#even if his own choices and demeanor made him be viewed the way he was he was still frustrated

[ohmigoshiloveu]

So like, in VTM the story of Cain and Able is REALLY important, like Cain became the first vampire as punishment for killing Able, and Kindred can also be referred to as Cainites.

Allusions to Cain and Able in the Suckening aren’t particularly forthcoming, but we do have two brothers, with one who’s being postured as innocent and beloved and the other one is violent and considering war crimes. All I’m saying is that Condi was onto some good shit with trying to make Emizel resent Shilo.

[bbokicidal]

OT8 as 'First Encounters' | OT8 SKZ

Notes : The SKZ members as romance trope-type first encounters. It's hard to explain, but read and you'll see what I mean. (I'm actually super excited to write this.)

These are going to be short because they're just your first encounters - nothing more. But if you're interested in a part two for someone, let me know!

Warnings : None, just fluff. :) (Mildly suggestive content in Hyunjin's.) Genre : Fluff Pairing : SKZ OT8 (Individually) x Reader

Bangchan - Meeting in a cafe

You'd been there just to get your morning coffee when you'd crossed paths with a man you hadn't seen there before. Usually you were within ten minutes of each other when it came to popping in for your early morning drink but you'd never actually seen each other or knew the other existed. This morning however, you physically bumped into him when slipping past as your drink was called. He apologized, looking up from his phone to spare you a soft smile. His eyes trailed after you as you grabbed your drink, brushing by once more to leave the coffee shop. A simple meeting but memorable, for him at least.

Lee Know - Bumping into each other in class

Chemistry was, as of right now, the greatest of your burdens. But after accidentally bumping bags with a cute older boy you'd never really noticed before (and exchanging quick and shy glances to each other in silent apology), class didn't seem so awful every Thursday.

Not when you got to ogle him from your seat behind and kitty-corner to his own. Even though the view was three quarters the side of his head, he was still oh-so-pretty. (And oh-so-gay.)

Changbin - Meeting each other on the subway

Work was awful and the commute never softened the blow. Taking the subway was shit, as per usual, but there were some days - like today - where it wasn't as awful.

Standing in an all too-crammed car in a pair of heels and a tight pencil skirt you just had to wear for your stupid office job, a man sitting adjacent to you along the bench had taken notice of your stumbling sway and uncomfortable expression at the men beside and behind you. So he stood, offering you his seat in return, and with a thankful nod and smile, you take the offer up gratefully.

And ogle his arm when he lifts it to hold onto the handle where he now stands.

Hyunjin - Approaching each other at the bar

Never really one to go out of his way to talk to others because of his naturally shy nature, especially when it came to beautiful women, Hyunjin wasn't sure what it was that made him so drawn to you - and so boldly, at that.

You'd accepted his charming advances and the way he leaned on the bar, drink in hand and eyes glossy with already consumed alcohol. You'd listened to him go on about how he'd seen you from across the bar and thought you to be oh-so-beautiful, exquisite in his words, and how he just had to come over to introduce himself and shoot his shot. You'd let him sweet talk his way into your head - and your bed later that night.

Han - Meeting in the pharmacy

A man visiting to pick up his anxiety medication for the first time and a woman working her first shift on the job, the two of you seemed to get along because of your socially awkward demeanors and shy exchange in conversation. Looking at his ID and then passing him a small bag with a bottle of pills inside, he'd bowed his head politely and given you the shyest smile you'd seen to date.

And as he left the pharmacy with a heavy heart and a newfound adoration for the girl working behind the thin glass window, he'd forgotten to sneak a peek at your name plate sitting afront the glass. Shame - He'd just have to stop by again. (Not that he had a choice.)

Felix - Meeting during a bad first date

Sitting alone and sipping from a glass of a bitter and heavy red wine, a man with long blonde hair slides carefully into the seat across from you. He certainly wasn't the man you were waiting on - though, you shouldn't be complaining.

"I saw you sitting alone, figured you might want some company." He charms, smile amused but bright, calming and comforting to your lonely heart. When you nod and hum out in pleasant surprise, he takes it as a welcoming of him sitting in your no-show-date's seat and promptly flips open the menu sitting amongst the table. "Now, what are we having?~"

Seungmin - Meeting at a bus stop in the rain

You'd seen him before, though never bothered to exchange conversation. You got on at the same time each morning, the tall and handsome brunette at your side each day until you departed from the bus an hour later at your workplace.

This morning was like no other, until you arrived at the stop. The brunette was nowhere to be seen and as the rain poured down, you stood in defeat waiting for the bus to arrive. With hair slick to your cheeks and clothes drenched and heavy, the rain suddenly stops meeting your shoulders as a shadow appears overtop of your head. You peek up to see it's the brunette from every morning, holding a blue umbrella above the two of you. You look back ahead, cheeks rosy with heat, missing the way his lips quirk upward into a knowing (but adoring) smirk.

I.N - Meeting during Trivia Night

Trivia Night during college was probably one of the more 'loser' things to do around campus, but you were determined to find a club and hobby - and this was the easiest to pick. Alas, the group who agreed to go with you all bailed last minute, and you ended up alone at the massive table that should seat 10 people.

The MC of the night turns to point at you, exclaiming you wouldn't be able to play without a group, and a boy just a tad younger than you abruptly stands nearby to shout. "Get over here!" The boys surrounding his table gesture excitedly and you fumble to take a seat with them, unable to help the way your heart swells at the youngest's excitement and grandeur at having you now on their team.

[dovesdreaming]

Lost in the tide

Summary: You and Harry were best friends til you took your chance at a new beginning on the isle. When reunited he finds his forgiveness in a passionate kiss.

Request

Masterlist

-

The Isle of the Lost had always been your home. It was dark, gritty, and full of danger, but you never cared about any of that, not when you had Harry Hook by your side. Harry had been your best friend for as long as you could remember. From sneaking around the Isle, plotting mischief and laughing at the chaos you caused, to watching the waves crash against the shore in rare, quiet moments, he had been your anchor in a world that didn’t offer much comfort. Being the daughter of Maleficent and sister to Mal came with its own set of challenges. Expectations weighed heavily on you, and while Mal embraced her role as a leader on the Isle, you had always felt a different pull, something that made you long for more than what the Isle could give. You and Harry had often talked about escaping, about breaking free from the chains that bound you to this place. But when the time came for one of you to leave, when Auradon came calling, you took your chance. And Harry had never forgiven you.

Now, years later, your heart pounded as you stepped off the boat, the familiar sights and smells of the Isle hitting you all at once. The air was thick with the scent of salt and grime, the streets bustling with the same chaos you had left behind. It was as if time hadn’t moved at all. Yet, everything had changed. Especially you. You were back on the Isle for one reason: to save Ben from Uma and her crew. But despite the mission’s urgency, your mind was consumed with only one thought, Harry. The boy who had once been your best friend, the one who had stood by your side through it all. The boy you left behind. The one whose anger still haunted you. “You alright?” Mal asked from beside you, sensing your unease. “Yeah, I’m fine” you lied, giving her a quick nod. “Let’s get this over with”. But as your group made its way toward the docks where Ben was being held, your heart raced faster with each step. And then, as if summoned by your thoughts, there he was.

Harry Hook stood near the edge of the dock, leaning casually against a post, his ever-present hook twirling in his hand. His eyes, sharp and glinting like shards of ice, were locked on you the moment you came into view. He hadn’t moved, but the intensity in his gaze was enough to make your heart skip a beat. The years apart had changed him, he was taller, broader, his features sharper and his demeanor even more dangerous but those familiar blue eyes, filled with a mix of anger and something else, were the same. And just like that, it felt like no time had passed at all.

“Well, well” Harry drawled, pushing off from where he’d been standing and taking a step toward you. His lips curled into a smirk, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Look who decided to grace us with her presence. The prodigal daughter returns”. You swallowed, trying to keep your composure. “Harry...” “Don’t” he snapped, his voice cold as he cut you off. “Ye don’t get to say my name like that anymore. Not after ye left”. His words hit harder than you expected, a sharp pang in your chest. You’d known he would be angry, but hearing it, feeling the bitterness in his voice, was worse than you imagined. “I didn’t have a choice” you said softly, meeting his gaze.

Harry’s eyes darkened, and he took another step closer, the space between you shrinking. “There’s always a choice, lass. Ye just didn’t choose me”. The hurt in his voice was undeniable, and you flinched at the rawness of it. He’d always been so strong, so confident, but now, standing in front of you, there was vulnerability there, a crack in the armor. You glanced down, your fingers curling into fists at your sides. “I didn’t want to leave you, Harry. But Auradon… it was an opportunity, a chance for something different. You know that”. “Auradon” Harry spat, his voice filled with venom as he stepped even closer. He was right in front of you now, his breath hot against your skin as he stared down at you with an intensity that made your knees weak. “Ye got your perfect life, didn’t ye? While I was stuck here, rotting on this godforsaken Isle”.

“I didn’t have a choice” you repeated, your voice cracking. “I had to go, Harry. You don’t know how hard it was-“ “Ye left me” he interrupted again, this time his voice softer but no less fierce. His hand came up, the metal of his hook gleaming in the dim light as he pointed it at you. “Ye left me here alone”. You bit your lip, your heart aching at the pain in his voice. You wanted to reach out to him, to touch him, to tell him everything you had never been able to say. “I never wanted to leave you behind” you whispered, your voice trembling. “You were all I thought about”. Something flickered in his eyes at that. Surprise, maybe, or disbelief, but he didn’t move, his body still rigid with anger. For a long, agonizing moment, neither of you spoke, the silence heavy with everything that had been left unsaid over the years. “I didn’t hate ye, ye know” Harry finally said, his voice rough with emotion. His eyes softened slightly as he studied your face, and he let out a harsh breath. “I thought I did, but..I was just jealous. Jealous ye got out. That ye left me”.

