaps crab would be more fitting?"

His hand grabbed onto the back of your collar, holding your head right above the water. Your eyes widened as you raised your hands in defense, while explaining. "S-sorry, sorry! That's actually really tempting offer, but I see myself as tiger shrimp in my next lifetime!"

Diluc sighed, letting go of you. He closed his eyes and turned away, ready to get out of the water.

"I love water.." He stopped, hearing your voice. Voice full of emotions, especially longing. "I miss those old days.. my friends and I used to play in the lake all the time.."

The male turned his head towards you. His knees still covered by water as his gaze wandered from your face to your hands with which you collected small amout of water. Your smile never left your face as you stared down at your connected hands, the liquid slowly running down the gaps between your fingers.

"Our parents stood near the shore and laughed.. Water brings back the memories about my friends and family.." Your expression reflected into water surface as you slowly lowered your hands. "Even though it's cold.. I still feel the warmth of those days.."

Why.. those days must have passed away?

"[Y/N]" Your thoughts were interrupted by the voice coming from behind. Diluc already walked back towards you, no more caring about the water. "It's true that times have changed, but only if you ask.."

His hand wandered on top of your head, stroking your hair ever so slightly.

"I can become your family at any moment.. Even though you're one of the knights.. and even though you look stupid."

His hand lowered to your cheek, now cupping it gently. Your surprised expression lasted only mese seconds as after a while, you lowered your head and smiled.

"Thank you.."

Diluc raised his eyebrows as his hand returned on top of your head, fingers grabbing onto your head before he shoved you back down into the water. Surely, he was treating you too well lately. You've made him all wet. Don't think you're not going to suffer the consequences.

"How long do you want to stay in the water? You really want to become a fish, don't you?"

Smile appeared on his face as you desperately tried to push him away.

Warmth, you say?

During your next visit at the Dawn Winery, Diluc welcomed you with open arms. Both of you decided to sit outside the building, sipping on some grape juice while discussing on various topics. Diluc seemed rather calm. Little did he know that your visit wasn't in intention for a simple chit-chat.

"How's the situation at the tavern?" You asked, running the tip of your finger over the glass edge. "Is everything going smoothly?"

"Quite good." Short answer, as usual. Noticing your gaze fixated onto the glass, he clicked his tongue. "There's nothing I'd have to handle on my own."

"That's great.." Was the only answer you gave him. Where was the cheerful voice of yours that brightened his day? Where was your excited expression he remembered, while you talked about what's going to come in the nearest future.

Few moments passed, thus silence began to be rather unbearable. With a sigh, red-haired male decided to be the one to break it.

"What's bothering you?"

His question instantly caught your attention as you lost interest in the glass in front of you. It took quite some courage for you to look up into his eyes.

"You heard about the abyss taking one step closer towards achieving their goal? Our outriders spotted them on the east.. Mages.. Heralds.. Amber told me they intend to eliminate most of our forces by threating to attack citizens and forcing us to--"

"Get to the point."

You broke the eyecontact, surely not being able to look him straight in the eyes while saying: "I've been sent to the front line."

His heartbeat stopped, voice stuck in his throat.

What did you say?

Front line?

"Kaeya decided.. to only send mere part of our forces.. That way we can investigate their strenght from the--"

"I refuse."

Your gaze returned to his face after Diluc raised his voice.

"It's an order I cannot-"

"You're too weak."

Your eyes widened. Did he really think of you so poorly? You've taken care of plenty enemies before, proving your strenght in battle.

"It's my duty to obey Captain Kae--"

"Don't." Diluc glared at you. "Mention that name again."

His brother couldn't even take care of himself during evenings spent in the tavern. What kind of Captain was it? Diluc could bet that his orders are nothing, but decisions under the infuence of the moment.

He won't.. lose another person because instead of taking care of things himself - his so called brother wants to play from afar. He's always been like that.. Sending pawns to battle, while getting his hands on the victory they acquire.

"I want to protect those who cannot defend themselves." Serious tone in your voice. Determination in your eyes as you confidently kept to prove your point. "We can not wait for something terrible to happen.. I swore to protect Mondstadt."

He knew you're not going to listen.

Standing up from the table, your head turned away.

