#from the depths of my nonbinary heart

[pennamenotfound]

God I’m on a Bells Hells kick today but look. I’m nonbinary, okay? And there’s not a lot of media that does it well. That really scratches that itch for nonbinary content for me. But Bells Hells. Oh my god. Thank you Critical Role for my nonbinary icons Ashton Greymore and Fresh Cut Grass. Fuck I love them so much.

Like when Ashton was undercover with Violet their name was Louise. God I love that! Thank you Tal! I love that we’ve got a he/they on the loose, and they’re so punk and they don’t care what anybody thinks, and he doesn’t care about anybody, and they speak softly to Kadija with traumatic memory loss, and he threatens Carolle for their friends, and GOD i love it.

And Fresh Cut Grass too! I forget if they’re use he/they pronouns or they/them and the cast just forgets but FUCK I love nongendered robot PC so fucking much. I just love nonbinary player characters so much!

And Matt with all the they/them or he/they or she/they or all pronoun NPCs. I remember fucking Otis from the last campaign, and Sam is bitching about them and goes wait, is Otis a girl and Matt responds actually they use all pronouns and then sam goes well they’re a BITCH, and then matt jokes something like well their pronouns are valid and that’s also valid because Otis is, in fact, the WORST. 

FUCK YEAH! 

Anyway that’s all I have to say.

For now...

[cosmic-ghost-hermit]

How are You Seen and How is Your Style Perceived?

Hey fellas!! This reading is a suggestion from @evaalison72020!!! Thank you so much for your request! The decks used today are The Tarot of the Divine, The Moonology Oracle, and Believe In Your Own Magic Oracle. Take what resonates and leave the rest but always be ready for new perspectives.

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Drop your reading suggestions in my inbox for future PAC. Thank you all in advance! Love you🤍

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PILE ONE

Astrology: Leo, Pisces, Virgo (maybe cancer)

Song: Her Diamonds by Rob Thomas

Vibes: Green, red, yellow, ohi'a tree blossoms, intense emotion, crabs, birch tree, Pele, bow staff, modeling, boho fashion, photography, 999, 4444, swords, lotus root, dragons, monkeys, selenite, howlite

Cards: Queen of Wands, King of Cups, Judgement, Supermoon, Garden

Hello, pile one! I am really digging y'all's energy. You have a very androgynous energy so people have a lot of variety in how they perceive you. I think first I will start with your style and ease into those who know you a bit deeper. So, your style is very earth-toned. How you dress tells people that you are reasonable and balanced. You hate wearing shoes so you don't wear them if you don't have to. You might have a touch of fantasy in your accessories. I see crystal bracelets or pendulum necklaces. You like to wear loose-fitting clothes that make you feel free. I'm specifically seeing a long red skirt. It's about knee length. If a skirt doesn't resonate it could also be a red jacket or sweater that you tie around your waist. People initially see a really free spirit with a whimsical side. People might be surprised by your free spirit but not usually put off by it. You have a very cheerful vibe to you that makes people feel at home. They view you as light on your feet and a positive influence on everything around you. However, occasionally you get excited by something and your eyes narrow in. You have a very intense stare. It can be pretty intimidating.

As for the androgyne tones I was feeling earlier I will now explain a little further. So, you sorta reflect gender at people. This is not to say you are gender fluid or nonbinary but that is a possibility. The vibe I am getting is whatever gender the person perceiving you is, is the gender they see you as. Which can drastically change how people see you, in my experience. Women see you as safe to be around. Men see you as capable and responsible. Nonbinary people see you as a comrade. This also brings in a lot of suiters that get confused by your presentation. I hear many people see you and think, "Woah, did you see them? They looked so cool." These people are always too shy to say anything to you though.

The people who are closest to you view you entirely differently. They know you well enough to see your truest emotion. Your emotions are as intense as the stare I talked about earlier. You have the heart of a dragon. It is difficult to express the deep feelings a dragon would feel through a humans body. It comes out as explosive bursts of immense sensational expression. You are the one laughing the hardest, crying the most, screaming the loudest, burning with fury and jumping all around when you get excited. The people closest to you see you as powerful because of this. They know you are harmless but if challenged you can be extremely dangerous. You are the king of sentiment though so the ones closest never get caught in the crossfire of your emotional depth.

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PILE TWO

Astrology: Cancer, Scorpio, Gemini

Song: Daddy AF by Slayyyer (spirit picked this one... not sure why)

Vibes: Purple, storm cloud blue, peach pink, cranes, wings, bindi, bangs/fringe, sake, green tea, circles, red lips, 222, 555, amethyst, rose quartz, Kali, Lilith, Hekate, Persephone

Cards: The High Priestess, Ace of Cups, Three of Swords, Mirror, Full Moon in Cancer

Welcome, pile two to your reading. You are scene as very mysterious. The public eye doesn't know what to make of you. Honestly, I can see the mystery in the cards but I am also struggling to tap into you. You are very guarded but very beautiful. If you have ever heard of the term kuudere, I think that would be pretty accurate to how to are perceived . If you are unfamiliar with the term it just means you seem very in control of you emotions. So much so that you might come off as cold to some people. You appear to be serene outwardly but on the inside I see you have many different emotions. The style you wear is similar to how your emotions are displayed. Serene and mysterious. I see you could wear spiritual clothing that is meant for spiritual protection. Overall, the public views as an extremely beautiful but private individual that is low-key spiritual.

You have a dark feminine energy to you. This can draw in those who are fascinated by mystery. You don't like to let people close to you though because of painful situations you have been in before. I see you have experienced many heartbreaks and have given many sacrifices to people who did not meet you with gratitude. You honestly didn't let this eat you up inside. You moved forward with confidence and led yourself towards loving yourself. You worked towards the relationship you had with yourself and you resolved a lot of pain that you carried with. Entirely because you were fed up with people breaking your heart. You decided you wanted the person closest to you to stop breaking it too. You.

Those who can even reach the idea of being close to you view you as much softer than the public. They still see you as pretty mysterious but they can see that you are very sweet and accommodating. They have seen you at your worst and watched you kick ass all the way through. They see you as the baddest bitch on the block. It is very rare for you to have people close to you but when there are you are very loyal. You like to invite them over for drinks and thats when you let your truest self shine. You are an absolute riot. You have the wittiest joke and the funniest comebacks even when you are intoxicated. You have allowed yourself to cry on a friends shoulder over drinks too. Alcohol really loosens that vice grip you have on your emotions. I see you really only let your best friend see these parts of you. This person views you as their favorite person on earth. They really truly believe you are an angel. They have supported you through a couple really hard break-ups. I think they will always be the closest one to your heart.

______________________________

PILE THREE

Astrology: Aquarius, Capricorn, Taurus

Song: Little Lies by Fleetwood Mac

Vibes: Grey-blue, gold, purple, white, stain glass windows, arctic foxes, wolves, yokai, beetles, sharks, snow, ice, winter, 111, 963, 100, red hair, feathers, black tourmaline, Ares, Hephaestus, Hestia

Cards: 6 of Pentacles, 5 of Pentacles, 3 of Pentacles, New Moon, Shark

Hi, pile three! You have an entirely different impression you often give than how you actually are. Those who see you would not be able to guess how you actually are. You give a very scary vibe off to people. Strangers are intimidated by your appearance. Which is such a shame because your energy is so warm and inviting. :( You are very tall and have a broad figure with wide shoulders. You tower over most people. If you aren't physically tall people still get that energy of intimidation from your energy. People scurry out of your way as you walk past and avoid looking you in the eyes. You also have very strong eye brows which might give you real bad RBF. Those who aren't scared off by you, hold a lot of envy for how much you command attention. I also see you have really long beautiful legs that people comment on all the time. They mostly seem like complements but they probably don't really feel like it. They want to be like you but they just don't understand how much it actually bothers you to be as big as you are. I'm so sorry to you about all the door frames you run into and all the beds you have grown out of. It's tough be a big person.

Despite all your physical appearances, you have a lovely soft feminine energy. It is so nice to be in it feels like the biggest, softest, warmest bear hug to ever exist. You are a wonderful host. I can smell something really good so you might be an excellent cook or baker. I see you love to give back to your community through this skill. Which makes those a bit closer see you as this protective loving parental energy. I see you baking cookies for your neighbors and maybe your church. I can feel how happy you make people feel the closer they get to you. You have such a soft heart with a rough outer exterior. It does throw some of your neighbors kids for a loop at first.

