#but i don't know when i'll finish it so here you go!
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dvchvnde · 2 days ago
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Carmacks, Yukon. 1995.
"You shouldn't have come here," he growls, hand tightening around your throat.
The force pushes you hard against the wall of the bar, and as you fall, he follows. Leveraging the thick spread of his body to smother your smaller frame. With him boxing you in, there's nowhere to go. No escape—
"You should have run—"
He shakes you when he finishes, knocking your head into the wall as he glares down at you, lip curled into a snarl beneath the beard. Anger is writ over ever dip, every line, every pore of his body. He seems to thrum with it. Muted trembles. Little quakes. Grinds his teeth together because he knows despite the carnage you inspired inside of him, you just don't get it.
The danger you're in.
All you can do is gasp at the blunt, tight spill of pain bubbling under the dig of his fingers into delicate flesh. Blink through the haze clotting around, black fingerprints smeared on the edges of your vision. Hypoxia, you think. And then: oh, old friend. We did it again.
But it offers no comfort, no succor. It just burns. Oh, god, it burns—
Your body aches down to your marrow. Fire in your veins, burning you up from the inside out. Agony like you've never felt before. Could have never imagined—
But through it all, the sutures hewn inside your soul thrum. The fire is liquid. Molten. It settles in the pit of your belly when he kicks his boot between your ankles, knee bending to rest on the faded oak wall behind you. Holding you down as you heave, and gasp, and whimper around the tight cinch of his hand swallowing your throat up in his palm—
His head turns sharply towards you. Fingers spasming once. Twice. It loosens. Grows lax. You gag on the air you gulp you gulp down too fast, watching him with watery, blurring eyes as every muscle in his body snaps.
His shoulder tense. Drawing into a tight line. Nostrils flaring. Fluttering. His broad chest expands, and—
A rumble. A low groan.
It doesn't make sense. You don't understand it. But his thigh slides up, denim clad leg pressing tight to your core—
It hits you when his lashes flutter. When his eyes roll as he breathes in deep again, and again.
He can smell it, you think. The stickiness between your thighs. Arousal dripping into the gusset of your panties as he heaves above you. So close. Too close. You can't think with him this near—can only feel. And feel you do—
"John—" it's desperate. Raw. He shudders. Blinks his eyes open, stained, wet lichen rimmed and lined red. Desire thickens in those cesium depths, frothing over until his iris is drenched black. "I don't know what's going on—"
"Don't you, sweetheart?"
You've never heard him sound like that before. So low, it dredged the bottom of his chest. Scraping charred sediment and gravel into a loose fist. Felled timber thrown over a fire. The snap, snap, crack of sap burning in the kindling. A hoarse roar.
The heat of it melts you. Liquified. He keeps you up with his hand around your neck. Sat on the thick of his thigh like a child. Wax in hands. You can't move. Can't think—
"I'll tell you," he rumbles, his hand slipping between your bodies to snatch your wrists up in his fist. He brings them up above your head, pushing them into the wall. The hand around your neck tightens again. "But only once. So pay attention, love."
Your head spins. Mind melts. It's a slurry—soporific, molasses-thick. You can't think around this ache inside of you. This tug. This thing that brought you here. To him. Thoughts scattered. Rusting by too quick.
But when he moves, every molecule in your body snaps to attention. Freezing in a tight, tense line.
You catch the quirk of his mouth when he closes in, reshaping around the ghost of his snarl. He likes your submission. You don't know why you know this. You just do.
(just like you know you'll roll on your belly if it pleases him—
no. no. you wouldn't. stop stop stop—)
The unnatural warmth of his nose bleeding into your skin before it even kisses the appled ridge of your cheek. He breathes in the sweat-slicked scent of your syrupy skin. Another groan. You feel this one deep in your bones.
He slides his nose down your cheek until his mouth is pressed against your jaw. The touch is brief, but all you feel is heat. Burning you up, burning you—
"m'gonna eat you alive, Bambi."
SYNOPSIS: fated mates. Yukon in the 90s. John Price may or may not be a man. you're an inexperienced wildlife biologist sent to the Yukon to explain a series of strange animal attacks that have plagued the small community. it all changes when you meet a local hunter named John Price. a man everyone seems to warn you away from, and one who seems to want nothing at all to do with you at all. you're keen to do just that, but something keeps pulling you closer.
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tinylilacbun · 3 days ago
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Safe with him. Right?
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Pairing: dark!daddy!rafe x little!reader
Warnings: DARK THEMES, age regression, drugging, kinda kidnapping, cursing, some angst? (Not sure about anything here tbh), not proofread
A/N: purely wrote this 'cause I needed some dark!rafe
⋆。˚ ☁︎ ˚。⋆。˚☽˚。⋆
Your eyebrows furrow when Rafe comes into the room with two pieces of luggage, placing them on top of his bed where you are enjoying your allowed screentime on your iPad.
Before you can ask what was going on he walks around the bed to where you are sitting and grabs the device out of your hands, ignoring your pout before saying. "Pack some stuff while I go shower, a'ight?"
You are about to ask why but the look he gave you made you shut your mouth again, standing up while he disappeared into the bathroom.
Going into the walk-in closet you grab what you could carry over to the bed, swearing you saw Sarah rushing out the door just as you came out of the closet again. You shrug and place your clothes in your purple luggage just as Rafe came out only wearing a towel.
"I fink I saw Sarah." You tell him while he changes, packing some stuff you need for when you're little and suddenly he turns you around, his grip on your arms tight and looking at you seriously.
"Where- Where did you see her?"
"She- uh, saw her leavin' your room..." You trail off when he walks over to the dresser. He curses under his breath.
"Stay here, I'll be right back." He mutters and before he could leave you grab onto his arm, looking up at him with that innocent look in your eyes, not understanding why he's acting so different right now.
"What's goin' on daddy?" You frown at him.
"Nothing to worry your pretty head about. Just- stay here." He orders and you nod, reluctantly letting go of him and watching him leave the room.
You finish packing and sat on the bed, getting restless about not getting any information about the current situation and why you were leaving this late in the afternoon.
Normally you would do as you're told but something more is going on and you just want to know what it is, confused why Rafe kept you in the dark so much lately. He also had been rather busy the last days which led you to being a lot more clingy and needy for his attention.
Getting up again you make your way out and downstairs, seeing Rose pacing in the living room when you suddenly hear glass shattering from the wine cellar, going to see what it was and completely ignore Rose calling out for you, rushing down the staircase.
You see Rafe leaning against the door with his back turned to you and can make out Sarah shouting from behind it. "Rafe! Let me out!"
"I'm not letting you out, Sarah. Not until you calm down, okay?" Rafe says calmly, his arm resting against the door.
"Screw you!" Sarah shouts, slamming her hand against it.
"I'm trying to be civil here. You're freaking out right now." Rafe sighs.
"Rafey? What's goin' on?" You ask and he turns to face you, frustration clear in his expression. "Why's Sarah in there?"
"She's locked in there because sometimes you have to make the hard choice, right? She just didn't get that." He explains, turning to face the door again as he raises his voice. "You fail to understand constantly, don't you? Huh? Don't you!"
When he slams his palm against the wooden door you flinch, not liking this side of him at all, and he knows it.
Rafe just shakes his head. "I don't have time for this shit. Come." He mumbles, as he approaches you, grabbing your arm and dragging you back up the stairs.
"Ow- daddy you're hurting me..." You whimper, trying to keep up with his pace as you feel his fingers digging into your bicep.
"Well, I told you to stay in my room, didn't I? Yea, maybe listen next time I tell you something." He exclaims, striding towards his room and pushing you to sit down on the bed, leaning down to your level. "This is the last time I'm telling you this. Stay. Here."
You nod your head, not intending on making him more mad than he already is, whispering out. "Y-Yes daddy..."
Without another word he leaves the room again, coming back inside a few minutes later with your sippy in his hand, holding it out to you. "Drink this. We're gonna leave soon."
You slowly take the sippy from him, taking some sips you smile a little at the taste of your favorite juice. "Where we goin'?"
"Somewhere nice, you'll see." He gives you a smirk, reaching a hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, watching intently as you keep drinking every last drop from your sippy.
Finishing the juice you exhale, handing the cup back to Rafe when he extends his hand for it. "That's my good girl."
Slowly you start to feel sleepy, humming as you feel him running a hand through your hair, leaning into his touch like a cat nuzzling its owner. "Mmm..."
He smirks at that, bringing his hand to the back of your head he carefully lays you down. "There we go...just sleep for a bit."
You can't really make out what he's saying, your vision blurring as you're being pulled into a drug seduced slumber.
Rafe sighs in relief, standing up he reaches his arms under your knees and back, lifting you up and carrying you through the house. He pauses when he passes Rose, her eyes widening at your knocked out state.
Before she can start complaining he interrupts her. "I'll take her with me. You go and handle Sarah and make sure Wheezie doesn't find out about anything. I'll meet you later at the boat."
Rafe doesn't even care to listen to what Rose has to say and carries you outside to the transporter, setting you down in the passenger seat he buckles your seatbelt.
Getting into the driver's side he glances at you, reaching over to caress your cheek softly.
"I got everything under control...soon it will be just us both, thanks to the cross I got for us." He says, more to himself, then starts the engine and drives off.
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Taglist
For everything:
@my-river-lilly @pauntedblacknails @fanfictioniseverything @buckymydarlingangel @hallecarey1 @daybreakwinter @loveshineslikethesky @vase-of-lilies @white-wolf1940 @simpingbutch @mischiefsemimanaged @alina02 @teddybearsgrr @doozywoozy @angelbabydoll28 @glxwingrxse @lilymurphy03 @veryvaughnny @lokigirlszendaya @youngstarfishdinosaur @little--baby--bear @minideathgoddess @rach2602 @gh0stgurl @flourishandblotts-inc @lovelyy-moonlight @yoruse
@mythixmagic @iris-xoxo-juhu @mylettterstoyou @sunf1ower16 @sweetstars-posts @rafecameronsloverrrrr
For Rafe:
@chiaraanatra @chimindity @erikasurfer
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zephyrchama · 1 day ago
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Have you heard the game announcement?? 😭 are you going to keep writing for om?
I have!
It's... so vague! So we're not getting any new game content from here on out, and presumably they'll be rerunning all of the old content? The creators seem burnt out and unsure of where to go. There's so much unused potential, the fabsnap and wanderer's whereabouts features are really underutilized. There's barely a use for the karma currency. They keep trying more and more new things when there are so many existing features falling by the wayside. When was the last time the boys did a video call, remember them doing that at the beginning of Nightbringer?
It's too early to really know what's going to happen (maybe a new anime? maybe novels? Or just more concerts and collabs?). I'm sure all the fans of Obey Me! are in an emotional place right now. You can tell I am by the way I'm rambling lol
Yeah, I'll keep writing! No reason not to! I have tons of ideas, tons of asks to get to (I'm ashamed I haven't answered them yet don't look at me), and though I might slow down because prime cosplay-making season is coming up, I've found writing to be a neat hobby.
This blog isn't even a year old yet, and I've got to finish lots of stuff I've started. The vampire series, sheep-to-human, stuff hidden in my drafts that I've hinted at in tags.
👉😎👉
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shapelytimber · 1 day ago
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Wanted to paint some of my favorite characters, nothing more nothing less
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[COMMISSIONS]
Way too much yapping like an embarrassing amount, the individual portraits and the template I used below vvv
I shouldn't be allowed to talk about my favorite characters- especially to people who (presumably) don't know them xjfkdk apart from the very popular ones ofc
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ILLYA KURYAKIN (The man from U.N.C.L.E)
gay ass little Russian spy I love him he is so *dramatic* and a huge nerd and a Beatles fan and into fashion design- perfect pocket size blorbo ;w; also seeing a Russian character being given a positive leading role in an American tvshow from the 60s ?? Yes he lives in New York and works for UNCLE America.... But he is still a communist ?? Incredible ! Also I really like the fact he isn't given the cliché personality traits often given to Russian characters i e anger issues drinks a lot violent ect (looking at you shitty(imo) modern remake... What did you do to my little guy ;;). In a close contest with Spock for the "gayest man from tvshow" of the 60s..... And in my heart he is winning djdkd for me the gay subtext of muncle hits so much more because it's not a scifi show- it's closer to home, Napoleon and Illya were *like that* in the present day of the 60s, they were both human, and no alien fuckery made them go to the village more than once or play house in the suburbs or get attached ass up to get pegged on a regular basis... Truly a show that feels written by an old queen and a guy with the biggest fem dom fetish jkvjjkb (don't get me wrong tho I adore star trek tos and spirk too <3)
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KUROO HAZAMA and PINOKO (Black Jack)
sometimes I rewatch some of the oavs from the 90s when I'm sad :) I had a huge phase a couple years back when I read nearly all the manga (should really finish it... Or reread the whole thing frankly), watched *all* the shows (bar young black jack, hated that shit) and idk I just love this venal bitch so much- him and his daughter and his conflicted feelings for his tboy ex that he still loves kfkfkf btw I'm dying for a modern take on this like please please please I'd love to see Kei Kisaragi's story rewritten a bit (trans character in the 70s sure was progressive but oh boy-), because him and black jack's relationship makes me so *weak*.... And maybe see him a bit more than in one story- anyway ! When it comes to his daughter Pinoko, it's very hit or miss- when the writers lean on the cute father adoptive daughter relationship it's great, when they lean more on the whole "she has a crush on him" (very much like a child in most case, and he *never* reciprocate thank god) and bring up the fact she is technically 18 a lot (she was an evil tumor trapped in her sister before he created a body for her- black jack shit dw), and she gets jealous of other women.... Well it's terrible and I'm uncomfy :(
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EVA KANT (Diabolik)
Look.... You just can't show me danger diabolik 1968 and not expect me to become insane djdkdkdk she is so cool ;; !!! Her and her devious eel of a man (here as a panther, because even tho I haven't read the comic yet, I'm taking an educated guess that all the panther imagery is here to represent him, the lethal twunk always in the all black gimp suit... And if it's not then fuck my entire life ig fjfkkd), the cuntiest het couple you've ever seen, such freaks I love them ! Partners in crime that will blow up the tax offices of the whole country if you try to put a bounty on them <3 they are in the guilty faves category only because I'm this invested in these characters after 1 (one) movie fkfkf watched the first two remakes and was hmmm let's say underwhelmed, could have been worse but going after the 60s one ie peak cinema was hard... I went in fully invested in these heterosexuals and they still fucked up their romance and relationship ;; (don't spoil me the third one btw haven't seen it yet ! I know it's the yaoi one- which doesn't give me much hope for Eva tbh...) I'll soon start reading the comics tho ! Managed to find all twelve volumes of "Il grande Diabolik" in french for pretty cheap so I'm excited for that :D (might scan them and upload them online because omg I tried finding scans in *any* language and only found a dubious website that sold digital copies for 7€ a volume ??? What is this)
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UTA (The Void / Тургор / Turgor / Tension)
Apathy girlyyyyy she just like me for real for real nfkfk what absolutely charmed me about her is yes her design, but more importantly her chamber's design (if you've never played the void, a sister's chamber is a space that represent her. You get a sense of who she is by exploring her chamber before finding her and talking to her soul it's great). The lonely island out at sea, her laying down on a suspended steel boat in a grotto, looking passively at the moon by a crack on the ceiling.... And the moon is looking back. Incredible ! I love this game so much
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KIM KITSURAGI (Disco Elysium)
Do I really have to explain this one ? When I played the game with quiji I remember I kept saying "when Kim talks, we *listen*" djkdk we did get a good grade in Kim Kitsuragi and got him to dance in the church <3 this fucking centrist cop wormed it's way into my heart and many others because of course he did. The only Kim K in my eyes. Also funny anecdote : before I played Disco Elysium, I had one concept art masterclass where a kinda famous concept artist came to give advice, make us really stressed then give us a shitty grade.... And when I tell you this man looked so much like Kim ??? Same haircut, glasses, face with a scar *exactly* where Kim's portrait has a stark shadow on his cheek and he was dressed in an orange top- truly uncanny. Anyway, Kim is so fucking cool how does he do it
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DARK VADOR (La guerre des étoiles)
*sight* not surprising if you know me... and to be clear when I say Vader I don't mean Anakin Skywalker, post barbecue only zouz here. I refuse to yap about this man djdkdk I already do that way to much in ao3 comment sections
And here is the template I used ! Don't know who made it tho sorry...