"There's surely a reason for Captain to choose me along with the others.. You know I'm strong, Diluc.."

Strenght goes in pair with Defense.

Defense you were lacking.

"Haah.. Haa.." You panted, looking around the battlefield as the only thing you could see, were your defeated colleagues.

Heavily injured, struggling to keep yourself standing..

Out of pity, smile appeared on your face as tears left the corners of your tired eyes.

Diluc was right..

Falling to your knees, as your legs no more could bear the weight of your body.

"I'm sorry.. Diluc..."

-

"Master Diluc..! Everyone is worried.." One of the maids called after the male. "It's pouring yet another day.. You'll get sick if you keep--"

Other maid interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at the other sadly, shaking her head before glancing as Diluc disappeared into the forest.

He went to the place you found beautiful.

Diluc sat near the water, letting the raindrops freely wash over his head, back and shoulders. Staring down at his reflection in the surface, he scooped up some water and smiled bitterly.

"I don't understand why do you love it so much.. It's wet and disgusting.."

Clenching his teeth, Diluc tried his best to stop tears from leaving his slightly reddened eyes.

"You brat.. I don't feel any warmth..

It's so cold.."

[livingalifeofasimp]

☘️𝕲𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖓 𝕴𝖒𝖕𝖆𝖈𝖙

𝕴𝖓

🎀𝕴𝖘𝖊𝖐𝖆𝖎 𝕸𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖆🎀

You got teleported into a Novel called Love or Hate, where a villianess of an influencing family gets jealous of people around Crown Prince and tries to kill everyone especially his beloved and meets unfortunate death.

𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

𝕎𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕡𝕒𝕕 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥

Click on the link for more information, If the link doesn't work then please be kind enough to inform me, Thank you💮💮💮

🖤 𝓩𝓱𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓲

*:･ﾟ♛ ﾟ･:* On getting into the novel as Villianess and not being able to go back to your world you decided to stop going down the path of original Novel Plot but make your own and live a life in luxury away from all the characters. Your first step was to break the engagement with Crown Prince, who was surprised when he heard you say that to him, you were just so in love with him and then after being unconscious for almost a week you decided to break off the engagement.

*:･ﾟ♛ ﾟ･:* Zhongli could not understand why you would do such thing and you knew he will fall in love with the Heroine when she appears, you told your father to annual it, since you understood that the affection holds no value in Crown Prince's eyes, but Zhongli wasn't able to digest this piece of information, when he tries to approach you, you run away, avoid him at any cost, he realizes how important you are to him, so he rejects your request to annual the engagement even after you nearly begged him and promises you that he will cherish you now on, leaving you thinking what went wrong.

*:･ﾟ♛ ﾟ･:* You sat with pen and paper tried to sort everything out, although Crown Prince was trying to win your favor back by sending you gifts, letters and asks for your audience only to get ghosted by you, getting involved with him will give you nothing but a miserable fate, no matter how handsome the Characters are you refused to acknowledge them any further. Now it felt like Zhongli clingys to you more than anything.

💛𝓐𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻

ﾟ･:*༻*:･ﾟWhen your carriage stopped infront of your state you saw Aether was there waiting for you, he told you that he heard you were trying to annual the engagement, for a minute you forgot how fast news spread in this era, Aether had a happy glow on his face, he told you that you deserve better. At some point you knew that Aether grows distant from Villianess in Novel Plot but the case here was totally different now he invites you or comes to you uninvited.

ﾟ･:*༻*:･ﾟYou don't stop him tho, he became your bestfriend, he taught you horse riding, sword fighting and helped you in all those things you were interested in. Thanks to Aether your bad dancing got better, you always wondered how he never go tired dancing with you, when you step on his foot unintentionally during practices. Physical touches increases slightly, you don't doubt it since it's normal for friends to hug a second more right?

