#even tho all the precious lore is right there

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

How about a Hualian x calamity!reader oneshot? Maybe HC and reader know each other already and pursue XL together? Idk, love your writing tho!

Gang up

Hua Cheng x calamity!reader x Xie Lian

So sorry it took a while, I had strep these past few days but I feel good now so ty for being patient with me 😙🖤🖤

I tried to make it vague enough to where you can input your guy's own character in there 🥰🙏

I hope it isn't too short, and if you can't tell I pulled some make believe facts out of my ass. Have to change the story up a little bit

Spoilers Below!!!

____________________________________

Everyone talks about the four calamities, but recently all three realms have been talking about a fifth one. Another terrifying, devastation level calamity. Because that's all the heavenly officials, someone else to worry about.

That's your bad, woops. It's not like it was on purpose. Maybe. It's not like it was your fault. Really! They should have known by now but your crimes and deeds have been hidden behind Crimson rain's for so long, everyone has thought there were only four calamities. Now, with so much activity from Hua Cheng it's impossible to hide behind him. Oh well.

Now you get your own title, lore, rumors and all that nice stuff since everyone knows you now. It's crazy how fast words spread.

You've always been here, in fact you and Hua Cheng appeared one right after the other. So of course with such a close timeline one of you was going to overshadow the other. Not that you have a problem with this.

Surprisingly you and Hua Cheng know each other well. You met a long, long time ago and have been friends ever since. Since you're such close friends. Why not live in paradise manor together, why not rule a ghost city together too? The two of you really are glued to each other's side.

The base of your friendship? Xie Lian. Now of course it's more than that. You're both dead, both calamities, both know Xie Lian, would do anything for Xie Lian, both knew Xie Lian. . .

You guys still hold affections for one another though so it's okay. And the best thing? I lied. You guys aren't friends at all. After hundreds of years of knowing each other you and Hua Cheng have seen the absolute worst in one another. You still stayed. He still stayed. Just because you guys are lovers doesn't mean that you're going to stop pursuing Xie Lian either. There's nothing wrong with three.

Now the second best thing is that none of you harbor jealousy against the other because usually you guys are side by side like Siamese cats causing trouble.

Very often the two of you gang up to pursue Xie Lian together. You guys even bully heavenly officials together. It's all a part of the fun.

So when Xie Lian initially hears about one ghost? He meets two. Like, okay so he has two calamity body guards. Neat. The same goes as follows. Just when he thought he only had to deal with one smart mouth, it's two. Feng Xin and Mu Qing are very annoyed by this but Xie Lian finds it endearing.

It's actually very nice. He used to have two people by his side, but then the trio was separated. Now he has two people by his side again and he doubts that you two will be leaving anytime soon.

Though, since you're actually a known calamity now the stories and details change up a little bit. Xie Lian can click a few more pieces of the puzzle together.

I mean how do you think Hua Cheng got so good in bed, he wasn't practicing on statues alone. How did Hua Cheng get his smooth, suave, attitude? That'd be you too. You had to encourage him to actually make a move on his precious dianxia instead of seeing him act like a blushing maiden anytime Xie Lian looks at him.

Not that you can speak differently on that one. You've always been there through Hua Cheng's worse and. . . worser. You're both awfully silly. Silly enough to give Xie Lian your ashes one random day.

When Xie Lian woke up with a ring of ashes around his neck? Pause. One ring? Isn't one missing? There's two of you. Hua Cheng and you so, where are your ashes.

He's absolutely delighted and curious when he finds out the two of your ashes are mixed. He finds it endearing the two of you trust each other that much and are so close. That's how he learned the two of you were lovers.

Because that's a big risk, a big promise. To mix your ashes and give it to one person. If Hua Cheng goes, you go too. If you go, Hua Cheng goes too. Which on a usual note would never happen.

Hua Cheng breaking Xie Lian's shackles is not a usual note though. He's devastated when not only one of his lovers fades away into a flock of butterflies but when his other lover does too.

The two of you would never leave him alone though, not with that ring around his neck. He knew you two would come back and you both did. Hand in hand, running to Xie Lian excitedly. The two of you would never have to disappear like that again.

Xie Lian doesn't mind that there's two of you. he has two hands, more the merrier. He's happy and loved. Isn't that all that matters?

____________________________________

I thought this new ashes idea of mine was cute so 🥰🙏 I hope you guys find it cute too

Sorry about grammar mistakes

[strawberrylabs]

Being Freminet's biological sibling

warning!!: this will contain spoilers for Freminet's backstory and lore! there are also mentions of dissociation, identity crisises!

also this is kind of angsty ngl? I promise it's mostly fluff tho

Freminet is known for being quiet and reserved. Whether or not you are the same doesn't matter to him; he knows whether he articulates his thoughts through words or through a simple look, you'll know exactly what he wants- what he needs- to say to you

He normally uses his diving to get away from people. Please don't be offended, he just needs time away.

But that doesn't mean he goes alone all the time. In fact more often than not, he brings you with him. It's honour really, to have him share such an intimate part of himself with you. He trusts you more than anyone.

Usually the only times he goes alone is after a particularly troublesome mission when he needs time to process all that happened.

But after he's sorted his emotions, he's seeking you out to just be in your presence. Usually youre sitting somewhere doing whatever it is you do in your spare time, and Freminet would sit himself beside you and fiddle with Pers as he leans into your side.

Which brings me to affection. He's not usually the most keen on physical touch, but he appreaciates the times where your grab his hand to ground him. You seem to know exactly when to grab his warm hand when you tell people his hand is warm they always look at you with shock. It seems they don't understand how someone who is so reserved and cold, could ever be as warm and gentle as you say in your cool one and give it a slight squeeze to remind him you're there.

When you two are alone after moments like that, Freminet lets his head fall on your shoulder as you hug him. Only you hear the small "thank you" he lets out.

Lyney and Lynette are just of protective of you as they are Freminet. Doesn't matter if you're older, younger or the same age. You're still one of their precious siblings.

They're also deeply gratefull for having you to help Freminet where they can't.

You are incredibly protective of Freminet. If anyone dares to say anything mean you're quick to shoot them down and comfort your brother, soothing his self-doubts.

Speaking of, you're really the only person that calms down his racing mind. You've been in his life well.. for his whole life. You are the one and only constant he has.

He listens to you. He trusts you. Don't abuse that.

He relies on you to ensure him he's not some clockwork toy made simply to look unassuming and follow orders.

He has moments in the night where he struggles with his identity, sometimes contemplating if he's even a real person. When this happens, he often slips into your bed beside you, clinging to you as you card you fingers though his hair, lulling him into a comforting sleep knowing his sibling is there with him.

You're not the only one who's protective.

If you go diving with him, he's checking your equipment thrice over. He also insists on accompanying you on your missions, even if he has to stay a certain distance away.

He sometimes feels bad that he has to rely on you so much to comfort him. He doesn't feel as if he's worth the touble.

He makes you a matching penguin clockwork toy as a thank you gift one time. You bring it with you everywhere.

He also brings you shells and sea flowers that he thinks you'll like. One time he slowly collected and dried out enough romaritime flowers to make you a flower crown. You now keep it in a box with your most prized possessions Freminet thought it wasn't good enough to be in that box but when he saw how fondly you smiled, he couldn't bring himself to say so

Whenever Freminet has his helmet on, you know he's likely dissociate. This is one of those times you hold his hand tightly. But something else you do that he is deeply thankful for is you make sure no one bothers him when he's like this. If someone gives him a dirty look, you give them one right back. If someone tries to say something, you quietly shut them down and say to come back with any concerns or jobs later.

You know exactly what to say to get Freminet to start talking for hours which most people didn't even know was possible. For example; get him talking about the sea.

One time Paimon and Traveler overheard Freminet talking you about a field of romaritime flowers he found with a content smile on his face. What was most surprising was he was making eye contact with you. Later that week, Paimon tried to get Freminet to talk about the flowers, and he just shyly looked away and gave a brief explanation and summary.

However after that, the traveler asked about you, and Freminet spoke a little longer about you.

"I appreciate my sibling very much. They've always been there for me and I hope I've succeeded in being there for them when they need me too.."

Going back to the thing about diving..

When Freminet confides in you about sharing his problems with the objects of the water, he's scared that you may be offended he doesn't tell you as much as he tells the sea.

He nearly cried when you just smiled and told him it was ok.

You explained that everyone has their own ways of coping with the world. You had your ways, and Freminet had diving.

That's why you understood just how much trust Freminet was putting in you the first time he brought you with him.

Freminet's first instincts when he gets overwhelmed is to run to the ocean. However his instincts also tell him you need to be there.

If something has gone wrong, he has to know where you are, otherwise he panics more. He often drags you away from whatever you were doing to take you with him to the ocean. Even if you don't go underwater with him, he feels comfort knowing you're nearby.

If you have any specific situations that your uncomfortable with or things that trigger you, Freminet will do whatever he can to make sure the two of you avoid them in missions or just in general. He usually tells Lyney and Lynette so they can help too.

If you ever have moments where your mental health isn't the best, Freminet will sit with you as long as it takes for you to feel better. Minutes, hours, days. He'd sit with you, holding you hand as long as you need him too. He may not know what words to say, but he can be a grounding presence for you in the darkness.

If you were ever injured, Freminet's first reaction is to shut down. The thought of living life without his sibling who's been there since he can remember, through the drunken singing and the yelling, through the debt collectors asking for you father, through the nights of listening to the same lullaby with your mother. The thought of your constant presence just suddenly not being there is too overwhelming.

He stands at your side, not moving or saying a word. The second it's confirmed you'll be ok, he's torn between running to the ocean or staying with you.

He decides he won't abandon you. He won't leave you the way your mother left the two of you. even if at the time she had no choice

It's tradition for the two of you at least once a week to read a fariytale. You often go out and buy new ones each time. However usually you both end up re-reading the story of Pers.

The day Freminet got his vision, you were on the shore waiting for the group that went diving. You saw a burst light and suddenly felt a chill... Freminet made you promise not to tell anyone that he saved the children.

You make a point to remind him how brave and heroic he was whenever he feels down. Just because no one else will ever know or appreactiate what he did, doesn't mean you won't.

What Freminet would never tell you, is that the only reason he had the will to survive in that situation, was because he couldn't bear the thought of leaving you the same way mother did...

When you got your vision, Freminet wasn't there. It was before he started going on all you missions with you.

When you came back with a vision in hand, he immediately asked what happened and if you were ok after all, people seldom get a God's favor unless in sardonic situations..

The two of you are inseperable. You're eachothers life lines.

You need Freminet.

And Freminet needs you.

@rainswept that was for you pookie

this was geniunley so much fun to write???

Freminet my son. Ugh. I want to hug him.

Masterlist

rules

[choccy-zefirka]

A ship ask I got suddenly reminded me of Elgara Lavellan, my ex-Tranquil Inquisitor and one of my many many Alexius kissers, and how she tried to nudge him towards escaping Haven for Reasons Seen Below (he did not get far tho, got lost in the mountains and was eventually recaptured).

This was obviously written pre-Veilguard so Elgara's beliefs about the gods (which are fractured at best already, as she's a city elf) have not yet been re-examined. Enjoy rarepair shipping and OC introspective?

(Also I know some readers get very upset about single quotation marks; I tended towards writing in British English at the time, please calm down).

There is a whole pantheon of gods out there. The Gods of old. The Creators and guardians of the Elvhenan.

They have been locked away in the abyss, and their light has faded with the memories of Arlathan. But some of their influence still lingers. Some of their essence is still preserved. In the air and the water, in the deep forest moss and the silvery sheen of a halla's coat.

These gods are still remembered by the People. Both those who walk the Lonely Path amid the scattered shards of the Dales, and those who endure within the walls of human cities — like Elgara's family.

It has been many years since she caught her first, fleeting glimpse into the gods' stories; or reverently opened a book on Elvhen lore, heavy against her bony teenage knees. Many years, yet she still yearns to know more.

More than the alienage hahren has shared, in snatches of whispers, with furtive glances for round-eared shadows around the corner. More than has been revealed by her Circle's library, packed to the brim with books that should have been safeguarded by her People, not by human enchanters with half-lidded, bored, indifferent eyes.

There is so much more to learn.

