#but then again they might not be informed on these things

[vexcraft]

okay. so. what we know about this whole exile and world border moving thing so far

grian teases the permit office exile program (in a very severance-style clip), saying that the world spawn has been relocated. he's talking to "another" grian who does not seem very excited about this whole thing

doc talks about the whole banishing thing in his video (since the permit office has permission to use his world border cannon), saying it would be funny as a one-time laugh as people sent to the world border could just die and be back at their spawns. he then says he's been informed the world spawn has been moved to the world border

the permit office crew shows up at the beginning of jevin's stream, demanding he give up his unused permit

jevin refuses so cub, grian, and scar attack him and he dies. jevin spawns at the normal world spawn. might be unrelated but after this he gets a message and briefly ends stream for a minute or so and he's back at his base with the permit office crew once he restarts stream. they briefly threaten him, talking about how this was "unsuccessful" and tell him to reconsider his stance on the permits (as jevin is the leader of no-poe)

jevin sets his spawn at his base

after this at multiple points of the stream, the permit office crew is killing each other (mostly scar...) and logging on and off multiple times (seemingly not for skin changes, aside from scar changing into his poe poe skin on one of the log-outs). this seems like they're probably testing things

grian kills scar and scar spawns outside the world border. jevin is just about to leave the end, and despite having set his spawn earlier, also spawns outside the world border (clip). grian tells them not to panic and after a moment tells them that they can respawn again and both jevin and scar spawn at the normal world spawn

then there's whatever this is. scar dies to a zombie almost immediately and spawns at normal world spawn

killing continues but this time scar's not spawning outside the world border!

something happens here

this time scar kills cub and grian, jokingly leaving after, which seems like he successfully sent them to the new spawn (or just sent them somewhere lol) and left them there (as without someone around the normal area, they wouldn't be able to teleport back through things like stasis chambers i'm pretty sure as there would be no one to trigger it). scar logs back on after a moment

when jevin leaves the end for the second time, he spawns back in his bed (in which he set his spawn again after the whole world border case). shortly after this jevin ends stream. during this whole thing it was only jevin and the permit office crew online

so.

it seems that currently the world spawn might be near the world border and if it's not, the permit office can move it there. having your spawn set prevents getting sent there even though for some reason that did not work for jevin the first time. i believe doc has talked about ender pearls in stasis chambers no longer disappearing when you die and joe tried it on stream moments ago, so a stasis chamber would be a way to get out of there

i believe this is all we know so far. i'll try to reblog this post with updates if there's more and feel free to reply/leave tags if i forgot something :D

[theprplcooki]

Hey, the first rejection didn't sting so bad. I had only applied to the national academy as a joke. However there was one line that did seem rather odd: "I regret to inform you that in accordance with the new law: we can only admit human students to the academy"

I disregarded the statement because I was always told the nature of my magic had a more ancient flavour to it, so I assumed that I had somehow been misread by whatever magical instrument was used to verify my race. I simply wrote an appeal letter and sent it off before the deadline.

But then the second letter came, from the school that was actually my first option. Stating the same thing. Now, I might not be the brightest flame on the altar but I could tell something was up. Nevertheless, I sent the appeal letter and went on with my day helpig my father tend to the plants. But as the days pass, the amount of rejection letters on the kitchen table began to stack. All with the same damning line: "We can only admit human students".

This was getting riduculous and this whole time my father was rather ambivalent and just gave a soft "Hmmm" whenever I brought this up to him. And I used the one thing ot get my father to sit down and talk; food.

With a steaming bowl of his favourite stew, I had him at the kitchen table in no time. What he didn't know, was that I also managed to find a recipe that was mild truth-serum, and acted more like a relaxer and made people a bit more talkative. With how strong the stew's flavours were, the bitterness of the potion were hidden. I had my chance. 'So father, doesn't seem weird that all these magic schools are rejecting me on the basis that I'm not human?"

"No, not really. To be honest, I didn't think you would ever need to know. And then that royal prick had to go and declare new law" I paused. So there was something to hide from me. Choosing my next word s carefully as not to break whatever trance my father seemed to be in, I asked him "What, exactly, did I have no need to ever need?" "That you're not human"

"Yes, dad. I gathered as much. But what is "not human" about me."

"Well, I don't exactly know. Your mother was very pretty though"

Not this again I thought. My father was known to gush over my mother at great lengths whenever I prompted him to tell me about her. He always described her as elegant as ever, a goddes on earth, with the most beautiul eyes - the colour of the golden sun. My mother, according to him, was so beautiful that flowers bloomed at her feet, and the sun seemed to alwasy be glowing right behind her. But hearing my father talked about her under the effects of the potion hit me, hard. Was he not embelishing before this? Did literal flowers bloom at her feet?

Then a thought, a thought so absurd and improbable struck me.

"Dad, was mom a god?"

He looked at me with the face of pure absurdity, the face you give a person who doesn't know that fireballe needs sulphur. I sighed a breath " Oh thank the blessed mother. For a moment ther I thought"--

"Yes she was."

WHAT

As an aspiring student of magic, you are trying to get into a magic school, but so far every school has rejected you, claiming that they only accept human students. Time to finally ask your father who your mother really was.

[witherby]

With Dick being so angry about Conner breaking in i could only imagine how chatic him actually meeting Conner would be, like having to keeo him in one of those kiddie keashes or he‘ll try to kill the guy 😭

A 17 year restrianing a whole adult man with one of those kid harnesses

Honestly? Yeah. Gimme some genuinely angry Nightwing every once in a while. Let that parentified man get some of that pent-up rage out!!!

The Littlest Wayne: Meet the Family

Masterlist is Here!

Conner opens his eyes and sits up when he hears you step into his room. He stares at you incredulously, then at the darkness and the way it seamlessly folds and bends to your will.

"You're invulnerable?" You ask him.

"Yes?" He responds, confused. It's just past eleven at night, and you've shown up out of nowhere to chat when the only other time you've spoken was when he came to your room three days ago. "A bullet bounces off me at point-blank range. Feels like somebody flicked me with their finger, at most."

"Okay," you say, looking nervous, "because my family found out you broke into the house to talk to me, and they're, like, super livid. I just came to give you fair warning because they might, uh, try to kill you."

Conner chuckles. Your face doesn't change. He stops chuckling.

"What, you're serious?"

"They're looking for their stashes of Kryptonite right now. I hid most of it, but they probably have more I don't know about. Just...be prepared. And don't kill any of them, or you'll have to hide from me, next."

The shadows in his room curl around you again. You step into them and allow darkness to envelop you completely.

"Bye, Conner."

"Um," he blurts, cheeks reddening, "same. I mean, bye. Goodbye to you, too."

He hears you snort in amusement before you're gone again. Conner is then left alone to process, 1, that you were concerned for his well-being enough to come warn him about your family, and 2, that he made you laugh.

He can't sleep the rest of the night, giddy with the swell of adoration he has for you.

--

The next time Luthor has him leave the facility to do his job as Superman, it's when the first Superman has to go off-world again over a month later. Conner stops a bank heist, saves some hostages, puts out a fire, and helps a child find her parents when she wanders too far off in the mall.

Then he meets your youngest sibling.

His moniker is Robin. The implanted information helps Conner identify him immediately, which helps him realize that Robin should not be in Metropolis, and especially not in full costume. Alarm bells are ringing in his head.

"I was warned you might show," Conner says, hovering in the air as he looks down at Robin.

"Then you know what you've done wrong," Robin calls back, unsheathing a sword from his back and pulling a batarang out of his pocket. "Come here and face the consequences."

"I'm fine where I'm at, thanks."

"It wasn't a request, Superboy."

"Superman," Conner frowns.

Robin sneers. "Not from what I see."

Conner feels a flare of anger surge within him. What was the big deal? He just needed to see you. He didn't hurt you — he would never dare — just stopped by your home to talk. And you did the same thing! Why some human with an eye mask and a sword feels like they can berate him for that, he doesn't know, but he's not going to take it lying down.

Faster than Robin can blink, Conner snatches the weapons from his hands and tosses them aside, then flips his cape over his head with a sneer.

"Go home, sidekick," Conner says. "I don't have time for this."

"I do."

Something hits Conner's back. It actually hurts, which is the surprising thing, and he yelps as a man in black and blue spandex descends upon him and starts beating him with a pair of escrima sticks. He falls to his knees, overwhelmed by a brand new sensory input he hasn't experienced before, then brings his arms up to shield his head and curls up further.

Nightwing, his brain registers between the blows. But according to his knowledge base, the man is usually not this violent. He always pulls back from an opponent when they duck down or hit the ground, and Conner is practically in fetal position. His sticks are glowing green, which is not a good sign. Conner feels sick.

"Oh, shit — hey, he's on the ground, pull it back!"

"This wasn't the plan, Nightwing, cool it —"

"I think he's doing great. Let him get a few more swings in."

"Robin you're not helping!"

"Seriously, get off him!"

Conner groans and gasps in pain. His whole body feels like it's on fire. There's sounds of a scuffle happening above him, but he picks up on someone else's shaky breathing a few yards away.

He cracks an eye open and spots a civilian half-hidden around the corner, filming everything happening.

The birds want to come to Metropolis and mess with him? Well, two can play at that game. They're about to be hated by the masses for touching the city's new golden boy.

Conner makes a panicked expression, lifts his arm and waves it in a sweeping motion, and starts shaking his head.

"R-run," he wheezes, "go, get away from here, get to safety!"

"What's he — shit! HEY, C'MERE!" Nightwing gasps, pointing at the civilian. The woman turns and darts into the building she was hiding by, fingers flying across her screen like lightning. "God dammit! Red Robin, can you —"

"I can't," the third figure standing by him says, sounding just as stressed. Conner recognizes both him and the Red Hood's silent figure, who had been physically holding Nightwing back from continuing to swing on him. Robin tsks and presses a few buttons on his gauntlet.

"We'll need to retreat and prepare to do damage control. The batmobile is coming, ETA 30 seconds. What do we do with him?" Robin kicks Conner's arm.

