#elven buddies for the win

[kiivg]

Goddard was in his 70s at the beginning of Inquisition. Is he still around and if he is, do you think he’s involving himself with Solas and his world-ending shenanigans?

.Tf u mean IF?????? ☹️ BioWare did me dirty making the game 10 years into the future.

.I’m kidding ofc he’s around!! I literally made my HoF immortal because I cannot face any of my OCs dying 🙏 tbh I don’t actually know what year DAV is set in because I’ve seen people saying 9:51 and 9:53 so 🤷‍♂️ Goddard was born in 8:70 so he’s in his eighties at least.

.So initially I was like HELL YEAH Goddard Returns!!!!! And then it’s very clear that (as I SAID) the game was basically shoehorning you into being best buddies with Solas regardless of choice and I can tell you that a) Goddard doesn’t have a clue who Solas is and b) he would absolutely kill him on sight if he was presented with a “this guy is trying to end the world” scenario. Anyway, more below 💋.

.Edit!!! Also!!!! Solas stole his fucking wedding ring!!! What the fuck!!!!! He’d beat the shit outta him!!!!!.

.A bit on Goddard’s back story; since he was away so much with the Orlesian Army and then the Fereldan Army he missed out on a lot of his kids’ childhoods, (there’s also a disconnect between him and Fulton II re: Goddard’s own relationship with his father, and then the filicide of Wakefield, and the bastard Lei appearing), and whilst he has repaired the relationships with them he still very much regrets prioritising war over his family even though he was basically taught this from childhood. Goddard was raised to be a tyrant and warmonger, he was made for fighting in wars and winning them. However! He now has the chance to get to spend time with him family, since the Inquisition is over, he handed his army to the Divine, he’s made reparations to the Baroulx family, and he’s absolute besties with Emperor Gaspard.

.Since the end of Inquisition, he’s been retired, he has ten grandchildren and nine great grandchildren, he went back to ruling his bannorn for a few years, then passed it over to Twyla (his eldest child), and decided he’d rather just do whatever the hell he wants now. He still fights, sparring and what not to keep in shape, he might be old but he’s not going to just crumple into dust!! Also considering I have Goddard II (Twyla’s Grandson/Gylda’s First Born) bethrothed to Gaspard’s daughter Lienne. (they are however children atm), he’s spending a lot of time in Orlais.

.I do think he gets roped back into things when he’s in Orlais. I think Hawke is the first one to realise shit is going down, and since he’s friendly with both Andrastopher (HoF) and Goddard, he kind of gathers them in preparation for something to happen (Varric’s letters grow increasingly worrying). Which means they’re all in Orlais together when shit hits the fan. Also there, is Lei (Goddard’s bastard son and Andrastopher’s Warden Second), and he is tasked with seeing how things are going in the north after Morrigan turns up for aid; after all Lei is a Grey Warden, half-Dalish, and son of the Herald of Andraste. He’s also a pretty good guy and overall trustworthy etc etc. a HUNK lbh.

.(On a side note, I’m 90% sure the Crossroads are like really exhausting to traverse for anyone who isn’t an elf so idk how anyone non-elven is chilling there??? But that’s another factor in Lei going. I’m not reading TME again just to check, but… I should…. For Gaspard 🥴🫶).

.So Goddard just liaises with his son throughout the whole thing, and trusts him entirely to do the right thing. He’s busy fighting for Gaspard, corralling the old Inquisition back together to aid Orlais knowing that Andrastopher is pulling together Ferelden’s armies at the same time. Hawke on the other hand absolutely legs it to Starkhaven to be with Sebastian (oh HC that this is why Starkhaven has the best survival in the Free Marches; Hawke forewarned them) even though their relationship is hush hush 🤫.

.I think Goddard would desperately want to return to Ostwick to be with his family during Veilguard but Twyla has a hand on things and he trusts her implicitly. Also he would look like a mad coward if he left lmao, can you imagine?? Herald of Andraste fleeing home when things get bad????.

.I do like the idea of all four of them getting together post Veilguard, because a) Andrastopher has slept with both Farid (Rook) and Doherty Hawke, b) Doherty would absolutely be mad at Farid for that thing that happens, c) Farid would be mad at Goddard for working with Solas in the first place, d) Goddard and Andrastopher already have beef over their sons anyway, like?? Hello smth is gonna happen with these four guys lbh.

.I do want to say originally Farid was going to be Goddard’s son, as he did have a liaison with a woman at some point before having children with Yetta (his wife) but it would make Farid too old so 🤷‍♂️ then I thought woag what if he was Gaspard’s bastard, and then I couldn’t because it would be borderline ??? Because Farid’s half brother Jean-Esmeral would be sleeping with Gaspard without knowing that their mother had also slept with him several times decades prior and had baby Farid together 😬🙂‍↔�� no thanku.

.The main thing is they’re all safe and sound 🙏 and even if I do love the idea of a last stand in Amaranthine/Starkhaven/Orlais, broken the moment Farid does his thing with the Veilguard ykno ykno, they’re still all safe 🙂‍↕️🫶💕.

[fuumiku]

Day 2 : Role Swap

Ok I have thoughts for this one bear with me. He’s a mage with a half-foot guild still but his activism is especially targeted towards half-foot mages specifically since they’re rare and so looked down upon (and the two are correlated).

Marcille scouts out places all Tomb Raiser style for lost treasures and knowledge, keeps maps and written info etc in her book. She’s still much of a scholar but more in an archeologist sense, she wants to discover the truth of dungeons and see if it could revolutionize the world. She’s a buildings and engineering nerd instead of magic nerd. She hypes herself up as a passionate cool rogue adventurer like in books✨ Chil thinks it’s a silly and unstable profession. All her um, grace and agility when doing headstands and dancing are coming through with this new role of hers.

Chil does need to borrow mana and so they hold hands a lot. I am so taking advantage of the mana transfer thing. "I’m out of mana, you’re an elf and you never use magic, give some to me! You have so much, don’t be selfish!!" -inparty fight breaks out as he chases after her and she runs away- I imagine that’s just kinda how he and half-foot mages roll? Dunmeshi-typical worldbuilding monologue that explains how "Most people don’t even use their mana, they don’t even learn magic. If you give me your mana I’ll be able to do more magic, win-win, no harm done." I imagine you have to be magic-savvy to be able to transfer mana to someone but it’s fine he can just steal it methinks 🌟 So he gets to be the one who’s very casual about physical touch. He does NOT want to be a healer it stresses him out but ah shit there Falin goes.

More AU details under cut

You’ve heard of onion knight now get ready for onion mage Y’know the saddest part of mage Chilchuck is that he wouldn’t use explosion spells

You know how Marcille uses her staff to grab people by the neck or head sometimes… Chilchuck would have a free choking stick he can use to make people listen to him. He can REACH THEIR NECKS. It doubles as a walking stick for his old man back… /j And a weapon, sort of. I think staff more than lance, but long weapons like that suit him I think. Holding the monster at bay with a 4 feet long stick like "Stay BACK!! Go for my party members shoo shoo!!!!"

From my observations, staffs for magic all have a ‘hole’ at one end, oh size, shape, material and form varying. For example both Marcille and Rin have a similar hoop, but Falin’s is a lantern which imo the metal frame of it and the glass form this hole I’m speaking of. Maybe it’s like, the staff condenses the magic inside the hole and helps channel it and give it form? What I’m saying here is I didn’t decide what it was made out of but I like to think it’s carved wood so it can be homemade but unique to him.

Marcille and Chil both fight in battles, but he stays where it’s safer and does long distance spells only. Marcile uses daggers probably… But yeah her role’s more being a scout rather than a fighter, while Chil’s role is being a magical fighter and his expertise on magical creatures and such.

I think he’d be self-taught, where it’s his own magic system… I think he likes theory more than vibes and working at the whims of creatures, so maybe elven with an half-foot script? He doesn’t seem like the type to get buddy-buddy with spirits much A bit like his cowl it’s like he always has a part of home with him a bit with his half-foot magic… He’d have sucked at the beginning, it’s pretty experimental magic, but he made it work and tbh he’s a Big Deal for it. Learning on the field ofc ofc he’s no honor student

I think the racial prejudices tension would be worse, because he’d be nervous of the whole ‘half-foots who get too curious about dark magic get taken away’, and I think as a half-elf who doesn’t do magic it might be uncomfortable for her to deal with how the half-foot is better at it than her and how her mana would have had better use with him instead of her? Idk brainstorming. I def think she’d habe more of a complex about being a half-elf… Still with existential dread and still Hopes to find a cure to death, but she goes about it through artefacts etc rather than magic. I’m unsure how her career would turn out that wqy exactly because job stability and academia are important to her, but yeah I think she went to school on an agricultural and history level and focused her research on that front? And then she could become that adventurer scholar who explores to pierce secrets of the world and ancient civilizations trope yeah I think that’s the angle.