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PS : all these where made in 2-3 hours each :D wanted to challenge myself by painting quickly, and I mostly (looking at the Eva Kant one that gave me trouble) succeeded !
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spiderb00 · 2 days ago
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Fam Out 3 - Sophia Laforteza
Sophia Laforteza X Reader 
Synopsis - Your girlfriend finally finds out why she is SO delighted with your "family moments" 
Genre – Fluff 
a/n - Wow, Part 3, I guess I'll have to keep going until they actually have a family (oops, spoiler) <3  (request)
part 1 part 2 part 3
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The stadium was huge, everything looked beautiful and the atmosphere was exciting. Sophia made sure you accompanied her and the Kats to watch the Rams game, and even though you knew you were going to be the photographer of the night, you wouldn't turn down a night out with your girlfriend.  
After taking several photos and record countless videos for tiktok, you were finally seated, your hands intertwined with Sophia's, watching the game. You didn't watch many games, your work took up a lot of your time, but you always liked to watch a match or two when you had free time.  
Your concentration was soon interrupted with Sophia squeezing your hand twice, and you knowing what it means, immediately looks at your girlfriend.   
"Something wrong, my love?" You say, your eyes interspersed between your beautiful girlfriend's face, and what was happening on the field.   
"Can you get more drinks for me and Yoonchae, please?" She says, leaning in and leaving a lingering kiss on your cheek, for a moment you felt dizzy.  
Reluctantly taking your eyes off the game and looking at your girlfriend's smile, you smiled and gave the Filipino girl a quick kiss on the lips. 
"Of course, beautiful." You stood up giving a friendly wink to Yoonchae, who laughed at your antics.   
Waiting for your turn to order, you notice a woman right behind you, assuming she was waiting too, you didn't worry about it, at least not until the stranger patted you twice on the back, making you look back. 
"Hello." She said.  
"Hi." you said with a polite smile, turning back to the front.    
"Ah, so..." The stranger continued, making you once again look back. "I saw you when you walked in, you're very beautiful." 
"Thank you." You said, at some point she would understand that you weren't interested in whatever she was going to say.  
"I was wondering if you don't want to finish watching the game with me and my friends?" She said biting her lower lip.   
The girl had brown hair and green eyes, she was much shorter than you, and now that you noticed, it looked like she was very close to you.   
"I don't want to, sorry, I have a girlfriend." You said, turning around again and seeing that it was your turn to order.  
You said everything you wanted and waited patiently, taking the money out of your wallet.   
"Well, I'm not seeing her here, so maybe she doesn't need to know." The girl says, putting both hands on your shoulders, making you jump and instantly take her hands off you.  
"Look..." 
"Mom, why are you taking so long? Mommy's worried about you."  
Both you and the woman looked shocked. Of course, for different reasons. The woman was shocked that you apparently had a daughter, who appeared to be a teenager, while you appeared to be only twenty or twenty-one. And you, well, you just wanted to know why the hell Yoonchae was calling you mom.   
"Oh, who are you?" Yoonchae says, looking at the woman. 
"Do you have children?" The woman asks, disturbed by the situation. 
"Yes, she does! Why? Do you think I don't look like her because I'm Asian? That's pretty racist, you know?" Yoonchae said defensively. 
Now, in this situation, you and the guy behind the counter were just watching the whole mess.   
"What's going on here?" Sophia arrives suddenly, wanting to understand the situation. 
"Mommy, this woman is hitting on mom, and she's still insinuating that I'm not your daughter!" Yoonchae said like a spoiled child, honestly, you weren't understanding anything.  
"WHAT, NO! Sorry, I didn't know she was married, and I'm not racist either. I'm sorry, I'm leaving, I'm sorry."   
The woman ran away, while Sophia and Yoonchae let out a laugh. You didn't know it before, but now you were sure you were surrounded by crazy people. Taking her drink from the tray, Yoonchae looked at you and said;  
"So "mom", what did you think of my performance?" The younger girl took a sip of her drink quietly.   
"Are you crazy? What was it all about?" You say, a laugh escaping your lips.   
"You can't think a bitch is going to hit on you and I'm not going to do anything darling." Sophia said, grabbing your cheeks with her fingernails and stealing a kiss.  
Grabbing her drink next, the Filipino girl chuckled as she walked back with Yoonchae to they places. Leaving a very perplexed Yn behind.   
"COME ON BABY, YOU'RE LOSING THE GAME!"   
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It was a cold day, and after much urging from Sophia and (mostly) Yoonchae, you found yourself driving towards a store to buy Christmas decorations for the Kats' house. It was still November, but the girls were pretty excited about it (Your girls in particular). So here you were, pushing a shopping trolley that would soon be full of things chosen by the euphoric girls who walked in front of you.   
Sophia would put things she thought were beautiful in the cart, asking for your help on the shelves she couldn't reach, and even making you hold some up high to see if they matched what she was machining in her head. Meanwhile, Yoonchae disappeared and came back soon after with something completely random asking the traditional question, "Can i have this?", receiving some "yes" or "no" from Sophia.   
"Okay, what do you think of that one?" Sophia showed a small Santa, probably to put on top of some shelf.  
"He's cute." You say, making a point of paying attention to the details, after all that seemed very important to Sophia.  
"Yn, can I have this?" Yoonchae shows a simple snow globe, a small house with a few trees in the midst of a large amount of snow.   
"Of course." You say, without losing the smile that the younger girl gave you.   
After paying for things, you were heading to the car with more bags in your hands than you could count. Sophia waiting for you to leave the bags in the car so you could carry a huge, heavy box with your girls' chosen Christmas tree. Anyone looking from the outside would feel sorry for the young girl carrying so much weight, but oh man, you couldn't love it more.  
Driving home, Yoonchae slept peacefully in the back seat, while Laufey played softly through the car's speakers. Your free hand caressing Sophia's thigh while you both had the most beautiful and true smile in the whole world. 
"Are you okay?" You asked as the car pulled up to a stop.  
"Better impossible." Sophia says looking into your eyes, leaning over and stealing a kiss. 
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After assembling all the decorations in the Kats' house, you finally got a rest. With the kats out and about to buy food, you and Sophia had some time to yourself. Enjoying every second with a make-out session, you had Sophia sitting on your lap, her legs on either side of your thighs, their hands ruffling your hair, while you had your hands on the Filipino girl's thighs, your back resting on the headboard.   
"I think I finally understood why I love our moments with Yoonchae so much." Sophia said, interrupting the kiss, making you lower your lips towards the black-haired girl's neck.  
"I thought it was because you loved us." You said in a playful tone, momentarily stopping the kisses and looking at the woman on top of you.  
"That too." Sophia said, rolling her eyes with a giggle. "But the main reason became very clear after the last few days." Said the Filipino girl, taking your hands and intertwining with hers.   
"And that reason is..."  You said, waiting for her to complete. 
"I want to have a family with you." She said, looking into your eyes.  
For a minute, you were speechless, but soon you regained consciousness, and with a smile on your face, kissed Sophia passionately.   
The kiss was full of love, a kiss that conveyed security, a non-verbal way of saying that the desire to have a future together was mutual. When you stopped the kiss, you saw tears in Sophia's eyes, you seemed to be hypnotized by each other, and in sync, you both thought you wanted it to last forever.   
"I want to spend every day of my life by your side, did you hear?! I want to build everything with you." You say, kissing Sophia's tears and then looking at the beautiful woman in front of you.   
"I love you, Yn!"  
"I love you much more, Sophia."   
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OMG, part three, that's a lot.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and Christmas is near, maybe some Christmas story ideas...
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madameevil · 9 hours ago
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I'll try to divide this into 2 parts. First part using game codex entries, other DA canon media, etc to refute points or counter points. Second to point out how some of these points are due to personal interpretations differing. So basically... let's use "facts" for most of the first half and "opinions" in the second. No guarantee that'll work out as I type this but that's the goal at least.
"Solas already knows who Rook is. He doesn't need much time to know who Rook is, it's not a problem for him." Ok but he doesn't. He thinks he does. He thinks he has Rook all pinned down. It's why he doesn't expect Rook to escape the Prison of Regret but Rook does. Solas is convinced that all of his manipulation to get Rook to drown in regret is enough to keep them trapped in that prison. In his pride, he doesn't expect Rook to escape. He once again doesn't expect Rook to see through his final betrayal about the veil. He also doesn't expect Rook to have enough cards by the end to stop him (which is conditional based on what you do in the game)
"If Cassandra rebuilds the Seekers, she is able to deal with emerging cults and unrest quite swiftly (according to the endings)." The ending slide literally says "showing no interest in worldly affairs" - Are you thinking of a different ending slide? Or a different quote? I honestly don't remember this being mentioned at all and can't find any reference to it. Cassandra also spent time in the Hunterhorn Mountains north of Orlais, where she worked to rebuild the Seekers. For a time, the new Seekers remained reclusive, showing no interest in worldly affairs and working to a purpose few outside their order could guess.
"Also, Friends of the Red Jenny are implied to operate throughout the entire Thedas and have quite a history (they've been mentioned since DA:O). So, for them not to be mentioned at all during the events makes no sense." They started as an organization based out of Ferelden and expanded to (areas that we know) Kirkwall, Orlais, Starkhaven, Tantervale, and Nevarra. They're not described as a powerful global organization. They're peppered throughout Thedas where they can get a foothold. We don't have proof or any mention of them being a thing in Tevinter or Antiva.
"Venatori should not even be a thing. Venatori rose to power only because of the Corypheus" The Venatori at their core are a cult of Tevinter-Mage Supremacists. That ideology doesn't just vanish or appear suddenly. The ideology is deeply rooted in the Tevinter Imperium. Even Dorian points out that many magisters still privately support the Venatori's ideas. While they won't outright sanction it. The Venatori's power increase may be directly tied to Corypheus but these ideologies have been present in Tevinter for a long ass time.
"So, at best there should be some Venatori cults present - but they won't be having that much power because they no longer have structure, they no longer have their god-magister, and they have nothing to sway magisters on their side - especially if they failed to provide any alternative to Corypheus in 10 years and went back to worshipping the Old Gods. [...] To make them the main problem is lazy writing." I don't think we need to get into a lesson on power vacuums here but let's just use the definition of "when someone in a place of power, has lost control of something and no one has replaced them." With Corypheus gone there is a power vacuum. A cult of fanatics don't just say "oh well, guess we'll go home now." According to Tevinter Nights (which the franchise being a mixed-media franchise has it's own problems), while a lot distanced themselves from the Venatori there were still a good number of loyalists who remained active. This leads to Aelia trying to fill in that role. She does gain a decent amount of support for it. Even when she's "captured" she has enough sway to escape prison and cause problems. Why? Because the Venatori's ideology is appealing to a lot of people in Tevinter even if they don't directly associate with the cult. However, with her "failure" we have another power vacuum present - so why is it "lazy writing" to have the emergence of another powerful mage that speaks like Corypheus and offer power similarly to what he did fill that?
"It makes no sense for the Venatori to be the main bad guys because the entire Tevinter fucking sucks already. It's has a horrible, hedonistic and power-obsessed ruling class where dominating the weak is considered good manners. Dorian should be having his hands full by fighting the entire Senate on such concepts as "slavery is bad" and "we should treat non-mages as people" - because Tevinter abhors change and its power is full of assholes like Aurelian Titus. The Venatori are just one shade of ugly the Tevinter has - and not the most prominent one." The supremacist ideology of the Venatori embody everything you're saying here. The examples you're giving are all part of the supremacist mindset. Hedonistic and power-obsessed ruling class? Yep. "Slavery is bad" and "we should treat non-mages as people" Those two concepts are directly against the supremacists ideology. We also do get some notes from Dorian doing just that Veilguard. The Venatori isn't just one shade of ugly, it's the embodiment of everything wrong in Tevinter. It's the supremacist ideology given form.
"Yes, it makes sense for Varric and Harding to take part in the search for Solas - but I can't believe that Rook at least hadn't been approved by the Inquisitor. and that Rook doesn't have means to contact the Inquisitor for further instructions in case something happens to Varric, or Harding or both of them. This is counter-productive." Varric is the one tasked with forming a small team. It's his responsibility to form that team and onboard people and vet them. With the way it's framed in "The Missing" Varric had full authority to bring on whoever. He didn't need approval. They kept in touch via Charter and sent correspondence to the Inquisitor but there wasn't any need for approval. Varric is the main path and Harding is the back up. That's 2 channels. Until the incident happens to Varric that seems standard. When the incident happens with Varric, then I believe Harding should have introduced Rook and the Inquisitor sooner to keep that practice of a back up channel open. Harding does reach out to Charter pretty early to inform them about what happened to Varric and mention Rook. I would have liked an Inquisitor meeting or letter sooner though.
I think below is where different interpretations come in.
"Solas knows how Leliana and Josephine operate, but that's not going to stop them - and it should not stop them when the fate of the world is at stake." You think they wouldn't let that stop them. I think they're smart enough to not continue to play an active part if any information they get or send off is information Solas is spoon feeding them. If their continued involvement would cause more harm then good then yea, I think they would take a step back. I think they would hand off the reigns to others.
"However, it's going to be insanely ha[r]d to prove the threat to anyone else and then tell them to go find Solas. At the same time, intentionally holding back information about what Solas really is means sending the "someone Solas doesn't know" to their death. They go after Solas, thinking it's just a really strong mage - and they don't know that it's actually an ancient god." Given Varric's line to Neve at the beginning, Varric is upfront with the information: "I also told you he was an ancient elven god." Whether the person believes them is dependent on the person. Rook has been tracking Solas with Varric for a year or so. I think by now they've witnessed enough to believe Varric's information.
"And she is going to stop now, after it's revealed that the threat isn't gone? There is no way she won't be an active participant. Even the fact that Seekers aren't welcome isn't going to stop her." I do actually think that the threat of severe political consequences should a southern religious military group make moves in a northern territory under a different religion would dissuade her. Cassandra isn't stupid. We also see her get less rash in Inquisition. We see her stop and think things through more. So actually, yes I do think that since mobilizing Seekers in Northern territory could at worse be seen as an act of war she would let it stop her. She even says at the end of trespasser "we need to be careful."
"Basically, it meant that the Inquisitor and their allies were going to try harder, learn what they can and find new resources, new information, any leverage possible. This is why the Inquisitor sets their course for Tevinter at the end of Trespasser: they were preparing to cooperate with a controversial state, pulling strings and calling favors, finding people with an ample knowledge of magic and ancient history that could assist them with finding any clues;"
L: "My agents have found nothing with the eluvians he could be anywhere"
C: [Dialogue about whether you disbanded or kept the Inquisition]
L: "We have what we truly need."
C: "We will need to be careful."
L: "Solas knows everything about us. Who we are. How we work. Our strengths and weaknesses"
Inky: "Then we find people he doesn't know." [Dialogue about if you are saving him or stopping him]
I do think this means they were going to find new allies and new people. Tevinter Imperium is a good place to start looking for that. And all this plays out through the comics and Harding and Varric's stories. (which again making the series Mixed-media has it's own complications) They do find new allies through their journey. They do find people who have ample knowledge of magic and ancient history. This idea also continues to play out in Veilguard. We find someone who has connections. We find someone who has ample knowledge of ancient magics and history. We find someone who has ample knowledge of the fade since that's what Solas was directly trying to manipulate.
