#and there's cut dialogue of him BEING THE DIVINE

[waspgrave]

Sorry thinking about it but I hate that there was a confirmed 'the Maker doesn't exist' moment that lasted 1 minute and the Chantry/Chant was never mentioned ever anyways so it wasn't relevant at all. Some things are fun to be theorized about forever, that didn't need to happen ugh

[kyeomniscient]

seventeen ao3 fic recs (pt. 2)

creating a new post for the mid-length fics bc the original post was getting too long - enjoy!

pt. 1 (completed fics, >50k words)

pt. 3 (completed shorter fics, <10k words)

pt. 4 (incomplete fics)

in order of descending word count, last updated 13/12/2024

Cherry Tree Inn (jicheol, 45k, completed)

obsessed with the plot twist in this one! the damsel in distress!hoon x hero!cheol dynamic never fails

The Times We Fell (minwon, 46k, completed)

this one definitely did things to my heart :"") loved the visuals of hockeyplayer!mingyu x figureskater!wonwoo, the development of their enemies(?)-to-friends-to-lovers arc, how their relationship remained strong and steady throughout despite being met with various obstacles and external pressures along the way, how Mingyu rekindled Wonwoo's love for skating not once but twice, just them being a healthy and supportive couple - a beautiful read!

Access Granted (jicheol, 45k, completed)

the jicheol banter was golden in this one

divine pain, pain divine (gyucheol, 44k, completed)

the enemies-to-lovers-to-exes-to-lovers pipeline i never knew i needed

cut to the feeling (soonwoo, 44k, completed)

this was a character study on emotional self-torture and every chapter was an absolute sucker punch to the gut - loved the sadness and pining for the drama but i also felt like plot-wise the events didn't really justify the intensity of it all as much as the author's other piece :"/ writing was still amazing though!!

gold fever (seokgyu, 43k words, completed)

archer!seokmin x weightlifter!mingyu in a college au - really liked the vibes and writing in this fic :) seokgyu fics are rare and i feel like it's bc their dynamics on-camera mostly revolve around teasing/bickering it's hard to picture anything else, but the slow-burn element brought smth fresh and new to their dynamics and it was such an enjoyable read!

I'm not afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens (jicheol, 40k words, completed)

after reading this i think it's safe to say we all need a cheol during an apocalypse

In The Eye of the Beholder (verkwan, 34k words, completed)

half-demon!vernon x blind!seungkwan - verkwan is the softest ship and no one can say otherwise

Get busy living, or get busy dying. (cheolhoon, 31k words, completed)

absolutely living for the dialogue and banter between these two during the counseling sessions - such a unique setting, a v good fic!

secondhand smoke (gyucheol, 30k words, completed)

this was the start of my spiral down the gyucheol rabbit hole: collegiate sport aus will always be superior

just let me know (i'll be on the floor) (verkwan, 30k words, completed)

soft and sweet friends-to-lovers fic that made my heart so warm!! really loved how their relationship unfolded over time, how they took care of each other as roommates, with seungkwan's obliviousness and denial and vernon being so patient with him throughout - 'twas a lovely slice-of-life read that brought comfort and joy :)

A (Revised Guide to Lab Safety) (soonwoo, 25k words, completed)

askjfsds this was an amazing mix of soonwoo peer dynamics in a college au + science!! their lab partners-to-friends-to-lovers arc was really too cute so i'd highly recommend this to soonwoo enthusiasts

tu me manques (minwon, 26k words, completed)

this really captured the feeling of watching 90s & early 2000s romcoms (think before sunrise, chasing liberty, serendipity etc) and was written so beautifully i might cry :"") really loved the travelling aspect of it, the scenic descriptions of each city made the fic so immersive, like i was there along w them sigh

also wonwoo has slight manic pixie dream boy vibes and mingyu is just there lolol

here kitty kitty (minwon, 26k words, completed)

the ultimate cosy fall read - this fic felt like a sip of warm tea by the fire on a chilly autumn evening :)

snowflake, i'll catch you tonight (minwon, 25k words, completed)

this was really cute!! just soft and fluffy vibes in general and characterisation was super on point bc wonwoo is literally winter personified lmao

i thought that space was mine (jeongcheol, 25k words, completed)

jealous jeonghan sad fics are everything

a mix of sun and clouds (soonwoo, 24k words, completed)

lovelovelove aus with interesting professions, and this time they're both working at a weather station! soonyoung being a weather nerd is such a delight to read, and wonwoo's emotional constipation + little acts of service never gets old hehe geguri is amazing

Paradise Lost (minwon, 24k, completed)

sad fics have a chokehold on me and this one definitely takes the cake... was left in tears and i would risk it all to experience it for the first time again

despite this being a post-apocalyptic au, the development of the romance arc was treated softly and gently, that the moments of tenderness between the mcs shone through the violence and ruin that surrounded them. it was a really refreshing take on domesticity, one that took me by surprise, and it's a pity that the author only has 2 works!! i need MORE

Bend (and Break) (seoksoon, 23k words, completed)

fwb-to-friends-to-lovers seoksoon?? another wholesome fic and i loved the build up in this fic, where the mcs are basically doing all but admitting their feelings for each other UGH so cute

175°C for 60 minutes (seokgyu, 23k words, completed)

vv cute baking rivals au!! love how little clues were sprinkled throughout the story and came together at the end to tie things up nicely hehe

Lie Again (gyuhan, 22k words, completed)

the best gyuhan fic (that i've read so far) !! aka the chronicles of one (1) emotionally-unavailable yoon jeonghan where he learns to embrace the notion of Having Feelings ™ ft some of my other fave ships seoksoo and soonwoo

Jack of all trades... (jicheol, 21k words, completed)

absolutely went down a jicheol rabbit hole after this... their dynamics are one of a kind and i love it so much

stillness and motion (seokhao, 21k words, completed)

give me a fic about emotionally-repressed characters that yearn and do everything but communicate and i'll eat it up!! the tension built up between (former) teammates in sport aus are a different breed and i'm absolutely here for it

For Want of Glory (woncheol, 21k words, completed)

secret agent au! loved woncheol's dynamics here, and it's really endearing to read from coups' pov because i love the way he just PINES

you make me feel good (i like it) (soonwoo, 18k words, completed)

no spoilers but this was an absolute beast of a fic that DESTROYED me the best way possible :"") each chapter was succinct yet packed a punch, loveloveloved how the element of time travel was weaved into the storyline!! op you are a genius for conceiving and writing this

Storm Warning (wonhui, 18k words, completed)

jun as a manic pixie dream type here is everything!! ww's feelings are so valid bc if jun was my neighbour, i too, would fall in love right away HAHA

Cold Hands, Warm Heart (jicheol, 17k words, completed)

apocalypse aus always hit so hard and this fic was no exception - i was expecting a much darker arc based on the blurb, but the author managed to transform such a dire situation into one full of love, warmth and hope :") definitely check this one out!! there's also a (slightly) heart-wrenching (tiny) minwon arc on the side

now i'm covered in you (soonwoo, 16k words, completed)

it's the art of dealing with grief and moving on in a sweet and tender fic - highly recommend!

say you want me (cause I need it, all of the time) (soonwoo, 15k words, completed)

this is wonwoo as everyone's dream high school boyfriend lol

choosing the right place to put it (woncheol, 15k words, completed)

15k words of pure domestic fluff :") wonwoo and cheol are so soft with each other in this fic and cheol being so oblivious throughout really takes the cake HAHA

burning the wick at both ends (jeongcheol, 14k words, completed)

getting back with an ex is never a good idea... unless it's jeongcheol

in the dream where I am an island (jeongcheol, 14k words, completed)

rare jeongcheol fic from cheol's pov

full ten (minwon, 14k words, completed)

super adorable strangers-to-roommates-to-lovers fic!! i really loved that they each had their own lives (preferences, habits, jobs and interests) before they met each other, and coming to live together only made their lives better - there's just something about the intimacy of co-existing in the same space with someone, bonding over simple weeknight dinners, developing a shared routine over time :"")

favorite (minwon, 14k, completed)

this was a v lovely friends-to-lovers fic - really loved the timelapse of small moments between them from both perspectives!

helios (minwon, 13k, completed)

a literal masterpiece - great execution of a cool concept, and wonwoo's persona as an artist was really well-crafted!!

runaway (verkwan, 13k, completed)

this fic highlights an inseparable quality about verkwan, that there'll always be invisible string tugging at both of them, keeping them by side by side - amazing!

day ones all i keep around me (minwon, 12k words, completed)

established (secret) relationship where minwon tries to soft-launch their marriage but their fans are too dense to realise LMAO this was really cute, and i loved the dynamics between streamer!wonwoo x soccerplayer!mingyu hehe

Flowers In My Path, My Love (seokwoo, 12k words, completed)

this was the cutest college meet-cute aka hotpoetryclassguy!wonwoo x cutepoetryclassguy!dk - it really captured the moments of fumbling, awkward shyness when interacting with crushes so well and bonus points for describing dk as sunshine bc he really is the brightest boy!!

put me on a feeling i never had (woncheol, 10k words, completed)

on the inherent romance in tending to the wounds of a lover

i want us both to eat well (gyucheol, 10k words, completed)

light the way home (and i'll follow) (minwon, 10k words, completed)

[jackthepeeper]

Content under the cut is strictly 18+

MDNI

English is not my first language, I have very limited experience in writing fanfiction.

Antonio (Violinist) x GN!Reader

CWs: NSFW, readers anatomy is referred to as chest + h*le/entrance/s*x, reader may or may not wear makeup, reader wears tight clothes, reader drinks alcohol and gets intoxicated, reader perceives situation as dangerous, now that I think about it it can possibly be viewed as dubcon although not intended

Word count: 1903

You do this because you love yourself.

Of course that's the case. You doll yourself up before you go to the bar, a good long hour of preparation always includes a fragrant shower that leaves your body soft and well-moisturized, makes you feel like a divine being, a manifestation of raw beauty itself. After your skincare routine you settle in a plush chair in front of the mirror to do your makeup. It might not be much, just a small touch-up to accentuate your natural beauty or hide an aggravated pimple, it might be a lot if you're feeling fancy, a dramatic look feels like a fun bit of masquerading. You might skip this step altogether. You deserve it.

You do this because you hate yourself.

Every time you go there it starts the same and ends the same, too. You buy your own drink first to get in the mood, something you know will knock you out the fastest. It's been a while since you've last chosen your alcohol by taste instead of percentage. The glint of intoxication gives your eyes a catty appearance that few can resist, gives your spine a curve you rarely see in the mirror - an inviting shape, the small of your back begging to be caressed by a knowing palm. You can't afford it sober, with all your responsibilities your body's mental image contorts into a creature most resembling Atlas holding the world on his shoulders. No room for a hug at all.

Soon your figure finds itself in a sardine can of wet breaths, skin rubbing against skin through the skimpy outfits people usually wear to such places. The pheromones work you better than any substance you could ever try. You've been bought enough drinks by now to fit right in with the dancing crowd, your whole being traveling through it like plankton through the thick of the sea, hardly paying any attention to the way the jerky moves of someone against your flesh get replaced by a thoughtful sway of hips, a gentle touch that stops your slow drifting, slender hands gluing the bottom of your stomach to a muscled set of abs. You feel a pulsing vein where his bare skin dips under the rough fabric of his pants, the speeding heartbeat and a dishonest smile pulling tightly on his cheeks sober you up just enough for disgust to settle. You deserve it.

"What is a bella like you doing in a ditch like this?"

The smell of his sweat, tinged with woody cologne that's nearly overshadowed by the stench of smoke and a rich dry rye aroma - you write it off as him having drank a particularly strong unfiltered beer - all get into your head, and he gladly takes your laughter for an answer. With him having already taken your body in his arms you have to ask yourself what else he is planning to take from you. You deserve it, in any case.

