#great idea poor execution once again

[bujlililu]

Day 14: unexpected

That's what you call it when your friend coworker shows up in the middle of the night, needing company and comfort from the most emotionally unavailable person ever

[hayamie]

Word count: 1,3k

1.6.25 (mm.dd.yy)

You blinked, the gears in your brain working as you tried to process your brother's Idea.

He blinked back at you with the widest and cutest smile he could muster. His whole being vibrating from excitement from his idea that he has yet to execute.

You gulped, not wanting to break the poor angel's heart whilst not wanting him to be in danger because of his idea.

"Lucifer.." You started, taking a seat on a nearby rock. His eyes light up at the mention of his name.

Your eyes softened. He really is God's most beautiful angel. "That's really sweet of you to consider the humans. Giving them the option to choose their own paths in life, choosing for themselves.. I really think it's a great idea! But…” you bit your lower lip, watching his smile slowly fade.

Before you could explain further, he suddenly murmured out, “When did you start siding with the others...?” Your eyes widened, flying up from the rock and going closer to him.

"No, no! It's not like that! Just," you sighed “This idea of yours is going.. a bit too far."

“Too far?" Lucifer repeated, "Is.. Is that what you've been thinking of my ideas? They're going too far— too much for you?" Lucifer snapped. He couldn't believe it, you were the only one who supported his ideas, loved it even and defended him from the elders when they disagreed with his ideas. But you're siding with them now? Now out of all times?

“Look, I know it seems like it but this idea could cost you more than just a few warnings from the elders.” You spoke, taking deep breaths. God why are you getting so emotional? “It's clear as the Great Almighty Lord's blinding light that the elders don't approve much of your ideas. This… whole giving the apple of knowledge to the humans' would…“ you trailed off, the words getting stuck in your throat as you fought back tears.

“Would what?" Lucifer furrowed his eyebrows, noticing your lips quiver. What could possibly go wrong with giving the humans the free will to choose? That they don't need to constantly follow the seraphims or even the elders' orders that were planted here because it would be their own choice to listen to them or not.

God, if the humans were to know they had a choice, what are the possibilities of them creating something of their own? Endless! Then, dare he say, the garden of Eden won't be as boring as it is right now.

A hand on the shoulder was all it took for Lucifer to snap his attention back at you, “I know you're doing this out of good will, but.. this idea could be the end of you, Lucifer.”

The end of him? Him? Lucifer? Surely you jest, you're talking to the angel who god sculpted into perfection. His ideas are just as important as the elders' orders!

You saw him furrowed his eyebrows, it seems he doesn't know the danger he'll be putting to himself and to his lover if he really does plan on executing his idea.

“Lucifer," you placed your other hand on his other shoulder, his eyes now at yours once again. “Please... Please drop this idea, I.." your lip quivered as you continued, "I don't wanna lose you.” You pleaded.

His eyes softened, he watched you fight back your tears from spilling he slowly pulled you into a hug. Muttering out okay.

“Promise?" You spoke, in his shoulder as you tried to blink away the tears that threatened to fall out.

Lucifer buried his head in your shoulder, "Promise.”

—

"What's got you all gloomy, darling?” Lilith spoke, giggling at how Lucifer immediately snapped his head in her direction.

His cheeks adorned with warm yellow as he stared at Lilith lovingly. “Nothing, it's just..” he paused, not sure whether to tell Lilith about what you and him talked about earlier or not.

He sighed, feeling Lilith take a seat besides him, wrapping her arms around the little angel before planting a kiss on his forehead. “You can tell me." She muttered out. Giving him a small smile.

He returned the gesture, leaning into her touch and sighing out, again. “It's just… I'm just thinking if my idea is..” he lowered his gaze to the ground, recalling your words. "going a little too far this time.” He finished. Gazing at the apple that's hanging from the tree of knowledge.

Lilith’s gaze softened, “Who told you that?"

Lucifer muttered your name softly at her, Lilith clenched her hands in response. Why did you say that to him? He already had his plate full because of the elders, and now you? She was fuming. She never thought you'd go against his idea, not once had it crossed her mind.

Now that you've sided with the elders, he has no one else to support him other than her now. Elders be damned! She'll support him no matter how crazy his ideas are. It's the reason why she fell in love with him.