I do not think it implicitly means what you've interpreted it to. I think that's how you interpreted that and I think that's a valid interpretation of it. Unfortunately that's not where they took it. That's also now how I interpreted it. I think a lot of the fandom interpreted this in different ways and that leads to disappointment if their interpretation wasn't correct. I think that's what's happening to you here. I don't think Bioware not catering to your interpretation means "they don't care." or anything like that. I think it's just that what you predicted or assumed based on the information provided ended up being incorrect. Other people predicted it correctly. If anything this just means that the marketing team could have done better at setting expectations and making sure everyone was on the same page.
oh my god that was a lot to type.
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I don't think the game is perfect by any standards (no game is). There are things I wish they could have included or flushed out more, but I don't think any of that was done by Bioware devs "not caring." I think the Bioware team does actually really love their world and lore of Dragon Age. To quote their artbook (which is actually insane to look at):
"Art books like this one are the perfect opportunity to showcase what you don't see in the finished product: the inspiration, the blueprints, the unused drafts. We barked up a lot of wrong trees. We explored some wild directions--some ending in dead ends, others ending in precious treasure. We also created a lot of material that we liked but didn't have the capacity to build (in this game, anyway)."
If Bioware truly didn't love and care for their world and lore, the artbook wouldn't be as beautiful and jam packed as it is. There wouldn't be other medias of the series: books, comics, animations, movies.
But Bioware can't just make whatever they want. Bioware is owned by EA (not just published through them. OWNED by them). Bioware has to pay people to make the games. They need to get the funding and approval from EA to do so. This means that no matter how passionate the team is, there's only so much they can do and EA gets a huge say in what that is. EA who explicitly stated earlier AFTER BG3 released that they don't think single player story based games are worth investing in. WHICH IS INSANE TO ME. EA had them start developing the game one way. EA had them change development midway. EA had them remove all multiplayer pieces. EA cut funding to Bioware forcing them to make cuts in staff.
I guess if we say that a lot of the post is us disagreeing on how things are interpreted and not a misunderstanding of the source material then I can say my main problem with posts like this is that it targets the developers. The developers do seem to really love and care for their world and do want to do more, but they can't do it all. They can't just do everything they want. They have a parent company constantly controlling what they can and can not do. I could agree with a lot more posts if they actually targeted the company causing a lot of the problems, EA - WHO WE ALL ALREADY KNOW IS A SHIT MONEY HUNGRY COMPANY. Instead of the Devs who busted their asses for 10 years wanting to do more and being told to change it or scrap it at every turn.
Bioware writing team has a comfy, sheltered life and it shows
I'm sorry, but how come that the only people Inquisitor sent to look for Solas were Varric and Harding? How come that the only people recruited in 10 years of pursuing Solas were Neve and Rook? Do the writers understand that this is NOT how a serious effort looks like?
What about Leliana? Divine or not, she is still Sister Nightingale with an immense spywork. You'd think she won't mobilize everything she has to track Solas and his followers?
What about Josephine? What, she decided "nah, I'm done" and didn't use any of her diplomatic talents and connections to let the Inquisitor's agents have access, permissions or information they need?
What about Dorian? As a political figure, you'd think he will be the first Minrathous contact for the Inquisitor allies, the one arranging things and providing insights?
What about Cassandra and her Seekers? Isn't she interested in stopping another world-ending threat?
What about Sera and her sabotaging potential? If she organized the group of people for performing vigilante acts, people who are her eyes and ears, how come nobody from her group is helping with the effort?
I get it why Varric takes part in it - he knew Solas, the Inquisitor trusts him and his judgement, but for the game to imply that all the responsibility was lumped on Varric's shoulders is fucking disgraceful. I get it writers, Varric is popular character, and you would use him as bait to your heart's content, but the context you've created implies that Varric might have been the only one to take the threat seriously, while the Inquisitor and the rest were doing God knows what.
Varric should have been handing the Rook information on all the contacts they can recruit, all the useful agents, all the people to work with, not tell them to ask Neve because she might know someone because detective (Neve is a good character, but the fact that people who were supposed to spend 10 years chasing Solas look up to her for finding them contacts is appalling).
"Oh, but all these people were in the previous parts and we don't want to mention previous parts because muh new players" - well, you shot yourselves in the foot. Maybe, just maybe, you should have AT LEAST cared more about the choices made in DAI.
Congrats.
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4linos · 1 day ago
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cooking, lying, and loving you.
han jisung x gn!reader
synopsis: you surprise your boyfriend with a home-cooked meal after his long tour, but the dish turns out far from perfect.
wc: 705
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After weeks of being on tour, Jisung has finally returned home, and you have been impatiently waiting his arrival. You chose to prepare dinner as a surprise for him because you know how much he must have missed home-cooked meals. Even though you're not very good at cooking, you've spent the entire day planning and putting your all into the dish. You're nervous yet excited, imagining his reaction when he realizes how hard you've worked.
When he walks through the door, the sound of his suitcase rolling across the floor catches your attention. “I’m home!” he calls out, his voice a little tired but warm and full of love.
You rush out to greet him, pulling him into a tight hug. “Welcome back!”
He grins, melting into your embrace. “It smells amazing in here. Did you… cook?” His tone is surprised but genuinely touched.
“Yup!” you say, beaming. “I wanted to do something special for you. Go freshen up—it’ll be ready when you’re done.”
Jisung heads off to change, and you quickly finish plating the food, making sure it looks as good as possible. By the time he sits down, the table is set with candles and everything. You can see how moved he is by the effort.
“Wow,” he says, his eyes wide as he takes it all in. “You did all this for me? You’re amazing.”
You blush at his words. “Anything for you. Now, dig in!”
He grabs his fork and takes his first bite. His attitude somewhat changes, but he masks it with a smile. His nod is a bit too enthusiastic. "Mmm," he adds. "This is so good!" With pride, you smile. “Really? I was worried that things wouldn't work out.” "No, it's delicious!" he insists, taking another bite, although at a slower pace. His thoughts are racing inside.
*It's slightly salty—no, it's really salty. And the texture isn't right. However, they put a lot of effort into this—I can't say anything. I'll simply push through.*
Feeling happy by his obvious enjoyment, you continue to watch him eat. "You really like it?”
“Of course!” he says, washing it down with a big gulp of water. “You did an amazing job.” He clears his plate despite the challenge, finishing with a triumphant smile. “That was so good. Thank you, babe.”
You’re practically glowing from his praise. “I’m so glad you liked it! I was worried it might not be perfect.”
Jisung shakes his head. “It was perfect,” he lies smoothly, leaning back in his chair.
Later, Jisung waits in the doorway, watching you with a sheepish smile as you get ready for bed. Casually, he scratches the back of his neck and says, "Hey." "Yes?" You look at him in the mirror and hum. "Well, I He took a step closer and says, "I have something to tell you.”
Curious, you turn around. "What is it?" After he pauses, he starts laughing. "Alright, don't be upset,
but the dinner wasn't that good."
Your jaw drops as you process his confession. “What?! You said you loved it!”
“I didn’t have the heart to tell you!” he defends himself, laughing so hard he’s clutching his stomach. “You looked so proud, and I couldn’t ruin the moment!”
You grab a nearby pillow and playfully hit him with it. “Babe! I can’t believe you lied to me!”
He tries to dodge, laughing harder. “It wasn’t a lie—it was… creative encouragement! You worked so hard, and I really did appreciate it!”
You can’t help but laugh along with him, even as you give him another light whack. “You’re impossible.”
“But you love me,” he teases, catching your hand mid-swing and pulling you close.
“Barely,” you joke, rolling your eyes.
He grins, leaning his forehead against yours. “Next time, we’ll cook together, okay? That way, you can’t accuse me of lying.”
“Deal,” you say with a smirk. “But don’t think I’m letting you off the hook that easily.”
Jisung kisses your cheek, still chuckling. “Fair enough. Just know that I’ll always finish whatever you make—even if it’s… memorable.”
You both laugh as you settle into bed, teasing each other until the night is filled with warmth and joy, the imperfect dinner already a funny memory to share.
nini’s notes!! 112724
heyy. i hope you all have a good thanksgiving tomorrow (if you celebrate, of course). i’m so ready for this year to be over 🤧.
asks are always open if you have a question, concern, or request!
-🎀
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admirationandromantics · 3 days ago
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Going overboard, Prologue
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Okay, so 10 hours early, but I've gotten several requests about the start of the story, so here it is! This has been a big project (still not done with the last 3 chapters...), but so worth it. Remining the readers that this story is 18+ cause of alcohol, smut, drugs (?), throwing up (cause of alcohol, not ed) and other darker themes. Remember that Josh is severly mentally ill, so if you struggle with themes like that, I don't recommend this story.
Some chapters will not feature interactions with him, and some will be longer or shorter, but I'll try to make daily updates, so no worries! This blog is purely for my creative expression, and I don't really want tips or tricks about how to do stuff better, thank you. This whole thing is a way for me to relieve stress and just write without thought. Hope you enjoy, and if you do, please consider following and liking <3
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The booze was getting empty, and the night darker. The snowstorm outside had worsened, making the inside of the cabin feel like the perfect cozy place. Emily and Jess had been talking all night about some kind of prank. I don’t know what it was about, and I didn’t want to know. Knowing the lengths they’d go, I kept my distance. During the evening they’d been regularly going away together, whether it was in the bathroom or in the kitchen. They were alone, talking, occasionally giving loud snickers. If Emily wasn’t hopelessly in love with Mike, I would’ve thought she had a thing for Jess. 
Josh is slurring around, mixing up words and almost falling over. He’s basically being carried by Matt from place to place when he wants to go somewhere. Hannah is mixing drinks, leaving them on the counter for everyone. I guess it’s tiring being hosts. Well, not for Josh, but the others. I’m sitting on the sofa with Sam, Ashley and Chris. Ashley seems fine, as she doesn’t get very verbal while drunk, while Sam’s not drinking. She’s sketching on her notepad while talking, and I occasionally look over her shoulder to see the products. They’re gorgeous, every line perfectly in place. I’m mesmerised by her talent, her ability to create something so lifelike. She’s almost like Victor Frankenstein, just a little safer with her creations. She’s drawing Chris now, making sure to add that little glisten on his glasses. I look over at him, then the drawing, then him again. It looks so real. 
“I’m in awe” I comment, looking up at her. She gets a slight blush on her cheeks, clearly not used to such positive feedback. 
“Why thank you” she smiles back at me. 
“Ohhh let me see, let me see!” Ashley shouts, reaching out both of her hands for the pad. Sam complies, putting down the pencil and giving it to her. Ashley blushes as she looks at the drawing, biting her lips in an almost invisible manner. 
“Oh look-” she points at the drawing, holding the pat in front of Chris. 
“She even got some of your freckles” she smiles, still blushing as she looks down on him. Chris doesn’t open his eyes. His head’s resting on her shoulder, and when she nudges him, he gives a slight “mmm” in reply. She gives back the drawing pad to Sam, leaning back so Chris’ head falls in her lap. Luckily she manages to catch his head with her hands, slowly putting him down. He nuzzles into her, and she runs her finger though his hair while breathing out. She’s probably scared he’s going to wake up. 
I turn, giving Sam a look before we both turn to her. The motions make her look up at us, confused. 
“Sooooo” Sam begins. 
“When are you going to ask him out?” I finish, smirking. I can’t help it. It takes a couple of seconds before Ashley realises what we asked of her, and when she does, her eyes widen and both hands immediately go to cover Chris’ ears. Sam grabs my thigh, squeezing a bit to release the energy so she doesn’t laugh.
“Shhhh he might hear you!” she whisper-shouts, looking at us. 
“Oh don’t worry, he’s out cold” Sam teases, grabbing a shot glass and filling it to the brim with tequila. 
“Well, the brain can still recognise things while sleeping”
“Nerd”
“They’re a perfect match”
“Stop it!”
We both laugh, while Ashley’s still pouting. 
“Fine, sorry” Sam continues, giving me the shot glass. I look at her, she’s got a funny look on her face. 
“What is this for?” I ask, taking hold of it and bringing it to my mouth. 
“You seem more present than the rest.” She smiles, nodding to the glass. I drink up, give a grimage and start looking for the lime. 
“There’s no more”, Ashley laughs, and Sam joins her. 
“Asshole”. I move to the kitchen, trying to find some kind of drink to make the shot not come up again. Beth joins me. 
“You look awful”
“Thank you Beth”. She gives me a beer, and I drink it as fast as I can, killing the gross aftertaste. As I look over at her, she gives me a concerning look. I finish up, another bad taste covers my insides, and I run to the sink, feeling like throwing up. 
“Fuck fuck fuck”
“Shit sorry, I didn’t think you would drink that so fast!” Beth exclaims, running to the refrigerator and grabbing some orange juice. As she hands me it, I drink like a feral animal once again, determined to not let this ruin my night. Beth stands behind me, rubbing my back and holding my hair. Just in case. Nothing comes up, and after about three minutes I stand up, giving her a bitch look. 
“Karma’s coming for you Beth, that’s not okay.” She’s still smiling softly at me, whispering for me to follow her. I take her hand, and she leads me to the bathroom. We both sit down on the floor, and I begin to feel my whole body pulsing. Every breath is grand, going to the edge of my fingers. Fuck, I’m going to be sick tomorrow. 
“I wanted to tell you something” she starts, not looking at me. 
“What”
“The others were trying to get you blasted tonight”
“You think I’m naive, of course I know that. Sam never offers alcohol to anyone, and you know how I get”
“Well, yeah. I was kind of in on it”
“I know”, I responded, laughing a little. She looks over at me. 
“You’re not mad?”
“Of course not, just fun, I wanted to let a bit loose on this trip”
“You know we have an agenda?” No I didn’t. I look up at her, her face slowly moving to the side, facing me. 
“And what is it?” She looks down in shame, and I get a weird feeling in my stomach. If this has something to do with Jess and Emily, I’m leaving on the spot. 
“Well, notice how Josh is also…”
“A little out of it?”
“Yeah, that”. Something clicks, a switch, a lightbulb, something, and I rapidly stand up. 
“Wait!” I exclaim, suddenly realising. My body is wobbling, and I grab hold of the wall so I don’t fall. Beth follows quickly, hands in the air around me in case I fall. 
“You’re trying to get me with your brother?!” 
“You like him don’t you?”
“Well Yeah"
“And you’re both drunk”
“So?”
“Drinks of bravery?”
“No”
“Yes”
“Absolutely not”, and I turn to leave. I go out in the hall, but she runs past me and corners me. 
“Okay, listen. Maybe this wasn’t the best approach, but don’t let the rest of the night go to waste, we’re having fun. No pressure on that area, okay? You’re just having fun tonight” she explains, a bit panicked. 
I can’t be mad at her, but I roll my eyes and give her a nudge, not feeling if I hit her or not. I grab her hand, and we both go to join the others. I know myself, and no matter how drunk I get, making a move on Josh is NOT something I will do. Ever. 
As we’re walking down the stairs, the people have gathered in the living room. Matt is on his way to the bathroom, walking past us and smiling. Such a sweet guy. We join the others, sitting down with Josh to my left and Emily on my right. Josh leans over. 
“Hey, want to get a smoke” he whispers, probably so Sam doesn’t hear. I look out the window, getting shivers just from seeing the snow. 
“The weather”
“We can do it through a window.” I look at the others, who are clearly busy. Nobody’s watching, and we could probably sneak out. 
“My room” he whispers, before drunkenly getting up, moving like a penguin up the stairs. He walks past Matt, who’s going down. 
“Need help Josh?”
“Do I look like I need help?”
“Yes”
“No I don’t”
Everyone laughs as Josh continues up the stairs. Hannah looks worried, but ultimately starts sipping her drink again. I don’t know how much time has passed before I decide to go. Emily, Jess and Mike went to the kitchen again, but not before drawing a bunch of stuff on Chris’ face. Nobody notices me slipping away, up the stairs and out of reach. 