The next however-long-he-wants you spend tightly pressed against his chest, barely able to keep up a simple dialogue, let alone count the time between him laying eyes on you and him taking you home. Your arms find his long hair, and something cracks in your fingers as you pass the locks between them, smooth strands turning into what feels like dry grass, and you furrow your eyebrow when you feel a spikelet somehow stuck in there as well. You don't pay much attention, though, as he quickly draws your thoughts elsewhere, asking if you like the music here. You press your cheek against the well-worn decorated leather collar of his coat and admit that you hate it, describing roughly what you actually enjoy. He picks a two-word description for the genre quicker than you're able to recall the name for it, and you're sure that he's just made it up. You laugh, because it's still spot-on.

"I'm a musician, you know. Maybe I could write you something you'd actually like?"

Do you really deserve it?

You still allow him to take you back to his place so he could play you something. The cold night air turns into chills slithering down your spine as you watch him pull his rusty motorcycle off the road to a non-distinct farmland, and his honeyed whisper in your ear promising that he "knows a spot" sounds less like a good prospect and more like finding yourself in 10 separate bags by the dawn. For now, you get comfortable as your back meets a cushy haystack and your vis-a-vis shuffles closer to you, trying to squeeze against and under your body so you're practically in his lap. Did he always have a violin with him?

You watch his adam's apple move in sync with his hearty laughter as he throws his head back, his warm fingers sliding up your thighs, a tender gesture coming to a sharp end as his claws dig into the flesh around the ridges of your ilium. You suppose it's the blinding white pain that illuminates your dark corner of the hayloft when the bow touches the strings, but as you open your eyes after wincing your vision is captured by the way his fiery fingers operate the violin, the whole left side of his face drowning in golden light. In your enchanted state you almost wish to be it - right until the moment his other set of arms digs deeper under the warm safety of your clothes.

Your ears work slower than your eyes, and the sound of him calling you a galore of Italian diminutives gets drowned in the melody he plays, your thoughts follow the notes as the man dives to pin you against the fragrant haystack. "Tesoro" as he presses his foxy smile against your neck, sharp teeth sliding along your vein in a silent threat until he decides to grace your nerve endings with an open-mouthed kiss that starts under your ear and wraps around your jawline towards your throat, where he bites. "Cara mia" as the bow rips the song off the strained strings, and the sound drips down your legs that now hug the musician's waist, licking your shaking body, laying thick in the bottom of your belly and the back of your clouded mind. “Amore” as the fabric of your skin-tight top is peeled off your body, the violinist catching the galloping goosebumps in his warm hands, his hot breath snaking its way down your sternum giving you enough heat to not even shiver against the cold night air. "Dolcezza" as he uses both of his real hands to rip apart your underwear.

Deep in the sensory overload you barely register the “ding” of his belt buckles sliding against each other as his nimble fingers work his jeans open. You are, despite everything, painfully aware of his cock easily reaching all the way up to your navel when he lays himself against your body, clearly showing off. His hips buck expectantly, waiting for your eyes to dart upwards to meet his gaze, see how he licks his lips that stretch in an impossibly wide smile, accentuated by his facial hair. He wants you to maintain eye contact as he positions his tip to slide effortlessly against your hole, lingering there to rub between your legs just to make you shiver, to let you feel the twitch of him against the most delicate parts of you. As a cold breeze licks your stomach, you can feel the trail of pre he left while withdrawing from you, and a pulsing vein wrapped around his shaft, his speeding heartbeat rubbing against your heat further confirms that he's been dreaming of this moment for quite some time. You gasp as he finally pushes in.

He makes sure to go slow enough for you to feel every detail of his shape, down to the texture of his skin as he presses his cock deeper into you. The ridge where his glans ends teases your opening just right, the spread open muscle at the entrance tightening while your body obediently wraps itself around his shaft. He gets impatient quickly, indulging your hole with a slow thrust that pulls him in over the halfway mark before he withdraws just to dive in the next moment, hips bucking faster than he can get a reign of himself. His rhythm is flawless, though, toned hips working perfectly to stuff you with a dick that massages your every spot, pulsing veins meeting nerve endings in engorged walls. His mouth is glued to your chest, teeth digging into soft flesh just to sharpen your senses without quite leaving a mark, wet kisses cut off by desperate gasps and Italian curses as his cock twitches inside of you, thick shaft buried to the hilt in smooth muscle. He counts your ribs with a light touch of slender fingers that would dig into the plush flesh of your thighs the very next moment if you didn't feel one of them slither downward along the curves of your torso, dipping past your navel and traveling further south until he can massage your sex, the pad of his thumb rubbing against the most perfect spot in the most perfect rhythm. You see stars when his hand falls in sync with his thrusts, you turn to mush when the frequency deliberately fluctuates to create a symphony on the strings of your nerve endings. A drop of sweat peels off his chest to fall onto yours, and you can swear it evaporated on contact. There's a tight knot where your bodies connect.

“Sing for me, bella.”

You feel too many hands snaking around your body, your blood freezes when smooth bone wraps around your wrists, a moment of hesitation more than enough to pin you down. You're in no place to fight, though, as the musician quickly maneuvers your lower half, palms hooked under your knees until they're pressed into soft hay just next to your shoulders. He thrusts triumphantly, hissing when he sinks impossibly deeper, just half a centimeter enough to knock a pathetic whimper out of your lungs. He bites his lip while he bullies your hole, a heated whisper of inaudible Italian words crawling inside of your mind as the violinist presses his lips against your ear is enough to nearly push you over the peak, a deliberate thrust that drags a thick vein against your soft spot finishing the job. Your body sucks him in as it raptures, a slew of noises from your swollen lips is music to his ears as his cock twitches hard before spilling, pressing thick cum against the muscle he was fucking into just now. There's enough seed for a drop of it to escape your body while his hips are still practically glued to your ass, more so as he withdraws just enough for you to relax, sore joints creaking almost audibly. He doesn't pull out, though, even as he settles against your chest, long brown hair falling onto your torso to cover the glisten of sweat on your skin. Even in the dark of night you can see his eyes, half-lidded and full of admiration as he nuzzles against you, love seeping from every pore of his body.

“Don't know what you were doing there at the bar, bella, but you deserve so much better. Stay away from hell-holes like that, promise? Do it because I love you.”

[nofomogirl]

Good Omen's problem with having two canons

They're fundamentally different. That's the problem. That's my point.

For quite a while I focused almost exclusively on the new season of Good Omens, but now I am slowly delving into analysis that takes the entire show into account, and I've encountered a little obstacle. Namely, things from S1 can be really tricky to interpret.

Fair warning: this post is going to zig-zag between various points but I want you to trust me and take this scenic route with me. It will take us somewhere eventually, I promise.

The Arrangement

It's one of the core elements in the Good Omens universe and at the same time a perfect example of the issue I want to discuss. So let's have a closer look together.

In the book, the Arrangement is presented to us in two passages:

the first one, where it is first - very briefly - mentioned:

Aziraphale had tried to explain [free will] to him once. The whole point, he'd said - this was somewhere around 1020, when they'd first reached their little Arrangement - the whole point was that when a human was good or bad it was because they wanted to be.

and the second one, where it is properly introduced and explained:

The Arrangement was very simple, so simple in fact, that it didn't really deserve the capital letter, which it had got for simply being in existence for so long. It was the sort of sensible arrangement that many isolated agents, working in awkward conditions a long way from their superiors, reach with their opposite number when they realize they have more in common with their immediate opponents than their remote allies. It meant a tacit non-interference in certain of each other's activities. It made certain that while neither really won, also neither really lost, and both were able to demonstrate to their masters the great strides they were making against a cunning and well-informed adversary. (...) And then, of course, it had seemed even natural that they should, as it were, hold the fort for one another whenever common sense dictated. Both were of angel stock, after all. If one was going to Hull for a quick temptation, it made sense to nip across the city and carry out a standard brief moment of divine ecstasy. It'd get done anyway, and being sensible about it gave everyone more free time and cut down on expenses.

In the show, the Arrangement is presented to us in two original scenes in the cold opening of S1E3:

(I am quoting most relevant dialogues only)

537 AD, Wessex:

C: So we're both working very hard in damp places and just canceling each other out? A: Well, you could put it like that. It is a bit damp. C: Be easier if we both stayed home. If we just send messages back to our head offices saying we'd done everything they'd asked for, wouldn't it? A: But that would be lying. C: Eh, possibly, but the end result would be the same. Cancel each other out. A: But my dear fellow... well, they'd check. Michael's a bit of a stickler. You don't want to get Gabriel upset with you. C: Oh, our lot have better things to do than verifying compliance reports from Earth. As long as they get paperwork they seem happy enough. As long as you're being seen doing something every now and again. A: No! Absolutely not! I am shocked that you would even imply such a thing. We're not having that conversation, not another word!

1601 AD, The Globe Theatre:

A: I have to be in Edinburgh at the end of the week. A couple of blessings to do. A minor miracle to perform. (...) C: I'm meant to be heading to Edinburgh too this week. Tempting a clan leader to steal some cattle. A: Doesn't sound like hard work. C: That's why I thought we should... Well, bit of a waste of effort, both of us going all the way to Scotland. A: You cannot actually be suggesting what I infer that you are implying. C: Which is? A: That just one of us goes to Edingburgh, does both. The blessing and the tempting. C: We've done it before. Dozens of times now. The Arrangement- A: Don't say that! C: Our respective offices don't actually care how things get done. They just want to know they can cross it off the list.

S2 doesn't actually reference the Arrangement. But it does reuse the dialogue about free will where the 1020 date is dropped. We will get back to it.

The challenge of adapting Good Omens

Good Omens shares a certain characteristic with all of Terry Pratchett's solo books I've read - it couldn't care less about "showing instead of telling". Which I love, just to be clear. A book is a written medium. It's made with words and one of words' major strengths is that you can use them to just tell things point blanc.

Good Omens does it a lot and it's fantastic.

Look at that second passage from the book I quoted earlier.

From just those few sentences we learn a lot about the relationships between:

Heaven and Hell (opponents and competition)

Aziraphale and Crowley (two individuals in the same position and in direct contact with each other)

Aziraphale/Crowley and Heaven/Hell (field agent and a remote HQ that are not in direct contact)

Aziraphale/Crowley and Earth (two individuals and a space they live in)

Heaven/Hell and Earth (a board where the game is played, only winning or losing matters, what actually happens on a board does not)

It's really an extra condensed worldbuilding gem sprinkled with humor, so it's no surprise it's become one of the most iconic passages from the book.

I mean, just browse through some interviews with David and Michael - especially the ones from 2019 - where they explain what Aziraphale and Crowley are about. You'll be hard-pressed to find any where they don't reference that specific paragraph, consciously or otherwise.

But it's only this neat on the pages of the book, where narration like this takes mere seconds to absorb. It's impossible to convey the same information in a visual medium with anywhere near the same efficiency.

The fact that the majority of Good Omens is like this was, in my opinion, a main challenge the adaptation faced. The book is very narration-heavy. It's full of fun facts about characters, side jokes, hilarious comments, etc. Some of that precious material was salvaged by introducing God as a narrator, but there was only so much of it you could squeeze into a TV show. The rest had to either be fit into dialogues or lost in translation from the written medium to the visual one.

Obviously, in the case of the Arrangement, it was the dialogues.

Book canon and show canon

We all know they're not the same. Neil Gaiman also pointed it out several times. But I think our mistake is that we still tend to think about them as complementary.

Look at the Arrangement again. The show canon seems to merely expand on the book canon. Add extra details and fill in the blanks. The Arrangement works the exact same way, except now we also know more about how it started.