You reached out tentatively, your hand brushing lightly against his chest. “I never stopped thinking about you, Harry. Never”. His breath hitched at your touch, his body tensing beneath your fingers. His free hand, the one not gripping his hook, came up to catch your wrist, holding it in place as his eyes bore into yours. “Do ye mean that?” he asked, his voice low and raw. You nodded, your heart pounding in your chest. “I mean it”.

For a moment, neither of you moved. You could feel the warmth of his hand on your skin, the way his chest rose and fell with each shaky breath. And then, with a growl of frustration, Harry closed the distance between you, crashing his lips against yours in a kiss that was as desperate as it was fierce. You gasped into the kiss, your hands flying up to tangle in his hair as you kissed him back just as eagerly. Years of pent-up emotion and unresolved tension poured into that kiss, the heat between you building with every second. Harry’s arms wrapped tightly around you, pulling you flush against his body, and you could feel the rapid thrum of his heartbeat as his lips moved against yours, hungry and demanding.

He backed you up against one of the wooden posts of the dock, pressing his body into yours as his lips trailed down the side of your neck, nipping at your skin with a wicked grin. “Ye don’t get to leave again” he murmured against your throat, his breath hot and teasing. “Not without me”. You shivered, your fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as you tugged him closer. “I’m not going anywhere”. “Good” he growled, his lips finding yours again in a searing kiss that left you breathless. His hook brushed lightly against your side, the cold metal sending a thrill through you as he tilted your chin up with his free hand. “Because I’ve spent too long thinkin’ about this, about ye”.

Your pulse raced as his lips hovered just above yours, his voice dropping to a low, seductive whisper. “And now that I’ve got ye… I’m not lettin’ go”. The mission to save Ben could wait, just for a little longer. For now, all that mattered was the heat of Harry’s touch and the way he made you feel like you had finally come home. And this time, you weren’t going to let him go.

-

Thank you for reading!

[galsinspace]

Replaying Inquisiton really made me notice (again) how the companions are written with such an incredibly noticeable difference in care. Man I hope they did a better job in Veilguard. And it's such a stark contrast from Origins!

I'll just post my comparative ramblings bc I'm on a train and have nothing better to do

In my opinion, one of the best things about Origins is the closeness you develop with your companions. You're with them through massive, formative changes in their lives, you find out about their childhood traumas and the people they've grown up to be, and as a player you make huge decisions that shape their future. By the end I felt so close to these characters. Looking at the main companions:

Alistair? We find out all about his longing for family, for love, his desire not to be defined by his blood and be able to live a normal life. You're both saddled with the responsibility to save the world together, and you do. Depending on the choices you make, he may have the love he longs for, and he may have to be king, you shape his life in a huge way.

Leliana? She literally seeks you out because she's received visions and is on a god-given mission. You literally shape the kind of person she becomes, whether she hardens or softens her heart.

Zevran? This is the most important period in his life. His flight from the Crows, his suicidal intent and then sudden wish to stay alive after all, finding new things to live for, remembering his mother, you save his life in more ways than one.

Morrigan? Literally the first time she's left her abusive mother's side and it's travelling with you. She finds her own ways to live, you give her the jewellery her mother wouldn't allow her, you help her confront her mother and free herself from her. You might literally be the father of her child.

Sten? Also suicidal, and you help him regain his self worth and sense of meaning in life. And you change him. He comes from a society with rigid rules and you help him see other ways of life. If you play as a woman, he's literally confused in the beginning that you're a fighter, and then as you gain his affection he acknowledges and respects you as who you are. He's not romanceable and probably changes the least out if the companions, but still goes through this monumental change of perspective about there being other valid ways of life. Sten should have been romanceable lbr

Oghren? It's super unfortunate how comic relief he is BECAUSE his story is so intense. The woman he loves disappeared! He's an alcoholic! He's so tied into the MAIN QUEST! He's tragic! You're with him through this massive thing he goes through and it really sucks that he can't really... change. You can't really help him. But even so, the events of the game are monumental to his life.

The Secret Companion is self-explanatory. You completely re-shape his life.

And in comparison, the companions in Inquisition are just WILDLY hit or miss. Some of them you become incredibly close to, others are just kinda there. Oh we're saving the world together? Just another day at the office babey. You don't really get to know them that deeply, you don't get to change their views, they're just there and you work together and then they go on their way. I'm of course talking mainly about Vivienne and Sera.

It's insane to me that Vivienne is this incredibly complex character who is the way she is because she grew up traumatized in an oppressive environment and you never get to talk to her about this. It's hidden in a few comments Cole may or may not drop if you travel with both of them. Her polished demeanor and ever-present smile? Learned in the Circle to demonstrate to templars that she was good, obedient, and non-possessed. Her materialism? When she met the duke, the thought in her head was I will never go hungry again.

Vivienne is TRAGIC. She's a deeply traumatized woman who has lived all her life in a system that did not grant her basic security, and she was strong and smart enough to gather power in the only ways she was allowed to. And you can't even talk to her about this. Her personal quest is some weird red herring bullshit meant to make you question whether she's a villain, comparing her to the evil queen from Snow White, and then it's just... her boyfriend dying. You can't change anything. You can barely talk to her about this relationship - it must have been a mix of love and practicality, a connection that gave her both tenderness and influence, the only power she was allowed to have. And it IS an injustice that she could never have married him! But you can't talk to her about this. Can't influence her viewpoint at all. All this complexity is hidden in subtext, and Vivienne does not change as a person at all.

Vivienne is outwardly cold towards Cole, dismissive, pragmatic, cruel. If Cole becomes more human, he points out to her that she secretly worried about him and is glad he's safe. She denies it. This is the only complexity she's allowed to show, hidden in random banter most players will never hear.

Why are we not allowed to be close to Vivienne? Why can't we talk to her? Explore who she is? Why does it feel like it literally does not matter whether we touch her life at all?

I've seen people claim that the fandom neglects Vivienne unfairly, but this was the WRITERS. They neglected Vivienne. They made it impossible to be close to her, they hid her complexity while just having her be straight-up rude for most of the game. This was a huge failure on the part of the writers. I've heard that her main writer said on twitter (DA writers should not be allowed to tweet) that he just didn't like her and that makes me so mad. Fucking video game writers...

And Sera. Oh, Sera.

She's annoying. Her jokes are painfully unfunny. It's super hard to get her to like you. Whenever you talk to her, the first option is to kick her out of the Inquisition. Why on EARTH did they write her this way?

Her personal quest is nothing. You go meet some guy, kill him, over. What does this MEAN??? What does this mean for Sera's character?? It's so fully useless, you learn nothing new, you don't get closer to Sera, who the fuck wrote this and why was this published.

And just like with Vivienne, you barely get to talk to Sera. She runs around with a huge case of internalized elf racism and you never get to talk about it. She literally won't put on armour marked as "elves only", what's up with that girl? She openly looks down on elves to the point of being annoyed to even talk to an elf Inquisitor, why can we never talk to her about this?

She's supposed to be from Denerim. Is she from the Alienage? The close-knit community Tabris is from? Does she know Tabris? She might literally know the Hero of Ferelden and it's never a topic of conversation. She would have been like, a young teenager at the time when the Alienage was suffering a plague and elves were being kidnapped and sold into slavery. Was this not a formative experience for her? Was she not there? Did she not live in the Alienage? Well all of Denerim became a war zone during the Blight, was that not a notable event in her life????

Why do we not get to explore anything that makes her the dismissive, flighty person she is?

Playing in German, there is fascinating ambiguity in the graveyard of your companion's fears that you find in the Fade - Sera's greatest fear is "nothing". In German, the word for the Fade is "the Nothing". I thought it made so much sense that that would be her greatest fear! She's afraid of anything involving magic and spirits, and it adds a nice metaphorical level to her rejection of anything elven: elves are supposed to be inherently connected to the Fade, but she's afraid of the Fade! Comments she makes seem to imply that she has a suppressed sensitivity to spirits, but either Solas or Cole suggesting that that might be the case clearly terrifies her.

Well, imagine my disappointment when I found out that in the original English, her fear is just "nothing". Which is bullshit too, Sera is clearly afraid of of anything Fade-related. I guess it might be some idea of how she's afraid of quiet and non-existence, but like... what a missed opportunity. What a dumb thing to be her greatest fear. What a missed opportunity.

And just like Vivienne, it doesn't feel like you really impact her life at all. Sera just comes and goes, she does her own thing, and she never unpacks any of her issues. Why was she written this way? Why did they think this would be a compelling companion experience? And for fuck's sake, who thought she was funny?

This rant is already way too long and I'm almost off the train so I won't write a full comparison to the Inquisition companions who were done well, but like, it's obvious. For some of them you touch their lives intimately, you shape their worlds, you actually feel close to them by the end of the game. How the fuck did this game get shipped with Vivi and Sera like that.

It's been 10 years and I hope the developers learned from their mistakes, if they noticed them in between sucking their own dicks on twitter.