"We can't leave the kid. He's got Kryptonite poisoning and we dunno where his boss is to dump him for medical help," Red Robin says, crossing his arms and sighing. "We gotta take him with us and get the shards out."

"I say leave him anyway. It's just a couple pieces, and if he's as stupidly strong as the real Supes, he'll walk this off," Red Hood suggests.

"We wouldn't have to debate this if Nightwing had kept his cool," Robin grouches. Nightwing has the good graces to look chagrined and tucks his sticks away.

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking about...I'm sorry. C'mon, B will skin is alive if he finds out we left him for dead. Get him in the car."

They're about to abduct him, now, too? Conner almost laughs at the absurdity. All of this, just for paying you a visit? It's madness. But then he imagines some other stranger breaking into your room to talk to you, to touch you, to hurt you, and has to focus his energy to not start burning everything with his laser vision. It's not really absurd anymore. If he could draw a full breath without feeling like white-hot knives are slicing his vary atoms apart, Conner would attempt to explain himself. But he can't, so he doesn't.

He doesn't resist when two of them lift him and start loading his body into the back of a sleek, black vehicle. Metropolis' threats have been neutralized for today, so he technically doesn't need to stay in town. Instead, he closes his eyes and allows himself to drift.

They're taking him to Gotham, which is where you live. He has no qualms with that.

[reoverie]

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ /⠀ NOT-SO-LUKEWARM ⠀ ✦ ⠀ ITOSHI ⠀ RIN

⠀ 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗂𝗇 ⠀ ⨾ ⠀ 𝗋𝗂𝗇 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝖼𝗋𝗎𝗌𝗁 𝗈𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎

⠀ ⠀ 糸島凛⠀ ⟡⠀ 𝒇 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋 ⠀ ⠀ 𝟪𝟫𝟧 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽𝗌 ⠀ ⠀ 𝗰𝘄. ⠀ 𝗇𝗈𝗇𝖾 ⠀ ⠀ 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀. ⠀ 𝗂 𝗌𝗎𝗉𝗉𝗈𝗋𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖺𝗐𝗄𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝗋𝗂𝗇 𝖺𝗀𝖾𝗇𝖽𝖺 !

feline eyes watch you like a hawk, analysing your every move. if you were an opponent of his on the field, he would have devoured you whole and made you a part of his ploy.

but as he watches you, entranced by the way you carry yourself, he can’t seem to pick you apart. not when it seems like there’s sakura blossoms trailing behind you while an orchestra plays with every step you take.

rin is utterly infatuated with you, and he can’t understand why.

is it because of how you speak to everyone with such kindness and compassion? every word that rolls off your tongue feels like caramel drizzling over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, your dulcet voice echoing in his head when he least expects it.

no, that’s not it.

perhaps it was your willingness to help everyone in your class. you constantly put your classmates' needs above your own, which was somewhat expected of the class president. yet you constantly exceed everyone’s expectations, especially rin’s.

he didn’t expect to crush on someone as lukewarm as you. though the more his sights landed on you, he began to realize that you weren’t like the rest of the class.

every time your name was mentioned in a conversation, rin finds himself glancing at whoever mentioned your name, shifting in interest. apparently, you had ranked first overall in your class.

he didn’t know that.

so he finds himself leaning in his seat, trying to hear more. turns out, you were balancing your studies alongside the sport you did! which was… cheer?

cheerleading is hardly a sport! but he couldn’t help being intrigued by it, by you.

nevertheless, he starts to learn small things about you; your favorite color, your favorite songs, how you were awarded something in junior high because of your outstanding grades and overall attitude towards your classmates.

it urges him to talk to you, to finally utter a word to you and stand in your presence, even if it means awkward silence on his behalf. what would a conversation between the two of you entail? he’s never spoken to another girl, someone that wasn’t his mother or aunts.

rin never thought someone, much less a girl, had him feeling this way.

his usual stoic and confident demeanor was replaced with.. cowardice? anxiety? and is that a glint of fear in his eyes as he approaches you?

mind swirling with second thoughts, rin figures that this would blow up in his face. a soccer prodigy, afraid to talk to a girl? how idiotic was that! he’s never going to hear the end of it from his classmates. he might as well develop a plan to convince his mother to homeschool him so he never has to face you or anyone else again, while devoting the rest of his time to soccer more than he already has.

“oh, itoshi-kun! good morning!” your candy-like voice snaps him out of his impending spiral, cool toned eyes gazing down at you sitting at your desk.

had he walked to your desk subconsciously? it seems so.

the boy clears his throat, trying to get rid of the bubble of nerves that formed. “good morning..” he mumbles, eyes darting to some place in the classroom.

his timidness didn’t go unnoticed to you, which earns a giggle from you.

as class president, you’re friendly with most of your classmates, but there was one person you didn’t have the pleasure of befriending yet – itoshi rin.

he keeps to himself, and only ever speaks when participating in class. he plays soccer and shockingly enough (though it’s no surprise), he’s ranked second overall in class, right behind you. you only discovered that because of some classmates of yours, the group of girls more than happy to share that information with you.

awkwardness grows between the two of you, and it makes you shift uncomfortably in your seat. you were never good with tricky situations like this one, but you were fast on your feet.

“i hear there’s a soccer match coming up,” you speak up in hopes to get his attention. and you do, his teal eyes glancing downwards to meet yours. “are you gonna score the winning goal?”

rin knows it’s just a means to get him to talk to you, but regardless it makes his heart ring in his ears. everyone was aware he was a part of the school’s soccer club, but people rarely spoke to him about it, or spoke to him in general.

he thinks he needs to work on his people skills, but that thought is flushed away as he begins to share details of his upcoming game.

“i plan on it. no way am i letting any half-baked players get in my way of scoring.”

his way of speaking about his opponents stuns you for a moment, but the initial shock is replaced with a light chuckle of amusement and a warm smile.

for a beat, rin’s heart skips, and he’s certain his cheeks have gone from ivory to crimson as you smile up at him. it only pushes him to talk to you more.

and he does, taking a seat at the desk next to yours. he hopes whoever sits there doesn’t mind his overtake, elated over the fact that he’s talking to you, the only other thing that occupied his mind alongside soccer.

© REOVERIE, 2024 ⠀/ ⠀my works are purely fiction and, in no way, is canon aligned. please like and reblog if you enjoyed!

[boreal-sea]

Nothing in my post is actually explicitly Zionist. I didn’t even say whether or not I’m Zionist.

I just said that people might want to check themselves if the idea of lynching Jews gives them pause but the idea of lynching “Zionists” doesn’t.

What is your definition of an ethnostate? What is the cut-off percentage of one race? 60%? 70%? More?

What is the racial makeup of Israel?

How do other countries such as Ireland or China NOT fulfill that definition? Or do you consider China and Ireland to be ethnostates, and thus immoral?

Did you know you’re misinformed about the Ethiopian Jews and you’re spreading antisemitic lies?

Jewish Ethiopian women were offered Depo Provera when in transition camps in Ethiopia on their way to Israel. Others were offered the shots once they reached Israel. Depo Provera is a very helpful form of both control in non-ideal situations for multiple reasons, especially the fact that it lasts several months and lightens your period, both things that would make a difficult journey easier. These were administered by a mix of medical personnel, many of whom weren’t Israelis.

Every single woman who received the shot was able to get pregnant afterwards. That’s a pretty ineffective sterilization attempt if every single one of them got pregnant.

Now it is absolutely true that some of the women who received the injection didn’t know what it was and that is ABSOLUTELY a failure of the system and a failure of communication. But those women did eventually receive the proper information, were able to stop taking it, and those who wanted, got pregnant. Again, this was not a sterilization attempt in any way.

Like. I don’t know if I’m a Zionist or not and I don’t actually use that word because I’m not done with my conversion yet. I also didn’t talk about proportions of anti-Zionists to Zionists in this post, so I’m not sure why you’re accusing me of erasing anyone.

Israel as a state exists. People live there. Forcibly removing people from their homes is wrong. It would be wrong to forcibly remove every American of European descent from the USA, and we’re actually colonizers.

I actually fully support the Palestinian right to return. I think Israel needs to work out some way to accommodate and embrace Palestinians that were forced out during the Nakba. Much like Land-Back in the USA, this should be a peaceful, cooperative thing that doesn’t involve forcibly removing anyone from their homes. Yes, that means it’s probably going to take a long time.

I think the illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank, however, should absolutely be forcibly removed. In some cases they MURDERED people to steal those homes. It is internationally recognized they are breaking the law. Even Israel admits this. So they need to go, right now.

I think Israel should absolutely pay to rebuild Gaza. They should house Palestinian refugees until the process is complete.

I don’t know what the best step forward is for the peace process right now. Both sides want impossible things from each other.

None of that is going to happen while Trump is in power, unfortunately.

The moment for thinking “what would I have done in Germany before and during Hitler’s reign” is over. Look back over the past two years. What did you do? What did you think and feel?

Did your opinion about Jews change?

If you went from supporting all Jews to thinking that a least some Jews, (namely “Zionists” or “Israelis”) deserve suffering, exile, and/or death, then you fell for modern antisemitic propaganda, and you would’ve fallen for it in Nazi Germany, too.

Maybe you would blink if the police today started rounding up the Jews in your neighborhood, or smashing synagogues, or arresting Jews off the streets. But would you feel better about it if they call them Zionists or Israelis? They’re not arresting “good Jews”, they’re arresting Zionists, to make them pay for their crimes.

It’s not too late to fix that, though. You can come back from being sucked into antisemitism. You can do better going forward.

[gurugirl]

The Honeymoon | a preview

This is a completed Patreon only 4 part one-shot. Total word count: 22,122

Summary: When your fiance doesn't show up on your wedding day, you're left devastated and humiliated. But you plan to go on your honeymoon trip anyway, a monthlong guided tour through the UK. Your handsome and charming tour guide, Harry, helps you see the beauty around yourself as you discover how scenic life is and find the courage to embrace a new beginning.