“If you'd ask me.." Lilith started. Putting her hand on top of his. "You should still do it.”

"What?” Lucifer's eyes snapped back at her.

Lilith only smiled, "If she won't support you, then I will.”

Lucifer’s breath hitched, she looked so beautiful in that moment. His lips turned into a smile, eyes looking at her full of adoration. He's so lucky to have her.

On cue, they saw Eve going towards the tree of knowledge. Lucifer felt a nudge on his side, looking at Lilith who's encouraging him to go. He smiled, giving her a peck on the lips before transforming into a snake.

Lilith watched as he slithered towards Eve. A smile adorned on her lips.

—

“Lucifer Morningstar, who committed a serious crime by going against the Lord’s word and giving the humans the apple from the tree of knowledge. Therefore you are banished from heaven.”

You stared at horror as you watched Lucifer hug his lover, trying to explain himself to the elders. But all his words fell on deaf ears as the elders raised their hands.

A portal opened from behind them. Lucifer looked at the hole wide-eyed before turning to the elders, stepping forward to explain but was met with multiple angelic spears pointed at them. Your breath hitched.

“Does anyone object to the banishment?" The elder asked, eyeing the other seraphim.

"I do!” You said aloud, your hand raised up high for everyone to see.

"Shouldn't we hear his side of the story first before deciding on anything? You don't even know his intentions were at that time! So please, let us hear what he has to say..." You pleaded, flying over to where Lucifer and Lilith are.

"His intentions revealed itself the moment he gave the apple to Eve, giving the humans the knowledge of good and bad. Seraph (Y/n), the humans have become one of us.” an elder stated. Their multiple eyes looking at you as they spoke.

“But he never had any ill intentions!" Lilith suddenly spoke from behind Lucifer - who was shielding her from the spears.

"Why are you already banishing us without even hearing our reason?!" Lilith yelled out, rage beginning to bubble inside of her.

"Lilith—" Lucifer spoke, glancing at his lover

"No! Lucifer, they're making decisions without even giving your ideas a chance to be heard! They—"

“SILENCE!"

Everyone went quiet.

“Lucifer went against the Lord's word, that's more than enough reason to banish you from heaven!”

Your eyes gazed up from Lilith and at the elders.

“But Elder—"

“(Y/n), you know better than to go against the Lord's will, being a seraph yourself after all. Or do you suggest you go along with them?" An elder snapped at you. Their spears now pointed at you.

You were taken aback, did you just got.. threatened? You were now given a choice whether to stay quiet or defend Lucifer and suffer the consequences.

...You chose the former.

Lucifer's eyes widened as he watched you start to retreat to your station. He grabbed your hand before you could get even further from him, eyes pleading for you to stay. To defend him like you always do.

Glancing at the spears directed at them before gazing back at Lucifer's pleading eyes. You whispered to him, “you promised."

With a huff, the elders - along with you - faced the two lovers once again. Raising his spear as he spoke

“I hereby BANISH you from the garden of Eden, never to set foot in heaven ever AGAIN.”

Using your wings to cover your eyes, not wanting to watch him fall to damnation. All the elders pointed their spears at them, except yours.

And with that, they fell.

Hearing the portal disappear, officially making the meeting come to a close as all the elders flew up to leave,

You stayed. Refusing to uncover your eyes as tears began to slowly slip down your cheeks.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ➨ the LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR divider is made by yours truly.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ➨ Photos: From PINTEREST.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ➥ Lucifer looking up

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ➥ Blueberry cakes

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ➥ Lucifer holding a lamb

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ AAAAA first fanfic.... Still got a longg way to go.

[drakorn]

Rewriting Veilguard Part 3 - The Grey Wardens

Rewriting Veilguard Part 2 - The Shadow Dragons

Disclaimer: I don't hate the game, I actually think it's quite great given the development hell Bioware went through in those 10 years. This is more of a hypothetical universe where there was less of that behind the scenes drama. Just a fun writing exercise.

Writing an Origin Story Mission for the Grey Wardens

So before we start, I would like to notify you of three minor changes I made to my previous blog entry regarding the Shadow Dragons:

Varric no longer tells us about Solas straight away. I believe that’s a bomb that would be more effective when dropped later, otherwise poor Rook might just be a tad overwhelmed.