If we compile what we know from the book with what we know from the show, we get a more detailed timeline:

Crowley first proposes the Arrangement in 537 (show).

The Arrangement starts in 1020 (book), ie. Aziraphale finally agrees to it (show - deduction); we don't know for sure if it's a "basic version" (not getting in each other's way), or a "full version" (doing each other's jobs) but we can assume it's the former.

In 1601 "full version" of the Arrangement is in place for some time (they've done it dozens of times) but Aziraphale still objects and needs convincing.

But read that description from a book once more.

Does it really fit into the version of events shown in the TV series?

The Arrangement in the book is something that just happened. A natural, and in a way inevitable result of Aziraphale and Crowley's circumstances. We are never told who came up with it first because it doesn't matter. Because it could have been either of them. Because after five millennia on Earth, they were both ready to do it. They were both of the same mind. For all we know it might have been an unspoken agreement all along!

But for the show, the creators had to come up with a good reason for the Arrangement to be discussed out loud. And what could be a more natural situation for someone to describe and explain an idea than trying to sell that idea to someone else?

For that practical reason - among many others, no doubt - the Arrangement is not only explicitly Crowley's idea, but an idea Aziraphale vehemently rejects at first. He needs to be convinced and even when he finally relents he's never entirely comfortable with it. He keeps objecting and it requires Crowley's constant effort for them to keep cooperating in any way.

The fact that Aziraphale is reluctant gives Crowley a perfect reason to keep convincing him ie. talk about the Arrangement. But the fact that he needs to explain and keep convincing Aziraphale means that Aziraphale is no longer a person who understands the same things and feels the same way.

That is a huge change.

Of course, you may say that what I've written about the Arrangement in the book is just my interpretation. It's true that technically there's nothing there that would contradict the events from the show in any way. The thing is, the events in the show aren't very compatible with the overall characterization of the ineffable duo in the book.

Evolution of Aziraphale and Crowley

You might have read that our leading pair was originally conceived as a single character that Neil and Terry eventually decided to split into two separate individuals.

My reaction when I first learned about it was: "Of course they were! That makes so much sense!" Because honestly, as a person who watched the show first and then read the book, I was surprised at how few differences there were between the two in the original text. If you squint your eyes really tight, you can see how book!Aziraphale and book!Crowley are two versions of the same character. They're far more similar than their show versions.

Most importantly, their attitudes toward Heaven and Hell are pretty much identical. Perfectly mirrored in every regard. What Hell is for Crowley, Heaven is for Aziraphale. What Hell is for Aziraphale, Heaven is for Crowley. In. Every. Possible. Way.

Allow me to present some evidence from the book.

Exhibit #1: the end of the scene where Crowley convinces Aziraphale to interfere with Warlock's upbringing

'You're saying the child isn't evil of itself?' he said slowly. 'Potentially evil. Potentially good too, I suppose. Just this huge powerful potentiality, waiting to be shaped,' said Crowley. He shrugged. 'Anyway, why're we talking about this good and evil? They're just names for sides. We know that.' 'I suppose it's got to be worth a try,' said the angel. Crowley nodded encouragingly. 'Agreed?' said the demon, holding out his hand. The angel shook it, cautiously. 'It'll certainly be more interesting than saints,' he said. 'And it'll be for the child's own good, in the long run,' said Crowley. (...)

When Crowley first points out that good and evil are just names for sides, and then insists it's something they both know, Aziraphale doesn't react in any way. That's because these aren't things that book!Aziraphale disagrees with. He does indeed know it and doesn't deny it.

Also, please note just how cynical the angel is here with his comment that influencing the Antichrist would be a more interesting project than influencing saints!

Both would be rather OOC for show!Aziraphale.

Exhibit #2: the scene just after Warlock Dowling's birthday party, when it becomes evident he is not the Antichrist

'You said it was him!' moaned Aziraphale (...) 'It was him,' said Crowley. (...) 'Then someone else must be interfering.' 'There isn't anyone else! There's just us, right? Good and Evil. One side or the other.' He thumped the steering wheel. 'You'll be amazed at the kind of things they can do to you, down there,' he said. 'I imagine they're very similar to the sort of things they can do to you up there,' said Aziraphale. 'Come off it. Your lot get ineffable mercy,' said Crowley sourly. 'Yes? Did you ever visit Gomorrah?' 'Sure' said the demon. 'There was this great little tavern where you could get these terrific fermented date-palm cocktails with nutmeg and crushed lemongrass-' 'I meant afterwards.' 'Oh.'

Can you imagine this kind of exchange in the TV series? Can you imagine show!Aziraphale being this realistic about Heaven, and show!Crowley so naive about it? There's no way.

Show!Aziraphale genuinely believes that Heaven is good at its core.

Book!Aziraphale knows Heaven isn't any different than Hell and would punish him just as ruthlessly and unfairly as Hell would Crowley.

Show!Crowley understands both Heaven and Hell on a very deep level and is highly aware of their true nature.

Book!Crowley buys a piece of celestial propaganda about ineffable mercy and actually expects Heaven to be forgiving.

Let the magnitude of that difference sink.

Exhibit #3: same scene, a bit further

'So all we've got to do is find it,' said Crowley. 'Go through the hospital records.' The Bentley's engine coughed into life and the car leapt forward, forcing Aziraphale back into the seat. 'And then what?' he said. 'And then we find the child.' 'And then what?' The angel shut his eyes as the car crabbed around the corner. 'Don't know.' 'Good grief.' 'I suppose (...) your people wouldn't consider (...) giving me asylum?' 'I was going to ask you the same thing. (...)'

This is just a cherry on top, really.

Yes, in the book, when things go pear-shaped, both Aziraphale and Crowley consider seeking asylum on the opposite side.

Do you need more proof that book canon and show canon really aren't as compatible as they may seem?

Free will

As promised, let's get back to that dialogue because while it may not be obvious at first glance it really illustrates perfectly the problem arising from balancing between two canons.

Here is the full quote from the book:

Aziraphale had tried to explain [free will] to him once. The whole point, he'd said - this was somewhere around 1020, when they'd first reached their little Arrangement - the whole point was that when a human was good or bad it was because they wanted to be. Whereas people like Crowley and, of course, himself, were set in their ways right from the start. People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked. Crowley had thought about it for some time and, around about 1023, had said, Hang on, that only works, right, if you start everyone off equal, OK? You can't start someone off in a muddy shack in the middle of a war zone and expect them to do as well as someone born in a castle. Ah, Aziraphale had said, that's the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. Crowley had said, That's lunatic. No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

And here, for comparison, is how it was reused in S2E3:

A: There is a stolen body in that barrel! This is wicked! C: Oh, I'm down with wicked! Anyway, is it wicked? She needed the money. A: That is irrelevant. Look, I am good. You, I'm afraid, are evil. But people get a choice. You know, they cannot be truly holy unless they also get the opportunity to be wicked. She is wicked. C: Yeah, that only works if you start everyone off equal. You can't start someone off like that and expect her to do as well as someone born in a castle. A: Ah, but no, no. That's the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. So Elspeth here has all the opportunities because she's so poor. C: That's lunacy. A: No, that's ineffable.

I'll be honest with you - I didn't like that scene in the show. It felt jarring and off. Aziraphale was acting like it was his first day on Earth and it was frustrating to watch.

Then, on one of the rewatches, just as I was rolling my eyes at "that's ineffable", a bulb lit in my brain. That line didn't work there because it wasn't created to be there! In the book and in S1 "it's ineffable" was kind of Aziraphale's catchphrase but in S2 it only appears this once. More importantly, in the book and S1, the fact that the angel would say that was all a build-up to the scene when he threw it in Heaven's face at the Tadfield Airbase. Using that word in S2 was like trying to make a running joke that has already reached its destination run again.

And just like that one line the entire dialogue didn't fit because it wasn't meant to be there. It was created for an entirely different context.

What's the difference?

Firstly, book!husbands' conviction was very shallow and it wasn't uncommon for both of them to spout slogans without meaning them. Therefore, book!Aziraphale's words didn't carry that much weight. The very fact that the conversation took place at the same time they formed the Arrangement tells us something about how serious he was. But show!Aziraphale's relationship with his beliefs is different, so when he says things like that it's a much bigger deal.

Secondly, the book explicitly states that Aziraphale and Crowley only developed free will on Earth, due to extended exposure to mankind. The show never really makes a stand on the matter but based on what we've seen so far I think we can safely assume that angels and demons are capable of making their own choices as much as humans do.

In other words, in its original context, the conversation was just Aziraphale talking about a concept he didn't fully grasp, quoting propaganda he didn't fully subscribe to. He was being ignorant and mildly obnoxious in an endearing way.

But using the same dialogue verbatim in the Resurrectionist carried a completely different meaning. Aziraphale who utters it in the show has no reason to be so ignorant about free will. Aziraphale who utters it in the show genuinely tries to defend Heaven. Most importantly, Aziraphale who utters it in the show, doesn't just idly bicker with his friend about general things but is judging an actual human individual that's right in front of them. That, more than anything else, makes it sound heartless and ignorant.

What is the problem with having two canons, exactly?

It's time to wrap things up.

In the opening paragraphs, I've mentioned that I've noticed the issue while interpreting scenes from S1, and yes, that was the case and I do believe that the existence of two canons is especially problematic for S1. That's because pretty much every scene in S1 is potentially like that dialogue about free will in S2, except subtler and harder to spot.

A grand majority of what we see and hear in S1 comes directly from the book. But while words and actions were kept, in some instances things that gave them their original meaning might no longer be valid in the show universe. Sometimes they easily take new meaning, and we don't even notice. But sometimes there's this dissonance that's not as easy to work around.

S1 deviated from the book and created its own canon. But the difference didn't seem to go very deep and it seemed perfectly reasonable to use some trivia from the book to shed some extra light on the content of the show. I used to do it in my head, even though I was aware of the changes that were made.

But S2 expanded the show canon so far beyond what was in the book that I'm really not sure it makes sense to compile them anymore.

There are a lot of things that were only explicitly stated in the book that I keep clinging to. But perhaps it's time to let go...

Thank you for your patience.

I know all of the above isn't exactly a revolutionary discovery, but I needed to get it off my chest before writing anything else.

[coolestork]

Of Rituals and Yearning

Lorgar x Reader

Note: Another Lorgar fic for the religiously traumatized girlies. No NSFW this time either, just flaying and inner dialogue from the primarch. Enjoy :)

Warnings: Heavy Religious themes, Pain as corporal ritual, Implied sexual desires.

-

The sanctum was dim, lit only by the pale flicker of candles casting shadows that danced along the cold stone walls. The air was thick with incense, sweet and heavy, its scent mingling with the earthy musk of old parchment and ancient tomes that lined the walls. It was here, in this solemn, secluded space, that the ritual would unfold, one that demanded silence, discipline, and an unbreakable resolve. Lorgar could feel the weight of its purpose as if it was woven into the very stone beneath his feet.

He studied her—a human girl, kneeling before him with an awe that struck him somewhere deep, more than he would have dared to admit. There was a reverence in her gaze that was almost painfully beautiful, and it awakened a conflict within him, a duality that threatened to unravel the sanctity of the moment. But he forced himself to keep his expression neutral, withholding anything that might betray the tumult stirring within.

She bowed her head, her frame dwarfed by the towering figure before her. The holy connection they would establish tonight was not to be trivialized, nor diluted by worldly desires. Lorgar reminded himself of that again, silently reciting words he had memorized from long hours of meditation.

Still, he found his gaze lingering on her fragile form, on the curve of her neck, the softness of her hands clasped tightly in an effort to still their trembling. She had chosen this path willingly, he reminded himself. It was her faith, her devotion, that brought her here to endure.

“Are you prepared?” His voice was low, carrying a resonance that seemed to echo within the hollow chamber.