·⁀ ༄.°✈ ₊⭒˚｡⋆

“What do you mean he’s not at the altar? Like… he’s not here? At all?” You’d been waiting for the signal to come out for nearly thirty minutes in the dressing room. Your mother had left to find out what the holdup was, and you figured Adan was just being his normal self. Often taking way too long to do things or losing track of time. It was irritating that on your wedding day, of all days, he’d cause such a delay, but you were determined to keep positive and not sweat the small stuff.

“Honey, he never showed up. I guess Arthur said he got a text from Adan. He said he’s not coming.”

You’d never in your life felt such a sense of panic. It was supposed to be the best day of your life. Or at least a wonderfully monumental day that you’d always remember with happy fondness.

“Is—he okay? What happened?” You rushed to fish your phone from your bag and dialed your fiancé right away, your 1-carat engagement ring glinting flawlessly in the light that poured in from the window. It was a gorgeous sunny day—too pretty to have something like this go wrong. 

Your mom gently put her hand on your arm. Her expression was pity, sorrow.

“He’s not answering! Oh my god. Is he hurt? Do we know what happened?”

Shaking her head, your mom kept her eyes on you, and there was a knock at the door before it was being pushed open. Your maid of honor, Dora, pushed her way into the dressing room and wrapped her arms around you, sniffling. “I’m so sorry, Y/n. I’m gonna kill him.”

You pushed her off, holding her by the shoulders, and shook your head. “What do you mean? What’s happened? What did he do?”

You had almost no information. Your mother only knew he wasn’t coming based on a text he sent his best man, Arthur.

“He’s gone to Vegas. With Mindy.”

“Mindy?!” You looked from your mom to your best friend, and your eyes widened as it all suddenly dawned on you.

Mindy. She was one of your closest and dearest friends. In fact, she was meant to be in the wedding party, and you hadn’t seen her all day either, but figured she was elsewhere or running late, as she tended to do. A lot like Adan, now that you were thinking about it.

Mindy was Adan’s friend before yours. He and Mindy went to college together, and from the moment he introduced you two, you were connected at the hip, and you adopted her into your tight-knit group of friends. She’d be at your and Adan’s apartment almost every day after you got off work. Already there with a beer in hand and figuring out what to make for dinner with your fiancé. Sometimes, it was like she was a roommate. Sometimes, you wondered if Mindy might have a crush on Adan. But you never imagined in a million years…

“Vegas? Like… to get…” You hadn’t stopped shaking your head as you searched Dora’s face, your mother clinging to you closely in support.

Dora nodded, “Eloped,” she scoffed. “I’m gonna kill the fucking bitch and then I’m gonna cut his dick off with a dull butter knife and make him eat it!”

Your mom let out a shocked laugh of approval, and you broke down. It had been the most dramatic and ridiculous display since you were five, and your brother had cut off your favorite doll's hair and dipped its head in blue acrylic paint.

But this time, it was called for. Your mother and your best friend held you on each side as your legs gave way, and you went limp slowly to the floor. Black streaks of mascara down your face and splotched on the bust of your ivory dress, you ugly cried until you couldn’t breathe and then did it again.

Not only were you devasted. You were humiliated. Your fiancé, the man you were due to marry at that moment, had run off with one of your best friends. To marry her and not you.

Mother fucker.

·⁀ ༄.°✈ ₊⭒˚｡⋆

Join my patreon here! For only $5 USD per month, you will gain access to over 200 early access and exclusive works.

xoxo

[starstrider-productions]

Blood-typing in Dracula

If you've read Dracula, then you'll know that blood is an important motif that comes up time and time again (I mean, it is a vampire novel). At the time of writing, blood-typing had not yet been invented, and as such, does not come up during the blood transfusion scenes. By 2004, however, blood-typing had existed for over a hundred years, and as such, I had to consider how to approach this gaping plothole with care.

I'm not going to spoil how I did this (you'll have to listen to this massive spoiler when the episode airs!) but I did in fact give each Dracula character a blood type. Read on for more information on each one, and why I chose them!

Mina: O-. This is sometimes known as the "altruistic" blood type because people with that type are universal donors - their blood can be given to anyone, regardless of the recepient's type. I felt this reflected Mina's personality well because she is naturally very willing to give her time, her love and her knowledge to those who need it.

Jonathan: A-. He was originally going to be A+, but I wanted to explore the more serious side of his personality, particularly after his experiences with Dracula. I also wanted it to match Mina's because they really are soulmates.

Seward: B-, or "be negative". Enough said.

Van Helsing and Quincey: Both O+. This is the most common blood type in the UK. I chose to give these two the same blood group as I felt that they are both remarkably similar characters: they're both optimists, pragmatic, kind, eccentric, and the kind of people who Get Things Done.

Arthur: A+. Arthur is kind of a foil to Jonathan - they both have this great inner strength and dignity that really shines under duress. They are both kind and clever, but while Arthur knows how to let go when necessary, Jonathan is more inclined to hold on with everything he's got, even when it might not be a good idea.

Lucy: AB+. The universal receiver: people with this blood group can receive blood from any other type without ill effects, in an emergency. Partially a plot point, partially to reflect how Lucy will take on everyone else's problems, even at the expense of her own wellbeing.

Patient R: O-, like Mina. I wanted to represent their mirrored connection to Dracula, and also to explore how R was probably once as generous and selfless as Mina, before his life was ravaged by mental illness.

Dracula: 2004 will begin crowdfunding on the 2nd April 2025! Keep your eyes on our social media for updates.

Care to take a bite?

[i7nn8a]

You were always running away.

The first time Sukuna saw you was on a Sunday night. The city was already asleep, and the air was cold. He had gone out alone for a walk, trying to clear his mind from the increasingly torturous business matters, when he realized he was being followed.

His work had always taken priority over his personal life. Running betting houses, nightclubs, and a few trafficking schemes, Sukuna had always had many enemies. It wasn’t often that he got to go out alone, so when he did, he cherished those moments. Which only made him want to kill whoever was following him even more.

Trying to lure his pursuer into a more secluded area, he walked toward a dimly lit alley. But as he approached, he heard a low murmur, almost inaudible, and heavy breathing. When he looked inside the alley, he saw you. Sitting with your knees pressed against your face, rocking back and forth, crying. Frantically. Your fingers were covered in bandages, as was one side of your face.

It took you a while to notice him there, but when you did, you didn't waste a second. You got up from the ground and ran away before he even had the chance to say anything.

The moment you disappeared without a trace, he looked around and realized there was no longer any sign of the person who had been following him. He decided to call his men, ordering one of them to figure out what the hell had just happened.

The second time Sukuna saw you was near a bar. He was meeting with a powerful criminal who owed him certain information. When he left, he spotted a familiar figure turning the corner. You.

Driven by curiosity, he followed you to a small park until you suddenly turned around and looked straight at him. You were about 500 meters apart. Neither of you spoke, just stared at each other, until your eyes landed on something behind him. Your eyes widened in fear, and you took off running. Fast.

Sukuna didn't even have the chance to go after you.

When he turned to see what had scared you, there was nothing. Just empty space.

The third time he saw you, he was already in a foul mood. The police had intercepted a valuable shipment of weapons he had already sold. He did everything he could to shake off the anger—punched a few things, took it out on the idiot responsible for the failed plan—but nothing helped. At least he could say he tried.

When his brother took him to one of their family's nightclubs, he thought he might finally relax. But less than two minutes after stepping inside, someone bumped into him, spilling some kind of liquid all over him. His rage was already boiling over. When he looked down, there you were.

Your right arm was bandaged, and you held a half-empty plastic water bottle in your left hand. Your eyes met his, and he swore he had never seen emptier eyes. Not even in the faces of those he had just killed.

Before you could run, he grabbed your uninjured arm and led you to the bar. Saying nothing, he bought another bottle of water and handed it to you before pulling you outside. The two of you stared at each other, neither knowing what to say, until you finally broke the silence.

"Thank you." You spoke so softly he almost didn’t hear it.

"What’s your name?" he asked, momentarily forgetting about the stolen weapons, his soaked shirt, or the fury still burning inside him.

"I…" Before you could answer, something flashed in your eyes. You focused on a point behind him and started trembling. Without looking at him again, you bolted, terrified.

Sukuna didn’t hesitate—he started chasing you.

You ran like your life depended on it. You kept running, running, and running until you reached a busy street. Far too busy for that time of night. And just like that—you were gone.

More furious than ever, he called one of his men with clear instructions: Get the nightclub’s security footage and identify the woman who had been with him. Simple.

The fourth time Sukuna saw you wasn’t in person—it was in newspaper headlines from eighteen years ago. They all reported a horrific kidnapping of a seven-year-old girl taken by a thirty-one-year-old man. From the photos, he could tell it was you. Your face was almost the same, just a little older. According to the articles, you had been missing for a month before they found you. Your kidnapper was arrested but was released five years ago and was still out there.

With the right connections, it didn’t take him long to pull up your records. Your name was [Name]. Your parents had died when you were sixteen, forcing you to live with your grandmother. You worked nights at a diner and lived in a tiny apartment in the city’s poorest area until your grandmother passed away when you were eighteen. After that, you disappeared.

Digging deeper, he found a medical record. It was the last time you had seen a psychiatrist. No data beyond that. Your name was listed alongside a diagnosis:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Post-Traumatic Psychosis.

The fifth time Sukuna saw you, it was nothing short of premeditated. Of course, he hadn’t expected it to happen like this, but you had proven to be increasingly unpredictable.

He had eyes everywhere in the city. It wasn’t hard to have all his men on alert, ready to notify him the moment someone spotted you. What he didn’t expect was that when that day finally came, you would be at the police station.

Apparently, you had a psychotic episode and attacked someone.

Getting you out wasn’t hard. Sukuna knew exactly what to do, and he had more than enough money to make it happen. When you were finally released from your cell and approached him, looking at him with curiosity, he knew something had changed for him.

"Did you get me out?" you asked, almost shyly.

