#and then they have yet another ‘all these problems could be solved if we learned how to communicate’ moment

[khoirbin]

could you imagine if everyone pretty quickly figures out Loops identity but doesn’t mention it because it’s rude to talk about who someone was before they Changed? like Odile finally reveals to the rest of the party that loop was SECRETLY SIFFRIN THE WHOLE TIME!!! and everyone’s like “madame that’s very rude you should apologize” because of course they already figured it out, people they know go through changes all the time, they know how to spot a friend that looks different

[riovidalupdates]

LAST GIRL STANDING - ii.

previous part

pairings: wanda maximoff x fem!reader, agatha harkness x fem!reader, rio vidal x fem!reader

summary: you’ve come to learn that you can love more than one person—because you love them in different ways. the problem: they love you in one way. so, who are you in love with and who gets hurt?

warnings: minor cursing.

a/n: apologies for taking so long for an update. my job is about 10+ hours for four days and on my off days i'm working on set designs so i'm usually sleeping when i get the chance. please go back and reread the first part of this series as i had revised and edited parts of it while adding more to it. I will be adding a taglist soon, if you wish to for me to add you, let me know! with that, enjoy!

You headed to the library, your mind still racing with the remnants of your conversation with Wanda from last night. You had a few hours before your film history class started, and you needed time to clear your head before facing Agatha, the insanely attractive TA, who had unknowingly occupied a corner of your heart for the past semester. You didn’t really know Agatha well enough (or at all) to say much about her, aside from the occasional conversation about coursework. Yet, you had spent countless hours thinking about her, imagining what it would be like to know her beyond the confines of the classroom.

There was a familiarity to her presence that was both reassuring and nerve-wracking. The few times you’d spoken outside of lectures never seemed to work in your favor. You were unable to get more than two words out before something catastrophic occurred like spilling coffee on yourself, stepping in a pile of dog shit, and maybe tripping over a tree branch into a pit of mud(you are not god's favorite).

You'd scurry away before Agatha could do anything. In fact, you'd just barely hear a quiet but polite, "Goodbye?" You only glance over your shoulder when you were far enough away, seeing the outline of her body still in the same place but with her stare directly at you.

Getting lost in your thoughts, you don’t notice the presence of another leaning over the table and whispering, “Careful, y/n. If you think any harder, you might accidentally unlock the secrets of the universe.”

You blink, glancing up and see Wanda. “Or I might just discover where all my missing socks go. That’s probably a more realistic goal.”

The redhead giggles, pulling out the chair next to you and sits. “Hey, I’d argue that’s an even bigger mystery. You’d probably get a Nobel Prize for solving that one.”

“I fear that will only end with me having more mismatched socks and even more questions. And maybe a headache.”

Wanda smiles, tilting her head to the side as she always does when you humor her. You can’t help the warmth of blush creep up on your cheeks and ears. It was a habit when you had that type of attention from her. It was never necessarily a bad thing. More so, weird because you don’t completely understand it. You do, yet you don’t at least.

You continue to watch the way she falls into a fit of giggles as she scrunches up her nose and leans forward, causing her hair to cascade over her shoulders. There was always elegance surrounding Wanda. Wherever her presence was, it followed.

You are never one to deny how objectively gorgeous the shorter girl is, but there’s more to her than just physical features. More to Wanda than what you and everyone else around her knew, though, her soul radiates an amplified aspect of exactly how natural her beauty is. What you may not know, may be the one thing that fuels it all.

“So, what’s got you in a deep thought?” You hear her ask.

“The fact that we as humans grow limbs. We start off as an egg and then we grow. We grow arms, legs, fat, eyeballs, bones. Everything. We do that. We start as nothing and then boom! We have these…” you frail your arms around in front and Wanda has to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“How about we go get some snacks before you head to class? I hear thinking causes hunger and existential crisis.”

You smile, nodding your head. “I think you need to start reading again. All those romcoms are getting to you.”

And so what if you’re are going through a form of crisis? Wanda is here. It may not be as easy as flipping a switch, but her presence is enough for you to feel 2% of sanity.

-

Today is no different. You stayed after class, lingering just long enough to ask Agatha a question about the upcoming exam, hoping it might lead to a longer conversation.

“Do you have any suggestions for additional reading?” you asked, trying to sound casual.

Agatha looked up from the papers she was grading, her expression thoughtful. “There’s a great essay on sexuality and gender within horror films if you’re interested in some extra insight. I can send you the link if you’d like.”

“That would be great,” you replied, and for a moment, your eyes met in a way that made your heart skip a beat.

But then, just like that, she turned back to grading, and the moment was gone. It was always like this—brief glimpses of something deeper, but never enough to grasp. You couldn’t tell if you were reading too much into it, or if there really was a chance that Agatha saw you as more than just another student.

It really shouldn’t be much of a shock to you. The two of you are nothing more than just a student and a teacher assistant. You aren’t friends. She has no need to delve into her personal life with you.

While Agatha has checked out from the conversation, you hadn’t. There’s more that you want to say. Though, the longer you stand frozen in place, the longer the moment has passed. It would be weird to say anything else now.

“Have a good day,” you bid. While leaving the classroom, you  tried to shake off the disappointment that seemed to linger, refusing to be ignored. It had been easier when you could write off your feelings for Agatha as a simple crush, a harmless admiration for someone who probably didn’t know you existed beyond the realm of academia.

You weren't sure what you wanted from her, exactly. A part of you longed for more than the polite interactions, yet another part feared what would happen if that boundary was ever crossed. The uncertainty gnawed at you, and you found yourself second-guessing if you should do anything.

“If you would hold for a minute, L/N!”

“No.”

You’re halfway out the building when he steps in your line of vision. You grip onto the strap of your bag, clutching it close. Must he always act like you two are buds?

Vision chuckles, stopping in front of you and a bit too close than usual. Then again, he’s never been good with boundaries or personal space. He’s like a parasite. Constantly attaching himself to someone and sucking the life out of them if it benefits him, he happens to have a talent of hiding it well enough for it not to be noticed.

While you have negative emotions towards the man, you don’t entirely resent him in ways you wish you did. So what if he does forget about the dinner plans that you spend hours on for him to impress Wanda? Or gets too annoyed for how much time she spends with you (ya know the person who walked in diapers with her)? Or when Wanda mentions that she doesn’t need riches, she only needs sincerity and he gifts her a new car?

Okay, maybe he’s got one too many poor attributes to his character, however, there are aspects that make him not inherently the douchebag you desperately want him to be.

Like—“You are rather a chirpy one, aren’t you?”

You stare at him with no amusement written on your face. “My interests lies anywhere but you.”

He shares the ‘boy next door’ charm of a smile, shoving his hand in his pocket, and kicks the toe of your shoe. “I am here to request a favor,” he starts, “I have upset Wanda by overstepping her boundaries. Before speaking your mind, I have apologized to her this morning—“

“—what is your favor?” You asked annoyed.

“I wish to give Wanda a formal apology. Do you recall when she and I were to attend that music festival a couple years back and then we were unable to for unforeseen circumstances?”

You nodded your head, motioning him to continue on.

“Well, I remember you had mentioned that you knew one of the bands performing because you have a friend apart of it. I just-Wanda was and still is a massive fan. You know our 3 year anniversary is coming up-“

“—you can’t buy tickets?” You snickered.

You could tell he was getting slightly irritated by your interruptions. Good. He should for disrupting your semi-peaceful state of mind.

“Forget it. You’re such a nuisance.” He huffs, walking off and all you can do is give him a wave.

You knew what he was going to ask and you weren’t sure if you would have said yes to it or not..

[dailyadventureprompts]

I've got a new d&d group and they're almost all new players, with some of them having played with me before in oneshots/ gotten a couple sessions into campaigns that fizzled.

There's the usual learning pains: No one's quite got a handle on the rules yet and is relying on me for which dice to roll ( it's a D20 friends, it's always going to be a D20 unless it's damage I don't know how many times I have to say that). Person A is nervous and over-talkative , person B is nervous and withdraws from conversation, Person C is always running a little late...

But what really surprises me is the difference between them and the group I've had going for 2 years now:

Newgroup THEORIZES in a way that I don't think I've ever seen despite playing this game for two decades. I'll ask them what they're doing and they'll have a multi-minute chat weighing the value of different options. They don't turn to ME, or ask me if things are possible ( which is what new players tend to do), they turn to eachother and ask if they think it's a good idea that they do X or Y and then what could happen from there. I'm trying to be a good DM and let them learn the ropes but it's FASCINATING response. For example; the barbarian says "I'll use my shield to pin the monster in place so we can question them about the villain" and before I can even get into my response another player will say "but what if I used my rope instead to tie them up?", meanwhile none of them have confirmed if the monster is in any way related to the villain or is capable of speech (it wasn't, it was a mimic fyi)

Newgroup is LASER targeted on their goal, which was a surprise as someone who was DMing for a party that purposefully jumped ship on the A plot ASAP and is actively resentful of anything resembling a main quest. Newgroup passes through a mining village that's been deserted after a recent attack by monsters which drove people up into the hills, a Classic rescue mission with a bit of a dungeon delve on top, intended to give the party some XP and magic items before they leave the early game and I stop pulling my punches. Newgroup stays just long enough to confirm that the monsters have nothing to do with the A plot and unanimously decide to leave the village post haste. Meanwhile I have to be careful about what information I drop to oldgroup, as if they catch a single whiff of villanious wrongdoing they'll drop what they're doing and divert their attention to wiping that threat off the map. I've now had to have multiple villains make peace treaties in all but name with this party because of their habit of knocking out rivals/threats/governments.

Because oldgroup know the game really well they're less experimental with what they want to accomplish. They know that things can be solved through class features/dice rolls/damage, and so those are their default solutions to most problems. Meanwhile newgroup has no IDEA what the limits of the game system are so they're trying clever stuff left and right. " Can I hit it in the eye with my arrow? Can I use this spell to find out if _____, Can we use the flying boots to _____?" They're asking genuinely good questions so often that it's made me want to play around with the d20 resolution system to get something more closed to the " drawback/mixed success" sorts of results you get in apocalypse world style games. ( I think I found a neat fix, more on that to come)

[oppropro]

Chapter 2 of my fanfic

I am so happy to receive the positive feedback on my story inspired by @jttw-monkeybusiness. I had a hard time writing this chapter as it is from the perspective of different pilgrims. I want their thoughts to be believable and true to their nature, while also being true to @celestialkiri 's vision of these characters in her AU. I got a bit overly ambitious with this chapter and had to cut it short; the rest of the story will continue in a 3rd chapter. This has a better narrative flow.