About Sylaise, whose name her Mom and Mamae mouthed, half inaudibly, just before she was born.

And about June, with whose tools her neighbours did their best to keep their modest dwellings sturdy and clean and homely.

And about Mythal, whose sacred tree reached with its mighty roots even into the alienage, where the intricate weave of its branches was reflected in the vhenandahl's rustling crown, and in the strokes of red and white paint across its trunk, and also in the little etchings along the door frame, which you traced with your fingertips before going in.

She would like to understand these gods better, and welcome them into her heart. But apart from the faith in the Creators — a precious secret hidden from humans — she was also raised to revere Andraste.

A very… particular kind of Andraste. The kind that the Sisters serving her Circle would later try to whip out of her and the other elven apprentices. A slam of a ruler across your knuckles, leaving a dent; a shrill, screeching voice in your ear, splitting your little skull from within.

The Sisters, humans one and all, did not like the 'blasphemous' stories that the Wycome child brought with her to the red brick tower on the outskirts of Ostwick, when her magic awoke, nearly three decades ago. She had just entered her teens when the Templars came for her, and she saw Mom and Mamae one last time, with her throat tight and hot and her head feeling swollen, as she was trying desperately to pack all of her memories of the alienage into her skull.

She did not want to leave anything out. She memorized, as best she could, every face, every sound, every smell, every texture, every splash of colour. Right down to the orange squares of evening light on the kitchen floor and the squelch of dirt under her bare feet just after the rain.

She preserved and catalogued all of this in the nooks and crannies of her brain. So she could take it carefully out in the Fade at night, and show to the spirits, asking them to recreate the memories of her childhood.

According to the Templars, those little performances were something she needed to be afraid of — but she has never been afraid of spirits. Even the howling, tooth-gnashing, red-eyed ones, who just looked this way because they were in pain.

So much time has passed since that day, the day of turning her back on the anguished, tear-streaked faces of those who called her daughter, cousin, neighbour, friend… Elgara, because of all the sunshine they said she'd brought into their lives. And still, she believes in her alienage's Andraste.

A mythical hero of old. A mighty battlemage that walked with the elves, and fought for the elves, and, if you asked hahren, might even have been an elf herself.

The protector of slaves.

The friend of the smallfolk.

Always ready to listen, to soothe and to understand, even as the human Maker was distracted by the scented candle smoke in the gilded Chantry halls, with tall stained-glass windows that Elgara would have loved to admire up close but was not allowed to.

She believes in that Andraste, and tries her best to follow in her footsteps. And she is very honoured to know that the ghost of this great hero decided to pull her out of the Fade, just as the clicking pincers of the voracious, nightmarishly giant spiders grazed her ankles. And shielded her from the explosion that punched a jagged hole through an entire mountain and melted down the imposing walls of the Temple of Sacred Ashes. And, most important, brought her emotions back.

She had been cut off from the Fade for most of her life at the Circle — more than sufficient for it to become her new normal — when the Conclave was called together.

She has never been afraid of spirits. She has always thought that they are just like people. Capable of twisting beyond recognition when they are frightened, or in pain, or grieving for someone they love.

She still remembers, in the mists of her childhood, how Uncle Killian, once the merriest, most apple-cheeked elf to strum a modest self-carved lute while the others danced, turned grey and bony like a Despair wraith after his wife died.

Or how their neighbour two doors down, Lynni the street sweeper, usually serenity incarnate, with her long thick eyelashes always casting down a fluttering shadow on her cheeks, flushed a vivid crimson, and drew herself up to her full height, like a Rage demon rising out of the cracked earth, when some mischievous boys wanted to play Emerald Knights and broke the broom with which she was earning a living for herself and her son.

Those two events, a big tragedy and a small hardship, happened really close to one another. And then, on the same day, Uncle Killian's lute began to strum itself as he sat still in his room, worn out and listless and seemingly all alone. And Lynni's broom glowed bright green and soared into the air, and the splinters began shoving against one another and clumsily attempting to fit back in place. That was when the alienage realized that Elgara might have magic... But that is neither here nor there.

She has never been afraid of spirits. And she was certainly not afraid of the spirit that was bound to a sigil in a small (rather cramped, really) pocket of the Fade and used for testing the apprentices from her Circle during the Harrowing. She saw how much it suffered in its sizzling, burning ghostly-purple tethers, and set it free. As simple as that.

This counted as a failure of her Harrowing, and earned her a brand on her forehead. A bleeding, swollen imprint of the sun, which tainted her name with a chilling darkness.

With the brand, came a plunge into dense, heavy fog, where she wandered on and on, with her heartbeat dulled and her mind pristinely, blindingly white, like a room with a blanket over every piece of furniture.

Until she travelled to Haven with Minaeve and the other Tranquil, and met the ghost of Andraste.

The blankets are off now. There is a multitude of different shapes in that room inside her mind now. A multitude of different emotions. Prodding and poking her, sometimes all at once, sometimes in rapid succession, sometimes in a bizarre spinning cycle.

Like an abrupt stab of fear, when Seeker Cassandra pointed a sword at her and barked 'Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now?'.

…Which was suddenly drowned out by sinking into the pink, squishy, glitter-speckled goo of 'Oh no, she is attractive!'.

Or bounce of squeaky, puppy-like excitement (probably unbecoming for a woman her age, she knows, she knows) when Solas the apostate invited her to a conversation about spirits. Which was followed by even more of pink and gooey 'Oh no, he is also attractive! Everyone is so attractive, and I can properly appreciate their attractiveness again, instead of impassively describing the symmetry of their faces!'

She loves it. She loves that she can love it.

She loves that she can feel relieved, and just a little bit smug, each time she closes a demonic Rift with her mysterious Mark, and the people that she has saved crowd around her, each breathless with shock and an overpowering wave of gratitude.

Of course, she never stopped helping people, not even as a Tranquil. Seeing others worse off than her, hungry while she was full, injured while she was in perfect health, sobbing while she was always impenetrably calm, seemed illogical to her white-wrapped mind, and therefore undesirable. So she shared meals, and clothes, and bandages, and monotonously recited facts that proved that the person's distress was statistically unlikely to last forever.

She even took up sword lessons from a friendly Templar — to protect the other Tranquil, along with some of the young and elderly mages, when their Circle fell and they found themselves afloat in the broiling crucible of war.

But now… Now saving innocents, and mending the green wounds in the fabric of the world, and putting corrupted spirits to rest, like she had done during her Harrowing, actually puts a smile on her face. A real, sincere smile, accompanied by a tender warmth, a honeyed brightness inside her chest, like those sun squares on the kitchen floor.

It is not all sunshine, though. Sometimes, the prodding of emotions in her mind grows too strong, so that her brain wobbles, close to puncturing.

Sometimes, tears come gushing out of her eyes unprompted, and she feels the urge to pound her fists against the nearest wall, a scream scraping at the back of her throat like a feral cat.

Sometimes, even the happy bark of a friendly mabari is too loud. Even the whiteness of a small patch of snow in the streets of Haven is too searing.

As a Tranquil, this was all just a part of her foggy world. But now that the Mark graced her hand, every tiniest thing, every face, every sound, every smell, every texture, every splash of colour, has started evoking emotions. And there is only so much she can feel at the same time.

…And then, there are the bigger things.

The clamour of steel against steel, which so often fills the air, like half-formed bubbles in near-boiling water.

The deafening, dazzling bursts of magic, unleashed by Solas, and Madame Vivienne, and their newest companion, Dorian of Minrathous. And the slither of magic through her own veins, awoken by the Mark but still not quite under her control.

And the dreams. Oh dear gods, the dreams.

She has lost count of times when Solas has had to walk beside her through the Fade and help her calm down the hapless, innocent spirits that would begin to writhe at the sight of her, with their peaceful see-through faces beginning to twist in a snarl. Because her head is now filled with more than just memories of an ordinary alienage childhood and an ordinary Circle life. There is war there, and desolation, and death.

There are the Temple's ruins. Carpeted by contorted red-and-black husks, with hungry green wildfire still picking out the last crisp morsels out of their sockets.

There are unnatural red crystals pushing out of cavern walls, throbbing with heat like infected teeth, with a whispering darkness oozing out of them.

There is the once broad, safe, well-paved road, now burrowed by fleeing refugee carts and pockmarked by shallow blackened pits from magefire blasts.

And there is that delirium-like future that she has only visited just recently. A future where the world was a smattering of barren islands floating in a green abyss under a sunless, moonless, starless sky, sucked one by one into the insatiable vortex of the Breach. Where mortals and spirits alike were reeling from a year's worth of torture, whipped into submission by cultists from Tevinter.

'My less good-natured, and certainly less good-looking countrymen,' Dorian would call them, with a wry smirk splitting across his face: a disguise, to hide a crushing mix of outrage and grief.

It was probably an excellent disguise, but Elgara could see through it. Any hidden emotion was easy to spot for her, after spending all these years surrounded by the vacant faces of her Tranquil siblings.

In that future, her companions — her friends, she thinks (unless she has let herself be carried away by her sparkly excitement and started using the word too soon) — were locked away in dungeon cells. Rather like the ones some Circles used to discipline the mages. With barely enough space to spread out your arms, and with a constant trickle of moisture that coated the walls in a sticky, tar-like film... Except there was a single, gut-pulling difference that set those cells apart from the Circle solitary.

Those crystals — again.

Drooping from every surface like gigantic clusters of poisoned grapes, they crawled under the prisoners' skin, welling up at the bottom of their straining lungs, rising above their spine like the crested back of a dragon, and hardening their veins into lumpy threads of crimson glass.

They would absorb every inch of their victims, every sliver, till they turned into crystal themselves, to be 'harvested' and used to feed the cultists' guardsmen… Most of whom, too, were scarcely human any more. Deformed into their most demonic selves, they now had jagged scarlet claws for fingers and stretched-out mouths full of far too many, far too sharp teeth.

Perhaps, some day she will be able to move on from all these memories, and look back on them without dissolving into a wailing wreck (yet again, unbecoming for a woman her age, and the Herald of Andraste at that).

Perhaps, some day she will start seeing just Mom and Mamae's faces at night, and the faces of her old Circle companions, and all the new people that she has met on her journey. With no shadows looming around the corner.

But that day has not come yet. In fact, her spikes of emotion have gotten worse since they returned from Redcliffe.

She guesses that it's because her schedule has been so hectic lately. New and new groups of their mage allies have been arriving, and she has to be there to ensure that they settle in properly.

And speaking of settling in! She also has to watch over Dorian. To supply him with warm clothes and whatever modest batches of spice-scented tea Josephine can get her hands on. And to keep the good people of Haven (she tries to think of them as good people, she really does, as they are all in her care, but sometimes they try her patience) from scrawling 'Maleficar' on the walls of the little cottage he was given as lodging.

And... It goes without saying that she needs to prepare for the march against the Breach. A daunting mission that makes restlessness crackle through the air in Haven like shock magic.

Sometimes, the charge of this shock is so strong that she cannot walk straight, and has to whimper discreetly for a little bit. Preferably while leaning against anything solid: the side of a building, or a snow-capped mabari statue, or the shoulder of one of her warrior companions (all so helpful, and so gorgeous, and not really deserving to be bothered by her like this).

Most often of all, though, she does her whimpering in the dungeon. Down here, she can safely rock from side to side. And rip into her fingernails with her teeth. And stare ahead with unseeing eyes. And try to breathe through the frenzied drumming of her heart, so hot, metallic in her mouth.

Down here, no-one can catch her in this state, and start questioning if the Herald of Andraste is truly fit to do her duty. After all, the dungeon is nearly always empty.

She will do anything to avoid imprisoning people. And not just because she does not need any witnesses to her embarrassing breakdowns.

She remembers the Circle solitaries all too well, and those crystalline cells in the dark future, and also the damp, rat-infested cellars where some of her neighbours had their ‘quarters’ when the humans took them on as servants.

No-one needs to suffer through something like this. So she declared, as the Herald of Andraste, the Andraste of the alienage, the Andraste that protects the small.

Her advisors do not quite agree. Which they make abundantly clear, again and again.

Cullen frowns and clears his throat. Cassandra tosses her head up, measuring her with a gaze that is filled with unuttered objection. Leliana narrows her eyes, which somehow grow less cold (a contradiction that Elgara might be imagining).