Finally, those who are closest to you see you as extremely generous and kind. They know the world thinks you have sharp claws but they know that they are mistaking paws for claws. They love being around you and working together to help being a safer community. They know you give to charity and work in a place that helps those in needs. They see you as the sweetest, nicest person they have ever met in their lives. They wouldn't trade you for anyone. They trust you with their lives. If they are in any danger or in need they call you first. I think maybe at some point you had someone slander your good name because of your appearances. All your closest community friends and family came to your defense and saved your reputation. They truly, deeply care for you and I think you feel the exact same.

______________________________

PILE FOUR

Astrology: Aries, Libra, Sagittarius

Song: Cooler Than Me (Cover) by Ethan Fields

Vibes: Gold, black, teal, white flowers, maximalism, alternative fashion, lily pads, frogs, 333, 4646, leaves, vines, coral, mountains, low gravity, forests, fairies, pixies, unicorns, culture, tigers eye, Zues, Aphrodite, Eros

Cards: Queen of Cups, 3 of Cups, Ace of Pentacles, Full Moon, Expectations

Hey there, pile four. Welcome to your reading! People outside of your circle see you are drop dead gorgeous. You make everyone question their sexuality or fall to their knees. Even your friends flirt with you constantly. You obviously flirt back just for funsies but thaaat can get you into some romantic fiascos that you never had any intention in getting into. Oops, lmao! I see strangers see you in two different lights. There are people who are stunned by your handsomeness. They are the ones turning their heads to get a second look. ;) Theeeeen there are the people who think you are doing way too much just because you like looking good. Thats dumb. Those people are dumb. Their opinions do not matter. That's because you are one of a kind! No one can match your style and brilliance. No one has the confidence to do what you do and make it look THAT good. AND THE BEST PAAART is that everyone knows it. Even if they are acting nasty about it. I see you like to wear lots of jewelry. Chains on chains on jewels on chains. You aren't addicted to glitter. Glitter is addicted to YOU!!! You love to do stuff with your hair too. I see you might have many wigs that you love to trade out. People are always convinced it's your real hair. Everyday you get more and more admirers. The public can not get enough of you.

Your energy is interesting. It is feminine but it presents in such a masculine way. You have this go getter vibe to you but then everything seems to come your way before you can even step towards it. It's like for a long time you had to fight for what you wanted but now people just hand you things you want before you can even ask. When people get closer to you, they just seem to give you things randomly. They will hook you up with their connections. Literally people are doing your networking for you. The way people see you gives you many opportunities in life. Don't worry about getting the opportunities yourself, baby. The universe loves to spoil you through your admirers.

The people closest to you see that you are a go with the flow kind of person. The universe pushes you somewhere and you just let it push you along like a leaf in the wind. Some of your closest friends think you are nuts but they know it always seems to work out for you anyway. Even if you don't make sense to them. They see you are a surviver and they know how ruthless you can be, babe. They see these as extremely admirable traits. The people closest to you feel like they have been around you since you were young so they like to mess with you like siblings would. It is pretty easy to get close to you though so they might not all be that way. They view you as loyal, kind, fun and unique. They wouldn't have you any other way.

[daxieoclock]

Howdy folks. I’m Daxievane, you might know me from my Persona 5 NG+ longfic Deja Vu, my so-far twoshot Black Mask Duo AU, my canceled Kingdom Hearts Dissidia, or my dozen or so WKTD fics. I’m an unemployed trans lesbian with a shit ton of writing experience and many disabilities.

It's summertime and while I'm currently focusing on preparing for summer classes to graduate on time, I'm also trying to budget out my slim savings to get out of my toxic parents' house and stay with my boyfriend for at least a month during my break. But since I'm unemployed, I'm about 200$ short of my goal. If anyone could help by buying me a coffee, I would be very grateful.

I also do prose or fic requests, ghost writing, fiction editing, genre tutoring, and photography+poetry. Check my ko fi above for examples of my art.

Prose, fanfic or ghost writing: 1$ per 100 words (5$ per double-spaced page).

Fiction editing: 1$ per page you'd like my in-depth feedback on.

Genre tutoring: 15$ for a (roughly) hour long lecture on a genre, trope or writing technique of your choice.

Photography + poetry: 15$ for a single image and poem pair with a subject, tone or prompt of your choice.

Sensitivity reading (transfem, nonbinary, lesbian, autism, bpd, ptsd, Jewish): 10$ minimum for <15 pages, 1$ extra for every page over 15.

I am happy to write or edit ns fw content, but I reserve the right to carte blanche rejection for predatory ships, or fandoms that make me uncomfortable. I will not accept any ns fw requests for underage characters, "aged up" or otherwise. I will also not accept any requests for RPF.

My strongest subjects are horror, character drama, action and world/lore building. I will gladly also tutor for romance.

DM me if any of the above sounds interesting, and we can discuss!

Don't tag with donashun etc thank you <3

[from-the-depths-if]

Your whole life, all you've known is life with your pod. Scavenging, hunting, crafting and guarding alongside your family. You'd heard of the surface dwellers, of course, but they were barely more real to you than you were to them.

Until one day that changed.

Ripped away from your pod you find yourself in a world you don't understand, held hostage by a strange man with intentions you couldn't hope to grasp. He wants your magic - but all you know is that he's a threat to your family.

Find your place between both worlds, or risk losing everything.

From the Depths is an 18+ interactive fiction novel created in Twine using Sugarcube. Content warnings will include blood and gore, animal death in a historical context (looking at around chapter 3 - skippable), death and murder (including of those responsible for said animal death) and sexual content (skippable). List will be updated in the future.

Play as a male, female or nonbinary MC - cis or trans. Customise your appearance and personality, and choose how to navigate your new role in the human world.

Choose from two gender-selectable romance options - the determined guardian of your pod, or the idealistic princep. Or don't choose. Neither or both are also options.

Choose from five options to customise your pod - with two unique traits to aid you on your journey.

Learn the human language - or force them to adapt to you.

Learn the truth about why you were taken from your family, and find your way back to them - or build a new life for yourself on the shore.

Llyr - gender-selectable he/him, she/her or xe/xem | RO

Llyr joined your pod a year ago after xir own pod was scattered. Since them, xe has taken xir role as one of your pod's guardians to heart. Maybe at the end of that year you're still indifferent to xem. Maybe you're friends - or maybe there's something deeper. All you know is xe won't take kindly to what happened to you.

Nakia - gender-selectable he/they or she/they | RO

Nakia is the crown princep in the human country you've found yourself in. Idealistic, hopeful and curious about the world, they immediately set out to learn about your strange ways and get past your barriers. You can't tell them the truth about who you are - but maybe, just maybe, you can let yourself trust them. Note: regardless of which gender you choose, Nakia is always transgender.

Other characters to come in the future.

Demo (TBA) | Characters (Coming Soon)

Note: This is a side project with my main IF being 'Immortal', purely because I already know exactly where that storyline is going while I'm still fleshing this one out. I will be working on From the Depths alongside it, but it won't be my priority.

Avatar Photo by Ole Kloth on Unsplash

Banner Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash

[jonahmagnus]

How I think the TOH characters would react to you asking their pronouns:

1) Luz Noceda

Start of season one: "Uh, she/her! I think."

By the end of season one: "She/her! For noww~..." *double pistols and a wink*

Season two: "She/they baby! What about you?"

Season three: "She/they, but I dont really care."

Post show: "Ehhh, call me whatever. Follow your heart! See where the wind takes you. Look into the sunset. Listen to the whistle of the sea breeze. The answer lies within your heart, you just have to listen" *leaves before you can figure out what the fuck that means*

2) Gus Porter

"He/they, thanks for asking!" Hes a gay ally at the start of season one, but only because he learned about how humans are opporessed for "being happy" in their realm and that broke his heart so much he swore to stand by any "gay" human he ever found. So he self-identifies as an ally dispite being literally bisexual. Luz considers explaining what gay means in human modern context, but decides this is funnier, and then forgets about it.

3) Willow Park

Start of season one: "O-oh! She/they, thanks for asking! What about you?" A little unsure of herself gender wise but is coming into it

By season two: "They/She! What about you?" *Winks* By this point shes grown into herself and identifies as nonbinary. However, hes still not ready to peer into the depths of his soul and acknowledge the true hidden truth at the bottom there. No little plant boy dont internalize that!!!!