So without further ado; I present chapter 2 of Monkey Business based on the creations of @jttw-monkeybusiness all credit goes to her.

********

CHAPTER 2- Here's your sign

            Sun Wukong, King of Mount Huaguo, Great Sage equal to heaven, was losing his patience. His master, the monk Tripitaka once again avoided near death thanks to the valiant efforts of his disciple, Sun Wukong. The very same disciple he chose to ignore when he warned the monk of the dangers of the demon hoard that had laid a trap to kill and eat the monk. A trap so obvious even Pigsy should have seen coming. That is, if Pigsy could ever think with his brain and not his stomach.

            And what thanks does Wukong get for saving his master and his pig-headed brother? Another lecture on how violence does not solve every problem. Well, violence certainly solved that problem. Besides, if his master had simply listened to him in the first place, they could have easily avoided the demon’s trap and Wukong wouldn’t have to resort to violence.

            “Hardships we face on our pilgrimage are simply a test of faith, and it is through our faith that we will ultimately persevere.” Monk Tripitaka spoke in a slow and deliberate manner.

            “Well then start showing more faith in me!” Wukong replied.

            “This journey is not just about you.”

            “And yet it is I, once again, coming to everyone’s rescue.”

            “I appreciate that you were able to rescue us, but that does not change the fact that you do not get to dictate the path we must follow, or default to wanton violence as a solution to every obstacle.”

            “Those demons were going to eat you and the pig alive! They weren’t even coy about it! If everyone just listened to me, it wouldn’t have even been an obstacle.”

            “We cannot avoid every danger, or burden, or obstacle we face on our journey.” Tripitaka’s tone conveyed a clear message: this conversation was over. “Even if such a challenge were to fall from the heavens and land directly on us. We will face whatever lies before us head on and accept the fate that has been ordained by Buddha.”

            “Well then, Master, you can find somebody else to save your ass because I am tired of being the only one around here who-” Wukong’s sentence was cut short as, apropos of the monk’s declaration, the heavens had opened up and a strange blonde woman fell upon the angry monkey’s back.

********

            Sandy, Pigsy, and Bai Long stood at the side of a clearing and watched their brother and their master argue back and forth. They had seen this exact same scenario played out before; it was safe for them to assume that it wasn’t going to be the last. The novelty of these fights had worn off and now they simply wished they would get to the point where Wukong would learn his lesson about self-control, humility, and acceptance so they could move on with their journey. For all the talk about other people slowing him down, Wukong sure liked to waste time arguing moot points.

            However, a girl falling from the heavens and landing on their elder brother’s back was new. They and the monk stood agog staring at the unforeseen spectacle before them: the woman had hair the colour of summer sun, and her clothes were foreign. The sack that she carried on her back had fallen off, that too was made of some strange and heavenly material not found on earth.

            Her face had landed in the dirt, her legs tangled amongst the limbs of Sun Wukong, and she moaned as she cradled her temples in her arms, nursing whatever wound she incurred from her less than graceful decent from heaven.

            Tripitaka was the first to break free from his spell. Still unable to process what had just happened, he rushed to the side of the stranger in an attempt to help her sit up an regain her composure. Pigsy followed his master’s lead and the two of them were able to prop the woman up and assess her for any injuries: some bumps and scratches, all superficial. That didn’t rule out the risk of any serious, or even deadly, head wounds.

            “Little sister, are you hurt?” the monk asked. “Do you understand me? Can you open your eyes?”

            The woman replied with a whimper, as she slowly blinked her eyes several times trying to purge her tears. Pigsy watched her blue eyes dilate and constrict in an attempt to regain focus. They had never seen a foreigner before. He knew that humans in other countries looked different, and that they were bound to meet foreigners on their journey to India, but the difference in eye colour was striking. This wasn’t something to dwell on, however; the woman needed help.

            “Good, good, little sister, you’re going to be alright. Let us help you. Just keep breathing nice and slowly.” Pigsy spoke to the woman in a low, slow voice and began to exaggerate his breath in so that the stranger might mimic him.

            “HOW ABOUT THE TWO OF YOU QUIT FAWNING OVER THAT STUPID SKY WOMAN AND HELP YOUR BROTHER OUT!”

            Wukong’s voice hit the stranger like a slap to the face. She gasped as her eyes widened and she finally focused on her surroundings. Pigsy was familiar with the expression on the stranger’s face: shock, confusion, fear; a primal fight or flight reaction that all humans experience when face to face with a demon.

            The stranger’s breath became quick and shallow, Pigsy could sense her heart rate bounding. There may still have been hope that Tripitaka may calm her down, but as she looked down at his elder brother, the demon monkey trapped between her legs, flashing his fangs as he scowled at the woman, he knew what was about to happen.

            He let go of the stranger as she screamed and began kicking wildly at Wukong until they were finally untangled. As the terrified woman struggled on all fours to get up and make a mad dash into the forest, Wukong jumped up with an unwarranted sense of accomplishment. Congratulations you stupid monkey; you successfully scared a woman.

            Tripitaka went to mount Bai Long. “Sandy. Pigsy. Please, help me look for our new companion. Monkey, you stay here and watch over our camp.”

            Whatever pride Wukong felt fled his body as soon as his master spoke. “What? Why are you chasing after her? She means nothing to us.”

            “Where you not paying attention to what our master had said?” Pigsy spat.

            “Yes. Even if such a challenge were to fall from the heavens and land directly on us. Well, I just passed buddha’s test. I overcame that challenge and didn’t even resort to violence. I guess I have learned my lesson now and we can all continue on our way. Oh thank you great and wise buddha! You have made me a better monkey.”

            “You have learned nothing,” Tripitaka snapped. “Now we have to go find this woman lest a fate worse than crashing into you befalls her.”

            The monkey growled. His blood was beginning to boil.

            “Then I will bring this challenge back to you, master.”             Wukong took off in the same direction as the woman before the monk could object. beginning to boil. He raced through the canopy following the stranger’s trail. The path she left was easy enough to follow. Even if it wasn’t glaringly obvious, Wukong could smell her: her scent; her blood; her fear. He could hear her: her ragged breath; her racing heart; her pitiful cries for help. The great monkey king would catch up to this pathetic whelp in no time and return her to his master so he can figure out what he wants to do with her. But before he brought her to his master, Wukong had some questions of his own to ask the woman. At the very least, this stupid woman owed Sun Wukong an apology.

[augustwinesworld]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫

who's worse: levi or furlan?

description: tired of the constant bickering, Furlan devises a scheme to make you and Levi cooperate, which ends up with both of you trapped together…

pairing: underground! levi x underground! reader

genre: idk what to call this (angst? fighting? crack?)

notes: this was so fun to write lmaoo. also got another tattoo and it looks sooo good

word count: 2.3 k

extra: moodboard | playlist | ☆:**:. 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞 .:**:.☆ 

Feel free to #𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 (◕‿◕✿) *:･ﾟ✧ if you have any scenarios in mind! I might not write everything but I’ll respond to everyone.

series masterlist: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭

Furlan had had enough.

The constant bickering between you and Levi was grating on his nerves—and, quite frankly, slowing them down. Whether it was over strategy, supplies, or who got to sit fucking where, you two found something to argue about. 

He sat at the edge of the rickety table in their shared hideout, arms crossed as he watched you and Levi go at it—again.

This time, it was about a supply run that had turned into a shouting match over whose “plan” had been better, despite the fact that they’d both technically worked.

“You’re a control freak!” you snapped, jabbing a finger toward Levi. “Not everyone wants to solve their problems by staring someone into submission.”

“And you’re reckless,” Levi shot back, “half of what you do is guesswork. Lucky guesswork, at that.”

Furlan let out a long, exaggerated sigh, cutting through the noise. “Okay, enough. I swear, you two bicker more than old married couples in the market square.”

You and Levi turned on him at the same time. “Stay out of it, Furlan!”

“Oh, trust me, I’m in it now,” he replied, a smirk tugging at his lips. “And I’ve got the perfect solution. You two are going to work together—alone—on the next deal with Garret.”

“What?” you and Levi said in unison, disbelief written all over your faces.

“You heard me,” Furlan replied, crossing his arms. “I’ve got other things to handle. You two go negotiate with Garret for the shipment. It’s simple—no need to overcomplicate it. Maybe you’ll figure out how to act like grown-ups in the process.”

Levi scowled, his arms tightly crossing over his chest “That idiot Garret hates me. Why the hell would I go?”

You snorted, unable to resist the jab. “Man, I wonder why. Could it be your sparkling personality? Or maybe it’s because you called him a halfwit the last time we dealt with him.”

Levi shot you a glare sharp enough to cut through steel. “He is a halfwit,” he retorted flatly. “I was just pointing out the obvious.”

“Well, the ‘obvious’ almost lost us the deal last time,”

“Do you ever shut up?” Levi growled, his eyes narrowing as he stepped closer, his voice low and laced with irritation.

“Do you ever lighten up?” you shot back, your tone dripping with feigned innocence. “It’s not my fault Garret would rather eat glass than talk to you.”

Furlan sighed dramatically, pinching the bridge of his nose as he watched the two of you square off. “And here we go again,” he muttered under his breath before raising his voice. “Exactly,” he said, “so, figure it out.”

Levi glared at him, his jaw tightening. “You’re serious? That idiot won’t even let us through the door without starting something.”

Furlan gave an exaggerated shrug, completely unbothered. “Then don’t give him a reason. Or better yet, don’t let yourselves be the reason.”

“Easier said than done,” you muttered, earning another sharp look from Levi. “Also, that’s rich, coming from the guy who’s conveniently skipping out on this.”

“Exactly why I trust you two to handle it,” Furlan replied smoothly, his grin practically glowing with mischief. “Think of it as a learning opportunity—team-building, if you will.”

You narrowed your eyes, folding your arms across your chest. “Sometimes, I wonder why we keep you around.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. You’ll miss me when I’m gone,” Furlan teased, already turning to leave. “Good luck. Try not to kill each other before you get to Garret—or after.”

The moment he was gone, the tension between you and Levi crackled like a live wire.

“Fantastic,” you muttered, throwing up your hands. “Nothing like a forced bonding exercise with someone who’s incapable of being pleasant for more than two seconds.”

Levi’s glare didn’t falter. “Just stay out of my way, and maybe we’ll get through this without killing each other.”

“No promises,” you replied, your smirk returning. “But I’ll try to keep you from saying something stupid. Again.”