Even Josephine seems uncertain, but eventually opts for offering Elgara a glass of water when the tension in the war room congeals so much that her eyes start streaming with tears again.

They do have… a consensus of sorts. While they, indeed, imprison their foes far less often than could have been expected from an organization calling itself the Inquisition, sometimes the guards do escort a chained captive or two down the dungeon steps... And the poor soul is surprised to find a well-lit room with a warm bed, a bookcase or two for entertainment, and a tray of food from Flissa's tavern sitting beside the barred door.

 Right now, there are two people residing down here.

One of them is the leader of the bandits that, for some purpose still unknown, were trying to scare away travellers in the eastern Hinterlands. Elgara let most of his men go altogether: quite a few of them were former farmers, driven to banditry out of desperation when the demons razed their fields and the rogue Templars confiscated their tools, because some of them were vaguely mage-staff-like. Hopefully, Elaine, the horse master's wife, will find some honest work for them, now that the enchantment has been lifted off the local wolves, and her hold is thriving again.

A couple of the more... disagreeable bandits, prone to spitting in people's faces, and shoving at the guardsmen, and grunting with laughter when questioned about how they set fire to a refugee's belongings for fun, were given a chance to cool off… While digging latrines under Quartermaster Threnn's supervision.

And their chief — a red-faced man with a protruding lower jaw, nearly as tall as Iron Bull, and built like a druffalo, especially around the neck — called Elgara a 'half-witted rabbit' when she listed all the peaceful jobs he could do around Haven, to make up for all the damage he and his crew had caused.

Pity. Someone as big and strong would have been of great use. Hauling building supplies; helping put up more shelters for the people that flock to the Inquisition's banner... But he chose to be everything that makes a human a shem, and there is no help for him now.

After barking out his insult, the bandit chief lunged at Elgara, intending to close his enormous hairy fist around her throat. She blocked his blow as best she could, straining the arm muscles that she had honed while practicing all that swordplay ('An enjoyable side benefit,' Solas had once noted, while Sera, bright-pink and huge-eyed, made an odd noise deep from her chest, 'Whoah, you are thick for an elf!').

Anyway. Back to the bandit. In the end, Cassandra brought him to his knees by slamming her shield against his shins. And off to the dungeon he went.

He likes the bed, Elgara thinks, and devours the food in shovelling handfuls, with many a belch in between.

The books had to be taken away, though, after he tried to use one as a wipe when answering the call of nature in one of Threnn’s... facilities. Elgara would have asked Sera to draw him some picture stories, as they do to entertain the children of Haven — but he does not deserve them.

The other prisoner is, perhaps, the most unusual one these walls have ever seen, since the time when Haven belonged to dragon worshippers: the Tevinter magister from Redcliffe.

Or, well, former Tevinter magister. Dorian is nearly certain that, once word of his work for the cult reaches the Imperium, he will be stripped of his rank, his house name, and his land. To make a public show of how the Archon wants nothing to do with 'the vile Venatori'.

Dorian mimed that last part during a conversation over drinks, in a mocking, squeaky voice, while stroking an imaginary cat with his little finger extended. Quite a hilarious impression, even to someone who had never met the Archon, which was pretty much the entire tavern (young Krem from the Bull's Chargers only caught a glimpse of him once, when he was passing in a festive procession down the street, but there were many rows of heads blocking his view).

Well, maybe Dorian's show was not really that hilarious. But Elgara collapses into hiccupping laughter just as easily as into tears these days... And yet again, it was a disguise. Meant to distract from the shadow that glides across Dorian's face whenever he talks about the magister.

They were friends once, as far as Elgara understands. Two brilliant mages, mentor and apprentice, working together on a spell that challenged the laws of time.

She wonders if they made each other laugh. She wonders if they had inside jokes and wild stories — like the ones the apprentices in her Circle used to swap in the dorm, muffling their giggles into pillows and freezing in silence whenever a Templar's footfalls clamoured by.

They must have, surely. But now the magister, who tried to erase Elgara from time upon the orders of his cult's would-be god, and created the dark future in the process, spends his days in his room with a barred door.

Quiet and wraith-like. Empty-eyed, much like Uncle Killian in the days after his wife's funeral. Not caring for the books on the shelves and the food on the tray.

He does not try to deface the former like the bandit, at least. Sometimes he even picks one up and flips the pages. But in all her visits to the dungeon, Elgara has never once seen the faintest light of interest in his eyes.

And the root cause behind his state is not even his cult's failure. Nor the triumph achieved by Elgara — and her friends. Specifically, Dorian, who did the most important, the most vital work, reversing the time magic in a matter of minutes, while Elgara was nearly brought to the floor by weeping for Cassandra and Solas and the others, as the demons trampled and shattered their crystallized bodies.

He did not even try to rant about how they foiled the Venatori's efforts and disrupted his grand scheme. Well, not too much at any rate.

The root cause is... his son.

The da'len whom he fought so hard to save from the Blight. The da'len whom he watched leave, riding out of Redcliffe towards his destiny, with exactly the same look in his bruised eyes that Mom and Mamae had when the Templars took Elgara.

He really does love his da'len, so much that the force of that love echoes in Elgara's bones. As does the force of his pain.

The young Tevinter will die, and the man that his father once was, the man that Dorian admired, is gone already. Like a spirit that melts away in the flames of rage and grief, moulding into a demon — and then, when the demon is defeated, escapes out of its shattered carcass like a dying sigh.

With the dungeon thus... populated, Elgara tries to keep to the shadows. To sob into the empty dark. To leave the prisoners, the bandit and the magister, undisturbed.

She has just finished up with crying, again, and is taking slow breaths through her nose. To clear off the last of the dizziness that has wrapped around her pulsing head like cottonwool… But she is interrupted by a sharp voice, with a thick rural Fereldan accent.

'Oi! You lot! Time to stretch yer legs! 'Erald's orders!'

Elgara perks up, smiling to herself.

It's the guard on duty, about to take the prisoners out on their daily stroll around the back of the Chantry building. It's another part of their routine that she insisted on. Another comfort for the Inquisition's captives.

As Tranquil, she was allowed to travel beyond the tower's confines, rendering her rune-crafting services to various Marcher nobles. And she was still Tranquil when the Circle ceased to exist, and her tower's doors swung open, and the mages walked out under the boundless, ever-changing sky that many of them had last seen as children. She still recalls the sweetness of the air, washing her lungs clean of the caked dust from the book stacks.

A little bit of such sweetness every day will do her prisoners some good, she decided. The advisors, oddly enough, did not object. And she is always pleased to see the result.

So much so, that and brightness touch her heart again. Like a sparkling wave of sunlit sea, the sensation carries her up, giving her strength to get to her feet and step forward. To meet the guard and the two hunched figures that he is herding.

Even in this murk, she can distinctly see the guard's features. He’s frowning very strictly at the ropes that he has just tied over the prisoners' wrists, to keep their hands restrained behind their back. As if the serious look on his face will coerce those tight loops into staying put.

'Do you mind if I join you?' Elgara says, in a more or less… steady voice.

'Course not, Yer Worship!' the guard springs into a stiff, toy soldier pose. But not for long. The chin straps of his helmet are rather poorly fitted, and he has to constantly adjust them in sheepish, fidgeting motions.

'If yer so inclined, could ye help me watch this lot? Might need an extra pair of eyes in case they get ideas 'bout escapin! Coulda gotten more backup, but the Commander says he cain't spare folks. I'll take this big thug here, and you can take the Vint. He seems more... whatcher call it... docile.’

The magister quirks an eyebrow — the first time Elgara has seen his face change expression since he was imprisoned — but does not have it in him to as much as scoff.

The bandit, too, merely strains his druffalo neck till his veins start bulging. He’s keeping something pent up within him; some angry, malicious emotion that Elgara cannot quite read.

With no objections from the prisoners, the four of them set off. Up the stairs; and along the candlelit main hallway (which, as Sera pointed out with a chortle, looks rather like a cock on the Chantry map; that's something that Elgara also found far more hilarious than it probably was).

Along the way, Elgara spots Avexis, another Tranquil from Minaeve's little group. With her back perfectly rigid, she’s staring at the statue of Andraste in the alcove ahead of her.

Elgara calls her name and waves, but Avexis remains silent. She has been avoiding Elgara ever since her awakening from Tranquility. Elgara's guess is that Avexis doesn't want to hear about her experiences.

Not every Tranquil is keen on the idea their state might be reversed (much as they can be keen on anything), and Elgara cannot blame them. All the wonders of smiling and laughing do come at a heavy price.

As they exit the front gate, they turn a corner and begin to climb a snowy slope. For a moment, Elgara looks away from the magister, who is dragging his feet beside her… and allows her senses to carry her off.

Everything is so beautiful out here.

The saturated, cloudless blue of the sky. So unlike the snaking billows of green and black that had swallowed the sun in the wrong future.

The juicy, apple-like crunch of snow underfoot.

The faint smell of something roasting that the wind carries from the village fires.

It has always been beautiful, of course, and Elgara's mind registered that even when it was swaddled in blankets. But now this beauty, like the beauty of the people she meets, can bring her happiness.

She feels a tingle in the corners of her lips, and it even seems to her that there are cheery little sparkles dancing before her eyes, shaping into soft, pastel-like silhouettes of flowers and birds, and just simple swirls, like fronds of some forest plant...

'Ah. Your mood seems to have improved all on its own. There is no need for this, then.’

Elgara blinks, coming back from her happy place. With a tiny jolt of astonishment, it dawns on her that the sparkles and the silhouettes are not imaginary. They have in fact, been conjured by magic, and are now hovering right in front of her face, blossoming softly and melting from one shape to another, like the traces of raindrops on the window pane... And just as she realizes that, the apparitions vanish.

She blinks again, and turns her head to face the magister. His hands are still tied, but there is an unmistakable pull of arcane energy distorting the air around him; something that Elgara always senses very keenly, sometimes to the point of developing a migraine.

'Have you...'

She fumbles for words, uncertain how to address the man who went from negotiating with her for the freedom of the rebel mages, to shrieking that she should never have existed, to kneeling in her shadow and leaving himself at her mercy.

He jerks his shoulder, as far as he is able.

'I overhear you in the dungeon at times, and it occurred to me that I might try... brightening your spirits. I may be in binds, but I can still cast some very minor magic. Not enough to break free and slaughter everyone, as I am clearly meant to do...'

This… is probably sarcasm. Elgara lost all ability to understand it while she was Tranquil, but she thinks she can deduce when it is there.

'...But enough to put on this little performance, especially since your watch dog with questionable fashion choices is lagging behind somewhere.’

He shakes his head, and goes on in a much quieter voice — likely not even addressing Elgara.

'A foolish impulse.'

The grey pall drapes itself over his face more, and the lines on his forehead and in the corners of his mouth suddenly appear more prominent.

'No, no — it's... What you did is... It was beautiful, and quite thoughtful! I — '

Suddenly, her heart feels tight.

Suddenly, she does not know whether to look away or show her assurance by maintaining eye contact — and when she chooses the latter, she gets carried off again, far, far away. Oblivious to everything in the world, except for studying the magister's eyes.

They have a very curious colour. Many mages' eyes do, she has noticed.

Even her own, which used to be more of an indefinite muddy shade when she was a Tranquil, are now back to the same saturated hazel, with a touch of gold, as when she came into her magic.

His eyes, in turn, are shaded a beautiful dark brown, with a swirl of silver just around the pupil... Like rays of moonlight against a night sky.

It is only after she stubs her toe against a snow-covered rock that this daze releases her. She whips her head to look away; so brusquely that the side of her neck feels like it has been stabbed by a knitting pin.

It turns out that the two of them have meandered quite far up an icy mountain slope, leaving the Chantry a long way behind. The building has now been reduced to a blob of misty blue, far beyond fir trees that rise all around them, tipping their fuzzy heads in the wind, as if in a bow of reverence before the Breach.

This is... not quite what she imagined when she asked the advisors to let the prisoners go on walks.

She shuffles to a halt and digs her boots into dough-like snow they have dug into. With the same suddenness as her admiration of the magister's eyes, comes a nauseating surge of panic.

The guard is nowhere to be seen; the magister can still cast magic; he tried to kill her once already — twice, if you count their battle in the wrong future...