Maybe his plans for the future after quitting being a dungeon diver would be teacher/mentor instead of shopkeeper 🤔 One one hand oh god have mercy on his blood pressure, on the other he likes contributing to his community and would want to encourage half-foot mages and pass down his knowledge and expertise I think. Empty nest syndrome where…- OHHH mage Meijack……. I was thinking becayse Meijack followed in his footsteps in canon but it could suit Puckpatti and Flertom too… Their dad would have shown them some magic tricks hehe. They can be a magical girl trio in my heart, Powerpuff Girls energy…

A rogue has gotta be able to make intricate af braids and updos with their fingers (ignore how in canon Chil is just barely decent at them nvm). I was thinking maybe one of Marcille’s lockpicks is Ambrosia-shaped… Or maybe it’s an hairpin. Maybe she keeps her lockpicks as pins in her hair but they’re easy to grab… Getting more gimmicky by the second but my heart yearns for it I cannot lie. I ended up doing something close to canon for Marcille’s outfits but at first I imagined she’d wear stuff more akin elven fashion, short dress with pants, light material, though also with a leather armor breastblate. She has long gloves like the ones that look fancy, maybe even up her upper arm rather than just forearm ooh… Also her little pouch, which actually contains stuff this time around (lockpicks). They still have matching pouches yay

In that last doodle Chilchuck weaved her a little familiar with twigs… So it is magical but it’s hers, and it’s a second stand-in for Ambrosia. Maybe a golem… It’s very silly and prob not real in the au but the thought of it is really cute. Someone on the discord said Fantastical Beasts Pickett which yesss lmao, it’s like a pokemon for "(lock)pick it!" I love arts and crafts Chilchuck so much. Sew clothes. Weave twigs. Woodcarve. Necromance a frankenstein. He can make himself a new wife (/J I AM SO /J)

— Also for Izutsumi: I think the reverse of a ninja is a bard. Take that as you will. Angry bard who grew up in a troupe……

[thedastravelerer]

I just finished the Dragon Age Veilguard and I need to scream my thoughts into the internet void.

My Rook, Lucrezia, was bought along with other kids by the house de Riva when she was 3 years old. She doesn't remember anything before that. When her magic manifested at the age of 8, she begged Viago not to send her to the Circle. Viago saw great potential in the little elven chaos gremlin, so he decided to hire private tutors for her. From the age of 14, she became Viagos apprentice, accompanying him everywhere. Her sunny, bubbly personality was a great distraction in social settings. She was the Robin and Viago was the Batman, basically.

Inquisitor romanced Solas.

So that is the viewpoint, from which I experienced the game.

The good:

The music is AMAZING

The environments are gorgeous

Spellblade is sooo much fun. The perfect mix of rogue and mage.

Treviso is so beautiful. I am never saving Minrathous. That sh*thole can get swallowed by the ocean.

The final missions were great. The tension, the loss, the heartbreak, the betrayal—10/10. No notes.

Baby griffons

The conversations/dynamic between Lucanis/Spite and Taash crack me up

The dynamic between Viago and Lucrezia was everything I could have hoped for. I still laugh when I remember the letter from Viago starting with "IDIOT".

Viago and Teia—I would die for them. Every time they flirt, I picture Lucrezia sticking fingers into her ears and going LALALALA. I don't want those pictures in my head.

Harding wins the competition for the prettiest room in the Lighthouse.

I love the little offhand comments and banter between all of the Crows. It was fun to hear Lucanis or Lucrezia randomly mention Viago or Teia. It really painted a picture of them knowing each other for a long time and being able to poke fun at each other.

I loved Lucanis as a character. Also, the 3-way relationship between Rook-Spite-Lucanis is perfect. I loved that when Lucanis learns about Caterina being alive, he shuts down and Spite is like: "What?! Why are you putting more locks into our prison? I AM GETTING ROOK! :D

The "Solas therapy" ending was heartwarming (and also a bit funny)

I loved Solas as a character. I see, why he is the god of trickery and lies. And how his wisdom turned into pride. I just wish I could slap that stubborn liar. Just once.

You know it is real love when you spent the last few hours chomping on an archedemon and your Vhenan still kisses you.

I liked the relationship progression between Davrin and Lucanis. They went from open hostility to mutual respect to drinking buddies.

Lucanis questioning Bellara and Neve about their business decisions was hilarious. Crows are first and foremost business people.

Isseyas storyline. I just wish they delved deeper into her story instead of getting an infodump. I enjoyed seeing how the blight twisted her grief and regrets. How she remembered only her love for the griffons she saved. And the blight corrupted that love, forcing her into horrible mistakes.

The bad:

The story is so shallow in comparison to previous games. All of the nuance is gone. There is no Loghain, no Meredith and Orsino, no Anders. Everyone is either the good guy or the bad guy. Maybe except for the Butcher and Isseya.

A lot of the darker, complicated, interesting themes are ignored. After the Antaam Qunari (Sten in DAO), the Ben-Hassrath Qunari (Bull in DAI) we finally meet a scholar of Qun and we get NOTHING interesting from her. We can't have a deeper conversation about the Qun. We can't even talk about her hypocrisy of running away from the very rules she forces on Taash. The Antaam are the a$$holes and everyone else following the Qun is good. Until they disagree with their assigned role in life and get their mind broken until they fit the mold again. But we don't get to learn that.

Who TF is Anaris? Why is he the Forgotten One? What does it even mean? What beef did he have with the Evanuris? We don't get to learn that. We get MWHAHAHA I AM SOOO EVIL. Boring and disappointing. It would have been much more interesting if he convinced Cyrian his sister was a pawn for the Dread Wolf. There could have been a conflict between elves choosing Anaris, who promised them power after their gods turned out to be a$$holes, and elves choosing a new, free path.

Are we not going to address the EXECUTIONER in the room? Who is he? Where did he come from? Why is he totally cool working a desk job in the Necropolis?

We finally see Kal-Sharok and we learn almost nothing about the dwarves living there. How did they survive? How do they govern themselves? What is the culture like?

I don't understand the Titan powers Harding has. Like, I get the concept, but the details are confusing.

I am sick of the words "ritual" and "artifact"

The quests "press button in three places" or "destroy/place crystals so they link/unlink" were a bit repetitive.

Characters sometimes have lapses in memory. Ferelden has fallen to the blight, but Emmerich and Harding are going camping there... Mmmmkay. Rook, baby, you have used the teleport vortex like three times before. We have 2 in the Lighthouse.

I love Lucanis, but his romance is very undercooked. I get, that he pushes a lot of emotions down, and flirting is just another weapon the Crows use to get to their targets. But we see no inner turmoil in banter, no notes wondering about Rook. He touches Rook exactly once - in the romance scene at the very end. They never even address the almost kiss.

The brutality of the life of Crow recruits is smoothed over to be nice and family-like. We are talking about an organization that buys enslaved children and forces them into hunger games to shape them into elite assassins.

The widespread Tevinter slavery is mentioned minimally. The only mention might be the codex of Dorians speech in the Magisterium. Their whole social system is built on slavery and caste system. We don't get to talk to Neve about any of it.

Most of the helmets are hideous.

The "stealing cultural stuff is wrong and we, the pirates and treasure hunters, are not doing it. We are the good guys!" talk you have with Taash right when you meet her was so jarring. Like, it makes sense, because Isabella is in charge. It would have been funnier and less preachy if they went with "We don't steal cultural stuff, because Isabella stole something from the Qunari once and it was a sh*tshow".

No dirt, no persistent gore

You don't get to have deep conversations with your followers. Instead, you get to read their diaries and letters in the codex. I felt like a creep snooping through their notes and letters to each other. Same feeling with the Lighthouse banter.

I miss the more abrasive followers. Everyone is high on friendship. Why is no one protesting against the demon-possessed assassin cooking all of our meals? Why isn't Bellara more wary about the Tevinter mage? Emmerich gets a lot of sh*t for the creepiness, but nobody questions the morality of using body parts as Legos.

I wish we could choose a class for the Inquisitor. She looked so ridiculous and out of place in the last fight. She is one of the most fearsome fighters in Thedas and she wears the blandest outfit possible. She isn't even armed.

We find out the Andrastian faith is a fairytale and no one except Harding comments on it? All of the human followers grew up in Andrastian cultures. Religion forms the structure of society, customs, inner values, viewpoints on the world, and what is considered "normal" on a subconscious level. In DAI you have a conversation with Josephine about how the Andrastian faith provides common ground for negotiations across cultures. Cassandra walks through an elven temple that is older than her religion and still wonders who could believe this nonsense. Why aren't you more upset, people?!

I am going to pretend the post-credit scene didn't happen. You will not soil the beautiful tragedies of the very human mistakes and choices the imperfect characters like Loghain made. I will not accept some demon whispering over the wonderful multi-faceted people and their rises and falls. F*ck you.

The bug, where the game loads the preset character instead of your custom Rook is annoying and didn't get fixed by the patch.

I hate the UI with a passion

No grey streaks in Inquisitors hair is a crime.

I hate the underwater view in Rooks room. I have an irrational fear of deep waters and sea life. The Ossuary is a prison of my nightmares.

I hate the redesign of the demons. They look like dementors with their robes open.

It is not clear how long was Rook trapped in the prison of regrets.

Anyway... rant over. I enjoyed the game like I enjoy the Marvel movies. With half of my brain turned off.