“Yes, my lord,” she whispered, a tremor in her voice that betrayed fear and determination alike. The duality of it resonated with his own internal struggle, intensifying the strange pull he felt towards her.

With a measured hand, Lorgar raised the thin leather cord, a tool not meant for pain, but for purification. He knew he would need to be cautious, painfully so, his strength barely restrained as he let the whip land across her shoulder with a lightness that belied his power. And yet, even that slight touch was enough to make her flinch, a quiet gasp escaping her lips.

The sound sent a ripple through him, tightening something within his chest. He focused on his breathing, willing his mind to remain clear, but the quiet sob that followed forced his eyes to her again, drawn by the shimmer of a tear slipping down her cheek. She was crying—enduring what little pain he had inflicted with a faith that only added to her fragile beauty. There was purity in her suffering, something that both honored and unsettled him. It was the vulnerability he was witnessing, the rawness of her devotion, that made her seem almost too delicate to bear.

The whip fell again, even gentler this time, but she gasped once more, tears tracing new paths down her cheeks. He was meant to find beauty in this, to see it as her sacrifice, her offering to the divine. And he did, yet there was something else—a flicker of attraction, dangerous and alluring in all its wrongness. This wasn’t what the ritual demanded of him; it wasn’t what his purpose dictated. Still, the way her eyes lifted to meet his, the silent plea in their depths…

Is this wrong? The thought struck him like an iron bolt, harsh and undeniable, cutting through his disciplined resolve. His jaw tightened as his mind recoiled, battling against the intensity of his reaction. Anger flared within him—not at her, no. The fault was his own, his weakness a willing betrayal of the ritual’s sacred intent, an affront to the spiritual purity that was supposed to guide him. He was a Primarch, a being molded by divine hands, chosen to uphold purpose and honor. How, then, had he allowed himself to stumble, to let the basest of desires cloud his vision?

The whip dangled loosely from his fingers as he wrestled with the surge of emotions twisting inside him. It should have been easy—simple, in fact. This ritual had been performed countless times by disciples of his Word, a purification through submission, pain as a bridge to the divine. He knew that. Yet, in this moment, he felt like a trespasser, as if he were betraying not only his purpose but her as well. She deserved a leader, a guide, not a man whose thoughts were tainted by something as trivial as lust.

He gathered himself. When the whip came down again, the touch so slight it was barely more than a whisper, and he watched her shoulders shudder, her lips parting in a soft cry that lingered in the air between them. It was pain, yes, but it was hers, a voluntary gift in her quest for something transcendent, something that connected her to his divine purpose. He respected that, and it was perhaps this respect that drove him to continue, to press forward, even as he questioned his own heart.

“Why do you look at me that way?” The question escaped him unbidden, a whisper that betrayed the uncertainty he had so often buried. He hadn’t meant to ask it, hadn’t meant to even let the thought cross his mind. His voice, usually steady and unshaken, faltered.

Her lips parted, though no words came, only a soft breath that left a fragile silence between them. Her eyes shimmered with a mixture of reverence and vulnerability, as if she were seeing beyond the warrior, beyond the Primarch. It was a gaze that unnerved him more than any blade, one that challenged him to confront the man within the mantle he wore.

With renewed force, he forced his gaze back to the ritual, to the rigid purpose he had clung to for so long. Lorgar tightened his grip on the whip, drawing his breath in slow, measured lengths, as if doing so could extinguish the conflict raging inside him.

He could feel it, sharp and undeniable, like a crack splintering across a once-impervious shield. The question remained, coiled in his chest—a slow, searing burn.

Is this wrong?

-

Note: Hell yea, I love me when fine shyt is heavily conflicted by the undercurrent of desire. let me know what u weirdos think

[thesirencult]

THE TRUTH ABOUT ESCAPING TWIN FLAMES AND OTHER MLM NEW AGE BULLSHIT

"You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion."

L. Ron Hubbard (Founder of Scientology)

I won't lie to you. What got me into tarot was a very raw and real dream about a man I've never met in my life. I had this dream when I was 15 and it felt like I was floating in a parallel universe.

Dreams with this "stranger" kept coming and going and during a search I stumbled upon the concept of "twin flames".

As with anything NeW AgE it is nothing new. All New Age bullshit are concepts familiar to human civilizations for thousands of years. In all ancient cultures these concepts show up again and again.

Astrology, cartomancy and other forms of divination and guidance have been used by Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks and Hindu people for centuries. They were villainized after the come up of Christianity.

I always have believed there is a higher power. Some name it Allah, others Moses, other Dias etc. Doesn't matter, it's one God above us. Actually contrary to what many want you to believe the Ancient Greeks didn't have "12 Gods" but 12 (and much much more) expressions of DIVINITY. Metaphors and symbolisms.

Hermes Trismegistus has written everything about "manifestation". Others just repackaged it. Some help us understand the concept and others just want to make a quick buck.

All people have some primal needs. Connection and love. Money and wealth. Wanting to be beautiful and powerful. Some people prey on that and, in my opinion, the self-improvement industry will only keep on growing.

The concept of twin flames can be found being expressed by Socrates in the dialogue "Symposium" by Plato :

“Now, since their natural form had been cut in two, each one longed for its own other half, and so they would throw their arms about each other, weaving themselves together, wanting to grow together...

This, then, is the source of our desire to love each other. Love is born into eve­ry human being: it calls back the halves of our original nature together; it tries to make one out of two and heal the wound of human nature.

Each of us, then, is a ‘matching half’ of a human whole, because each was sliced like a flatfish, two out of one, and each of us is always seeking the half that matches him."

Sidenote: Obviously I used only two snippets of the dialogue. Socrates' stance on homosexuality and other matters of love can be found in there and it is a good read. It will definitely show you that some concepts have been around since humans walked on this earth.

Moving on, I want to give you some tips on how to best use astrology and tarot/oracle cards as TOOLS to better yourself.

1. First try them yourself.

Don't let others dictate how you see astrology and tarot. Go online and search up your birth chart on astroseek or visit the Light Seer's Tarot/Muse Tarot website which has an incredible pick a card feature.

Don't contact an astrologer or tarot reader before familiarising yourself with the tools and "taking the magic out" of them.

2. No one and mean NO ONE can predict the future 100%.

In our lives there are moments who seem synchronized. They make you believe in fate. I do believe that God intended for us to live through some things but I also absolutely believe in FREE WILL. I always say that to clients especially those who have tarot readings.

Tarot and astrology can help you see the paths laid in front of you. They help you dive in your unconscious mind. Don't let anyone fool you that they are magical and whatever the cards say can not change.

3. If you purchase a reading don't purchase a love/romance one at first.

Don't get me wrong. I love love and romance. I love doing love readings. They are sweet and sexy.

BUT. Even in my love readings I incorporate a "general energy of you" for the person. I do that cause I want to show to my client, who trusted me and chose me that a tarot reader can be vetted.

Sadly even with PAC readings I can see that the romance ones are read and reposted way more than ones that assist with personal development. I try to keep a balance and do both.

The thing is a good tarot reader, astrologer even a therapist or a fitness trainer want to help you become INDEPENDENT. I don't want you to keep coming back and purchase love readings about your ex.

It's toxic. I won't accept that.

4. You are perfect the way you are.

Telling you that "yeah, you have an issue right here and it can be fixed by doing so and so" is okay.

Telling you that "YOU SHOULD LOVE YOURSELF. YOU DON'T LOVE YOURSELF THAT'S WHY YOU WON'T FIND LOVE UNTIL YOU DO THAT" is toxic. People control you this way.

It's like saying give me more money. Ask me how I can make you LOVABLE.

Your other half won't cheat, manipulate or make you feel awful. Your ex who was an asshole is not your Twin Flame.

Light up the flame within and love out your dreams. You will attract people who will adore and love you by being AUTHENTIC.

Anyone that abuses you and puts your flame out should GO.

5. All big corporations prey on your weaknesses & Do not trust anyone who tells you they are the only ones that can set you free or solve your issues.

Be disciplined. Control yourself and your mind. Read "The 48 Laws Of Power" and other books on influence and manipulation. Learn how narcissists and cult leaders operate.

All big companies do not sell you products (I will probably post this part by itself too).

They sell you emotions, feelings, status. BMW doesn't sell cars, it is selling power and prestige and confidence.

Nike doesn't sell shoes and shirts, it is selling dreams of being powerful and different, of making it in the jungle, of WINNING.

But there are some companies which I'M NOT GOING TO MENTION by name who influence you by breaking you down. Astrology apps that send you negative predictions about your day to make you anxious so you will check back every single hour. Cult like influencers who sell "How to get rich quickly" courses that cost thousands of $ and offer no value.

Be careful. Be prepared. Be strong and firm.

I hope everyone who was taken in this cult (wait ! myy username is the siren cult, lol) can find peace and the power within them.

[heylavellan]

Hi!!! Happy Friday <3 You are so right about Tarquin/The Viper, so! For those two! "For you? I will be any believer you want me to be." from the religious imagery prompts?

i have no excuse for how down bad i wrote the viper here. @dadrunkwriting spoilers.

my personal andraste

rating: t

words: 502

notes: copious amounts of chantry/religious imagery. channeling my catholic guilt here. tarquin worshipping in this house. few more spoilery notes under the cut

spoilery notes: deleted dialogue and fan theory has ashur as the black divine. he might be the head of the faith but he found a new religion :)

There were very few times Ashur was tempted to throw everything away. He worked hard to become the Imperial Divine, to fight for a better Tevinter. He supported Dorian and Mae, then quietly supported them as the Viper on occasion.

Then Tarquin joined. He was quiet, but his hard work quickly earned the respect of the alti in the movement. That man then had the audacity to endear himself to Ashur, and he had to pretend to be wholly unaffected. Being with him would be wildly inappropriate on so many levels: as Divine and templar, as altus and soporatus, and as leader and right hand.

The frustrating part was that Ashur still really wanted him. He grew to trust him, rely on him. Showed the Shadow Dragons that the soporati had so much to offer a rebellion against the status quo. That overthrowing the magisterium needed pressure from outside of it.

Keeping his distance was easier when he was just the Viper. But over drinks he shared his name with Tarquin. Since then, all Ashur imagined was his name in Tarquin's mouth, crying it out. How perfect it sounded on his tongue. How grateful he was that he wore a mask because everyone would see his stoic affect shatter the moment Tarquin called to him.

It was pathetic. He should be better. And yet...

Even though he knew the Chant of Light by heart, he never understood Andraste's devotion to the Maker. A pure love, a fire that burned in her heart to share the truth with the world. Tarquin was his Maker, Ashur his Andraste. He'd never felt such passion for the Chant as he did gazing upon Tarquin. Because then he understood that fervent love, the desire to make the whole world see.

Talking to Tarquin was approaching his altar, and at any sign of affection he wanted to shout for joy. The True Divine, experiencing the euphoria of worship and ecstasy of truth from the words of another man.

Despite his silent adoration, Tarquin knew. Maybe someone told him, maybe not. In any case, the bliss of Tarquin pushing him into a corner and kissing him -- Maker, how he kissed him! -- was worth any wait. Wanting, needing, and uncertain kisses. In those moments, he knew love in the racing heart beneath his hands and desire from grasping hands searching for any bare skin.

Tarquin had a believer in him. A follower, an apostle. Whatever he said had to be true by virtue of the way his lips insisted on exploring the skin they could find and the way his body pressed Ashur against the wall. He was Tarquin's truest believer, his first worshipper and greatest advocate. Even if he never said it out loud. Even if the only way he knew how to express it was to kiss him, hold him, and share his body.

At least for the time being, Tarquin wouldn't know that the True Divine would be whatever kind of believer he wanted Ashur to be.