No, no!

She bends forward slightly and digs her fingers into her hair.

In the Circle, it used to be cropped into tiny ringlets close to her skull, growing out after being shorn to the root to keep it being singed by the sun brand. And now, she is growing it longer than ever. Mostly so she can ruffle her wavy bangs and let them hang like a curtain over her Tranquil brand, since to many people are startled at best, and deeply disturbed at worst, when they see the telltale sun on the brow of Andraste's chosen.

No! She is not going to cower like a child!

She handled the magister before, when he was much more powerful, when time-altering Rifts sizzled into being upon his command, splashing their acid light all over the dark, half-ruined throne room.

Surely, she will be able to stop him as a half-starved prisoner! She has her sword with her: Cassandra insisted that she carry it at all times, even around Haven!

…But what if she will not even need to use it? What if she decides to trust the magister?

 She has never been afraid of spirits. And he is just like one — just like Kindness.

That was the spirit from the sigil, from her Harrowing. It had been drawn to the Circle's corner of the Fade with the best of intentions. Eager to help the students learn and grow into better mages... But then, it was trapped and forced to tempt them instead. This affront against its nature, together with the agony of being chained, changed it. It darkened, and its softness peeled off, like the flesh of the red crystal victim, revealing a pained snarl.

But even inside the demon that was born out of the trapped spirit's torment, a wisp of its original self remained. Just a little bit of warmth and brightness. Like the sunlight squares that Elgara kept with her, packed safely in her memory trove, and carried through the coldest Circle nights.

That wisp called out to her, responding eagerly to her touch when she destroyed the sigil. And before she knew it, the demon's bulky, thrashing body turned into a distorted silhouette, as though someone had poured a bucketful of ink over its gnarly head. Presently, that silhouette thawed into a smoking black ink puddle. And from it, a much smaller figure emerged, its head inclined in gratitude.

It had always been there. Kindness had always been there. And it revealed itself to Elgara, because she was not afraid.

So why be afraid now? Why decide that the man from Dorian's past is gone, without giving him a proper chance to show himself?

'I do most sincerely apologize for all these outbursts,' Elgara says, with a sudden clarity and a firmness in her voice.

Oh gods, she is really doing this! She is getting a grip on herself!

She is straightening up, and turning back to him, and speaking to him not as a vile maleficar, but as a pleasant companion on a fresh-air stroll!

'You might find them bizarre, revolting even. But there is an explanation. I am a former Tranquil. Getting the Mark that your master wanted brought my emotions back, but the side effect is that I cannot always control them properly. Not yet, at any rate. I am certain I will get better at it with time.’

To further show her point, she pulls back her bangs, allowing the magister to see her sun brand. And now, it is the magister's turn to be stupefied.

'You are... You were... You were one of...' he stutters, his perpetually weary face twisted by dismay. 'Fasta vaas.’

His shoulders jerk, as he tries and fails to move his bound hands.

'The key,' he breathes out. 'There was...  I had a key. Your Spymaster confiscated it, probably. It opens the door to an abandoned shed in Redcliffe. There are... artifacts in there... Crafted on the Elder One's orders, which I passed on to the Venatori in the Hinterlands... Though I imagine other Venatori cells are doing the same all over the south...'

'Doing what?' Elgara asks. An invisible hand draws a tight, perfectly attuned string through her body, from tongue to stomach, cutting into her innards.

'Hunting the Tranquil,' he says under his breath, dipping his head to his chest.

'The artifacts... the oculara... they are made from their skulls. I — I tried to hint to them... to your brethren, that they were not welcome in Redcliffe... Tried to get them to flee; to save themselves... Because even after stooping this low... I could not bear to...'

His lips twitch, and the moonlight in his eyes, before he shuts them, wincing, glints bright and wet.

'The things I did for the glory of the Imperium... For the sake of my son... And what did it lead to? The Elder One will reshape the world. He will make that future, the one Dorian screamed at me about, a reality, all over again... Felix will either succumb to the Taint, or perish in the storm to come. Your brethren will still be hunted, if not by me, then by the others who will replace me... I sold myself, over and over again — and it has all been meaningless.'

Elgara inhales, in several hoarse gasps, as if she were drowning.

Something slithers up her throat like a centipede, scraping her flesh raw. Another emotion. Anger.

The Tranquil are being hunted! Her brothers and sisters under the Rite — her friends! — could be in danger, even within Haven’s walls! She could lose Avexis, and Helisma, and others! And the man who had a hand in this, is standing right in front of her!

She squares her jaw and swallows hard, washing the centipede down.

He regrets what he did. The wisp is in there. It must have always been there.

She does not have to forgive him; not yet. But she can understand. She can reach out. And then, maybe, he will do what it takes to cast aside the demon husk.

'You heard me crying in your dungeon and wanted to ease my anguish,' she reminds him, placing her hand on his arm just above the elbow. Not afraid. Not afraid.

'That is not meaningless. And your friendship with Dorian, your love for your son — that is not meaningless either.'

He opens his eyes, and then his mouth, the knot easing between his eyebrows — but before he can say anything, he is cut off by a loud cry.

Using a spell like Fade Step would probably have helped her get there faster. But over the years of Tranquility, Elgara has come to rely on a blade, not magic, and she is still uncertain about returning to her Circle apprentice roots. Even if it makes Solas frown in disapproval and tell her that she is burying the great gift she was given.

So she chooses to do things the mundane, old-fashioned way. She runs.

She moves at a rapid, threshing rhythm, her sword hilt clamouring against her hip; and really, really hopes that her heart, which is not what it used to be twenty years ago, will not be speared by exhaustion. Or that the ever-intensifying apple crunch of snow will not trigger another migraine. This would be a really inopportune time.

She runs, as fast as she can. Which is not fast enough.

When she arrives at the source of the cry, she finds the bandit chief standing with his back against a large boulder, grating his tied hands fiercely against the edge of the guard's sword... Which is clutched in a stiff, frozen hand. A dead hand.

When the white blankets were still hiding all her emotions away, leaving her mind clean of distracting clutter, Elgara got very good at that clue-seeking they write about in novels where guardsmen track down criminals. Usually through the winding streets of a sprawling, anthill-like town like Kirkwall.

And even though the emotional clutter is back, lodging in between the puzzle pieces, sometimes she's still got it. Sometimes she can still spot the threads of logic — stretching between objects and people like spider webs.

She sees them now as well. She understands how they tie it all together.

The bandit.

The boulder.

The chaotic dots and dashes of tracks in the snow.

The Inquisition-issued pointy helm, which must have come off in the struggle because of those wretched chin straps.

The viscous smear of blood and bone matter that has painted the stone dark-red.

And the small armoured figure of the guard, which looks so still and hollow now, like the carcass of an ant that has been sucked dry by an antlion.

All of this takes far, far too long to describe. Her brain draws the connections much faster, and replays the story in lightning flashes.

The guard and his charge must have passed here on their walk, separated from Elgara as she was too caught up in talking to the magister. Then, seeing the boulder — just the right size, just the right height — the bandit must have seized his chance and, ramming his shoulder into the guard, overpowered him with his sheer weight, and sandwiched him between himself and the rock surface, pressing down till the protective helmet fell off, and the skull caved in.

And now, here he is. The druffalo is about to charge.

One last grating push — and the ropes come off. The bandit chief steps away from the boulder, and, with a smug grin, flexes his fingers: broad and square, like sausages someone drove a cart wheel over.

After the flexing, comes the looting. Just like in the guardsman books. Except real, and no less horrible, even after Elgara has witnessed battle scenes that were so much more gruesome, so much worse.

The dead guard's armour is too small to fully protect the bandit, but his sword fits quite nicely into his fist. He greets Elgara with a spittle-filled curse — 'Let's hear ya cry about this, fucking knife-ear!' — and a tremendous whoosh of the soaring blade.

She yanks her own sword out of its sheath, the steel’s flash nearly blinding her.

The bandit's blow is blocked, as is the next, and the next.

Her body fights of its own accord. Guided like a puppet by her sword fighter instincts. Another useful 'side benefit'.

Meanwhile, her mind, her over-cluttered, overemotional mind, is still with the poor guard. So sweet, so friendly, doomed to a stupid, stupid death because he did not have a good helmet. And an extra pair of eyes.

She was not there. She was not there.

He asked her to help out. He counted on her. But she forgot.

She took a wrong turn, let him out of her sight, left him behind to die.

She was not there.

These four words keep ringing out, like four slaps across her burning face.

Louder than the clanging of her sword.

Louder even than the sudden peel of thunder that rolls out somewhere from behind her back, while the clearing around the boulder is flooded with a pale purple glow.

Louder than the shriek the bandit lets out, staggering away from Elgara,

'You fucking Vint!'

Then come more shrieks, punctuated by panting as he tries to dodge the spears of lightning that pierce the ground all around him.

'Siding with the elf bitch now, are you? After your fucking friends hired me and my boys to work for you? No matter! I hid away the gold you hooded fuckers gave me for the road job — and once I am outta here, I —'

The next spear hits target. There is a whipping crackle, a gargle, a thud, a whiff of an acrid burning smell. But Elgara does not see the bandit fall.

She is on her knees again, hugging her head, whimpering, the four words rolling out of her mouth like vomit.

'I was not there... I was... not... there...'

Somewhere on the rim of her consciousness, a voice whispers. Soft, soothing, nearly unrecognizable. Far from the voice that gloated at the rebel mages been sold into servitude, or raved about the might of the Elder One,

'I know. I know.'

And then, Elgara tumbles into blackness.

When the world begins to take shape again, the boulder, or the guard, or the bandit, are nowhere to be seen.

Instead, there are more fir trees. Their bushy lower branches have formed a sturdy silvery roof over a patch of snow, coloured a rich dark blue by the lattice-like shade.

A small circle of ground has been thawed clean — likely by fire magic, since its outline is far too smooth to be natural — and Elgara has been seated in its middle, back firm against the trunk.

The magister is pacing back and forth in front of her. His hands are untied: he must have followed the bandit's example and used something sharp to cut himself free... Maybe one of the poor guard's pauldrons...

Elgara shudders at the thought, and a loud whine escapes her lips.

The magister stops pacing, suddenly on alert like a startled bird.

He rather looks like one, too, with his gaunt face and narrow, slightly curved nose. A very distraught bird that has had its nest ravaged… and has still decided to take a stranger, an enemy, under its wing.

It truly is there. That wisp of the man Dorian was friends with.

'You...' the magister begins to explain, keeping his voice down and making a small gesture in the direction of the hillside beyond the trees' shelter. 'You were sobbing and shaking, and I reasoned you could use less light and noise. And...'

He smirks mirthlessly.

'And fewer dead bodies, naturally. So I teleported us here. And cast a healing spell, just to be on the safe side. Have you... recovered?'

Elgara passes her hand over her face.

Her fingers are unsteady, and she feels withered and drained like a prune, but the urge to howl in tears has passed.

'I — I think so. Thank you'.

'Hm.’

The magister purses his lips and looks away.

‘Consider it me - awkwardly - trying to make up for the gruesome Tranquil hunt. And to thank you for your extraordinary treatment of your prisoners. I wish I were capable of appreciating the books you so graciously supplied me with.'

He glances quickly back at Elgara, and she almost stops hearing what she is saying to him, transfixed by the moon beams in his eyes.

'Think nothing of it. You had too much on your mind to focus on reading. I... certainly know what it's like.'

He gives her an absent-minded nod, and turns back to gaze into nothingness while his fingers restlessly peel off flakes of pine bark.

'I have known several enchanters with a... predicament somewhat similar to yours. We Tevinters love breeding our bloodlines like prized horses. The stronger their magic, the better. But strong magic often comes with fragile senses, easy to overload. I imagine it is the same for you as a former Tranquil, is it not?'

'Quite so.'

Mysteriously, the more time she spends like this, amid the serenity of the winter woods, shielded from the... overloading world by these snowy branches, side by side with the man who once plotted against her, the stronger those warmth and brightness bloom inside her chest.

When they reach their glowing peak, she blurts out,

'I am... deeply thankful that you were there.’

The magister moves his head slowly from side to side.

'Sing no false praise, Herald. Not in front of your advisors,' he says bitterly. 'I am still very much looking forward to meeting your kind headsman.'