[your-enby-antihero]

Of Baby Siblings & Mothers

Summary: Fabian thinks about why he immediately hated his new baby sister, Liriel Sarai Lomenelda-Faeth. Then he think about his relationship with his mama.

also available on Ao3

———————————————————————————

Baby sister, that is what Fabian had heard Aelwyn call Adaine the millions of times the siblings had ever been together. Every time Adaine looked in a room of their friends and people they knew, her eyes always found Aelwyn. He had seen both cradle the other's head so close to death in tears. He watched Kristen with Bucky, elbow bumps and hands on shoulders for support.

The times when Kristen had shielded Bucky from the Applebees' parents on the front lawn of Mordred. Nights where Kristen opted to skip a Bad Kids hangout to take care of Bucky’s wounds from paladin class the good old manual way, no cure wounds required. Even Fig had taken to being a big sister, she had been around the manor more, which was nice, but she mostly spent it cooing over a bassinet. The little body of Liriel Sarai Lomenelda-Faeth squirming around the fine elven sheets. He had a much different relationship with his new baby sister, ever since conception, his bank had said that this baby was going to be his nemesis. He had gone out and purchased weapons after hearing that she was going to be born. Something in him was jealous or angry or something that he couldn’t place. Maybe it was just a response to change, The Ball had said (in his new sleep-addled state) that change could be scary and we all have different responses to it. Fabian had tried to rationalize that he was mad because now he’d have to share his house and money and whatever other riches he was entitled to. He had tried to do anything to try and figure out why he hated the idea of having a sibling. Not that Fig didn’t count, of course, he loved having Fig as a technically (adopted) step-sister. He loved that during the Moonar Yulenear, she was mandated to be on the family card. There was just something nagging at Fabian that he couldn’t figure out until this new baby arrived.

Finally, it all came together, seeing his mother gently holding the frail new life in her hand. Seeing Gilear holding his mama’s hand as they watched the sleeping little baby in her brand new crib. As the baby became able to walk, he saw his mother light up in joy. 

Suddenly it clicked, one day in the spring the year after Liriel was born. He was deep into senior year, he had buried himself in the Owlbears, in acing his classes, and in defeating Kalina and Buddy Dawn. He had spent countless nights hanging out at a friend's house instead of in his own house. Cathilda had worried about him at first, maybe she had been the only one, calling him when he would be out late at night at Basrar’s with Mazey. Cathilda had been the one to cook and eat with him at dinner after he had gotten home from winning a big game for Bloodrush. She had been the one offering to take him on vacation with her to Leviathan during the spring break because Hallariel and Gilear were taking the baby to Fallinel to meet the extended family. Did he consider Cathilda more his mother than his mama? Even on Mother’s Day, his first impulse was to. Gilear had been the one to tell Fabian that they were leaving, telling him that he wanted to invite Fabian along but Hallariel insisted that he was fine, and had other things to do (he did not). God, he hated that ever since the baby came Gilear of all people seemed to care more about him than his own mother. After junior year and Cathilda chewing out Hallariel and Gilear, Gilear had been more cognizant of leaving Fabian home alone without notice. Fabian would get a text from him telling him that the family (minus Fabian and Fig) were going on a weekend trip. Fabian seethed that he had to find out from Gilear of all people but at least he knew. At least someone cared to tell him anything. Oh shit- maybe that was what was going on. 

After reconciling with his father at the end of junior year Fabian hadn’t thought about his relationship with either of his parents. He knew that they loved him, well he knew his papa loved him. Weekly messages were left on the radio, asking what Fabian was doing, and what non-maximum legend activities he had been getting up to. However Fabian hadn’t even grappled with his feelings surrounding his mother at all. Was he jealous that this baby would grow up with his mama loving and awake and there? Where he just had her drunk in an egg pod in his basement? (Technically the house was his, after his father died the house was transferred to Fabian’s name, but his mother had been quite upset with him after all the partying in junior year.) Would Liriel have a mother who wasn’t just around for swordsmanship training so clearly hungover from the bender mama had been on for years. Was his mama finally parenting because this baby would live out the rest of eternity with her, not like Fabian who was mortal? 

He had never truly thought about what his feelings were towards his mama, he loved her of course but he didn’t know that if he wasn’t her son she would love him at all.

He had watched Sklonda as he hauled The Ball back up to the apartment at Strong Tower some nights. She would collect the exhausted goblin up in her arms, no matter how much work Fabian could see was piling up on her desk. He watched her coax her son to say goodbye to Fabian before ushering him to his bed, she would even whisper a thank you Fabian’s way as he left. Sandra Lynn and Lydia had started asking if he wanted Adaine and Kristen to take lunch for him as well, after junior year and way too much take Fabian was more than happy to have homemade trash bag lunches. He watched from afar when Fig would curl up with her mom on the roof of Mordred late at night as he sped away on the Hangman. He never was able to make out if they talked or what they would talk about but he couldn’t help but envy their closeness. Fabian saw the notifications on Gorgug’s phone from the Thislesprings, when The Bad Kids were all out together at night, checking in with Gorgug. Just quick glances saw texts telling him there was a plate of dinner left in the fridge if Gorgug wanted it or asking Gorgug if he needed any parts for an Artificer build he was working on or just random texts saying they loved him and that they were so proud of Gorgug for everything. 

He had Cathilda of course but there was something to be said about his mama. Despite the love he had for Cathilda and the care that she provided, Fabian still yearned for the same kind of care that Hallariel showed to this new baby. No expectations of living up to a legend, no year-long trips away with contradictory expectations, and no fucking sensory deprivation eggs. 

[daemon-in-my-head]

I like the angst of having an elven durge cuz buddy, you're so doomed by the narrative. There's no way in hell this would've ever properly worked out.

By the time my gremlins r middle-aged, the tyrant is long gone. After all, he's no Elminster. Even if Bane stops his ageing temporarily, he can't serve Bane forever because there's a limit to how useful he can be to a whimsical God of tyranny. He'd either fail or be so good at his job that Bane would need to get rid of him. There's no winning.

There was never a chance to begin with. And that's why I'm thriving. Cuz no matter what they do, long-lived races and humans are vastly different. They experience the world differently. No matter how equal they were in their goals or how they'd dream of achieving them, time is the one thing they can not overcome.

The lack of time wasn't simply their downfall. It was their equal doom. It was clear from the very beginning that no matter how much their stance changes, one would have to mourn the other eventually.

And then you switch it up so the elf dies first, and the tyrant is wholly caught off guard since he spent years coming to terms with that he'd be but a mere distant memory for the elf one day, but he never once deemed it possible that he would need to grieve someone yet again.

[dimensionhoppinghybrids]

Diary entries (drabble 2)

[Page 10 of X]

Religion. It has to be the most stupid thing I have had to experience. Take the fact I was put as the Herald of Andraste, a religious figure in this place because she did some really notable things. She was elevated kind of like a saint. Now I am her herald, her messenger. Because everything went shit faced and everyone is losing their mind.

Imagine that. You see a gigantic tear in the sky that can be seen from nearly everywhere around, especially from the capital Val Royeaux. I had to go there to try my best to convince the people in the Chantry to give us a chance, the Inquisition a chance, and this lady that is denouncing me goes all full testament on me.

She hated me, and I had never met her. She called her lap dog on me, the Templars. And, well. He socked her. Because he wanted to take his Templar buddies and sever himself from the Chantry and make his own little group.

Look, to explain a bit there, and mind you I still don't grasp everything of what is going on, but the way I am seeing it, he feels like his order is being swept aside because a good lot of the Templars, himself included were fighting the mages. That was why the meeting I had barged into got set up. It was in a great big temple, and the woman that summoned them was negotiating peace talks.

Well, she died. She died and the Chantry are now lost, the Templars are angry, and the Circle of Mages is going mad with power. Well to me the Chantry were as well at that point to me, but they were afraid.

The lady that got smacked like a whet rag? She confirmed as much to me. She hated me because if I was right, then it meant a lot of things were questioned, and if I was wrong in being the herald, it meant that many things were wrong. It was a no win situation in her book. Especially since the biggest honcho they had was dead and they were dragging their feet in finding a leader.

That brings to the topic I wanted to write here. I swear these pages are the only place I can vent my frustrations from the others since everyone believes in some kind of God, be it Elven or something else.

But Religion to me is a sham. I went to the capital and I saw too many people praying. Praying for pete sake.

I tried to tell just one guy, just one guy that was feeling lost to pray to his god for guidance, not forgiveness. Because I didn't want to be an asshole. It didn't work.

So I told him to stop praying, to stop chanting, and start doing something. Because times like that require less sitting on your knees hoping things get better, and more acting to make things better.

He gave me a funny look. I think I really did hurt his feelings but he was pissing me off. Its the motto I have been going with ever since because it seems to be the only thing that smacks these people in the head. They want to pray and feel and act like everything will be okay.

Things won't be okay, if you don't do anything about it. I have been trying to be less of an ass about it. I just met Giselle really, the lady we rescued from a bad situation that was going on worse. Her followers have been helping where they can in Haven. Sharing out food, blankets, stuff like that. Doing what she can to heal the injures. I respect her for that. But she treats me.. She treats me like a dangerous animal. I can see it on her. She joined us to help, but she's unsure about me. I keep denying I am a herald. I don't want to be seen as a Herald of anything. I am just trying to help fix a mess I made. Unknowingly made mind you, but still my mess.