Neve stays in Minrathous rather than accompanying Rook and Varric. Yeah, as much as I like the idea of your chosen faction determining your first companion, I don’t think it’s really doable given the circumstances a few other companions find themselves in at the start of the game.

The Dreadwolf title card does not appear just yet. I found a better spot to use it later.

Now that we have dealt with the Shadow Dragon origin story, let us move on to the Grey Wardens. And here, we are going to have some fun because boy do I have ideas for this one.

The Grey Wardens were kinda the faction I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to playing at first and there’s a reason for that. You see, we already played a Grey Warden in DAO, and I actually like each game’s protagonist being someone very different. However, when I think about it now, there is some narrative logic to it. If DAV truly is the last Dragon Age game (which is very up in the air right now), it makes total sense to have this choice to bookend the story. You started as a Grey Warden, and now you’ll finish as one. Plus, with the Blight giving us its last hoorah in this one, it only makes sense to put the Wardens in a more prominent position once again.

So, without further ado, let us jump into the Grey Warden origin story!

Creating Rook

We start a new game, Varric gives his opening narration about the overall state of Northern Thedas, and this time, we click on the Grey Warden origin. The little blurb reads as follows:

“You are a Grey Warden. An ancient military order sworn to battle the ever-present threat of the Darkspawn, the Wardens undergo secret, unbreakable rites that grant them supernatural powers against the Taint. As the last surviving member of the Dornen outlaws, you joined the order after a passing Senior Warden invoked the Right of Conscription at your execution and gave you the chance to fight another day. But what you will do with it, that is up to you.”

Right there, we have a great canvas to paint with when it comes to sheer roleplay. We are a former criminal, the last survivor of a group known as the Dornen. Our group wasn’t, like, evil, but we were enough of a presence in the area in and around Hossberg to cause some proper trouble. The Anderfels is a dangerous land, the most dangerous one in Thedas. People don’t live, they survive. This means that many turn to unlawful ways to make ends meet. But being a former outlaw beautifully lines up with the theme of second chances the Order gives to so many people.

In DAV, our Warden’s name is Thorne. “Dornen” is the German words for “Thorns”. The Anderfels’ linguistic and etymological side is mostly based on German (“Anderfels” meaning “Other Rock” or “Weisshaupt” meaning “White Head”). So wouldn’t it be a fun idea if “Thorne” isn’t really the Warden’s last name but just the name they ended up going with? They arguably never knew their family name and the Dornen were as close to one as they could have gotten.

Unlike Mercar, your racial choice won’t really have that much of an impact here as the Wardens accept everyone into their ranks, as long as they can fight. However, if you choose to be a Qunari, it will add a few unique dialogue lines about how few Qunari there are in the order. You are probably one of the only ones.

For this hypothetical playthrough, we shall pick a dwarf warrior, and I’m giving him a big ginger beard. Just going full Lord of the Rings here.

Alright, so we just generated our Thorne, and now we get to hear Varric’s continued narration. We get a series of those beautiful tarot-styled illustrations with Varric’s voice telling us what’s been happening with the Wardens for the last decade. The Wardens in the North specifically have been all gradually returning to Weisshaupt Fortress, by order of the First Warden. They have become much more reclusive and secretive than they already were and are sharing practically nothing with the outside world. Something’s definitely going on. And Varric thinks it might be part of something larger.

Weisshaupt Fortress

And now, for the first time ever, we get to see Weisshaupt Fortress in all its glory, a gigantic fortress carved into the very mountains, the great headquarters of the Grey Wardens that withstood for over a thousand years.

I really like the way Weisshaupt is portrayed in DAV, my only gripe is that we never get to actually properly explore it. I was…surprised by that, actually. So what better way to explore Weisshaupt than have it be part of the Grey Warden origin?

This is place filled with such incredibly rich history. Just imagine, this place has existed since the First Blight, an event older than Andraste. This is an absolute field day for lore enthusiasts such as myself.

As soon as Weisshaupt appears, we get a grand reprise of Inon Zur’s DAO main theme, establishing it as the Warden leitmotif. Now that we are able to properly play as a Grey Warden again, we are just eased back into that feeling. We might not be playing the Hero of Ferelden anymore, but we can definitely bring back the nostalgia. Music is such an important part of storytelling, it’s insane how much a well-chosen theme can do.