Elgara's heart makes a new, rather painful leap up her windpipe. But she does not let this shatter the bright, warm sun squares in her mind.

'As a matter of fact, I intend to tell my advisors that you had escaped while I was fighting the bandit. And that I simply could not find you anywhere.’

She laughs suddenly, and covers her cheeks, her skin scorched by a blush.

'I... have not lied often since my Tranquility was... cured... but... I think I have it in me.’

The magister tears away from the pine trunk, pulling his fingers out of the crevices in the bark like a cat pulls out its claws.

'You would let me go? Just like that? After all that I wrought?' his voice thins out into a rusty creak.

'What is the point? I do not have anywhere to go. I am a wanted man out there, in Ferelden — and in here, I can at least have an execution. Like I deserve. Like I need.'

Again, Elgara senses a tide of pain rising around him. She jolts upright and, casting aside all of that Tranquil logic, not caring to waste even a single moment on thinking, grabs the magister's hand and squeezes it.

'You do not need to die,' she says earnestly. 'And if you go free, you can try making the journey to Tevinter. You can go home. Like Felix wanted. You can be near him when he passes away.'

You can do what it takes to revert from demon to spirit. Like Kindness did, when it, too, was set free.

'I...' the magister chokes, two red dots breaking out over his cheekbones.

Elgara wonders if she has crushed his hand too hard, and drops it hastily. But his expression remains the same.

'I was so wrong about you,' he manages to squeeze out at last. 'I should never have called you a mistake. I apologize, Herald... And I wish... I wish we had met under different circumstances.’

'So do I,' she admits. Quite truthfully.

He bows to her — like he did during that charade of a meeting in Redcliffe. And yet... Not exactly like that. This time, there is no darkness pooling and bubbling around him. No malice in his eyes. Just... Just sadness.

'Farewell, Herald,' he tells her. 'I am not certain if your ambitious little expedition succeeds, but... the sheer idea is quite fascinating.'

'Well, now I have to seal the Breach just to spite you,' Elgara says — and nearly gasps, petrified by the realization that she just... bantered!

She thought the skill lost to her, erased by Tranquility, just as her ability to decipher sarcasm. But she... She actually did it... She bantered!

And in response to her banter, the magister chuckles, before fading in a cloud of smoke. This must just be the effect of another teleportation spell — but Elgara thinks of Kindness again. Of how it was transformed from a demon back to a spirit. Perhaps the same will happen to the magister, if he finds his way.

There is a whole pantheon of gods out there. They probably care little about the fate of a Tevinter, a man whose kin once destroyed the realm of the People beyond repair. But they might listen to Elgara if she speaks on his behalf.

They might keep him safe. They might bring him home.

Elgara smiles at the thought, running her fingertips along the grooves the magister left in the tree bark.

Well. Time to turn back to Haven.

Time to tell her lie, and then the truth.

To face the family of that poor guard, like the magister faced her, and to warn Leliana about the hunt for the Tranquil, so that she sends out scouts across Thedas. Rescuing as many as they can, from among those who are still wandering about, displaced when the Circles fell.

Maybe Madame Vivienne will have some ideas too.

All of these tasks will overwhelm her; more than once.

She knows they will.

But — but she is not afraid.

[dani-luminae]

I'm thinking about Wish again. So as the only Wish liker I know of, tell me what you liked about the story and also maybe some things you thought could be improved!

I would be honored! And it got long, so... below the cut.

What I liked:

I would die for Asha. She is so precious!

All her friends were so cute! I love that they were a tribute to the Seven Dwarfs. People complaining that the friends had no personality... neither did the Seven Dwarfs, really. I am so happy that they clearly accept Simon immediately when he returns after the spell is broken.

Dahlia specifically tho. She is always right there for Asha no matter what, trying to calm her and support her right before the interview, stalling with silly questions so that Asha can get into the castle for Sabino's wish, being the first to join in "Knowing What We Know Now" after Asha, and especially!!!! In "This Wish (Reprise)" when Asha is nearly defeated and pleading to the audience it is Dahlia who answers first! She doesn't even know if it's going to work, if anyone else will join, but she's right there pledging her wish with Asha because she cares about Asha so much!!!!! (Yes I might ship them. Why do you ask?)

I actually really like Magnifico as he is. He's a great example of a villain driven by trauma, with a great amount of charisma and genuinely entertaining to watch while also being so "love to hate"able. (The same cannot be said for a lot of stans.)

I love Amaya. Perfect arc. God I feel so bad for her but now she can rule as she sees fit, not playing second fiddle as an accessory to Magnifico. (I don't doubt that they love each other but there really was no repairing their relationship after he hit her with magic.)

I love Asha's mother and grandfather so much.

I LOVE STAR!!!!!!! FUCK OFF STARBOY

They structured the plot similar to old, cherished Princess movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and most specifically, Sleeping Beauty.

The end credits!!! Having little nods to all the Disney animated movies (except Meet the Robinsons apparently????) it was so sweet.

Could be improved:

The music. I liked about... half of it. The other half felt flat. I think that's because they hired pop radio writers instead of like, lyrical writers, if that makes sense. Both of "This Wish," "Knowing What we Know Now" and "This is the Thanks I Get?!" were so great, but "At All Costs" just had me sitting in the theater like pretty lights, but did we really need the song? and I don't even remember "I'm a Star!" because it felt really flat.

I love Star but we were promised "an origin of the Wishing Star!" and we did not get that. He just happens to be a character. I wish we'd gotten that actual origin story. I wrote a little rewrite about it, in fact, in which Star gives his life and magic to Asha and she is the Wishing Star we see in all the movies.

Also I didn't... much like Valentino. He was funny for the first five minutes he could talk ("Who knew my voice would be this low?") but then he just kind of became obnoxious. He didn't really bring anything to the plot that I can think of (even Hei Hei in Moana justified his role by actually, for once, being useful in catching the heart of Te Fiti).

I think that situating Rosas in a geographically real location was a shortcoming, because suddenly there is a myriad of real-life local cultures native to the Iberian peninsula to chose from aesthetic (clothes, architecture, etc.) wise and they didn't. For example, Asha has long braided hair specifically inspired by the Amazigh people, who the designers imagined her having heritage from specifically from Sakina's side, but there wasn't a lot else there. I like the design of the clothes and stuff in the movie but it feels short compared to culture of the area.

Lore. Apparently this movie is set before all other Disney movies and Asha is the very first person to ever wish on a star? Except clearly her father did the same, and her friends are at least familiar enough with the idea of wishing on stars that they see it as childish (Gabo's comment: "What are you, five?" or something like that.)

Asha deserved a whole magical transformation. Her pose when Star dusts her with sparkles is an exact pose reference to Cinderella, but while Cindy got the most gorgeous change (and Walt Disney's personal most favorite piece of animation), poor Asha just gets glitter. A massive downgrade made even more down because of the reference, in my opinion.

Both liked and could have been so much better:

References. So many of them. Some were nice (Sandra's wish to make the most beautiful dresses being shown as Sleeping Beauty's dress, a man named Peter wishes to build a flying machine and his companion is a brunette dressed in blue like Wendy). Some were weird. Some felt like they had no real business being there (see: Valentino's comment about an animal utopia suspiciously similar to Zootopia.)

(No I swear I'm not bitter that Atlantis and Treasure Planet didn't get in-movie references)

Miscellaneous comments:

I understand the whole "people are reluctant to let Black girls have a love interest" thing and I completely understand. But Starboy was just not it. This fandom already ignores Asha for him and he doesn't actually exist. If he had made it into the movie I already know how people would be treating Asha.

I know I said I love Magnifico as the villain but I would very much love to explore an AU where Asha *did* become his apprentice, and maybe he was like a stand-in father figure to her, actually careful and guiding, before something threatens all the wishes. I don't know what, but I feel like there's a lot of different ways that his trauma could have been explored without necessarily making him lash out and require so much control.

The movie feels rushed. I'm not saying that in an "it was bad, eew" way but in a "it could have been so much better" way. The literal tagline was "A story a century in the making!" and that drummed up a lot of expectations, but the end result is that honestly, it kind of feels like it needed more time to bake.

That being said, it was clearly crafted with a lot of care and thought put into it for what it was meant to be, and time constraints aren't the creators' faults.

[carlzy-berryz]

Some headcanons and stuff :>

Okay, first i just wanted to say this is in my au, and if you don't agree with these headcanons, that's completely fine, just don't harass me over them. I respect your opinion, so please respect mine <3 This is also a long desc so I'll put it under the cut..

And yes this isn't really "lore" I just wanted to put this out there as a ref sheet (kinda XD)

Anyways, just some extra info explaining things..

Yes, you read that right, the koopalings are his biological children, I think it's cute, ok? (yes that would also mean that Ludwig would be the king but i dont think i'll get that far in my au...)

Bowser and Clawdia we're kinda pressured into having so many kids and some at such a young age and one day it just got too much for Clawdia and she left... she never really got to know Lemmy and Junior... ( I might do more on their story when I design her, but idk when that will be) That's all I've got for now..

Here's some additional stuff about their age and sexuality...

You'll notice they are all pretty close in age, since Bowser and Clawdia thought it would be easier for them to get along and also what I mentioned above..

Identities

Junior literally does NOT care, lol, he thinks love is disgusting.

Lemmy has been questioning whether he's gay or not but everyone sees it except himself.

Iggy is genderfluid, but their siblings usually just call them he/him, since it's what they were used to before they came out! , they obviously don't mind tho!

Morton is still questioning his identity, and that's completely fine, he's in no rush to find out.

Wendy, oh my gosh, Wendy, there's a LOT to say about you XD! She's always been into girls (even my oc, oop-) but she's too scared to come out as Bowser is a little more strict with her since she's his "precious princess",everyone is pretty much oblivious anyway, except Lud, he can sense something...

Kamek has been straight his whole life and claims he's too old for this "gay nonsense" he still supports everyone tho :>

Making Hazel bisexual just felt right to me (and to cause drama with my friend lol, nothing serious)

The rest of 'em I can't really explain they just gimme those vibes y'know?

I think that's about it!! If you read all this, thank you so much, and I hope I explained everything fine (also au/hazel lore stuff should be coming soon I'm almost done with them! 🫶

[horridgoblin]

act 2 observations. entirely about gale. as i am now playing through the beginnings of act 3

(im slowing down my gameplay a bit because i dont want it to end. even tho i have other kinds of playthroughs in mind lmao):

the act 2 romance scene fucking broke my heart

i was seeing a couple bits of discourse online (who doesn't) where some folks think gale love bombs a bit to try and secure a relationship with you bc he doesn't believe hes good enough. or something along those lines. the love bombing comments stick out to me.

and i got a bit worried, because ive fell for love bombing irl before and i was like. fuck sake not again cant fall into the trap of another abuser

so i was thinking, he did pull the i love you thing rather quick.

but then the context of the scene hits and like. actually? no i dont think this is love bombing at all

in this particular scene, he believes its his last night alive

that in any other circumstances, he wouldve courted you properly, said the words leading to a "i love you" properly.

he also still doesnt believe you love him back? and is taken aback when you say you do?

also if i was in the position of my tav (who is entirely a self insert btw, i made them look like me even, albeit a yassified half elf version lmao)

i would genuinely say i love you back because holy shit i could also die at any moment on this adventure where i could become a mindflayer at any moment, or if a goblin got particularly stabby

i think any propriety or social standards for courting goes out the fucking window at the precipice of death?

so i dont think hes love bombing at all. keep in mind its a calculated manipulation tactic, and gale doesn't have bad intentions at all. he would not pull that narcissistic bullshit (because hes not one)

so those comments make me a bit :/

back to point 1

seeing his tower was like. holy shit this is amazing

ooooooooooooh the yearning

hes being so vulnerable with you, inviting you into his most precious sanctuary

the decor also slays

its heartbreaking because i was imagining wanting to live there with him. the domesticity of it all. but you cant. because he may die soon.

OOOOOOOOOH THE YEARNINGGG

clawing at my skin and hair

at first i was considering not having this scene play out because lore wise i would want to assure him id want the "gale right in front of me".

but if i was in my tav's position, i would indulge him out of curiosity and to see his enthusiasm for his wizardry. because i love his enthusiasm for the things hes passionate about. mystra be damned.

also id show him he doesnt need his magic to woo me. later. tho he does later say that i love him not just for his magical prowess. so idk? interdasting.

also no notes for the astral sex scene. none. 10/10 holy fucking shit

this is getting very long so. another post about act 2 in general will probably happen. maybe. im too brainrotted with gale atm oopsies!