[justalittleficsideblog]

s'ébahir

Gojo x reader Modern, College AU!

s'ébahir - (French; to be amazed, to be astounded, dumbstruck)

2k smth words

He always strolled into lab characteristically late. You envied his nonchalance, his stance of ease in which he would stroll into the lab and set his stuff down when the professor just began their lecture on the hazards you'd be dealing with today.

annoying

You were always early. Anxiously waiting for your seat so you could prep early and leave before the rest of your classmates.

The bastard was also, unfortunately, handsome. Devilishly tall with a lean build and white hair, he was a stark contrast against some of his fellow students.

"--it is IMPERTINENT that you wear your goggles the entire time during this lab. We will be dealing with concentrated hydrochloric acid--"

you droned out your teachers voice. Unlike some of the other students, you had read the lab manual the night before and watched a video on how to do everything correctly.

This wasn't your first rodeo.

Somewhat bored, your eyes drifted back to the male that was sitting across from you. The fume hood that was connected to your countertop obscured the view a bit, but you caught a glimpse of him leaning against it, head in his hand.

He seemed as bored as you were.

"Alright, lets begin!" An enthusiastic clap sounded.

You had noticed his hesitancy with the lab goggles each time. He chronically wore sunglasses indoors during class and around campus. But when it came to lab, your prof made no exceptions.

Tugging the too tight safety goggles over your eyes, you managed a glance to find startling azure ones starting back at you.

You smiled politely and turned to grab your equipment.

"Hey."

You glanced up at Gojo, who was leaning against your bench.

"What did you need this time?"

Gojo had a knack of stealing your shit since his tended to be always (coincidentally) misplaced or lost. He blamed Geto for it.

"Do you have an extra ring clamp? Geto took mine," he shrugged nonchalantly. You nodded and handed over the item, focusing back on your work.

"Do you know how much your putting in?" he leaned in closer, tapping your graduated cylinder with his hand.

"I can read fine enough Gojo."

"Are you sure? The lab manual said 12 mls...you wrote down 21"

Shit. He was right, you must've copied it down wrong last night.

It was slightly infuriating how sharp he actually was. He had such a lazy demeanor it was easy to forget he tended to be top of the class.

"Ugh, I don't remember how much I've put in it already." you ran your hand through your hair, frustrated as you eye the clock.

The liquid in the flask turned a murky brown, fizzing slightly.

Ok yeah.. that is definitely not what happened in the video.

Gojo leaned over and swirled the flask in his hands, the murky liquid turning darker.

"Yeah, you put way too much into that," he blew out a low whistle.

Fuck. You're going to have to redo the entire thing. Biting your lip, you glance at the clock again.

I'm not going to get a chance to study before my lecture exam...

"Oh come on, just partner up with me," he smirks, nodding towards his bench. "I'll even let you do all the work."

You scowled. You hated partnering up, you ended up doing everything anyway. But you were quick about it on your own.

Looking back towards your failure and the clock, you realize you don't have much of a choice.

"Fine," you nod and walk to his bench. "But lets be as quick as we can."

He grinned.

-

"Alright, now we just have wait."

The worst part about science, you argued, is the "waiting" portion of it.

Some experiments take time. This unfortunately, was one of them.

"We work together pretty well," he leaned forward. "One could almost say we have....chemistry."

You cringed as he laughed at your response. "Hilarious, Gojo."

A shadow loomed over you. "Did he get you with some of his science lines?"

You smiled. Contrary to Gojo, Geto was more composed and studious as you were. You both talked often, considering you had a lot of the same classes as him.

"It was too good not to!" Gojo replied, spinning around in his chair.

You rolled your eyes, glancing back towards your glassware. Geto was easy to be around, he was calm and didn't try to get a rise out of you like his white-haired friend did. He made you a little more nervous, he was kind of unpredictable. Not to mention pretty.

"I think its done," you pointed to the bubbling flask.

Geto nodded to you, "good luck then."

You smiled back at him, pretending not to feel your blue-eyed partner staring at you.

-

Gojo

He doesn't know why he wants to fluster you. Or why it grates on his nerves that you can so easily smile at Geto when you seemed to struggle around him.

Technically, your experiment earlier would have been salvageable. Yeah, your yield would've been low, but he jumped at the chance to work with you without thinking.

He meant what he said earlier, you both worked surprisingly well together.

Taking the flask from you, he began to dry as you washed everything up. He didn't quite want to be done just yet, labs weren't his favorite part but he found himself looking forward to this one.

Not that it had anything to do with you.

Geto always argued that he was "just into you" but he didn't agree. He just thought your intellect was interesting, that's all.

It had nothing to do with the way you always showed up with enthusiasm, drawing him in as he watched you be engaged with your work. He couldn't wonder why--

"Gojo?" Bright eyes looked up at him as you waved the last Erlenmeyer in front of his face. "Hey, we're done."

Startled, he nearly dropped the thing he was drying. "Right, yeah. See you around, then."

He cursed himself slightly for his cowardice.

"Well, actually, did you want to finish up the lab report quick ? We have plenty of time," you looked at your phone as you said it.

Realistically, he would say no. He doesn't finish his reports until the last minute anyway.

But to get the chance to fluster you more.

Ah, hell. Why not?

"yeah, we can do that." He shrugged nonchalantly. Geto met his gaze across the lab and quirked an eyebrow at him.

He bared his teeth in response.

"Should we go to the library then?" Your voice cut through his thoughts, catching him unawares as you shoved the paper into his hands.

He nodded quickly, fishing around in his backpack for his glasses as he ripped off the goggles still glued to his face.

He motioned for you to go first, following behind and out of the lab as he let you pick where to sit down.

You picked a spot across the campus cafe, he inwardly wondered if you came to study here frequently. Th atmosphere was quiet and there was a lot of natural light that made it easy to relax and focus.

Setting down his bookbag, he tuned into your ramblings about the lab.

"What do you think about the yield? I think we could base our conclusions around it. Maybe even mention the slight color difference when we added the--"

Your drive to finish this was commendable. He was put off a bit by how you didn't seem affected by him at all. Most people saw his sunglasses as odd, and honestly the general consensus was that he was constantly nursing a hangover.

There was a lapse of silence and you both typed away on your laptops, broken up by only you saying:

"Why do you wear those sunglasses all the time?"

Eyebrows raised, "Secret." The corner of his lip turned up.

"Is it because of your eyes?"

His smirk fell. It wasn't so much that he cared about how his eyes seemed to freak people out. It was more about how sensitive they were to light and packed spaces. He used to get frequent headaches because of it, but the glasses thwart off the edge enough now.

He merely shrugged in response to your question. "The light bugs my eyes sometimes."

You nodded back in understanding, "Ugh, tell me about it. I used to get migraines from the fluorescent lights when I was younger."

He stiffened. Such a minute detail, but he couldn't help but consider the gesture as an act of empathy. Seeing past his usual charm.

You both fell back into silence, quickly finishing your report and hoping off of the chair you inhabited just moments ago.

He felt his heart pound as you smiled up at him, watching your every movement as you threw your bag over your shoulder and made to leave.

"We finished that quick! Good luck on this exam later, not that you'll need it."

His arm burned from where you patted his shoulder as you strode out of the cafe lounge and towards some other study zone. Glancing down at it, he almost expected it to catch fire.

Eyes flicking up over his glasses, he looked down the hallway you had left.

Damn.

He might just have to make your lab fail next time.

[imjulia-andilikecats]

A Longer Response to @rainstorms-moonrivers

It is unusual to see an account address criticism on their previous post and I thank you for evaluating our response to that.

Firstly, your initial post was strongly worded. I could sense that you deeply empathized with Maven, given his unfortunate upbringing and ending. Couple with how his character was handle in War Storm, I can't fault you on seeking justice for the tragic end of a character you are really fond of.

However, when you start pointing at characters that are victims of his mother and expecting them to help Maven, that's where we start to have a disagreement.

In your initial post, you listed Elara, Julian, and Anabel as the true villains in Red Queen. Putting emphasis on Julian and Anabel's contribution to Maven's abuse. Framing it in a way that these two are somewhat worse for not being called out on how they treated Maven. While Elara is being called out left and right, and seen as the main perpetrator of Maven's abuse.

I do agree that abuse is complicated. However in this setting, the story and the way the power structure is framed. Elara, with her whispers, abused Maven and molded him into whatever she wanted/needed. While doing so, it is a common practice for abusers to completely isolate their victims from anyone who could help them.

This includes Julian. In your response post, you expressed that Julian and Maven could have at least had a good/decent relationship. Given Maven was not yet born when Coriane died and Sara got her tongue removed for speaking up about her friend. It would be unfair and unreasonable even for Julian to extend his cold demeanor towards Elara's son. Even telling Mare that "He is his mother's son." However, this statement from Julian was not rooted in anger or spite. He was warning Mare and expressing caution. Because when he said that, Maven was 17 years old and a few months away from betraying Mare and usurping Cal's throne.

I do agree that Julian is familiar with Elara's powers. Decades before Mare's arrival. Elara has always schemed and killed her way to the throne. The moment Coriane walked down the aisle and Elara made her trip, that's where her terror began. Julian witnessed Elara's rise to power, taking over the operation within the palace and forming strong alliances with certain houses. He knew facing Elara head-on would mean death or her harming those he held dear. Like Sara, since after her tongue got cut off and branded a liar who spoke ill of the late Queen Coriane. Instead of exiling her from court, she kept her around to be ridiculed and reduced to a shadow of once a bright and skilled healer. Cal, his nephew and heir to the throne, is bound to follow his father's wishes, and his existence is greatly unwelcome by Elara. Both he dearly loves and the only ones keeping him from leaving the palace and openly opposing Elara. So he had no choice but to resign himself as a passive librarian who spends most of his time with books than with people.