Terribly adorable. He was completely doomed.

[whatkindofsoupp]

Actually. Thinking about it, a crow might be better suited to this specific task because of the facial recognition. I think pigeons can be trained to recognize faces, but crows just sort of innately do that.

They do it so well that they somehow pass down the information through generations as well?? Which is. Insane to me.

There was that one study where a scientist wore one of those rubber costume masks while I think like, chasing crows and throwing things etc, and when not wearing the mask acted normal/good. The crows would make alarm calls whenever they saw him wearing the mask, even when someone wore it again like. 10 YEARS LATER, when all of the original crows likely would have been dead.

They can also count groups of people fairly well. I remember hearing that someone wanted to be in their shed without this wild crow bothering them (which it always did when they were in the shed), so he had this idea. “I’ll just go in with more than one person, and when they walk out, it’ll think I went with them.”

It took 11 additional people for the crow to lose count of who was coming and going from the shed.

That’s probably about (or after) where I would lose count, so. Just insane. I love crows.

They’re also very intelligent, (which, no offense, pigeons are not. Not in the same way at least), and would probably be able to recognize when a person they know has changed their behavior, and react accordingly, rather than just memorizing a list of “good”faces.

I don’t know if parrots specifically can remember faces, but i wouldn’t be surprised if they could. It would depend on the species of parrot as well.

Random story thought:

The headquarters of some secret society has a trained parrot as a security measure - besides the security camera, the parrot keeps guard at the most used key entrance, and has been trained to push two specific buttons whenever people come through that door - one for people that she's familiar with, and one for people that don't belong to the organisation. One button push for each person of each type, instantly alerting the people within about how many members and how many strangers are coming in.

Then one time the parrot reports six strangers coming in - only six strangers, with no guide from the inside. This never happens, and this should never happen. People go on high alert, grabbing weapons in preparation as they turn to the security camera to see what this is about. It seems like a false alarm: There are five armed outsiders, but with one key member of the organisation with them.

This is still strange, the parrot never makes a mistake, especially on someone as familiar as this. There has to be something wrong.

Then it turns out, there is: The key member had been planning to betray the organisation for quite a while now, and was indeed coming in with an armed team for a hostile takeover. The ensuing combat is brutal, and if it hadn't been for the parrot pressing the wrong button and startling the insiders into being on high alert, they might not have ended up winning.

The parrot, who had been trained to assign people into two categories, had never interpreted the two as "familiar" and "unfamiliar", but had always sorted them as "friend" and "not friend". She had sensed that there was something off about this guy for a good while now, and this day had been the day when he finally failed her vibe check.

[butterflydm]

WoT rewatch thoughts (1x5-1x08)

Still has spoilers through the s3 information that we have so far and book spoilers through a memory of light.

1x05

Both beginning and ending this episode on funeral rituals worked so well. Great structure.

Time skip for traveling! Mark a month off on the calender.

We can really see how Mat has deteriorated in the last month by the way he snaps at the kid who runs into him.

Love the shot of Dragonmount looming behind Tar Valon. They exist always with that reminder of what the Dragon did.

Mat has no appetite. Poor sad wet cat.

The betrayal of there being Two Beds in this inn room, lol. Why are we not respecting the classic fic tropes?

Rand reassuring Mat that he didn't kill that little girl or her family. Rand believing so hard in Mat's goodness maybe partly because he can see that Mat is having a difficult time seeing it in himself.

Even with Nynaeve's coat off, she's still half Green and half Yellow.

Moiraine trying so hard to mentor Nynaeve and she Does Not Want It.

Man, Perrin and Egwene had a much more cheerful journey than either of the other sets. But they get plenty of trauma right now, so they don't need to be jealous.

Once again, the show does such a good job showing us the strength in the Tuatha'an. And this thread will continue into Perrin's storyline in s3, with both Whitecloaks & Tuatha'an. They've done a solid job of tying Perrin to them both.

Loial shows up and immediately calls Rand an Aielman, lol. Poor Rand!

Oh, I see you, Fain!

Oof, people throwing food at Logain and mocking him. Baffled at the people who say the downsides of being a man who can channel weren't shown.

The promise scene between Mat & Rand is so good. Ultimate sad wet cat Mat. I really do love everything about this scene.

I really like our exploration of Stepin's utter and compete grief and emptiness after Kerene's death. How much the other Warders try to help him, how Nynaeve tries to help him but it isn't enough.

Love love what they did with the old rings being melted down (to create new).

Between what happens with the Whitecloaks here and then the Seanchan in s2, Egwene reacting by being as fiercely independent as possible makes all the sense in the world.

The Whitecloaks and Tower novices both wearing all white seems like it might create some emotional dissonance for Egwene, but I understand why the show didn't go there. That's just down to Jordan making too many groups of people wear white.

Oof, the Whitecloak stuff with Egwene & Perrin is hard to watch.

But our first hint of Perrin's golden eyes.

I note how Valda feels about all channelers similarly to how Liandrin feels about male channelers. And then we can get into the Seanchan's dehumanization of channelers as well.

Liandrin trying to bond more with Nynaeve. Has she been having ta'veren dreams? Ishy has had a month to try to figure out at least some of the places where his potential ta'veren have gone.

Our first reunion! It's always such a relief when any of them get to reunite. Man, Mat really does look on the verge of death.

Nynaeve can now join Rand & Mat in the Not Trusting Aes Sedai or Moiraine squad. Oops.

She tells Rand a story about Egwene to reassure him of Egwene's strength, never realizing that it's also the moment when Nynaeve likely channeled for the first time (to heal Egwene).

Perrin shares his deepest shame and secret with Egwene here - that he killed Laila by accident during the battle. So Perrin & Egwene's journey ends up being also very traumatic but the trauma was concentrated into the last day or so of the journey.

And just like was hinted at with the fire, Egwene & Perrin are finding their power at the same time. I wonder if this will happen again with their TAR training in s3? I really hope they run across each other in TAR. Let the characters stay connected!

Liandrin definitely got shot down by Moiraine at some time in the past.

Love the whole "shrine to ward off the Forsaken" thing. Great touch.

Siuan has been off in Caemlyn - was she talking to Elaida about Elayne, or was it about politics?

Moiraine: the White Tower's Woman of Mystery. Everyone wants to know what she's up to!

Alanna got such a glow-up in the show compared to the books. She's great here.

We get another nod to accepted poly relationships (amid the Green Ajah, at least).

Great conversation between Stepin & Lan. And a heartbreaking conclusion to Stepin's little mini-arc of grief and the Warder bond.

1x06

Little baby Siuan! ❤️ ❤️

Our first look at Tear as well.

Such a great way to introduce Siuan, considering they wouldn't have her for more than one episode this season.

And we learn in some places that it's dangerous for a woman to learn to channel - it's not only the Whitecloaks who assume that everyone who can channel is a Darkfriend.

Given that we know now (as of s2) that Moiraine & Siuan are older here than in the books, I wonder if that means her dad has already passed on.

Much like Egwene, Siuan is strongly associated with the water.

(This scene made me tear up too. I've cried three or four times today, I think)

Leane wearing light colors here vs the darker colors she wore in the s3 sneak peek to bash a Darkfriend's head in.

Another scene that gains so much depth on rewatch- knowing about Moiraine & Siuan's relationship & knowing about Liandrin being Black Ajah.

We just saw Stepin choose death in the previous emptiness of losing his bond, now Logain seeks and is refused death while suffering the emptiness of losing his connection to the One Power.

Everyone does still look good here, but the costumes definitely got a glow-up in s2 & again in s3.

The only main player in this scene not playing an elaborate game is Alanna. Siuan and Moiraine are pretending not to be in cahoots, Liandrin is pretending not to be Black Ajah - Liandrin trying to fracture the divides between the Ajahs, and also throwing Moiraine under the bus. A lot of Daes Dae'mar going on.

I also feel obligated to note that around this time frame is the jumping off point of my (now over 500k!) fic series: voice in the back of my head (archiveofourown.org/series/2688649). It is Cauthor-focused (Mat & Rand romance), though it does bring in the canon romances for Rand later on and we have some fun poly relationships going on, and it is currently spoiling through the twelfth book, but each fic in the series says how far that particular fic goes with regards to spoilers. The fic premise is: Liandrin found Rand & co instead of Moiraine finding them, and Rand is motivated enough to instinctively Travel himself, Mat, and Nynaeve to Tear because he wants to escape her.

This fic has been a lot of work and I am pretty proud of it so if you feel at all inclined to read an AU of the series that starts with the idea of "what if we gently slid Mat into Rand's romance situation?" and is a mix of show and book canon... give it a try. If you like it, please let me know your thoughts. <3

Anyway, Moiraine be spying on Rand & co., waiting for Nynaeve & Loial to leave to go talk to Rand & Mat.

Rand's protectiveness over Mat on this scene is really what threw my shipping switches on for them. He pulls a sword on Lan, despite knowing he had no chance against him!

"The world doesn't need a Dragon like me."

But Moiraine has figured out this is something else, not going mad from saidin, and Mat gets healed of the dagger's sickness.

So... was Rand using the One Power to help keep Mat from succumbing to the dagger's pull? Moiraine thinks that Mat shouldn't have been able to resist as long as he did.

We get some Tower politics, and we get the first hints of the Seanchan.

Moiraine is just encountering so much weirdness with these kids. Now there are wolves, she must be thinking to herself. Wolves!

The romance reveal scene! I like this change for several reasons- it's better romance than either gets in the books, it follows naturally from the NS relationship setup, and it adds drama for Moiraine, who did get a bump from mentor figure to being a protagonist.

It also gives the show a chance to show softer and warmer sides to both Moiraine & Siuan. Plus the nice play between duty & love bodes well for other romances.

I love how they reunite and only afterwards does Moiraine let Siuan know about the Dragon. Priorities!

And it makes so much sense that Moiraine has been doubting their prophecies after all this time on the road, while Siuan hasn't been out there with disappointment after disappointment.