I walk through the hall. Josh’s room is at the very end. The hall is spinning, doors getting mixed up. I open one of them, walking into a dark room. Makeup is spread throughout every counter, clothes everywhere. This is not Josh’s room. I drunkenly make my way out to the hallway again, noticing a door beside which is slightly ajar. 
As I arrive in Josh's room, his window is open, cold air flying through the room, giving me goosebumps. He turns around when he hears the door close, looking me up and down and smiling. He’s already got a cigarette in his mouth. I smile back, walking towards him. As I reach for the wardrobe to hold for balance, my hand slips. He’s quick to grab my arm, making a grunting sound when pulling me up. He’s got fast reflexes for someone who’s drunk so much. As I get my balance back, he grabs a pack from his pocket, opening it and letting me pull a cigarette out. 
“Got a lighter?” I ask. He smiles, taking the cylinder off my hand and holding it up to my lips. His eyebrows rise, and I take it as a sign to part my lips, leading to him placing cigarette in my mouth. His hand grabs hold of my chin, pulling me closer. He leans over, letting his burning end touch the end of mine. 
“Inhale” he whispers between teeth. I comply, lighting my own through his. I stare up at him, locking eyes. He doesn’t move away. Instead, his thumb shifts from my chin to my lips, caressing lightly. I’m drunk, he’s drunk, we don’t know what we’re doing. I pull away, away from his face and hand. 
“So we didn’t need a lighter” I say, leaning over to the window and blowing the smoke outside. He stands beside me, leaning over so we’re in the same position, arms brushing against each other. 
“You’re cold”, he tells me, looking up worried. His hand moves to my arm, grabbing. He’s warm, too warm. I sigh when he touches me, involuntary. Fuck. I blush, hoping he thinks my redness is due to the cold. 
“I don’t feel it”, I respond. A lie, but it’s okay. I’ll survive. 
“Damn, drank that much?” he says, walking over to the closet. 
“Not my fault”
“Really”, he sounds surprised. Walking back to me, a flannel shirt in hand. 
“The others are plotting” I state, as I put my hands out, letting him put it on me. When he finishes, he doesn’t button it, but leaves it open. 
“Plotting what?”
“Trying to get us together”
“Really? My sisters’ are in it too?”
“At least one of them”
“Shameless people. Trying to get her brother and best friend together”
“Yeah I know” I laugh, turning away and looking out the window once again. I take a few more drags of the cigarette, using too long, making it almost go out. He starts a new conversation. 
“You know, I thought about asking you out once”. I look surprised at him, he has his signature smirk plastered on. It’s my turn to be curious. 
“And?” He turns to me, looking down, I don’t know if he’s looking down my shirt or on my waist. 
“Well, friend group shit. Didn’t want to fuck it up”. My heart falls a bit, a heavy feeling in my chest. 
“Smart choice” I manage to answer. 
“I guess”. He sounds oddly disappointed, and I force myself to be more forward. 
“Especially since I would’ve said yes”
“What?” he asks, taking my cigarette and throwing it out the window. 
“Hey!”
“It was basically out anyway. But are you for real?” he continues, brows furrowed, and hands grabbing my shirt on each side of my waist. My face gets hot, arms wanting to feel him. 
“Yeah-”. Before I’m able to fulfil my answer, he drags me into him, chest to chest, meeting my lips in a sloppy kiss. Shocked, I pull away, walking a few steps back. I still hold onto the counter for balance, looking at him. He’s breathing heavily, a bit surprised by my response, and a little hurt. 
“Sorry, I got the signs wrong” he says, looking down. I take a breath, calming myself. 
“Is this a prank?”
“What”
“Is this a prank?” I say a bit louder, nearly shouting. Probably I am, I just don’t realize it. 
“Why would you think that?” he asks, a bit angry. 
“Because Jess and Emily were talking about some type of prank and people were getting me drunk and-” I ramble, breathing starting to get unsteady. I’m unsure about how to continue. I’m getting dizzy, needing to lay down. Josh notices. As my vision goes blurry, arms take hold of me, quickly moving me to the bed. My head is pounding, but the room doesn’t spin as much anymore. An arm is holding my head up a bit, and I feel a cold glass touch my lips. Instinctively I open my mouth, drinking the whole glass of water. He lays down beside me, and I can feel myself drifting off. 
When I wake up, it’s still dark outside. Josh is sleeping, so I make my way to the bathroom. The nausea is catching up, and I make myself vomit. Several times. Luckily, this means I’ll probably be spared in the morning. My head feels lighter, in a good way. When I’m done, I drink some more water and brush my teeth. I feel refreshed, and a little happy that was it. I don’t need to be stressed about being sick. 
As I walk out in the hallway again, I hear voices downstairs. They’re still up. I look at the clock, and notice I was only out for about half an hour. I decide not to join them. I’ve gotten enough tonight. As I make my way in the hallway, I notice Josh’s door which I didn’t close behind me. I walk over, looking inside. Josh is up, sitting on the side of his bed with his head in his hands. I walk inside, closing the door behind me. He doesn’t turn. 
“Hey” I say, trying to put on a light tone. 
“Hey”. His voice is emotionless, nothing to analyse, nothing to take from it. I walk over, sitting down in front of him on my knees. He still doesn’t look at me, only right down between his legs. 
“Can we talk?” I ask. He finally lifts his face, looking into my eyes. Before I can begin, he starts. 
“Do you really think I would do something like that?”
“What?”
“Toying with your feelings. Being part of Jess’ and Emily’s schemes?” Now it’s my turn to look down, shame filling my chest. 
“I was so drunk Josh, still am, but I panicked, and spiralled…” I feel a tear run down the corner of my eye. I was not planning on crying, but this night had been more eventful and emotional than most. He doesn’t hesitate to dry them, catching each one with his thumbs. 
“I know, now I’m the one spiralling, sorry” he whispers. I lean forward, hugging him around his waist. He hugs me back. 
“I didn’t mean to pull away”, I explain, not being brave enough to look him in the eyes while confessing. He pulls me away, looking at me. I can’t decipher his face, something hopeful maybe, but not too much. It’s now or never, I must tell him. Before he can ask, I get up, lean forward, and kiss him. He doesn’t back away, instead he grabs my thighs, leading me on top of him, still on the edge of the bed. The kiss is sloppy, as we’re still drunk and a bit dizzy. His hands wander to my waist, grabbing hold of the top of my bottoms. I bite his bottom lip, making him grunt in response. 
“Fuck” he mutters. Grabbing harder, making me gasp. He uses the opportunity to put his tongue in my mouth. I let him. He moves his hands, signalling me to grind on him, and I do. I want him. Bad. My body warms up, the window’s still open, but I can’t feel the cold. As I move on him, he pulls off his own flannel, before dragging my shirt off. I do the same to him. Feeling him up from the lower part of his muscular stomach to his shoulders. My breathing quickens, feeling every curve of his body with my fingertips, trying to memorise it all. He's warm, tense but calm, and I melt into his touch. I lean forward to capture his lips again, and he meets me halfway. I can feel myself getting wetter by the minute, and before I know it, he turns us around, laying my back on the bed, hovering over me. He leans down again, kissing my collar and neck. I can’t help the whines that come out of me. I feel needy, hot. I need him. He stops by my breasts, looking up. 
“Do you want this?” he asks. 
“Yes Josh, please. I want you” 
He smiles in response, and I can’t help but mirror it. 
***
Loud bangs are heard on the door. I wake up with a headache, but luckily no nausea. I poke Josh, making him wake up abruptly, grabbing his head, a painful look on his face. His headache seems worse than mine. 
“Someone’s in the hallway” I say, leaning down and kissing his head. 
“Fuck” he whispers. “Let’s get this over with”
“What is it?” he shouts through the door. 
“Josh, we need you!” I hear Mike shout. “Your sisters are missing!”
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strawberryblue-blog · 20 hours ago
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could you do birthday sex smut with Pedri
Like old times —Pedri González.
summary: Pedri invites you to meet his friends on his birthday and it ends like you never expected.
warnings: YES. +18. smut, friends to lovers, cute, soft.
words count: +2k.
#SEXYNOTE: Happy birthday to our Pedri (late) We love youuuu 🩷
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Laughter spilled through the house as the voices talked about things. You were talking to a friend of Pedri's while he was talking about you, remembering things from the past. Today was your best friend's birthday and all his friends had come to celebrate. Your old childhood friend that even though you still saw each other from time to time, you had agreed to be close friends. But you hadn't been able to see each other lately because of his work and your studies. You were more than happy that he invited you to have dinner with them today for his birthday, with his teammates that you were excited to meet.
They were great, you barely talked to them but you already got along so well. Pedri kept talking about you. About your childhood. Old anecdotes brought back vivid memories of your times, everyone laughed and commented. You could tell that some were a little more over the top than others and the birthday boy was not far behind.
You felt melancholy. You didn't know if it was the alcohol or the fleeting glances you and Pedri gave each other as you reminisced. His eyes looked at you with that same sparkle they had when you were young and you're sure yours sparkled like that too. All night long you had been giving each other complicit, honeyed and challenging glances. As if you owed something to each other. As if you were waiting for something from each other. Still, you tried to make the most of your time with his friends. It wasn't every day you were surrounded by people as nice as they were.
You dined, drank, talked, toasted and ate cake. Everything was perfect. The reunion had been successful and most of them were already starting to say goodbye to go home.
"It was nice to meet the famous Y/n!" said Ferran, hugging you fleetingly. You hugged him nicely too.
They all agreed, smiling.
"It's pleasure is all mine, guys" you thanked towards them.
"We have to do it more often" Gavi said before hugging you goodbye. "If Pedri accepts, I don't think he's that happy about it" he whispered when he reached your ear. His hug lasted a little longer than the others and your heart skipped a beat when you heard it.
Behind you was Pedri, looking at you somewhat seriously while still holding Gavi in a hug. You heard a chuckle from him and hid your laughter. He winked at you when you pulled away and you smiled at him.
"All right, bye" Pedri muttered, running to Gavi quickly and dragging him to the door. Everyone burst out laughing in amusement.
You shook your head ignoring him. You were her best friend, none of that would change by hanging out with the boys.
Pedri escorted them out, while you stayed behind to sort things out. You felt a little guilty about the mess and you weren't going to let Pedri set everything up alone in the morning.
"Y/n, leave it. Tomorrow I'll clean up" he said when he got back to the house.
"Please, let me do it" you asked with a look, Pedri snorted but had no choice when you kept putting things together.
You stayed a while longer, tidying up, washing and chatting. You didn't mind helping him at all, in fact you were enjoying it. He kept catching you up on his life and you took the opportunity to tell him about yours. It had been a long time since you had had a conversation as deep and lively as this one and finally you and Pedri were alone.
"Would you like one more drink?" he asked as you sat down to rest on the couch after you finished.
"I think I need to go home" you say with a grimace.
"Come on!" he squeals in amusement. "It's my birthday" he pouts. "Besides you could stay, there's an extra room if you want..."
His eyes pleaded for you to accept, it was obvious you were both excited to see each other again. You weren't going to deny it, you had been waiting all night for a moment alone with him, just like old times. You wanted to stay but were afraid to admit it.
"Okay, let's open another bottle" you nod smiling.
He goes to kitchen for another champagne from the fridge and two clean glasses. He returns, sits down on the sofa with a chuckle and pours the glasses carefully, still talking. You've never seen him as chatty as he is tonight, he was enjoying his alone time and you wanted to know all about him. Once again, you toast clinking your glasses and you bite your lip nervously. You take a hurried drink, trying to calm your anxieties. Your heart started pounding and you begin to hesitate as you smile thinly.
"Remember when we ran away from home to go to camp with Fer?" you asked with a laugh as you continued to reminisce.
He long a laugh as he remembered. It had been when you were six years old, Fer and his friends had gone camping at the beach and you curious little kids followed them to go too. You had run away from home, as your parents had not let you go, since you were small. But you wanted to see the waves and become teenagers like the others.
"I still remember that I didn't leave home for at least three months because of the punishment" Pedri river denying. "And when we fell out of the tree hammock?" he said and you burst out laughing.
That had been another experience. Your father had told you not to ride in the tree hammock together because he clearly wasn't going to put up with it but you didn't know what that meant and did it anyway. Said and done, the hammock didn't hold and the branch snapped, making you fall in a big crash that you still remember perfectly.
You sighed trying to stop laughing, your belly already hurt and you felt dizzy.
"Remember when we kissed for the first time?" you ask with a shy laugh, grimacing in embarrassment.
Heat rises to your cheeks as you remember their first kiss. Yes. Your first kiss had been with Pedri when you were thirteen. You watched everyone kiss, Fer and his girlfriend at the time, your parents, your friends, the movies, everyone. You wanted to have your kiss too and you were grown up, according to you.
"It was terrible" guffawed Pedri clutching his belly. "We didn't even know how to do it"
Another guffaw comes out of your mouth. Tears were starting to build up from the laughter, your belly ached and you had no desire left. It was definitely the best time.
"We didn't know what to do with our tongues, it was so gross" you remembered and again laughed out loud.
He catches it and laughs too. For some reason, his laughter makes you feel a knot in your stomach. It's so magical. It takes you back to those moments where you were soul mates, inexperienced and curious young people, trying to find yourselves in each other. Your friendship with Pedri was one of the most precious things you had.
The laughter begins to subside and you stare at each other. Her face is slightly flushed, probably from the alcohol, his gaze shining in the dim light of the room. His hair is tousled and looks so soft it makes you want to comb it. You swallow saliva as your gazes never leave each other's eyes. So deep that you feel spellbound. You smile a little shyly, your heart races with every second, your chest tightens and you want to keep talking to him. You love to hear his voice, his laughter. You want to keep remembering your moments with Pedri, because every time you listen to him he makes you feel a special spark inside you.
But you don't really feel like talking. You want to touch him, to pull him closer to you, to kiss him. To have him as close to you as possible.
The silence is overwhelming and uncomfortable. Your gazes are still glued like chewing gum on your shoe Your breaths are agitated and irregular. You want to kiss him so badly. You don't know when he moved but he's so close to you, you doubt if it was you who approached. You don't know, you're lost in his eyes.
"Just like old times" he murmurs taking your hand gently. "You and me"
You smile biting your lip. You nod without even being able to speak, your heart soars and your pulse rises. It's just him and you. It's just the two of you.
His gaze pleads for something you understand perfectly. But neither of you dare make a move. You're so scared you're afraid of misreading the situation. If you kiss him, there's no turning back and you don't know if he wants that.
Minutes pass and you're still there, looking at each other. With feelings afloat as they continue to bloom on your breasts.
You bite your lip, sighing slowly. And without thinking and you jump into his mouth, kissing him with some fear.
It's a soft touch, as if asking for permission. Pedri accepts it and quickly with your hands encircle his cheeks as his hands wrap around your waist, pulling you closer.
He wanted to kiss you, you wanted to kiss him. It was the perfect moment to remember old times. You kiss for eternity, savoring each other, feeling each other, remembering each other. This time the kiss is nothing compared to that first kiss you had more than ten years ago.
It's hard, sure and hot. Although his lips taste exactly like they used to at that moment and your heart felt the same as it used to feel some time ago. Agitated, needy and in love with Pedri.
You want to kiss him. You want to touch him. You want to feel him.
His body traps yours and he lays you down on the couch, still kissing, his hands caressing every corner of your skin while your fingers hold the dark fibers of his hair. His touch burns into your skin, leaving warm traces that will be marked for life in your heart. His lips walk down your neck, it's rough but sweet at the same time, gasps escape from your mouths. You can't stop kissing you, over and over again. From seeing each other, from feeling each other, from remembering each other.
Your hands begin to undress your body, removing your shirt and skirt, your fingers caress every corner of your skin, touching it. Yours help him take off his shirt and then play in his soft hair, his body presses against yours as your legs embrace his bare back. You don't want to stop kissing him, you don't want him to stop. You need him.
"Are you okay?" he whispers as his forehead presses against yours Your confused look makes him hesitate but it's not because you want to stop. "Do you want to go on?"