Note: Also, apologies for a longer response to your long response and having it posted in a separate post. I do not want this message to be hidden in the comments or reblogs because I have seen a noticeable amount of people here have a similar take on Julian, that he should have helped Maven and he is horrible for not doing anything for him.

This, to me, is a very unfair, simplified, and wholely wrong take on his character since Julian is not just some side character that is related to Cal, who dislikes Elara and Maven. All I ask is for the fandom to at least view Julian Jacos as his own character who experienced tragedies and suffered injustices most of his life yet still extended his kindness to those he believed would bring hope and change in their world, not some spiteful librarian who bullied a teenager.

Credits to: @nymphenberger for helping me compose this response and sharing good points.

[bluelightning16]

Parallels Within the Vanrouge Family

In light of the recent update, Lilia and Silver are far more similar than I initially thought. Beyond the obvious comparisons of being orphans and possessing some modicum of an adopted family, their actions and mindsets have some curious parallels.

Though the exact details behind why Lilia assumed the position of general are still unclear, it's undeniable that his work comprises serving his guardian, Maleficia—just as Silver's work entails serving him and Malleus. The question is, was this a choice he made himself, or had it been foisted upon him? Does he play his part out of genuine devotion or guilt and obligation? Either way, it would be very interesting if this loyalty and filial piety were values he—consciously or not—imparted to his son.

Furthermore, both tend to work towards peace before anything else. This, I can more confidently say, is a direct byproduct of Lilia's experiences and a staple of his subsequent teachings. Still, even in the midst of a war, as we've seen in his dream/memory, he only truly attacks the known enemy. The Dream Quartet, arguably, could be viewed as a liability and a nuisance (perhaps spies at worst, considering that half of the group is human). However, he allows them to tag along regardless, even going so far as to save Silver when he doesn't have to. Thus, maybe some of that peacemaking nature is innate.

I'd also like to point out that Lilia and Silver are caregivers in their own rights. Whereas Lilia tends to take children (especially those without parents around to guide them... hmmm...) under his wing, Silver is constantly caring for some assortment of animals. While both are serious and strict when the time calls for it, that isn't necessarily their default demeanor. They often are the ones shown to be looking out for those around them, as well.

There are probably a ton of points that I've missed—such as their tendencies to keep quiet about their respective feelings and personal problems COUGH—but overall, I think that this covers the current brainrot I wanted to share, lol ^^ I can't wait to see how their relationship further develops in the Book 7 updates to come!

[avampyone]

Prompt 11: Never forgotten

Characters: Seiro Malkavi, Hemlocke, mentions of Pierre Beaufort and Olivia Desmarais.

Synopsis: Seiro tries to speak with a withdrawn and temperamental Hemlocke.

Setting: Mor Dhona, Rising Stones.

Warning - Grief, mentions of parental death and crime.

-----------------------

After waving off his comrades who disbursed into the town above with chatter of the daily tasks they meant to take care of that day, Seiro himself remained seated comfortably on his bar stool alongside the non-descript bar before him with no one presently to serve. It was unnecessary. He reached over to grab a full bottle of ale to relax in the quiet of the evening with only the rhythmic sound of the clock ticking off in the distance. Although, he knew he was not alone.

In the open space, he found Hemlocke quietly seated off by himself as he had been for some time. He stared off to the side to something hidden from view under the drape of a thick white cloth. From the shape, it was likely to be a pianoforte. The ornate silver dagger lay sheathed on the table in front of him, beginning to look increasingly worn from the first time they met. Yet, Seiro personally had never seen him use it in their adventures. He had stormed off from their party earlier on when they questioned him for his snappy and temperamental behavior – Quite unlike him.

The hunter waited there, letting the quiet linger on, to remain if anything was needed if nothing else. Suddenly, Hemlocke’s hand careful of his clawlike nails wrapped about the dagger when he stood up with near enough force to knock back the chair with features cast down and appearing intent to quietly make his way out with quick strides much like a restless cat seeking to roam.

“Sometimes running away is the right choice, but not always.” Like the sudden burst of flame giving light to a short fuse, Hemlocke all but turned on him. His slender brows furrowed in a fit of anger, but oddly there was nothing more than a menacing smirk to his features like trying and futilely failing to keep the appearance of a gentleman.

A gentleman competing with the ticking of a bomb, “And so, what If I want to?! Come off your damned high horse already...I see how it is.. You will start telling me what to do? You wish to act like you own me now?!” A deep fury lit up in Hemlocke’s gaze when he spouted off so suddenly. Seiro’s two toned gaze watching him calmly with a gentle sway of his tail behind him with an elbow easing onto the bar in front of him. He knew the mage well – knew well that none of these angry words were meant for him.

“Do you feel better, my friend?” With his hands clenched so tight around the dagger, those slender digits slowly eased to some degree with a heavy breathe of air escaping him and lowering his partially covered features in shame, “I-I am sorry – “The softly spoken apology came out between another labored breathe. The au ra did nothing more than scoot up a little to reach for the nearest bottle of gin to bring out, tear off the cap and pour heavily into an empty glass to place on the bar. He gestured to the spot beside him – yet, not in any demand if he still wished to leave.

A few long moments passed before Hemlocke eventually came with much hesitation to settle in that spot even if he still gave off a distrustful aura of cat that might reach out to claw any who approached having lived in the wilds for far too long. His shaky hand reached out to wrap around the glass even if he made no motion to drink it.

“Do you wish to speak of it...?”

There was a general heaviness to Hemlocke’s demeanor that he found it hard to lift his gaze, nor would be meet Seiro’s own, “…It is my mum’s nameday today. The man whom I learned later was my surrogate father was never present for hers ever. She never asked for much…Only ever asked that I play for her while my mentor, Pierre, sang…”

With a careful breathe, Seiro took another deep swig from his bottle of ale all the while with a tap of his callused fingers along the bar as if affording himself a moment to think, “But, she has…passed onto the next life?” There was a heat that he could feel emanating from Hemlocke as if spurred by the weight of memories he typically was not one to divulge.

Hemlocke’s hand clenched and unclenched about the filled glass of gin not so unlike how he did the dagger in troubled times while he shook his head adamantly, “She has not passed on. It…the circumstances…” Even if he remembered why now, there were blanks when he felt naught more than the wispy ghost of a child wandering the manor during that period. Pierre’s heated insistence for Olivia’s death to be investigated further. The sudden disappearance of the body. An empty coffin buried.

“An unnatural death then...” Seiro deduced, lifted his free hand to fetch the hat atop his head to lower to the bar top careful not to snag them on the curved horns near his features. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully – like he had an idea, but he didn’t speak of it.

Even if he knew in his heart of hearts, Hemlocke had trouble accepting this fact. He stared down in the appearance of wide shock, a glassy look to his red eyes, but no tears ever came, “It was…easier to pretend. I left small mementos around the manor – the items she carried. That way – it was like she could walk in through those doors anytime. Like it never happened…”

Hemlocke’s lifeless words trailed off and shook his head with a firm close to his eyes like to seal it away again. He didn’t wish to see anymore. With his toned arm lifting to gently brace about the mage and a light squeeze to his shoulder, Seiro’s warm reassuring smile emerged, “Do not push yourself so hard. If you need time, be honest with us. And yourself. In time, it will be easier little by little...” The deep melancholic rumble lay steeped in all too much understanding of grief and loss – that everyone processed this differently.

[dmagedgoods]