I want to think she respects that. But she's been insisting I lean onto that title. Because people need to believe in something. I just want them to believe in themselves.

I guess that is too big of an ask.

[the-dragonthief-passages]

24th of Last Seed, 4E 201

Another early rise and a quick breakfast and I was out the door. I had no time to waste. I wanted to get to Falkreath as fast as I could before heading to Korvanjund. A little detour never hurt anyone, did it?

The trip started quiet enough. I passed by the stables, a strange-acting orc, and through Dragon Bridge. Nothing out of the ordinary. I saw a campsite that I remembered passing on my way to Solitude, so I decided to check it out. It was empty, and there was a path leading up to a cave called Chillwind Depths with a sabre cat right outside. That cat made a dent in me, but the price of its pelt would be worth it. If I had to guess, the campers went into the cave and never came out, or the sabre cat took them down. I found the journal of whoever owned that camp. Judging by the entry, Chillwind Depths could wait for another day.

As I got back on the path, I was attacked by an assassin. Someone hired the Dark Brotherhood to kill me, and they failed. Guess I'm already making a name of myself outside of the Dragonborn mess.

When I got through Rorikstead, I saw an old orc surrounded by two sabre cat corpses. He clearly killed them himself. He said he was hoping for a good death, and I offered to give it to him. I did just that, and also took the pelts from the cats. It's not like they would be any used to him now that he got his wish. Shortly after that, I ran into a sickly man on the road. Apparently, he was heading to High Rock (bad idea, buddy) to get away from the false worshipper of the Daedric prince Peryite. Imagine the irony of someone named Peri worshipping a deity called Peryite. Ha!

Right after that, I passed by a group of Thalmor escorting a prisoner. I decided to make things interesting by freeing the prisoner, giving him a dagger, and attacking the Thalmor. Unfortunately, the prisoner died, but I can't say I didn't try to help him. Better for a Nord to die in combat than in a jail, if I'm understanding the mindset correctly. I also got some nice Elven armor, but I should probably take that off once I get to Korvanjund.

I remember back when I first got to Dragonsreach, Jarl Balgruuf's advisor, Proventus Avenicci, said that posting guards at Riverwood might make Falkreath think they were trying to provoke them. I bet if I go to Riverwood, I could get to Falkreath. Quite the detour.

When passing by the outskirts of Whiterun, one of the guards mention a group of vampire hunters called the Dawnguard were reforming. That sounds exciting, but I might wait a little to make sure I'm ready for that, first. Not sure how I got so far in just a day, but I did.

Right as I got outside of Riverwood, a courier caught up to me, with a letter from Falk Firebeard, regarding what happened at Wolfskull Cave. I had only just left, how did this already happen? I decided I would deal with that on my way back from Korvanjund.

Once I got to Riverwood, I decided to talk to Alvor. I sold some weapons I had, then asked if I could help with his smithing. I made and refined a dagger, then did the same with a hide helmet. It went pretty well for my first time.

There was this one Bosmer as well named Faendal. It seems he and Sven the bard both have eyes for Camilla. Damn, she already has suitors. Figures. I decided to help him win over Camilla by making Sven look bad. Any chance to make a braggart look bad is a chance I'll always take. I gave her the letter, she obviously took offense to what "Sven" said, then I sold some stuff to Lucan while I was there. After that, I reported back to a more than pleased Faendal. Now I can ask him to come with me on adventures. After that, I decided to kill some time by improving my armor and chopping some wood. Might as well make myself useful. Eventually, I made my way to the inn for supper and rest.

I'm surprised with how much distance I traveled today. This has to be a new record for me. Who knows, maybe I'll get through Falkreath and Korvanjund all in one day.

It just occurred to me that it's officially been a week since I escaped Helgen. I better drink extra hard in celebration.

[pinkoptics]

Artist’s Muse AU

McShep | 914 words | M | AU-gust 2022

Fluff | John is a little shit

on AO3

John discovers Rodney has a secret hobby.

“Whatcha got there?”

John reaches for the small notebook Rodney has been scribbling in intently, oblivious to John’s entrance to the lab. He jolts just before John can grasp it, his face a picture of comical horror. He clutches the notebook tightly enough to his chest to crush it and pushes his rolly chair with enough force that it flies back until it smacks another console.

John grins. Whatever it is, it must be good , but even if it isn’t, he’s always up for a game of keep-away.

“Working on a new theory you don’t want anyone to see yet?”

John takes a slow, deliberate step forward. Rodney re-angles his chair and pushes it again, slamming into another console.

“Or maybe it’s a ‘Dear Diary, Radek is more brilliant than I will ever let on.‘“

Rodney’s face gets all cute (ie. annoyed and pinched). “Sure Sheppard, right beside my Rodney+John heart doodles.”

John takes another few unhurried steps and puts a hand over his heart. “Aww, Rodney, I didn’t know you cared.”

He’s out of his chair now, trying to side-step John (he’s run out of room to retreat) in a maneuver that might have worked, if John hadn’t been the one who’d taught it to him. He catches Rodney’s wrist and with a precise squeeze, Rodney yelps and drops the notebook, right into John’s waiting hands.

“Entirely unfair!” Rodney bites off, ‘annoyed and pinched’ is now turning into a glower (also cute and, yes, John is entirely aware of how far gone this makes him in the Rodney-crush department). “You’re using your military ninja powers on me. Does privacy mean nothing to you?!”

They do a little dance, of sorts, with Rodney trying to grab his journal back and John deftly keeping it just out of reach. “C’mon buddy, if it’s not a diary or a top-secret Nobel winning theory…?”

He vaults over a console, temporarily stymieing Rodney’s progress, and flips it open. Whatever John was expecting, it wasn’t this.

“Huh.”

“Huh? That’s it? Sheppard, we are too old to be doing this. It’s ridiculous. Undignified. Give it back.”

Rodney’s rounding the console, but John has vaulted neatly over another, eyes never leaving the page.

“Damn. You’re really good. Why would you hide this?”

“Give. It. Back.”

Something in Rodney’s tone makes him look up. Glowery has been replaced by a mix of genuine anger, distress and… embarrassment? He can’t see why. Sketches of slender fingers, studies of eyes, a sort of imperfect bumpy nose, full lips, ears that look elven… oh.

Shit.

Rodney uses his stunned realization to snatch it back, stuffing it under his jacket and out of reach unless John really wants to work for it. He doesn’t. He’s seen enough and Rodney’s twisted red face is twisting guilt in his gut.

“It helps me think, okay? When I’m stuck. And I’m really stuck on this stupid transporter issue and everyone is down my god damned back about it because they have to walk everywhere. Like I want to walk everywhere? Are they fucking kidding me? I’m the poster child for not wanting to walk. My sciatic nerve is telling me every day just now not happy it is about it. So I sketch. I do things with my hands. I used to play piano but we don’t have one here, so I sketch and it clears my mind and so what if I sketch you. I’m with you all the fucking time, so your features are just familiar. But no, you’ve got to make it weird. Do you know what a challenge it is to sketch your stupid hair? Have you ever—”

“Rod-ney!”

“What?!”

John waits. A solid beat. Just to be sure the ramble isn’t going to forge on.

“Do you sketch Ronon and Teyla?”

Rodney doesn’t need to answer aloud. It’s written on his face from the moment the question leaves John’s lips. Rodney’s so truthfully blunt he’s never learned how to be a good liar. He starts trying to answer, to deny, but he’s stammering now and John grins, putting a shushing finger over Rodney’s lips. He hadn’t thought Rodney could blanch harder but he has.

John steps back and cocks a hip. Rodney’s gaze snaps there, then snaps back.

“How would you like a live subject?”

“Wait— what?”

“Because your sketchbook seems to be missing some things.”

“Missing…”

“Things you aren’t so familiar with…”

John places his thumbs in his front pockets and angles his hands just so. Rodney’s eyes dart helplessly again. His face is still very red, but it’s not anger anymore.

“Right. Things…”

“Yes.” John grins. “I’d be happy to help you with those… things.”

Rodney’s eyes are meeting his again, a little frantic. “O-okay. I-I can’t believe I’m going to say this out loud, but this is so far out from where I thought my day was going, and sometimes I really misread hints. Even hints this—” His hand flaps in John’s general direction.

John laughs. The frantic babbling is cute too. Yes, very far gone.

“My cock, Rodney. Things is my cock.”

“Oh thank god.”

John tilts his head to the side, angling toward the door.

“Now?” Rodney’s voice is a little strangled and damned if that isn’t cute too.

“Yes, Rodney, now.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice. They end up in his quarters, where John models, naked, as promised. The sketch, however, day after day, remains mysteriously incomplete— no matter how many times they try.

