#gonna keep exploring this

[vita-divata]

I desperately need a comic or a novel about Noatak after he ran away from home :’( wanna know more about his early life

[bunnieswithknives]

Fop redesigns for funsies but also bcs I saw some star heel boots and had to put Dale in them immediately.

[hattedhedgehog]

Keeping it a secret for so long has been torturous, but now that the game reveals are happening I can finally say that for the past few years I’ve been part of the player council for the upcoming DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD!

(The only photo proof I'm able to show is of me appreciating the Arishok's huge...tracts of land at Bioware Edmonton)

At this time all I can tell you is that my role was to provide feedback to the development team to help improve the game, something which has been very special to be able to do. Now that things are in motion, I’m excited to see what gets revealed with each official announcement…

[yasmeensh]

Anyone miss secret bombable walls only detected by tapping (or maps)?

[starry-bi-sky]

pouring one out for luo binghe in my disciple SQQ fic, poor guy has taken a backseat here. we're nearly 30k words deep and he hasn't even shown his face once. it'll be much longer before he even actually talks to Shen Qingqiu.

(i say im pouring one out but in reality im sitting in my director's chair chewing on a cigar and wearing a beret as he tearily and unsuccessfully pleads with me for more scenes with Shen Qingqiu)

[bugsbiann]

forgot ta post this one. collei amber sibs because i love found family

[mao-ancunin]

Fools Fall

Pairing: Astarion x M!Tav/Named Tav 

Summary/Setting: Spawn-Astarion headcanon romance and friendship scenes of hurt, healing and love. Taking place between act 1 and 3. Lots of companion friendship scenes too 🤍 

Rating/Warnings: T / game spoilers, mentions of Astarions past, Trauma and PTSD, flashbacks, panic attacks.

Read entire work on: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62732383/chapters/160598794

Chapter 1 - Falling

At the beginning Astarion thought of Mao as the fool who fell in love, but soon he began to realise that it was him who was the fool.

Unexpected things started to happen after Astarions luring instincts kicked in. Although Mao, the gentle Tiefling, seemed to be falling head over heels in love with the vampire and was certainly lured by Astarions front of making himself as palatable as he could, matching whatever the other desired, there was more to their spending their time together; before Astarion knew it, Mao started calling him his ‘dear friend‘. If Astarion had admitted how he felt  he would have called him one back. Most of the time Mao was infuriatingly kind yet He could be feisty and fiery. He had an unpredictability that intrigued the other. The pale elf realised that on many occasions he didn't even make an effort to wind him up around his little finger with sweet nothings. Being himself, whatever was left of that was...Enough. 

Maybe if they had met in another life they would have loved one another in the most sickly sweet way Astarion could think of. But in this one, he had to look after himself, this situation didn't leave room for galavanting around with friends, let alone romantic relationships. Lest he risk a stake through his heart or worse, Cazador would take his freedom once more. 

Still, every now and then Astarion imagined himself in this little make believe life, and at least it made the whole ordeal a tad easier, stomach knots unravelling with each laugh and gentle touch. 

It became a habit, staying up late together, chatting about all sorts of silly meaningless things. Astation felt himself falling easily into playful embraces and conversations. Even though their relationship had stayed platonic so far, there was an unspoken attraction between them, arms brushing past, lingering touches all felt exciting. Every now and then, a hand lingered a little longer on Maos shoulder and every now and then Astarion caught himself observing him from afar and smiling to himself. He wasn't luring anymore, he was falling. 

Usually with a Mark to be taken to his master, Astarion would have already seduced the target as soon as they showed willing, but with Mao he hesitated. He knew that he could have him, claim him, pull the strings tight around his neck to lock him in as his net of safety. Maybe it was his new found freedom of his autonomy to do what and whom he wanted with his body. Or maybe it was the fear of the tainted act sex had become to him. Not sacred or special, something you do out of love and desire, but a tedious ordeal that turned knots in his stomach and one did for survival. Besides, he appreciated the space Mao gave him. He felt respected. 

One evening, as the events of the day unravelled in front of the campfire in the form of epic tales, laughter and toasts to living another day without turning into mind flayers, Astarion found himself next to Mao, unable to focus on the chatter, and frankly, he didn't care about goblins fought and druids freed. Momentarily he was preoccupied with the little circles Maos hands were drawing on Astarions skin. First it began with an accidental placement of hands and a following remark on how cold Astarions hands were. “Darling, you forget I’m undead, this is what it's like” was not enough for Mao to be discouraged in trying to warm them up. “Well, mine are always quite warm, they could do with a bit of cooling.” he said. So throughout the evening their hands always remained close. The touch itself felt intoxicatingly warm and he couldn’t help but ponder what Maos lips felt like. Mao himself was joining the telling of stories, laughing at Gale’s silly jokes and joining Karlach in joyous Tiefling chants. Although preoccupied with bonding with the other companions, his hand let the other know he was there for him and that he cared.

Then one after the other, their companions slipped into the shadows, retreating to the comfort of their tents until once again, Astarion and Mao were left to their evening ritual of watching the embers disappearing into the dark of the night, conversing about right and wrong, life and death, hurt and healing. 

But tonight, they embraced the silence and gentle touches of their hands, finding their way to entangle themselves. Their fingers as though dancing with each other, embracing, trailing, stroking. If his body had needed sleep, he could have easily sunk deeply into it as he felt a deep sense of safety. They lay back against the logs, a blanket draped over their bodies, which were closer than ever before. Astarion closed his eyes and let himself slip into the reality of his daydreams, pushing aside his worries of recapture and torment. For now he was just here, with Mao, enjoying kind, loving touches. 