[theplagueunderyoursink]

ABOUT DEMONS IN BAYONETTA 3

It's so weird that some demons in bayonetta 3 don't come back, like the six arms, they were cool, and had development: in the first game they tried to play volleyball with the golem and failed, while in the second they actually do it! So proud of them but where are they??? Like, it would have been so cool to see them back...

Also, the train could have been replaced by scholopendra, I really miss that guy.

And the kraken could have been replaced by the hydra since they are so similar in use...

Or queen Sheba. Now, I know that most people don't like the ending, and they are right as hell. It would have been so cool if the three Bayonettas in the end summoned queen Sheba together and kick singularity's ass and as a reward for finishing the game (maybe only in infinite climax?) You get her weapon and her summon, even if it was just a recolour of Madame Butterfly... (I would prefer it to be her own demon tho)

I don't get why Alrune returned instead. In the lore there is only one version of the demons. Rodin is the same in every universe, and so are other demons. In Bayo 2 Rodin kills her and uses her to create the whip, so she shouldn't be alive, right? Instead she is. Weird.

Rodin being summonable is so fucking cool, I wish they gave us post game where Cereza uses his powered up form like with Gomorrah and Madame Butterfly and Baal Zebul. I just wish there were more of those fights tbh. The clocktower and the big split bats never got any action, while Madame and Gomorrah were summoned about three times... I get that they are fan favourites, but I really wanted to see other demons too...

The clocktower is so cool btw, it can give you witch time whenever you want, or can turn into a mech that can beat Rodin's ass easily (see my previous post), or it can slap big enemies, or make bombs rain on the battlefield! How cool is that??? All while being a clocktower! That's so cool. I admit that when I saw it for the first time I thought it was just a demon to fill the roster. But when Bayo used its witch time bell in a cutscene I audibly gasped (mostly because I didn't even try using it) like, how cool is it to be able to use witch time with the fallen clocktower of the umbra clan infested by the spirits of the fallen umbra witches??? The clock that symbolizes Rosa's death! It was a big deal that it was destroyed according to the previous games' lore, because a lot of witches died in it, and it was the same day that Rosa died (in the main universe)! And you get it by shooting Rosa and killing her as Cereza! That's so fucking good! I love the clocktower so much.

Gomorrah is underwhelming tbh. I expected something more powerful. Like, Madame is good during all of the game, but Gomorrah is just, kinda there??? I love it, but I rarely use it. If I ever used it at all, actually...

BAAL IS SO PRECIOUS. I love her so much! Little (not so much) frog that sings! And when she sings it's such a good attack too! It hits everything and some people use her against Rodin too. She just wants to sing for her master, and when she finally does... Oh boy! That was an amazing scene! The rhythm game was hard tho... So I kinda killed the mood by taking some damage and I am so sorry. The little hands coming from hell with glowing sticks to vibe to her music is so funny, and both of her designs are so appealing. One side is "hehe royal froge" And the other is "queen of opera". Anyway she uses her tadpoles as bombs and that's fucking hilarious, it's like, a dragapult situation, the kids just explode!

The two big bats are cool I guess... They didn't get much screen time and are useful only in like, three situations, which all involve a barrier that makes enemies invisible. And if you squint hard enough you actually see the enemies on your own when they attack so it's not that useful. I like that they separate when they attack but Labolas does that better.

Labolas are four good kitties and I would die for them.

Madame Butterfly is so fucking funny for no fucking reason! She does a kamehameha and kicks butts while taking a nice bath, what an icon. Maybe they overused her a bit along with Gomorrah.

The war train is... Underwhelming? Is that the right word? Idk... Like, you have all these flashy fights but then time stops so that you can place binaries on the battlefield... Baal's song does it's job better. If you wanna hit multiple enemies at the same time use Baal. Basically useless in any boss fight and awkward to use in battle. A shame, really, because I like the concept of throwing a fucking train in someone's face.

Cheshire Is cool, as much as I hate playing as Viola, Cheshire is so goofy and silly when he attacks. He's a good kitty.

Phantasmanereae is cool, but I preferred the black version in other Bayonettas... It's still cool, don't get me wrong, it's just... I don't know. It's cool that it can use webs to imprison enemies but I don't use it much. I prefer its weapon. I like to walk on walls.

Malphas crow is actually so cool in white, and it looks so smart! That's a smart boi right there, I am sure. It has so many eyes! So cute! I wanna pet one.

The kraken... I don't use it much. Similar to Gomorrah, but it's not as iconic so... Meh. I know there was a glitch where people used it to win against Rodin but it's been patched before I started playing so... Idk. Cool that it's basically both the first and the last boss I guess? Gives me that sweet ringkomposition feel I like (and I don't like spelling). I like the ink theme, but I never really use it's summon or its weapon unless it's for using all weapons.

I think that the demons are over? There is Jeanne's version of Madame Butterfly, but I never use Jeanne because i like witch time a lot. And it's basically the same demon.

(Yes this post has become a review of the demons mid writing, thanks for noticing)

[ghost-bxrd]

I'm back and I've done it! I finished Talon! God where do I even start-

Just cuz it's off the top of my head, I think I agree with you in liking Calvin and Casey having a platonic relationship. You were so right in saying that they balance each other out, because when Calvin was too scared to act Casey would be there to push him, remind him of what they were fighting for. The unwavering faith they had in each other was so sweet, and they just made it look so easy, to bare yourself open to another person, all your fears and doubts and hopes and wishes. You don't need to be romantic partners to have such devotion for another person. Imo Calvin just basically imprinted on her cuz she was the first normal person he'd met outside the Court, as well as the first life he saved. (oops + Sarah) All in all tho, I'm okay with any iteration of their relationship, cuz in the end they're just good for each other, and they deserve to live the lives they've wanted together.

that was kinda long sorry. now onto my other thoughts!

I knew something was fishy with Sebastion! I just didn't expect him to be the previous Grandmaster! I have yet to read any comics where the batfam faces off against the Court, so I wonder if it was obvious to those who have read them. But man I was so worried about Casey, and then bam! She once again proves why she's the most bamf ever! I'm so surprised and glad that they gave her such depth and made her such a strong character. (lol i keep bringing everything back to Casey, i can't help it she's just too cool)

Batman popping in was cool, but he couldn't just leave the attitude at home could he? Glad he came around in the end tho.

LOVE Anya, Joey, and Edgar! I'm so happy they all stuck around! I'm such a sucker for found family, and everyone sticking together until the end mended my heart a bit from all the other found families that have split up.

One last mention to Casey and her awesome new upgrades! Tho how she came to get them was quite very bad, she was so strong to not let her circumstances keep her down and getting payback at the monster who hurt her.

And then the last issue! Ahh I'm so happy for Calvin. Funny how he must be the only person to have a good outcome from taking a dip in the green. I don't care about the mechanics, I'm just glad it worked. I'm so proud of Calvin finally achieving the life he fought so hard for.

If it weren't for you I don't know if I ever would have found this gem. Was an absolute pleasure to read. I've gained another favorite character. And I'm looking forward to seeing this precious bean make his way into your writing and reading about him!

I’m happy you enjoyed the comic! It’s easily one of my all time favorites (despite Bruce being a downright butthole for some of it). All the Court of Owls lore, all the Talons! The characters!! *sighs dreamily* 🦉

[kenyizsuartblog]

Skarner's full regalia (+chibi)

Despite being the very first Yun Tal and father of the Ground Axioms, ironically Skarner could never don the magical garments all other Yun Tal could - the brackern's mind seemed incompatible with the Vidalion and the artifact could not weave anything out of his magic.

So the people took it upon themselves to weave a headdress worthy of their eternal protector, featuring colors that mimicked the Yun Tal garments as close as possible, and lines of precious gold that resembled the Axiom patterns of Ixtali magic.

Creating this giant gift and then putting it on the equally massive head of the brackern was no easy task... but the Yun Tal aren't called elemental masters for nothing. Their protector's gratitude was well worth it.

----

LoL Train ain't stopping yet, boys!!

Although I will absolutely throw every ounce of my energy into finally finishing the Diablo fancomic in time, and will probably only upload small sketches on the side until it is done, Skarner and Runeterra in general continues to dominate my interest without fail. I have a lot of ideas for this amazing bastard, and I hope I can put as many as I can into drawn (and maybe written?) form.

We might just have another Solar Demigod Doc Ock situation on our hands here, cupcakes.

I must confess I'm so damn sad that I can't share my obsession and headcanon ideas with others about this scorpion. Man, I see so much potential in his story, his past, his justifiable fears and paranoia, and how he could become a more positive character... and immediately he gets labelled "evil boomer" by almost everyone else and that's the end of the discussion. :( I can understand OG Skarner mains, they have the right to mourn the loss of their purple crystal scorpion. But even those who had no emotional connection to his original design just brush him off.

I feel like people don't really put effort into putting themselves into characters' shoes anymore. I sure damn hope I am wrong about that, tho, because if I am not.... oh man, that is some sad state of the world.

I know right now Riot is going through yet another "lore allergy" phase in their existence, but come on guys. Can we give Skarner a chance?

No?

"Evil boomer" it is?

... Yeah, f that, not in this house! The Primordial Sovereign may rise yet!

2024.05.25.

[mukky-world]

hi mukky!! i hope you don't mind asks i just found your website, and... it's so cool.... it's like you opened a whole new world for me a whole website dedicated to your art, tweaking every single thing to your liking, creating your own online world (and hence the name mukky's world).... that's so beautiful and i can't imagine why people stopped doing that. we HAVE to bring the trend back i still haven't looked at other websites you have put links to, this is honestly one of the first times i'm personally visiting a place on the internet like this one, but those buttons are very very tempting..... i was looking around your site for like half an hour if not longer, and i felt like a little kid in a toy store, or even more like a teenager in a stationery shop, running from shelf to shelf and picking up every single item with excitement glimmering in the eyes, everything is just so cool and pretty and amazing and i dont know the right adjectives to describe this experience😭 your art. your art is so precious. i think i can look at each piece for hours, it's all very expressive and honest and puts some positivity in my soul.... absolutely gorgeous and i think i accidentally got very invested into the anti-gravity racing lore.... the concept of unimaginably fast sky racing on a sort or racing-spaceship machines is amazing, has to be a separate game or a show!!! hard to pick my favorite team, but it's probably between sky labs and la rapid, tho polycarbonate is also a strong competitor anyway, i could probably say much more, but this is already a lot for a single ask, so i'll stop here. thank you so much for making a website, i can't wait to see what else you're going to do with it!! (and a possible second site? your youtube channel???? honestly baffled with your seemingly unending creativity) with best regards, blooky <з

I... I don't know what to say... it means so much to read this, I am so very greatful to hear the joy you get out of my work. This is why I make art, thank you for the very kind words!!! I will work hard to continue bringing this kind of joy into the world!!! :3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[night-faye]

"Let the demon child come out and play!" everybody who knows Nezha lore turns to stare at the camera. I knew with this episode, you'd have two more reasons to hate Peng than just Macky and Mei lol. "This isn't worth your life." "You're right. It's worth far more than that." *sighs in lore.* You need therapy too, this show made it worse. "No matter what options it's giving you, you're always going to end up in the same spot." "Ooooh, thanks Macaque. You went through more effort than usual to make me feel like dirty dirt dirt. Good job, round of applause." ABSOLUTELY CRACKING UP AT MK DISHING OUT ALL THIS SASS AND MACKY'S STUMPED LOOK AND AWKWARD EYE ROLL gosh that face- "You were supposed to realize by now that the choices the game's giving you aren't the only choices you've got. Life isn't some pre-written thing like a video game where you have to do what the tutorial says." "It's time to start making your own choices. Something I wish I'd learned a lot sooner than I did." DULY NOTING THIS DOWN FOR THE S4 SPECIAL. We know, it's hard for you to be pushy when you were younger, always following Wukong and friends. Also ow, the cut to the drawing they made together :') two different art styles, they DID draw that together and Wukong kept it all this time :') :') :') Well now that we're in the S4 special uh hehe, you can see where it comes in :) "Only you get to decide who you are, kiddo." That had NO right to be as soft as it was. Haha yep, very weird how the Celestial beings instantly react to that. Only other thing those three have in common excluding MK is dying and being brought back in different ways.