Meeting High Constable Janos

Thorne arrives at Weisshaupt after a recent patrol through the mountains and we are greeted by High Constable Janos, the second-in-command to the First Warden. For some reason that rank never comes up in DAV, so we’re just going to include that here.

Here we’re going to establish that Janos was the Warden-Commander who invoked the Right of Conscription during our execution all the way back in Hossberg a few years ago. But why would the Right of Conscription even work in a time without the Blight? Well, this is a fair question for any other nation than the Anderfels. But the Anderfels is constantly threatened by darkspawn incursions, making it the only nation where the Right of Conscription still holds weight without a Blight. Given how the First Warden is often seen as an advisor to the King/Queen, one can also say that the Wardens’ whole “no politics” spiel doesn’t really apply in the Anderfels, either.

Janos informs us of an upcoming mission, assigned by the First Warden himself. Thorne is to meet him, Janos, and a few others in the war room later that day. It is something quite urgent.

NOTE: Throughout the prologue, Rook is still referred to as Thorne, given that “Rook” as a nickname does not exist yet.

Exploring Weisshaupt

Before we head off to the war room, we get a chance to properly explore Weisshaupt for the first time. And there are some interesting things to be done here:

Thorne can walk in on a recruit training session hosted by Davrin. Yep, if we’re a Grey Warden, we get to meet Davrin a little earlier than every other origin. We won’t know anything about his secret griffon mission yet, so for now we just meet him as a trainer. We learn that Davrin and Thorne joined the Wardens at roughly the same time and initially disliked each other due to their different pasts. But over the years, they grew to a mutual understanding since that’s just what being part of the order does to you. In this encounter, we get to train the recruits with Davrin for a short while, even do a sparring session between the two of us.

We come across a few recruits who are yet to undergo the Joining. From here, we learn that there hasn’t really been a great influx of Wardens recently as people just don’t see the necessity. And while the Right of Conscription applies in the Anderfels outside a Blight, it does so only when the alternative is a crime verdict. The recruits know about the Joining already, so we can either reassure or prepare them for the possibility of dying.

We learn from the general chatter as we traverse Weisshaupt that many of the older Wardens are getting ready for their Calling. Since there’s such an unusually high number this time, they are organising something akin to a massive group exodus into the Deep Roads. From the same chatter, we also learn that there has been a staggeringly smaller amount of recruits every year. Some of the older Wardens are worried.

We can enter the library and meet Valya from the Last Flight novel. Instead of just leaving the Wardens for an unspecified reason like in DAV, here she stayed, survived her Joining, and has since been promoted to Chamberlain of the Grey, the order’s chief archivist after her predecessor embarked on his Calling. Her role in rediscovering the griffons had a huge part to play here, but we don’t know that yet. She has also entered a relationship with Caronel who has been promoted to Warden-Commander of the Anderfels. From Valya, who is also in charge with gathering reports from Wardens all around the world, we learn how the Wardens in the South are doing, and it’s quite something. Nathaniel Howe is now the Warden-Commander of Ferelden and operates from Vigil’s Keep. Yes, all Wardens have been ordered to return to Weisshaupt, but Ferelden is an exception to this summon as the First Warden deems Amaranthine  being an actual Arling and two Grey Wardens ruling the country as too valuable of an asset to just drop. The same can’t be said for Orlais, though, as we learn that the Orlesian Wardens, currently led by Stroud and Thom Rainier, have fortified the Warden stronghold outside Montsimmard and are currently acting as peacekeepers. In addition, Bethany is currently overseeing the still-standing Griffon Wing Keep. The First Warden looks at them with disdain for refusing to obey his orders, but he also can’t, in good conscience, declare war upon them as every Warden is valuable.

NOTE: Here we see some of our World State shine through. In this playthrough, Hawke was left behind in the Fade, allowing Stroud to be a force for good among the Wardens. Blackwall took back his original name of Thom Rainier and became a proper Grey Warden. Since Hawke took Bethany and Anders to the Deep Roads in DA2, Bethany was made a Grey Warden. Nathaniel Howe was recruited and both Vigil’s Keep and Amaranthine were defended properly, allowing the Wardens to once again maintain a strong presence in Ferelden. As mentioned in the previous post, Alistair and Cousland currently rule Ferelden. And, as we're about to see, Avernus has been left alive and allowed to ethically continue his research.