Post-show: "She/he/they, thanks for asking!" This is still fully a lie but he plays cat and mouse with his own gender for a couple years after the show. Literally refuses to think about it. He has other shit going on (he doesnt).

Finally, post-post-show: "He/him! Yours?" He is a nonbinary butch womanthing. Thank god he finally figured that out. Amity and Gus quietly exchange their bet money. Amity won.

4) Amitt Blight

Season one: "She/her. What do you want." I loved her bitch era it was so fun.

Season two: "She/they! Uh, thanks... for asking? Am I supposed to ask for yours now?" Still figuring out the proper etiquette. God bless her soul.

Season 3: "Oh, she/they. You?" This social script is so ingrained in her autistic speech patterns and mind that she acidentally said it to a cafe worker once and she almost turned herself into goo. Rip autopilot girlie......

Post-show: "She/they! :) What about yours?" She is secure in her answer now 👍 a certified category five nonbinary woman moment.

5) Hunter Noceda

Season one: "My..... whats?" You try to explain what they are to him and he says "My uncle says gender is a sin and I should never fall into it lest my soul be lost. And I dont know what that means but I dont want him to be mad at me so. Bye" and then he would flee the scene at 300mph and have a panic attack about in the closet.

Season two: "Oh... uh.... he... him?? I think??" *remembers youre supposed to ask something back* "Why do you need to know that" he sounds increasingly desperate as he realizes the social script for this conversation is slipping from his grasp, much like his current sanity.

Season 3: "Oh, oh, uhm, he/him, I guess" He sounds VERY unsure about that. You eye the book in his shoulder bag, and he shuffles awkwardly.

Post-show: "They/he!" They say, still a little haltingly. You nod like you believe it.

Post-post-show: "They...he... it? I mean I like they and it the most but Uhm he is still fine its fine like Im still a human. Im still a human... man" okay Hunter, for sure.

Post-post-post-post-show: "she...they?????" Sure Hunter

Post-post-post-post-post-show: "she/IT???" she shoulds desperate. Okay hunter.

Post-post-post-post-post-postshow: "It/its, but she/her is fine as well. Uh, thanks for asking. Uh. You?" There we go. Glad you finally came to this realization. The Murderbot Diaries would have irreversible affects on its gender.

[karticatyt]

Next gen AU character roster!! This is mostly just an attempt to practice formatting posts and figure out how to use this app um ANYWAY

(heads up, this won’t be extremely in depth about lore or backstories, just simple introductions!)

This is the main roster in a row next to each other, along with their ages. Some of the art here is older than others… I’ll explain them in some more detail.

This here is Amber Gleam and her sister, Comet Trail! Long story short, Amber’s ‘real’ name is Cicada, and she is actually an adopted changeling, raised by Princess Twilight and later on her stepdad, Sunburst. Comet is her younger sister. Comet is competing with their cousin, Flurry Heart for royal guard status. I’ll talk more about Flurry later. Amber has been raised in the shadows for most of her life to hide her identity, which has led to issues socializing as well as a harsh reputation among the public as opposed to her sister.

Racing Heart isn’t actually the offspring of any canon characters, but she is an old OC that I love too much to remove, so she’s a part of my AU because she can. She’s a hopeless romantic lesbian who constantly crushes on all kinds of characters, but her eye is primarily set on Cotton Bow, who I’ll talk about next. I accidentally made her with lesbian colors back in 5th grade… I didn’t even know the word lesbian��� wow…

Cotton Bow is the daughter of Mayor Diamond Tiara and Pipsqueak. She is best friends with Amber and they both bond over the issues that come from being the daughters of well known political figures and just wanting to be average, normal ponies. Although, Cotton doesn’t know about Cicada’s secret. Cotton’s special talent is knitting/crocheting (to her parents’ dismay) and she’s an introvert who doesn’t want to follow her family’s legacy.

Koi Concord is the son of Discord and Fluttershy. He has some powers from his father but they mainly remain limited to nature. He obtained his mother’s ability to speak to animals, but his favorites are sea creatures. He spends majority of his time swimming in rivers and creeks with little fishy friends, and keeps to himself for the most part. (Amber doesn’t like him very much as she deems his introversion as a waste of his ability to coexist with ponies as a mix breed/foreign species unbothered, unlike her who has to stay a secret)

Marigold Peaberry! The daughter of Rarity and Joe, she actually was really difficult to make a solid design for because I made her before picking her parents and then I had to redesign her to make her look related… it was a whole mess. She still doesn’t really have any personality or official role in the story.

Now we’re getting into old art territory… Startrix have 2 kids! Epitome Dusk and her brother Jinx Nightfall. Jinx is magically disabled and cannot use his horn without causing any accidents.This made his family incredibly heartbroken, but they all love him nonetheless. I imagine that these two hang out with Concord the most, since he’s the youngest of my next gen main characters.

Now time for Flurry! In my next gen AU, they are actually nonbinary and are dating Luster Dawn! I had a little bit of a poll/vote among my friends over if Luster should have been with Flutty or Comet and Flurry won! They don’t have a large role.

You might be wondering why that purple one at the end of the roster hasn’t appeared, and that’s because they aren’t canon. at least, I haven’t decided if they should be or not. Sunrise is a next gen for pinkiedash, but they’re merely a design concept for now. I’ll probably answer any questions people have about these guys if i have any answers. i doubt i’ll be getting any for a WHILE.

[aeantizlkamenwati]

Veilguard Thoughts

I just need to get my thoughts out of my head and the Void seems like a perfect place since I can’t write a review on console. I’m all for civil discussion, but at the end of the day this is my opinion/feelings after 20 hours. Perhaps it'll change once I finished the game, but I doubt it. Beware minor spoilers.

Warning: Incredibly long. TL;DR at the very end.

I’ll start this off by saying it’s not a bad GAME, just a bad DRAGON AGE. It runs nice (only had one crash, and minimal amount of stuttering on fidelity mode, one time the screen went completely black but the dialogue and music continued which was vaguely terrifying. Some movements are janky in cutscenes, but overall, not bad). It's pretty, I like some of the new designs. The music is nice.

I’m not a fan of this style of combat (never could jive with God of War or Bloodbourne; my preference for real time action is like Hades and DMC) mostly because I can’t cancel an action with dodge/block and the AI focuses solely on Rook so you end up getting swarmed and unable to properly see the flasher plus the timing is weird af. I tried playing on what I assume was supposed to be Casual mode (Keeper) because it said “emphasizes party composition over reflexes” and well…it lied. To the point that I was not having fun because the game is 70% combat, 20% exploring and 10% story. So I turned it to Story mode because I could not be bothered and enjoyed it slightly more. It feels very MMO, team-based, looter imo. The UI, how it handles, the depth of the story and how it goes about it (the Mission Accomplished Journal screens specifically), the emphasis on combat over anything else…

And here we get to my problem: I only enjoy it when I pretend it’s just a generic fantasy game and not Dragon Age. Because it doesn’t FEEL like a Dragon Age. It feels as soft as everyone’s skin texture. I don’t care about the story or the characters and it boils down to the writing.

It feels juvenile.

Like I loved DA because it was willing to confront the worst in humanity. The disgusting parts of war like Loghain selling elves to slavers, or the nunances of blood magic. Presenting choices that are morally grey like sacrificing the Circle or the Templars in DA2 (yes that choice was heavily forced and stupid but still). It didn’t shy away from it. There was levity, but the characters had multiple sides. They could get angry, they could get snappy or sappy. There was GROWTH to them. Zevran’s romance arc if you choose to reject the earring without more commitment was beautiful. DA2’ romances were…a little stilted, but I still enjoyed them. Inquisition also had lovely little arcs, depending on the romance. But even friendships felt natural as you got to know these people.

And Veilguard falls flat. They were okay with pissing off the culture war babies with trans/nonbinary options, but not with showing us the bad things. The game TELLS us “this is bad”, but doesn’t show why. They have their soap box moment of “slavery bad” like it’s not 2024 and anyone worth the air they breathe knows that, how about you still show that since we are IN THE HEART OF THE SLAVE TRADE?! Where’s the option to maybe be an escaped slave? An escaped Saarebas? They refuse to give us blood magic because “it’s messy” Yeah. It is. That’s the point. Maybe let me decide if that's a line I'd like to cross? No? Necromancy is fine? It’s like we traded the dark adult themes for better sex scenes.