1) SoySauce Duo is a TREASURE. It's so funny watching MK gush about how Wukong was all cute and cheeky, no WAY he did nothing wrong. "Sir, my client is just a fluffy monkey. Let him go. Is it a crime to be silly?" He'd make a great lawyer lol. Meanwhile, Macky is RIGHT THERE lol. It's ok we already heard his perspective. But he's holding back and is just like.......dude. did you even read the book.

2) Love love love the trope of Macky constantly collecting more monkeys. Those little guys missed him a lot, surely. Also LOL at MK laughing at Macky's expense over being called "bud." There's a misconception that Macky would be calling Wukong "peaches" nah that's all stuff like "your majesty" meanwhile Wukong is nicknaming this grumpy ball of fluff something cute like "peaches." Hard agree with his anguish tho like tell us what happened already for realsies we're still waiting for part 2!! 3) "We have to try. He'd do the same for any of us." Meanwhile Macky: *thinking back to MK's S3 rant and the cave divorce* "I can't believe I'm sticking my neck out for Wukong. Again." says monkey not being forced to do anything. Love also, how he apparently read all 2,000 pages of this book. just divorced ex-best friend nemesis you want to kill things. ALSO 😭 that "Wukong, what have you done." has crazy emotion. you two know each other so deeply. Notice how Wukong's eyebrows used to be all messy like Macky's here 🤔 something something, monkey who tries to appear more like a civilized human to belong somewhere and not be seen as a savage beast. 4) Who knows really why Macky was bandaging himself alone or what fight he got into off screen. Just warrior things. But hey 👀 that promise he reminded Macky of in the 2nd ep this season. It is ILLEGALLY CUTE AND PRECIOUS how Wukong is able to dispel any doubts or concerns Macky has just by poking him all goofy like that and UGH THE CUTE SHY SMILES THAT HE CAN'T HELP BC OF HIS STUPID OPTIMISTIC SHINING LIGHT OF A FRIEND and the FREAKING HAIR RUFFLE "Quit it, eat your dang peach." He says with a complete smile audible in his voice bc his friend is stupidly endearing. "You're a peach!" OKAY WUKONG.

>*throws myself off a cliff*<

[glitterguts13]

In genshin and hsr who are your favorites? It can be a category or fave from each body type/gender/element whatever and to balance it out, do you have any hsr/genshin characters you don't vibe with doesn't have to be outright hate but just not your fave either be story/design/personality or any reason really

How about I once again ramble on far too long and just rank all the characters from each series? (I love to yap, I'm the worst yapper) Only doing HSR right now but I'll do Genshin another day!

HSR (going by Element)

Fire

Himeko

5/10

I love her dearly, and I think her design is stunning. The only reason I give her such a neutral rating is because the story hasn't really let me connect with her yet. She still feels like a stranger despite being with us the longest, and I really want more content focused on her, her past and other Trailblazers she's known.

Topaz

4/10

Design wise, I love her. I love Numby, and I think she was the perfect way to introduce us to the higher ups of the IPC. I just don't really care much for her character. I don't connect with her, but I don't dislike her either. I want to see her and Aventurine interact more in the future, I need to know if they're friends or they hate each other's guts.

Asta

1/10

I don't like her design and I find her terribly boring. Honestly if she hadn't been the first character I E6'd I'd forget she was even in the game.

Gallagher

8/10

Real talk, I did not and still do not understand WTF this man was doing or what he was talking about. I love him dearly tho because goddamn it Hoyo we need more old men. Design wise, he's a little plain but that just works in his favorite. Also I still crack jokes about the "I'm Thirteen." line.

Guinaifen

5/10

Great design, her ult is one of my favorites. I loved her in the HouHou event and I really want to see more of her in the future. She's cute and charming.

Hook

2/10

I don't like her design and I don't really care about her as a character. Her relationship with her dad is very sweet tho.

Ice

Gepard

7/10

Biased because baby boy carried my ass from the start up until Aventurine knocked him off my main team. E3 with his signature Lightcone, the gatcha gods have pushed us together. Design wise I think he's rather dull, but he's a wonderful brother and I just want to squish his cheeks and tell him he's doing a good job.

Jingliu

4/10

One of the best designs in the game, but I feel like so much of her story was ignored in place of Blade and Dan Heng. I want more of her, I want to see her what she was like before everything went down. Give me more Jingliu lore Hoyo.

Ruan Mei

1/10

Ok, I know this is petty, and I'm sorry. I would have given her a 9/10 before I did the cat cake quest, but after seeing how she treated those precious babies (I am a massive cat person) I was just so upset. I know that's dumb, and I do enjoy that Hoyo gave us a genuinely morally gray character. I just love cats too much-

Yanqing

5/10

I have no feelings either way about him. Design is meh, story was meh. I'm open to changing my opinion in the future if we see more of him.

Herta

5/10

I love that they made her doll body look like a doll (looking at Wanderer Hoyo) but I don't care about her either way. She's middle ground.

March 7th

7/10

Sweet baby girl, I will protect you with my life. A ray of sunshine in this dark world, I'm very excited about her new alt. Side note, do you ever just have a headcanon about a character that's so strong you forget it isn't canon? For me I've been headcanoning March as a trans woman for so long I genuinely forget she's not.

Misha

7/10

Sweet baby boy I am still not over what happened to you. Adorable design, heartbreaking story. You'll never be forgotten.

Pela

8/10

I love her so dearly, I think her design is perfection. Her VA brought me to tears during her story while crying for her mother. Absolutely gut wrenching, I will defend her with my life.

Imaginary

Aventurine

10/10

I cried like a fucking bitch playing his story. I hated his guts when we first meet him at the hotel and the way I turned around was whiplash. He's wonderful and perfect and I hope to God he gets to know some form of genuine freedom one day. However this is Hoyo and I know better.

Dan Heng: Imbibitor Lunae

8/10

Easily one of my favorite designs. Slutty ass little waist I just wanna grab- anyway I think he's neat.

Dr Ratio

7/10

I don't care for his design but goddamnit if he doesn't make me cackle. I know he isn't meant to be funny but his deadpan line delivery kills me, and his interactions with Aventurine were some of the best.

Loucha

??/10

HEY HOYO WHERE DID HE GO?? TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT THIS MAN FOR FUCKS SAKE IM SO LOST

Welt

10/10

The love I have for this old man is unhealthy and should be studied. Man made me read Impact Lore I'm down so bad and you know what else HES STILL NOT HOME JUST COME HOME IM TIRED OF LOSING TO GEPARD

Yukong

7/10

Doomed lesbians. Give her her wife back Hoyo, and don't you DARE TOUCH HER DAUGHTER

Lightning

Archeron

5/10

Great design, absolutely peak. I just don't connect with her, nothing to say either way.

Bailu

8/10

My sweet daughter, I will protect her at all costs.

Jing Yuan

9/10

I am not immune to Daddy Jing Yuan. Great design, great character and I want to see him interact with Jingliu more. Give me angst, give me feeling.

Kafka

10/10

I only picked up HSR because of her, and I still don't have her. This feels like a personal attack. Sexy as fuck, step on me, Jesus christ she is everything.

Arlan

1/10

I have no real reason I just do not like him. Design or character wise, I find him boring and uninteresting.

Serval

8/10

Hot big gay sister. She's beautiful, she's talented and she's another one on the list with a dead girlfriend. Would give my kidney just to hold her hand.

Tingyun

6/10

WHY DID THEY DO THAT TO HER????

Physical

Boothill

10/10

I would do disgusting things for this man. Might be the only character story that made me cry while reading and not playing. I'm both thrilled and terrified to see how his interactions with Aventurine go in the future. Give me more slutty, sad cyborg.

Robin

7/10

Beautiful design and she made my heartache. She loved her brother so much, but they'll never be able to recover the bond they used to have...teared up when she caught Sunday while he fell.

Argenti

8/10

I just think he's neat.

Clara

9/10

THATS MY DAUGHTER, THAT IS MY BABY. I WILL COMMIT CRIMES TO SEE HER SAFE AND HAPPY AND ALSO PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR ROBOT FATHERS NUMBER HES REALLY HOT-

Hanya

5/10

Stunning design, but I have nothing else to say about her, good or bad.

Luka

-1/10

He might be the only character I actively hate. I don't like his design and I don't like him. I'm sorry to Luka stans, I do not stand with you.

Natasha

5/10

Again, neutral on all account.

Sushang

2/10

Forgot all about her until just now.

Quantum

I give them all a 5/10

I feel 100% neutral on all of them. Sparkle gets a 2/10 tho because holy shit you didn't have to say *that* to Aventurine.

Black Swan

8/10

Everything about her design is perfection and she was just a delight to follow in game. I love her, I want to see more of her.

Blade

4/10

3 of the 4 points is just because of Dan Hang. I don't like Blade at all, unpopular opinion I know.

Bronya

5/10

Again, totally neutral. Love her earrings tho.

HuoHuo

9/10

Baby, angel, sweetest creature alive. I will do anything to make her feel safe and I will personal pick a fight with Mr. Tail for upsetting her. Also FUCK her parents, how dare they do that to their daughter.

Dan Heng

6/10

Hes neat, but I don't really care either way. Did love him with Boothill tho, that was unnecessarily funny.

Sampo

8/10

STINKY TRASH MAN FUNNY I want to hurt him.

[the--highlanders]

20 questions for fic writers

super late but tagged by @penny-anna, thank you!!

How many works do you have on ao3?

203 apparently! which is like, a lot but also doesn't feel like that many for how long I've been posting now

what’s your total ao3 word count?

1,060,055, and I'm still SUPER proud of hitting a million words. don't think I'm ever gonna write as much again as I did in 2022 (how did I write almost 400k in a year????) but apparently I'm over 100k for this year so. happy with that even though I haven't written nearly as much as I'd like due to like, general life stuff

What fandoms do you write for?

just second doctor era dr who! I definitely get like, story ideas for other fandoms I enjoy, and occasionally I'll idly imagine writing some of them, but never really seriously. I've kinda made an active choice for this to be my niche and I don't seem to have run out of ideas yet so

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

ok I'm gonna cut out like, 'fics' that are actually compilations of prompt fics etc bc I feel like that's cheating but. let's see

in the night i lie and look up at you (when the morning comes i watch you rise)

Sacrificial

Revelations

Vigil

tell me how you'll kiss me when i touch down

weird list tbh! big fan of the first and last one being there but like... sacrificial in particular I was NOT happy with ahgjklfdjgf. I do like vigil tho

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes absolutely!!! they fill me with so much joy & serotonin so I like to reply, & also I love love love discussing stuff w/ people in the comments (hi @galacticlamps ahjkgfd). I'm very very behind on it right now but I will get around to them all I promise!!!

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending

oughfkdjg this is tough. I do think if only we could have been brave on time was pretty angsty, I don't usually write fics that toy so much with major character death.

there's a few others but the first one that jumped out at me while scrolling through my fics was i'm trying to reach you (before all the ghosts do). minor character/oc death this time but like. the whole fic was very much born out of the image of its angsty ending, so.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

hm I mean I do write a lot of angstless fluff!! so like, any of those. but I'm gonna go with litany for a reunion, because so much of it is angsty that I think the ending seems happier because of it.

Do you get hate on fics?

not yet! but this fandom is pretty chill so.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I am very very sex-repulsed ace it would not be a good time for anybody <3

Do you write crossovers?

not in the sense of like, bringing characters from one fandom into another. if I had the stamina/confidence to do proper longfics I'd absolutely do more aus, some of which are inspired by other media (if you guys could see the fairytale aus that live in my head.), and I /do/ have a daemon au.

the only crossover I've really done is Lifeboat, which is like. still a concept I enjoy. ark/its lore is something so close to my heart, so it was a lot of fun to fuse it with dr who. plus I just like imagining that victoria's dad was surrounded by so so so many unhinged mad scientists. & I also find it very very very funny that the ark character in question is now voiced by david tennant

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I'm aware of! again like. small and chill fandom. who's going to be doing that.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, and I don't think I'd want to - I'm a little bit too precious/sensitive about my writing to even have like, a beta reader or anything. I don't think I'd do well trying to co-write with someone. the closest I've come is kind of co-plotting out fics with other people (the plot of the selkie au is as much @ettelwenailinon's brainchild as mine <333)

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I have been so deeply invested in two/jamie for so long that I can no longer untangle it from myself.