[quitealotofsodapop]

thinking about the posts about Guanyin being able to summon the spirit's of Wukong's mother for him/the stone monkeys being ghosts on ffm and I went looking and couldn't find anything already talking about this, so...

wouldn't it be awesome if something similar could be done with the Slow boiled! Pilgrims?

like, the noodle gang find a way to project their og incarnations so that Wukong can introduce the family who helped him so much to his newborn Yuebei, the infant they fought to protect as an egg. I feel like Wukong always wishes that Yuebei could have met the pilgrims, I'm sure he'd get emotional at seeing them again and getting to introducing them.

imagine at first it was just a nice thing for Wukong, but as everyone's hugging and wiping tears any emotional talk gets cut off by a baby starting to cry in another room.Wukong rushes out to find the source of the crying, and the pilgrims put the pieces together pretty quickly.

*Wukong coming back into the room with a softly cooing bundle of blankets in his arms* Ao Lie: *happy gasp* AAAAA! YOU HAD YOUR BABY!! Tripataka, like a proud dad watching their kid go through a milestone: oh my! congratulations Wukong. Sha Wujing: *sobbing at how cute baby is* Zhu Bajie: *trying to seem stoic, is also crying over the cuteness*

Wukong's crying all over again at the opportunity to show off his baby to his old friends.

I actually do have a post like this! Here!

The Noodle Gang would surprise Wukong with a visit from his old squad by using meditation skills they learned from Guanyin herself (or if not her previous disciple Red Son). Very little build up and Boom! The spirits of the OG Pilgrims are in the room. Wukong would sob with joy at seeing them again.

I love your dialogue too! The Pilgrims would be so delighted to finally meet the baby they protected for so long. Especially Ao Lie - who'd immediately start crying at the tiny black fluffball in his bro's arms.

Yuebei is *pretty confused* while all these people are here, but perks up when she recognises their voices from her time as an Egg. First person she reaches out to is the (trying to be stoic) Zhu Bajie- remembering his brash tone the most other than her own parent. This makes the big pig man start weeping like a baby.

The baby is also trying her best to grab the spirits, fascinated by their glowing, translucent forms. She makes a frustrated chirp when her tiny hand passes through Tripitaka's robes. This gets a round of laughter from the Pilgrims, as the monk uses his divine power to finally place a kiss on the baby's forehead.

A certain elephant in the room is brought up;

Sha Wujing: "Brother - did she really try eating the Samadhi Fire all the way back then?" Wukong: "Yep! Felt like she was trying to burst out of me." Zhu Bajie: "Ouch. No wonder you slipped." Ao Lie, cooing at Yuebei: "Aww! Was she craving something spicy?" Wukong: "Sort of. See, the egg naturally craved a large amount of Dao so it could develop further - and she mistook the Samadhi Fire as a type of energy she could absorb." Tripitaka: "It's lucky that she didn't. Lest you would have had another Red Child on our hands." Wukong: "Ha! Yeah... 'course she ended up eating the Bone Demon instead." The Pilgrims, a mix of shock and amazement: "What?!" "Goodness!" Ao Lie, still cooing at the baby: "Oh ho ho! After something as spicy as the Samadhi Fire, you wanted to pay safe huh? Bet that mean Bone Demon tasted like a big bland popsicle!" Yuebei: (*burp!*) Zhu Bajie, laughing uncontrollably: "Thats your answer!" The Whole Room: (*joyful laughter!*)

The Noodle Gang have to train themselves to summon the Pilgrims, and even so have to train to keep them around for more than a complete minutes at a time. Its like having a Magic meter. But they try their best to make sure Wukong has as much time with his Pilgrim brothers as possible!

[nyx-is-hair-goals]

H2 predictions: Jason, Ananke, Olympians

OKAY SO. I have a bunch of theories about what will happen in Hades 2 and I wanted to get them written down before the next update! Caveat: I don't think any of this is definite and I'm not going to throw a fit if I'm wrong; I just really enjoy this kind of theorising and extrapolating, and I figured other people might enjoy reading it too.

SOME SPOILERS FOR HADES 2 BELOW - mostly just which NPCs already exist in the world and the structure of the game . . . . .

I'm expecting two more levels - one that's the ascent up the mountain, and one that's up at the top of it. This would be a satisfying mirror to the structure of the path down to the Underworld. I have theories about the next Guardian(s), and how the other Olympian gods will show up.

GUARDIAN THEORY 1: Jason (of the Argonauts) will be a Guardian on the upwards path - probably of the 'ascent up the mountain' section, at the head of Chronos' invasion. Here's why I think this:

We know that with the underworld's gates open, there are shades with names and memories who are wandering free and able to physically impact the world (e.g. Icarus). So it'd make sense that Chronos could conscript the shades of heroes into his army as well as the more zombie-like shades that we've fought on the ships.

He's got a lot of reason to dislike witches and the gods, and therefore side against Olympus and Melinoe/Hecate. It was Aphrodite and Hera who arranged his relationship with Medea, and that did not end well. Medea was the demi-goddess and witch who helped him out of various scrapes on his quest, but then when he abandoned her, she killed their children and Jason's new wife, then fled in Helios' chariot with divine approval, while Jason lost his favour with the gods for betraying Medea. (Side note: Helios is not an Olympian god, but he's brother to Selene and Eos, who are both aligned with Melinoe in the game's narrative - might end up being relevant? Probably too much of a deep cut though.)

He's heavily associated with the Golden Fleece, which is a thematic/aesthetic link to Chronos and his new Golden Age.

He's best-known for his adventures on the ship Argo, which both a) means he'd make sense as a character to choose for heading up the fleet across the Rift of Thessaly, and b) positions him as a foil to Odysseus. Like Odysseus, Jason met Circe and accepted hospitality from her; like Odysseus, Jason encountered the Sirens on his long voyage.

He's got a lot of history with Medea AND Heracles, tying him in neatly with the other NPCs we've met on the surface. Medea hasn't (afaik) mentioned Jason at all in her dialogue (and in fact very much avoided the question when Melinoe asked if she had a family), but her Keepsake is a Blackened Fleece, which is a clear reference to her part in Jason's adventures. Heracles travelled with them both on the Argo, and seemingly had a somewhat antagonistic relationship with Jason. (Side note: Jason also has history with Orpheus, who we haven't seen at all yet in this game - he wasn't in any of the flashback sequences and so doesn't seem to be a prisoner of time like much of the House of Hades. Maybe he'll show up as an unwilling companion to Jason? Not super likely, but an outside chance!)

Having an asshole Greek hero as the Guardian of the third level is a nice parallel to Theseus in the original game

OLYMPIANS THEORY:

We know that we're getting Athena, Ares, and Dionysus in some form. From in-game dialogue, we know that Athena and Ares are busy with the war effort, while Dionysus is not actively participating. I suspect they will not be giving boons in the way that the other Olympians are; I think they'll be giving boons like Artemis and Hades are, i.e. one-off roaming character events or chambers with the wing sigil.

(Because adding three new full sets of boons to the existing suite would be A Lot in terms of balance; because it'd involve expanding a bunch of the Fated List prophecies and making people in EA complete the new version of them [not impossible but probably something they'd prefer to avoid]; and - most importantly - because it's thematically appropriate!)

I think Dionysus is almost certainly going to be in a wing-sigil chamber - we know he isn't participating actively in the war against Chronos because he finds it too depressing, so it makes sense to me that he might be in a chamber where he's managed to carve out some space for fun and festivity. This might be in the 'ascent' level or the 'mountaintop' level - the latter feels a little more likely. I think he'll be offering boons related to healing and damage resistance - I'd expect to see things like High Tolerance, Positive Attitude, After Party, and Premium Vintage. If there's a version of Strong Drink, I'd expect the damage bonus to be buffed, as if he's a chamber NPC in the third section of the game then there are way fewer opportunities to use it. I think there's an outside chance that he offers something like a cast add-on which replicates Festive Fog and/or Hangover, stunning enemies who walk in and/or doing DOTs, but in general I don't expect status curses to come from gods who can only give you one boon per run.

Ares is more likely to be a wandering NPC, probably in the style of Hercules or Nemesis, and probably in the 'ascent' level - he's out there in the thick of the battle, having a great time drenched in the blood of his enemies, and I think there'll be some kind of element where you need to impress him with how good at violence you are in order to get any benefits from him. I think he'll give out boons buffing damage (e.g. Battle Rage, Urge to Kill) and maybe something which makes a Blade Rift at the centre of your cast.

Athena I could go either way on - I initially theorised that she'd be a wandering NPC who functions very similarly to Artemis, showing up in the middle of a fight and offering you help during it and then a single boon. However, as the goddess of TACTICAL warfare rather than just war, I could also see her being in a 'war room' chamber in the topmost level where she's directing and strategising.

But either way, I think that having one boon-dispensing chamber god in the topmost level would be a nice parallel to having Hades in Tartarus, and it seems super likely that it'll be either Athena or Dionysus.

Oh, I also think there'll be some kind of interaction/resolution happening between Athena and Arachne, where you mediate some kind of understanding between them (or at least help them both to move on). Where the first Hades game had a lot of reuniting lovers (Orpheus/Eurydice, Achilles/Patroclus, Hades/Persephone), a theme of Hades II seems to be moving on from relationships and dynamics that weren't good for you or otherwise leaving things in the past (Echo/Narcissus, Odysseus/his family, Odysseus/Circe, Odysseus/Scylla…)

So, that's the gods theorising. I'm sure I'm not the first person to posit most of this stuff, but honestly, that's just a sign SuperGiant are good at foreshadowing.

GUARDIAN THEORY 2: My co-conspirator NibblyCultist suggests that the final Guardian of the Olympus path will drop 'Entropy' (the second component in the 'Dissolution of Time' incantation, which also requires Zodiac Sand from Chronos) - and that this might be dropped by Ananke.

In the mythology, Ananke is the sister/lover of Chronos, and the personification of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity - which feels appropriate to a character who drops 'Entropy'. The details of this theory will, by necessity (pun intended), be a lot vaguer in terms of who Ananke might be in relation to Chronos, because we know that SuperGiant have made a lot of tweaks to the geneology of the gods and titans in order to make everything less incestuous, and there's been no mentioned version of Ananke in the games as far as I can tell. But whether sister, lover, or neither, Ananke is someone who would make sense to be aligned with Chronos.

In some traditions, Ananke is the mother of the Three Fates and has an amount of authority over them. While we know that 'our' version of the Three Fates are the daughters of Nyx, I wonder if Ananke might be in some way the captor of the Three Fates, and Melinoe needs to defeat her in order to rescue them? Maybe defeating Jason would be just breaking the siege on Olympus, and the next location is in fact Melinoe going somewhere else entirely in order to save the three fates? Or perhaps it's another 'path' entirely that becomes accessible after you defeat both the upward and downward routes - maybe via the Pitch-Black Stone, or otherwise through the power of the Crossroads.

If we see Ananke, she'll probably be portrayed as a Titaness, even though she's technically not described as one, she's just the primordial personification of inevitability. (How is it possible that she's not a Titan despite being Chronos' sister? Well, there's an extremely long-standing conflation between Chronos (the primordial personification of Time) and Cronus (the scythe-bearing Titan who ruled over the Golden Age until being defeated by his Olympian progeny and thrown into Tartarus) - this has been happening since classical antiquity and is why 'Father Time' is shown with a scythe.) This would track with SuperGiant's rendering of Hecate and Selene as Titanesses - it seems to be the category used for pre-Olympian / primordial / chthonic gods who aren't part of the Chaos/Nyx family tree.