"Yes, I do" you say holding his red cheeks. But you take the time to watch him. Above you, his lips red and swollen, his cheeks flushed from the heat beginning to rise in your bodies, his eyes shining like mirrors, his chest heaving.
It is beautiful. Through his gaze you can still see the boy only four years old who came to play with you on the playground, the only boy who didn't judge you and came to you, the boy who visited you every day after school, the boy who taught you how to kick and a thousand other things that live forever in your heart.
"Kissing you that day wasn't really gross, Peter" you murmur sincerely.
Yes, maybe it was in a sense. You didn't know how to do it, it was slobbery, short and it felt awful. But on the other hand it was innocent, tender and delicate. It was the beginning of everything. Your feelings were never the same as before after that.
"It was beautiful" you whisper as his fingers stroke your hair, he tucks a loose strand behind your ear and smiles. "It was magical" you admit excitedly.
"You are beautiful" he says looking so deep into your eyes. "It was the best first kiss I could have ever had."
You smile nostalgically as you continue to talk through your eyes.
“Let me show you how much I missed you” he asks in a whisper as his nose plays with yours. “Let me show you when I love you.”
A small tear escapes down your cheek falling. He catches it before it touched your skin. Your head is about to explode, the butterflies in your belly feel like dinosaurs.
“Only if you also let me do the same” you also whisper with a small smile.
His lips kiss yours again, this time firmer, more desperate. His mouth leaves no room on yours and he kisses you fiercely, as if he wants to devour you. And he does. His hands roam over your belly and chest, making small gentle touches to acknowledge your skin. Finally they reach for your bra pin and unclasp it, removing it from your body. His eyes slide over your round breasts, you let him see them, admire them, know them. Your stomach vibrates as he licks his lips and you smile with laughter.
Your fingers take his jeans and unbutton them, seeking to feel his body closer to yours. He lifts up a little to take it off, dragging it down with his underwear and you stare at him for a second. You'd seen other naked bodies but none of them resemble Pedri's. He is perfect.
He turns to you and takes the panties from your sides asking for permission with his eyes, which you quickly accept with a smile. As many say, a picture is worth a thousand words and the way Pedri just looked at you, he just made a testament.
You find yourselves completely naked, looking at each other, as your hearts beat in tandem. Your breaths meet again as you kiss again. Like a magnet their mouths attract each other again and again. As they begin to touch, to know each other, to meet again. Her hands encircle your breasts and squeeze them, making you gasp with pleasure. Yours hold his ass firm, pulling him closer to you. His kisses follow a trail down your neck, down your skin, his lips find your nipples and you kiss them softly. Gently. Moans come out of your mouth, his eyes have never left yours, it's as if they've been bonded for life. Your bodies hot, needy, waiting to join. He positions himself at your entrance and gently moves in, probing your wetness as he makes room between your walls. Your mouth opens and lets out a moan as you feel his cock fit perfectly into your cavity, it's slow and smooth, not even moving. His gaze never leaves yours as your hands hold his face so close to yours that they almost rub together.
You don't need to say anything. Your eyes, your feelings, your hearts have said enough. Skin to skin. Joining together, and I don't mean blissfully sexual. Something beyond a bodily union. But something deeper and more spiritual.
It is a magical moment. So unreal that you doubt if it is a dream but his movements make you believe that he is inside you. Inside your heart. Inside your soul. You hold tight to his neck as he begins to thrust faster, though his movements are delicate, smooth and deep. It feels so good. Him. You. Together tonight. United in soul and body.
Something you had dreamed of your whole life. From that innocent and premature kiss you had out of curiosity until today when you saw him talking about you and the complicit glances you gave each other. Tonight was special for him and it was special for you too.
“Happy birthday, love of my life” you whisper with a proud smile.
His body stops inside you and you feel an emptiness in your chest but his eyes make everything about you vibrate.
“You are the best gift, you are my dream” he murmurs sincerely and your chest burns.
He joins your lips again and you kiss so romantic, soft and polite. Without rushing taking your time because today nothing runs you, it's just him and you.
He admires you, you admire him. Your bodies yearn for each other, you are joined for life. The way he touches you, feels you, looks at you. He makes you feel special by his side, he always has. Pedri is the love of your life. And meeting again made you realize that you are meant for each other.
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bulkyphrase · 3 days ago
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Post-CACW Stony: a fic rec list
I've been on a Captain America: Civil War kick lately, and since I know that Steve-friendly CW Stony fic can be hard to find, I've put together a rec list!
I am thoroughly team cap, but these range from being anti-accords to just not getting into the issue, and all are Steve-friendly as long as you can accept a lot little loving Steve-whump.
Atlas by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) (Not Rated, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, 11,505 words)
Summary: They don't hear each other.
Eigengrau by vorkosigan (@the-vorkosigan) (Teen And Up Audiences, 16,811 words)
Summary: Tony is captured; he doesn't know by whom, or why. He doesn't know how much time has passed since. What he knows is, he can now hear something in the adjacent cell, and that 'something' sounds a lot like Steve Rogers.
Nights When the Wolves Are Silent, and Only the Moon Howls by Cluegirl, Defiler_Wyrm (@cluegrrl) (Mature, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, 77,612 words)
Note: has a Stucky element too, but the relationship between Steve and Tony is the main focus.
Summary: “Could you drop all that stoic shit and be my freaking-the-hell-out wingman for just like, five seconds here?” Steve wasn’t sure he could think of anything he wanted less to do than to freak out about his wounds just then though, so he reached across his chest and gingerly patted Sam’s clenched knuckles. “It’ll be fine,” he promised, believing it. “Serum’s handled worse.” “You know, I actually believe you,” Sam allowed after a long second of glaring. “Which is deeply alarming, considering how much of your connective tissue I’ve touched in the last 4 hours. Now you wanna tell me what Russoff’s men did to you that made it look like you got mauled by a bear?” Steve flinched, then breathed the memory down to size. “Not a bear,” he murmured. “Wolves.”
More below the cut!
(trust me when i say) i'll get back to you by machi_kun (@machi-kun) (General Audiences, 1,549 words)
Summary: “Me and Rogers are not on speaking terms anymore.”
An Infinite Number Of Monkeys At Typewriters (Or, Steve and Tony Finally Get It Right) by JenTheSweetie (@jenthesweetie) (Mature, 18,864 words)
Summary: Tony blinked up at the face staring down at him. This was impossible. This was definitely 100% not possible, he had not just started giving a good morning handy to - “Steve?” After the events of Civil War, Tony and Steve wake up in bed next to each other in an alternate universe. It goes about as well as you'd expect it to.
And Miles to Go Before I Sleep by Cluegirl (@cluegrrl) (Mature, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, 152,765 words)
Summary: They all made mistakes. They all have regrets. They all have nightmares, suspicions, and questions they'd like to ask. And they all left business behind them that was never quite finished. This is the story of how the Avengers ask those questions, get their answers, and come together like fucking adults to make things right again.
Bring Him Home by seventymilestobabylon (@seventymilestobabylon) (Explicit, 13,769 words)
Summary: Tony misses Steve very badly after the Accords. Some days he deals with it better than other days. (a fic featuring the booty call flip phone, minor kidnappings, and time jumps between chapters because the election has been happening and my brain has been too mush to make a proper plot)
Conjugal Visits by xtricks (Explicit, 4,252 words)
Summary: AU: Steve Rogers gets captured fairly soon after Civil War and sent to the Raft. Tony discovers that trying to appease your enemies doesn’t work and ends up a prisoner too.
Down Came the Rain by captainoutoftime (@captain-outoftime) (Explicit, 75,274 words)
Summary: A mission goes badly for Natasha, who is discovered de-aged to three years old. She recognizes no one, but every kid knows Captain America. When Tony grudgingly makes a call, Steve makes good on his promise to answer. Steve has to work together with Tony to take care of a traumatized child and figure out how to turn their itsy bitsy spider back into a Black Widow. Neither of them really want to talk about what happened in Siberia, but living in close quarters, they have to come to some sort of peace - even if it means addressing some feelings they'd rather not admit to having. As they work together to solve the problem of a re-emerging Red Room, Steve uncovers something he never expected to find again: family.
Hating Steve Rogers by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) (Not Rated, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, 16,243 words)
Summary: The thing about hating Steve Rogers is that it shouldn’t be easy - but it really, really is.
I Have Questions by YourFadedGlory (HisNameWasAce) (@yourfadedglory) (Not Rated, 2,808 words)
Summary: There is only so much that Steve can carry. His legs quiver and his heart aches, he looks skyward, and in a startling moment of clarity he lets the shield go. Gouged and battered, it rings like a bell when it hits the stone floor. He wonders for a split moment if it will weigh on Tony the way it has weighed on him.
The Crying Game by fohatic (@fohatic) (Explicit, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, 36,403 words)
Summary: Steve Rogers stared at the dimly glowing digital screen of the little burner phone, rereading the text message as if it might somehow give away something he missed the first dozen times he scrutinized it. His frown only deepened, though, brows drawing together with consternation as the 88 characters only left him with an even more ponderous sense of uncertainty. If you meant what you wrote, I'll be at the Swissotel Sarajevo, 4/18. Presidential Suite. 9pm. Come alone. ...Nearly a year after Steve and Tony's fallout—and only weeks after press rumors that Tony and Pepper's engagement was inexplicably called off—Steve gets a message on the dedicated burner phone. Despite his instinctive reservations, he's compelled to answer the mysterious call. An approximately canon-compliant story.
the hope that kills you by meidui (@meidui) (Mature, 1,227 words)
Summary: Steve used to go on so much about freedom and choice. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. Some of the freedom he loved was big, big enough for him to lay his life down for over and over, and some of the freedom he loved was small, like the wind in his hair when he took his motorcycle out, but now he has to sob and take it when Tony sucks a deep flowering bruise where his prison uniform couldn’t possibly cover and whispers in his ear, “Who’s gonna help you now? Where are you gonna run?”
live for the hope of it all by meidui (@meidui) (Mature, No Archive Warnings Apply, 1,880 words)
Note: This is a sequel to the hope that kills you
Summary: “You can keep me here, can’t you?” Steve asks a little desperately as Tony kneels over him, spreading himself out all the better for Tony to take. He must have really hated his cell on the Raft, Tony thinks before he loses himself in Steve’s body, and for a little while, everything is the same as it has been for the past six months. It’s only after, in the dark and quiet of his own bedroom with Steve sprawled sleepy and heavy across his chest that Tony realises— This is their cell now.
The Phone by AvengersNewB (@avengersnewb) (Mature, 9,039 words)
Summary: Tony hates the flip phone Steve sends him, but he keeps it close at all times, and it never rings until it finally does and the news might help put things into perspective - Captain America : Civil War fix-it. or The phone can't take the place of your smile. [podfic added as chapter 2]
the things we invent when we are scared by nanasekei (@elcorhamletlive) (Not Rated, 18,305 words)
Summary: Steve is trapped in a dream machine, programmed to make him believe he's living his happiest fantasy. Tony goes inside to wake him up, but what he finds is a lot more complicated than he expected.
there's nothing but blue skies by Meatball42 (Mature, Major Character Death, 647 words)
Summary: “This isn’t good,” Steve said grimly.
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americankimchi · 6 hours ago
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dragon age veilguard review: spoilers for the entire game ahead
alright now that it's been a few days and i've had time to 1) get over the honeymoon phase and 2) really think on the game beyond the emotional high of the endgame mission/endgame choice, i can finally type this up
my final score for this game is 8/10, if you just care about that part and wanna skip the rest.
preface, i've only finished one playthrough as an elf mage grey warden, and played every companion/region quest*/side objective to completion**.
i played it on the underdog difficulty and it took me ~74 hours (i left the game open and went to do something else a few times, so it should probably read closer to ~70). this is a screenshot of the final auto-save after i beat the game
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veeery long review under the cut ✌️
*exception being minrathous since i picked treviso instead, so the region quests got shafted
**didn't find all the chests or all the collectables, but i got close. also, i missed neve's first companion outing because i forgot to do it prior to the minrathous/treviso choice and didn't realize recruiting davrin was a cut-off point. aside from that i finished every quest i could grab my hands on.
OKAY SO i want to start this off by saying that i thoroughly enjoyed this game, enough to want to replay it again (i currently have two concurrent playthroughs as a dwarf shadow dragon and a human antivan crow going) and will probably be modding it to high heavens once that boat gets sailing, and that i believe it deserves that 8/10 score with all my heart. it was a great time.
that being said.
DIALOGUE REACTIVITY BASED OFF CHARACTER CREATION:
anyone who plays dragon age veilguard and only veilguard is getting a very surface level experience of what thedas is/has to offer culturally. i'm saying this because the excuse being "this is tevinter, why would it be the same as the southern half of thedas" isn't enough to explain a lot of gaping holes in the game's setting.
for instance, i played as an ELF MAGE GREY WARDEN in the middle of TEVINTER during a massive catastrophe brought about by the returned "ELVEN GODS"
having played all the games prior to dav, i did so because i knew that there would be
high tension with my PC being an elf in the notoriously cruel-to-elves country of tevinter, the old empire of which caused the fall of arlathan, and who enslaves elves to the point of it being a huge story beat for a previous companion (fenris)
a mage in a magocracy, where the script is flipped between mages and templars as compared to the south which recently went through years of a mage-templar war
a grey warden - their relevancy in thedas ended around 10 years ago due to corypheus basically tricking them all into hearing their calling, and 22 years prior veilguard during the fifth blight. at the beginning of the game, being a grey warden is more of a coincidental occupation than a narrative beat like it is in origins, but there's always something going on with the wardens so i picked it as a 'i'll pick this to experience the game first and then go for what i suspect is the best narratively relevant origin for my second playthrough' option
of the three descriptors, ELF/MAGE/GREY WARDEN, which do you think had the most story-relevant screen time?
that's right.
the grey warden one.
i won't say that there was nothing about being a mage, but i can remember probably on one hand where the option to chime in as a mage was relevant to what was being spoken about. (a conversation about spite, a conversation about scout harding's new abilities, and if there were more they weren't memorable enough for me to recall off the top of my head) which was fine on paper if you don't know anything about dragon age's entire deal wrt mages. i believe the only real mention about tensions between mages and templars happened in minrathous when we met up with neve's templar friend rana. i think the line reads something like "oh templars are just here to make sure the magic doesn't go out of hand. we don't even take lyrium like our southern counterparts" and then the game moves on to other things
which is crazy considering just how seriously the mage vs templar conflict was being leaned into for the previous three games, enough to the point where i was getting absolutely sick and tired of hearing about it. well the monkey's paw curls a finger because not only did i not hear about it, it felt like it never even happened.
TO BE FAIR: we're playing in tevinter (and antiva. and rivain. and the hossberg wetlands. and—well, you get the idea) and there's a general air of tevinter snooty superiority when they consider the 'south', so perhaps it wasn't fair for me to think "oh, they'd talk about it right? they'd bring it up more than once", but my being a mage seemed to just not even register for any characters in tevinter. not that i wanted them to roll out the red carpet or anything, but i can't remember a single moment where an NPC was like "oh right, you're a mage too". maybe they did, and i just don't remember it. but it didn't seem to matter at all.
but alright whatever, if we want to write that off as being "we're in tevinter. that has no bearing on circumstances here because it's a MAGOCRACY" fine i'll let it slide.
but the fact that my being an ELF didn't seem to be a Huge Deal when in tevinter threw me for a fucking loop. was there some sort of massive societal upheaval in the ten years between dragon age inquisition (dorian: i thought keeping slaves was fine as long as you treat them well) to veilguard (i found a single codex entry of a letter where dorian says "hey guys. we should stop keeping slaves. like genuinely what the fuck is wrong with us for even doing that in the first place") but the fact that NOBODY SEEMS TO BLINK AN EYE at my rook's elven heritage. ESPECIALLY since the main antagonists of this game are ALL ELVEN GODS seems like a wildly missed opportunity to introduce some tension. UNJUSTIFIED TENSION, but tension nonetheless.
the wardens had a lot of content, which both surprised and delighted me thoroughly. i'll never speak a word against them of course, and i did love how it showed that the wardens were here to do a job, and not play nice about it. the first warden was, in my humble opinion, one of the best characters in the entire game. annoying, gruff, called my rook warden basically the equivalent of a stupid rhino in a china shop not knowing what's best for the wardens/their oaths and impulsive in a way detrimental to everyone in his surroundings. literally one of my favorite lines happens when he and rook are beefing in the middle of the cobbled swan:
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like. that was so satisfying.
the fact that the first warden isn't a villain, he's actually a fantastic grey warden. he'd sacrifice himself to kill an archdemon, and in fact "steals the glory" for himself. like was he an asshole during that exchange? yes, but it's undeniable that he was going to his death voluntarily and with a grim fervor. that's peak grey warden. nobody can say he'd ever shirk his duty. his character flaw was that he's a terrible leader, has the military tactics of a damp slice of toast, and generally doesn't inspire his subordinates to feel any sort of true loyalty to him. see here where my rook aggressively relieves him of duty and after a tense exchange where it seems like combat is about to start, evka saves the day by taking charge. and she does take charge pretty quick. nobody seems to really oppose the real quick promotion.