While still in the library, we get to read a few letters sent to Valya. One of them is from Cousland, dating back a few years now, stating that she is close to making progress on how to stop the Calling but that this is the last letter she’ll be able to send as she’s embarking to places where communication just isn’t possible. Another is from Stroud, stating his regret for how things turned out. Here we get some hints as to what happened when he came to Weisshaupt during DAI. Apparently him and the First Warden clashed on ideals, the First Warden insisting on staying distant and secretive and Stroud being in favour of change. The third letter is from Ramesh, the Warden from Tevinter Nights who discovered one of Ghilan’nains labs and is now searching for the other eleven. The fourth and final letter is a report from Avernus and concerns the progress of his superior Joining ritual. All of these are just codex entries as I doubt we'd get to see this publicly.

Meeting the First Warden

After exploring Weisshaupt, we enter the war room, where Jowin Glastrum, the First Warden himself, awaits us. Joining us in the meeting are High Constable Janos and Warden-Commander Caronel.

Now, let me make something very clear about the First Warden. I like that he’s old-fashioned and traditionalist in DAV, I think it was very in-character of him to act distant and dismissive towards people outside the order. However, he is also a Grey Warden first and foremost at heart, he has Thedas’ best interest in mind. He isn’t here just because of status and standing, no, he clawed his way up the ranks through valiant deeds. We know that many Wardens in the Anderfels come from noble lines and still have ties to those. While the First Warden is of a noble house, he doesn’t use that as something to flaunt over the Wardens. His idea of having ties to noble families is a strictly pragmatic one: the more ties, the more aid, the more recruits. While he might not get along with outsiders, he absolutely respects the Wardens under his command and, while not always agreeable, would never meaninglessly sacrifice them. He’s harsh, strict, often an asshole, but still a Warden at heart.

The First Warden briefs us on a mission: A strange crack into the Deep Roads has opened near the village of Lavendel and a darkspawn horde is gathering for a full assault. Wardens Evka and Antoine are already on-site, preparing the defences.

The First Warden orders us to take charge of the village’s defences alongside Caronel. Under no circumstances are we to abandon post. High Constable Janos will arrive with reinforcements to secure our victory. The idea is to lure the bulk of the horde out of the Deep Roads so that we can slay most of them.

We can inquire why Thorne was chosen for this, since our presence alongside the First Warden, the High Constable, and the Warden-Commander is pretty insignificant, to which the First Warden answers that we are very much due to becoming Senior Wardens ourselves, it’s just this one last assignment left until our promotion.

After the briefing, we leave the war room and encounter Davrin again, with whom you can share in your either excitement or humbleness. In any case, Davrin congratulates us on the soon-to-be promotion, claiming how deserving of it we are and how he would have never thought so upon our first meeting all those years ago.

If we wonder why Davrin wasn’t chosen to head to Lavendel, he’ll tease that he has something else going on, equally important, but won’t tell us what it is just yet as it’s top secret (wink wink caw caw).

Reaching Lavendel

We depart Weisshaupt and leave for Lavendel, a small but significant village not far away from Hossberg. We take a few newly joined Wardens with us, a group consisting of the recruits we met earlier at Weisshaupt.

Upon entering Lavendel, we are approached by Evka and Antoine, who have been busy preparing the defences. From the ensuing conversation we gather that Thorne is very well-acquainted with them, similar to Davrin, having shared in many patrols across the Anderfels with them.

While Caronel takes charge of the mission, he trusts your judgment on matters as it is your time to prove yourself further in the eyes of Weisshaupt. High Constable Janos leaves you be now and heads off to prepare the reinforcements on the other side of the hills.

In the distance, a faint dark red cloud indicates the approaching darkspawn.

Preparing for Battle

Before the darkspawn assault begins, we have the chance to explore Lavendel a little and engage in its defences. During this short segment, we have a few encounters to experience:

Naturally, we can talk to Evka and Antoine and reflect on some of our past adventures together.

We can speak to the new Wardens we’re supposed to co-lead with Caronel, either inspiring them or telling them to be realistic and not too hasty. It’s obvious many of them joined because of the heroic notion surrounding being a member of the order.

