#dai: remove the mask

[danceswithdarkspawn]

Remove the Mask for the ask game!

(Please be Leliana and Ariel!)

Hi Salty! Thanks for the ask! 💕

I hate to burst your bubble like this, but this does not include Ariel, my beloved. In fact, this fic doesn't happen within the same continuity, so Ariel doesn't exist in this universe.

It does have Leliana in it, however, and is actually related to a fic you've already read, Two of Swords. Fun fact, this fic was originally titled 'Bitch Moves and Ballrooms' before being given its current name.

I've talked about this fic a bit before, but the rundown is that, basically, the Inquisition attends a masquerade ball after learning of an assassination plot. All of the Inquisition's top people, including Leliana, are in attendance. While Inquisitor Trevelyan goes off in search of clues for the would-be assassin, Leliana has a confrontation with a shadow from her past. More specifically, the man who tried to kill her ~11 years ago (who happens to be a Prince-Consort of a major Thedosian power) has come to confront her.

They have a bit of a go at each other while on the ballroom floor, with the Prince letting it slip that he knows about a sexual relationship between her and the Inquisitor. Eventually, they make their way from prying eyes, and after some conflict, The Prince-Consort is...unalived. Leliana figures out that, after taking off his mask, he hadn't come there to kill her. Rather, he came to the ball for her to kill him. Without getting into much detail, he was dying and probably only had a few weeks to months at most to live.

Here's a small part I haven't shared yet:

She bowed at the end of her walk, as was expected before Empress Celene's presence. It was a gesture returned in half, though not out of malice. Celene's elaborate ball gown partially inhibited the movement, crippled further by the Orlesian Lion sigil secured at her back. The rich blue hue of the gown matched perfectly with the accents of the Winter Palace, its drapes, its rugs, and even the grand doors sharing this color.

It was fitting, Leliana thought as she righted herself, how it made the Empress little more than just another part of the decor.

"We are honored to have you in our presence once more, Sister Nightingale." Celene made an almost imperceptible gesture with one hand; practiced and for show. 

"Thank you, Your Grace, though I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Thedas lost a beacon to unspeakable evil. Halamshiral still mourns Divine Justinia's death."

"As do we all."

[syn4k]

to be, or not to be (romanticization of the inevitable)

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

In another universe Christine and Erik skipped town and they live happily together raising Gustave...

[nugatorysheep]

Ş̸̻͕̺́̚Ṕ̵̛̪̃Ȩ̷̳̫̿̾Ã̶̞̺̇͐͘K̷͈̿̎̇.

This damn comic is fucking A N C I E N T but as far as like, the content of it- not necessarily the art because I always hate my older art, but the presentation, what is objectively here- still feels right to me, so I'm sharing it. again

[hplonesomeart]

We did it folks graduation achievement unlocked >:D

[iamthepulta]

I have half of chapter 32, but the next half just isn't coming. I think it has more to do with not having the time or space to breathe and work than not having the inspiration, but I'm frustrated.

My advisor just mentioned another abstract and another conference. I have a review essay due on that paper I mentioned where I'd like to blow up some of their talking points; I have a presentation in a few months, which is nice, except I haven't done any of the natural mineral research to back up my conclusions. And I still haven't touched my historical work.

In the meantime I'm answering mundane start-of-the-semester logistic questions and pestering people for natural samples. I was supposed to contact this guy to plan an event but ghosted him on accident and now it's too late so I feel guilty about that. I have to send a professor a news article link with questions because I don't know anything about Nickel Laterite leaching but I'm curious. I have to make a list to get the samples from storage because they're not my samples, and ask the professor if I can chip bits out of them.

[thedailyvio]

Day 264

[piplupod]

really wish people would be kinder about preventative measures. i am tired of being treated like I am paranoid for wearing a mask, for wearing tick repellent when hiking, even for simple shit like wearing sunscreen ??? 😭😭😭 can people just be like... chill about other ppls choices. esp if theyre preventative measures that will keep you and your body safe from shit that makes ur life worse? just be cool idk goddamn :[

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

The ADHD experience is forgetting where you set you cup down five minutes ago, but being able to pick up where you end off in a conversation you had 10 years ago. It's remembering the fine details of a book but forgetting who gave it to you, or if you bought it yourself. It's remembering a thing your best friend mentioned an interest in, but forgetting their birthday even though you've been best friends for 10+ years.

When we are bored, we become the equivalent of a husky in a cubicle. When the boredom gets bad, we break down, crying, and fall into a deep depression.

It's randomly getting the intense and overwhelming craving for a bowl of plain rice or a slice of bread with a little butter on it, and craving nothing else. Just this dose of carbs that brings absolute satisfaction.