I realise we've had no foreshadowing for Ananke, and if we were to assume a) the final boss of the Olympus path is a Titan and b) it's someone who has been foreshadowed, then the more obvious candidate would be Hyperion (in SG's setting, the father of Demeter, Hestia, and Hera). He's been mentioned a few times as another Titan who was put down by his Olympian children. But also, I think it's less thematically interesting / satisfying. With having a shiny golden Titan at the lowest point of the underworld, a darker and scarier Titaness at the highest point of the Olympus path feels pleasingly balanced, in terms of the paths mirroring each other. And that link to the Fates feels compelling.

I DEFINITELY HAVE MORE THOUGHTS BUT ALSO I'VE BEEN WRITING THIS FOR HOURS AND MY BRAIN IS TIRED AND THESE WERE THE MAIN BIG THINGS SOOOOOOO GONNA POST THIS NOW I GUESS

[raxistaicho]

Analyzing Hubert and Byleth's A support

Hey all, been a while since I had the idea to do an analysis post, but I finally had a good idea!

So everyone's familiar with Byleth and Hubert's A support, right? That's the one where Byleth is just minding their own business when Hubert suddenly bursts onto the scene and tells them he'll kill them for being a Nabatean.

Wait, wait, that doesn't sound right, I think we should start over from the beginning.

Now, the way it actually begins is with Byleth standing in the ruined cathedral at Garreg Mach, when Hubert emerges and begins monologueing, as only he can.

Nice place, isn't it, Professor? Standing here, you can almost feel the goddess's absence. Discounting what dwells within you, of course.

I do want to draw attention to something here. The last line there calls back to a line from their B support:

I see something of Lord Arundel in you… When I look at you, I feel I can almost see a second self lurking beneath the surface. It is as if you are in constant dialogue with something inside your heart—something with desires very different from your own. Does that description feel familiar to you at all?

After everything that's happened to Byleth and all their choices, Hubert's made peace with the fact that Byleth is different in a way he can't fully understand, and in a manner that reminds him of the goddess. It's also an acknowledgement that Byleth is both similar and yet different to the children of the goddess and the deity they've foisted upon the people of Fodlan. Because, let's not forget, the goddess Sothis is quite different from Byleth's beloved head gremlin.

But I digress,

Do you think some punishment would rain down from the sky if this monastery were to be destroyed? Of course not. Even if the so-called Immaculate One came back here for revenge… That would only be a result of this war, not the work of a deity.

This is more of the same; the goddess has no agency. Any act, however apparently divine, is simply the actions of Rhea and her kin attempting to appear godly. Because that really is the true nature of the Church of Seiros: very powerful otherworldly beings using their innate gifts to mislead the people of Fodlan into believing an all-powerful goddess is watching over them.

Again, Sothis, the primordial god, is dead, and by now she's forfeited any chance to return to the land of the living. The goddess truly no longer exists in any way that matters.

Byleth then asks whether Hubert hates the goddess, to which he replies,

If it is between love and hate, then I would choose the latter. The goddess failed to properly govern this world. That is why it is necessary for Lady Edelgard to become the supreme leader of Fódlan.

Basically, he's saying that the gods have failed so spectacularly that the only way to fix Fodlan now is through an act of continental war. And really... Rhea has failed. Fodlan was so thoroughly broken that the events leading up to 1180 is a string of calamities even before you get to the Agarthans' direct conduct. Even her own church is falling apart at the seams, with the southern branch extinct after trying to influence Imperial politics, the central and western branches openly in conflict, and the central branch privately scorns the eastern branch for being too even-handed.

Hubert closes this thought with,

Those with power must use it wisely. Is that not a teaching of the Church of Seiros? It's absurd to preach to others what you cannot practice yourself.

This is why I get frustrated seeing people just cutting everything up until this point and focusing only on the soundbit parts of the supports; they're excising the crucial context, that Hubert despises the Fodlan divinity because it arrogantly claims and authority its proven itself unworthy of.

Anyways, Byleth then has two choices as to how to reply, with both reaching the same conclusion,

Hubert then goes on to say,

That is not the case for inhuman creatures with lifespans well beyond our own. We must fight to preserve what makes us human.

This is what lies at the heart of his disdain for the Church of Seiros, and the whole reason he and Edelgard are doing what they have to do: the gods have failed to be godly, so humanity has to rise and govern themselves instead.

Gods are supposed to be wise, perfect, and eternal, and yet Rhea and the Church of Seiros, the true avatars of the supposed goddess, are not; they must make the same flawed hypocrisies as the humans beneath them do, so what right have they to presume they know which path humanity should take?

Anyways, continuing on,

You are the one closest to the enemy. I wonder if you will be able to maintain your humanity to the end.

Now, to understand what he really means by "human", it needs to be contrasted against what he's previously been discussing: the failures of the gods. "Humanity" in most instances it's mentioned by Edelgard and Hubert is in contrast to Rhea and her kin as gods, not as a species.

Edelgard's conflict with the godess of Fodlan and her church is in the way she and they have failed to govern Fodlan, not her distaste for their green hair and pointy ears. She's always clear where she takes issue; their belief that they know what's best for mortals despite being no better than them.

And make no mistake, Rhea does think she knows what's best for Fodlan in Sothis's absence, despite all evidence showing she doesn't,

For another example of Fire Emblem using "human" in a way other than to speak of them as a race, look to Engage,

Celine obviously wouldn't saying that dragons are inhuman, unfriendly monsters. Describing Alear as "human" is a way of expressing that they're humble and personable, which Alear absolutely is, if nothing else.

"Human", in this instance, just as in 3H, is contrasted against the idea of gods as otherworldly, unknowable, and aloof. Naga would be a great example of the latter, while still being a fundamentally benevolent character.

When Hubert speaks of Byleth "losing their humanity", he means losing their connection to other people and becoming distant, the way Rhea did. Dorothea expresses similar fears in chapter 11,

This is directly after Byleth fused with Sothis.

Dorothea worrying now implies that Byleth's unusual behavior is different from their ordinary stoicism.

Edelgard also brings up something similar in her own A support with Byleth, expressing concern that she's grown detached from ordinary people, and while she thought of Byleth as a kindred spirit in that regard, she's also relieved that they can express feelings like jealousy.

Of course, most of the Nabateans aren't quite as detached as Hubert and Edelgard seem to expect; Flayn and Seteth certainly aren't, but their focus is almost exclusively upon Rhea, who certainly is rather detached from ordinary people. That said, we can't fault characters for not having access to every scrap of information that the reader is privileged to have.

Anyways, in response to Hubert's fear, Byleth can implicitly give him permission to kill them;

I wonder if you will be able to maintain your humanity to the end.

If I'm unable to…

Does that mean you know I will do what must be done? You must trust me a great deal.

While this might seem like an "that escalated real fast!" moment, it's in truth an evolution of their C support, in which Hubert threatens to kill Byleth if they appear to present a threat to Edelgard, and their B support, in which Hubert grows more certain Byleth will be a threat to her.

My family, House Vestra, has been sworn to House Hresvelg for generations. Since the dawn of the Empire, we have worked to protect the emperor by any means necessary— both in the open and in the shadows. If you incur our wrath, you will see just what I mean.

With this groundwork in mind, we're meant to read Byleth's vague line as giving Hubert permission to kill them. The game's backstory is steeped in examples of characters gaining and abusing their power, for intentions both good and bad, Nemesis, Rhea, the Fodlan nobility, and Byleth by now would be keenly aware of the corruptive influence power represents, and Byleth at this point is already one of the most powerful individuals in Fodlan.

In contrast, should Byleth express confidence that they won't fail the way Rhea did, he'll accept it almost in stride, a response unthinkable for the man he used to be,

I wonder if you will be able to maintain your humanity to the end.

Of course I will.

You make it sound easy. I find myself trusting you. Even with my life.

I've seen people analyze this support as a sign that Hubert still doesn't trust Byleth, but if anything it's the opposite: after the decisions Byleth has made, and after the way he's opened up more to them, Byleth and Hubert have come to trust each other a great deal. Byleth entrusts Hubert with their life, while Hubert entrusts Byleth with his secret plans for the future.

They've become conspirators in ensuring the success of Edelgard's plans, and it's why they their relationship is one of my favorites in all of Three Houses, if not Fire Emblem as a series.

It's incredible seeing where they begin and where they end. So yeah, I hope anyone who's made it this far found that to be an interesting read of an oft-misunderstood support :)

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

WOE, RATS BE UPON YE!!

more Ruju doodles because I lost control of my hands, oops

this time, featuring a later snapshot from Ruju's Commander timeline: set around the time of Secrets of the Obscure and Janthir Wilds, he's now even farther off model than he already was!!

and now some obligatory (non-spoiler) ratmander lore-dumping under the cut:

characterization notes as The Commander™

slowly comes into his own over the years, with his softer side finally showing itself mainly when Aurene chooses him

this rat was the softest little guy wherever she was concerned

no seriously he was almost as clingy with her as she was

Caithe was the serious parent he was the fun uncle/big bro

he used to race her up the jumping puzzle in the egg room

largely wanted her to get to have the childhood he never did

he still play-wrestled with her even once she was 1000x his size

his bond to Aurene helps stabilize his magic significantly

there is an inverted bell-curve of 'respect for the Commander' based on how much experience one has with him

step 1: celebrity hero. step 2: violently insane. step 3: ok yes he's insane but also thank every divinity he's on OUR side

actually did NOT get along with Gorrik at first. he is a grade A projector and also distrusts anyone Inquest immediately

Gorrik being enamored by the murderous beetles did not help.

(that entomologist almost wound up in the sea. oops)

after multiple interventions and a few sincere heart-to-hearts though he's become EXTREMELY protective of the guy

similarly protective of Taimi, though he teases her back too

genuinely struggles to keep track of things. he writes out the canon story journal in a small notebook to help with that

miscellaneous other details you didn't ask for

consistently chooses ferocity-aligned dialogue options even and especially when he has absolutely no good reason to do so

do not pick him up. do not pick him up. do not pick him up.

if he allows you to carry him either he really really likes you or he's pretty sure he'd serve a prison sentence for biting you

acts very big and tough but is a total softie deep down

no seriously if you hug him he might actually cry

(he'll claim it's just something in his eye though)

had some crushes in college and fumbled every single one

50/50 shot of whether the rats he picked on were just easy targets or if he liked them and was trying really hard to cover it up

(if he ever met them again he might actually burst into flames)

incapable of sleeping in normal positions. also snores LOUDLY

puts bloodstone dust on ALL his food. Oxbone would be proud

also makes his own food EXTREMELY spicy when he can

dw he won't put that on yours though. he's not THAT mean

originally got into cooking as a method of training his fire magic

LOVES to put on a big show with it if he has guests, too, complete with all sorts of fancy knife tricks. you get The Works

his ADHD hyperfixation is knives/cutlery. he has told no one this

constant motion/fidgeting, can't keep still. foot tapping, scratching, claw biting, pacing, etc are all very common

[justarandomlambblog]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 [END]

you know how you don't adopt cats, cats adopt you? Well here we have Narinder adopting a dad

(I encourage you to view each page in a new tab, it's all sketch so you can see all my thought and build lines but I think it's clear enough?)