He let out a slow, frustrated exhale, pinching the bridge of his nose like he was reconsidering his entire life. “This is going to be hell.”

And somehow, you both knew he was probably right.

Despite your protests, Furlan was resolute. The next day, you found yourself standing next to Levi in the dingy, dimly lit meeting room of Garret’s warehouse.

Garret himself was a young man, weirdly handsome and, with a suspicious glare, his arms crossed as he sized you both up.

“Well, this is new,” Garret muttered, his tone flat as his arms crossed over his chest. “Usually, I only have to deal with one headache at a time. What gives?”

You opened your mouth to answer, but Levi cut in, his tone sharp and to the point. “We’re here for the shipment. You’ve got it, or you don’t. No need to drag this out.”

Garret’s eyes narrowed, his body stiffening at Levi’s bluntness. “Right. Of course,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Wouldn’t want to waste your precious time.”

You stepped in quickly, leveling a calm smile at Garret. “Levi means we’d like to wrap this up efficiently. We both know your shipments are top quality—we wouldn’t trust anyone else.”

Garret’s lip twitched, but it wasn’t quite a smile. “Sure. And I suppose he’s here to glare me into giving you a discount?” His tone turned icy as his gaze shifted back to Levi. “You know, your attitude’s half the reason people hate dealing with you.”

Levi crossed his arms, his expression unreadable but his presence radiating tension. “Maybe if people didn’t waste my time, I wouldn’t have to deal with idiots.”

“Levi,” you cut in, your tone low and measured, though irritation flickered behind your words. “We’re here to negotiate, not insult the guy who controls the shipment.”

Garret laughed bitterly. “Oh, please, by all means, keep bickering. It’s very entertaining.”

You turned to Garret, your patience starting to wear thin but your tone still steady. “Look, we’re not here to cause trouble. You want professionalism? Let’s talk terms. We know what your shipments are worth, and we’re ready to pay fair.”

“Fair?” Garret’s brows lifted in mock surprise. “That’s a word I don’t usually hear from people like you two.”

Levi’s jaw tightened, but you stepped forward slightly, cutting him off before he could say anything. “We’re serious about this deal. And I think you are too, or you wouldn’t still be standing here.”

Levi scoffed, his sharp gaze cutting to you. “You’re wasting time. Garret doesn’t care about your sweet-talking.”

“And you’re not helping by acting like you’ve got a knife to his throat,” you shot back, your voice low but heated. “Do you even know what ‘negotiation’ means?”

Levi’s eyes narrowed, his tone dropping further. “Yeah, it means not overcomplicating things. Maybe you should try it.”

You crossed your arms, stepping closer to him as your irritation bubbled over. “And maybe you should try not pissing off the one guy who can get us what we need.”

“Keep your voice down,” Levi hissed, his posture stiffening. “You think you’re helping, but all you’re doing is proving you can’t handle this.”

“Proving—are you serious?” you snapped, your voice rising just enough to earn a sharp glance from Garret. “You’re the one stomping around like you own the place!”

“Better than acting like a lapdog,” Levi muttered, his tone cutting.

“Lapdog?!” you echoed, your eyes narrowing dangerously. “At least I know how to talk to people without making them want to kill me.”

Levi opened his mouth to fire back, but a clap interrupted.

Garret tilted his head, studying you for a moment. Then, with a sharp wave of his hand, he signaled his men, who moved to block the door, locking it with an audible click.

“Here’s the deal,” Garret said, his voice dropping. “You two can sit here and work out whatever your problem is. When you stop acting like a couple of kids fighting over a toy, maybe I’ll come back and consider doing business with you.”

Without another word, he strode past, his men following close behind. The door shut with a thud, leaving you and Levi alone in the tense, dimly lit room.

Levi exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fantastic,” he muttered. “This is why I hate dealing with idiots like him.”

You shot him a sharp look. “Maybe if you didn’t treat everyone like an enemy, we wouldn’t be locked in here right now.”

“Maybe if you didn’t feel the need to jump in every five seconds, we’d already be done,” Levi countered, his voice cold.

Fuck you asshole—and while we're at it—fuck you too Furlan.

Levi’s jaw tightened as the sound of the lock clicking into place echoed in the room. “Perfect,” he muttered, “I told you to let me handle it.”

“And I told you to stop being such a—” You paused, gesturing vaguely in frustration. “Whatever it is you’re always being.” Arms crossed as you leaned against the wall.

"This is exactly what happens when you don’t listen.”

You scoffed, pushing yourself off the wall. “Oh, right, because glaring at him and barking orders would’ve totally worked. Great plan, Levi.”

“Yeah? How’s that diplomacy working out for us now?” Levi shot back, glaring.

You rolled your eyes. “Whatever. Let’s just figure out how to get out of here, genius.”

His sharp gaze snapped to you, your restraint only fueling his resentment. “At least my plan didn’t involve stroking his ego like he’s some Underground king.”

You raised an eyebrow, arms crossing tightly over your chest. “No, your plan was to piss him off and get us locked in here. Real smooth.”

“You’re the one who couldn’t keep your mouth shut,” Levi shot back, stepping closer, his tone low and clipped. “Maybe if you’d let me handle it—”

“Handle it?” you cut him off, throwing your hands up. “The only thing you’re handling is your own ego. Not everyone folds just because you give them the Levi glare, you know.”

He stepped closer, his voice dropping even lower. “And not everyone’s swayed by your half-baked charm, either.”

The two of you stood toe-to-toe, the tension between you thick enough to cut. For a moment, neither of you spoke, your sharp breaths the only sound in the room.

Finally, you exhaled sharply, breaking the stalemate. “Fine. Let’s just figure out how to get out of here before Garret decides we’re not worth the trouble.”

Levi gave a faint scoff, shaking his head as he turned away. “Maybe for once, try not making things worse.”

“Right back at you,” you muttered under your breath, though your tone lacked its earlier fire.

“Both of you, shut it,” Furlan’s voice crackled through the barred window on the door.

You froze, realizing Furlan was listening in the entire time. “Furlan?”

“Yep,” he said smugly. “Garret’s actually a great buddy of mine. I asked him to help me teach you two a little lesson in teamwork. Don’t worry, you’re not actually in danger.”

Your jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me.”

“Not even a little,” Furlan said, his amusement clear. “You’ve got one hour to figure out how to work together and get out. I’ll be watching.”

Levi exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Unbelievable.”

“Better start cooperating,” Furlan added before the line clicked off.

Forced to rely on each other, you and Levi began working through the problem. Tensions ran high at first, with your usual sarcastic quips and Levi’s brusque comments clashing at every turn. 

“What now?” you asked, leaning against the wall.

“We get out,” Levi said simply, already inspecting the locked door.

His calm determination only annoyed you further. “Oh, brilliant. And here I thought we’d just sit here forever.”

“Do you ever stop talking?” Levi muttered, crouching to examine the lock more closely.

“Do you ever start?” you shot back.

Despite the bickering, the two of you eventually fell into an uneasy rhythm.

Levi’s methodical approach balanced out your impulsiveness, and your knack for spotting details he missed proved surprisingly useful.

Slowly but surely, you began to realize that, annoying as he was, Levi was good at what he did—and, begrudgingly, he admitted that you weren’t half bad either.

As the minutes ticked by, the frustration between you dulled into something more focused.

Levi knelt by the lock, studying its mechanism with a precision that bordered on obsessive. “It’s jammed. Cheap work, though,” he muttered, his tone clipped but oddly calm.

You crouched beside him, holding back a snarky remark for once. “Let me try something,” you said, leaning closer to examine the lock.

Levi raised an eyebrow but shifted slightly, giving you room. “Don’t break it,” he warned.

“Not planning to,” you replied, pulling a thin, improvised tool from your pocket. With a few careful movements, you felt the lock give, the faint click of success echoing in the tense silence.

Levi straightened, his sharp gaze flicking to you. “Huh. Guess you’re not completely useless.”

You raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Coming from you, that’s practically a compliment.”

He scoffed, his eyes narrowing slightly, but didn’t argue. That was as close to a win as you were going to get.

When the door swung open, it revealed Furlan leaning casually against the wall, a smug grin on his face. “Well, look at that. Teamwork really does make the dream work.”

You glared at him, but Levi brushed past without a word, muttering something about how this whole thing was a waste of time.

Furlan chuckled. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

You crossed your arms, shaking your head. “Next time, you’re getting locked in a room with him.”

“Fair,” Furlan said with a laugh, clapping you on the shoulder. “But admit it—you two make a pretty good team.”

You didn’t reply, but as you watched Levi’s retreating figure, a small part of you wondered if Furlan was right.

Maybe...

next chapter↠

© AUGUSTWINESWORLD : no translation, plagiarism, or cross posting.

[grilledcheezy92]

Continued from yesterday's EA spoilers post

Under a cut bc it's a lot

"You fret about traffic and what to eat for breakfast." *stares at my Redactober fic that I have yet to post* well shit...

"I am asked to kill without compunction," another instance of explicitly stating what his job is and STILL NOT A SINGLE FLINCH FROM TREASURE

"You know a piece of me. The piece I’ve chosen to share. I don’t owe you more of me! Do me a favor and take a damn hint." I gasped out loud. Porter, dude, my guy. You admitted you wanted more from this relationship than sex. You are officially Boyfriend

"So talking to you about it isn’t going to help. It won’t help the problem ... and it certainly won’t help me. Or my bad attitude." IT COULD IF YOU TRIED

"You don’t know what it’s like. And to be blunt, I hope you never do." *flashing back to the Treasure Halloween angst headcanons*

"have you ever taken more than a moment to think of the chain of events that has led to us standing here in this room together? The kind of internal tumult that has led you here into the arms of a total stranger, inconceivably vast power imbalance and all? And you think I’m the only one who needs help? You think you have a leg to stand on telling me that I need to work on myself while being completely blind to your own issues?" And if Treasure knows exactly what their issues are and is choosing to be with you anyway then what? It's not like you know them any better than they supposedly know you. Unless of course you have let them tell you all about themself, given their everything to you and are still holding yourself back.

The power imbalance is only as "vast" as you allow it to be Porter.

"When I want to be false-therapized and patronized by a hypocrite, I’ll let you know." 😤

"Every association I’ve ever cultivated I find a way to turn into ash" maybe if you didn't push people away when they try to help you... 😒 Treasure's right you are a coward.

"I’ve allowed my own fear and desire for any kind of meaning to blind me to even imagining any other alternative." Crying for him tbh

"I’ll leave you to solve whatever your equivalent conundrum would be, like… should you actually do your laundry tonight or just push the pile farther over on the bed? Again?" Fucking diabolical.