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and then it's back to business as usual. archdemon trapping, anyone?
which was a problem i had with other factions in the game, namely the antivan crows. like yes, not every group is a monolith sharing the same ideals/morals/etc. but having played dragon age origins close to two decades prior where a massive point of contention was between zevran and the crows and the trauma that came from his upbringing as a crow... to then get thrown into treviso to see that the house we're dealing with is a bunch of leathery robin hoods was an unexpected turn. like. guys? weren't they villains? why are we all relatively good people (barring illario) here??? if anything, i thought that there'd be more politicking and backstabbing (literally and figuratively) but everything here seems kinda...... harmonious in comparison to whatever the fuck house arainai was doing. i might have missed a codex entry (i didn't read them all) explaining why the tonal shift happened, like maybe someone somewhere wrote about how house arainai imploded post-fifth blight when a crow went, well, rogue, and exposed the crows for the literal torture they put CHILDREN through, but nothing. like the game straight up lets an NPC whose name escapes me form a new house composed OF children at the end. like. what........ this isn't neverland, why are we forming the lost boys with knives here. hello??
on the other hand, i feel like the wardens had more options to expand on the fact that uh. yeah. grey wardens don't come from great backgrounds. like when you could conscript the mayor of d'meta's crossing much to everyone's displeasure, or the first warden actively being an obstacle to real progress (but not a villain! just extremely blind to the real dangers!), etc. etc. still not great in terms of "we employ literal murderers and criminals of every kind so we can toss them in the direction of darkspawn as a literal meat shield for thedas" but at least it's something.
but i digress. back to the point:
felt like the amount of dialogue options i had where i could bring up my warden expertise not only outstripped the mage/elf tags, but was so prevalent that sometimes it felt like the game was specifically catered to me being a grey warden. this is obviously just because i haven't played enough of the other origins to really feel out how much content they have in comparison, and it's partially just because of how obviously biased i am towards them as a group, but the FLAVOR of being a grey warden was present wherever i went. we'll see how well this opinion holds up after i finish my other two playthroughs.
THE COMBAT:
genuinely the best combat in the series. the fact that you can dodge-roll and more importantly PARRY in this game is an unexpected boon that i can't praise bioware enough for. the abilities themselves are smooth, the detonations provide a nice chunk of damage AND crowd control where you can just unload, and the damage types/weaknesses being a genuinely relevant part of the game to the point where if you have a lightning abilities/weapons equipped and you're facing down a hoard of antaam, you're going to have an extremely bad time*.
* on higher difficulties. i've heard on lower ones that it doesn't matter and you can just brute force your way through the game
i will say the "quick recovery" doesn't feel quick at all, even if i'm hitting the button for it frame-perfect, i can still get knocked down as the animation for quick recovery is going off, which was annoying. would've liked the i-frames to have saved me from getting turned into paste by the three ogres punching me down at the same time but alas.
also, they tend to target you even if you have a warrior (davrin/taash) on the team. unless you're actively casting taunt, they will run past your party members to hammer down on you. which was. annoying.
STILL I LOVED THE COMBAT, i went spellblade as a mage and my build was absolutely disgusting at the end. with a combination of fully stacked out duration+strike abilities, arcane bomb stacking abilities/weapons, and not even glancing at the other two trees for the majority of the game, i felt like i was a rogue that could conveniently cast chain lightning. it was crazy fun.
but also a steep learning curve. mythal took me 17 entire real life minutes to beat. LMAO.
i love that you don't need to restart the game if you want to play a different subclass, you can just refund your skill points and explore the game to your heart's content that way. not that i did, i picked one tree and stuck to it the entire game come hell or high water (or a lightning resistant high dragon 10 levels above me) and i had a blast with it.
THE STORY (THE EVANURIS, ROOK, & VARRIC):
hooooo boy. okay. this is going to be about the MAIN STORY ONLY, companion and region specific stuff will be in its own section later.
the writing for the main story was actually pretty enjoyable the further along in the game i got. every single main story mission was an incredibly cinematic experience; my favorite being the siege at weisshaupt mission—but only because it's kind of hard to quantify the endgame section as a 'mission' when it felt like an entire act on its own.
the amount of personality rook has was a breath of fresh air, and the voice acting for male british rook (alex jordan, who also coincidentally voices my favorite character in wuthering waves: jiyan♥) was SOOOO good. every line delivered felt like it matched the scene's energy/the personality i picked, so the flow of dialogue felt natural enough to be part of a tv show or movie.
although i do wish there was more option to be a little bit more of a bitch. a little rat bastard. not evil because i don't think dragon age would ever let you be evil in the way owlcat games lets you turn into a literal swarm of bugs consuming all (including companions) in its path, i thought there'd be a chance to be like. well. a little mean to people. i can be rude, but not mean. if that makes sense.
i do feel that rook was done a disservice by not having a hawke-like session 0 where we can see, precisely, why they're already so attached to varric and scout harding, but maybe that was left on the cutting room floor. i'm not a fan of tell don't show, so the game telling me "hey remember when you and varric did this thing that we're not going to actually show you" was pretty annoying. i wasn't expecting a dragon age origins-type prologue segment where i move through the world as a warden pre-veilguard, but i do wish we had like. a short cutscene flashback sequence or something to really immerse myself into the character. like let me put my shoes on before i start running the race!
still though rook felt really present in the story. like they slotted really nicely and smoothly into the leadership position which. i mean yeah who else, right? even though they did have plot armor in the sense that i didn't really understand (in-universe) why ghilan'nain and elgar'nan didn't just squish my rook into a pulp and scrape the dagger off the smear he became every time they came face to face... i suppose we wouldn't have a game, otherwise lolol
moving swiftly on, the boss fights felt appropriately built up to, and never did i feel like i was woefully unprepared for the task set up before me (although i must admit i was slightly taken aback by the three-headed hydra at weisshaupt. delightfully so, but it did stunlock me for a few seconds sjkhfj)
from the prologue -> endgame, i suspected something was off about varric once i realized "hey, how come nobody's talking to him anymore?" while the answer of "varric is actually a manifestation in rook's mind caused by solas trying to mold him into someone who could replace solas in the fade prison he crafted" was admittedly beyond the scope of what i came up with:
1. everyone in this game is a monumental asshole (funny, but disappointing narratively)
or
2. he died but bc he died next to the fade magic + we live in the fade now he's just a ghost only rook can see?? (true, but to the left)
i didn't really consider solas had a hand in it which is funny as hell considering. well. blood magic was mentioned at the very start of the game by solas himself
the reveal was very satisfying, and on my current playthroughs it's very entertaining to see everyone (especially solas, but my companions too) very carefully skirt the subject of varric's death by speaking about it in terms oblique enough that everyone in the know understands it as 'varric is fucking dead' vs. rook's manipulated memories understands it as 'varric is laid up in the infirmary'
the evanuris were very well designed, ghilan'nain being a creepy flesh centipede woman with tentacles and blight covering her head to toe was genuinely one of the most refreshing villain designs i've ever seen. elgar'nan was comparatively boring, but considering his whole deal is to be the elven god of tyranny having him just be a conventionally attractive man was a statement in and of itself.
their boss fights were standard, elgar'nan's being the easier of the two specifically because i wasn't trying to haul my ass through waves of darkspawn, but even ghilan'nain's wasn't that hard either considering all i really needed to to was burst some blight growths and could fully ignore the darkspawn if i wanted to. i had more trouble fighting the demon of desperation in minrathous than i did the story boss fights, but that was a trend for most games i feel. the side objectives containing the optional, harder fights and the mandatory quests softening the blow from the main story bosses so the player can get through them at a steady pace.
i do feel like the majority of the story was well written, but suffered greatly from pacing issues brought about by the format of the game itself. while there was a steady pressure brought about by the urgency needed to stop them from crafting the red lyrium dagger, the fact that i could just wander about the world picking up and completing side quests at my leisure before tackling the broader problem at hand did have me slightly confused about how long the game's time frame really was. i think it takes place over the course of a few months, or maybe a year total? if it was mentioned, it went straight over my head.
though i suppose that's a problem most RPGs have—the risk of allowing the player to have agency in picking what to do next means that. well sometimes they can spend hours trying to pick up every collectible while minrathous burns in the background.
though i did wish there was more dalish presence in a game focusing around the elven gods. like i know the veil jumpers are in the game as a faction but. they don't really feel dalish. they just feel like a bunch of archeologists who happen to be elves. a bit of a disappointment, there. also, they were constantly imperiled by something which really put a damper on the "we are also a competent group of people" vibe that i got from pretty much everyone else. the dalish aesthetic was just that, aesthetic. the veil jumpers being posted up in arlathan forest just seemed like they were there due to their occupation and not their heritage. bellara goes into it a little bit through her quest line, but i don't know. there wasn't that sense of unity and closed ranks the way it felt in da:o and da2. the less we speak of the dalish in da:i the better.
as for solas himself, i'm positive that the way you speak to him reflects his demeanor to you over the course of the game (i picked every aggressive/stoic option i possibly could, and the results i got were extremely entertaining; i have so many recorded videos of rook and solas duking it out but due to size constraints i haven't uploaded them anywhere ajkjdj) but at one point they went from "actively antagonistic" to "actively antagonistic but with begrudging respect"... on the side of solas. my rook was extremely honest about hating him every step of the way. extremely honest.
still, i loved how the game kept track of the progression of their relationship. the way every time a new talk with solas started i'd see a little "yeah last time you kept yelling at each other so we're keeping that energy" popup on the side of my screen. the way rook and solas could constantly. well i don't want to call it 'banter' because at every given point my rook would call him out on his bullshit and solas would strike back with a precise cut deep enough to bleed, watching them snipe at each other so aggressively vs. what i suspect is a much softer and more amicable conversation if you go the more diplomatic route was nice to see.
during endgame, since i completed every side objective (the solas's regrets chain of quests + the mythal encounter/fight) i had the option to:
deceive him by giving him a fake prop of his dagger
convince him to stop (unlockable by doing the aforementioned quest chain)
fuck it we ball; 1v1 me right now you bald bitch
obviously, i threw aside all other options and went for the 1v1. when i say i was HOWLING WITH LAUGHTER watching my rook go "I BEEN WAITING FOR THIS" and throw a haymaker to the face........... /wipes tear. it was beautiful. and then my rook STABBED HIM IN THE GUT, SEALING HIM INTO THE FADE FOREVER??? ten years i waited for this. ten YEARS. HALLELUJAH.
though it is very funny after all those years of seeing posts like "UMMM ACTUALLY THE VEIL SHOULD COME DOWN" and then the game is like "nah. that shit stayin up for a while" like kjHDJKLSHGFJK
anyways. i enjoyed stabbing him and watching him get yoinked into the fade. i'll do the merciful ending eventually but i had to do it to him at least once.👍
THE COMPANIONS:
though obviously i have a few characters who i enjoyed more than the others, i did like all of them!!
taash's questline was very good in terms of the cultural aspect (i can relate to feeling torn between two worlds) but the gender identity was somehow both heartwarming and. extremely awkward. it felt a little bit like watching an intro to gender studies 101 powerpoint presentation. like i suppose it was to explain the concept of being nonbinary to people who've never considered gender beyond what color cake to buy for a baby shower, but it did have me raising an eyebrow a few times. not in a bad way but in a very "this is obviously catered to people who don't know a thing about it, and i appreciate that bc it serves as a nice jumping off point for people to really get to know more, but it is a little clumsy in execution". i think my favorite scene for taash is when they're with neve in the dining room talking about how "nobody REALLY likes being a woman" and neve's just there like. oh. you sweet summer child. JKHDSKLAGHFGJ THAT WAS SO GOOD!! but i think the strongest part of their character arc was them trying to figure out who they are in relation to their cultural identity. especially the bit where they fought with their mom about it alllll the time. like where my second generation kids who don't really relate to their ethnic background at!!!!! RISE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!
the way i had to google if i was first or second gen. apparently it's "first to be natively born in a country = second gen" so i'm going with that
and the scene where they're screaming "TAMAAA" when shathann dies...... bro i teared up. i ain't ashamed about it. that was heartbreaking af.
still uh. it was kinda funny (read: eyebrow raising) that a character whose entire arc is coming to grips with multiculturalism and a break from the gender binary..... ends up being presented with a binary choice on whether or not to pursue their connections to their qunari heritage or their rivaini roots. like uh. guys. guys??? why do we have to pick??? aint the whole point of multiculturalism is that it's. uh. multicultural??? i suppose you could argue that it's the "oh you're just supporting taash into embracing a specific part of their culture, you're not really telling them to abandon the other!" but like. eh. EHHHHHHH. it didn't FEEL like that. esp. when it's presented as an either-or scenario.
THEIR PARTY BANTER WITH LUCANIS WAS THEEEE FUNNIEST SERIES OF LINES. i love those two together omg. and taash + scout harding!!! wagh!!!!