We can encounter Mila and her father, Lavendel’s blacksmith. Yeah, I haven’t made them occupants of Weisshaupt just yet, you’ll see why in a bit.

We can inspect the defences, which boil down to barricades, a few ballistae, and, of course, the Warden stronghold just outside the village. If we explore enough, we see a very large and lose rock on a jagged edge right next to Lavendel. Maybe this will be useful later? Since we took the extra time to look around, we can now have that in the back of our head. We can also spot a crack in the stronghold’s basement and encourage quick repairments to be made.

We can speak to Caronel and share in thoughts about the coming fight. All of us Wardens can sense the approaching darkspawn. Caronel isn’t too worried as it’s just a minor skirmish, albeit with a larger-than-usual horde. And why worry? We’ve got Janos swooping in with reinforcements, anyway. We can talk about Caronel’s promotion to Warden-Commander, which was very recent. It is surprising how one so young climbed the ladder so fast, to which Caronel responds that it’s really not so uncommon anymore, given how Ferelden’s Warden-Commander got the title only a year after joining. Well, granted, she took down the Archdemon and somehow lived to tell the tale, but the point stands.

Before we commence the battle, there is one big choice to be made about our position and that of the villagers. While Evka and Antoine suggest to pull all Wardens and villagers into the stronghold and brave the storm there, Caronel would rather only keep the villagers in there while us Wardens head out into the open and prevent the darkspawn from getting to them in the first place. We don’t really have enough Wardens to divide, so we must make that choice now.

Send both the Wardens and the villagers into the stronghold and fight on close and narrow ground. The villagers are at risk from getting into the heat of battle, but the Wardens will be close by to defend them.

Send the villagers into the stronghold and let the Wardens fight in the village itself. While the villagers will be more vulnerable in terms of sheer distance away from the Wardens, the darkspawn is less likely to even get near them.

For the sake of this playthrough, we choose to evacuate the village, and ourselves, into the stronghold. We feel confident but would rather keep our charges close to us. Being a former outlaw in the Anderfels has taught us how one should never leave their goal out of sight. Our aim is to defend, not to gloriously destroy. This shows us that Thorne is willing to cast the pride of glory aside and choose an arguably safer path.

An Old Friend

Our decision made, we deliver a short speech to the villagers, instructing them to head into the Warden stronghold. We shall follow suite immediately and position ourselves on the walls and in the courtyard. Since we’re familiar with the darkspawn’s habit of digging tunnels, we’ll make sure the basement is accounted for as well.

Once the villagers and Wardens head to the keep, we are approached by a most familiar face: Varric Tethras. This is certainly a surprise. While we’ve never met him in person, we’ve certainly heard and read about him. Varric says he was passing through on an errand of his own and figured he might as well aid Lavendel’s defences with Bianca. While we can question the sincerity of this statement, we can use any help we get.

Varric comments how many Wardens would seek out the more daring and glorious path and is pleased to see that we’re not one of them.

The Battle of Lavendel

Right so we’re all hunched up in the fortress, and the atmosphere is intense. Now, all of us sense the evil just outside our doorstep. The dark red cloud is directly above us. Everyone looks to Thorne and Caronel for leadership while Evka and Antoine keep morale up. Varric, while being easy-going, is very much battle-ready now.

The darkspawn slowly creep through the village like a dark carpet of disease and corruption. We hear the deafening screeches of shrieks in the distance and see various hurlocks and genlocks make their way between the buildings. At this point, a thought comes to us, one we share with Caronel. Holy shit, that’s a lot of darkspawn. And no sign of Janos yet. Where is he? Where are the other Wardens? Surely this can’t be less than the bulk of the horde yet. This is almost like a new Blight.

A horrifying thought grips us and we quickly sense into the Taint for any signs of an Archdemon’s song. To our relief, we hear nothing. The relief is short-lived, however, as the darkspawn reach the stronghold and send in a wave of shrieks to scale the walls.

We engage in a properly gritty fight against the darkspawn and can make use of several ballistae on the battlements. But we quickly realise that this place is just not at all well-prepared. Evka and Antoine’s pre-defences, alongside our inspection, are all that’s keeping this place from being overrun. Why is this in such a shoddy condition?