I have lines from previous episodes running through my head

Getting More: "When the storm outside starts to shake the bars of the proverbial cage in your mind, what do you choose? Hmm. Interesting. I don’t know that that was the answer I was expecting." I think they choose to face/solve/fix it rather than ignore or block it out

Trying to Help: "I don’t claim to make much of anything easy. Certainly not getting to know me. The idea that someone is willing to try in spite of my misgivings is… it’s…"

Drawn In: "And maybe sometimes we inhabit the experiences that we think we deserve."

Getting More: "And you think you know me well enough to know that I don’t really believe that, is that what you’re implying? Hmm. Maybe you’re right about that."

Trying to Help: "It makes me feel everything again. And I’ve made a very prolific career out of not feeling at inopportune times."

Getting More: "we don’t… know each other very well, do we? That’s not a damning appraisal, darling, it’s just an observation ... Would you want to… change that? ... knowing more about you. I feel, in the long term, I would enjoy them even more. Provided we want there to be some kind of longer term."

Drawn In: "a relationship in which all parties care about one another. And act accordingly. It’s not about a perfectly equal ledger of favors and effort, but it is about balance and compromise and care."

Getting More: "I will warn you now, I won’t get this right. Not perfectly, not at all. I’d be a fool to suggest otherwise. But I will try. And I will learn. If I have one virtue, it’s adaptation. I can promise you that much."

[syndrossi]

I was thinking about how Jace and Luke (and Joffrey maybe? I can't remember if he's been born yet) are all alone in KL and I realized there's a pretty good chance that they'd end up going to Daemon for any problems they have. I know that they don't really know him since he's been in the Stepstones for most of their lives, but with both parents and Rhaenys gone Daemon is really the only adult left. I guess Viserys it's there, but I think Rhaenyra has probably told them all about how he's the king and had lots of important things to do, so they might be a bit scared of disturbing him. Since they definitely won't be going to Alicent or Otto, that really only leaves Daemon. Again, he is kind of a stranger, but since he's close with both of their parents, and Rhaenyra had probably told them plenty of stories about him, they might feel more comfortable with him than with any of the other adults. The implications of this are kind of hilarious, because if something happens (one of them has a nightmare/ gets hurt training, etc) Daemon could very well find himself faced with two very young, very upset children, who, for some reason, seem to think he knows how to solve all their problems. If it becomes a regular thing, Rhaenyra and Laenor's reasons would be the funniest thing ever. Like imagine Rhaenyra send a raven to Viserys asking how her boys are doing, and he responds with "oh they're fine. Daemons looking after them." She would be really confused at first, but I think she'd be pleased to see how fatherhood has affected him. She's really the only person who seems to realize how much he wanted his own children, so I think she'd like seeing him bond with hers. Laenor on the other hand would wonder if there's another Daemon he doesn't know about.

Yep, Joff (and Daeron) are both two right now, so they're around.

There is actually a moment in ch33 where he realizes that they're all alone. He then immediately shifts to fury/resentment that his sons spent their entire childhood like that, but hey, even thinking about that is progress!

Daemon had entirely forgotten about Rhaenyra’s sons, currently without either parent. My sons spent the last six years of their lives thus.

Daemon is still learning object permanence of people on the edge of his sphere of "important to me." 😂

What might end up happening is that Jon breaks the "hey, so, we promised Aegon and Aemond they could sup with us" to Daemon, and for balance, he invites the Velaryon boys, who are FAR more appropriate company, the following night.

But you're right that Daemon is an adult who has spent enough time in their short lives to register as trustworthy. Heck, he took Luke up on a ride on Caraxes! The mental image of all the children trying to adopt themselves into Daemon's family is pretty hilarious, honestly.

Rhaenyra would definitely be touched by Daemon looking after her boys. As you said, she's one of the only people who noticed how badly he wanted children of his own, but that pain seemed to keep a distance between him and her sons (since they represented something Viserys denied him via his marriage to Rhea). Him opening up his heart to include them is a sign of healing/growth.

[aashi-heartfilia]

The genius conception of self sacrifice in MHA

From the very first chapter we are told that "Self sacrifice is what makes someone a true hero".

But throughout the entire narrative of MHA, self - sacrifice is painted in a bad light. The entire vigilante Deku arc is about this.

Then why is self sacrifice a symbol of true heroism?

Because the entire story was seen with the eyes of Deku who is influenced by All Might!!

It's such a big point that throughout the story All Might keeps pushing Midoriya to his limit, because he thinks that without his power of OFA or without his self sacrifice, he is not a true hero. This is a very old school concept of true heroism shown in comic books of the late 90s and MHA is heavily focused on the theme of comics.

But then, All Might loses his power. After that, he kept believing for the longest time that his life doesn't serve a purpose. Now that he is not the knight in shining armor, he is not of value anymore but we know that's far from the truth.

As the story goes on, All Might learns to live without his power and also the influence he could still make on people just with him living. A lot of people believed that All Might should have died in Kamino because his arc concluded there. There were great emotional stakes too but he survived.

And we see that the hero system still falls in chaos, yada yada. But what about the backlash? Bakugo.

Think about Bakugo.

He was so damn guilty that All Might lost his power in order to save him. Think about his guilty conscience had All Might died!

.

Another example is Todoroki.

He had a powerful quirk. He should have been a hero and yet his actions were painted in a bad light because he was doing everything to take revenge on his father. In the end, his empathy is what saved the Todoroki family and that made him 'The Todoroki family's hero'.

.

Another example is Eri.

Throughout the arc, we see that her quirk was painted as a curse but Deku changed its meaning and used it as a blessing to save everyone from Overhaul.

Eri also killed her family by mistake and she was living in all of that trauma but would killing her have solved the problem? No.

So they conducted a mission to rescue her and used her power for a greater good.

Just like Toga who is a recent example. She was abused by her family because of her quirk. They called her a deviant and she committed various crimes for survival. But would killing her solve the problem?

People are people and Quirks are Quirks.

Nothing good would have come from Endeavour and Touya dying, think about Todoroki family members they will be leaving behind.

Just one mistake doesn't make someone a villain, Deku said it himself while defending Aoyama. Same for people like Gentle Criminal and Lady Nagant.

Again, NO.

Because self sacrifice is not good.

Killing anyone for punishment is not good.

So, if self sacrifice or a quirk doesn't make someone a true hero, killing villains doesn't make them a true hero, then what does?

Their love, acceptance, understanding, atonement, empathy and courage makes them a true hero.

Ochako, Todoroki, Iida, Deku, Bakugo, All Might, and even people like Kota are all true heroes!!

Mha portrays self-sacrifice, killing villains, powerful quirks make someone a hero but in its essence, it has always been a story about how "True heroes are those who give help that was never asked for!".

MHA is a story about people learning that they matter, even without their quirks.

~Sunshine

[lizardsquisher]

The Pirate and the Professor

Chapter Four: The Best Medicine

A week after the grim events at Weisshaupt, Emmrich found Rook alone at the table in the Lighthouse library. Her fist was mashed against her cheek as she studied a map of Thedas. She idly pushed a Crow figurine around Antiva with her pointer finger. In her distraction, she knocked the poor fellow sideways into Rialto Bay.

Her head lifted as Emmrich approached. He set a cordial on the table before her.

She looked down at it. “Are we recruiting a bottle to hold Arlathan against the Venatori?”

“Drink it,” he said gently. “It will ease that headache.”

“What headache are you—?”

“The one that’s had you rubbing your temples since breakfast.”

“Oh, that one.” Popping the lid open with her thumbnail, Rook downed the contents in one pull and plunked the bottle on the table. Her eyes widened. “Oh, that tasted like cherries.”

“I see no reason for medicine to taste bad. A proper tonic should lift the spirits as it mends the flesh.” He folded his hands together. “Rook, you deserve a break.”

“I’d love one, honestly. But I have so much to do. I promised Lucanis we would help Treviso recover from the blight. He needs something to distract him from that business with Ghilan’nain. And we’ve got another archdemon to locate.”

“Neither mission is so pressing that it cannot wait. We don’t yet know where to find Elgar’nan’s vessel. And Treviso will be no better or worse for a day's delay.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Rook rescued the fallen Crow and returned him to shore. “I don’t even know what to do for fun anymore. Guzzling mead is right out. Can’t have the Venatori catching me in my cups. And I can’t think of many places I could go where I won’t end up finding another problem that needs solving.”

“The Necropolis remains in good order since our last visit. I have some duties to see to in the Memorial Gardens. I thought you might like to come with me. You once told me you loved to learn. There’s much to learn about the Mourn Watch and the Grand Necropolis.”

She smiled. “And about you. I do enjoy learning about you.”

Flirting was to Rook what flying was to a bird—it was what she did. Sly innuendo was a staple of all her conversations. But he couldn’t help noticing that her comments towards him had developed a more pointed nature. Perhaps he was flattering himself. Surely, such a vibrant young woman had more suitable prospects. The handsome warden, the mysterious assassin, the clever detective . . . What use did she have for a bookish old necromancer?

Read more at the link below.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61873225/chapters/159277289

[mumms-the-word]

Yet another Veilguard update with the usual good, the bad, the ugly, and the me freaking out about minor references and callbacks haha

This one is very long sorry

So since the last update I have done as much side content as possible before heading to the Hossberg Wetlands and later Weisshaupt (which I just completed last night) which included, briefly, unlocking all of the solas regrets murals

And uh WOW was that whole deep dive a doozy. I definitely should have spaced out the murals over time rather than movie-marathoned them back to back. But the things I learned about Solas…it’s insanity

In a good way

In a really horrifying way

I loved that our theories about Solas being a spirit of Wisdom first were confirmed, and I lost my mind over the fact that the first elves were spirits who gained physical bodies by taking Titan blood (aka lyrium). And the fact that Solas CREATED THE BLIGHT by essentially making the Titans Tranquil?? And that’s why Dwarves don’t dream????

Losing my mind. Solas what have you DONE.

I still ahev to process it all haha but I do have a few thoughts

So far, I wish there was more engagement with these elements and the Chant of Light. The companions react and say that these reveals basically dismantle Andrastianism but the Chant has several allegorical parallels to what, apparently, really happened. The Maker’s first children were spirits, and all that…so I kind of wish the Chantry had a bigger presence in the game with more reactivity

But that’s a post for another day. For now, I reloaded back to only 3 murals unlocked so the team only knows the story up to Solas creating the Veil. I’ll rewatch the others later.