[lothirielswanmarvel]

AVENGERS: LOVE AND LIGHTNING - Sneak Peak

All is fair in love and Thor! After tricked into a betrothal by a princess from another realm, Evangeline Green must find the Eternal Flame to win back her freedom, and save the nine realms. But those aren't the only sparks flying. Things are heating up between Evangeline and the seductive God of Thunder, but will his treacherous ex-girlfriend, Enchantress, and a group of feuding Avengers tear apart this unspoken romance?

“You were gone for forty-five minutes.”

“Please, don't.”

“You were gone for forty-five minutes, and you came back engaged to a lesbian fairy princess,” Wanda judged me over the rim of her mug as she sipped her tea.

“Don't say it out loud,” I groaned and stuffed my face into one of the throw pillows on the couch.

“Technically it was an elven lesbian princess,” I heard Stephen correct her.

“Technically it was an elven lesbian princess and Thor,” Scott chimed in, forcing me deeper into the depths of the couch. I muffled my moans of misery.

“Let’s recap here,” Nat said, steepling her fingers together and bringing them to her lips. Thor kept staring at her blonde hair with a distasteful look. “We need to find this Eternal Flame in twelve days, or elves overtake Asgard and invade here. And Angie has to marry Arwen from Lord of the Rings.”

“She had white hair,” I added. Asta agreed that the Eternal Flame had to be returned to call off the engagement.

“Like the dragon lady from Game of Thrones?” Scott piped up.

“Actually, I heard the dragon lady’s not a natural blonde. They dyed her hair for the show.”

“What? Seriously? It's not real? I feel so betrayed…”

“Wait until he finds out the dragons aren't real,” Stephen muttered. The Sorcerer Supreme cleared his throat, “Thor, do you know where the Eternal Flame is?”

I glanced over at Thor, who sat next to me on the couch. He winced, staring down at the glass table. “Well, it's sort of, complicated…”

“What happened? Did Smokey the Bear stomp it out?” Sam remarked. He stood behind Cap’s chair, chest puffed out, arms crossed. There was still unease between the Avengers. I hoped Thor would take away the pressure, somehow.

“It has to do with Loki, doesn't it?” Clint said out loud. “That's when it all goes to shit, isn't it? Come on, buddy, tell me I'm right.”

Thor was extremely quiet for a minute.

“Yes. Loki moved it to Earth.”

Clint leaned back in his seat with a smug smirk. “Called it. Knew it was the turd.”

“Did you just call the God of Mischief a turd?” Scott glanced warily up at the ceiling, waiting for a lightning bolt to strike down from the heavens and smite someone. “Isn't that bad ju-ju or something?”

Rhodey nodded mutually. “Maybe. But it’s the truth; he was a real turd.”

I felt a small smidge of relief. I could get everyone to agree on something—that was a start.

“It was about, uh, seven hundred years ago,” Thor recalled. Peter Parker and Shuri sat criss-crossed on the ground, listening eagerly. “Loki—he was my brother, who was murdered by the dark elves—and he liked doing experiments and blowing things up, but our mother, who has also passed away very recently—she murdered by the dark elves too, but I killed all of them—anyways, she told him not to do the experiment on Asgard so he wouldn't destroy the kingdom. So he went to Earth instead,”

“What happened then, Mr. Thor?” Peter asked.

“Well he did the experiment, and I believe he created something...a plague of some sort? Anyways—”

“Wait, you said seven hundred years ago…” Wanda started counting on her fingers.

“Are you saying that Loki was responsible for the bubonic plague, commonly referred to as The Black Death?” Vision inquired in his usual neutral tone.

I squeezed the pillow tight to my chest. I owned a small cupcake business (it helped smooth things over with my degree in political science, and it gave me a reason to avoid eating out), and I wondered if I should let the Avengers eat the latest order I made, just to take their minds off of European disasters.

“Actually, that might have been my fault...I tried to make some soup…” Thor trailed off, suddenly solemn.

I sat up abruptly. “Who wants cupcakes?”

Tony’s head snapped away from the alcohol. “Mine! I get Steve’s!”

I stood and walked away from the Avengers as they started to bicker amongst themselves. I went to the kitchen counter and peeked into the light-pink cardboard box—

Crap. The blush on my face matched the box. I cursed myself silently.

It was February, so over half of my orders were Valentine's Day-themed. This one was incredibly expressive, topped with antacids and messages inscribed in frosting.

Nothing was going to take my mind off this stupid marriage-thing. Or Thor’s engagement present that he never told me about. Or my stupid feelings.

“Hey, they’re my colors.”

I looked up at Wanda, smiling innocently. She had a small face with perfectly round eyes. Her high cheekbones made her look solemn outside of conversations, permanently tormented with knowledge in everyone else’s heads.

I nodded and started to poke around drawers for paper plates. “You and Vision get to spend Valentine's Day together now. That's exciting.”

“We already had plans,” Wanda said, opening up a cabinet above and setting the plates on the counter.

She shrugged at my confused expression. “I didn't just stay in contact with you, even though texting you is...so much fun.”

“You know I prefer face-to-face.”

Wanda glanced back at the living room. “So does he.”

I didn't stare at who she was talking about. I bent down for napkins. Wanda leaned back on the black granite counter, “Vis and I had a system to keep in touch...kind of like you asking that Heimdall-guy about Thor.”

“What's the point to all of this?” I said, standing upright again. I didn't overlook the comparison she made.

Wanda had plucked one of the cupcakes with red frosting from the batch, rotating it with her slender, twig-like fingers. “He never did anything like that with Jane.”

“Jane was busy, she had a career.”

Wanda offered me the cupcake she stole. “So do you.”

I handled the cupcake lightly as I returned it to the box and closed it.

“I know you like him. And now he's here, and I've looked in his mind...and I think you should go for it.” Wanda said.

I sighed and looked up at her. Wanda was a mind-reader. As friends, it was something to get used to in the beginning, but after awhile, I didn't really mind anymore. I was her open book. Wanda understood me, probably better than anyone else.

And she knew what I was about to say as I shook my head. “He’s nice, but I have so much on my plate right now. There’s the Accords and Ross and taking care of you guys. My business, college, this marriage-elf disaster—”

“You’re right.” She said. “But is adding one little cupcake to your plate too much?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Hi Awesome Adventurers! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I’m so excited for this new series I’ve started publishing on AO3, The Collector’s Cosmic Romance Saga. We have tons of Thor love and a steamy Peter Quill love triangle is coming soon! Join the Avengers and Evangeline Green on a galactic journey in part two, Avengers: Love and Lightning. Love, fortune and glory to you!!

[stillfollowsme]

✿ for whoever you think she'd go well with!

PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP MEME 0.2

Lillith Lavellan  (with Iveani as Inquisitor and Lillith as Elven Advisor)

FRIENDSHIP.     childhood friends  /  work buddies or coworkers  /  family friends  /  friends with benefits  /  smoking buddies  /  adventure buddies  /  fake friends  /  recently friends  /  party buddies  /  friendship of need  /  dying friendship  /  circumstantial friendship  /  partners in crime  /  old friendship  /  [ your muse ] is the good influence  /  [ your muse ] is the bad influence  /  [ my muse ] is the good influence  /  [ my muse ] is the bad influence  /  opposites attract  /  ride or die  /  frenemies  /  roommates or flatmates  /  penpals  /  exes to friends  /  enemies to friends  /  other .

ROMANCE.     childhood sweethearts  /  [ your muse is mines ] childhood crush  /  [ my muse is yours ] childhood crush  /  exes  /  exes to lovers  /  forbidden lovers  /  highschool sweethearts  /  secret relationship  /  opposites attract  /  long distance  /  unrequited [ from your muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from my muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from both sides ]  /  skinny love  /  friends to lovers  /  enemies to lovers  /  spurious relationship  /  power couple  /  newly entered  /  soulmates [ metaphorical ]  /  soulmates  [ literal ]  /  awkward  /  turning toxic  /  toxic love  /  cheating [ on your muse ]  /  cheating [ with your muse ]  /  other .

FAMILIAL.     siblings [ half ]  /  siblings [ step ]  /  [ my muse ] is an older sibling figure to your younger sibling figure  /  [ my muse ] is a younger sibling figure to your older sibling figure muse  /  [ my muse ] is a parental figure to yours  /  [ my muse ] is a child figure to your muse  /  guardian figure  /  legal guardian  /  adoptive child  /  foster child  /  [ your muse ] is taken under mines wing  /  [ my muse ] is taken under yours wing  /  other .

ANTAGONISTIC.     dangerous to each other  /  dangerous to others  /  unpredictable  /  rivals  /  petty  /  developing into sexual or romantic tension  /  based off family matters  /  based of off circumstance  /  based of professional matters  /  based off misunderstanding or lies  /  conflict of ideology  /  betrayal  /  hero - villain dynamic  /  enemies  /  fight club  /  friends turned enemies  /  lovers turned enemies  /  exes turned enemies  /  other .

[shastelly]

Rivalry - March Klance Prompts from MonthlyKlance - Day 16

Day 16 – Rivalry (Part 2 continued from Day 14 Distance)

I leaned back against the wall.  I needed to catch my breath.  I'd finally gotten far enough ahead that I had moved down off the rooftops.  That was a good thing because getting shot at every time I took a jump across roofs sucked.  And while I hadn't lied about the first graze not being that bad, the second was worse and the third wasn't a graze at all, it was a solid hit to my right thigh.  Fortunately, laser blasts cauterize pretty well so bleeding wasn't the issue that it might have been but burns hurt and burns that leave a hole in my leg hurt a lot.

