#and then we got christmas

[baejax-the-great]

Alistair x Bethany | Chapter 13 | AO3

Bethany was an idiot. His plan had always been to dump her in some small town and assume she’d be fine and people would be kind and giving to the foreign stranger and not see her as an easy, desperate mark, all while he returned home to his stupid prison of a life.

He was a bigger idiot by far, but Bethany was still so stupid for thinking that someone would give up even a horrible, miserable life for her, because he cared about her. And she was stupid enough to be upset not just because she’d been completely wrong about the depth of his feelings, but because that life he was returning to would kill him. It would eventually succeed in ruining him like they’d been trying all along, and he deserved better than that and there was nothing she could do about it because he didn’t think what she offered was better than that.

She was so stupid to believe that she could be loved and cared for by a templar.

She wiped the tears from her face. Feeling sorry for herself wouldn’t get her out of these rags and into a hot bath any faster, and Alistair was going to need a lot more than a bath in the coming days. The Chantry could leave him to die if they wanted, but Bethany was not about to.

She needed to get higher. She needed to get the lay of the land and find a direction to walk before Alistair couldn’t walk anymore at all. She’d been picking the easiest paths for him, but now she started walking uphill, scorching the foliage every so often to leave a trail for her to walk back to. When the underbrush got too thick, she burned that away, too. When she got hot, she summoned some ice to rub on her neck and suck on. She cursed herself for not grabbing food when she stormed away from Alistair, but the anger made it easier for her to keep going even when her mana flagged and she was huffing and puffing.

The worst of it was as much as she wanted to feel sorry for herself and feel wronged, she knew she was kidding herself. Alistair wasn’t a templar; he was a hostage, just like she was. Except he was ready to walk into the nearest chantry with his hands held in front of him and say, “Cuff me, Mother, I’ve made a mistake.”

Read the rest here | Start from the beginning

[eydilily]

break like an artist.

--

a collab between me and @slashmagpie for hermitadaymay's Solstice Social Collaborative Event! make sure to check out magpie's amazing fic for this too :D

(alternate ver under the cut)

[egophiliac]

everyone out of the way, this is the only thing I'm going to be thinking about from now on.

(okay, there is one more thing)

[yubriamakesart]

"Scrooge said that he would see him—yes, indeed he did. He went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first." - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

[xxplastic-cubexx]

personal happiness or what the fuck ever

bonus:

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

anyone else have multiple traumatic memories associated specifically with holidays/family vacations? because that is a topic I never see discussed in all the So You Had A Shitty Childhood, Now What? self-help books i've been reading. but for me, it was a significant thing. and the more i think about it the more it seems like this would be an (unfortunately) common experience. would be grateful to hear if this matches other peoples' experiences...

[leviachansbaka]

[t8oo]

does anyone remember the columbo episod where he babysits his nephew and his friends

[marlynnofmany]

Happy Indoor Tree Season to those who celebrate.

[vellichorom]

we've waited all 8 years, to fi~na~lly bring true our fears; newcomers to watch us play, & veterans rejoice - it's our day! 🎉

[has-the-gavle-goat-burned-yet]

do you know where/if i can find the goat burning video from last year? the one with the crows?

Hi Anon, the goat did not burn last year, it was slowly eaten by jackdaws over the course of a few weeks.

This video is a nice timelapse of when the birds started eating the goat, but by end the goat was mostly just the frame and very little straw.

[nattikay]

feliz na'vi dad :)

[scribble-kitti]

IM BACK HIll||II MERRY OFFICIAL CHRISTMAS SEASON YALL <333333

Idek how Christmas this actually is but i wanted to put them in cutesy winter outfits ive missed drawing them so much why does school & work require so much time & energy: (

regardless, hope you all have been doing well & staying safe, be sure to go drink some water and find a snack! 💜💜💜💜💜

[egophiliac]

Hello ! I positively adore the running joke of Idia unknowingly finding Lilia to be the coolest guy ever whenever he doesn't know it's him, like when Silver described his father, or obviously with muscle red. I can't say what'd be funnier, Idia finding out his online best friend is actually Lilia, resident spooky hyper fairy; or them both never finding out, and it'd become even more ridiculous as time goes on. How do you think it'll play out ? You're always so on point

(Also, though it makes sense, I'm still devastated bat boy didn't get a ticket for the Halloween skeleton train : ( does anyone mentions him at some point ? Like how he'd have fit right in with all those Halloween town little freaks, and how he'd have impressed them with his spooks and scared techniques; after all he's been every Briar Valley's children worst fear on Halloween for centuries. I'm on the eng server and I didn't wanna spoil myself by watching the whole thing on youtube)

Have a nice day !

you and me both, Idia and Lilia being oblivious online BFFs (+ Idia being incredibly intimidated any time Silver brings up his jock gamer dad) is my favorite running joke/subplot. 🤝 it's SO good, to the point where I also am unsure if I actually want it to ever be resolved or not...maybe, like, as a post-canon stinger or something? everyone's standing around covered in overblot ink, and Idia and Lilia's phones go off at the same time...

(legit I do think this is part of why Idia couldn't be present for Lilia's dream, because for some reason Lilia decided he was going to just. embody his past self online. he probably quotes his own battle strategies or whatever in the middle of boss fights. Idia didn't pick up on the whole "oh how weird that we both live on a super remote island" thing, but he would spend thirty seconds listening to General Lilia describing siege warfare and be like "w-wait")

all that aside, however it does end up happening, I do see Lilia being very blasé and all "oh! cool!" about it. y'know, taking it very much in stride! and Idia...very much not.

(can't tell if tumblr is going to chew this into illegibility or not, this will be a fun surprise ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ)

as for Lilia sadly missing out on Halloweentown shenanigans...he does get one little mention as part of an offhand reference to the light music club, but so far no one has brought up how this basically is just Lost In the Book of Liliatown (Sebek's been too busy yelling about not getting to be in the same group as Malleus). 😔 honestly though, it's probably for the best that he got left out, because he would just settle right in and refuse to ever leave. canon would shatter. we would miss out on all the delightful angst of episode 7 because Lilia is too busy eating poisonous shrubbery inbetween practicing his very best screams, and no one can pull him away from it.

(I can hope for a sequel next year though...)

[lonelyzarquon]

[yeloenk]

comyet. 5,, triangle. there are five letters in prism; a prism is a triangle that has 5 points. girl what DO YOU MEAN WHAT ARE YOU HIDING