I got worried about being locked out of stuff so I went ahead and did as much side content as I could with a couple of exceptions. Turns out, I probably didn’t need to do that and it would have made more sense narratively if I hadn’t. More on that in a minute

The Siege of Weisshaupt mission was SO GOOD!! Like…the main missions are really where this game shines, I think. I have gripes with some of the companion conversations, but in the actual story missions, the action, the intensity, all of it is so good. And I thought Ghilan’nain turning her archdemon into a many-headed hydra creature was *chefs kiss* so cool. I love fighting big/unique stuff like that!

All that said the follow up scene with the team at the table leaves…a lot to be desired

Listen, DA games pride themselves on bringing together a team of companions that players adore and fall in love with. Naturally we enjoy helping out our companions because we like them. We don’t have to be told to help them because we just generally do that…and if we don’t then, rip, suffer the consequences

So I got a bit annoyed when the scene suddenly turned to a very overt “fix our problems” narrative

I don’t know, that feels so…forced to me. Varric literally tells me I have to solve everyone’s problems. Which is like…I was going to! Because they’re my friends! But being straight up told like “hey you have to solve everyone’s problems and stop their distractions or this team isn’t going to function” is like…I’m sorry are we adults or aren’t we? Why am I being told to babysit the team? Can you guys not pursue these distractions on your own rather than wait for me to give you permission? Did we all forget that two gods are out there rampaging? That they’re strong enough to destroy a fortress that stood against the blight and various conflicts for over 900 years? That they haven’t stopped and show no signs of stopping anytime soon?

But no, by all means, tell me in very obvious terms that my job is now to reconcile all your differences before I face the gods again. That doesn’t feel very handed at all.

Let me be clear. I love to help my companion. I love the idea that you build a team that works well because you have shaped them via your leadership skills. I love the idea that your team works well because you have invested in them. That’s really the heart of any DA game—gather your team, earn their loyalty, and see how well the friends you’ve made along the way assist you in the big battles to come.

But…that scene around the kitchen table could have been so much better, so much more nuanced, and far less “Solve their problems.”

To me, that scene should have been everyone fighting, calling out everyone’s distractions and mistakes, and essentially devolving into outright arguments over the table until Rook yells at everyone to shut up. Everyone is mad, everyone is upset. And then maybe the companions are like “sorry Rook, listen, I have a lot on my mind. I’m still going to help with the Big Problem but I’m also going to pursue this Other Thing whether you like it or not.” No suggestion that it’s now your problem to solve, but a heavy hint that it might get done more quickly if you help (which also gives you room to be an ass and not help). In this scenario, everyone ends up being very disgruntled with you, but you still have your hint that you need to pursue companion questlines if you want to see their cool abilities or special items or get them to be a Hero of the Veilguard or whatever…but that’s just my opinion

Basically I wanted subtly and tension. So much more tension.

What we got instead was a couple of annoyed comments and then Emmrich being like “oh dear we’re all distracted by the things that bother us” and everyone offering up distractions that, yes, need to be resolved…but it’s very easy to be like “hey bud the Hand of Glory and the Nadas Dirthalen can wait until the gods aren’t threatening to destroy the world I think.”

It’s not the worst scene in the world, but it could have been reframed better. Either frame it as “Sorry Rook but none of these factions trust you enough to aid you in the fight, you have to prove yourself to them” (and loop in the companion questlines that way) or show your team literally unraveling because they can’t get along or agree with you—now you see the evidence of what you need to fix, and nobody has to outright tell you to “solve everyone’s distractions.” It’s just implied. Because you saw them fighting. A lot.

Like duh I knew I’d have to resolve everyone’s problems if I want them to like me or stick around! That’s just what I’ve come to expect from RPG games like this. It’s an expectation of the genre. But I don’t want to be told that’s my job now. If anything it triggers my contrarian nature and now I want to see what bad ending I get when I don’t listen to the game’s extremely heavy push for me to deal with everyone’s issues

I won’t, but I’m tempted

I just…wanted it to be better. I want see everyone bitching at each other until everyone leaves in a huff and Rook just sits at the table, head in their hands like “oh my god everyone hates me and they hate each other and we’re going to die if everyone can’t get their shit together”

Then maybe Varric sits down next to them and goes, “Hey kid, did I ever tell you about the time Hawke tried to convince a Rivaini pirate, a weird abomination, a Dalish blood mage, a stiff-necked captain of the guard, a broody elf who glowed in the dark, and a few other friends besides to all agree to fight as a team to stop a qunari invasion in Kirkwall? It worked, more or less. By the end of the night, everyone had worked together enough to end up with one dead Arishok and an entire city’s gratitude.”

Maybe Rook looks up and says, “And how’d they manage that little miracle? Without everyone trying to kill each other in the process.”

And maybe Varric smiles and shrugs. “They had their differences, trust me. Half the time you couldn’t put two of them in a room together without a fight breaking out. But they all believed in one thing. They believed in Hawke.”

Then maybe there’s a pause, as he lets Rook consider that for a moment, before he stands up and says, “It’s a good bedtime story, in any case. I’ll let you sleep on it.”

Sigh. It just would have been cool…

Now in all fairness the scene felt even clunkier because I had actively been doing side quests and helping out my friends so it was like…it felt weird to have this implication that I’m not already helping them. It makes me think I shouldn’t do any of their side quests until after the Siege of Weisshaupt but who knows

I keep pendulum swinging back and forth between moments of brilliance and moments that leave me baffled and wondering who made some of these narrative/writing calls. I don’t hate the game by any stretch of the imagination. Like I said the Siege of Weisshaupt was amazing! And I loved the callbacks to precious games! You should have seen me live reacting and screaming about codexes in the Weisshaupt library haha But it’s like whiplash when something that good is followed up by a scene that feels excessively more hamfisted in comparison.

Anyway I am very busy this weekend and dunno when I’ll get to write another update soooo if you’re following for more, hope to give you more updates in the near-ish future!

[pixiedurango]

Hi. I saw your postal service post and just had to ask.

So, my main Rook, Eliana, is the daughter of Warden-Commander Alnirafenen Mahariel and Zevran Arainai. She's a Crow and she feel head over heels in love with Lucanis (who wouldn't)

Could I get a letter from Alnirafenen and/or Zevran to Lucanis about him wooing their daughter?

Alnirafenen is a Ranger and have a loyal pet Blight Wolf that shes perfect willing to sick at people, she's also very very sassy. If the purple dialogue option was a thing in Origins, it would have been chosen every time. She is also not a firm beliver that all problems can be solved with some combo of stabbing and shouting at the correct people. (Eliana very much take after her mother, with an added dose of sass from her father)

The Antivan Postal Service coming in hot with another delivery. Find previous correspondences here So this was a fun one. I think Lucanis needs (even more) therapy after receiving this letter :D I hope I did your Mahariel justice and that it is OK that I decided to have Zevran only be mentioned instead of let him hijacking the letter. Enjoy!

Transcript:

Lucanis, is it? Or Master Dellamorte? First Talon? Anyway, Greetings!

You might be wondering who this might be, sending you a letter from the South out of the blue. So let me explain right away and may I suggest, you read very carefully.

I am Warden-Commander Alnirafenen Mahariel. Thedas refers to me as “Hero of Ferelden”. Besides that, and way more important, I am the mother of Eliana who you know as Eliana de Riva, nowadays more commonly referred to as “Rook”.

And it also might interest you, that her father happens to be someone every Crow in Antiva knows - and I think you can already guess whom I'm referring to.

I cannot tell, whether she told you yet, but be it as it is: At least now you know.

Why I am writing this letter? Well, stating that we - myself and Elia’s father - just want to casually get to know the person who is publicly courting our daughter under the eyes of all Thedas, might be a little missleading.

And yes, even from the South we see you and follow the steps of the Veilguard, even when times are rough and demanding. Be assured, we are doing our part down here, too. And we refuse to give up on our home, just as you all doing up there.

It would be an understatement, that Zevran - and myself - would take it lightly if we’d had to learn, that you cause any kind of sorrow or even harm to our child. Let me be very clear. If that would be, what unfolds as time and events proceed, there’d be no place to run. No place to hide where we wouldn’t find you and make you answer for your actions.

I am sure, you are well versed in recent Crow history and the things that happened within House Arainai over the past decade or so…

Now that this is out of the way, we are delighted to get to know you and hope to see you soon as we extend our standing invitation for Eliana to you, too, in order to spend some time with family. We might find a nice spot to meet. In the middle between North and South, convenient for all of us to reach, where we can find a few days of a quiet and merry get together.

Best Regards - Alnirafenen Mahariel

[baldurs-writers-3]

Time Skips & Future Fics: A Baldur's Gate 3 Fanfic Rec list

This week, we have Time Skips & Future Fics!  Check under the cut for a whopping nineteen fics that show all our favorite companions and what they’re doing years after the Absolute Crisis. And as always, comment and kudos if you like them!

One Last Crooked Night by Scaryanne (34342, Explicit) Warnings: None Pairings: Gale/Tav, Astarion/Tav

Tav is engaged to marry Gale. Astarion is in love with Tav. Tav is in love with... Astarion. UH-OH

Reccer says: I'm a sucker for reading about idiots in love who could solve so many problems with some simple communication but instead choose to do anything but that. Also it is a nice exploration of what somebody "Should do" verses what they WANT to do.

A Gift, A Curse by El_emit (195161, Explicit) Warnings: Graphic violence, non-con/rape, mind control Pairings: Astarion/Tav

A story in which we discover just how damned an ascended vampire can be, and just how far you will go to save the elf you loved.

Reccer says: A post canon "what happened after we let him ascend" fic. The author does a phenomenal job of world building, tugging on your emotions, making you feel shocked and afraid and excited for what's coming next all at once. Most chapters have left me on the edge of my chair waiting for more of the story to unfold. (Still ongoing!)

Coming Home by MoisopolonOikia (roughlytwentytwofrogs) (15962, Mature) Warnings: PTSD/Anxiety, descriptions of panic attacks and hypervigilance, amputated MC Pairings: Shadowheart/Lae'zel

Lae'zel comes back to Faerûn after the war on Vlaakith is won, a decade after the illithid invasion. She meets Halsin at the grove and travels with him towards Last Light Inn to find her lover Shadowheart and all her old friends there, but she has to deal with the toll the years of fighting have taken on her body and mind on the way.