What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

the fic I want to write most is a super comprehensive multichapter spanning about two years between jamie getting dropped off at culloden after the war games and two coming to pick him up again for 6b. I have a general sweep of the arc, some summary notes, and pages and pages of historical notes for it. unfortunately I don't think I'm ever going to feel like I've done enough historical research to justify writing it, even if I do somehow magically get myself to buck up into writing proper longfic.

What are your writing strengths?

hm idk! I'm quite pleased with some of my prose/descriptions sometimes. & I've had a few comments over the years saying I'm good at characterisation, which is always nice to hear.

I never really know what's good about my writing tho. not out of any sense of inferiority or false modesty or anything, I just. don't think that deeply about writing in general. the words come out & if I like them I like them

What are your writing weaknesses?

^^^ as I am always saying I wish I could break down the mental block that's stopping me from writing longfic

kinda related but like. I'm definitely a perfectionist and that can paralyse me sometimes when I'm trying to write a first draft.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I need to do it more often!!

my absolute dream would be to be able to translate all my fics into gàidhlig tbh. but I love love love giving jamie gàidhlig dialogue, or even just dropping little turns of phrase into his english dialogue, stuff like that. I definitely feel like there's some space between how I write/characterise jamie and how he is on screen, but to some degree that's a conscious decision. I'm always trying to strike a balance between like, writing him in character and writing him in a way that feels authentic to his time and cultural background. but dropping in bits of gàidhlig is a fun way of doing that (and also of getting myself to write in the language which is definitely good practice)

First fandom you wrote for?

hm I mean technically ig it was the saddle club. I was like 3 years old and I wrote a 'book' about the horses.

in terms of like, actively writing fic with the conscious knowledge of what fic was, probably fic about warrior cats ocs when I was about 11/12.

Favorite fic you’ve written?

old ghost's waltz, always. I loved how it came together, it was my first real dip into doing super historical jamie fic & a sort of replacement for the post-war games longfic I may never write, and it was a response to the phantom piper, which drives me absolutely insane in both good and bad ways. like it gave me so many ideas but god I could fix her.

unsorted is a very solid second though. it had all the historical fic joy of old ghost's waltz (even more so in some parts - the scene with jamie and connie might be my favourite scene I've ever written), and it was just. so cathartic to write as an expression of a headcanon I'd kind of hidden for so many years bc I was worried it wouldn't be well-received. it's my favourite fic to get comments on just because it always feels like a relief to see people enjoying it.

tagging @galacticlamps, @p0stscripter, @ettelwenailinon and anyone else who wants to do this!!

[tetzoro]

hihi precious aimsies!! im glad you’re feeling a bit better, im sending a big ol hug your way to heal you with my magical aimsies sickness go away powers !!! >_< AWEEEE oh my goodness, YOU AND KUROOS BACKSTORY?!?? HOW ADORABLE!!!!! that’s so silly how you both were pining for eachother T^T and then you’re just like “erm… what are we?!?!” BCUZ SERIOUSLY!!! kuroo seems so infatuated with you, warms my heart to see how adorable you two are (kuromy forevaaaa!! FAVORITE SHIP ITS CANON!!!!)

TEEHEE help!! of course ill tell you about me and kou, you’re spoiling ME right now!! >.< me n kou don’t have tootoo much of an interesting backstory (the lore does tend to change… sobs) but i will indulge since miss aimsies asked!!

basically we met back in highschool, i was super duper shy when it came to people i didn’t know </3 but i had seen him once in the courtyard and was like “°-° who is that fine man…” HELP.

i ended up seeing him around more since we were in the same grade, i accidentally quite literally bumped into him looking for a club to join (made a fool of myself i was super embarrassed, but hey beefy chest!!) and obviously, he suggested the volleyball club <3 took some convincing but the coach thought “hey, we could use another manager with bokuto on our team!” LMAOO!!

anywhosies, i joined as manager and got realreal close with the team (and obviously had a huge ginormous crush on bokuto) but kept it veryyyy quiet because i was too nervous to do anything… sigh. i only told the girls!!

one day i was just talking to the managers about him, and SOMEONE☝️ (konoha) overheard me !! he didn’t think twice before blurting a little too loudly “you have a crush on bokuto?!” UGHHH KONOHA AND HIS LOUDMOUTH!!! </333

everyone was just dead silent and i just walked out of the gym… i was so upset and embarrassed i didn’t even know what to do sigh. (little did i know the girls were absolutely screaming at konoha for it, poor guy HELP… and akaashi was with bokuto like “wtf just happened…”) but kou got super excited about it!! he had a big huge crush on me the whole time and i had no clue yet SOBS

kou eventually found me and gave me a big huge hug telling me the feeling was mutual in his own bokuto way <3 i was so close to sobbing because UGH he’s such a sweetheart i could smooch him forever and ever, i was so shocked and my shy self was just like “oh he likes me back and im kinda dumb! HE’S ALSO HUGGING ME RIGHT NOW!!! WHAT DO I DO!!!!” WAHHH (and i forgave konoha, i couldn’t hold a grudge to save my life!)

and yeah that’s a lil tidbit of just one of my favorite silly cliche backstories to think about teehee!!

not me practically writing a whole fanfic with this ask right now… um whoops!! but EEEP ILY AIMSIES, i hope you have the bestest day/night evaaaa and im looking forward to more of our chats teehee :3 youre the BEST!!! big huge smooches to you >.<

- :3

HI HIIII ^_^ WAHHH U ARE SO SWEET !! im already feelin much better thanks to your magical powers <3

PLSSS kuroo and i are dummies and unfortunately fall under idiots to lover trope … mostly bc im the idiot LMFAO !! but hey .. it all works out :3

YOU AND BOKUTO ARE SOOO SO CUTE STOP !! please i feel you sm on having it change all the time bc !! its just so fun to explore all the different ways you could meet your f/o :3 blooping them into different aus and different kind of meet cutes eeep !!

but the manager to lovers trope .. oh i love love love that for you guys hehe EVERYONE YELLING AT KONOHA MADE ME LAUGH PLS !! he’s prob just like ??! what did i say … i thought everyone knew …

im glad the girlies had ur back tho <3 and the HUG !!! HOW SWEET !!!! i know he gives the best hugs ever and will just scoop you up into his arms all the time bc !! he can teehee :3

you guys are everything to me please 🤧 im living for the fanfic LMAO i ate up every word you had to give me !!!! i sincerely love our chats so much !! everytime i see your like ‘ :3 ‘ i get so GIDDY !!!! my lil pal :’)

[wisismydumpstat]

How are you feeling after finishing the Lahabrea family struggles? What was your favorite fight and favorite music in the raid series?

How are you feeling after finishing the Lahabrea family struggles?

I can confirm, with no doubt or fear or suspicion, that the whole Ancients thread is my favorite part of XIV as a whole. As much as I expected to dislike a "constant combat" plot I heavily enjoyed Pandaemonium, the designs (even on the battles I didn't enjoy) are incredible, Twinklidibus is precious and must be protected at all costs, Erichthonios deserves happiness and therapy, Athena is a very interesting character, and Lahabrea is there, being mercilessly bullied.

And now I want to buy this Ancient mask I saw on Etsy and it's way too expensive but you know who needs to buy foods when you can buy pretty mask.

What was your favorite fight and favorite music in the raid series?

I have forgotten most of the fights, but I'm gonna said P8, it's the right mix of interesting mechanic without being too annoying.

Special mention to P11 tho, just because it happens on the Convocation chamber and MY ANCIENT LORE.

Fav music? Scream, zero doubts about that, with honorific mentions to Hic Svnt Leones and Athena the Tireless One.

Thank you for the ask ❤️

[chaldeamage-neo]

Copying and pasting my insane Twitter rambles about Mandricado's interlude and how it lines up damn near perfectly with Niyocardo lore

Niyo was ecstatic when she was able to summon Mandricardo again bc ofc she would be. He was someone who she formed such a close bond to in such a short amount of time. But so much meaningful interaction happened between them in that time.

She got to know him on a rather intimate level and vice versa. And he's (partially) the reason she's able to continue the Lostbelt with new vigor. Mandri was what Niyo needed at the time and while the two were friends yes, they began to blossom into more until he'd leave her

to protect her. The image of his back and shield shattering before her in a sense traumatizing her. Its not like last time. She knew he'd leave her and they in a sense did get a goodbye but not the way she had hoped. But now he's back with her.

Again, she knows Mandricardo. And he's once again gotten to know her. In a sense they're soulmates so it would be natural. But because Niyo knows Mandri, she doesn't want to originally tell him about his self in Atlantis. She knows he'll compare himself to... HIMSELF.

But of course he'd find out. And what she doesn't want to happen happens. She's aware that some of the affection she has for him is built of the pieces of someone who is now gone and she wants to be better and love the Mandricardo she has officially summoning for him.

And thankfully that not hard, bc in the end, Mandricardo is Mandricardo. Falling in love with him again is easy. He makes it easy. But how Mandri views it is that him accomplished multiple things only he could dream of. Again, he and Niyo are basically soulmates so falling for her again was no problem but he doesn't feel he's good enough. Not deserving to be even friends with her. The other him earned that right. But what of him? (In his eyes) He's not that guy. Not the person who she needed most.

The two are sorting through their feelings. Niyo trying to come to terms with while Mandri is Mandri to her, she doesn't want him to just be picking up the emotional baggage the one from Atlantis left behind.

HER Mandri doesn't have those precious memories and it hurts her. But she's ready and willing to make new ones. To prove that them meeting was not a coincidence and that it was ment to be. But she can still read him to know he's got a lot on his mind too.

Mandri holding jealousy for himself. He feels ridiculous for it but he feels it nonetheless. I know I go "oh yeah! Niyo and Mandri are married" all the time. And they are. Don't get me wrong. But it takes them a while to get there and its not just them picking up the pieces from where Atlantis leaves off. She's happy to have him back but she's so protective of him. She doesn't want to lose him again. Yes he could just be summoned back but it's about the memories. She feels it's one sided and that she's the only one who has these feelings and anxieties. Because just like how he can disappear and come back, he could be summoned and not fall in love with her again. It happened with Robin. Why couldn't it happen with him too. And she doesn't want to come off as too clingy and drive him off (even tho he's smittened)

This interlude for then takes place after Lb5 but before lb5.5. Niyo and Mandri are re-establishing their connection and bond but awkwardly tip toeing around the fact that they're in love with each other. Mandri feels... the feeling presented while Niyo feels bad that she might be causing him pain. Especially when she can see it in his actions and face. But they can't help but want to be around each other still. Mandri still wants to be her knight, and Niyo wants that too. But she's so scared and protective rn...

There's an event featuring Robin, Dantes and (my) Dumuzid where Mandri and Niyo are finally able to sort these feelings out. And they can finally start being happy with each other until 5.5 happens and Mandri gets worried shitless. Popping in and out of the control room while constantly pacing about. He's hear about Douman and how he tortures the mind. And he's terrified for Niyo bc he knows how she can be and what her mental state is. So when lb6 rolls around he's going and not taking no for an answer. He needs to be there with her.

But despite her worries for him she lets him come. Only for them to be separated and her worries persist. But they still feel each other's connection and I won't get too much into that right now. That for later.

This was SUPER long winded and I probably strayed off from whatever point I was trying to make lol but I'm just so happy this Interlude aligned with so much of the stuff I already wrote for them. Like I know this wasn't just for me, lots of people enjoyed this too. And anyone who loves Mandricardo a lot had probably come up with similar hcs too but just- It just feels nice feeling validated with my hcs and ship. This genuinely made my day by a lot and filled me with lots of feelings.

Alright I think I'll close this now, if you read this far that you for entertaining my insane rambles and enabling me! It genuinely means a lot! Stay tuned for Niyocardo wedding soon Yaaaaaay!! They really said Niyocardo canon lmaooo