This conversation also (unintentionally, given that it was a last-minute change) sets up Moiraine deciding she'd rather have the Reds potentially gentle the Dragon than risk Mat choosing to join the Shadow, because she thinks he's not strong enough to resist.

Ishy deliberately sent Siuan that dream. 😭

Liandrin knows too much. She definitely has been getting Ishy dreams.

Another reunion!

And the convo with Siuan is great. Nynaeve not bowing still cracks me up. Egwene going "wtf, nynaeve can channel? and she's stronger than I am?" with just her face is also hilarious.

Egwene & Nynaeve get a much kinder pep talk from Siuan than poor Rand gets in s2.

Moiraine's exiling is another great, emotional scene. And it also teaches us more about how the Oath Rod works, and sets some reasons in place for the Hall to be wary of Siuan. And sets up some precedents for the future.

And Moiraine trusting and giving more to Siuan than she was asked to give in the Oath - not just exile but obedience. That's gonna hurt a lot when we get to s2.

Even though she literally asked for it, it's obvious how hard it is on Moiraine to see her Sisters turn their backs on her.

But now we do (briefly) get our full Two Rivers reunion, and that is lovely. Hugs all around! Fond teasing! They love each other!

So we know that it wasn't actually the Dark One who was trapped at the Eye, so... it sounds like the knowledge of the location of the Dark One's prison is lost to time. It does make sense that Darkfriends would target that info specifically.

Moiraine not able to tell them that she trusts them, due to her Oaths, is a. so funny and b. makes it mean so much in s2 when she is willing and able to say that she trusts Rand (this is the real reason why it's difficult for me to get on board with The Ruse (TM) theory - because it feels like it would retroactively ruin that 2x07 moment between Moiraine & Rand).

Now that he's pretty sure Mat can't channel and isn't the Dragon, Rand knows deep down who it really is.

But then we lose Barney-Mat at the Waygate and I'm sad!

You can tell this very last scene was shot after the post-covid shutdown, because Maddy (Egwene) lost some roundness in her cheeks during those in-between months and it makes her eyes look a lot bigger.

I adore Donál's Mat but also miss Barney's. The feelings are both very present.

1x07

The Blood Snow! So epic. I love everything about this scene.

I will say, given that we have a stabbed pregnant Tigraine in the side here and it looks like we're getting a flashback to pregnant Morgase in s3, it does feel fairly likely that we will get pregnant Elayne as well, later on in the series. Tigraine gets stabbed the same way that Elayne is described as being stabbed in one of the super-late books (can't remember which, so I'll tag through AMoL) iirc.

Tigraine really did give every ounce of herself to her destiny, and I'm so glad the show version of her got a moment of kindness and compassion at the end.

Moiraine's cynicism about Mat vs Rand's rose-colored glasses about Mat: fight!

Nynaeve doing her job as Wisdom to keep all the kiddos together and make a promise to find Mat later.

"The one thing that we cannot afford is for the Dragon to turn to the Shadow."

Lan trying to cheer Nynaeve up is very sweet.

Egwene wants to sleep near Rand and he lets her this time (contrast to 1x02, when he pushed her away).

I like negging Machin Shin better than the version in the books, I admit it. It's more personal! Just relentlessly dunking on everyone's deepest fears.

Everyone looks so haunted. Poor kiddos.

I don't understand the people who don't understand the big fight. Everyone is so on edge from what they just went through! They are all overly emotional and vulnerable right now. The fight could have been MUCH uglier and still been valid tbh.

Uno! Congrats on your s2 upgrade to Hero of the Horn!

Another confession: I find this Lord Agelmar & Lady Amalisa much more interesting and memorable than the ones in the books. And I was kinda relieved that the show took the whole Five Great Captains thing off the table right away.

I also love their outfits.

Oh, hi, Fain! I suspect we'll get to see more of him in s3.

Min is so much better in the show than the books, omg. Just... on every level. She actually is jaded and world-weary.

"There is a man they must find. A boy, really."

Given that we saw Mat visibly recoil at hearing the Red Ajah mentioned in that s3 clip, I wonder if we're going to see him & Moiraine actually talk about it. I mean, it's in character for both of them to avoid that particular convo, so we will see!

Egwene's little quip at Rand's cooking is cute but I bet contributes to that feeling of Rand's that she doesn't see him as a man but as a boy.

I like how Min's visions were used here. And that she does what Moiraine blackmailed her into but holds back enough to protect what she knows would be the biggest secret (that Rand is the Dragon) because she doesn't feel like it's hers to reveal.

I really love how the shot with the three kids is framed to show the empty chair at the back to emphasis Mat's absence.

Anyway, I like the fight. Characters should be allowed to be messy and argue. Each of them has a perspective and is stubborn about that PoV.

Egwene is right that Moiraine can't lie, but the others are right that she can mislead or withhold.

And I love that the tipping point for the actual fight is Mat & his absence.

And then Nynaeve lobbing a bomb into the conversation as soon as it gets heated enough that she's getting uncomfortable. I mean, they aren't arguing about Mat anymore, at least?

Perrin's super-close "the only woman I've ever loved is my wife" and the hot five seconds that I shipped Perrin & Rand (but then Mat was mentioned in Rand's 1x08 fantasy world and I was right back to Cauthor lol).

I like that Lan had Malkieri friends alive in Fal Dara & I'm pretty stoked about the s3 Melindhra spoilers as well. Very cool to dive more into those relationships than we did in the books. Nynaeve getting an introduction to Lan's people & culture! After he got to know hers in 1x01! Very nice.

Jump-scare Lan does crack me up.

Anyway, good for Nynaeve and Lan for hooking up when they think there's a chance they might die in the morning.

Rand struggles with coming to terms with being the Dragon but Egwene thinks this is all about the big fight earlier. So they are having two different conversations right now.

Hey, in light of this convo- Rand is going to go to, well, Tar Valon anyway. Maybe not the White Tower itself. We'll see if he gets a doorway visit or not.

But this is Rand's big final burst of denial before he goes and talks to Min, confirming to himself that he's the Dragon, as he's tried not to believe that he is. So we've now had two instances of Randgwene sex used to delay or avoid an important conversation.

I am... very curious if the pattern continues in s3. Pretty sure they'll sleep together again, from what we've gotten in the trailers & such, but I am curious about the framing & context.

This montage of Rand accepting the truth about himself gives me chills.

Min's exhaustion here makes her so relatable.

I am so glad Tigraine had someone to hold her hand at the end. That she saw that her son would be taken care of.

"Rainbows and carnivals and three beautiful women." 😍

Elayne only three episodes away (2x02, right?), and Aviendha a little bit after that, but they are on their way! And this is our first hint about them.

1x08

3000 years ago, whoo!

Love their outfits.

Love the choice to have the AoL scenes in the Old Tongue.

LTT is perfect. Genuinely so good.

And the gut punch of seeing how technologically advanced the world used to be. It was a magitek utopia (or at least seemed that way to them).

I do wish that Rafe & co could have brought their original vision of this episode to life, because it is so devastating to go over all the things they lost (a principal actor! Their original Blight location! Their stunt team! Even more that I can't recall at the moment too I bet) but they did so much with what they had. I am so fucking impressed.

"I love him, Perrin." And then she thinks he died to save all of them. Yeah they do need to finish things off properly in the show.

Lan 100% thinks that going after Moiraine right now means his death, hence the sweet but flowery speech to Nynaeve here.

Ishy and Rand come face to face. I wonder who Ishy thought the Dragon was (he says he didn't expect it to be Rand). I love the reveal of Ishy's true face. And trying to touch Rand's face right away lol.

"Stubborn as ever, Lews."

The convo between Moiraine & Rand is interesting (all of them are) but partly because Moiraine doesn't actually say that she believed it was Egwene. I think she hoped it was Egwene but that's not quite the same. And Rand doesn't ever really think it was Egwene either, except maybe at the start, because we know he was worried it was Mat during that month of them journeying together.

Hey, the horrible bully from Moiraine's story! We're gonna meet her in s3. Because that story is about Elaida. She beat a novice with the One Power to force her to channel.

Min is very amusing in the show. I like her a lot. I really like that we get to go on an emotional journey along with Min about the downsides of having her viewings in s2, instead of it all happening before we show up in her life.

Again, really like the relationship between the siblings here - Lord Agelmar & Lady Amalisa. It's sweet.

"Let us hope we will buy the women and men of this world enough time to stand a fighting chance."

Rand recognizes the place where he locked Ishy up years ago. Love that we get to see that moment in s2.

Moiraine talking about the Tower's histories getting destroyed by Darkfriends. Very important note, I feel.

And Ishy springs his win-win trap. There was no actual way for Rand to win here, because he didn't know who he was fighting.

I've mentioned this before but I love that the show split up the battle into philosophical (Rand) vs physical (everyone else) because that's the Last Battle too. Rand's fight is a philosophical one and it always was. The Power is there to get him to where he needs to be to make that choice.

Our mention of Mat in Rand's temptation world, where Egwene is clearly being fondly exasperated but not truly annoyed. So, you know, like how Rand feels about Mat.

Ishy plays with his food, taunting and shielding Moiraine.

Perrin and Loial's friendship being a throughline for all three seasons, getting to know each other here, spending more time together in s2, and Loial going home with him in s3.

Rand struggling against a hollow perfect reality. Major, major foreshadowing for the endgame so I'm glad I already listed amol spoilers.

And Rand also needs to forcibly let go of Egwene and his dream of their life together in order to wake up from his encounter with Ishamael, something that Egwene doesn't get the opportunity to do, because the boyfriend she recently reunited with heroically died in order to save the world (to her understanding). So Rand and Egwene go into s2 (and presumably s3) with very different contexts about where their relationship left off.

You know, in retrospect, it's so appropriate that the Horn was being guarded by one of the Heroes.

Ishy is so smug here because he really does win no matter what. Tbh I feel like waking up Lanfear was his big mistake in s2. Because her agenda is different enough from his that they ended up conflicting, even though they share an LTT obsession.