It's fighting to convince your body to move and acquire food and water, but you remain trapped on the sofa, your brain and body will not move even though you haven't eaten or had anything to drink in 12 hours. You need to use the bathroom, your bladder is raging, and the only thing that finally gets your brain to behave is the pain.

ADHD isn't just some cute thing of being distracted with a case of the zoomies. It's a nightmare that results in losing jobs, poor eating habits, insomnia so bad you're awake for three days and fall asleep only because you're exhausted, and your home is filthy even though you desperately want to clean it up. There's nothing enjoyable about this fuckery.

[johndonneswife]

i wish i could enjoy his thicc ass in those purple pants but purple pants bring up traumatic memories for me 💔

[danceswithdarkspawn]

WIP Wednesday

bouncing back and forth today between The Queen of Swords and RTM. political intrigue is hard.

Leliana watched the people watching the Inquisitor as she made her way down the floor. Various marquis and lords, dithering ladies cooling themselves with dove feather fans. A sea of false frozen faces, pressed vests, and revealing necklines watching the oddity that walked with rehearsed steps towards their doomed-to-die Empress.

Everything was too much.  The grandeur of it all made her teeth ache.

The lights were too bright. The heat was too stifling. The string quartet sounded like dying darkspawn, regardless of the melody it played. Innumerable voices speaking in hushed whispers, low like the thrum of insects, grated against the inside of her skull. 

The almost-militaristic uniform felt stiff despite the fabric otherwise being rich. Josephine had insisted the Inquisition attend the Winter Palace in attire that ‘denoted their status as an organization, but remained formal enough for the occasion.’ 

It was a shame, Leliana thought sourly, to be so confined in a place like this, where formal attire spoke more than words could.

And yet she couldn’t disagree with dear Josephine for practicality’s sake; she was right, as she was usually when it came to more intricate court affairs. After all, why hide behind a physical mask when everyone in Halamshiral already knew who lay in wait behind it? Why not flaunt the Inquisition’s power, its status?

Not that one of those garish porcelain masks would have helped her any; everyone knew who she was. The only mask Leliana could hide behind was her own, and that was slipping as of late.

Eons passed since she was last here, but she despised this place a little more each time she stepped across its threshold.

Too many eyes as she made her way out of the vestibule and into the ballroom, as she descended the stairs to the floor to join her fellow advisors, awaiting announcement to the court. Leliana offered Cullen a curt smile as she took her place between him and Josephine. She quietly scrutinized the way he fumbled with the sash around his coat, but at the same time reached up to tug at the silk cravat that hid the evidence of her betrayal.

Inquisitor Trevelyan descended the stairs opposite the ones Leliana had, having been the first to be announced to the court. She, too, wore the same attire as the rest of the Inquisition, save for House Trevelyan’s crest which was stitched into a pocket just below the collar. Josephine had fussed over the young leader’s unruly pale hair, finally straightening and securing it in a typical Orlesian braid. It wasn’t the most elaborate thing, requiring some practicality should the Inquisitor undoubtedly find herself amid conflict over the night’s affairs. Then again, elaborate was never a word that described Inquisitor Elisabeth Trevelyan.

It was a blessing that Elisabeth was accustomed to some courtly intrigue, though Ostwick’s breed of courtly affairs paled in comparison to that of the grand Orlesian Game. Long hours were spent within the Ambassador’s office back at Skyhold, holding lessons in diction, etiquette, dancing—anything that could help acclimate her to such an event. She took to it like waterfowl, but she was a gosling on a lake full of swans.

Leliana watched the people watching the Inquisitor as she made her way down the floor. Various marquis and lords, dithering ladies cooling themselves with dove feather fans. A sea of false frozen faces, pressed vests, and revealing necklines watching the oddity that walked with rehearsed steps towards their doomed-to-die Empress.  

It could be any of them, Leliana thought. A grand masquerade, held under the auspices of a peace talk? Every bard in Orlais should be here. The Nightingale would have been shocked if a representative of the Antivan Crows were not in attendance.

This was going to be a long, irritating night.

[sbnkalny]

What's a good, cute pet name to appear behind him, situated on a horse. however, the figure removes its mask, revealing itself to be "Evil SPIRIT from Beyond: Phantom Ganon". it rides its horse in and out but for you!

[itachikun]

i HATE HATE HATE facial recognition as a 2FA. send me a code via email. TEXT ME. do NOT ask for my face

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

one last thing like pretty please can i NOT overheat when i’m talking to someone who has a career that i potentially want to have like please. please. can i PLEASE not turn into a beet. can i PLEASE be normal for once. this happens way too often to be good

[dirt-str1der]

Whatever kiryu does to you might not always be the best or even safest option but he will always do it with a lot of love in his eyes so you have to forgive him

[noxtivagus]

HFSJFKSJS HERMES FINAL FANTASY 😭😭 i think of him so much it's unreal