Owlcatober Day 22 - Nobility: The Intruder

His bright, familiar laugh captivated him the way it always had. It was a condescending sound, but it didn’t lack interest. “Lord Adar! A pleasure. I take it that you are not a frequent visitor to such exuberant gatherings? You ignored my last invitations with flagrant indifference.” The young, long-haired man smiled at Daeran. “A lord? Only on the paper.” With a cheeky wink, he added: “But you can call me Tao.” “I will call you a welcome distraction. This celebration long outlived its purpose: to provide me with frivolous, inordinate entertainment.” Daeran made a tired gesture. “Look at them, as tedious as uninspiring wherever I go, by ill luck, even here at the gate to the fearsome worldwound.” The party was past its peak, indeed, most of its decadent guests had reached an unpleasant level of drunkenness or intoxication by various drugs and alcoholic beverages, unable to even stand straight, muttering nonsense with their pompous, tasteless clothes disheveled, giggling senselessly while lying on red velvet couches and colorful pillows on the floor, or fucking prostitutes in corners not dark enough to spare him the view of their sweating, grunting bodies. The room was a disgusting mess of empty bottles, half-eaten food, knocked-over furniture, and two or three unconscious bodies. He had never seen Daeran not bored sooner or later during his own gatherings of this very nature, and still it seemed they stayed his diversion of choice for a reason unknown to him. “Rumors say it’s the Knight Commander himself who provides you with distractions,” the strangely sober, late guest continued their conversation, and Daeran’s smile grew cold. “The Knight Commander? He wouldn’t condescend to do something more fun than take a bath in ice water. He reminds me a little of my dear cousin, both politicians - which should be telling enough already -, as fond of their power as of their own wearisome voices. Even more, they share the same self-righteous, holier-than-thou demeanor that bores their enemies to death before they get an opportunity to attack. One should think that with this remarkable ability, the crusades would have been over a long time ago.” Fierce agony had entwined his body and soul alike, contracting tighter and tighter around his very being, cutting into what was left of him with every painful breath. His wishes blurred with his reality and memories, his need for him, his bitter yearning. Was Daeran feeling it too? – Or had he been successful at shaking him off like an annoying fever dream? The stranger laughed. “So, people are right with their stories? He is Iomedae’s chosen one?” “You truly haven’t spent much time in Drezen, have you? The only one who chose him is himself, as some quite amusing current developments have shown. Neither Iomedae nor my cousin are overly fond of him anymore. An enjoyable little irony.” The only one who chose him is himself. The truth in those words weighed heavy on his heart. “Well then, it seems, you and I, we are outliers among the local nobility.” Lord Adar smiled his charismatic smile, and a part of him wanted to turn it into a grimace of pain. “We?” Daeran asked mockingly. “Well, unfortunately, we are surrounded by his kind in one direction, and …” He gestured toward the room. “theirs in the other.” “Excruciating.” “In this case, as your distraction of choice, allow me to suggest something closer to the excitement you wished for.” “Oh? And what could you possibly have in mind with that oh-so-subtle insinuation?” The stranger leaned closer until his lips almost touched Daeran’s ear. He couldn’t hear the words, but he saw his mouth brush his cheek, Daeran’s long fingers on his arm as if to hold him in place, and how Lord Adar elegantly escaped him nonetheless. “My room. In half an hour, and I will await you in most pleasant anticipation.” With that, and after a playful bow, he left through the large doorway. Daeran leaned back. Not a hint of a smile stayed on his features the moment he found himself alone again among his illustrious guests.

Maybe it was his oracle senses, maybe just a last hint of their once-so-strong connection, but something made him look up to the low, elegant gallery with the dark entwined balustrade, his luminescent eyes attentive and searching the moment he stepped back into the shadows. His black coat merged with the darkness. He should not have come, not have given in to the urge to see him. For some long, torturous heartbeats, they stood motionless. Sensing each other’s presence. Or maybe just a vague impression. Then Daeran turned around and walked towards the door as well to get ready for his distraction of choice. A potion of invisibility hid him further when, eventually, he stepped out of the darkness and left the house behind. ~ While not needing the story at all, this little snippet is an added scene to "Below" and happens after the second chapter.

[ctheathy]

Yandere Hawt Saus Headcanons

Yandere Hawt Saus x Reader

Yandere Headcanons

Author’s note : Yeah, I’m gonna be that one weirdo that writes xReader for Chikn Nuggit. What r you gonna do dude, I’m too far gone.💀

You and the cast are either both human//gijinkas or animals.

Potential ⚠️TWs⚠️ :

Bullying // harassment • Guilt tripping • Begging • Superior mindset • Possessive+delusional behaviour • Abandonment trauma • Isolation • Threats+blackmail mention • Hawt Saus has a mental breakdown lmao

Ah yes, one of the, if not the most distinctive character from the Chikn Nuggit series. He’s known to be quite the cruel squirrel with a vile blabbermouth, having no shame whatsoever in speaking his mind completely and occasionally throwing rude commentary left and right. He doesn’t understand that his poor choice of words affects others and this has caused him to become quite the ... Disliked character in both the cast fromout viewer point and among his witnesses themselves, often showing pure hatred in his screentime appearances. But even so, there’s been one particular episode that made us look fromout a new and unexpected perspective; one that has implied that he does in fact have his reasonings behind why he behaves the way he does. This point of view has also made me believe that he’d be one of the easiest characters among the group to grow these dependent and complicated feelings torwards somebody, who unfortunately, just so happens to be you.

Right at the start of you two meeting one another, Hawt Saus has had... mixed feelings about you. At first glance at your excessive sweetness he had already made you out to be just like all the others around--being just as similar like those absolute weirdos, causing him to act just as cruel as he would torwards any other acquaintance in his circle. But instead of backing off and avoiding the red squirrel at all costs like the others would, you would instead never quit showing him your neutral and basic kindness you’d give the others. I can see him being both confused and in severe denial about it at first, not believing a speck of the gentle demeanor you had to offer. Literally nobody wanted nor tried to get along with him, it would be considered a miracle for his doing if somebody only stuck around for a day or two. You must be trying to define him as some fool, aren’t you? tricking him only to leave him in the dust right afterwards.

But there’s gonna be some point where he cannot deny these desires for tenderness any longer, not caring much anymore whenever they end up being false or not. He might come off as quite picky and judgemental in any connections he might face, behaving like he has seemingly high standards; when truthfully saying, all he genuinely wishes for would be one singular being who doesn’t leave him after a noticeable while of sticking around, after seeing how truly awful he can get at times. Or perhaps it’s even quite the opposite. After all, he did always have an imagery of being this confident and self centered animal who cannot be brought torwards insecurity no matter the costs. It’s almost close to becoming realism in his own head, creating an entire different identity in behaviour to try and deny the fact that his current biggest fear would be any other realising he is realistically just as soft as they are. The catch being that despite the urges growing rapidly in the back of his own head, he could never grow close with another without the cracks of his made up facade slowly starting to show.

When getting close with somebody, I cannot picture him as much else other than severely possessive; wanting nothing more then to be your favourite person and actively fighting those who try getting close to you whenever he’s around. Which is also something you’d rarely see again when emotionally getting to him, personal space. He’s always holding onto atleast some part of your figure, hugging you from the side like it’s his only support, giving you ramblings and gossip to no end, literally forcing himself into your comfort zone, and for anybody else who just so happens to be around those particular personal moments? Well, they’ll be the unlucky one for the day that will figure out what it’s like to have upset a trashmouth, leaving you to profusely apologise.

Talking about the others, they are also to gain a whole lot more garbage from him now that you’ve came around. He knows that you’d be one to get along with them well, realising how wonderful of an entity you truly are. Due to this, he’d actively push you away from them and when contact with you does occur, he’d easily be one to either just threaten the bunch himself or go after any potential blackmail he can get his grabby hands on. Anything to keep them on an acceptable distance between you. As Sody himself has said, he’s unpleasant; but it had unexpectedly multiplied even more so when you got into the picture-- He may has had his troubled emotions with you at first, but I assure you those got swapped around real fast after you just happened to reduce his emotional desires to such a great extent.

Though when pushing his behaviour aside and if the mutual contact is coming fromout the darling themselves, however; he might already be pushed far enough to snap, having caused in quite some embarrassing moments occuring outside the house. When doing so he feels betrayed in a way, his insecurity blinding the common sense in his mindset and throwing all logic out of the window in order to keep you with him. It’s irresponsible to act off emotions, he knows this, but he is desperate. He views you as the only one who could ever legitimately love him the way that you do, and he doesn’t plan on having limits in order to keep things that way.

There’s one you’d already remember in particular. All you did was hang out with Chikn on a weekend afternoon without telling him, all had went just fine until the two of you had surprisingly walked into him on the way, truthfully assuming it was already him looking for you in distress to begin with. There was quite the offense in his tone, wanting to know why you had been here, with nobody but that dog for that matter. After calmly explaining the meetup the two of you were having together and not seeing a big deal with it, you were ready to turn around and continue off with your day. But Hawt Saus? He went berserk- Everything honestly became rather blurry after that, but you remember him screaming at the both of you at the top of his lungs with teary eyes, catching the attention of many bystanders and publicly humiliating not only you, but himself. There even was a point where he was close to getting physical with Chikn aswell, and you were sure if it wasn’t for his size, he surely could have made some serious damage; little paws grabbing, scratching and pulling onto the fur in a blind rage, leaving the pup mortified. In the end it was you who had to literally pry him off, kindly asking the dog for cancellation with the plans from before and in the meantime dragging the squirrel off with you in order to have a very serious conversation about this.

Very much a crybaby. Despite how minor his responses might be torwards any other’s complaining about his worsened demeanour, usually just taking them with a grain of salt, your opinions and comments have a whole lot more effect on both his self confidence levels and thought processes. When scolding him about his inappropriate behaviour, clearly showing your unhappiness about his unwell intentions; he breaks. He’s absolutely had his moments like these before, but they were nothing in comparison to this breakdown. Literally crumbling to the floor and latching himself onto your feet, going as far to beg for your forgiveness in order to get those little bits of kindness back you’ve so cruelly ripped away from him. You knew there was a part of him guilt tripping you, but you couldn’t get yourself to say no to his now shattered state. And that fact alone made you question yourself if it was truly the best idea to have treated him as lovingly as you always had,

Much less having agreed to a legitimised relationship with the unstable squirrel.

[sangre]

I'm gonna need ALL of these Qs for Satine, but let's start w 2, 12, 60, + one q of your choice 👀

sixty-nine more questions for your ttrpg characters! / ask.