That being said, even though this is a win-win for Ishy, what Rand learns here can/will help him win the Last Battle. So it works out in the long run.

Rand & Moiraine believe that the Last Battle is won, so she's willing to let him wander off to die in the wilderness if he wants... and then she kicks herself forever when she realizes how wrong she was. Like, it's Moiraine & Siuan's plan that fully releases Ishy. They thought they could do an endrun around the prophecies (which Moiraine has to be fully aware that Rand has not accomplished!).

As Moiraine might say "the arrogance".

Love the setup here at the end by Fain.

"Rand may be the Dragon but all five of you have a part to play."

And Moiraine. "This wasn't the Last Battle. I fear it was the first."

And our great intro to the Seanchan and how wildly different they are to anything we've already seen.

Tomorrow, I'll start rewatching s2 and see how far I get!

[slayerdurge]

Regarding The Busts in Gortash's Office

So because I'm endlessly obsessive, I did what I said I would do & wrote down the names and descriptions of all of the people that Gortash has busts of in his office because they seem to be people he admires so I wanted to analyze them, as one does when one is endlessly obsessive. I also did additional research on the ones that I could find more information about. Here they are, and some of my own thoughts on why they might have been included (under a read more because it's long because, again, obsessive).

Baron Alec Bormul - First of the Bormul patriar family to start his own venture, Alec is the unscrupulous bastard who made their fortune in mines and vineyards.

Now, as far as I can find, this is the only information we have about this character. However, there are several other Bormul family members that exist in the game (including an NPC called Callem Bormul who is present at Gortash's ordaining ceremony). The one that stands out more to me though is Ilza Bormul, who is mentioned in the in-game book "Baldur's Gate and the Dialectics of Plunder" and stated to own "slave-labour mines in the mountains of Amn". Presumably therefore Alec is an "unscrupulous bastard" due to the use of slave labor. Not particularly surprising Gortash would approve of that since he is a known slaver himself. Interestingly, that same book also mentions Xeremiah Eltan, who is another of the busts in the office, as another example of the fact that Baldur's Gates patriar families are all founded by blood and immorality (which the author of the book says no one ever talks about). So I imagine both busts are also included as confirmation of his worldview that no one innocent ever gets far in life. I think it's also notable here that Gortash chose to commemorate the "first" of the family who "started his own venture". We know he loves a self-made man, no matter how brutal his path was. Commodore Morgan Redlocks - Baldur's Gate ship captain Morgan Redlocks wed a man thrice her age. After the wedding, the groom suffered a heart attack. Redlocks converted his merchant ships into a pirate fleet.

Unfortunately not a character that I can find any more information about, but how much do you want to bet that she killed her husband? I mean, come on. He has a heart attack so soon after the wedding that he's still being referred to as the "groom" and not the husband? Plus it wouldn't even remotely surprise me that Gortash would appreciate a subtle femme fatale assassin. Also, of fucking course he would admire a pirate. Magnate Carric Ilphescient - Carric started from nothing, built a financial empire, and founded the Counting House. He refused to mingle with the other patriars, saying, "They didn't want me when I was an urchin, and now they can't have me."

Another self-made man, and one who does not mince words about it. Easy to imagine that that quote reflected Gortash's own mentality. Only other reference I could find to him was in an in-game book in the Counting House called "Record of the Honoured" but all it tells us is that he did in fact found the Counting House. The Cockeyed Stranger - This is a bust of the god Bane as he first appeared to Gortash in dreams, and was then described to a Rivington sculptor.

Bane is obviously a far more established D&D character than anyone else here, so I could write a whole page just about Bane and how I imagine Gortash sees him. I swear I've seen a bit of loading screen flavor text in BG3 that states that when Bane was a mortal man, he was originally a battleslave of Mephistopheles, but it is possible that I'm wrong about that because I cannot find confirmation of this lore anywhere on the internet. (If anyone else has seen that loading screen flavor text, please confirm so I know I'm not hallucinating!) But if it is true, then it's immensely clear what Gortash sees in him. Gortash's whole thing is he absolutely loves the idea of someone who started from the bottom and rose to the top through sheer ruthlessness. He likes the idea of overthrowing his oppressors and taking their place. As a whole, Bane's doctrine also fits Gortash really well. The Forgotten Realms Wiki says that Bane "embodied the principles of ambition and control and believed that the strong had not only the right, but the duty, to rule over the weak." I can easily imagine Gortash having the same mentality. Bane is also known for being a lot more open to having alliances than is typical for an evil god, but he always makes sure he ends up on top. (I could write a whole other analysis about how the original plan hatched by Gortash, Durge, & Ketheric leaves Gortash in the best position. Ketheric gets to be a fearsome conquering general, Durge (later Orin) gets to spread chaos in the streets, but Gortash is the one who ends up being the hero who can actually not only have the benefit of his legitimate ruthlessness but also the benefit of it remaining hidden! By far the best position in the alliance. Orin actually is mad about this (she gives a little speech to Durge about how Gortash betrayed them because all her murders only drive the people of Baldur's Gate into the arms of his Steel Watch) but it is implied that Durge didn't think of it the same way since those were always the terms of the plan... something that always makes me wonder about what exactly it is that Durge & Gortash originally had planned in the long-term. Were they really just both always planning to betray the other eventually? Because I'm honestly not so sure about that. I think they're both too smart for that. But I digress.) Dame Amafrey Ephemial - Dame Amafrey, the Orphans' Friend, founded several orphanages in the Outer City, as the Lower City was no place for children (and the Upper City declined to sponsor an orphanage).

Okay, this is by far the black sheep in the set. A philanthropist? Seemingly without an ulterior motive? Why is she included here? I mean, on the one hand, I could almost believe that Gortash is sympathetic to the plights of children in a way he wouldn't be for adults (since he suffered so much as a child & since children don't have as many ways to help themselves and take responsibility as adults do), but on the other hand, it is so deeply inconsistent with his character too. But then again, maybe he's just a hypocrite. Maybe this really is some sort of secret soft side. Or perhaps it has more to do with the fact that she seemed to be bogged down by the corruption around her (the Upper City declined to sponsor an orphanage) so maybe he keeps her bust around as a reminder that good intentions don't get you far enough. I genuinely don't know with this one, and I was unable to find any more info about Dame Ephemial. Grand Duke Eltan - Founder of the Flaming Fist. Later history is kinder to him than accounts from his time, which portray him as a cruel and hard-handed mercenary commander.

According to the same in-game book mentioned previously (Baldur's Gate and the Dialectics of Plunder), he "founded the Flaming Fist as a ruthless mercenary company that slaughtered and burned for pay along the entire length of the Sword Coast". He is also a character in the first Baldur's Gate game and the expansion Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear. According to the Forgotten Realms Wiki, he was Lawful Neutral and he was known as "steadfast and principled" because of his "tactical genius" and "a sincere belief in maintaining the balance of power among the many small kingdoms of Faerûn". Also apparently he survived a whole lot of assassination attempts. Easy to see why Gortash would see this one as a role model, I think. He is described as a "tactical genius" himself. I also think it's interesting that it says that "later history is kinder to him than accounts from his time". I mean, we know Gortash is huge on propaganda and controlling the narrative. I would imagine he cares how he might be remembered.

[namgyunation]

Do you see Nam-gyu introducing his s/o to drugs or do you think he’d be the type to shield you from that type of thing?

cw; talking about drug usage and unhealthy stuff here

mmmm based off of my interpretation of him, i don’t think he’d really try to “shield” you. just doesn't seem like something he'd do

i also don't think he would gaf if you knew about his substance abuse. you're his s/o. if you're with him, he's prob thinking "this is what you signed up for when you got with me." i could see him hiding it from his family, but not you.

with a job like his, it'd be pretty hard to hide, anyways. if anything, i think he'd try to at least hide or be vague about the intensity of the drugs he takes and just how addicted / dependent he is on them. he'd probably try to convince you that it's just something casual that he does or brush you off if you display any concern

i could see him wanting to keep the details of his drug usage off your radar, but not because he’s like. concerned that he’ll be a bad influence or rub off on you, or anything. nor would he do it with the intent of trying to protect you or keep you "innocent" / drug-free.

i don’t think he’d enthusiastically be like “here baby, snort this!!! take this pill!!! ❤️” out of nowhere or straight from the jump when he enters a relationship with his s/o. he also doesn’t seem like the type of dude to go out of his way to share what drugs he’s taking or even just his emotions in general. he seems like he’d be very closed off and be more than happy to keep that part of his life from you if you never asked / pushed the issue.

i think he’d just want to avoid his s/o giving him a hard time: asking too many questions about what he’s doing, how it’s affecting him, his health, their finances, and their relationship, and/or trying to get him to stop. he just wants to do what he wants while still keeping you in his life. he doesn't want you to complicate or overdramaticize things with your concern. he knows what hes doing and can handle himself.

but i think if you expressed any sort of interest or vague curiosity, he might initially be shocked, find it amusing, and be surprisingly interested in the idea of introducing you to something, jokingly offer to get you stuff, though he genuinely would if you just straight up asked him to do so.

i think he’d find it interesting / somewhat exciting to see your first-time reactions to things and would find himself enjoying it more than he expected to somewhere along the way, though i don’t think he’d force it on you. if you wanted to stop, he would be cool with that and drop it immediately. it doesn't matter to him whether or not you do drugs or are on the same page as him. he's doing his thing, and you're doing yours. he wouldn't mind and would be just as open to it if you were to ask him about it again later down the line, though.

if you asked him to give you something and lead you through it, i think he’d derive some sort of enjoyment from knowing a lot about something that you don’t, being your sole source of information on the topic, and knowing he's the first and only person that you experience those types of things with.

i could see him being an obnoxious ass trip-sitter just because he thinks it's funny / even getting some sort of ego because of it.