The major choice I’ve gotten to means NOTHING outside of metagaming. It’s like they were trying to show they could be edgy or that “now now you can’t save everyone because we say so and we are going to force one of your companions to hate you”. And it boils down to who you want to romance, who is vital as a support character, and which faction do you prefer? Has nothing to do with anything else and there’s no way to fix this forced hardening, so have fun with that I guess? It’s not like I chose the dialogue options or anything, it feels as shoe horned in as DA2’s ending tbh. Like here have a shitty decision for no other reason than we want you to.

Then BioWare seems to have tried to both cater to the newbies and the ones who read/watch/listen to the extra media and fail to find a middle ground. It relies too heavily on codexes and journals and other media (which was my gripe with Inquisition) to do the heavy lore lifting (for example as someone who did not read Tevinter Nights yet nor listened to the third-party podcast, I have no connection to Rook's backstory).

But at the same time, it treats us like we are stupid? Going back to how juvenile the writing feels: it repeats itself a horrific amount. Every time Solas says “the Evanuris” it’s apparently a contractual obligation for him to say “or the elven gods as you would call them” immediately after. The amount of freaking out about them CONSTANTLY is like they are afraid we forgot after an hour. And again I kept thinking: how about you stop telling me they are terrible and why I should be scared and SHOW me?  D’Meta did nothing because I didn’t see it happen like watching Loghain call the retreat after watching darkspawn slaughter the army. Another example in the beginning is after you get the dagger, you speak with Harding and you can discuss magic. Rook notes they know dwarves are called Children of the Stone. Five seconds later Harding goes in the most “I’m speaking to a toddler” tone: “Dwarves call ourselves Children of the Stone. Some of us have what we call Stone sense.” Like…Rook would know that??? If newbies are confused they can go look in the glossary (isn’t that what that’s for?) or give an option to ask a question. It just feels so fucking patronizing.

Then it spoils so much of the story with the Varric interludes, or repeats itself AGAIN when I think they are there for style and suspense. Like Varric I already know they need to craft a red lyrium dagger, they straight up TOLD ME. That scene didn’t need to be in there at all. Solas’ little monologue rehashing everything in the beginning was unnecessary, and honestly him just telling us who we were against without us first seeing how bad it was…just…It took the suspense out of it. Like imagine if Inquisition straight up told you that Corypheus was the baddie just immediately in the Temple of Sacred Ashes prologue scene. That’s what it felt like.

Which brings me to the dialogue and characters I suppose. The companions have the depth of a shallow pool and Rook has less. They have moments where I like them, but tbh I don’t really care for any of them because how could I? I can’t talk to them. It feels empty. I like that they have lights telling me when I have new dialogue, but I miss having conversations with Dorian or Zevran, getting to know them before I started flirting with them. But nope. None of that. And good god the flirting is cringey because of it. Just comes out of nowhere and feels like teenagers. Again, there are moments where I’m like: THAT DO THAT, but it goes right back to the blah stuff. Like whoever wrote the Crows, good job. I loved Teia almost immediately. Viago great. Illario, I’m intrigued. Lucanis by default also interests me, but unfortunately, I don’t get to explore his character much. Irelin is also good. I liked the Veil Jumper fight you could get into with Strife (felt like witnessing a father/child yelling match). Where’s that sort of dialogue with everyone else?

And ROOK. Oh god Rook. They make a big deal about us not being able to be a people pleaser, and yet that’s the only personality Rook has. My favorite moment of Inquisition was in Trespasser where the Inquisitor could FINALLY have a human moment and BREAK. It felt like they had been bottling it up for so long and they just couldn’t anymore. I don't foresee Rook getting that sort of moment.

Rook is just three flavors of customer service. There’s no option for them to be anything but the dashing hero who has boundless optimism like a puppy. Where’s the option be the reluctant hero? The ruthless “hero”? They are just a bumbling idiot with witty one liners.

They feel like a teenager’s first protag as they try to give them “flaws” but never show those flaws. Nothing you do matters, just how you say “yes I’ll help”. There’s no nuance. No places where I think Rook can grow without ME. Rook is just a blank doll without me projecting onto them and even in BIG supposedly heartwrenching moments, Rook is just an idiot. And put them with the juvenile and forced dialogue of the companions? It feels like they are a pre-teen who’s been put in charge of a bunch of toddlers while the nice uncle tries to soothe them and the abusive dad yells.

The abusive dad is Solas btw. Varric says he views us all as children, to which I want to reply: yeah and he’s a piece of shit dad who rubs their toddler’s face into their diaper going “LOOK AT THE MESS YOU MADE BAD BAD BAD!” Like honestly, you can tell it’s not the same people writing these characters. Solas feels like they decided the low approval Solas was the canon no matter what. In Inquisition I truly felt like he was redeemable. This Solas? Nah, I want to stab that bitch first chance. Like he’s giving me no reason to like him and he’s being a dick for no fucking reason. Maybe later on we learn a reason, but in 20 hours there’s ZERO. That’s a problem if you are trying to get me to see his side of things. And the tonal shifts from when he shows that he regrets stabbing Varric? Feel forced, like my dude I think you are lying just because you seem to be unable to comprehend half of this is YOUR fault.

Which ties into my last gripe: this is not MY Thedas. The decision to make only the last fifteen minutes of a paid DLC mean ANYTHING (and tbh I have yet to find where the hell it actually matters in 20 hours. I have two saves about the same amount of progress: one Solavellan and the other Dorian, they are basically the exact opposite choices. I can't say I've found where anything has changed, so what was that about them not wanting to do one bit of dialogue???? At least in Inquisition within the first two hours I could find those bits of dialogue) that decision made it where none of these characters matter to me. They feel more like carrots dangling in front of long-time players trying to entice us closer, but when you grab the carrot…it just vanishes.

That’s not MY Morrigan. That’s not MY Varric, MY Solas, MY Dorian. They are NewBioWare’s versions of them. The Inquisitor? The character I played over 100 hours as isn’t MINE. They are a stranger because they tore away any agency I had. They just picked whatever personality they wanted and said LOOK SEE CONNECTION. But there’s no history, no connection, NOTHING. There’s so many places where I can see where they could’ve done something. And if I can see them, why couldn’t anyone at BioWare?

They forgot that DA’s uniqueness wasn’t just the companions (and these ones are just below DA2’s since we didn’t get to interact with them either, so…), it was the world and how it reacted to choices in previous games. How new heroes might have to deal with the consequences (and to be fair, no DA game has ever actually managed to deliver on that, but they at least TRIED).

This though…

TL;DR: this should’ve felt like a homecoming and instead it feels like BioWare demolished my home, spray painted the ruins with soft pastels and is trying to tell me it’s the same, if not better. And it’s not, and probably never will be again.

[jennamoran]

On the Cultural Distinctiveness of Rocks

(original script I was reading from follows; this time, it's just a story, and not the other stuff.)

So I’m watching Deep Space Nine with my friend and I have to stop like ten seconds in to tell this story.

I don’t know if you’ve seen it. It’s pretty deep, you know, and a lot of people don’t like deep fiction. But it all starts, it all begins, in the credit sequence there, with this rock.

This rock, surrounded by a nebulous aura of importance, flying through the void.

I’m kind of assuming there’s gonna be nine of them. I don’t know for sure. Nine rocks, out there in space, and they’ve got this whole multi-season show about them. Q probably shows up at some point to make fun of rocks. The Borg attack. They add the cultural distinctiveness of the rocks onto their own. That’s why there are nine Borg, later, and how we get seven of nine of them on Voyager.

I think.

It’s still the credit sequence so I don’t know for sure.

But I wanted to tell you what I think will be the story of the rock.

I think that it’s a rock that got cursed, really early on. The youngest rock of nine rock brothers and sisters. Siblings, I guess. A lot of rocks are nonbinary even if they don’t bother putting it on their forms.

It was told, you will love fiercely, but you will ruin what you love.

It lived its life in fear of that dreadful prophecy. But as bad as it was, it still had to live.

For a rock in space, that meant ... to fly through space. To journey ever onwards through the so-called “final frontier.”

That rock flew by some planet once.