(my mom voice) HI LADYBUG

2. what was your original concept for this character? how did playing them change that concept?

a ways back, i originally had this very loose idea that was a warlock with a theater inclined patron that i would name after the very basic concept of satine from mooulin roouge. i wanted a character who had a tenuous relationship with a patron that sort of viewed life as a play, or was a playwright, something like that. but obviously that changed before i sat down to play her because i don't think warlock was in the cards :3 and what i wanted in a character changed by the time we got closer to starting.

i do think playing satine in a few sessions has definitely cemented my confidence in the decision to play him a long ways from that concept, since she's come such a long way. playing him has like definitely helped me find his earnest boldness and like figuring out how to balance a more reserved, serene demeanor with like, frequent interaction with the world around her. i think the very first incarnation of satine in my brain was a lot more 'down a rough path' than he is now, which is nice... for him...! ;LGKSDG';SDFSGKF

cont. / 4

12. how have they altered their body? piercings, tattoos, biohacks, or other modifications—anything. why (or why not) did they (or someone else) make those changes?

SO since this satine is a construct who's only technically existed for a couple years now, she hasn't made the time to invest in many piercings on his own :o at least, so far anyway!! but one thing that is of note is the two f-hole tattoos that satine has running down his ribs.

prior to being reconstructed, satine aleth told refrain about wanting to get those tattooed if they found an artist they connected with. obviously no one found the time to do that before (drags finger across neck), so refrain left the impressions there in ink when he rebuilt his body. and now he has these cute permanent cello f-holes over the rib cage, which are so cute. i think she really really likes them too, which is definitely a subconscious carryover from the last life.

i think she likes piercings too, esp since refrain had a cute labret and violence has some too. but hasn't gotten any yet! maybe janvi can help her choose one that will be easy to maintain, he he he

60. what do they have faith in? what keeps them believing?

aw good question :( i think satine has faith in life and the world. even when he's been more afraid of anything, the world has given back to him and made sure to look after him. she's always wound up back in the arms of security, and someone showed her love. it's totally a matter of circumstance that's thrown her this way and that but like... the choices he's seen people make to do the right thing (as well as the right thing could be done) and treat her well is always a 'made choice.' you know? so people keep her faith high. he assumes the best as much as he's able to.

despite being a cleric of song (as we know it's an eccentric power source) he hasn't spent a ton of time studying religion, on account of, well, not spending more than a couple years having lived. but i look forward to her finding more love of the world through what's played in its creation!! in time, maybe there will be something more that he prays to. ^w^

69. what’s one secret they don’t want getting out?

well! despite the fact that she's not entirely comfortable being treated as the former living satine, this incarnation of him still wants to keep that legacy alive. wants to let people think that the theatre de la miséricorde still lives on through someone who carried on after the fire, even after it burned down. because of what it gave to people who visited it, and what it meant to people who made a living there. shared stories there. changed people's lives and touched others! you know. creation is community!

so he doesn't want people from the public who know of satine aleth's reputation to think of him as dead. because, well, he's not! not really.

maybe some might argue otherwise, but... hehe. 🎶 don't they know through song we live forever!?!?!!?

[agirlking]

Hi, fellow anti-anti here, so please let's be friends even if we agree to disagree because it's all fiction anyway :) And sorry about the long ask.

I saw your posts about Joel, and I do get your point - that Joel was motivated by his own feelings, not morality. But I genuinely want to understand why you think Joel was the bad guy in that ending.

The Fireflies didn't ask Ellie if she was ok with sacrificing herself to make the vaccine and didn't let Joel talk to her. The only explanation as to why is because that way Marlene and Jerry could comfort themselves by believing Ellie would have said "yes" rather than risking her saying "no" and having to kill a horrified Ellie explicitly against her will.

If the Fireflies had given Ellie a choice, if Joel and Ellie had the opportunity to talk first, if Joel were unable to convince her to not go through with the surgery/sacrifice, and heard from her own lips that this was what she really wanted... Can you see Joel gunning down the Fireflies in cold blood while dragging a horrified Ellie away from the hospital against her will? I think most fans' gripe with the narrative in Part II that Joel took away Ellie's choice is because the Fireflies were the ones who actually did that.

And yes, later Ellie feels betrayed by Joel's actions and lies, and she says she would rather have followed Marlene’s plan. But let’s invert the original scene: When Ellie is just about to get sedated for the surgery, she hears shots being fired and Joel’s scream. She runs off and sees Joel dead and Marlene holding the gun that killed him. Ellie realizes the truth: nobody had told her that the surgery would kill her and Joel was trying to stop them. Would she still have followed Marlene and accepted her death peacefully, and think Joel was in the wrong for trying to save her? I think it’s natural for Ellie to get mad at Joel for what he did and ignore Marlene precisely because Joel survived and Marlene didn’t, but I fully believe if the scenario was inverted, Ellie would have supported Joel’s actions.

I don’t really see what makes Joel the bad person, I think in the end he was basically a cornered animal who reacted purely on impulse to the Fireflies’ unilateral decisions. Would really like to know your point of view on what makes him bad.

I don't say this with disrespect, but honestly I'm exhausted of having this argument, cause it just goes in circles, so I'm not going to get TOO into all of this.

Joel doomed humanity for his own feelings. Joel disregarded Ellie's agency and autonomy for his own feelings. That makes him the bad guy. He was not panicking when he killed them, he was calm. He knew what he was doing, and his calm demeanor in the car afterward and his unflinching lies only prove that.

I very very very very VERY VERY VERY often see this argument of "The FIREFLIES took her choice because they didn't ask her." But...Ellie told Joel before they got there she wanted the cure made period. At any cost. Did she use the words "including if it kills me"? No. Was that the implication? Yes. Her decision was MADE. (And if they were taking her choice then why is it okay Joel did that too? Wouldn't the answer be he should've broken her out and run off and given her a chance to wake up and decide to go back? But he didn't do that, because it wasn't about that. This is what I mean when I say people push their own morals onto it. Joel did not think for a second about how wrong it was Ellie didn't get to choose, he was thinking how he'd feel if she died. Which is a very normal way for a parent to react.) It doesn't MATTER the Fireflies made a decision instead of asking her (who would want to do that? Let a kid know you're going to kill them? And as saving humanity is objectively more important than ONE life, then what would they do if she said that wasn't okay? They'd have to kill her anyway, yeah you're right it probably was to comfort themselves because they were not psychopaths who wanted to do this, but recognized they had to.) Because Ellie already made that choice.

That was the whole reason for Sam, that plus her experience with Riley. Ellie WATCHED two people turn and die that could've been saved with a cure. (This was further emphasized with the body she finds in the hotel with Joel in the second game). She can't ignore that. She doesn't value her life more than everyone else's, and she SHOULDN'T, because as much as we and Joel love her her life isn't more valuable than every person that won't have to turn, and be killed by someone they love, if a cure and or vaccine existed.

And Joel was already a bad person. The first game told us that before the ending. Tommy's reactions told us that. Joel realizing the guy was faking his injury told us that. How calmly he was able to bludgeon a man to death told us that, (I do not blame him for wanting to stop Ellie being cannibalized and assaulted, I'm talking about his demeanor and how calm it was). Joel was never good.

And that's okay! It's okay Joel is not good and it's okay he did something wildly wrong, that makes him interesting. And he does still love Ellie and in many ways was a good father. That does not make him a good person.

I guess part of the issue with why I disagree with so much of the fandom here is I'm a type of person who sees those "you can kill ten people to save one newborn or sacrifice the newborn to save ten people" questions and go "well sacrifice the newborn. Duh. Needs of the many." So I have never gotten how it could be a debate, regardless of how it went down, if it was right to destroy all possibility of a cure. To me it would never be right. Though I acknowledge that's me putting my morals on the situation lol so I'm not fully above it. But I think it let me step back from the knee-jerk reaction of "but they're killing a kid!" to think about it differently.

I apologize if I sound hostile, I tend to be passionate, and as I said I've spent YEARS seeing people ignore what the story was trying to say, and in the process harass a lot of people (like Abby's face model...) because their headcanons weren't what they chose to validate, even though narratively and tonally the second game was sound. Hell we even all knew Joel would die! The very first teaser trailer we saw everyone went "oh Joel's going to die." But then it happened and everyone acted shocked.

[bronx-aro]

One thing i think is really interesting with both the Undertale and Deltarune fandom is that even though the characters are quite developped, everyone i see seems to have the felt the same way when they experienced the story. (Alphys and Berdly seems to be the exeption to that for each game, but i will get into that later).

And while it's really cool to see everyone share their feelings and how much they love these stories, i never actually see discuss the way it made them feels outside of in the moment let's play, and maybe a joke about photoshop flowey, the genocide run/snowgrave and killing toriel.

So, and bear with me here, because i'm going to rant a bit about how my experience with both IT and deltarune chapter 2 seem to differ from most people's.

I DID NOT LIKE PAPYRUS AND QUEEN WHEN FIRST PLAYING.

Queen especially, Papyrus i like better now but he's still probably at the bottom of the list of my favorite "main" characters for UT now.

Okay, before you bring out the pitchforks for the Papyrus slander, i want to explain a few things.

When i first played UT, the only thing i knew about it was the "wanna have a bad time" meme, Sans apparence and the fact their was multiple routes deoending on your actions.

So i played a bit, killed toriel, felt really bad and reset because there was no way this was part of whatever "good" route i knew existed. Flowey gave me an existantial crisis so bad it made me reconsider my entire life choices and made me aware to my core that everything here actually mattered, that what i did mattered, if not to them, then to me.

Needless to say that was ingrained in me whenever i played UT and afterward DR.

So here i was, freaked out, and then immediatly introduced to the squelbros. I knew there was more to Sans that met the eye but his demeanor was so chill i knew he was a companion i would enjoy to have along.

Do any of you remember meeting Papyrus for the first time? Because it was with him having been described as a human hunting fanatic.