EDIT: i was gonna add a section abt the lords of fortune for taash's segment but forgot. which is very on brand bc they were forgettable at best and invisible at worst throughout the entire game. i don't want to say that they were irrelevant but like. uh. yeah. 💀💀
neve. neve neve neve. has hands down the absolute worst voice acting in the entire game. like i'm sorry to say that every single line was monotonous and genuinely lacking in any real connection to the words being said. i have to wonder if the voice actor for neve isn't used to working in a booth and more on camera, because truly with every line she spoke i became more and more disinterested with the conversation. the concept of a mage detective in the depths of minrathous rooting out corruption sounds so compelling, and it was, but unfortunately any deeper connection i could've forged with neve was hamstrung by the fact that i was bored to tears by the voice acting. even the conflict generated between my rook and neve due to him picking treviso (an obvious choice for a warden. they were going to blight the waterways) fell flat. because the lines were delivered flat. disappointing, considering how interesting the content of the game she features in is. like the sequence where i'm running through run-down ruins with NPCs tethered by their own blood jetting out of their bodies as they function as living speakerphones for a blood mage hell bent on revitalizing minrathous in her own twisted way. that's sick as hell. it WAS sick as hell. i loved every second of that. i just didn't love neve's voice acting. a shame, bc i was really excited about her pre-release. :(
scout harding's questline confused me not because of the content, but because it felt like this should've been a separate game entirely?? like why are we discussing the tranquilized titans and their horrific half-dead, half-dreaming state solely through the lens of a companion quest? why aren't we visiting orzammar or kal-sharok for more than 2 minutes and talking about the fact that the lyrium they've been mining for centuries is the blood of their ancestors?? like it's mentioned once or twice, but only during side-quests. like the solas's regrets quest chain or scout harding's companion quests. like isn't this a huge deal? why are we slotting this into a game about the elven gods?? the reveal that the evanuris essentially genocided the titans in order to craft their own bodies is a tale of horrific violence and violation and we........ just kinda. don't talk about it? after scout harding's quest is over? and the fugliest armor set known to man is unlocked? (toes. why does her armor have TOES.)
i did appreciate the fact that the game let us tell her that her anger was justified bc like. ngl if i learned all that and then the only option presented to me was to forgive the fuckers that did it i think i'd go crazy.
aside from that weirdness, scout harding is bestie. i love her. sorry that i KILLED HER OFF THOUGH!!! WHAT!!! okay unironically though i love that. i love that you can PERMANENTLY kill someone off. it adds depth. it adds STAKES. i wish more people would've died at the end. like bellara just being. fine? after being trapped in blight for who knows how long was baffling as hell. like she's not FINE but she's not dead. crazy stuff. how does being a warden sound bellara. u got a swift career change ahead of u. my rook's a warden tho he'll put in a good word for u dw
SPEAKING OF BELLARA. her questline was sad as hell but also like. how many times am i going to deal with cyrian bro like why couldn't we just knock his ass out. i know for the plot he has to keep going back to his evil masked ghost overlord anaris but like. eh.
his death scene was very sad though. bellara :((
CYRIAN UNMASKED LOWKEY....... KINDA FINE THO..... 👀
same as scout harding's i wish bellara's whole thing had more to do with the dalish. NOT THAT IT WASN'T I MEAN IT WAS ALL ABOUT BEING DALISH but it was more veil jumper than anything. man the veil jumpers were disappointing. just a faction built to fumble at any given chance. the only competent person is bellara and she's on the squad........... whole faction just fell apart without her 💀💀
bellara is my cutie pie bestie babygirl though <33 im so excited to romance her WAUGHHH even if i hate her hairstyle like girl what the hell is that on the back of your head!!!! they had to nerf her otherwise she'd be the Perfect Companion 😔💞
emmrich was sooo sweet. literally just an amiable old man on a journey to help his friends and students and his BONE SON!!!! SKELETON CHILD....... manfred my love......... unfortunately i did honor manfred's noble sacrifice and help emmrich into becoming a lich but like. that shit. feels like it should've been saved for post-game, somehow?? like in the veilguard equivalent of a trespasser or whatever. like what do you mean we just have an immortal lich companion just chillin. just vibin outta the necropolis. is that allowed?? are there other liches outside the necropolis???
???
the drip is immaculate though ngl. he easily clears everyone else's veilguard outfits <-she has only seen half of them due to only having the one finished playthrough
i didn't really use him much outside of his companion quests + fighting undead, so i don't know much about him with regards to party banter. sorry emmrich ;-;
davrin was. oh my goodness. have you ever seen a man so beautiful. the soulful brown eyes. the jawline strong enough to cut diamond. the EXPOSED CHEST. GOOD HEAVENS..... /SWOONS
literally the dreamiest dragon age companion ever like im sorry he clears literally everyone else ever made. and i say that even with zevran existing in the universe. (if silver fox zevran had at any point showed up in this game this opinion would swiftly change.)
i didn't romance him and i regret it bc i feel like there would've been something to the whole brothers in arms -> you and i are the only two people on this team who perfectly understand each other; you and i are dead men walking but we go to our blighted graves with grim smiles and clear eyes; should the calling come for one of us, it will end up claiming two, etc etc—unfortunately you recruit lucanis first and i didn't pivot 🫡
THE ONLY COMPLAINT I HAVE FOR DAVRIN: his entire arc focuses around assan. not JUST assan, like assan is the conduit through which davrin works through a lot of stuff, but it feels like. well i don't think there was a single scene where assan wasn't there. which makes sense because GRIFFONS. MY GOD. THEY'RE BACK. but also. i feel like if davrin had some space from assan in like a single mission/quest/etc. it would've been good. absence making the heart grow fonder and all. like i'd kill and die for assan but like 60% of the way through davrin's arc i was lowkey getting tired of it all being about our favorite bird son.
lucanis.... lucanis lucanis lucanis. he's the one my rook romanced and uh....... i'm gonna be honest. i wasn't really feeling like i was in a romance at all until the very end of the game. there's a line where lucanis was like "that's what i love about you" or whatever and i was like. huh? what? when was this established? i don't think we ever had a conversation or an event that would lead to this conclusion??? did i skip it? did i forget??? taps game is this thing on???
like i'm not saying the romance was BAD. (aside from some questionable animation choices. like why was lucanis standing so close to my rook like BACK UPPPPPP 😭😭)
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all of the romance scenes were sweet and enjoyable and full of typical Bioware Cringe Romance Lines™ (affectionate) (honorary) but it did feel a little like. 80% of the game we had tepid to mildly reciprocal reactions to any of rook's flirtatious dialogue choices, and then when i got the choice to lock in the romance for lucanis it's like. OKAY HIT THE GAS, BUDDY! IT'S TIME TO FLOOR IT. 0->100 in an instant. i love a slowburn, but this was less of a slowburn and more me silently watching a mile long fuse burn up for like 60 hours until it thunderously explodes all at once.
unrelated but why does rook not have a bed in his room. why is it just a couch. they were suckin' n' fuckin' on an ancient elven la-z-boy in the fade. amazing stuff.
ASIDE FROM THE WEIRD PACING ISSUES I EXPERIENCED (hopefully it wasn't universal) THE ROMANCE WAS SWEET. 10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND
as for his personal character arc. why the hell did lucanis become first talon??? like speaking as someone who found out post-game that he straight up SAYS in his tevinter nights short story that he doesn't want to be first talon. at no point in the game did i think "yeah this guy is fit for and desires a position of authority" like um. viago is right there. i could see the argument if treviso was blighted (don't know if teia and viago survive that; i saved treviso in my playthrough) but like. VIAGO (AND TEIA!) ARE RIGHT THERE BRO...............
him not killing illario is whatever i can understand not wanting to have the blood of family on your hands. it's the becoming first talon that's crazy. although i suppose the whole filial duty to caterina angle........ but since when was the antivan crow org following the right of primogeniture??? WHATEVERRR
also. antivan crows?? are not a moral organization??? what happened between da:o --> veilguard. why are they all robin hoods. weren't they child slavers who mercilessly tortured them into becoming assassins. there's an argument for "oh that was just house arainai" but i was expecting more morally gray/amoral assassins for hire and less "TREVISO WILL BE FREE. DOWN WITH TYRANNY" like huh???? are we red jennies all of a sudden. are we shadow dragons. whats goin on here.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
wow that's a lot. girl has a phd in yaponomics fr. at the end of the day, veilguard is a good game. i mean, i'm playing again it right now on nightmare mode this time. (CALIVAN'S FIGHT.......... WHAT THE FUCK................ i didn't die to his little minions OR to his pride demon summon i kept dying to his fuckass sextuple cast magic missiles that get spammed constantly like BRO CAN YOU RELAX. CHILL BRO CHIIIIIILLLLLLLLLL IT'S NOT THAT SERIOUS!!!!!!!)
i think this game could easily make space for a few more DLC, something like trespasser or mass effect's citadel DLC. hopefully they do because the epilogue slides were PITIFUL. PALTRY. and dare i say? PATHETIC. the romance slide for lucanis and rook being a single line of dialogue that they split between them. i was gobsmacked.
dragon age i say this because i love you and i have loved you for so long and will love you forever: BRING BACK WORLDSTATES. PLEASE. I DON'T NEED A MASSIVE CALLBACK. I DON'T NEED CUTSCENES. I WOULD BE CONTENT WITH THROWAWAY DIALOGUE. WITH A CODEX ENTRY. A LETTER SENT IN-GAME. PLEASE. BRING BACK WORLDSTATES AUGHHHH
although i don't think it'll matter bc if i'm reading those hints right we're going across the sea in the next game to deal with the uh. what was it called? something storm?? that the qunari were running from or whatever???? so i dont think anything we did here in thedas matters. it'll be like me:a except. you know. dragon age.
WAIT. PAUSE. THIS GAME HAS A SECRET ENDING??? <-SHE JUST GOOGLED "DRAGON AGE STORM"
FOR FUCK'S SAKE. WELL THAT'S ON THE TO-DO LIST NEXT THEN.
anyways i love this game. 8/10 would get my ass beat by the demon of desperation and its 5 billion summoned minions again 👍
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mccreesexytime · 1 day ago
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Eren Jeager x Chubby ! reader
CW: PWP, fluff, blowjob, slight spanking, slight choking, hair pulling, groping, slight begging, overall some wholesomeness.. Summary: Your friend Hitch sets you up with a 'date' with your crush Eren
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Your friend hitch had tried convincing you to tell your crush your feelings. You've seen him from some parties and outings that hitch forced you to go to before. You were friends of his friends but you didn't talk to Eren directly all too much. You were insecure about yourself, Eren is so toned and he works out. You're short and chubby, you weren't ugly but you certainly thought your stomach was. Eren could get any girl he wanted and you were too shy to even talk to him anyway. 
 So when Hitch told you that there was gonna be a get together at his place and that you should go over and she would be there, you felt yourself become a little excited. "Y/n ! You should def go. At least try and get to know him a bit better !" You look at your friend who stuffs her face full of candy. You look at her and give her a worried face. "I don't know..you said it's just a gathering with a few people we know?" Hitch continues munching on her candy and then looks at her phone answering back a text. "Yeaa ! It'll be like 6 people, you know all of them and I'll be there. He totally invited you too" you look away and smile at the thought that maybe Eren did think about you. "Okay..as long as you're there" she finishes whatever she's typing and looks over at you with  a big grin and gives you a small hug. "Aaww ! Yaay im so excited. Make sure you wear something cute okay?" You give her a small hug back, you think about how she's oddly enthusiastic about everything. Little to your knowledge tho, hitch was being truthful about something going on at Eren's house but it was just going to be you and Eren. Hitch was texting back Eren that you agreed to meet Eren at his house and she told Eren that she knew 'someone' she can hook him up with, like a date. As the day continued and night came, you were excited to come over to Eren's house. You thought about what you'd wear as you fell asleep.  
As you woke up the following day, you woke up early to take a shower and eat breakfast. You texted hitch when you should go over and she said she'd be there around 3pm. You were wearing a shirt with your favorite band on and put a black sweater on top with a plaid red skirt and striped black and grey thigh highs with converse. You put some hair clips on and grabbed your bag and headed out. You ended up arriving there a bit early because of your nerves, it was 2:45 and you didn't know if you should go up and knock yet. You pulled out your phone and texted Hitch. "Hey, I'm here. Are u inside yet ?" As soon as you send it, you see her typing. "Haii, I'm almost there but u should go in !" You don't know if you should but you finally go up after 5 minutes to a dark brown door and do at least 2 knocks. After what seems like forever, a pair of green guys and dark brown hair that's at shoulder length look down at you while swinging the door open. You get incredibly anxious, you look away and he tells you "you're Y/n right?" You glance back at him and give him a small "yeah" and then he moves out the way to let you in. "Welcome in, sweetheart" he says with a charming smile and the name makes you flutter but you try not to think about it too much. Eren was a flirt, he was being nice. You walk in and look around, scanning the whole room.
Nobody else was there but you, maybe you were just too early ? You did arrive like 20 minutes before. You just stand there fidgeting with your hands and when Eren closes the door he turns to you. "So, do you have any idea what you wanna do today?" You continue with your fidgeting but you're confused with what he means. "Uhm, well aren't there other people coming?" Eren looks at your figure, with a small chuckle and is slightly confused too but he figures out what's going on. "Ah, so I figured Hitch never told you?" You look at him and you feel like your heart sunk to your ass, you realize what he meant. Hitch set you up for some sort of date without your knowledge. Of course she did. Eren figures you're nervous, it wasn't really your fault but now he gets to be alone with a cute girl. "Hey, its alright. I do have some plans, if you're okay with it?" You look at him and give him a small nod. He smiles at you, "I already called up some pizza for us to eat" you're screaming internally, this is a date with Eren and you're at his house. "Yeah that's okay..sorry, i wasn't expecting this" he walks over to grab the tv remote and turn it on. "Don't worry, sweetheart. You can sit down if you want to" you walk over to the couch, in front of it is a small coffee table with some random blunts and cans with a few game controllers. Eren walks over to the couch and sits next to you man spreading and almost close enough for your knees to touch. "So how do you know Hitch and Armin ?" You look with a surprised look for a second "Armin said he knew you when i asked about you. How come I never saw you?" He says with a questioning face. "Well, I know Hitch from college and she introduced me to a few of her friends. I started talking to Armin when I went to some study group with hitch one time" Eren stares at you the whole time, you can't help but fidget from his burning stare. He hums and scoots a bit closer to you now "You're cute, you know that?" Before you had time to answer back there was a knock at the door, the pizza guy. Eren gives you a quick wink before he gets up and pulls out his wallet. He takes the pizza and sets it on the coffee table, "you want anything to drink?" He says while searching for some plates. "No, it's okay" but he brings you a glass of water anyway, knowing you're just shy. "Here, I don't wnna be rude" "Eren.." you say staring at the pizza. "Are you just trying to be nice or something?" He looks at you while grabbing  a slice and starting to bite into it. "I know you just feel bad for me. I'll just leave. I don't know why hitch would tell you to do this" you say getting up and starting to walk to the door. You feel bad but your insecurity is getting the best of you. "Hey, hold on. It's not like I want you to leave" he grabs your forearm and pulls you back a bit. "I saw a picture of you before you came. I think you're really cute" he said, still holding on to you. You feel warm at your face, it feels embarrassing. "Eren, I'm fat. This is a prank or something" he pulls you close to him and gives you a confused and annoyed look. "So what if you are?" You look away, you start fidgeting again. "I'm not that much of an asshole" he said in a soft tone. You sensed he was being genuine right now, he was being nice after all. You take a pause before answering and he lets go of you. With a sigh and some confidence in your tone, you speak up. "Okay, I'm sorry. But what did hitch tell you exactly?"
You ask nervously. With a smile, he tells you "She told me there's a girl who wanted to have a date with me" he tilts his head slightly, "that she has a little crush on me" he grins at this point. He found you so cute and he really wanted to ruin you right at this moment. You really hated hitch at this moment, but that would have to be a talk for later. There's no point in hiding it now so you just tell him the truth. "Maybe I do like you but..."you trail off the last word, he comes close to you to pull your chin up so you look at him. "I think it's cute you do" he leans in closer to your face and gives you a quick peck on the cheek. "Maybe I do too" you smile at the response but he picks you up from your feet suddenly before you can reply back. You yelp at his sudden actions "see? You're as light as a feather too" and it makes you giggle. He puts you down on your feet again. "Y/n, I've got some movies we can watch too" he says as he walks over to grab another slice of pizza.
"What type of movies do you like?" He says chewing on his slice. You sit on the couch and think for a moment, "I really enjoy horror movies !" You say excitedly. Eren chuckles at your tone "yeah I've got a lot of those. If you get scared you can lean on me" you giggle at his charm and take off your shoes. You sit criss crossed on the couch looking up at him "I'll be right back let me get some things." He walks into the shadow of a hallway and enters a room, assuming it's his. He returns not long after with a small mattress, blankets, pillows and a plush. He moved the coffee table with his foot and he laid the mattress right in the middle of the living room. "I want you to sit comfy" and he drops all the remaining items on the mattress. You slide down to the mattress, and set up the pillows and put the blanket on yourself. You notice the plush he brought out, it was a cute little brown bear with a green bow in the middle of its collar. You hug the bear and notice it still has a tag on it. As Eren looks through a box full of movies, he notices you with the bear. "Oh heh, I actually bought that for you" and it makes you feel excited from what else is to come from the man. He continues rummaging when finally he finds a movie to watch and crouches down to the dvd player underneath the TV. When he finishes he walks over and sits right next to you. "You ready ?"