❤️𝓓𝓲𝓵𝓾𝓬

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ Since there was nothing better to do, you started to put your hands on family business and was sent to pay visit to the business partner. To your surprise when you saw Diluc, he looked just like the Novel described him to be, stern, stoic and cold. His presence was intimidating but you had to win this opportunity so you confidently placed your views even when your legs were shaking under the gown you were wearing, you put your hands together and pursued him.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ Diluc seemed so lonely, he had no one to worry about him, just him and his thoughts. So you decided to greet him with smile and ask about if he ate his meals properly because he skipped them for one or two days due to his loads of work, which was bad for his health, if he needed to fight with Crown Prince for Heroine then he should be healthy, so you took care of him while you were staying in his Mansion.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ At first he was wary of you but he eventually warmed up and when Diluc laughed in one of your jokes, you felt grateful to witness that because no one saw him smiling other than Heroine, he looked really beautiful. He said you were way too different than what the rumours described you to be, you were perfect. 

💚𝓧𝓲𝓪𝓸

✥ ۪۪۫۫◃ ✤◃ ۪۪۫۫✥ Bandits attached your Carriage, it was difficult to defeat them but with your escort and Aether's sword fighting training it became quite easy, even though you are not much of a sword fighter than Aether but you could protect yourself for once. When Crown Prince heard you were attacked he immediately assigned you his Loyal Knight who later becomes Imperial Knight respected by citizens, to which you obviously rejected but as persistent as he is you were made to accept the Knight for the time being since all the knights in your family are either afraid of you or not want to serve you and you had no fetish with working with someone who is not willing to be with you.

✥ ۪۪۫۫◃ ✤◃ ۪۪۫۫✥Xiao was very quite and skilled Knight so he was very attentive to your needs, and once caughted you, when you tripped on your gown while climbing staircase, due to which he got on his one knees and asked for your forgiveness. It left you speechless why would he do such thing? Ask for punishment instead of a thanks for saving your bones, you couldn't help but ask him, Xiao's answer made you clutch your fingers, he thought you, a noble lady would get disgusted by his touch since he is lowly born.

✥ ۪۪۫۫◃ ✤◃ ۪۪۫۫✥ You asked him to stand, Xiao is your favorite character who suffered so much and was never able to voice his love for Heroine, you holded his hands in yours, ignoring his body flinching and told him how he should not look down on himself, he is equal, everyone is equal since you all are humans and that you cherish him, he put his life to protect you. You said him all those things you wanted to when you read the Novel, not everything really but it left him blushing while you laughed walking ahead of him what a tsundere.

💙𝓚𝓪𝓮𝔂𝓪

☽༓✮･*˚ A handsome Mage Master kept on disturbing you, the smug looking guy who you meet in Local bars when you were out exploring about the Novel world, he helped you with your case to find out the solution to obtain the land for the project with Duke while giving you many riddles that exhausted you but seeing a worried Xiao was worth it when he says I don't care after nagging you for hours.

☽༓✮･*˚ You doubted if this guy was the one of the Male Leads who was owner of Mage tower because he was exceptional handsome, for a side Character to be so good looking is quite rare, but he debuted after the Grand ball so it couldn't be him, you debated. In Original Novel Plot they never described how he looked, but it was for sure he was popular among ladies. The guy introduced himself as Kaeya, who sometimes requests your presence in Mage tower, only VIP guest were allowed and when you asked him how he managed to get the permission he says it is one of his ways, suspicious enough.

☽༓✮･*˚ You eventually spend more time with him than required which sometimes anger Aether since your time with him reduced, of course you haven't told anything about him to anyone. To save himself, he once introduced you to the group of women flirting with him as his girlfriend. Kaeya sends his familiar in butterfly form for the most stupidest message through your window to which you react differently depending on your mood. 

"How are you my Lady?"

"Am I allowed to miss you?"

"When will you visit me?"

"Have you been using me all this time?, I am heart broken T_T Heal me!"

🧡𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓭𝓮

❀⑅*⋆༶⋆❀⑅* Strong hand holded you securely, as you danced with him, who was wearing black laced mask in Masquerade ball organized by King for a yearly festival which you were forced you to attend by your Father and Crown Prince. One of the guys asked for you to dance with him, as per tradition one cannot reject the another requesting party, otherwise you would have been eating the food served for guests, imperial food is on another level, Zhongli sometimes tries to lure you to spend time with him by making such excuses.