 I wondered what the others were doing.  They should be most of their way to Green now if they'd gone the way they should have gone. I know they didn't though, Keith said they would be coming to me and I was supposed to try to head to them.  The sad thing was that it was easier to tell which way I was going from the rooftops and panicked running made it a little hard to stay on course.  I knew one thing for sure.  I was not letting Keith beat me to the halfway point.  I know we've moved a little past this whole rivalry thing, but not that far past it.

 I pushed off the wall and began making my way down the alley between two mostly intact buildings.  I didn't hear anything coming.  I could do this.  I needed to stay ahead of the Galra.  The team was in a relatively Galra free area and moving right into one crammed with all the idiots looking for me, putting themselves in unnecessary danger.  They should have just gone straight to Green. They could have picked me up after that. Coming after me added additional danger and unknown.  The Galra could move Green or change their minds and try to move in on the team.  I shook my head.  Now was not the time to let negative thoughts get in my way.

 My leg crumpled and I fell to the side when I tried to crouch down, knocking over some crates.  I cringed at the sound and scrambled back.  I could hear footsteps moving quickly now.  Steeling myself against the pain I scrambled up and ran away from the sound.  I didn't have time for quiet and before I made the turn into the next street laser blasts were flying past me again.  This was not my day.  I kicked up the speed and ran flat out down a street, zig zagging to throw off the laser blasts heading at me.  The armor soaked a couple of hits for me and I managed to get enough of a lead to duck into an alley.

 I felt like I could hardly suck in enough air, but I had to keep moving - fear of death is a powerful motivator.  I wonder what kind of speed records humans would be capable of if only someone was shooting at them as they ran.  There was a door into a building that was slightly ajar.  I slipped in and pulled it closed behind me.  I still couldn't hear my pursuers, so I took the time to brace a fallen beam from the building against the door.  It shouldn't look like I'd gone this way.

 I crept deeper into the structure.  It wasn't horribly stable, there was a lot of creaking and one too many of what looked like support beams on the floor or cracked and hanging down from the ceiling. A good wind would take this place down, but hopefully not today.  I found myself in what must have been a bedroom.  There was a crushed bed in here anyway.  I pulled the cover off of the bed.  It was dirty and the green was yellowed and gave me a great idea because it was almost the exact color of most of the buildings.  I tied it around me like a cape.  It should help cut down on any glare or reflection from my white armor. I grinned and imagined myself like Frodo and Sam hiding under the elven cloaks.  I'm not sure it was going to work that well, but it should help.

 I waited until I heard the sound of the patrol that had been chasing move past the building, I was in.  I sat hunkered down by the side door, ready to make a run for it if I needed.  I didn't.  They moved past at double time, still hot on my trail.  I smiled, maybe my day was improving.

 A few dobashes later and I left through the door I had entered.  I doubled back two blocks, cut over three and tried to get myself back on track for meeting up with the team.  I really wish the coms in the helmet hadn't gotten fried by that blast. I guess it being fried verses my head being fried was really a reason not to complain, but I couldn't help but wonder what was going on with the team.  What were they doing?  Were they okay?

 I made good progress for the next several blocks.  I only had to duck into an alley once and the bedsheet cloak was surprisingly effective.  The patrol passed by the alley without a pause.  I felt like I was getting close to the halfway point and no matter what I'd tried to convince myself I had been pretty sure Keith and the team would beat me here.  The fact that I hadn't heard or seen them made me wonder if there was a problem, or more likely I was lost.  

 There was only one thing to do.  I needed a better view.  Two blocks over was a building that would work, about ten stories, taller than any other building in the area if I was remembering the map right.  If I was in the right part of the map to remember.  With a quick check I double timed it over to the building.  Maybe I shouldn't have double-timed.   Maybe I shouldn't have thought that things were going better.  Quiznak, did I hit my head, oh, you know probably the blast that fried the com.  Huh, I wonder if my bedsheet cloak is not as cool as I had imagined?

 I made it to the building, it seemed to be relatively stable, at least way more stable than the last building I was in.  I was on the second floor, when I realized that I had been followed.  It was only one set of footsteps, but they sounded really big.  Quiznak, I need a better day.  I hurried up two more flights.  I wish I could say I was being quiet or actually fast, but I'm not that big on lying.

 By the fifth floor I knew I wasn't going to win this race.  I ducked off into a room two doors away from the stairs.  I waited bayard transformed and ready.  The Galra that stepped up the stairs was one of the biggest I've ever had the misfortune of seeing, and bonus he was mostly metal, like seventy percent, where the quiznak am I supposed to shoot this guy, metal! I took aim and shot him in the shoulder. Looking back going for the kill shot would have been better, but I couldn't just kill someone like that, not without giving him a chance.  Unfortunately, I think I pissed him off and he charged, and Metal Galra was freaky fast. I didn't have time to get another shot off before he plowed halfway through a wall and into me.  I'm glad I wasn't in an outer room, because I'm pretty sure he would have plowed me right out of the building.  As it was, I went through another wall and if I wasn't previously suffering from a head injury, I can be certain that I am now.

 As my back connected and passed through the second wall, I was able to transform the sniper rifle into something a little more close-quarters.  The pistol pressed against his head was sufficient.  I vomited.  Seeing someone's head blown off and having part of it land on me was not in the job description.  Having to do it so that I didn’t die sucked.  

 I wonder what Keith's doing.  I hope he's okay.  Vomit stinks. I blinked a few times and found myself lying in a puddle of Galra blood next to a pile of vomit.  Gross, gross, gross, I scrambled back.

 "Keith?" I asked into coms that I remember now weren't working and a helmet I had strapped to my side because it was broken.

 "Lance?"

 Wait, broken radios don't talk.

 "Lance!"  I blinked again because my brain cannot make this make sense.  I look inside the broken helmet because maybe Keith is in there? How did he fit?

 "Lance!" Now Pidge is in there?

 "Pidge, how are you and Keith in my helmet, it's broken but you can't be there, and I can hear you so…I don't remember was there…you…I hit my head." I can't focus on the stupid helmet, it's so blurry.

 "Lance?"  The voice is much closer.

 "I beat you!"  It seemed important to let Keith know.   "I got to the halfway point first and you weren't here, but you always beat me and are you dead?  Are you dead and like a ghost hunting me, because that is so unfair Keith!  You don't get to win every time!  I get to win!  I beat you here!  You aren't allowed to be dead!”  Oh, quiznak were they dead?  Tears were pouring down my face and the helmet fell from my hands.  "Please don't be dead."

 "Hey, we're not dead."  Hands, Keith's hands, were on my face.

 I swallowed back the sobs and looked up and he was there.  Purple eyes and stupid mullet and all beautiful and based on Pidge's laugh I think I said that out loud.  

 "It's okay buddy."  Hunk, was there, I tried to turn and look at him, but that made me really dizzy and I think I puked on his shoes.

 "Sorry."  I muttered.

 "It's okay."  Hunk's voice was warm.  "Vomit is not something I am afraid of."  He chuckled and I couldn't figure out where he was, but he was close.

 "Hey."  Keith again. Is he still in front of me? "I'm here."  I felt one of my hands being lifted and laid against his face.

 "So, I did beat you?" I asked.

 "Yep. You beat us all."  His voice sounded rough, like he was crying.

 "Don't cry man, I never win.  It won't happen again."  I tried to reassure him, but I think my voice was a little slurred.

 "Okay, see that it doesn't."  He murmured and I felt myself being pulled into a hug.  I felt like the room was spinning around me, but Keith was holding me to the ground, and I knew I was going to be okay.

 TO BE CONTINUED in Day 20 TEAM

[happywitch416]

Ok, now do Leliana, Merrill, Iron Bull, and Blackwall. I love your opinions.

I have lots of opinions and some of them are even good ones so I appreciate the love for them lol

I already did Blackwall here.

The Iron Bull

How I feel about this character

Look, when I discovered I could romance The Iron Bull, 6-year-old me found her prince charming dreams come true. Why? Tim Curry as Darkness in Legend. My tastes have been odd forever. Pretty boys are exactly that and usually boring. And he's disabled, yet tall and strong. He finds himself a family? Also BDSM but that is probably more info than anyone has ever wanted from me. There is just so much? He is a big character, not even because of his size but because he takes up metaphysical space and does not apologize for it. And he's a spy! You would expect all spies in the Qun to be like Tallis and instead you have this motherfucker that could bench press a wagon and the horses. Also, his love of dragons mirrors my own. Spiritual bonding.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Dorian and tiny Cadash inquisitors because I am easily made happy. So much tall and small.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Sera. Mayhem.lace Harding. Viv, I love their dynamic. She mother hens this giant and he's just? So down for it? He's cool with being adopted.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I love him as is. Folks who say he's abusive I will meet in the pit. And I will win. Dealt with that in real life, get your purity brownie points elsewhere. Far the fuck away from me. Triggering? Sure. But that's a personal issue you need to work through, not take it on people who are fine with it.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

More of life after the qun. I want him to grow past that. There is just so much shit packed into that way of life and I want him to unpack it. Show your emotions! Feel them! With less sticks! Or more sticks bc honestly that makes sense.