There was a prince who lived there, handsome and noble, and he saw that rock, and he fell in love. He chased that rock across the world, climbed the highest mountain in the world, to get a little closer to that rock.

And it just flew by.

It loved him too, I think. But it was afraid. It was afraid to love, when the love of that rock was dread and ruin.

The prince shouted up, after that rock:

“If you’re being compelled ...”

If you’re being compelled, he tried to say. If you leave, not by your will, but by some other’s ...

Then tell me, and I will chase you to the farthest stars.

But the rock did not reply; did not name some wizard or monster that compelled it. It whispered, perhaps, of things like gravity and momentum.

It remembered, not quite aloud, how it was its nature to whip around a star, to grow close and then grow far. To fall ever inwards towards the day, like any Icarus; to fall outwards, like the sunset, after, to the endless night.

We’re all just prisoners of gravity and momentum, in the end.

The prince in his heart he heard these words. He raged against them.

But gravity and momentum are pretty hard to kill.

He got momentum, I think. Left it bleeding on the battlefield.

Gravity was harder.

Down, down, he went, into the depths of his forsaken world; found at its molten core the citadel in which King Gravity was said to dwell; and there the gravity of his business slew him, and piled him up with the other princes, stacked like cordwood, that the divine right that lives in princes could be burned as fuel to keep the principle of gravity alive.

Physicists don’t like to talk about this. But they’ll admit it, if you know.

At least they don’t have a much better explanation of why gravity endures when it’s burning energy every moment of every day across the vastness of the stars.

And the rock flew on.

There were dolphins, I think. Space dolphins. They swam beside the rock a while, shimmering and silver in the night. They sang to it, and it echoed back their song.

It loved them, too, but it did not speak to them of love.

It shed its rocky skin, and swam beside them in a dolphin’s form, surrounded in a shimmering of starry light.

But one by one they died.

And they had children, but their children died.

And their children, and their children, on to the uttermost generations of their line.

And in the end there was just one dolphin left, that swam beside the rock. That tried to mate with the rock, but failed, on account of, it was a rock.

And then it died, and the rock flew on alone.

It curled itself around its grief. It balled up like an armadillo balls. It was a thing of grief and sorrow but even good kids when they told its story later would crack up about the armadillo balls.

Thus with every tragedy, I think, involving balls.

It curled itself up, wrapped around its endless sorrow, and the rock flew on.

One day, I think, the rock saw a distant star, and it knew, this was the one.

It saw the star and it was rapt with love, caught in the brilliance and the beauty and the gravitational well around that star. And it saw, like the jaws of a wolf that closed around it, the doom it had been given drawing near.

It would strike that star. If it was lucky, it would burn up inside it. It would die, and the star would scream in grief.

If it was not lucky, then the star would not survive, and the rock—

That had always survived; that had always been the last thing to survive, long after princes and dolphins and other things had died—

Would fly on, outwards, into space.

That’s the story of Deep Space Nine, I think.

That’s the fundamental tragedy of it, how we can’t stop that kind of thing. How rocks just sometimes fly into the stars and all things end.

This is, I think, a world driven by catastrophes. A world of death and endings. A world where the most fundamental forces are so very cruel.

In this, I think, the writers of Deep Space Nine must have agreed.

They would have wept to see the rock approach that star, knowing what was to come.

It is a dark and empty world, you see, and even the television of the ... what, 90s, was it? Had no choice but to face, to accept, that fundamental truth. There is no going forward. There is no prospect of redemption. There is no love save love that leads to ruin, and even gravity shall be our foe.

The rock flew on; drew ever closer to the star; and the people of the planets of that star were struck by fear, struck with it like pain in their abdomen, their heart, their throat, their mind. They stood in the grip of that pain, and it contorted them.

If I believed in eucatastrophe, still. If I believed in miracles, and magic, then I would say it circled round that star.

I would say that gravity, that had always been so impersonal and never kind, seized up the rock as it drew in closer. Caught it, in its hand, as the rock brushed past the star, and whirled it round, and cast it out again into the endless void. That ballistics, which has always been so cruel, was this once kind.

But we all know what really happens with rocks and stars.

We all know that falling towards a star is just an ending; that it’s laughable to imagine that King Gravity would ever throw two things apart.

Even the physicists will admit this, if you ask them. Probably. I think. I haven’t asked.

That’s the utter emptiness of space, you know. That’s the message of Deep Space Nine. The rock will strike the star, and all things end.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: I watched a little more and I was wrong.

[vangbelsing]

The Sweetest Cure

I regret to inform you that I have, in fact, been at it again. Just a teeny little something for more Lucanis and a qunari healer mage Rook. It has my brain in a chokehold 😭

Pairing: Lucanis X Qunari!Rook

Characters: Lucanis Dellamorte, (Nonbinary) Rook

Content: Slight NSFW, not explicit but very suggestive, angst, hurt and comfort, mention of slight disfigurement, Rook is a former saarebas

His fingers traced the thin scars that seemed to lead like pathways across their body. From the base near their under arm, he dragged the very tips of his dexterous digits to follow along the trail left there, which lead down to the very edge of their hip. He felt the shiver that ripped through their body; heard the small hitch of their breath as his hands met each curve and bump along their ribs and hips.

He could not suppress the small quirk of his lips in response to this, leaning forward to plant a kiss on their bared shoulder, drinking in the scent of their skin. He noted the hint of soft floral notes in their fragrance.

His name fell from their lips in a heady sigh, the sound teetering on the edge of desperation. For him. He chuckled at that, planting another peck to their shoulder before moving his hands back upwards to rest on their ribs just under their humble breasts.

How many bodies had he held in his hands? How many times did he apply his knowledge of the body to bring about anothers end? To bring pain - or the threat of it - in order to coax information from another? He could hurt, maim and kill in so many fashions. Truly, it was for him like stacking papers was for others: just another thing you do. And he could do it well. None were so versed in mapping out the body and the most efficient ways to end them.

But not here. Here, his hands felt less practiced. Not unknown, but unfamiliar. Here, when he felt the soft pump of blood in their veins beneath that pale, nearly ivory skin, his thoughts weren't drawn to ceasing its flow, but how to quicken it. When he would move a hand to feel the thrum of their heart against its cage, he found himself thinking not how to stop it, merely that he wanted to feel it there, pumping madly in response to his every movement and caress.

He was out of his element here, touching softly, letting his hands linger there on parts left so sweetly for his gaze only. Perhaps another who knew more of living than of killing could do this better? Yet, even as he questioned, he could feel so potently the way their skin burned under his touch, hear the sound of their heart and breathing racing each time he pressed against a particularly sensitive place. It was not his specialty, true, but he wanted more. He needed to drink in this sensation, and they would let him do so gladly.

They turned then to face him, his eyes level with their chest before he tilted his head to catch their gaze. There was frenzy in that stare, their lids hooded and dark orbs glossy and wet. But there was more than lust. Somewhere, not so far beneath the surface, was a tenderness so unfamiliar to him. And how it was not hidden from him, the way they invited him to see that depth of them freely and openly, mystified him. The feeling of his lips left separate from theirs was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

His eyes moved slightly down to their mouth - to where he most wanted to feel - only to stop suddenly, the threat of displeasure tugging at the corners of his lips. Not displeasure at them, no, but at what he recognized there. It filled his chest with a glacial shard of discomfort each time he thought of it.

Their mouth was littered with scars; the ghosts of holes and stitches, marks where they been sealed shut for years beyond what he cared to count. Their punishment for being born a mage. How much suffering were they forced to endure for the crime of simply being how they were? Yet, such abject cruelty had left them no less caring. No less gentle. When one could have come away from such a life bitter or hateful, they had chosen to do what had been the sole purpose for their misfortune: to simply be as they were.

To mend pain. To heal. To act as a balm to bodies and hearts that had been left ailing. To use the magic that had been spoken of like a curse the whole of their life to do just what they had been told was anathema to its very existence: to do good. Perhaps, he thought, that this was the essence of their nature? Not the magic or their suffering from those who had cursed it, but the gentleness. The good.

As if to call him back from his mind, he felt their fingers rest at the edge of his jaw, tilting his head back up to meet their gaze. They smiled sweetly before placing a kiss at his brow, the feeling of their lips against him delicate and careful, as if they had been afraid of shattering the most fragile of porcelain. Perhaps they felt as he did when they looked at him? Had he not been through too much? His life had never been so idyllic, after all.