Maos fingers brushed the white soft curls that had fallen over his eyes out of the elf's face, Astarions vocal chords humming involuntarily by the brief touch. The Tiefling continued to trace Astarions features with featherlight fingers, over his eyebrows, temples and lips which tingled in anticipation, he opened his eyes to gaze into golden infernal eyes that lit up with something Astarion hadn't seen before. He shifted his face closer to Maos to inhale the scent of desire in his blood and leaned into his warm hand, eyes closing - inviting.  Then their lips finally met, releasing hours of longing and dancing around each other.

Astarion shuddered at the tingle that the soft touch of Maos lips sent down his spine, warmth taking over his entire being. A sensation he didn't feel was too unfamiliar. He had fallen for someone before, kisses and tender touches feeling divine. Suddenly a sharp jolt of emotion flooded his senses, dread rising within. A memory pushed itself into his mind, a crushed skull, of a person he dared to love, someone he kept secret from Cazador. But there were no secrets he could keep from his master. And it was always punished the hardest. He would be sorry for daring to touch another soul in the same way again. Astarion felt the clammy blood on his hands, as he held his lover's beaten face. He blinked and gasped until he realised there was no blood, there was only Mao, concerned eyes trying to connect. 

„—starion?“ Mao said, unease spreading across his face. “Astarion, dear, are you alright?“ Astarion felt nausea surge in his stomach. Maos gentle squeezes on his arm pulled him back into reality. “Oh…I'm sorry“ he stared blankly for a moment, before he could realise what was happening. He attempted a casual smile „I exhausted myself today. I… I am sorry, I should probably get some rest. It's been a long day” Before Mao could say anything

Astarion broke away and disappeared into the darkness surrounding the camp. Leaving the other wondering and contemplating. 

Astarion paced frantically, he attempted to push the memory far back where it belonged, another century, another lifetime. 

He just had to get back on track, put on that mask that he wore so well, speak words dazzled in flirtatious promises and poetic verses. And put up a thick wall between him and his feelings. This whole ordeal would get him into trouble and he could not afford thinking of what would happen to Mao, should Cazador ever find them. He wasn't allowed to care for someone else. Astarion was not going to give up his freedom, no matter how tempting. 

He was bound to break, but in that moment Astarion saw no other way. he was fumbling, grasping the lucky thread that his survival hung by, it was wearing thin. He thought that maybe by forcing himself to sleep with Mao, like he did with so many times with his targets he might feel that nausea in his stomach return, a knot that would make him repulsed by the other and make it so he could just use him for the intended purposes, make himself stop falling, stop feeling. Just surviving. It had to work. 

At the celebration with the tieflings the next night, he composed himself, mask locked tightly in place: tonight he would pounce.

Part of himself felt a sort of loss after they had slept together. it felt as though he had betrayed himself in a way. Another part of him fell deeper, unexpectedly. 

After that, it didn't take too long until his front finally unravelled for good.

[corpsentry]

breaking the law and outing myself on the internet because i'm showcasing my senior dance thesis on april 28 at 6:30 and 8:30 pm Eastern Standard Time and i want You to see it

we don't have a livestream link yet but we will. in the meantime look at these cool posters and this cool blurb. ok now save the date SEE YOU SOON

[dykedvonte]

Mini rant below and in the tags, the only time I’ll talk about this and my personal take on it.

The way people talk about hypothetical male Anya on Twitter and the idea of how Mouthwashing would play out if the genders were swapped makes me remember how people still don’t take sexual assault and rape with male victims with the same gravity, especially when the perpetrator is female.

[pink-pone]

fully rendered art or not, I need to draw more of my ocs, it’s actually illegal that I have them and don’t draw them enough 😭

oof, Barnaby is such a little tsundere kid who has a lot of trauma and says he’s fine but deep down he uses his coping mechanisms (cleaning, organizing and being bossy) to help him process his biological father’s abandonment because he wasn’t good enough for him and I- yeah I’ll just stop here I could go on forever lol

[theshiftingworkshop]

Fun fact! SD, while not really having a concrete nationality (Terri and I toss around ideas here and there, so we have a general idea), does have a background in being raised in the South US, and on that good 'ol ✨Southern Hospitality✨(much like yours truly), and will sometimes slip back into old habits if he gets tipsy enough XD

Terri and I affectionately call this "Going Southern", and luckily, he mostly just lets loose and gets more openly flirty with a certain little darlin'~

[bbaked-beans]

explodes. I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH AHSHHDHSJABDBF

I'm gonna miss them :(( I can't believe it's over whaaa! I've been listening to rolling with difficulty since the very beginning and it seems like it started just yesterday, absolutely wild to me that we've reached the finale!

I'm excited to see what awaits us in the next campaign!

[creatively-cosmic]

I am none, but we are many.

plus the flat colors for my design ^-^

[soultiio]

COMPLEX PART 1

left to right (cw: fracture¿)

COMPLEX PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3

[wakeywakeyjakey]

I'm 35,000 words into writing a longfic about the Batman/Bruce/Matches DID system and I'm obsessed with it. It includes Bat/Joker, Bruce/Harvey, and Matches/Harv and the differences in each of those dynamics is 🤌

(Batman and Bruce know about each other but they don't know about Matches and Matches doesn't know about them--what could POSSIBLY go wrong?)

[priceofreedom]

funny how everyone seemed to adore Zack until he started having more screentime...