And maybe make his relationship with Dorian without those sketchy bits. Like why the fuck were those even there. why.

Leliana

How I feel about this character

It took a long time for Leliana to grow on me. That whole chosen by god thing just grates. But it makes sense storywise! So I'm okay with it really. Hardened Leliana in DAI? Where is the sweet girl who sang around a campfire? Like I get it, she was in the game and the left hand but they idk. It really bothered me to see her so cynical and harsh. People change sure. But I don't like how it worked with her. Now her feelings of failure in regards to divine justinia? Yes, good. Also her becoming divine and basically razing it to the ground? She is probably the truest follower of the chant since andraste. Her reaction to morrigan being in orlais was...fucky. why make them enemies. Where is the setup for this. Wtf. I also dig that she's a redhead and an archer. I am shallow okay. But we do not see a lot of the fun Leliana in dai and I think thats a disservice. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Female wardens, any race are brilliant. I just can't picture her with a dude beyond using him to get something done. I like her with Josie and Morrigan as well.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Iron Bull and Sera, hold with me here, because she needs fun and to remember she can have it. Same for Lace. But I also see her being friends with Viv. And of course Josie and I kinda dig her friendship with Cassandra. She could be friends with anyone, until she stabs them I guess.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I think they wanted a hardass spymistress and almost neglected everything else. We get bare hints of the Leliana we met in dao in dai. Once again people change, but i think its fucky.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

No to the lyrium ghost? What the fuck? She fakes her death if the warden kills her. Boom done, and keeping in line with her Bard status. You can't tell me the chantry allowed a god damn ghost. Although, a lyrium based ghost could be corrupted by blight and thats scary. An evil Leliana, scary but hot. 

Merrill

How I feel about this character

She is adorable and performs blood magic. She's my one of my top 5 characters in this realm. She goes around picking flowers out of random gardens? Her pure excitement at seeing a mugging. I however despise her clan. The people who should have cared for her the most, betrayed her the most. And she restores an Eluvian, just how powerful of mage is she? Like yes i know she has a demon or whatever but she has far more control of that deal then Anders does with justice. It seems to be a healthy deal.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Isabela! You know she brings home all the exotic flowers she can find while shes on the sea for Merrill. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Also Isabela. They have such a good friendship in game? Puts marbles in her boots. 

My unpopular opinion about this character

Every time someone writes her as a sweet little pushover i want to sacrifice them to the seven circles of hell. She's arguably one of the strongest mages we meet, and not necessarily spell wise. The will power she must have, she has a successful partnership with a spirit. She laughs at near muggings? You think balls that big would be a doormat? Gtfo.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

She should have been brought in as an advisor, arcane, elven whatever, in dai. Morrigan? The elven expert? Eluvian expert? A lot of that was based off well flemeth is her mom and she just felt a connection with research into elven magic. Sure jan. As a Daughter literally never do you listen that well to your mom. She could have been a knowledge buddy with Merrill. Even with Solas, they literally trust some rando that wanders in. A total unknown that spouts off about the fade that is suspicious use of elfroot sounding. There was an opportunity and they missed it.

[noonmutter]

Timing

On a chilly October afternoon in Boralus, a ruckus had gone off at the water’s edge and unbeknownst to most of the populace, a wanted criminal was captured and smuggled off to safer shores. One of his pursuers had a wee bit of a problem, as she’d been piloting an automaton to assist with the pursuit, and suddenly, that automaton went silent and still in the middle of the street.

For several hours, nobody knew why.

"Terry. Come on, Terry, pick up. even just to let me know you're there, just listen if you can't talk. The twins are-" She made a choking noise, and another voice in the background gave a yelp like a puppy getting stepped on. "Home. Come HOME. NnnnOW!" 

The following scream, a very distinctive blend of white-hot pain and shrieking rage, was so loud that it made the commstone vibrate on Terry’s tray in the mess hall just outside Fort Victory. Everyone sitting near him clearly heard it, and the two guys to either side of him immediately got up from their seats so they didn’t get kicked in the face when Terry vaulted the table and ran.

“MAKE TH’ FUCK OUTTA TH’ WAY!”

Once he was gone, and his two battle buddies sat back down, one calmly set a pair of silver on the table. “Two says she’s poppin’em out.” 

“Come on, Barnes. What if she’s dying or something?”

“Wolf, I’m a medic. I know exactly what that noise was. You in or not?”

After a moment’s thought, the half-elven man set two pieces of silver next to the original set. “Fine. If I win, don’t tell Terry.”

“Uh-huh. You gonna eat that cornbread or just stare at it?”

Six hours of yelling at clerks, trying not to yell at superior officers, explicitly not yelling at the very patient and protective medical staff, coaxing a sleepy and befuddled bronze whelpling to come with him, being handed papers informing him of both his approval for leave and his promotion to private first class and not reading them, saddling Toffee, remembering he was going to have to cross quite a lot of ocean, leading Toffee to the nearest mage, yelling at and eventually bribing said mage for a portal to Stormwind, throwing up on another mage’s boots because he still couldn’t quite handle portal travel very well yet, running Toffee out of Stormwind and nearly getting arrested by some very freaked-out gate guards who weren’t accustomed to being approached and passed by a moose at full gallop, bolting all the way to Darkshire, and spending three more hours trying to stop Shedwyn from doing magic or other silly (and permanent) things to Terry later...

...Brother Barnes won four silver.

A snapshot and a short, handwritten letter would arrive to various friends and family in the first week of November.

In the photo, Terry and Shedwyn sit side-by-side, happy but a touch disheveled, and each holding a little bundle of copper-skinned, black-haired joy. Terry’s bundle is wrapped in a purple blanket, and Shedwyn’s is wrapped in green. 

“Presenting

Graeme Iain Lias-Ambroce (7 pounds, 6 ounces)

and

Tobias Chester Lias-Ambroce (8 pounds, 3 ounces)

Welcome to the world.

We apologize in advance for whatever they break, be it property, laws, or hearts.

- Terry and Shedwyn”

[silver-grasp]

For the OC ask thing: 🐶, 🐒, 🐥?

Thanks for the ask! This turned into some fic snippets, whoops.

🐶 - Which of your OCs is the most like a puppy dog in personality, and which is most like a guard dog or attack dog in personality?

“I am not a puppy,” insisted Michael, from where he was lying with his head hanging off the edge of his bed. “I blow things up by accident! Have you all forgotten this?”

“Honestly, rampant property damage is very characteristic of puppies,” said Taylor dryly without looking up. “You’re not helping your case here buddy.”

“Yeah, and cheerful exuberance is kinda your MO,” added Megan, grinning, while Michael groaned. “Need I remind you of the ‘trying to climb the walls in the hallway like a middle school boy’ incident?”

“While the comparison is compelling,” said River, “if any of us should be compared to a variety of canine I would suggest that Skye is a far better candidate. As, say, a rather aggressive German Shepard.”

They all turned to look at Skye where she was sitting cross-legged in the windowsill. She stared back with an expression of wide-eyed innocence that was surprisingly convincing given the tactical knife she was flipping between her fingers.

“Who, me?” She said. “That was one time, and I was saving Michael’s neck!”

“Yeah, no, that one wins,” said Taylor, closing their laptop and giving up on getting any coding done in the immediate future. “And for god’s sake put that knife away before anyone else sees it.”

🐒 - Which of your OCs would be the most likely to pull a prank on another one of your OCs? Would they get away with it?

“Okay, so we gotta come up with some kind of prank for April Fool’s Day,” said Michael, leaning forward to prop his chin on his hands. “I mean, it’s like, the principle of the thing.”

“Yeah, but who are we going to prank anyway?” said Megan. “I don’t think Skye would actually skin us alive but I also don’t want to test the hypothesis, and either way you know she’d be brutally successful about retribution. I don’t know if River would even understand the concept of a prank; he’d probably do something weird and elven and dodge it entirely without even noticing. And you know Taylor would prank us back, but since they’re the one who knows how to do all the magic stuff they’d pull something really good and we’d look ridiculous.”

“I mean yeah,” sighed Michael, “but look, I’ve got a great idea…”

After they’d left their corner of the library basement a quarter hour later, the grating over the ceiling vent right above their recently vacated table shifted, and a dark shape dropped noiselessly to the ground. Have intercepted their plans, Skye texted to Taylor. This is going to be EXCELLENT.

🐥 - Who’s your pure cinnamon roll OC? (Innocent, pure, soft, couldn’t hurt a fly)

“Innocent? Pure? Soft? Couldn’t hurt a fly?” Skye sniggered. “Sounds boring. And describes literally none of you. Don’t lie to me, I’ve got all your numbers.”

[dndbabes]

Queen Aerisi

want to get caught up? click this link

We take a short rest. Fey tries to pet Snowball, but backs off when he sighs. We continue travelling, set up camp, and Fey puts Haste, Featherfall, and Cure Wounds (from Tobi) into her new ring. 