Lacing their fingers together, he watched their hands intertwine with pure reverence. If, out in the world there was a ceaseless haze of misery and injustice, then for now, he would stay in here. For now, they could find safety in each other. He could try to show them the deeper parts of his being; to give them a minute, an hour, a day to feel that salve of skin warming skin. To be blanketed in utter gratitude for the mere act of offering your person so freely, like feeling your kindness could touch more than just a heart.

As if he, too, could heal. If only just for an evening.

[godzilla-reads]

💫 Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“Being helpful and kind is almost always more efficient, in my experience.”

In this teen sci-fi graphic novel, two nonbinary teenagers form a bond and manage to find each other through space and time no matter what. But when war is threatening the home of one, can they survive together?

This book is advertised as a romance and I think that’s poor marketing because the book contains multitudes and what’s hinted as a romance is only a very minor occurrence. This book felt like so much more than that.

“Across a Field of Starlight” holds a special place in my heart after reading Blue Delliquanti’s author’s note about living in Minneapolis (where I’m from), living as a queer person (which I am), and experiencing the turmoil of political movements such as the uprising (which I was here for). The book holds a vaster meaning when you see how freedom and human rights are easily taken or, similarly, when people thrive under a peaceful, love-filled community.

The characters were all so well created and had depth and nuance that I’m very happy to see. Now this is pretty science-fictiony with the dialogue and concepts and I’d greatly recommend it.

[soupbtch]

I’ve been having a really tough time parsing through my feelings about this because they keep changing. It’s kind of silly, too, when you put it under a microscope. All love is, I guess. That’s what this is. And I’ve had a lifelong track record of loving things too hard. Not to say that it isn’t always worth it, though it’s hard to feel that way in the immediate aftermath of things coming to an end before you’re ready.

(Putting the rest of this under the cut because it is entirely too long and personal and self-indulgent. Yes, this is about the OFMD cancellation.)

I’m not a superstitious person, with the exception of talking about things I’m excited about. If I’m waiting for an offer letter from a new job, or to hear from someone, something to happen, I have the constant feeling that if I open my mouth and express my excitement out loud, put my intentions out into the world with my own breath and teeth, push it out with my tongue, it means the thing won’t happen. My words will shift the air and it will bite back. There is shaky, empirical evidence for this. I know that, logically. In my heart, though, the fear of vulnerability lives on. Of being known and seen and disappointed.

The last several years, I got better at guarding my heart. I built strong walls. I’ve kept myself from touching things I know will draw me in too deeply, avoided looking at things I knew would break me in half. Preemptive measures to avoid potential heartbreak. (A large reason for this, I’m sure now, was the long-term (bad) relationship I was in until 7 months ago, which demanded all of my attention and emotions to maintain to the point that anything more pressing to my heart would cause the whole house of cards to collapse around me.) I kept my distance from OFMD until I was sure it wasn’t queerbaiting, after season 1 finished airing. And even as I watched it and immediately after, I kept my mouth shut about wanting a season 2. I wasn’t back on tumblr at the time (another instance of me keeping myself from touching things that will pull me in with crushing force). I only had one real life friend to talk to about the show, and even then, I held back. Only let the words whisper out of the corner of my mouth, eyes shifting. I didn’t want to let myself slip. I didn’t want to show my heart for fear of it getting ripped out. I kept the walls up.

When the season 2 trailer dropped, I felt it creeping in, despite my best efforts. I craved it. With an affable hand, it was tapping on the gate to my heart that had been shut since I left the depths of fandoms in 2013. My bad relationship had ended just a few months prior to this. I was free-falling. Vulnerable.

Season 2 reached for my heart. Tentatively, I opened the gate. I invited it in. I dove towards it. I rejoined tumblr. The brainrot set in not shortly after, a familiar friend. The truth is, it could have been anything. It could have been Good Omens, had I opened the gate a few months earlier. It could have been fucking Doctor Who again. But it wasn’t. It was the gay pirates, the middle-aged men, the nonbinary actor playing a nonbinary character, the people of color, the music, the writing, the story, the actors.

Stede and Ed were experiencing identity crises and so was I. One of the reasons my ex cited for dumping me was that he wasn’t attracted to me anymore after the years of me slowly discovering I was queer and nonbinary while we were together. After I had top surgery, he didn’t love me anymore. He broke up with me during pride month. My identity was coming into focus gradually as the foothold slipped out from under me. Simultaneously, on my TV screen, I see Stede realize he’s in love with Ed. I see Ed lose his grip when his foothold slips out from under him, too; his shaky, fresh identity and bravery free-falling around him under the words “I should have let the English kill you,” spat at him for being soft and vulnerable. I see him lose himself in suicidal patterns, familiar. I feel unlovable, and I hear Ed echo my thoughts. I see him come back from the ledge, healing slowly. I see budding happiness. I see love and self-acceptance. I see the crew experiencing so much queer joy it makes my heart ache. I see the fandom experiencing queer joy around me, too. I experience unbridled queer joy for the first time in my life.

I start reading fanfiction again (a door I kept firmly shut and locked for a decade). I want more, to chase the high of queer joy as I read Ed and Stede finding each other and falling in love again and again, in a million different universes. I deepen my connections. I’m finding my foothold again. I form tentative friendships with other people in the fandom. We excitedly post about the season 3 renewal announcement we’re certain is coming. We laugh. We count down the hours together every day for the first week and a half of 2024. A shared delusion, maybe, but all signs were pointing north, and we were traveling there together. I stand up a little straighter. I feel less afraid of being vulnerable. I feel a little bit more lovable.

I let myself hope. I get excited, confident. I talk about the show and the impending renewal announcement with my own mouth and teeth and breath to anyone who will listen. I push the words out with my tongue as the walls around my heart are reduced to rubble against my ribcage. My heart beats defiantly for the whole world to hear.

We know what happens next. I’m free-falling again. It’s silly, right? I wrote all this out to help myself process my emotions, why the cancellation hit me like a wrecking ball, and I feel sillier for it. I feel silly for my heart being so large, for feeling things too much. I feel silly for letting my guard down and letting myself get hurt. For loving things too hard with no plan of how to let go. After a lifetime of this, I should know better.

This show doesn’t define who I am; I already had a pretty firm grasp on that before I ever hit play on the pilot. It’s not life or death. But it helped me find my tender heart again, the me from 10 years ago, the fearless one. It made me fearless again. It made me love again. And at the end of the day, season 3 or no, that means the most to me, and I am endlessly thankful for this heartbreak.

If we’ve never talked before, hi, I’m Danny. Thanks for reading this. I love y’all, crazy little gay people in my phone. I will keep talking about OFMD until the day I die. Hold my hand, let’s be fearless together.

[omgkalyppso]

[Content ID: A screenshot of Wyll Ravengard from Baldur's Gate 3. He is holding his right hand over his chest with two fingers extended, as if making a vow with his hand over his heart. He stands in front of trees, blue sky and a far away mountain in the bottom right corner of the image. The menu interface buttons are on the lower left side of the image. The subtitles at the base of the image read: Wyll: It's all right. Don't tell anyone — but I was afraid, too. /End ID]

Upon The Hill

Rating: T Relationships: Wyll & Gale, Wyll & Upton (an original character) Chapters: 1/1 (4,810 words) Summary: As a result of a death in Act 3, Wyll navigates his complicated feelings through poetry. Gale and Upton, a nonbinary dragonborn oc, offer Wyll encouragement and friendship to not-so-subtly help him through the hurdles of grief, like isolation and aimlessness. Tags: Grief/Mourning, Fluff, Background Gale Dekarios/Original Character(s), Spoilers, Post-Canon

The whole point of this fic was to contextualize and post this poem I wrote that Wyll wrote:

--

For that I ache

For all I am sorrow

I know in the root of the land on the hill

My father who hates me, in all of my glory,

That my triumphs came at the cost of that he vested in me

He wishes, with love, that my life had come easy

That my success came at his cost

But for it to be mine, mine own, my victory

It demanded of me, as it does still

To thread labour and knowledge and all that I am

In the needle that breaks in the trembling hand

On the tapestry of my ancestry in the room on the hill

In the bay and in the sea

Upon the sand and waking breeze

I know in the heart of my every deed

My father who loves me, in the depth of my humanity,

That my kindness and virtue were learned well at his knee

I hope, in vain, that through noble comportment

He will recognize my worth

And free me of the shame in my pain, my loss, my revelry

For what's demanded of me, in the grave on the hill

[amazing-lovers-fic-fest]

This is it, folks! The time has come!