Reccer says: Very sweet and emotional slowburn with a focus on exploring a post-Vlaakith Lae'zel that came back changed after 10 years of warring. Made me cry more than once (it's a good thing i promise)

The stars in between. by ElleKhen (17795, Explicit) Warnings: Pairings: Astarion/Tav

Years after the events of the game, Withers invites Church, Astarion, and their former companions back for yet another party — a cozy, festive celebration of Simril! Thrilled at the prospect of seeing his friends together again, Church takes the opportunity to indulge in a nostalgic tradition of his old village. But once Astarion realizes that this tradition involves giving gifts, he desperately tries to come up with a last-minute gift worthy enough for his partner with help from their friends and a certain (former) god of death.

Reccer says: I love how cozy and lighthearted and fun it is

Exile (Or: How You Learned to Stay) by Astarionfreak (51877, Explicit) Warnings: Non-con, mind control, graphic violence Pairings: Astarion/The Dark Urge, Shadowheart/The Dark Urge

When you have nothing, and the only one who offers you anything is the vampire you've spurned, what else can you say to him but yes?

Reccer says: A post canon story that explores the cost of seven thousand souls and how far Astarion will go to keep what he wants. This fic is exceptional. It perfectly captures every element of a gothic horror, it weaves together foreshadowing and layers to the story that you don't realize until you're reading the reveal. I have cried and laughed and fell in love with the heroine; it has made me loath a character I love. This isn't a feel good story, and if you're looking for a dark way to take things, this is where you should go.

I'm Feeling For Her What She's Feeling For Me by Zetal (Rodinia) (757, General) Warnings: None Pairings: Karlach/Tav

A cute short fluff fic that takes place two years after the end of the game.

Reccer says: It's short and sweet and I just want to give Karlach a giant hug 💕

turn the lights back on by weatheredlaw (16 104, Explicit) Warnings: None Pairings: Gale/Shadowheart

four years after they parted in baldur's gate, shadowheart arrives in waterdeep with a wish scroll in hand and asks gale for his help casting it. it winds up being more than either of them expects.

Reccer says: There's such a cozy feel to this! All the interactions between all the different characters, the excellent characterization and the musings they have. It's a very interesting little introspection.

As we were by LycheeShark (9363, Explicit) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Durge

Former lovers Astarion and Minx end up back in their old bodies--back when he was Cazador's spawn, not the vampire ascendant, and back when she was still trapped in Bhaal's clutches with all the urges that entail. Together, they must figure out a way back to the future they came from.

Reccer says: It's so engaging!! This fic just hooks you straight off the bat. Great character voices, especially for Gortash and Sceleritas, fantastic premise and things are always happening!

Appetites by SpaceMonkeySalsa (72213, Explicit) Warnings: Suicide, depression, smut Pairings: Astarion/OFC

It's been five years since the Vampire Ascendant Astarion helped save Baldur's Gate. He has everything he ever wanted, and he's miserable. Isolde is nobody, and has nothing. When given the option to become a vampire spawn, her response gives Astarion a moment of pause; “No. Thank you. I think I’ll just die.”

Reccer says: I'm not normally into Ascended Astarion but I love this fic. It's very well written, and shows that Astarion has a bit of remorse about his actions. He has a complicated relationship with the primary character, Isolde; but it's not the only conflict brewing in the story. Features cameos from several other evil-ending!members of the rest of Team Tadpole as well.

she will come back by sevensistersofsussex (14297, Explicit) Warnings: angst with a happy ending, smut Pairings: Wyll/Tav

A decade after a rejected proposal, tiefling Tav sees Wyll once again. Old feelings come back.

Reccer says: I like the emotion and longing between the two characters.

Harper Files: A - Team by Tynithia (17552, Mature) Warnings: None Pairings: Emperor/Tav, Tav & OCs

Four years after the Netherbrain, Ellandra is now a Harper, under Jaheira's cell. She and her Harper Squad are tasked to find the source of some magical occurrences around Baldur's Gate

Reccer says: Fun action/adventure comedy with original characters along with cameos and a plot!

Midwinter in Waterdeep by woodsnweaves (4229, Mature) Warnings: None Pairings: Gale/Tav

After the events of the game, the main character of this fic realizes she's not one for a routine, scheduled life in Waterdeep. She and Gale fell in love quickly and didn't realize how difficult it would be to adjust to a new life together.

Reccer says: This is easily my favorite Gale fic I've read. It's such a great blend of angst and happiness. The way the author conveys their emotions is absolutely tear-jerking and I LOVE IT. I've read this multiple times and still adore it.

Weeping Dawn by Hadesgirl015 (1483, Teen) Warnings: Major character death Pairings: Tav/Karlach, Tav&Wyll

A shortly after the end of the game fic, exploring the deep grief felt when the love of your life is gone.

Reccer says: The grief in this is so well written and explored, and it's such beautiful work for how short and sweet it is. I cried while reading this.

Closing the Fist by aqeldroma (78366, Explicit) Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Pairings: Gortash/The Dark Urge

A month past her victory over the netherbrain at Gortash's side, the Dark Urge, newly devoted to Bane, returns to Baldur's Gate with an urgent mission. But complications are afoot, and tyranny is never quite straightforward.

Reccer says: 75k+ words of post-canon evil intrigue; the Netherbrain as an actual character; the Zhentarim featuring in a big way.

What you made me by Denesmera (11452, Mature) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Tav, Halsin/Tav

It's been almost 6 months since they defeated the Elderbrain. Everybody seems to have found a purpose in life, expect Maeva.

Reccer says: Denesmera crafts a beautiful tale with elegant prose. I love the dynamics of her struggle with her purpose.

the cure for the world is saltwater by Raayide (16871, Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: astarion/karlach

Can Astarion really have a 'happily ever after' waiting for him considering the past 200 years?

Reccer says: Heart-wrenching and heartwarming all at once

Servitude by krapka (10 137, Explicit) Warnings: Dubious Consent, Stockholm Syndrome, Power Imbalance, Master/Servant, Sex Slave Pairings: Astarion/Original Character

It's been 7 centuries since the defeat of the Absolute, and the city of Baldur’s Gate, ruled by a legendary Eternal Duke Ancunin and forsaken by all gods, has descended into perpetual darkness. Aveline is one of the 'faded' - a group of people who this cruel world changed the most. Yet she possesses a unique talent.

Reccer says: Nobody writes porn like krapka. The characters don't even have to fuck before the fucking starts. The tension is always on point, and a lot is done with the world building with few words here and there. I'm so stoked to see where this is going!

Tidal Memories by Irken (4900 atm, it's a freshly-posted wip, Mature) Warnings: Canon-typical violence Pairings: The Emperor/Illithid Tav

It's an adventure/boat trip story 5 years post-game about the Emperor, illithid Tav, and some of the other companions (Wyll, Karlach, Gale, Astarion) going to the royal court of Tethyr to retrieve the Shield of Silvam. They explore both cities along the coast and their relationships with each other.

Reccer says: Irken's prose about being illithid and mind melding specifically is really sweet and thoughtful...

And then we have two recs for:

The Legends of Nexus Vermis by Masterangst12 (84260, Mature) Warnings: Canon-typical violence, torture, past abuse Pairings: Tav/Astarion

A post-game adventure taking place a few months after the reunion party following Astarion and Axel (Tav) meeting up with their former traveling companions.

Reccer #1 says:  The author describes things beautifully, and their OCs are engaging and fun to read about. I love their Tav (Axel) so much, and his relationship with Astarion. Reccer #2 says:  This is one of my favorite post game fics that I'm reading. I've been keeping up with it for a while now and I've just fallen in love with the original characters created for it. The author does such a great job of describing the scenes around them, I always have a very clear picture of what's going on!

The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we’ll be back with a heartbreaking and bloody theme, Revenge Fics!

[moonspirit]

Hi! I'm the same Anon who asked about the hypothetical situation of Annie NOT crystalising herself and the other possible set of events occurring. I read your thoughts and I honestly never even thought about another Kenny and Annie reunion and just.. talking, quite interesting! (Not to mention Pam's own idea that they wrote - I like it!) Including another mentioning a fic where Annie sees her Dad as a Titan during the second Colossal Titan attack and.. I may had a pretty devious idea. So, let's say Annie did in some way join the Scouts (or just is betraying the Warriors,) so during the mission to retake Shinganshina and there's the scene where Zeke & the mindless Titan's appear, what if one of those mindless creatures was her Dad? (This next part, I'm somewhat iffy since it really feels I mis-characterised her since I tend to mess up, so my apologies!) I'm not sure HOW it could play out then, maybe Annie in some desperate attempt to hold her Dad down so it's not mauled by Levi or Zeke. Though, one thing is clear, she sees the Colossal Titan going down and realises that in some selfish way.. she could bring her Dad back, it'll be a curse he'll bare too but at least she'll see him. And oh.. That's Armin. Completely charred, yet still breathing. With the Scouts debating whenever to save Erwin or Armin. This is all I have before I genuinely write more nonsense, I appreciate taking your time to answer my previous question. Please, have a lovely day! (AND I'M SO SORRY FOR HOW WORDY THIS IS)

Oohhhh hello again anon! I'm honestly so relieved you saw my answer because you sent me the ask on sept 19th and... I took nearly a month to answer - very sorry T^T But I enjoyed it so much and yes, the variety of thoughts on it have been incredibly interesting!

Some quick things first tho 1. you don't have to apologise for a long-ask, they are genuinely enjoyable xD 2. I don't think there's such a thing as mis-characterization especially when we talk about a completely new what-if scenario because there's soooooo many little things influencing a person's thoughts and actions and the resultant outcomes. So nope, there are only headcanons, they are all valid, and you don't need to worry about anything else :>

Now to your ask!

🙃

How dare you now bring THREE contenders for the serum with Annie in the mess? Erwin, I don't see her caring for, but now it's Armin vs. her Dad?

What in the gut-wrenching angst is this, holy shit anon 🥲

But no, genuinely I don't think Annie trying to protect her father from Levi's attacks is out of character for her. That is her DAD. She may have joined the Scouts as you say, but maybe that's because it's her best chance for survival. Betraying the warriors isn't Annie's concern, it's betraying her dad. At any cost, even by joining the scouts, she must return to him.

Only, she probably didn't expect to see him in Paradis, and as a titan no less.

Of course she's abandoning everything else (let's say she doesn't know of Armin's plan) and rushing to protect her father and get him out of the line of fire - perhaps by taking him down in her titan form and dragging him to safety, using her scream to summon other pure titans to whoever is attacking and using the time to do so.

(wait... now I suddenly have the mental picture of Annie and Zeke engaging in a screaming match 🥲)

Her sudden switch in priorities isn't likely to bode well with the others, especially when so much is happening and the Scouts find themselves in a dangerously cornered pinch.