❀⑅*⋆༶⋆❀⑅* The stranger pulled you even more closer saying that you are looking much more prettier than before, your first meeting but you did not recognized him or so you thought, and he told you that you are known as the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom, neighboring Kingdoms takes interest in you. You do remember the guy who helped you in fighting with Bandits both of them have the same hair color and playfulness in their voice.

❀⑅*⋆༶⋆❀⑅* When you asked him about it, if he was the guy from before to which he replied maybe, leaving you in the middle of the dance and bended in the crowd, Mysterious as Childe you thought, whoever he was, you hoped for him to not bring more problems than you already have. A groaning voice of Crown Prince from behind made you turn around questioning you why you danced with other guys than your fiance, you never thought a composed man as Zhongli would whine to you for such a small thing.

[kagakuoniryu]

Hellooo here i am, with my new hc✨✨✨✨✨

What abouttt a reader who practice horseback riding,

YOUR CHOOSE ON THE CHARACTER OBV

Have a good day<3 AND i'm getting obsessed whit your writings :^

Synopsis :

Reader practice horseback riding

Characters :

Diluc

Kaeya

Eula

Warning :

None

A/N :

I never did horseback riding in my life so my descriptions are quite vague because of it I apologize in advance, I hope it won't interfere with the quality of the writings

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~since in mondstadt lore when the grand master of the knight of favonius took all the horses in town this obviously takes place before he left~

Diluc :

As a noble man diluc learned rather young how to ride a horse, he just didn't expected his lover to know too

So one afternoon when he were free he told you to meet him at dawn winery which you did, and at the entrance stood diluc and two horses at his sides

He told you that for your date the two of you would gi horse back riding, and he started to give you the main instructuons about how to ride and the safety precautions

You didn't listened knowing already everhthing and he was surprised to see you ready to go

He put himself on his hirse and the two of you started a date like this

At the end of the afternoon he put the horses back where they belonged and guided you through the main hall of the manor to have dinner with you

During the whole trip diluc where amazed by how easily and comfortable you seemed on your horse and congratulated you for that

During the evening he kept repeating how proud he is for you to be his s/o whenever the two of you talk

And finally when you fell asleep at his sides later in the night he promised himself he would organise more dates like this in the futur, maybe a trip to liyue on horse it would be nice for a week end

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaeya :

The cavalry captain wouldn't honor his name if don't know how to horseback riding right?

Plus he grew up with diluc, and master crepus don't play favorite, if diluc learned how to do something, kaeya learned too

But kaeya learned that you know how to ride a horse in a more dramatic than diluc

Kaeya was on a mission at the boarder of dragon spine and got attacked by a cryo abyss mage, kaeya being cryo himself couldn't defeat his shield and tried to flee

While fleeing he fell frim his horse who run bakc to mondstadt leaving kaeya by himself

You were the first one to encounter the horse and recognizing the one kaeya usually take with him you started to get worried and jumped on it to join your lover

You arrived right on time before kaeya used all his strength, defeating the abyss mage you helped kaeya up and brought him safely to mondstadt

He collapsed of tiredness along the way and that's only when he woke up in the church of favonious that that he realized you saved him and you knew how to ride a horse

You just laughed at his questuon answering him you took a few class when you were younger

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eula :

The daughter of the noble lawrence family sur knew how to horseback ride

Even if it's more a "male thing" according to her family she had to at least learn some of the etiquette

And it's been a long time since the two of you are together, she wanted to ask you to marry her, but before that she need to present you to her family, not that she cared about their opinion, she just want for you to be sure that if you ever marry her, you'll be linked to everyone in her family in one way of another, and she want you to be sure about your decision

She thought about introducing you during a trip in horse her family take from time to time, and she wanted to make sure everything would be perfect

But to her surprise you already mastered the basics and were elegantly strolling with your horse around her

She mumbled ridiculous promise of vengeance for making her loose her time trying to teach you when you already knew most thibgs and with a laugh you asked her to join you

And she did a few minutes ago, so the two of you could go to dragon spine to finish your special training there, after all a real member of aristocracy shouldn't get dirty, even while riding their horse

At the end during the trip with eula's family you got accepted among them for knowing the perfect etiquette, thanks to eula, she was relieved, and when she asked for your hand, she was by then almost sure you would say yes

~hope you'll like it!~

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