eg. if you start off with weed, he’s laughing at you for coughing, not knowing how to inhale right, and/or making a stupid, exaggerated face when you exhale. when you overestimate your tolerance and get high as fuck, he’s purposefully putting stupid shit on the tv to gauge your reaction (maybe some dumb children’s cartoon or compilation of idk. plants growing timelapse), laughing at you when you're super focused on it (not mean, just teasing / amused), and maybe he takes a few selfies with you to tease you about it later. he would smoke with you, too, but purposefully stays mostly sober so he can take care of you. also, his tolerance is naturally way higher than yours, and i think he'd find it funny if you got high extremely quick.

he says shit like "oh, i invited your entire family and also a hundred of your friends over to the apartment, and they're outside right now. i hope you don't mind" just to get a funny reaction out of you.

he's not entirely mean, though, and despite having his fun, he still wanted to make sure that your experience was good and comfortable from the get-go. he thought ahead and set out snacks and drinks for when you inevitably got the munchies / dry mouth. he has a line up of funny things to watch and a blanket set out to make sure that you're fine. he doesn't leave you alone. even though it's just weed, he doesn't want to scare you.

he feels good and pats himself on the back for taking care of you. he probably enjoys knowing that in that moment, you're completely depending on him and looking at him like he has all the knowledge in the world. he deeply enjoys the fact that you trust him enough to rely on him and trust that you'll come out of the experience okay, because he's there.

nowww, getting on to other drugs outside of weed, i could see him being more serious about it and wanting to make sure that you're okay. he's open and more than happy to provide you with the things you're showing interest in. sharing his knowledge that's completely foreign and new to you and bringing you into 'his world' is satisfying for him, but once it starts to get a little more dodgy / serious, he's very firm on asking you if you're sure and asks a lot more questions. "what are you feeling?" "what do you see?" "do you need water?" "tell me what's going on." etc. he doesn't completely coddle you, but he's not going to leave you alone, either.

also, i was obsessed with breaking bad in middle school LMAO, so it's leaking into this post... sometimes when i think about nam-gyu, i can't help but think about jessie pinkman. there's a particular scene in the show where jessie's gf, jane, introduces him to heroin for the first time, and i think i could see nam-gyu being like jane in this particular scene, with jessie being his s/o that he's introducing shit to.

over time, if you continued to express clear, enthusiastic interest and prove to him that you could handle it, i think that's when he'd finally let himself relax and do drugs with you, rather than staying sober to monitor you. i think he'd grow accustomed to doing things with you, almost falling into a routine or having it be "your thing." he'd sneak things from work that other people gave to him or things that he was supposed to be giving to VIPs and bring it home to share with you. he'd find that getting high with you specifically was more fun for him than when he did it with others.

ending it off with something somewhat lighthearted: after a while, nam-gyu realizes that he's actually kind of excited to have a long-term buddy to get high with. he would start suggesting that the two of you smoke a joint and then go to the aquarium, art gallery, the zoo, etc. if he got something new, he wouldn't let himself try it and wait until he got home to be with you.

tldr; i don't think he'd shield you, but he wouldn't be super open about it either if you didn't ask or push him to talk about it. if you asked him to introduce you to it, he'd find himself oddly excited by the idea. he'd do it but would make sure to keep you comfortable and ask you over and over if you were sure once you got to the more serious shit. he wouldn't push it, either, in the case that you wanted to stop or were uncertain.

[youryurigoddess]

Books and crumbs

Probably most speculative post in this little series, but nonetheless marked as spoiler. As always when talking about S3 locations and related content, appropriate level of discretion is advisable — due to the obvious sensitivity of this material, please tag it accordingly and share only with the fans consenting to know potential spoilers.

By now most of you probably have seen this post published on the Till’s social media on Friday. Super cute gesture and a lovely way to let the fans know that even the staff is shipping Aziraphale and Crowley (told you they have Muriel vibes!).

Technically the bookshop wasn’t the only off-set location, since we already know of some others, including the parallel film shoot happening on the same day, but still! Do you think that this display could be a Clue? Are we going to see a sword-fighting angel again? Let’s see if the books here (neither is currently listed on their website and wasn’t there at the time of the filming) might feed us some information crumbs.

The first thing I can notice about this display is an open copy of The Pilgrim’s Progress (already noticed on Aziraphale’s desk in the Good Omens: Lockdown special) open on yet another illustration by Harold Copping, this time titled ominously “In the Valley of the Shadow of Death” with a quote: “So he cried in my bearing, o Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul”.

This fragment of the actual book could be potentially relevant to the plot:

“At the day of doom we shall not be doomed to death or life, according to the hectoring spirits of the world, but according to the wisdom and law of the Highest. Therefore, thought I, what God says is best, is best, though all the men in the world are against it”‬.

The book behind The Pilgrim’s Progress can’t be identified at the moment, but reminds me of the illustration of the War in Heaven for Milton’s Paradise Lost by Gustave Doré:

What can be easily identified here is a leather-bound copy of Angel Pavement, a 1930 novel by J. B. Priestley depicting the struggles of shopkeepers and traders of an imaginary London street in the wake of the Great Depression, additionally stirred up by a mysterious and charming newcomer.

Priestley’s social panorama of London depicts many perspectives, but focuses on the employees of the firm Twigg & Dersingham, suppliers of veneers and inlays to the cabinet-making trade, under No. 8, Angel Pavement (a small cul-de-sac in the heart of London’s commercial district). Interestingly, both BBC adaptations of the novel — a 1957 and a 1967 TV series — are considered completely lost.

The red spine is the only one I recognised from my visits to the bookshop in question — a leather bound copy of Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens. The 1848 novel tells a story of a wealthy shipping firm owner coming to terms with the death of the son he dreamt of continuing his business with and eventually embracing his daughter’s love when it seemed lost as well after years and years of neglect.

His boy had faded into dust, his proud wife had sunk into a polluted creature, his flatterer and friend had been transformed into the worst of villains, his riches had melted away, the very walls that sheltered him looked on him as a stranger; she alone had turned the same mild gentle look upon him always. Yes, to the latest and the last. She had never changed to him – nor had he ever changed to her – and she was lost.

The daughter eventually returns to reunite with her father after starting a family of her own, and years later the changed and aged merchant dotes on his granddaughter as if to make up for what he’s done to her mother by abandoning her due to patriarchal values.

Father figures and their sons or, in particular, daughters seem already pretty significant in the S2 context, as described in e.g., On Love and Sacrifices and Dysfunctional Family Dynamics, but they hit particularly close to the potential S3 themes in relation to both Aziraphale’s changing position in Heaven (and in Metatron’s eyes) and Jesus and his role in the Second Coming and the Last Judgement.

The big open book at the bottom is a first edition of Heroes of Folk Tale and Legend by Vladimir Hulpach (1970). Illustration by Miroslav Troup represents the monster Grendel, known from the Old English epic poem Beowulf in which he was slayed by the titular hero.

Grendel’s sudden appearance at the royal banqueting hall described on this spread is similar to the demonic attack on Aziraphale’s bookshop at the end of S2, but can also be seen as a foreshadowing of yet another danger to come and/or the beast from Revelations, the Antichrist.

He even looks similar to the engraving Anathema had hanged on her murder board, don’t you think?

[thezombieprostitute]

"I wanna do this with you."

But make it about a couple talking about murder.

Thank you for your patience, Anon! It took me way too long to figure out the right couple for this.

Summary: Someone tries to use you to get leverage over Lloyd.

Warnings: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Violence. Please let me know if I missed any!

A/N: Reader is female. No other physical descriptors used.

Series Masterlist

Lloyd had warned you when you first met that he had enemies. The kind of enemies that might throw a bag over your head and kidnap you. He'd praised you for not being the type to cry and panic. But that was before you'd gotten pregnant. You're no longer worried about just yourself but also baby Liam, due to arrive in less than 8 weeks. You're supposed to be keeping your blood pressure down so as not to risk triggering an early labor.

Easier said than done, given the circumstances.

It was supposed to be a simple walk around the block. Lloyd had security guards on almost every corner to keep you safe and you desperately needed to get out of the house for a bit. Next thing you know, you're reliving your first meeting with Lloyd by getting a bag thrown over your head and getting tossed into a van. And they were not gentle about it.

The tears are flowing but they seem to be helping you keep relatively calm. They don't have you tied up at least, clearly not deeming you to be a threat. For the most part they're right. Lloyd's made sure you've learned some self-defense maneuvers, but they're no help in this. As much as you want to work out details, listen for clues, all of your energy is focused on staying calm.

Your kidnappers finally take you out of the van. You have no idea where they're taking you. All you can focus on is walking without tripping. Liam isn't really helping in this case, he's definitely going to be a heavy baby. They let you go and you hear what sounds like a cell door closing.

"You can take off the bag now," one of your kidnappers says.

You're quick to comply, hating being kept in the dark. Sure enough, you're in, what looks like, a holding cell, bars on three sides with one brick wall. There's a small cot against the wall that you know is going to do nothing for your back but you really do need to sit.

As you do so, a kidnapper talks into a radio, "we've got her secured."

Gathering up your courage you ask, "so what's the plan here? Is there an itinerary? A meal-plan? Any ideas how long I'll be here for?"

"If Hansen complies, you'll be out of here in just a few hours."

Nodding you mentally kick yourself for giving in to the urge to go out. You should've just used the treadmill Lloyd got specifically for you! But no, you just had to go outside for the fresh air. Then again, Lloyd had told you time and time again how secure he made sure the neighborhood was. Does that mean someone betrayed him? Let you be put at risk? You hope Lloyd finds whoever it was and cuts their balls off for putting you and Liam in danger.

"Can I get some water?"

A plastic bottle of water is rolled into your cell. As grateful as you are to not have to walk to get it, it's still a struggle to bend down to pick it up. Your anger rises as you hear a couple of the guards chuckling at your attempts. But you finally get the bottle and catch your breath before you drink.

These assholes might not see it, but you know they're doomed. And soon Lloyd would be breaking down the doors and killing them all. Your soulmate was ruthless. A man who'd kidnapped you and trapped you instead of just asking you out and showing your matching soulmate tattoos. A man who'd figured out all the best ways to get under your skin but also enjoyed letting you do the same to him. A man who'd let himself soften towards you, especially after your pregnancy was discovered, but who still regularly tortured people for information.