Not a good start to my already nervous ass. To say i was apprehensive was an understatment. Because even if he seemed aloof, you dont need to be smart and collected to hurt someone. Even if it became obvious quite quickly he wabted to capture me and not kill me, it took me until i fought with him to realise that he actually wouldnt hurt me even by accident.

I DID enjoy all the puzzles and interractions before snowdin, but i probably wouldnt have been as relaxed playing it if Sans wasnt out there keeping an eyesocket out for me.

So! First impression of Papyrus? A bit nerve wacking, but it was still funny so it can only go up from there? Right?

Right?

...

Okay, let's go about the date.

I didnt want to be there. At all. I purposfully didnt flirt with him the whole fight because the entire idea made me uncomfortable to my core. I was SO relieved at the end it. The actual date was alright, i guess, but it made me feel bad more than it made me have a fun time.

Okay, a rough patch. What's next?

Him introducing us to Undyne!

And that was when i realised why didnt like him all that much. Yeah, he's good hearted and all, but... He just pulls me everywhere assuming that this fine. He kept projecting his own wants onto me, and everyone around him, and never took the rejection well. Sans being a sentry? Hil and Undyne's whole thing? Clear exemple of that.

And yeah, they might have went along with it because they cared, but the game didnt give me that choice, either. And even outside of that, he clearly had trouble considering other peoples points of view and accepting them.

All of that, combined with the mask of the great papyrus he puts on making it hard to know what is true, exageration, or something he might have deluded himself into thinking was true, made it pretty hard to connect with him.

...

So! That's it with Papyrus! It's a perspective i have wanted to share for a while but seeing how the fandom could fall into the whole "if anyone says anything bad about this character ever i would murder them" thing i wasnt really comfortable doing it unless in longpost format.

...

So now, let's talk about Queen!

Unlike with Papyrus, i was actually really freaking surprised to see that seemingly nobody felt the same way about her than i did. Like, i was downright gobsmacked. So, unlike with UT, i will begin this by the end of the stories: me interracting, ith the fandom after i played.

I started with the classic route of watching let's plays. After switching between a few different people's first episode, i thought the reason why thay didnt seem to take her seriously in any kind of way was because they were, well, youtubers. It is their job to both play games and entertain. Of course they would focus on the jokes if the hundred game they played this year, it made sense.

So i switched to analysis/commentary videos and hanging around on tumblr. And realised that, no, actually i was the outlier here. It felt like getting punched in the gut.

So! Here i was, watching the while fandom proclaim how much they loved queen, how funny she was, ect. As if her entire personnality was just to make bad computer jokes and race tracks.

Because that was NOT what i saw.

I saw an unstable person (who kept drinking so i also assumed drunk/alcoholic) that had kidnapped and was stalking a kid. I saw someone out of touch with reality that could go from being happy and playing a game to trying to kill you. I saw an obsessive, looming figure that was always around the corner.

I saw someone who saw proceeded to, depending on the character, try and entice them by promising them all they wanted, ignore them completly even when they wanted nothing more than a shred of attention, and just generally took advantage of what she perceived to be other peoples emotionnal weakness to try and have them do what she wanted to. Wether that was creating a dark fountain, being her minion or stopping their attempts at stopping her.

She was one of the most menacing villain i ever met. Manipulative, Obsessive, Unpredictable and otherwise seemingly Unstable. Each of her apparenced filled me with dread.

The only time i saw someone acknowledging any of this was a video essay about how she could represent a different kind of mother to each of the charaters (absent, overbearing, negligent, love bombing...). It made me feel SO much better about my experience with it.

...

So yeah, i really wanted to share my perspective on these characters since most of the UT/DR dont seem to have shared that particular kind of analysis before.

Also, since i mentionned in the intro: I feel like Alphys and Berdly suffered from the fact that geekt people are seem as annoying. Like, i saw SO many people get angry/annoyed at seeing Berdly when they only saw less than 10 pieces of dialogue before. He's such a fun character but get immediatly cast asside because he can be a bit prickly. He's ridiculous and over the top, but so are so many characters. He's just a kid who is bad at social interractions and thinks being better than everyone means he will get more love/attention. I wish more people would actually give him a chance instead of writing him off right away.

As for Alphys, a lot of the people who feel negatively about her do so after playing the pacifist ending and being angry at her actions. But i feel like even before people got to that point, the whole "texting everywhere" in hot land made some people annoyed enough that they disliked her for it. I wasnt in that case and actually quite liked the whole thing but i get where people are coming from. It's honesly the only section i can think off where i saw the fandom being really split in how they felt about the her when first encountering her.

If anyone wants to share their own experiences and how it affected them while playing, PLEASE do so! Especially if you feel like it's not a commun one!

[jillnoteboom]

Blog Post #2

When I think of what a hero is I think of outstanding character, the ability to juggle many things at once, good time management, and someone who is good with people. I see myself as a hero. In my own life I juggle class, homework, softball, my job, and getting time for myself. I plan my days out down to the minute and I figure out a schedule of when I need to have homework assignments done. I put my best effort into everything that I do as well and I try to do what I can to be kind and helpful towards others. I work in the food industry and that has taught me how to listen to people and appease them quickly with little outburst. To me these are all qualities that a hero must have before they can perform acts of service to help others. T’Challa from Black Panther is a character that contains all of these characteristics. 

T’Challa is seen as the protagonist throughout the movie because he is always trying to resolve conflict. He brings himself into control and deesculates the situations when he realizes he is causing a scene or there is a scene already happening. He is a calming force to the people around him. His presence is calming because he is soft spoken and comes to resolutions quickly and easily. He has the role of being king and protector. He must guide his people with his knowledge and wisdom from the elders and then he must protect his people as well with the power of the Black Panther. T’Challa is a person of many different traits that when combined together make him a great leader. He is able to pull knowledge from his ancestors which allows him to be more wise and make better choices based off of things that have already happened. He has superhuman strength, speed, and endurance which allows him to more easily protect his people when under attack. He is also mastered in martial arts and combat. He is a genius and he is a very advanced strategist and inventor. 

T’Challa watched his father die and he had no time to save him. I believe this causes him to feel guilt for his fathers death. To compensate for not being able to save his father he feels that he needs to save everyone else around him. This is a scene in the movie when Shuri and Nakia are fighting killmonger. T’Challa races towards their battle and protects his sister at whatever the cost is. Throughout the movie you can see the change in his demeanor and how he evolves into his own hero. He originally is very tight to the rules and follows them closely. He tried to hear everyone's views and ideas on what should happen with Wakanda. He wants input, but he doesn’t do anything with the input that he gets. He wants to stay traditional. But he starts to realize that as the world evolves they need to do that as well, they can’t just stay in their old ways of being uninvolved. T’Challa starts to switch his mindset and open his eyes. One place that this change can be seen is when T’Challa finds out that his father killed his own brother. He realizes that there are secrets and lies. These are events that can change the way a person reacts to things. It then can change their views. This event did change T’Challa. It opened his eyes to how his father wasn’t who he idolized him to be and that not everything is how it is seen. He realized that this country could have been under different rule. But since his father made those choices it was T’Challa that was chosen. I think that this was the moment where he realized that he had to make a change and he had to make a difference.  It is also seen in their counsel meetings. The elders in the meetings can be seen arguing that everything must stay the same, but the younger generation is countering their arguments. T’Challa realizes that the elders do have their wisdom and they have seen and experienced many things, but some of their beliefs are dated and it is seeming to become necessary to change their ways. The younger generation has ideas and new views and points that can help them to advance even more than they already have. I believe that T’Challa was trying to honor his fathers ways by sticking to tradition, but realized that tradition must change because over time everything changes. Nothing stays the same forever. 

Seeing T’Challa change throughout the movie helped to see the progression and change for Wakanda as a whole. T’Challa being able to accept change in his own personal life allowed him to see change in his whole country. As his eyes were opened up to how things truly were, it made him realize he needed to be better for his people and that he could help to start changing the world. He decided to open outreach centers where he could help people who were not as fortunate. T’Challa’s own personal journey greatly affects the journey of his country. His own life's ups and downs were reflected in the state of his country. When he was in distress there was something that was causing distress to his country. When he was in a good and happy place his country was as well. His country followed his mood swings. That is how he represented his country. His physical being was the embodiment of his country. T’Challa is exactly what I see as the embodiment of a hero. He may not wear a cape but he knows how to interact with people and how to help them. He can make them feel safe and he has the ability to create devices to use for their protection. T’Challa is the perfect representation of what a hero should be. 

“Black Panther (T'Challa): Characters: Marvel.” Marvel Entertainment, https://www.marvel.com/characters/black-panther-t-challa.  “Black Panther (Character).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_(character).

[cantfightmoonlight]

"No it's not," She noted softly under her breath. Maybe his brows had been knitting more sharply together these days than in the past, but he wasn't the only one who had been in this town for quite sometime, and while her and the wolf had never exactly been close, his face had always been fairly expressive. "But, suit yourself. Though, I'm afraid I left the big ribbon at home. Next time. We can even get you a pair of scissors with you name engraved on it. After you?" She mused as she wandered over to the nearby table, pulling out his chair for him before she moved around to slide into the other seat. "I think you're mistaken, Carvalho," She hummed as she crossed one of her legs over the other and, with a flick of her wrist, draped her napkin across her lap. "There is no dagger drawn on my end nor a cloak and I don't, for the record, think you're out here trying to cause a war. I don't think you'd try to stop one if it were to occur and, I have a feeling if I was dying in front of you or any vampire for that matter, you'd watch as we bled out. Though you're welcome to correct me if I'm wrong in that regard. I don't harbor any resentments against you, J.C. Not the way you seem to against me."