Annie's very good at analyzing a situation and quickly making problem-solving decisions, given two options, she chooses the one in which she has a greater chance of survival (yet sometimes she also willingly walks in to dead ends thanks to her heart, but that's canon). Like leaving Marco on the roof vs saving him, but now..... now we have an extreme situation.

Say she thought immediately crosses her mind - of feeding her father the colossal once she learns it's been taken down. She may not have become attached to Bertholdt as much as she considered him a companion in their mission and someone from home, but he's still... a companion. A fellow warrior.

How do you feed such a person to your father?

And then of course:

That's Armin. Completely charred, yet still breathing.

How do you save your father at the cost of losing the one boy who makes your heart beat faster than the wind?

The one boy you swore you'd protect, as long as you wore the wings of freedom by his side.

The one boy who's looked you in the eyes and said I love you.

Nothing makes sense anymore.

[wisteria-lodge]

burnt snake primary (interest in a lion model) + burnt snake secondary (badger model)

Hey, I hope you’ll be willing to sort me. I was a timid kid, always did what I was told, I was nice, respectful and I believed what adults were saying. My family valued books so I took pride in reading early too.

It's a normal, human thing to want to please your parents, and to believe what you're told as a child. I suppose a very strong tendency to fit in with the family culture might point to a young Badger primary... but that's not the only explanation. Going to need more data.

I could never play alone and always wanted a friend, almost as much as I wanted peace and quiet of my room. And yet, boredom was often my companion.

Hmm. This need for community, companionship, another person around is sounding very Badgery.

I have two younger siblings and I was their nanny.

Ah. Got it. So if you aren't a Badger secondary... you definitely learned to model it.

I taught them various words and its meanings, but I also cheated in card games, would be mean to them or blame them for things I knew I would be punished harsher for. 

Hmm. Interesting. I mean being mean to your siblings is neither here nor there - I mean I'm sure you resented them a little for nanny duty for one thing, I've been there. But this tactical move of blaming your siblings because you kew that your parents would be more lenient with them... that's definitely the sign of an I-Move secondary (Snake or Bird.)

Once at my job I had (more like wanted) to figure out why the Internet was down, was it the death of a router or electricity problems. A co-worker was convinced it was the router because everything else was on, I wasn’t so sure. I searched my head for the easiest and quickest way to solve this. It was of course to see if the outlet was popped by the kettle before.

I know that English isn't your first language, and I have to admit that I'm not completely sure what "popped by the kettle" means. I think it means "someone accidentally unplugged the router in order to plug the kettle in."

Now that I think about it, there were easier ways to go about this, and without me even leaving the room, but then I figured I’d take an old job NOKIA and see if it charges from that outlet. It didn’t, and I felt really smart and gloated silently that I was right and they weren’t. With high-stakes problems I really think I just do what needs to be done.

You've definitely got this love of going a little bit solo when you problem solve. You did a little experiment, you isolated the problem. Could be Bird... but somehow I'm really getting single-player Environment Snake from you. Might be the slight agent of chaos energy.

I’m a nurse, well, I’ve a nursing degree. Going back to that system after all I’ve been through was a difficult decision. I was bored studying it, a breakup with my friends from college was awful and I still cuss thinking about them, most clinical weeks were shit while we were being ignored, shunned out or used for free labour. Like I had one proper clinical month in 4 years were I was properly taken around with the nurse’s consent, and was given space to learn things. It’s a different republic man.

Sigh. Okay, so it's sounds like your Badger secondary is on full display here with nursing, just like it was with nannying... but I'm sort of thinking it's a model. You CAN do it, but you don't enjoy doing it. This is also the second mention of you being bored. Which, yeah is a human thing... but it's also MORE of a thing for a reactive, improvisational secondary. I'm kind of liking Snake for you.

I never wanted to go back, but job market was shit, so with a heavy heart, kicking and screaming, I faced the reality of me running out of savings, and sent a job application to a hospital, not without my mother’s nudge and support from people I know, who kept saying if it will be awful, you will leave. Sure, like I would even go back if it was that easy.

A badger secondary would put a little more weight on what the community had to say. Also, you talk about always wanting friends as a kid, but as an adult you seem pretty aggressively independent. Burned Badger? Snake?

I know, I know, I could have tried less medical procedures heavy nursing positions, but one thing I knew was that starting in a hospital meant with good social relations I could always ask for help and have an experienced nurse to learn from. Those other places kind of leave you on your own in the field.

So there's definitely some Badger in you. A very PRACTICAL Badger secondary model at the very least.

Sometimes I am a bit sad for being the reasonable one, for not trying to be an artist, to be a translator of a lesser known language, or for not studying literature and living in a dream that one day it will work itself out somehow. But then I get warm in my bed, I get to buy books I want, treat my dogs or get them to a vet when something’s wrong, help my mom or buy a new bed-sheet, and I know being comfortable was more important than whatever my head imagined.

I'm kind of liking Snake primary for you. You have that pin-point practicality Snakes always seem to come back to in the end. Art, following your heart and all that stuff... it sounds nice, and I'd be nice to do. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is to stay warm, buy yourself and your dogs little treats, and help out your mom. That's a Snake primary, with a small circle.

Snake do tend to like Lions, and when things are calm and going well, Snake primaries will often model something else, for fun basically. So I hope something eventually shifts for you (since no situation is permanent) and you can do something maybe a little more Idealistic, which suits your Snake secondary a little better... since I bet it can get both bored and burnt-out by nursing.

Also I know there would’ve been a lot of boot licking, besides the need to be really smart and ingenious, which I wasn’t.

Clients are... a very difficult part of being an artist, it's a thing.

Would I be happier if I followed my sworn oath to never come back? Maybe, if I could study again, learn what I really want, which is too much to pick one subject, as I think a lot of things, could be neat to study for 4 years.

This feels like a Lion primary fantasy to me: Life is loud and chaotic, wouldn't it be nice to spend four years just figuring your self out?

Not nursing though. Maybe if I was able to work in a bookshop or a coffee shop.

This sounds a bit more like a Snake secondary fantasy: work at a nice little shop where there are a lot of low-stakes interesting problems (like figuring out why the router isn't working) and lots of people coming in for you to bounce of of and have fun with.

However, my idea of comfort was more important then. It turned out fine, it doesn’t haunt me.

Because this is, at the end of the day, the only acceptable answer for a Snake primary.

Not like my study years. I’m not sure I would ever go back for masters though, and I shouldn’t, right, as someone who found their subject so boring.

This is definitely a big challenge with you - you get bored easily. Which makes me think Lion secondary or Snake secondary (and with everything else I've read, almost certainly Snake.)

My fantastical dream is living in a nice place, a cottage full of books and comfort near some castle where I can go socialise, work or do anything else with my time that’s needed. But when I come back to my cottage, I am not alone, although I can be if I want to, but instead I am surrounded by a group of friends, who feel like home, who I can be myself with, as in I know I am stupid, and I do and say stupid things as I’m sometimes too airhead or too emotional, but I will first be met with their understanding and kindness rather than judgment and outrage. Basically I want a found family that I don’t have and a home to make my own and with my rules. So little in life is how I want it to be, and only fictional found families are understanding, supporting and kind. That’s why we like them.

I think this is a Double Snake fantasy. Live in a comfortable little cottage, surrounded by friends/found family who "feel like home." That's the dream of a Snake primary. Then you can leave and go someplace cool (a castle!) in order to meet people, work, or just go along with whatever's happening that day. At which point... you come back home and take off all your faces, go into Neutral... and don't have to worry if someone thinks you're stupid, emotional, or air-headed.

(that's a little bit of negative self-talk coming through. Often people with strong Badger secondary influences can look at their Improvisational tendencies and think they're not valid/real/logical. I hope that's not the case with you.)

I know people see reality in various ways. In my reality, everyone is selfish and doing things primarily for themselves (starting with me) so it is hard to understand when we barely can see past our noses.

Yep. You're a Snake primary. A slightly Burned Snake primary, sounds like.

(which might explain why you're sort of fascinated by the Lion way of doing things. Burned Snakes will sometimes model Lion because it seems easier/less painful, and Burned Lions will do the reverse.)

In reality, I want the family heaven, the damn Hallmark Christmas movies. I don’t think I’ll ever do the whole normative family thing, but I’m either lonely or everyday is the same now and nothing’s special.

Staying within the bounds of this system (because I'm not diagnosing anything else over the internet) it sounds like your Snake secondary needs some enrichment. You cheat at games and figure things out for fun! There's got to be something interesting for you to get into. Also - yeah you probably need People apart from your pets and your mom. Easier said than done, though.

I want a plot of land to call my own so I’d be able to put my pets to rest when the time comes, so I’d be able to visit them.

This is why I love Snake primaries. What an incredibly lovely thing to say.

I feel most powerful and confident when I improvise and it works.

SNAKE.

I went for a little trip alone last winter.

Oh yes, absolutely. I love this for you.

I checked for my ride to and back, all possible times, wrote it so that if my devices went out I had something, and I knew I could survive a day or two until my ride home. I booked a place, and I knew where I planned to go for the event. The other 2 days? Who knows, just go around, see the town, explore, and see the places I have not seen. All of this was made spontaneously a few days before because I had a fight with my brother and decided going and staying with a Buddhist group was better than celebrating New Years at home. I had a great time, everything was okay and I am really proud of myself for doing that.

Your Badger model (planning, double checking, making sure all your info is written down) and your Snake secondary (leave on a whim, do whatever once you get there) are playing very well together.

Sounds like a snake secondary right?

Sure does.

But then why do I physically hate lying? I think I am afraid of getting cough [caught?], afraid of not having the right answer in the moment. It seems that I can never evaluate a situation well and choose the right thing to say for a useful lie. I would rather anyone else create the lie and I would then try to make it as honest as possible. I doubt it would work, unless it wasn’t that important.

Your Snake secondary sounds like it's a little Burnt. Not actually that surprising, considering it looks like you've been around such heavy Badger secondary energy all your life, and been expected to use your Badger secondary, and only your Badger secondary, so much. The message you would have been getting is that the Snake secondary way of doing things is - unreliable, cheating, bad. Which just isn't the case. Snake secondaries have a perfectly useful, morally neutral way of doing things.

But all of this - 'I'm afraid, I can't, it wouldn't work,' all that is Burnt secondary language. As is "With high-stakes problems I really think I just do what needs to be done," which is what you said earlier.