This is sort of a prologue for this AU I've talked about and is one of like... 3 or 4 parts

That horrible moment realization, regret and grief hits you all at the same time

I like long-furred Narinder I think he should embrace manbun life /kidding (unless... (/j/j))

Ignore the perspective issues on the last page I got very tired (am sick today) and I am a firm believer in doing things bad but having fun. That being said I had zero intention of making backgrounds for this and just generalizing everything but then I drew the crumbling ancient temple platform and the divine battleground and it was over I needed backgrounds from there on out-

Does the world of Cult of the Lamb have the same meaning for middle fingers? Who knows, I just thought it'd be funny for Narinder to double-flip off Lamb as he's disappearing into the teleportation stone. Don't @ me <3

I didn't want there to be any dialogue so I hope the story is clear through the pictures alone but if not, there's an explanation below the cut

After being defeated, Narinder finds himself on the indoctrination stone, the manacles still around his wrists and neck. The Lamb offers him mercy- a place to live. But Narinder refuses. He gets to his feet on his own and runs to the teleportation stone, and the Lamb is too surprised for a moment to realize what's happening. They try to stop him, knowing how injured Narinder is and that this stunt will only aggravate Narinder's wounds, but Narinder is running on anger, regret, humiliation and adrenaline- and he is much older than the Lamb is and knows more locations than the Lamb does. He knows about the long-fallen territory on the very edge of the Old Faith's land, what was once a grand city of gods having become a divine battlefield eons ago; it is the only place he can think to go, stumbling his way down the stairs that are much too big for his newly mortal form and running for the forest beyond the Old Faith's border.

Running through the old beaten paths of the forest, he trips and finds himself unable to pull himself back up, his adrenaline fading almost as soon as he hits the ground and the pain of his wounds flares up. He allows himself to fall unconscious, thinking maybe he will just quietly perish out there in the woods, but is found by an older canine passing through. Finding the injured Narinder, the old dog puts him on the cart he pulls and takes him to his home, tending to his wounds.

Narinder wakes up in pain, finding himself in a strange, unfamiliar place, and his savior brings him food. Narinder struggles, his hands shakey and everything in pain, but he is resistant at first to the old dog's aid. Over time, as the dog tends his wounds and gives him clothes to wear and changes his bandages, Narinder begins to accept his help and allows him to help exercise his limbs while he's bed bound and, eventually, help him to walk again. Months pass them by, from summer to autumn to winter until it's spring. The old dog is happy for Narinder's progress and gives Narinder a fond pat on his head, unintentionally reminding Narinder of Shamura.

In the spring, Narinder is able to walk on his own, though he uses a cane to aid him. He explores the old dog's home, since the dog isn't around as much as he used to be now that Narinder is mostly independent again. Narinder spots him out a window, tending to a garden, and steps outside to discover he's on a farm. It's a large farm, though not very bountiful; it's a wheat field, one that clearly suffers from the lack of a god's blessing- in a world of gods, a godless village can only just get by. Beyond the fields are more homes and sheds, and people tend the fields.

He joins the old dog in the garden after being invited over, and the dog gives him a flower bulb to plant. Narinder remembers when he and Leshy did this exact same thing, with Leshy showing Narinder how to plant the flower bulb in the dirt; as he gently buries it, he can feel Leshy's phantom hands over his own, as if guiding him. To Narinder's surprise, not only does the flower bloom as soon as it has been covered, but it spreads out; the garden bursts to life with the strange black and white flowers, and they grow wildly through and around the garden, reaching all the way to three graves under a solitary tree.

Narinder is looking at his hands in shock, not having expected to be able to do this; he had thought his magic was gone, the last vestiges of it used to activate the teleportation stone when he escaped. As he looks at them, the manacle around his neck falls off, landing in his hands, and begins to dissipate into residual magic, and he remembers Leshy- Leshy, pleading with him to hold his tongue, to give up on his newest, heretical ideas, that the world isn't ready to hear it and the consequences would be too great and the other Bishops wouldn't allow him to pursue it. Realizing all at once exactly what he lost- what he threw away when he refused to heed his brother's warnings and wait for the right time, when the world was ready- he breaks down, doubling over in tears- the first tears he's allowed himself for nearly a thousand years, now. Hurt from the betrayal, regret for what he did and made the Lamb do, grief for what his siblings did in fear of him- it all hits him at once.

The old dog reaches out to him, and Narinder clings to him, letting himself completely break down. The kind dog just holds him while he cries.

(Not shown: the old dog shows Narinder the shrine, explaining what it is and what the painted flat stones are for. He gives Narinder flat stones to paint and goes outside to speak to the graves of his own family, even though it's begun to rain.)

Narinder paints four stones, each one with a symbol on top that he associates with his siblings (a book for Shamura, a diamond crystal for Kallamar, stalks of wheat for Heket, and a camellia for Leshy). He doesn't really forgive them for their betrayal of him, doesn't forgive them for locking him away for a thousand years- but it soothes an ache deep inside, to accept that even if he can't forgive them he can mourn them and regret his part in all this. That despite everything there was still love- it's conflicting, but it's almost like... closure. Or, at least, the start of it.

He makes tea and offers it to the old dog when he comes inside, and they sit together and drink tea while listening to the rain. The four stones sit on the shrine now, with the dog's family's stones, cementing the fact that Narinder has accepted that he isn't leaving this house.

Thus, the old dog becomes the adopted father of a 5,000+ year old cat ex(?)-god.

[exhausted-archivist]

In regard to my last reblog, I kinda want to expand on it.

The novels are 100% optional flavour text. They aren't required for you to really understand what is happening in the world. With the exception of Asunder, that one for me is a bit of a grey area but that is only because it covers aspects of two companions (Cole and Vivienne) that are glossed over and is rehashed entirely in an aspect by another companion's personal quest (Cassandra's).

Not even World of Thedas, the lore books are required because a big chunk of them are put in the game as codices. And the character stuff that's not? That's also flavour text and the fact that Leliana doesn't share background reports on your companions or you can't find them is a missed opportunity in utilizing Leliana. The whole "Game" aspect of Orlesian politics could have also been better incorporated through Josephine and Vivienne.

This is long so... cut.

But TLDR: Nothing is mandatory. World of Thedas, Asunder, and Masked Empire are just under utilized flavour text. They better not do the same or worse with Tevinter Nights.

We know they cut Cole from having Evangelina and Rhys appear for his personal quest and instead we got that weird thing with Varric and Solas being disagreeing dads on nature vs nurture. Rhys and Evangeline, but more so Rhys, are so important to Cole's background that I feel they could have brought them on with a little codex or preamble and it would have worked fine. They could have touched more on Cole's fear of becoming a demon again, his sense of identity and self, and even explored his whole concept of "helping" and his unique brand of compassion - because really Cole's form of compassion is a little off the beaten path.

But, that isn't because Asunder is mandatory, but because Cole isn't well anchored to begin with. They don't really explore him as a spirit/demon, they mostly use him as a way to tell you about other characters, and he's really wishy washy on even establishing what happened at the White Spire or with Seeker Lambert and just gives these sort of teasing/tantalizing starting points.

Which leads into a weak point with Vivienne. She has issue with how the war started. She has issue with the vote. She has issue with everything that happened with the White Spire. Which again, isn't explored and is just flippantly mentioned in banter with Cole or when she's snarking at Fiona.

We know she has issue with the vote because it was made when everyone was already dealing with Circles falling and templars killing people and extremist mages were killing other mages that opposed them. The vote was made not by people who were elected by the Circles - not entirely. They were made by whoever happened to get to Andoral's Reach and it was very much an emergency vote. She wasn't there for the vote and that's the start of the issue for her. Which, understandably this was written before Vivienne even existed, but with that they never resolve why she wasn't there for the vote or even aware of the chaos of the Circles. You kind of guess it's because of Bastien's health but yeah not really clear.

Both Cole and Vivienne's stories would be better anchored as well as give the Mage Templar war and the factions with in it more nuance if they even tried to incorporate the cliff notes of Asunder. It would also make it more of a flavour text and less of this murky grey area.

Which to make it even more murky and grey, Cassandra's whole plot of discovering the reversal to tranquility? Yeah that was discovered by a tranquil mage at the request of Divine Justinia. Literally every circle mage and Chantry person (of a certain rank) knows of its existence. Which they cheekily hide in ambient dialogue between Mother Giselle and another cameo character from Cassandra's past, Avexis. An elven mage who was turned tranquil because of the danger from her abilities to not only control small creatures but dragons.

That story Cassandra is known for? The dragons attacking the Grand Cathedral? Avexis was involved with that. Whole big thing in Dawn of the Seeker. But I digress.

Mother Giselle and Avexis talk about the reversal to tranquility in Haven. Everyone already knows but Cassandra's personal quest misleads you cause she's so pikachu-faced about discovering that there was a reversal and the Seeker's knew about it. Only half of the information should be new to her, the rest everyone knew about for a year and could have been beautifully folded into her story as to not only her mixed feelings on how she didn't feel as close to Justinia as Leliana was - because Leliana was in on it and Cassandra wasn't even aware that the Divine requested this happen behind the Seeker's back in 9:35 Dragon.

It would have been a great point to fold into the story to not only give more context to Cassandra questioning the Order but also feeling out of control and lost. Honesty would have been a good point in tension for her and Leliana to have.

But instead Cole goes largely explained, Vivienne is under explored and barely connected to the Mage Templar War conflict, and Cassandra is a (in my opinion) much less interesting rehash of something most people connected to the Chantry and Circles already knew for the most part.

Asunder is less required reading and more of discarded world building that amounts to a lot of missed opportunities.

Something I think that Tevinter Nights is at risk of if not worse. Either under utilized world building or they go full tilt in the wrong direction and it becomes the first required reading.

Specifically reading, because the first required additional media is the Legacy DLC of which they yoinked Corypheus and the whole start of the red templars from. And then again with Tresspasser which establishes and reveals so much vital information for the next game. Both DLCs, I think should have/be updated to free. Especially since it's been so long and they are required for the story now. And any "well players had to pay for them previously" is bs because new players can get the whole trilogy on sale for like 15USD. Deluxe editions included so they come with the DLCs - except for DA2.

Asunder and DLCs aside, lemme now circle back to the whole World of Thedas/Leliana and co thing.

The thing that grinds my gears about the World of Thedas bits is that a large part of them... are written to Leliana as reports. In game Leliana talks about doing background checks - how she isn't thorough enough with Solas because there wasn't enough time and more pressing things were coming. He slipped through the cracks. But everyone else? She got dirt on. Sera included. Leliana could have been a great vector to not only divulge more flavour text lore of our companions, but it could have also given us more aspects of conversation. How do they feel knowing Leliana gave us reports? Is sera annoyed because of the questions you can now ask? Is Blackwall sweaty because you might know details he doesn't? Does Iron Bull want to compare notes and see how good Leliana's network is?

There was so much they could have done with Leliana to not only make her more involved but made us more involved with the characters. It would have lead to more interactive story telling and folded in making the meta knowledge less meta as our Inquisitor actually used the resources of our spymaster.

Still, not required reading, but a way to fold in all the world building you've done to make the characters feel more real and give us a chance to bond with them. Even if we can't talk to them about it because "leaving it open ended for headcanons".

This also goes into how "The Game" is under utilized in Inquisition. So much of Inquisition is telling vs showing us or letting us experience something. Having more scenes where we walk in on Josephine dealing with combative knowledge, using our origins and background perks to play the game introduces us to the concept of Orlesian politics and perhaps we get perks - more soldiers, resources, gold, higher starting approval at the Winter Palace. Something that has more relevance to us and folds in this supposed system all of Orlais is beholden to.

A similar system could have also been used with Vivienne. Whether she was hosting nobles or if she wanted to gossip with you over a letter she received that she thinks could be of use to you if you know how to properly use The Game. It would have also been interesting if it impacted the noble npcs hanging out in the hall, if it became weighted depending on just how good you were. Less Orlesians meaning less support from Orlais and more reliance on other nations to legitimize the Inquisition. More Orlesians? A stronger army, more standing with the court and the Chantry, more ammunition for when you're dealing with Celene and Gaspard in the Winter Palace. Things like that. Simple story threads that didn't really need to go anywhere but perhaps impacted the ambient state.

It would have helped tie in Masked Empire and give it more weight (and also make Michel de Chevin be more than the rando the Imshael maybe killed).

Just saying... It's just under utilized world building in an interactive media.