In the morning, Fey’s hair is white- her eyes are all white, no coloured parts, and her dress is a tangle of thorns. This morning, she introduces herself as “Wolf”. She learns Ash’s real name is, in fact, Ash and not Yellow. She also learns that Naivara has a real name, but she has people looking for her so she goes by “Blue”. Tobi, the honest idiot with no tact.

We travel a bit before finding our way to the Howling Valley, where we know the Air Temple resides. Here’s our plan: Fey and Roscoe pretend to be initiaties. Naivara is a spider, in Roscoe’s clothing. Ash is invisible. Tobi is... a prisoner because he’s too loud to serve any other purpose. Fey and Roscoe are going to pretend to have captured Tobi.

We get to familiar chasm, and the party manages to save Tobi from falling to his death. Fey’s cover name is “Andello” and Roscoe’s is “Marc”. Ash is already invisible, Tobi is tied up, and we head inside. Moving through, Fey makes a very convincing guard. Tobi is growling it up. We’re all very convincing.

We see a the same stone obelisks we saw before, then we see the stone pyramid. We see a knight, atop a wyvern. Fey readies to slash Tobi’s ropes the minute that things go south. We approach the moat. In the moat, we see a humanoid form moving. We all see many, many shiny things at the bottom. 

The moat is ~20 ft deep, the creature is a bout 12 ft tall. As we step onto the bridge, the wyvern rider lands right in front of us. He buys our Lies that Fey and Roscoe captured Tobo. Roscoe, claiming to be an initiate, and Fey claiming to want to join.

We keep going towards the Queen. We go up the stairs, and there’s a room 5 initiates, a feathergale knight, and a person wearing feathered robes and a cowl. They’re held aloft and chanting in a language we don’t really know. There’s a pit, with howling winds coming out of it. The cowled figure approaches the group. He believes Roscoe’s bullshit lies.

We ascend to the second level. This room looks like it used to house some sort of creature. Griffon stalls, maybe. There are large windows at the back of the stalls. 

We head to the third, and final chamber. It’s 70 ft tall, and 60 ft wide. The ceiling is 20 ft above us and into the floor we can see a etched map of Ti’ar’basil. The room is lined with pillars, which have fine blue drapes between them. We see a half-ef playing a bone flute in one corner of the room, 5 initiates around him performing with varying degrees of success.

Upon her throne, we see the Queen. A bold looking blue elf, lazily holding a fine silver spear, with the a purple gem affixed at the head of it. The gem looks like an eye, similar to the one on Ironfang. She’s wearing a elegant elven gown and she has 2 feathered, golden wings upon her back.

There are two others next to her throne, wearing breastplates and standing at attention. The queen has a tiara made of platinum upon her head. Fey detects that her wings are, in fact, illusions. 

Fey’s smooth talk wins the Queen over, then she starts questioning Tobi. He’s a really, really bad liar but that... works in our favour in this situation. Tobi gets lightning blasted because he’s being an asshole.

It’s all going well... until Fey suggests that her and the Queen have a private audience. The Queen passes, Tobi’s ropes are slashed, and we’re rolling some initiative! This is where this session ended, but i’m just going to smoosh two into one. One session was all combat, anyways.

We’re all Fucking Nervous. 

The Queen makes the chamber windy as hell. Ash shadow arrows the priest. He’s hurt, but unfortunately not blinded. The bard plays a high note, hitting everyone except for Ash. Tobi gets hit with Confusion, in the air cult, yet again🙃. Everyone else is fine tho.

The Queen starts floating then lightning bolts both Fey and Tobi. Fey saves, but not Tobi. Tobi is Very Confused, and yet his first instinct is still to punch the priest right next to him. He misses tho. 

Fey casts Slow on both guards, the priest, the Queen, and the bard. Everyone except the guards fail. Fey gets punched by something invisible, almost dropping her Slow spell. 

The guards go to hit Roscoe and Fey. The guard misses Roscoe... instead hitting his priest friend. Roscoe KO’s the Priest, then punches the guard and manages to stun him! 

Naivara casts Thunderwave on all the initiates and the bard. All the initiates are dead now. The bard is knocked back and hurt, but now dead. The Queen sees Naivara, not a spider now, and starts yelling about how she “stole her throne”. Naivara is as confused as the rest of us. She gets lightning bolted.

Tobi and Naivara don’t save, Roscoe and Fey do. Tobi is knocked unconscious. The Queen still be slowed, however. Ash shoots the guard next to Fey.

The bard blasts us all with Shatter and Tobi fails a death save. The Queen’s lair action is a spell. She goes invisible, still slowed. Fey ice knives the Queen, missing her but the ice shattering hits her. She’s visible again. 

Fey is down and slow is broken. The other guard then goes to hit Roscoe. Roscoe hexes the stunned guy and kills a guard. Naivara healing word’s Fey, then heals Tobi (on 2 failed death saves.)

The Queen lightning bolts Fey + Naivara. Ash kills the last guard. The bard forces Ash to make a Wis save and Ash gets hit with whisper damage. The lair action, a lightning bolt, also hits Ash. 

The invisible man hits Naivara. Roscoe hits the bard a whole bunch. Naivara turns Tobi into a giant ape, and herself into a giant elk. TIME TO DO THE BIG DAMAGE!

The Queen yells again about how Naivara “took her crown from her” and casts a Death Cloud. It knocks Fey out. 

Ash kills the bard. The Queen fires a Ray of Frost at Roscoe. Tobi fists the Queen as a big monkey.

Ash is getting struck by invisi-guy. Roscoe moves into the Stink Cloud to try and heal Fey. He heals her, then drags them both out of the Stink Cloud. Naivara takes fart damage, then charges the Queen. The Queen blows into the horn on her hip, summoning things probably. She does not move. 

The Queen gets hit by Ash, then goes invisible. Tobi hits ger a few times despite disadvantage, Fey does another Ice Knife. Roscoe gets attacked, going down.

Naivara heals herself then charges the Queen.

The Queen Is FucKING DEAD. (Jesse needed to lie down on the floor, despite the fight not being over.)

A large blue Djinn appears. He holds Tobi aloft in his own personal tornado, and does the same to Naivara. 

Ash, noticing the horn, shoots it. He ends up destroying the horn. Fey heals Roscoe with the ring, and approaches the Djinn, telling him he can either “work with us or die.” The invisi-guy then hits Fey. Roscoe grabs the Queen’s spear then tries to hit invisi-guy.

The Djinn drops the tornados on his turn, and thanks Ash. Ash asks him to kill the Wyvern Rider that just appeared and the Djinn is like “Sure thing buddy.” 

TLDR: they’re killed very easily by him mostly. We only helped a little bit. The Djinn GTFO’s, we loot. The Queen had stuff that is probably worth a lot. The instruments are made of human bone. Great™.

We ended there, because that fight took 30 hours. (literally, the fight was a session by itself.)

[computerplaydespacito]

DS9 Senior Staf Campaign

I’m working on a campaign for my buddies so I am deep in DS9 AND DnD hell. So have like ten paragraphs of garbage.

Julian: an Elven wizard with a tragic and hidden backstory which he keeps bringing up but never explaining. Plays like a bard, but put too little into charisma so more often than not the phrase “I seduce them” ends with a rescue mission.

O’Brien: a halfling bard. No one has ever once asked the Chief to sing the songs he says he’s singing in game and yet he does. Every. Single. Time. They are never not ancient Irish ballads. His favorite to sing in inns/taverns for money is Come On Eileen. His fall back inspiration song is Minstrel Boy, which inspires nobody. He is usually the one demanding they go back to rescue Julian.

Kira: Goliath barbarian. Kira would like to Rage. Your standard murder-hobo, but, because she didn’t know how the game worked when she made her character, she has the highest charisma in the group. It goes straight into intimidation.

Jadzia: half-orc Warrior. She’s a Klingon. Or as near an approxiamation as she can get. She keeps recommending suicide missions when they seem to be in a no-win scenario so the party can “die a glorious death”

Worf: a dwarf monk. Worf’s character is Worf. Often down with Jadzia’s suicide missions.

Sisko: does not play, but got roped into making decisions for the campaign’s big bad (i.e. was begged to by the dm). Turns out he’s secretly got a knack for drama.

Odo: a human paladin. Odo’s character is Odo, except he keeps romancing NPCs to “see what the big fuss is about your humanoid coupling.” The NPCs keep dying, and the rest of the party is always more upset by this than he is. Kira get especially offended on his behalf. Jadzia secretly thinks Odo likes the drama.

Who’s the DM? It’s Garak. He’s the worst and best, creating extremely detailed and compelling stories and quests which almost always end with one of Odo’s NPC date-mates heroically sacrificing themselves for the rest of the party. You’d think it would get old. It doesn’t. He makes sure that the others know that he’s not the person running the big bad, but he won’t tell them who is, so the players start a kind of paranoid guess who where they try to figure out which one of their coworkers is destroying their carefully laid plans with evil mastermind level strategy. Sisko revels in this tiny bit of chaos, but will never admit it. Quark runs a gambling ring for what will happen in the next session. Jake wins the pool most of the time.