You smile softly. Yeah, these guys were all dead. They just didn't know it yet.

Before you've even finished the bottle of water, you hear loud, urgent radio chatter with guns in the background. Rubbing your belly you whisper to your baby, "daddy's here!"

Supposedly there's only one way into this area and all of your guards have their guns aimed at it. You cover your eyes, pretending to be scared but it's because you know what's about to happen. Lloyd's no idiot.

You hear the door open and the bullets go flying, but you also hear the clattering of a flash-bang on the floor. Lloyd told you it's one of the easiest tricks. Shooters always expect someone to be standing when the door opens, so if you crouch, you have a few seconds to do something before they adjust their aim. The flash-bang assures however many people are guarding you, they'll be incapacitated long enough for him to take them out.

"You okay, Pumpkin?" Lloyd's voice is a welcome sound and you uncover your eyes and smile at him as he figures out the door lock.

"So much better now, honey," you confess. "Did you find the asshole traitor?"

"Not yet," he says casually as he finally throws open the door. "But when I do, I'll make sure he gets made an example of."

You throw your arms around his neck and bring him in for a kiss. "I wanna do it with you."

Most people would be thrown off by your want to inflict violence on someone, but Lloyd gives you his cheshire cat grin and growls, "god I love you so much."

"I love you too. Now let's get out of here. Liam is hungry."

"Sure thing, sugar tits."

Series Masterlist

Tagging: @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @irishhappiness; @kmc1989; @lokislady82; @ronearoundblindly; @thiquefunlover63

[raincoatpng]

nobody asked but here is my take on Yona because I need to get it out somehow.

This is a pro-Yona rant from a sidlink fan, addressed to people who enjoy media analysis. Because I don't think it's necessary to pretend a whole character doesn't exist in order to enjoy a ship, if you can learn to look deeper. I am not claiming to know the universal truth, this is just my opinion and my read on things.

I don't want to spend too much time on this first point, but a lot of people seem to be of the opinion that Yona's existence in Tears of the Kingdom was a ploy from Nintendo to bury sidlink. I personally don't think that's the case, firstly because I think it's overestimating the reach of sidlink to assume that Big Nintendo would care to go out of their way to sink the ship, and secondly, a lot of things just do not make sense if that indeed was their intention.

Now, I can't claim to know what every writer and game dev involved in TOTK was thinking, but from a purely logical standpoint, why would they include so many gay ass scenes if their intention was to destroy the ship? I'm thinking first and foremost about the scene where Sidon gets on one knee and gives Link a ring as "proof of his vow." There's just no way that not a single person in the writers room saw the implication there, let's be honest. Why on earth would they put this scene in there if they cared at all about killing off sidlink? It's like using oil to put out a fire. Like I said, it simply makes no sense.

Onto the topic of Yona herself, and the reason I'm posting this in the first place, I don't think I'm the only one who noticed the lack of chemistry between her and Sidon. We know the TOTK writers were capable of writing good chemistry because they did it with Rauru and Sonia, and through just a couple cutscenes at that. So I don't think it's a coincidence that Sidon and Yona don't have that between them.

If you've not read the new zora stone tablets written by Sidon scattered around Lanayru, there is one where Sidon describes how he had once seen Yona as a sister and how he admired her just as he did Mipha. Yes, granted, it is written in the past tense, but why on earth would they include this in the first place? why not say they were merely childhood friends, why precise that they viewed each other as siblings (or that Sidon did at least)? As for the part where he says his feelings have grown harder to describe with time, that is such a vague line it could literally be interpreted any way you like. I have no clue if this is unique to the english translation, so if anybody reads japanese and has read the tablets, please let me know if this was originally intended.

Regardless, Sidon also mentions that Dorephan informed him that Yona would be his bride, implying in no uncertain terms that this was an arranged marriage. The lack of agency in this relationship doesn't exactly scream romance, now, does it?

LASTLY!! the most significant on screen interaction between Sidon and Yona by far is the scene where Yona scolds him (rather sisterly behaviour I might add) for refusing to go to the Water Temple with Link and let her help with the sludge. She accuses him of projecting his grief over losing Mipha onto her and letting himself be paralysed with the fear of losing a loved one again. Similarly, the most significant interaction Yona has with Link is when she fixes his Zora armour up for him – the very armour that Mipha had made for him. I'm gonna say this straight up, it is odd how much the game directs our attention to the parallel between Sidon's supposed love interest and his sister. That is, unless, there is in fact no romance between him and Yona.

So. Rather than writing off Yona entirely as many people are quick to do, I invite you to think deeper on her role in the game. Yes she's very underdeveloped as Sidon's love interest, but ask yourself if that even is the most interesting way to view her. I know a lot of people don't care to think about sibling relationships, even less so chosen family, but for those of you who do, I'm asking you to try to revisit Yona and Sidon's relationship in that light.

Consider the tragedy of losing one sister to war and another to politics, of growing apart from someone you considered family and be robbed of the opportunity to rekindle that bond because you are now betrothed to them. Imagine suddenly being nobody's brother, nobody's sister.

Even if that interpretation isn't as compelling to you as it is to me, at the very least, I'm tired of seeing unwarranted hate for a character that is nothing but helpful and kind. You are perfectly allowed to like or dislike any character, you are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to misogyny. If your only reason for hating a female character is that she "gets in the way" of a ship, you are being sexist. Full stop.

[lunammoon]

What type of plant would Harding gift your Rook? Probably something that they can put in food. Like Basil or Rosemary. Just not mint because they already have Too Much in a way that anyone who has planted mint will understand. Harding still tries to give them mint. Again, for reasons anyone who has grown mint can understand.

Do they like Harding's cooking? Harding's Yam and Jam slams are not that bad, but Harding gets bonus points for the thoughtfulness of the gesture more than anything. During the first couple of months where Ezra is legitimately trying to figure out how to separate Lucanis and Spite after the first attempt, but before the second and last attempt (because if anyone could do it without hurting either of them they're sure that they could) in trying to express how fucked up what Zara did to them was on a purely metaphysical level says calls the Ossuary experiments "Facinating in the same way that what Harding does to potatoes is fascinating. "

What animal/monster would Davrin carve for your Rook? I'm torn between some kind of cat, and some kind of dog. If it's a dog, then it's specifically a grim.

Does your Rook like the walks in Arlathan with Davrin? Ezra loves the fresh air and the sunshine and the way Arlathan feels alive. They also enjoy spending time with Davrin and Assan. Sometimes they'll invite him out instead of waiting for him to invite them.

What is something Neve could call on your Rook for if she needs certain expertise for a case? Things related to spirits but unrelated to the deceased. Particularly blood magic, which is used to bind spirits to objects. In like, an au where Ezra is Ezra and not Rook, and Neve was hired by Caterina to locate her grandson (maybe in a timeline where the Inquisitor and Varric successfully talk Solas down long before the 9:51) and she had picked up enough info to know what was happening down there, she would have asked Ezra to assist.

Does your Rook share Neve's love of fried fish? No. While fish is the only meat they eat and they basically only eat if if they're out in the wilderness and it's the easiest food to access. They tried it once since they'd already been given to them by Neve and didn't particularly like them.

Does your Rook join Bellara in her technical talks about the Fade and various artifacts or are they more content to listen? They might join in if it intersects with something that they know about. Or if they're helping Bellara work out an issue. Otherwise, they just sit and listen. They like to listen to Bellara work through a problem.

Do your Rook and Bellara read serials together? Yes. Ezra goes out of their way to find good ones for them to read with, as many containing happy endings as they can.

What is your Rook's favorite dish that Lucanis cooks? I don't know what the exact dish is, but it's either some kind of stew or some kind of pastry stuffed with vegetables.

What would Lucanis buy for your Rook at the Grande Market? An empty notebook small enough to fit in their coat pockets. They end up filling it entirely with information pertaining to helping him and Spite. It's a coincidence that it's the notebook Lucanis gave them mind you. They just need a separate notebook for it since the plan is that when they're done they give the notebook to Lucanis to either keep or burn instead of submitting the contents to the Mourn Watch as part of their research like they normally do.They don't want Lucanis to feel like a thesis project.

What dragon would Taash think your Rook would like the best? The Vinsomer. They are correct.

Do they bring your Rook 'round the Hall of Valor to drink often? Yes absolutely. Ezra doesn't drink much, but Spirits like them and so they'll sit and talk with them for a while.

Would your Rook like Emmrich's mother's hazelnut torte? They adore it.

What kind of tea would Emmrich make for your Rook? If Ezra is making themself tea, it's always mint. But I feel in my heart that if Emmrich is making it, then the answer is a strong black tea. Something so strong that they can taste it and nothing else.

Bonus: What is one thing a companion does to cheer up your Rook if they're feeling down? Davrin - When Ezra is reaching a point where it seems like they're going to lose it, Davrin will come up with some excuse why the three of them (Davrin, Rook, Assan) need to go to Arlathan forest so that they can Touch Grass.

Small Rook & Companion Questions:

What type of plant would Harding gift your Rook?

Do they like Harding's cooking?

What animal/monster would Davrin carve for your Rook?

Does your Rook like the walks in Arlathan with Davrin?

What is something Neve could call on your Rook for if she needs certain expertise for a case?

Does your Rook share Neve's love of fried fish?

Does your Rook join Bellara in her technical talks about the Fade and various artifacts or are they more content to listen?

Do your Rook and Bellara read serials together?

What is your Rook's favorite dish that Lucanis cooks?

What would Lucanis buy for your Rook at the Grande Market?

What dragon would Taash think your Rook would like the best?

Do they bring your Rook 'round the Hall of Valor to drink often?

Would your Rook like Emmrich's mother's hazelnut torte?

What kind of tea would Emmrich make for your Rook?

Bonus: What is one thing a companion does to cheer up your Rook if they're feeling down?