[madeup-community-episodes]

Theoretics of Bisexual Lighting

Background: The Dean rents out a gaudy hotel venue for a Greendale faculty only dance and NOTHING ELSE THIS WAS ALWAYS HIS PLAN (lying). Its all nicely decorated and he even got some LED lighting, specifically bisexual lighting, which is pointed out by Abed. A-Plot: Troy and Abed decide to go together as each others platonic dates, but the atmosphere gets Troy REALLY thinking about his and Abed's relationship. (More under the cut)

He looks back and sees that for the past 6+ years he has always been with him, save the rare moments they fought. Troy starts to think about spending the rest of his life with Abed, but the thing is he doesn't want to stress Abed out with anything romantic, he doesn't even know if this feeling IS romance, but he also doesn't think its platonic. Abed notices Troy is avoiding talking to him and asks if he wants to go, but Troy says nothings wrong. Throughout the night Troy gets more and more caught up in trying to categorizes his feelings of Abed into romantic or platonic or even familial. Later on in the night Troy confess he loves Abed and wants to kiss and all that with him but still doesn't know what he wants call it, and Abed's just kinda like 'I mean we could make something up, just for us', which helps Troy a LOT and yeah they kiss under the bisexual lighting and to the song 'Somewhere out there' by Linda Ronstadt :] B-Plot: Jeff and Duncan, the night before, decide to stay the night at the hotel to treat themselves, in separate rooms. HOWEVER, the hotel had a system glitch so Duncan's booked room was given to someone else. Jeff lets him stay in his room. That room happens to be a 'Honeymoon suite' because Jeff wanted to treat himself okay? So first off, they take a name in the middle of the day because the room situation kept them up until late in the night, but someone forgot to set an alarm and they end up missing one hour of the dance. THEN Jeff takes an inordinate amount of time in the shower, missing 30 more minutes of the dance. After THAT Duncan can't find the suit top he was going to wear, only realizing he forgot it at home, which loses them another hour. and after more comedic shenanigans ('dont you dare wear that tie, I am NOT matching with you' 'its the only one I brought Ian.' 'idc'), end up missing 4 hours of the dance, Jeff tries to go down without him- he really doesn't know why he didn't while he was looking for the jacket- but the lock on the door breaks and they're locked in and instead of yknow, calling the front desk, they argue about it. Duncan's like 'Why the hell didnt you just go without me?' and Jeffs like 'maybe I like being around you??' and Ians like 'bullshit, you started ignoring me after I didnt get you the test answers' Jeff is all like 'jesus christ, I know I sucked back then but MAYBE im a different person now and want to actually put in effort to be friends again' and Ians like 'Well-' but his ankle does that thing where it just twists while he's pacing around and he falls HARD into the lighting system of the room and, through the divine power of comedy tropes, turns on the Honeymoon Suite bisexual lighting and jazz music. Jeff goes over to him to check if he's okay and yknow after a heart to heart like that (pretend the dialogue was more emotional Im not good at writing emotional dialogue), emotions are racing and they are looking into eachothers eyes all deep and shit and and gay kiss and make out for the first time. First time SOBER, that is C-Plot: Annie meets one of the caterer girls and she tries so hard to get her number because hoooolllly shit she was so pretty omg. She embarrasses herself a lot and at some point just walks away to the bathroom to cry. Britta finds her and is like 'girl you dont have to bust your ass for anyone just go and ask the world wont explode i prommy' and so Annie works up the courage, goes over shaking and lands the girls number. :]

Extra: The dean rented the venue originally for a furcon but that fell thorough and it was a LOT of money to just waste.

[lightyaoigami]

welcome to my long promised grief media master post! my credentials: card carrying member of the dead dads club. i chose the books, tv, and movies based on vibes alone and i was guided by divine vision. possible spoilers below the cut.

Books

Catcher in the Rye

I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them. I really don’t. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it and you didn’t know Allie.

The Goldfinch

And what would I do? Part of me was immobile, stunned with despair, like those rats that lose hope in laboratory experiments and lie down in the maze to starve. I tried to pull my thoughts together. For a while, it had almost seemed that if I sat still enough, and waited, things might straighten themselves out somehow. Objects in the apartment wobbled with my fatigue: halos shimmered around the table lamp; the stripe of the wallpaper seemed to vibrate.

Hard Boiled and Hard Luck

Sometimes you go back again to the place you’ve just come from, stop and close your eyes, and realize that not a second has passed, and time just leaves you there, stranded, in the darkness.

The Fellowship of the Ring

I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.

The Stranger

 At that time, I often thought that if I had had to live in the trunk of a dead tree, with nothing to do but look up at the sky flowing overhead, little by little I would have gotten used to it. 

Life of Pi

I still see him in my dreams. They are nightmares mostly, but nightmares tinged with love. Such is the strangeness of the human heart.

TV Shows

Severance

the grief and loss show of all time. 10/10. don't look it up just watch.

Euphoria

i like this show because it depicts someone whose life just sucks after their dad dies. like she just becomes a worse person with a more unhappy life. real!

Never Have I Ever

people hate this show because the main character is a nasty little pill but i hate to tell you that that is literally what happens when you lose a loved one unexpectedly and traumatically. sorry.

Movies

Eternal Sunshine

captures the surreal nature of forgetting someone you love(d) and knowing exactly what's happening despite being powerless to stop it.

Menashe

truly beautiful and moving film about the utter listlessness of life after loss. if you have ever felt unmoored, this movie is for you. one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever, too.

The Farewell

people were weird about this movie but the final scene where billie is being driven away from her nainai's house is one of the realest things i can remember seeing in a recent movie.

Games

Disco Elysium

just play it. don't look anything up about it just play it immediately.

Life is Strange

people found the dialogue in this stilted but this scene (spoilers) is so true to life especially for the early 2010s.

Comics

for unknown reasons this panel of calvin mourning a raccoon that he found is the ultimate expression of grief - the horror and resignation and dissonance are captured so well in his sunken eyes. i think about this all the time.

[tavyliasin]

The Tyranny of Memory - Gortash x Durge Short

Durge meets Gortash at night in secret, and the finds the Tyrant has other ways to coax out old memories... D/s Switch for both, Gortash is AFAB and Durge is AFAB nonbinary in this 996 word request piece from some deliciously devious sinners~

A warmup short run a little long~ Click Here for AO3 Version Pairing: Gortash x Durge SPICE Rating: 4/5  Content Warnings and Tags: Power play, mild blood/wound, mild neck grab (no choking), rough sex,

Spoilers Mild act 3 Dark Urge reference (1-2 dialogue lines taken out of the original context), mild Dark Urge spoilers. Canon Compliance Barely any really other than the vague mention in the spoilers. This is just smut for smut's sake~ Other Notes As mentioned at the top, Gortash is an AFAB trans man and the Durge is nonbinary with they/them pronouns and AFAB anatomy.

Song Pairing Warfare by Katie Garfield (Youtube Link Click Here) "We won't stop 'Til you fall Cut you down Take it all One by one Say goodbye You can run but you can't hide

This is warfare"

SMUT BELOW THE CUT! --- ---

“A divine oath, sworn upon spirit and flesh. I do no harm to you, nor you to me.” Simple words that had been spoken with hope, Enver Gortash smiled as he had said them.

“First you will rule, then you will ruin.”  The words of the urge echoed in their head too, there was a pact, but every agreement had its weakness. Durge knew that the moment they agreed to meet him again, alone, under cover of darkness. The way to rule over a tyrant was first to make him believe he had control, soothe his over-inflated ego, to make the ruin all the more satisfying. 

That was how they were on his desk, golden claws raking down their spine staining white scales red, and lifting their tail to claim them. They allowed it, first his fingers - too greedy to tease, too impatient to give them what they wanted - and then one of several straps he kept in his drawer. 

They remembered those, or rather some part of them did. Durge wasn’t sure how, why, which ones had perhaps been used in the past, but their body soon did. They bit down into the leatherbound cover of a book that had been carelessly pushed to one side to make way for their reunion. Gortash’s voice was deep, dark, a growl that sent a shiver through their mind as he spoke. “There, my dear assassin, back where you belong.” 

Their body was responding, feeling Gortash…Enver… Their mind rebelled, even as their muscles tightened in the bliss of being so thoroughly filled, even the heat of his breath on the back of their neck drawing forth a low moan from their throat. “Fool, FOOL! Wait for his weakness, then take it all back.”

“Stay still, my dear, we do not wish to break anything. Least of all your delightful body.” He dug his claws into the base of their tail with a savage grip, the pain awakening a bloodlust they had struggled to suppress in every waking hour. 

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Gortash.” Durge muttered through gritted teeth, even as his cold metal gauntlet dug deeper. Even with their pact, *’harm’* did not account for pain that they enjoyed and welcomed

“So you want me to stop?” He slowed, but did not cease. His thrusts instead became languid yet purposeful, ensuring they felt every moment, encouraging them to seek their own pleasure by pressing towards him. But the heat of blood seeping onto their scales was tipping the balance, and winning the wager Bane’s chosen had set the moment he took control. 

“I warned you, Enver. Reap the rewards of your tyranny, and remember exactly the pride that brought your fall.” Durge’s tail wrapped around his waist, pulling him from their body as they grabbed a spare strap and turned, shoving him backwards, grinning wickedly as he stumbled towards the wall.

“There you are, my dear.” The light of fear in his eyes was coloured by arousal, as infuriating as it was deeply erotic to the dragonborn already leaping towards him.

Durge slammed Enver’s back against the wall, as they breathed in the scent of the breath that left his lungs, savouring it, drinking in the view of him half naked and quivering. “You thought it wise to take from me...to push me…to *awaken*-” 

“I did. That look in your eye, you’ve missed this just as much as I have. Perhaps a part of you still dreamed while your memories slept.” His golden claws traced a path over old scars, scratching over healed scales as if to reopen the wounds and drag their former self back out by visceral force.

“Little Tyrant…you speak of dreams when you’re awakening a nightmare.” Enver’s sturdy arms felt weak in their grasp as they turned him around, shifting their grip up to his hair, forcing his cheek against the cold stone of the wall. “I’d forgotten what your voice sounded like when you whimper and beg, Enver. You’ll be kind enough to remind me now, won’t you?” 

He nodded, as much as one can with their face held so close, his arms wretched easily behind him as their tail wrapped around his wrists to bind them still.

“Good boy.” They purred into his ear. “Do not move.” The command allowed them to hold him only with their tail as they swiftly secured the strap. Grabbed from the drawer in haste, it was longer and thicker than the one that the tyrant still wore, dripping with the remnants of their own arousal. It might be pleasing to take their pleasure from him more directly, to throw him to the floor and command his wicked tongue to spill his secrets directly to their core, but power… Real power held far more allure. 

They hadn’t been concerned about preparing him, and they quickly remembered why. The oil glistened in a thin trickle down the back of his thigh betraying how he was always ready, waiting, hoping. 

The tyrant groaned as they entered, teasing just the tip at first. Durge took hold of the back of his neck, keeping him flush against the wall, but their other hand snaked down to his waist and around, gripping the strap he still wore and working it slowly as if the false appendage had feeling. “Should I thank you, Tyrant, for being so well prepared for me? Should I thank your hungry little hole for swallowing all of this with ease?” Enver whined. Perhaps he might’ve preferred the more direct pleasure that penetration of another kind could offer, but this… They knew it was the degradation he wanted most. To know they could take his body and own it. 

Durge increased their pace slowly, savouring how he shuddered, moaned, and grew weak as their hips slammed against him. They grew drunk on the power, intoxicated by how they brought him to his knees in a pool of his own arousal, and they did not relent until dawn. --- --- ENDING NOTES --- ---

So maybe I'll do more with Gortash. I still haven't played a Dark Urge run, but I have very much enjoyed indulging in all manner of Durgetash content~