IIIIIIIIt’s Proposal Previews time!!!

Thank you to everyone for sending them in so far! You guys have so many lovely proposals. 😍🥰

Artists, now it’s your turn to be in the spotlight! Read through and choose which work you would like to do art for. Keep in mind that you are allowed to choose more than one work! Or you can stick to one; whatever works for you!

Aaaaand here they all are! Starting with:

PROPOSAL NUMBER 1

Work(ing) Title: No Mistakes With You

Author: Seanagh (racingliners/racingwrites)

AO3 Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

AO3 Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Relationships: Sebastian Vettel/Lewis Hamilton

Important Characters: Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, mentions of both Lewis and Seb's families and various people from Aston Martin & Mercedes.

Additional Tags: Established relationship, Domestic Fluff

Summary:

Follow-up to my prompt fic “This Must Be a Mistake”, focusing on small snapshots of Lewis and Sebastian’s life together over the span of multiple years (Seb’s retirement in 2022, Seb attending his first race publicly as Lewis’ partner in 2023, Silverstone 2024) all building up to their wedding day.

PROPOSAL NUMBER 2

Work(ing) Title: and if i may just take your breath away

Author: Ars (espressosnotdepressos)

AO3 Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

AO3 Warnings: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Relationships: Seb/Lewis, Jenson/Nico, Kimi/Minttu

Important Characters: Main characters: Seb, Lewis. Important/notable side characters: Jenson, Nico, Britta, Antti

Additional Tags: Fashion Designer Lewis Hamilton, T4T (Seb/Lewis), Trans Man Sebastian Vettel, Nonbinary Lewis Hamilton, Girl Nico Rosberg, Weddings, Fake Relationship, Chronic Back Pain, Christmas, Christmas Parties, 2016 FIA Gala, based off 'sweater weather, Brake Testing, Misunderstandings, Britta Roeske is Probably Some Kind of God

Summary:

He sighed. “Anyways, there’s no point in trying to make me find a date anymore.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“Because I’m already seeing someone.” Wait, what?

“Wait, what?”

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

In general, Sebastian likes to think of himself as a smart person. A reasonable person. A person who doesn't lie about having a partner just to get people off his back about his inability to keep a relationship. Lucky for him, a certain Armani fashion designer is here to help, and *not* because Seb owes them after rear ending them on purpose because he thought they were break checking him. Definitely not.

PROPOSAL NUMBER 3

Work(ing) Title: Bookmarks

Author: Tianvette (tianvette)

AO3 Rating: Mature

AO3 Warnings: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Relationships: Sebastian Vettel/Mark Webber

Important Characters: Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Sébastien Buemi

Additional Tags: Bookshop AU, Non-Famous, Idiots to Lovers, 100% Pure Fluff, How to Annoy Your Way Into Someone's Heart, Minor Injury

Summary:

Mark has no idea what he’s doing. He’s never felt so far out of his depth in his entire life.

He slouches back downstairs, walks right out of the front door, and if he had somewhere else to go he’d just keep going and never come back. There’s not one good thing about this place.

He’s not sure where the cake comes from. One minute there’s nothing, and the next – like a strange kind of magic trick – there’s a delicious-looking chocolate muffin sitting right there beside him.

He lifts his head from his hands and stares around. There’s a cardboard cup of coffee, a wooden stirrer and a couple of sachets of sugar next to the cake, a napkin stuck underneath. Mark gently pulls it free and snorts to himself at the little note someone’s scribbled onto it: <em>Hello new neighbour. Come say hi when you’ve finished pulling your hair out.</em>

It’s signed with a lopsided little smiley face, what looks like a kid’s drawing of a bumblebee, and two initials: <em>J & S.</em>

He uncurls a little, stretches out his legs, takes a bite of the cake and groans out loud at the intensity of the flavour. <em>Yeah, okay,</em> he thinks, reaching for the coffee and adding the sugar. <em>One good thing.</em>

***

When Mark agrees to take over the refurbishment of his uncle's abandoned second-hand bookshop, he has no idea what he's doing. Feeling lost and overwhelmed, he's pleasantly surprised when the friendly owner of the coffee shop next door offers to help out. Unfortunately for Mark's blood pressure, that help comes in the form of the two recent graduates who live in the upstairs flat, one of whom is possibly the most chaotic little chatterbox Mark has ever met in his life.

What could possibly go wrong?

PROPOSAL NUMBER 4

Work(ing) Title: colours

Author: Sacha (sacharowan)

AO3 Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

AO3 Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Relationships: Sebastian Vettel/Mark Webber/Jenson Button/Charles Leclerc

Important Characters: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Charles Leclerc

Additional Tags: Alternative Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Soulmates identified through touch leading to colour exposure, Angst with a Happy Ending, 2009 - 2024 Formula One Seasons, Charles Leclerc is a Formula 1 World Champion

Summary:

Everyone missed at least two colours from their life until they met their soulmate - their own and their soulmates. But Sebastian was missing four. One colour for each of his soulmates and one of his own. The first colour would come, he knew, when he met the first one, and little by little, his rainbow would become complete again.

Yellow and orange and red and blue. The colour of the sunset over the ocean, idyllic and peaceful, something that Seb has always wanted to see for himself. He can’t wait to see it properly.

It takes a long time (and a lot of struggle for each of them) but they find each other eventually. Two first and then three and then four comes quietly, slowly.

Together at last, finally.

PROPOSAL NUMBER 5

Work(ing) Title: The Ghost of Australia

Author: Cobb (ZoomGuanyu)

AO3 Rating: Explicit

AO3 Warnings: Major Character Death

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen/Sebastian Vettel

Important Characters: Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Carlos Sainz jr.

Additional Tags: ghosts AU, air kissing, forbidden romance, ghost!Sebastian, hurt/comfort, bittersweet ending

Summary:

Charles has seen ghosts for as long as he can remember. Just when his life started looking good as a Ferrari driver alongside the legendary Kimi Raikkonen, his world is turned upside when he meets the ghost of a man he's always admired. Charles must deal with how to handle Sebastian's antics. As time goes on, the mystery of how Sebastian passed away and how to keep a relationship with a ghost burns ever brighter, searching for an answer that Charles has yet to solve.

And finally…

PROPOSAL NUMBER 6

Work(ing) Title: Hiding Evidence In Silent Trepidation

Author: Gemma (avidaheidia5)

AO3 Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

AO3 Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Fandom: Formula 1 RPF

Relationships: Sebastian Vettel/Jenson Button

Important Characters: Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Susie Wolff, Martin Brundle

Additional Tags: Heist AU, Police drama, Train Robbery, Breaking into a bank, Slapstick with a touch of realism, Injury detail, Violence, Crack fic

Summary:

In 2012, DCI Wolff receives an anonymous call one night reporting that two masked men in their 30’s and 20’s have hijacked a steam locomotive and are taking it en route to one of the largest banks in London, which holds billions of cash inside the vault. Teamed up with the inept Officer Brundle, they go on a widespread search for the mysterious masked men so they could catch them and arrest them before they run off with their precious goods, never to be seen or heard from again.

Sebson Heist AU.

And that’s all of them! Artists, get choosing!!!!! If you need help with anything, let us know on Discord or in the ask box box box!

Happy arting!!! 🎨💙

[baldurs-writers-3]

BG3 Fanfic Highlight: A Fighter at Heart

Bailey wakes. 

Wakes to sand in their hair, blood on their clothes - their work clothes nonetheless, the only nice vest and trousers they own - and the taste of iron in their mouth. 

The wide expanse of the blue sky hovers above them, rays of sunshine beating down on their face, it's the only thing aside from their loud, shallow breaths to remind them they're still alive; and it would be beautiful if that blue sky wasn't blemished by metal and pink flesh groaning above them, beside them - all around them. 

The Nautiloid. 

Bailey remembers.