I wouldn't be too concerned though. From everything else I've read, you're grounded, stubborn, and have a good sense of who you are. Chances are your Snake secondary is just rusty. Also this: "I would rather anyone else create the lie and I would then try to make it as honest as possible" - that's a good description of how a Snake secondary works. You're bouncing off whoever you're talking to, you're not creating from nothing.

It was difficult when I didn’t know what I’ll do in the future, after school, when all my plans failed. It was really difficult to go through high-school with no friends and shun out, like, if I was a badger primary originally, that would’ve messed me up so bad that I’d never know. I never had a chance to look like the two amazing healthy badgers I know who surrounded themselves with communities and are thriving.

I do think that part of this is just - that you fundamentally do not want a Badger-style community. You want a Snake-style community, which is different.

It was hard when my college friend started to shun me out and drifted away when she found better like I was nothing,

This friend - this one important friend left you, and that gets a shout-out on a level with your plans for the future falling apart. Very Snake primary

or when I had to lie heavily in my academic papers because no one cared to help and I was exhausted to care myself after covid and almost half a year of clinicals and paper writing.

Okay this is fascinating. First, it does sound like you had a bout of situational depression (or similar) which you pushed through, so good for you. But I'm interested in the way that - okay, you lied on your academic papers when push came to shove (which I would expect from a Snake secondary.) BUT. That decision is bound up with your Burnt primary, in feelings of abandonment and loneliness. I'd say you don't like lying, because you associate the need to lie with feeling alone. Ideally, you feel your life should be set up in such a way that you don't *need* to lie.

My relationship with a long time friend from art school is important. She was a positive and inspiring figure in my life, as well as someone who taught me a lot about communication and friendship. We fought a lot, but neither one of us wanted to let the other one go, maybe because we knew we wouldn’t find anyone else who’d match our freak, so we had to figure it out.

Sounds like an important Snake primary relationship.

I love my siblings but all they gave me was a baggage of fear that I was a horrible sibling and broke something in them.

You were a kid. Kids don't have the emotional maturity (or authority) to raise their siblings well, that's just not a job that they're able to do. It's the job of the adults in their life to make sure all those interactions are running as they should. You can be a horror of a little kid a grow up into a wonderful, well-adjusted adult, or you can be a lovely docile little kid and fall apart when you get older. All you can do (all you have to do) is be decent to your siblings now.

My relationship with my mom is really important. To this day she thinks I’d be an artist or that I was a really studious and meticulously prepared person, but without her support I would not be the person I’m today. Neither I’d be that without all the loops I’d to jump because of her haha.

Sounds like your mom might be a Lion Badger. Which could help explain where those models are coming from. It's common for Snake primaries to build models for their important People.

Thank you for your time!

You are very welcome.

Thank you to Novemberkid for such an excellent submission. If you'd like a Sorting of your very own, commissions are open on my ko-fi. :D

If you'd like to read more about the system I'm using, my explanation is right here.

[thenerdofthegroup]

This is so interesting so here are my thoughts:

Wanda didn’t respond how she wanted. There was no fight back, there was no equaling because Wanda is an uptight hero (nothing wrong with that it’s just how she is with morality) that takes everything too seriously (ie an avenger). Agatha most likely did the memory walk, not planning to try and kill her but Wanda wasn’t playing along. She wasn’t getting better. So she doubled down, Wanda took it as a life or death fight, which is what she’s used to, and it turned into such a vicious battle. We talk about Rio playing games (in the same article where it says she plays games with Agatha and I have a whole thing on what she means by that) but Agatha is the exact same, just more strategic I think. She plays a game to get her way and solve the problems but witches know to play along with one another (most are probably more cheeky than battle-y), and only when Agatha is not in the mood does it become bad. Wanda didn’t play, so it became deadly

I still believe Agatha really did like Wanda to an extent. But she realised very quickly she wasn’t a witch. Not in a cultural and personality wise way. She wasn’t fun to spar against so she gave up on that idea. She knew what was best, tried to deliver it in a nice-ish way (epsiode 8) but when she realised the Avenger would only try and defeat her, not realise she was right, she gave up. She got bored, that’s it. Wanda is boring to her. The Scarlet Witch is a being she has most likely worshipped and loved all her life but Wanda as an actual person, in that moment, was boring to her. A goody two shoes. Again, nothing wrong with that it’s just Agatha is so much darker it’s such a stark difference.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Wagatha but I do believe, since this being confirmed, Agatha just didn’t get that spark with Wanda. Not YET. I want them both to reconnect and have a beautiful friendship later in the show that parallels the comics (one of the best relationships between two characters I’ve seen and I love them) but Agatha did not like Wanda by the end of WV. I think she did to an extent, in a ‘If she played along like in the sitcom’, but in reality she knew in that moment Wanda was not at her speed. She could have been, and I really want to learn what she truly would have done with Wanda because I think it’s a lot more than her just killing her or leaving her. I think her original plan was to let her see her memories and then help her. But by the end, Agatha was bored and then she lost and Wanda has now tortured her for, let’s see… 3 years within her mind and taken away the only thing that she loved truly (@trickofthelight compared it to disability and as someone who has some, I could not agree any more and desperately hope the show show’s the full extent of it, pain and everything) she most likely holds an admiration and a love of what could have been, she wants to find her, but she does not hold a lot of love FOR her. Not right now

That’s why Rio makes sense. From everything we’ve seen, she’s the only one that matches her: jokes with her, same personality, plays with her. Yes it’s very unstable but any relationship with Agatha will be. We know at least she is her wife in the past. The most I personally hope for is they get back together, but those are just theorises for more private groups.

But that’s beside the point. I went on a ramble because we finally saw Rio with Agatha in the same frame and I almost cried tears of joy. Either way, this proves agatha LIKES being around people. She has been ostracised by everyone and she does want friends and true lovers etc. She does want to be around others so finding THE Scarlet Witch, she thought she would find another equal to her to play with (which I think is her form of love) but she couldn’t. If Wanda stayed around Agatha and witches for a while maybe she would like her more, but Wanda grew up with heroes and Avengers. She is very black and white and could not see anything past ‘if she’s against me, she needs to be defeated’.

Agatha likes playing cat and mouse. She likes teasing most but with those she likes she plays a more serious game. I think of it like this: Agatha and Rio are playing a (very sensual) game of chess (which they would probably add stripping to) but Agatha and Wanda were playing Battleships. Agatha was taking the piss and joking as she was winning and when Wanda was about to lose, she smacked the game off the table. Wanda broke the rules. It’s no fun when they break the rules.

Which is why this show is so exciting to me. Without magic others will play with her more. They will still be terrified of her in her more darker moments but ultimately they are on more equal ground so she can make a coven and actually get close to people. She is a very strong character so I’m desperate to see others play along with her, and Rio playing with her too. (God I’m so excited to see Agatha and Rio you guys don’t even know it’s going to be so fun).

This might have been worded absolutely terribly and some part might be interpreted differently then what I mean but… oh well

Anyway, ideas before I do a 10 hour shift. Thank you for listening to my TED talk.

[earlgraytay]

For the Reverse Unpopular Opinion Meme, give me Dark Souls.

Gwyndolin and the Witch of Izalith are both fascinating characters, and I really wish they got more fandom exploration.

Specifically, I wish fandom would explore the villainous/vengeance-focused side of Gwyndolin's character more often, and I wish that fandom would explore the Byronic/Prometheus/hero side of the Witch's character more often.

Gwyndolin's carrying on his family's monstrous legacy, mostly out of inertia. He's sending so many humans- "heroes" all- to kindle the flame and die in the process. And for what? Gwyn's dead, the Nameless King isn't coming back, Gwynevere is somewhere far away, and Velka fucked right off.

(Velka's another character I wish fandom would explore more. The concept of a goddess of sin is fascinating, especially given what little we know about the concept of 'sin' in Dark Souls... and the implication that she's the mother of Gwyn's children. But that's a whole nother kettle of fish.)

Point is, Gwyndolin is doing some truly monstrous things, in the name of propping up the old order. The old order that's never been particularly sustainable, and is becoming less and less so with time. The old order that full well half the playerbase wants to see torn down. His personal world's basically as over as the Age of Fire is, and keeping things The Same As They Always Were isn't making anyone happy.

Out of all the people left alive in the setting, Gwyndolin is probably the person best equipped to try to find a new way to keep the world running. But he's not even trying! He's just keeping things the same, and meteing out vengeance to anyone who gets in the way of that. For gods' sakes, the Blades of the Darkmoon cut off sinners' ears and bring them back to him.

I find Gwyndolin a deeply tragic and sympathetic figure, but I wish people would engage with this side of him, rather than just "oh, he's got a soft voice and is some kind of trans, let's assume he's never done anything wrong in his life." I'd love to see more people explore just how much of a miserable monster Gwyndolin is. How much fuckery he's doing, while not even seeming to enjoy it. How much agency he's given up to (his interpretation of) the whims of dead people, and how the nature of godhood means that giving up that agency is the worst thing he could possibly do. And how giving up that agency is honestly the politically savvy thing to do! Except that politics is dead and he should know that by now.

Similarly? I'd love to see people explore the Witch of Izalith as a tragic hero. Because, like, fandom doesn't do shit with her, but she's the one person in the setting who even tried to do (what most of us think is) the 'right' thing.

The Witch of Izalith is the one person in this goddamn world who tried to solve the trolley problem by derailing the train. The world depends on the First Flame for everything that humans need to thrive? The First Flame's going out? Okay, let's make a new fucking Flame, then, what are we waiting for?

She sacrificed everything- her followers, her daughters, her son, her husband, even her own physical form! - to try to make this work. She gave everything she had to save the world, making way more sacrifices than Gwyn or any of his children made, trying desperately to save the world-- and it was all for nothing. Her creation of demons made everything worse for everyone. But she kept going anyway, because what other choice did she have?

The Witch of Izalith's like a much more sympathetic Laurence. Sketchy, conniving, yet incredibly idealistic and passionate? Incredibly learned, but in ways that let her do more dangerously stupid stuff faster and more efficiently? Crazy enough to think this just might work?

I love her. I would love to see more fandom love for her, and her daughters, and the witches of this series in general. I get not seeing it from Tumblr fandom- we ship twinks here, sir- but honestly, I don't even see it from the reddit side of fandom that likes to ship the fromsoft waifs, and that makes me really sad.

But yeah. More love for the fucked up parts of Gwyndolin's character. More love for the Witch of Izalith and her passionate intensity.

(ETA: I realized while writing this that this turned into more salt than gushing, because my unpopular opinions about Dark Souls get salty- buuuuuut I do love me some evil Gwyndolin and some Witch of Izalith, so this stands.)