As you hug the bear, you nod silently at him. The movie starts to play and you were interested for the beginning of the movie but can't help but to notice Eren, he looked so pretty with the light of the tv illuminating on his face. He has his arms crossed against his chest and one leg up and the other down. He has a bored expression watching the movie, You do attempt to sit closer to him, you scooted slightly hoping he wouldn't notice but of course he did. He glances at you and smirks, he extends his arm out and places it on your shoulder. So you're basically leaning on his chest. He felt so warm, you really wanted this to be more. "Eren, can we uhm, cuddle a bit more?" You ask shyly. He gives you a smile "of course we can" you and Eren start to position yourselves in a laying down motion, you're the little spoon and he's the big spoon. One arm is folded and his head is leaning on it and the other one is on your waist. You snuggle back more so he can hug you as much as he can. You still cuddle with the bear in your arm.
Eren knows this is your first 'date' with him but he really wants to feel more of you, see more of you. He wants to feel the soft warm plush of your tummy and never let go. You try watching the movie but Eren is so close to you and his hold on your waist has you too giddy about everything. You do feel a bit hot from your jacket, so you decide to get up a bit and take it off. Eren notices and loves the way your shirt hugs your figure. He can't help himself if you're so cute. He sneaks his hands on your waist and starts to squeeze your love handles. "Eren !" You yelp. He chuckles and pulls you closer to him. "Can I please feel you under your shirt" he says as he starts kissing your neck, It was an almost whiny response."O-okay" you responded nervously. It felt good getting touched by him, he really did love how you looked. He slides his hands under your shirt almost instantly, he feels all your stretch marks and soft tummy. He squeezes every part of you. "Eren, that's embarrassing" you say, covering your warm face. "God you're so beautiful" and he starts kissing your cheeks. You look at him and lean in to kiss his lips, he kisses back and its soon becomes a bit heated. Your mouths are kissing almost in a rhythm, and  his tongue comes out wanting entrance in you. You let him in and that's when things really took off. You craved more of his touch, his love and he wanted every part of you. He tugged at the end of your shirt, suggesting for you to take it off. You look at him shyly but take it off. He looks at you with awe and adoration, placing a hand on your cheek.
"I wanna fuck you up so bad Y/n" he says looking you up and down. His words go straight to your pussy and you rub your thighs together. He continues his assault of squishing your tummy while continuing to make out with you. He then moves one of his hands under your skirt and rubs your thigh up and down. He feels the fat of your thigh highs spill out of them and it makes him go absolutely insane. When he saw you he thought it was cute but feeling your chub hanging off of them makes him hard.
"E-eren" you say as he continues with your neck and leaving little hickeys and bruises. "Yes, sweet girl?" He really wants to be patient with you and make you feel comfortable but he wants you so bad. He wants to shove every inch of his dick in you. "I need you" and as soon as you say that he goes down on his stomach and pulls your legs over his shoulders. He lifts up your skirt, and he's face to face with your clothed pussy. "Please Eren" you whimper and he takes the hem of your panties and pulls them down. "You have such a pretty pussy" and he dives his face right into your wet hole. He licks a long fat strip up your pussy and kisses your clit. You moan at the sudden contact, wanting him to lick your clit more. He has a firm grip on the back of your thighs and eats you out like its his last dinner. He sucks and bits on your clit, he protrudes your hole with his tongue and slurps up all of your dripping wetness. You don't notice but your thighs are wrapped around his face tight but he didnt care. He pulls out to breathe and tells you "cum on my face pretty girl" you moan in response and he laps his tongue repeatedly at your clit, he wants you to squirt on him. You moan loudly, grabbing onto his soft locks and push him deeper into your pussy. "Eren- fuck im gonna" your legs shake violently and you cum on Eren's face. He pulls out with a large grin. You sigh heavily and make eye contact with Eren "I've never done that before.." and he Grins. "I'll make you squirt again" and he pulls off his shirt to wipe his face. His exposed chest was a sight to see, his pretty abs and wide chest glistening out to you. Eren catches you staring though. "Like what you see?" And you nod, biting your lip. You see a visible angry tent in Eren's Jean's and he looks big. You paw at his bulge with your hands and he groans. He starts taking off his belt and jeans slowly.  "Do you wanna see? Hmm?" He teases in a low voice and you whimper. "Y-yes"  "yes?" He mocks you a bit then leaves himself in just his boxers. "Then show me" he asks, you get on your knees and your eyes widen a bit from his length, it springs out hard and it's asking to get touched.
"Good girl" he purred and he touched your left cheek, caressing it. You look at him with a needy face and start licking his tip. His face scrunches up at the feeling of your wet tongue and it has him groan loudly. After a few more licks and a kiss on his tip, you bring it full in your mouth. You bob your head back and forth and Eren slightly grips your hair. He was so big, you could barely fit it half way down your mouth. You try jerking off the rest of what you couldn't reach and he looks down at you with a needy face. "Fuck, you look so cute" he grips your head a little tighter. "Can you take a bit more in there?" You look up with a nod and he pushes himself deeper. You gag a little at the feeling, and tears form at the corner of your eyes. "That's my girl, keep going" as he helps you move your head. You keep up with his movement but Eren can't control it anymore and makes you gag, you feel his tip in the back of your throat. "Fuck, fuck" he says under his breathe, he can feel your throat clench around him. You claw at his thighs and he lets go of you, you pant heavily and there's a string of saliva connecting from your lips to his tip. "Sorry, your pretty mouth is so good" and he caresses your cheek once more. You look at him with big pretty eyes "Eren please fuck me" you say while lazily jerking him off. He instantly lays down on the mattress and has you go in front of him while he's behind you, he starts groping your ass and tummy while kissing your neck. "You wanna be fucked ?" He whispered in your ear, he was rubbing his dick on your ass cheeks now. You mumbled a low yes but he wasn't going to have that from you. "Tell me how much you want me to fuck you" and the way his words came off his tongue drove you insane. You didn't wanna beg, you just wanted his dick. "Eren..pleasee" you whimper. He spanks your ass hard with his large hand, "be a good girl, now" you yelped once he spanked you again "tell me" you moaned after every spank "please please please fuck me" you look at him with tears in your eyes "I need it" and then he proceeds to push in himself in. He holds up your right leg. You moan uncontrollably from the stretch. "Oh god, Eren" you throw your head back right next to his, he keeps eye contact with your face the entire time.
He's pushing in n out of you slowly, he loves your reactions, the way your face scrunches up for him. He keeps your right leg up as much as you can stretch for him and he slowly speeds up his pace. He's barely half way inside you, and you already feel like you wanna cum. He puts a tighter grip on your thigh while he moves his other hand to your tit. He thrusts harder, his thrusts push your body up and down. Eren kisses you and sticks his tongue into your mouth, you connect them together sloppily kissing one another. "Fuck y/n" he mumbles mid kiss, "I won't be able to stop fucking you" his thrusts feel brutal now, he's pushed his entire length into you. Your mind becomes mush, nothing but high pitched moans and skin slapping together can be heard. His balls forcefully move up and down against your clit and everything just feels too good. "You like how it feels, baby?" You nod hastily and Eren wants to look at your whole body so he picks you up with ease and locks you in a tight slouching position on the couch. This position has you at a better angle for him to fuck you deeper and look at your bouncing body. "Eren, oh my god !" You almost yell, he pushes your legs to your chest and continues his brutal pace. He keeps both your plush legs up, staring right into your eyes with furrowed brows.
 He lets go of one your legs to fall on his shoulder and places one of his hands on your neck gently squeezing it. "Are you gonna take it all like a good girl?" Applying a bit more pressure on your neck. "Yes- daddy !" you suddenly yelped out. You didn't even realize what you had just said. He gives you a big smirk and tightens his grip on your neck. "Daddy huh?" He teases you. "Daddy never paid enough attention to you?hm?" You whimper from his mocking and teasing, you couldn't even give him an answer right now. "Let daddy take care of you" with a slight chuckle and he proceeds to fuck and choke you. He moves his hand from your neck to your chin, gripping on to make you look at him. "Please please, cum inside me" you choke out at him with tears and sweat. You didn't know what you were saying at this point, you just needed all of him right now. He laughs at you, "God you're so cute" he lets go of your chin and leans down to be closer to you, he embraces the closeness of your body and gives you a needy kiss. Your moans continue, you tighten around him and he pulls away with saliva connecting your wet mouths. "Fuck- im gonna cum !" He groaned loudly. His thrust slow and with his last one he spills his warm liquid inside you. Heavy panting and breathing can be heard and he slowly releases you from his grip and puts your legs down. You moan slightly from the feeling of his cum filling you. You throw your head back with your forearm covering your face."That was really good. T-thank you" you mutter. Eren chuckles, he doesn't dress himself but picks you up bridal style. "Let's take a shower and i'll give you one of my shirts, ok?" With that, you kiss him on the cheek and he carries you to the bathroom. 
After your shower with Eren and a large t-shirt that was once his, you sit down next to him with your knees to your chest on the mattress. "So uhm you really like me then?" You ask him shyly. He looks at you, and smiles with a hum "Well, I don't know. Did I just cum inside you?" He says in a teasing tone. You roll your eyes jokingly, "yeah I guess I really like you too" with a giggle at the end. Maybe you could thank Hitch later.
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quaddmgd · 1 year ago
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PARTY LIKE IT'S 2072
Place me in my casket tonight Because I'm already dying inside Pale skin so cold to the touch Like a rose in bloom when we blush Dark eyes meet under the sky The stars are out, we're alive in the night My hollow heart finds it too hard to trust We're all alone until we turn back to dust
Sidewalks and Skeletons - GOTH
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shimmershy · 1 year ago
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Chara Week Day 5: Ghost
Every time I see that machine in the True Lab, I wonder if it could possibly be Chara's soul in there? Probably unlikely, but not impossible... It's interesting to think about what the implications of that would be.
A version with no text and then a version with just the machine, because I think it looks pretty cool and ominous alone as well.....
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nachosncheezies · 3 months ago
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In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)
I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.
Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)
That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"
When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!
The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:
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and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)
So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.
So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.
Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)
Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.
#i don't talk about it much because tbh it can get *fraught*. and i've had that in other fandoms too.#i added and deleted so many qualifiers from this post over it lmao#people are passionate about fandom which is great! as a concept#but it sucks feeling like most people hate the thing you love or that - however diplomatically it's phrased - you should hate it too#or that folks think maybe you *would* be mad if you just looked at it a certain (sometimes seemingly cast as the 'correct') way#basically it's insane that half the time when i see people standing up and praising the revival i'm like 'damn bruh. you brave'#and feeling that way is partly a me thing. but i've seen posts that also lead me to believe it's not JUST a me thing yaknow?#i always wonder whether the 'vocal subset' in any given fandom who hate a thing are really the majority that they appear to be#or if they just appear to be the majority because they've needed to be vocal about it as a sort of internet support group thing lol#which fair enough i mean anyone's entitled to be disappointed or have feelings#for me? i don't think i can remember ever being mad about a series i liked#i'm just here for the vibes man i very rarely have fixed notions#i say to the writers: go ahead and surprise me. i'll make sense of pretty much anything they throw at me#i also think about a dd quote i saw ages ago that as an actor you (paraphrased): can't say 'the character would not do that'#...because if it's in the script then by definition they *did* do that. it's right there on the page.#and that's kind of me as a fan too.#p.s. i fucking love season 8 i love angst and holy shit it delivers. the new characters are fantastic the journey is *chef's kiss* and#yes i consider certain temperamental even assholeish behavior to also be *chef's kiss* there's so much trauma so much reason for it#it's be-yoo-ti-ful 💕 season 8 my beloved 😍#anyway watch it all watch none do what you want. just know that there are people who would cuddle the whole damn thing from start to finish#like a floppy wet lil raggedy ann doll if only they COULD#x files#the x files#txf revival#txf thoughts#i love you floppy wet raggedy ann doll
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greenerteacups · 7 months ago
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What do you think as Hermione's career would be post battle of Hogwarts? To me her being minister for magic really doesn't make sense. She does not have patience or tact to wade through murky waters of politics 😭😭
So hard to say! The Trio are so, so young when we leave them, I find it almost impossible to project their futures farther than a few years out. The job that suited me at 17 would be radically unsuited to me now. That's why of all the Trio, Ron's ending strikes me as the most realistic — he jumps straight into the save-the-world business again, burns out, realizes he's actually Done The Fuck Enough, Thanks, and pivots into a low-stress career where he gets to see his family a lot. Feels accurate! The others are weirder to me because they do seem to just... pick a lane and stay there.
With Hermione, you could spin her a couple ways. You could say that she leans into her bookish side and does research or teaching, which is not my preference for a couple reasons (namely, I don't think Hermione would like academia as a profession; she finds her classwork interesting and enjoys intellectual validation, but she'd be stifled and wasted in a DPhil program, and she'd be infuriated by the administrative politicking of your average higher-ed faculty). You could say that she gets disaffected with politics and ends up as a barrister or a lobbyist of some kind, but if anything that requires more political finesse, because you don't actually have institutional power, you're just handling the people who make decisions and trying to persuade them of your goals. This is not Hermione's preferred method of influence. She's not even particularly good at persuasion, she just happens to be smart enough (and right often enough) that people take her ideas seriously.
Or you could say her brashness fades with the years into a softened flavor of tell-you-like-it-is honesty, which some politicians actually do successfully trade on; as we see in British politics today, you don't have to be all that charming or clever to get ahead, you just need to be really driven and well-connected (which Hermione completely is; she fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the first postwar Minister and her bestie, the Literal Messiah, runs the Auror Office.) But I don't know if Hermione especially wants to be Minister, after the war. She's just watched years of horrendous bureaucratic incompetence plunge the country into a violent civil conflict. She's had not one, but two Ministers of Magic try to bully or shame her friends into complicity with fascism. Her view of government is... likely extremely dark.
But Hermione also isn't the kind of person who sees her life as a quest for happiness. Babygirl has a savior complex that makes Harry look selfish. (She basically kills her parents — yeah, obliviating is a form of murder, #changemymind — "for their own good," and justifies every batshit, vindictive, mean-spirited move she ever pulls on the grounds that it "helps" one of her friends.) She is a mean, lean, dragon-slaying machine, and she needs a dragon. After Voldemort, the Ministry is the no. 1 threat to muggle-borns and non-wizarding Beings. As a war heroine with basically infinite political capital, I'd be surprised if she didn't try to do something there. That said, Hermione is so vivacious and dynamic that she could potentially grow in a hundred different directions; it's possible that all of this, while true of her at 18, becomes completely inaccurate by 22. That's why I'm not too fussed about any particular fanon interpretation.
#greenteacup asks#sidebar: I know Minister “of” Magic is an Americanism but mea culpa#Someday I might actually bite it and pay someone to britpick Lionheart but I can't do it now#because I have a ban on editing published fic unless it's finished. Otherwise I'll never get around to writing the actual ending#I have a Process#is it the best process? likely not! but it makes the words go. so here we are.#I also think the fact that JKR is Gen X makes a difference here. careers worked differently in the 80s and 90s than they do now#i.e. we have the gig economy and a lot more mobility and EXPECTATION of mobility in your early life#that means career changes & professional pivots through your 20s and 30s are increasingly normal#and in fact have always been normal — but the image of the 'true' or 'ideal' career has changed#so we look at those careers and go hm. really? none of them changed?#none of them even went to uni? do wizards... just not?#but again. I believe the epilogue was written almost completely without consideration as to what happened between the BOH and then#I really believe that JKR did not know what happened to Harry except a wedding and 3 kids. because that was the whole point#I don't think she even knew what his career was when she wrote that scene#It existed to marry everyone off and do a quick munchkin headcount#because of the understandable temptation as an author to keep your hand on the wheel. but it didn't even matter!#the epilogue changed NOTHING! it was the most useless chapter in the series! I just — GOD#you can absolutely accuse me of being sour grapes about my ships getting nixed. I AM sour grapes. I AM a hater.#AND I have plot/theme/craft reasons for disliking it.#I'm not objective. I just want credit for being a sophisticated hater. my grapes may be sour but they're still artisinal.
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