A Fighter at Heart by compendiumcal (110,998 words, 38/60 chapters, Mature) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Contains occasional explicit depictions of gore Pairings: Karlach/Tav, Shadowheart/Tav, Astarion/Tav, Halsin/Tav, Tav/Karlach/Shadowheart/Astarion/Halsin Top Tags: Named Tav, Plus-sized Tav, Tav is Described, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Polyamory, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Mostly Canon Compliant, Dialogue Heavy Summary: A look into how an otherwise unseeming cook at the Blushing Mermaid gets mixed up in the affairs of Gods and their chosen. A chronicle of them finding friendship in unlikely places, falling in love with even unlikelier people and saving the world.

See what people have to say:

Reccer #1: I love that Tav is nonbinary, for starters; that their OC is poly too is icing on the cake- so many aspects that you don't see as often as I'd like to. Bailey's background is narratively compelling and expertly woven into the storyline following the events of the game. The way the author fleshes out scenes and characters, the way they write their party banter- all of it paints such a vivid picture of what they want their story to be. They do a dynamic job of exploring emotional depth, hurt, angst, comfort, pining, fear, and want all in one. It's a story you can't help but keep wanting to read and find out what Bailey is going to do or say next.

Reccer #2: This entire read has been fun from start to finish (still in progress, but at least to where I've read!). I fell in love with Bailey immediately, their backstory so far is thrilling. If you want to see incredible party banter that transforms into the sweetest little polycule then I can't recommend this fic enough. The story has a great balance of angst, fluff, hurt/comfort and great backstory for Bailey. Everyone in this fic is so well written, but I cannot stress enough how amazing the writing for Karlach is! Her voice is captured perfectly, and the sweet moments between her and Bailey have been my favorite so far.

Want to read more? Check the fic out here! And don't forget to leave compendiumcal some kudos and comments if you liked their work!

The above recommendations were submitted anonymously by the Baldur's Writers 3 community. You can see more fanfic highlights using our #bw3 fanfic highlights tag, or you can check out our themed rec lists with the #bw3 rec lists tag!

Got any questions about what this is? Check out our FAQ here!

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

Rogue thoughts and reactions--->

not taking many notes this time cause i wanted to Savour this one tbh and what a blast so far

rogue and doctor so far is like. rtd striking gold potentially here (i kno he didnt write this one i mean more like. in the long run. i could see fans going crazy over this Type of ship and spending sweet $$$$ on it lol).

ruby looking at this "scene" like it's a tv show………. live…….. honey u best believe in ghost stories hyper post-modern genre tv show seasons cause u are in one

cushy… wordsmiths-ing count…

"ruby: you know how i forget about a man?" with a woman? (shot)

the parallel of these guys "dishonoring" these ppl while the doc and ruby do kind of the same all the time sdkflj

mmm second time i see a triangle logo (it was there last ep on the door to the MEP area that lindsey and rickey ran into. camera held on suspiciously long on it…) (triangles…. three…. susan TRIAD???)

doctor this says you're single and available. oh another word. "very" available.

COME ON ACE WE HAVE WORK TO DO

"wow" boner dialogue

mention of gallifrey.... "i might take you one day" oh man. oh man………..

"random barren dimension" yes this is not an equivalent to a silent confinement analogue at all don't think about it too hard guys

"i lost everyone"

they're leaning on……………. oh yaz just broke a coffee mug somewhere

maybe the real enemy was fandom all along

THOSE TV SIGNALS BEAM OUT ACROSS THE STARS. TV SIGNALS. TV SIGNALS. TV ISNGALS TV

SIGNASLKDJASLKDJASKLJ1!!SKLFDJDSLKJFSDLK JF SHUT UPTJSDLFKSDJ (i die)

ok im enjoying The Concept a lot, as expected…….. but gotta say rogue does feel a bit two dimensional so far :/ (maybe even a bit cliche?) i feel jack in his first ep had more depth at first for example (bounty hunter but also lost his memory. doing amoral things but being swayed by the doctor at the end. etc). but there's time THERE'S TIME. DONT LE TME DOWN EPISODE PLEA SE. there's always a twist-

you people and your bridgetons. in my time this would all be a big ass downtown abbey reference

sad thing is this is def one episode i wont be able to watch with my homophobic parents at all oof lmao

this dialogue.... kinda thoschei acadamy years coded ngl

"tell me what your heart wants or i shall turn my back on your forever" defining 15 character dialogue……….

(commitment phobe doctor moment. my girl hastn changed at ALL) (btw intrigued by rogue's "i lost them" bc it could mean a lot right. it's the most delibarely ambiguous of pronouns dklfjsd like it could be a nonbinary character but could also be a couple characters? or maybe im reading it wrong sdlkjf)

play our games on a magnificent scale…………… games motif……….

"i thought i was interesting- but you??" exactly!!! doctor who>>>>>>>> bridgerton/all other tv shows. case made.

god i feel so stupid. i dint catch that twist at all TOT

wedding season finale. chuldur's know where it's at.

oh finally there's the scene from the trailers!!!!!!!!!

"how long do they live for?" oh he's gonna says A Thing "thats a long time to suffer" I WASN'T WRONG /GOES FERAL ( i knew the family of blood coding was leading somewhere…)

the doctor beatiing these cosplayers with his "i object" tv tropyness……….. the meta of it……… theory gang we're gonna make it yet i swear

ok yes this is sad poor ruby but like. but literally last month 14 killed/sacrificed donna w/o sm hesitation so sdklfjdsklfjsdklfj (yes im still like. HEY THAT WAS A SIGNIFICANT THING THAT HAPPENED. WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT IT.)

oh is rogue a chuldur as well? he feels too invested in the trolley problem of it all sdlkfj

im gonna say it.... i thought that resolution was kinda........ as the kids say..... weak sauce sfkdj

like oh nooo he got teleported oh noooo. like he's gonna be fine slkdfjsd didn't really hit that hard :/ should have had a proper death sacrifice thing.

"im sorry....." "....AAAANYWAY , it is what it is!!!! " my man is so broken holy shit. holy shit.

it's ok to be sad. !!!!! TOT

CONCLUSIONS!!

sdlkjf ya'll i really wanted this to harder but idk i didnt feel the depth or sensibility this called for was there tbh. but it was a blast!!! but … it missed a bit of that x factor thing. like some kind of universality to the romance w/ the rogue. i feel he was too sketched-in.... i was also a bit disappointed that ruby's friend was not her friend bc it meant her whole thing this ep of connecting to that woman was for nothing (and up until that point it was feeling very Important specially after the marti thing) (and speaking of, the chuldur's were kinda very sketched-in / surface-level as villains as well) … yeah. idk. kinda disappointing ngl (diodati > this i think). pretty fucking gay tho so that was nice.

[bi-focal12]

here's a list of books I've read and would recommend as well as books from my to-read list for Pride Month!

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers: a solarpunk novella that discusses existential purpose from the perspective of a nonbinary narrator who meets a sentient robot years after robots decided to stop working and disappear into the wilderness. A great read that I found very soothing!

We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson: a YA sci-fi novel that follows a grieving high-schooler who gets routinely abducted by aliens. I read this one in the eight grade and as a kid who was unknowingly struggling with depression and had just learned that the word 'bisexual' existed, this was a pretty important read for me so even though I haven't read it in years it deserves an honorary place. CW: past suicide of the narrator's bf

Burning Roses by S.L Huang: a novella that combines European fairytales and Chinese mythology. It follows two middle-aged queer women as they reflect on their lives and chase down a deadly threat together. Told largely in flashback, I found this story very hopeful.

Blue Period (manga & anime) by Tsubasa Yamaguchi: had to toss this one in here as I adore BP. While not a romantic story, BP is about the discovery of artistic passion and the highs and lows of pursuing what makes you feel alive (and I find it to be relatable, refreshing, and inspiring tbh). In volumes 1-6 (and the anime), a secondary, genderqueer character has a fairly prominent storyline, told largely via the main character's changing perceptions of them. If you do give it a watch, I personally feel that the sub version hits harder.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune: I'm very excited to read this one (i love me some sentient robots lol) and have high hopes for the emotional depth. Here's the first bit of the synopsis. "Deep in the heart of a peculiar forest, in a strange little home built into the branches of trees, is a family assembled from spare parts: three robots- fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, a small vacuum desperate for love and attention- and a human, Victor Lawson."

The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska: Google says it's a gripping, dark sapphic YA fantasy about two girls who must choose between saving themselves, each other, or their sinking island home. I love to see sapphic rep and truly hope this book delivers!

Feel free to drop more recs in the comments or share your thoughts about the books on this list!