"For you. I'm afraid I'll never know what its like to have my outward appearance tell the story of all of the life I've lived. Though, that's a shame. I'm sorry that life took what you loved away from you. I can relate in that regard. Though, believe it or not, I'd stick my own neck out for nearly everyone this town. Yourself included, even if logically it wouldn't be in my best interest to do so, given how the favor would likely never be returned. I ran for Mayor because Lunar Cove is one of the only loves that has remained in my life. I'd do anything for this town. For vampires, witches, werewolves, humans and fae alike. Though, I am sometimes jealous of you. You only are expected to juggle one hat. While, I'm needed to be everything for everyone all at once. I didn't ask you to be sorry. I agree that magic has put us in some hot water nor do I have any problem with you defending yourself or your own for that matter. I've had a issue with some of the arguably hypocritical points you've made that seem charged more by emotion than reason, though I'm sure you could argue the same about some points I've had," She explained, her demeanor reasonable as she spoke in the all too rational manner she was known for. "I can't speak on what the witches did or did not do at the Pendulum. I'm afraid I was too busy being strangled by my ex-husband. Though, I can understand your contempt with the night as a whole."

"People can and do exploit personal investments for gain. I won't sit here and try to attest that I'm better than them in that regard, because I'm not. Every moment I step out my door, I am scrutinized. Every action, every word, is prodded and picked apart by yourself included. So any action someone makes in public, I understand to some degree is fair game. But, call me hopelessly unrealistic, I believe there is a difference between what is personal and what is business. Neither of which I like to mix nor would I ever considering using intimacy against someone. I never said that I didn't. But, while I fight to survive, you fight to live. There's a difference," She admitted, a melancholic glint momentarily flickered across her gaze before her eyes sharpened like a knife at the man before her's choice words.

"Excuse me? The Clan guillotine? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She asked him, not bothering to hide the detest in her voice as he once again implied that she had any say over how people viewed her. Nor did she exactly appreciate him once again putting his own views of her onto the Clan. "How can I not? You want me to be honest, fine. Let's be honest. Do you think I have any say over how others view me? Do you think I enjoy the fact that a Council full of leaders consistently look to me to run the meetings? Or how there is instantly a barrier drawn between me and anyone else in a room because I happen to exude confidence? I've been a leader for the same amount of time the rest of the Council has. Actually, technically speaking, Nico, Poppy and Aiyla all have months on me, given the way the previous leaders happened to fall. I also have no problem engaging in an intellectual debate with anyone though I will make my own thoughts heard. So, you can sit there and pretend it is because of my wealth or whatever other false claims you'd like to believe, but, in truth, it's really rather simple. I act confident and self assured. A quality that is revered in men and uncomfortable when coming from a woman. For as a woman in a position of power, I have one of two choice. I can either be the friendly, personable and approachable one who doesn't get taken seriously- a role I played as my ex-husband's advisor where people had no problem publicly denouncing any thought that ever came out of my mouth- or I can be the cold hearted intimidated bitch. So, now, I'm listened to and respected to some degree, but people are terrified to approach me. They think I'm incapable of having fun. I'm viewed to be manipulative rather than charismatic and apparently now I'm the human equivalent of a guillotine? Seriously?" For once Meena didn't even bother trying to mask the hurt in her voice.

"You know, I actually admired the fact that you didn't seem instantly scared of me or afraid to have an intellectual disagreement. But, what is actually the result of blatant sexism, you feel is me threatening and bribing others? Is that right?" She let out a small scoff under her breath. She didn't even bother to hide the disappointment that filled her gaze as she looked at him. "If what you said was true, then people would be far more afraid and intimidated of Poppy than they ever would me. But, they're not, are they?"

"Though since you have no problem sitting there and pointing fingers, let's talk gifts, shall we? What expensive gifts are you referring to specifically? Do you mean the gift I gave Ben that you can't seem to let go of? I gifted him a book for his birthday. Rather than being able to spend the day with his girlfriend or family, he was hulled up in a room for hours working. So, I gave him a small gift as a coworker, that I would give any one of you, to wish him a happy birthday. It wasn't millions of dollars nor was it some bribe. It was a book picked up from New Leaf Bookstore. But, it's my fault that only I remembered? And as for the auction items, that money goes to the town. We had supernaturals flocking to Lunar Cove for refugee. Most had to abandoned their belongings and homes. I'm the Mayor. How could I not donate my own hard earned money towards helping them? I have the means. But, that's the thing isn't it. If I don't bid, then how dare I be so selfish? But, if I do, then I am displaying an exorbitant amount of wealth to show off the power I can hold over other people? So, thank you, JC, for making one thing blatantly apparent. There is no winning for me. Not with people like you."

"This is just how my face looks," JC replied dully, raising an eyebrow. "You know, maybe I'd like to participate in public events as much as the next person. Aren't we all good, active citizens? Cut grand opening ribbons at supermarkets and all that?" He was not going to retreat, he decided, and he was not going to keep hiding out in the woods to avoid having to hang out with his neighbors. Still, Júlio César rolled his shoulders, giving a shake of his head. "Isn't it better to have the dagger without the cloak if we're all out here thinking I'm out here trying to cause a war? That's to everyone's benefit, isn't it?" He sighed, features hardening, holding his ground as Meena stepped closer.

"Looks fade, but we do have to live with everything else forever. And besides, I don't skate anymore. Not really. One of a lot of things circumstances made me give up, yeah. So you're right. I can admit, Meena, that you and I have a lot in common. You're smart. And I know for a fact you'd stick your own neck out for your vampires when push came to shove. I can respect that. But, hell, I'm just doing the same. If people don't like it, they're just going to have to live with it. Because screwed up magic has put us into a lot of hot water. I'm not sorry for saying that. You all want to look at me and say 'oh no, the wolves can't defend themselves too hard?' How else can I take that but as an affirmation that we do have to look out for ourselves. Weren't the witches the ones who set that theater on fire with us all still in it?"

He shrugged, voice steady, words frank but even and plain. "What anyone else wants to do in the privacy of their homes is their business. But we both know people can exploit personal investments for gain. In any case, you still have fight in you, Meena. It might look different than mine, sure, but it's there. Be honest: never threatened a vampire? Never threatened someone who looked sideways at a vampire? Come on. Soft power is a thing. It's Lunar Cove's worst kept secret, the clan guillotine." He sighed. "Don't take that the wrong way. I'm trying to be real here. But when things go to shit, does anyone ever feel empowered to publicly disagree with you? Or is your word final and definitive? Threat of consequences, whatever they may be, and all that. Not to mention the expensive gifts and auction items. Do people not act a certain way when millions of dollars are in the mix? Is that not power?"

[dragonkeeper19600]

I saw that Salt Route AU thing, and I gotta say you guys aren’t going nearly far enough with it.

Like, yeah, as a dream the creator had, I can see why it would be haunting and striking, but if you were to actually do a Weird Route with Spamton in Noelle’s role, Spamton wouldn’t be just a meek submissive who just went along naively with whatever Kris (you) wanted. 

Like, imagine a Salt Route with Spamton’s canon personality. 

Spamton is, at first, thrilled that Kris is helping him, just like he is in-game. He goes along gleefully with you because he has an ally—or maybe even a friend—for the first time in God knows how long. 

Even the eliminating his fellow Darkeners in the name of “getting stronger” would give him a thrill. Don’t forget, this is the same guy who sells you the Thorn Ring in the canon Weird Route. What makes you think he’d object to murder? 

And these are the very same Darkeners that rejected him, so he could even view it as a twisted form of retribution. Take the moment where he kills the Addison, for instance. Why wouldn’t he be positively giddy at being given the go-ahead by Kris, to finally be strong enough to hurt the people who hurt him? He would be elated.

Or...so...he...thinks...

Somewhere along the way, he realizes just how tight a grip you (Kris) has on him. That he isn’t he one making these calls to [kill or be killed], he isn’t the one calling the shots, it’s you deciding everything and controlling him. And he realizes he’s been made into a puppet all over again, except it’s not the Voice on the phone pulling the strings, it’s Kris (you), the kid standing right next to him, the kid he thought (in some twisted way) was his friend.

That’s what drives him to despair. Not the killing but the fact that you’re the one making him do it. And when he tries to resist you (like Noelle does in the Weird Route) and realizes he has no choice but to obey, that’s when he regrets the horrible things he’s done. In the most twisted case of reverse psychology ever, he now desperately longs to take back the things you told him to do, and even feels sickened at his earlier glee. Because when he crashes down from the emotional high of that sweet, sweet [Revenge Sauce], he realizes that not even his own emotions are safe from your influences. Even what he feels is determined by you.

And when he realizes the Lightener he thought was giving him his freedom has essentially enslaved him, that’s when he just breaks. And at some point, his demeanor changes from railing against you to worshipping you, praying to you like he did to the machine in the basement. He goes full-circle, and you become his new voice, his new heaven.

Essentially, in this route, he replaces his old god, the Voice on the phone, with a new one, the Voice in his ear.

And this time, no one’s ever hanging up.

EDIT:

I have written a fan fic based on this post. Links are below:

Archive of Our Own link is here. FanFiction.net link is here.