We then hear fighting from the basement. Ah, so the darkspawn did attempt to dig through. Good that we halted their progress by mending that crack, giving us time to respond.

We head into the basement and confront some hurlocks and genlocks. After the skirmish, we sent several grenades into the tunnel below, causing it to collapse without damaging our infrastructure too much.

Returning to the courtyard, we see something strange. A few of the shrieks have reached a group of villagers, but instead of slaying them, they’re trying to abduct them alive. While this wouldn’t be strange if all villagers were female, given that darkspawn need broodmothers to multiply, they are taking the men, too. What…?

We make short work of the darkspawn, and at this point, some of our newly joined Wardens have fallen, but only the Wardens. Now would be a really good time for Janos to show up.

At this moment, we hear loud dum, dum, dum. Huge footsteps approach. We look at each other and have all the same reaction: Ah shit.

The gates to the courtyard break down and a huge ogre walks in. Oh boy, here we go. Now would be a really good time for Janos to show up!

We take down the ogre with great difficulty and see that another large influx of darkspawn follows. After dealing with those, the fighting ceases for a moment.

We head to the battlements and see another group on the outskirts of the village. Then we remember the huge loose rock. Oh yeah, baby.

We quickly load up a ballista and aim across the village, towards the jagged cliff. It takes three shots for the edge to become lose enough, but it works. The huge rock collapses upon the newly approaching darkspawn horde, squashing them all beneath, but taking some of Lavendel’s houses with it.

The relief is short-lived, however, as we can still sense the Taint in our heads. Further away, past the outskirts of the village, we can already see a new horde of darkspawn amassing. And still no sign of Janos.

We gather a quick emergency meeting between the Wardens, and some start speculating that…Janos might not be showing up. Evka and Antoine are of the same belief, while Caronel holds on to the hope that reinforcements are on their way. Why wouldn’t they be? Wardens stick together.

But what about us? What do we believe? Janos personally recruited us all those years ago, he personally saw to our training. Why would he…but where is he then? Why isn’t he coming? Maybe he was held up? But by what? Was there another darkspawn horde on the other side of the hills? But why can’t we sense them? In fact…why can’t we sense any other Wardens in the immediate vicinity aside from us?

Wherever Janos might be, we have to hold out on our own. But if the darkspawn keep coming, we won’t hold out at all eventually. And if the Wardens die, the villagers will be…what exactly? Killed? Or taken? No villager has died so far. Why is that? What’s going on here?

Eventually, Thorne concludes that if we are to survive, we must seal that damn entrance ourselves.

But how will we go about this? Do we take all Wardens with us, or just a few?

Take all Wardens to the Deep Roads entrance. The villagers are exposed but the darkspawn may be largely drawn to us given that they haven’t even as much as injured anyone else yet.

Take Evka and Antoine and leave Caronel and the other Wardens with the villagers.

No matter what we choose, we are going against the First Warden’s orders to not leave Lavendel under any circumstances until reinforcements arrive. And at this point, if we are to survive, we have no other choice. We tell Caronel and the other Wardens to secure the villagers’ retreat from Lavendel, while Thorne, Evka and Antoine head off to seal the entrance to the Deep Roads. Caronel is hesitant at first but comes to agree with you. In Death, sacrifice, true, but the sacrifice has to mean something. Varric offers to accompany us but since he’s no Warden, we refuse. He’s more useful with protecting the villagers without risking getting instantly blighted.

Approaching the Crack

With Evka and Antoine at our side, along with several grenades from the stronghold, we head across the dark hills. A few darkspawn break off from the main horde and try to stop us, but we make short work of them.

After a few short skirmishes, we reach the entrance to the Deep Roads, a very steep crack located between two rocky hills. It is guarded by two ogres. The rest of the horde have already departed for Lavendel. It’s now or never. We might be fewer but two ogres…we can take them. Maybe.

We throw ourselves into a fight with the two giants and slay them after exchanging some fierce blows.

Now that we have a short breathing moment, we must quickly go about sealing that entrance. However, looking at it reveals that we can only collapse it by doing so from below. No use doing it from up here. But this action would cause the Warden who does it to be trapped.

We look at Evka and Antoine and order them to give us the grenades. They initially refuse but we remind them that as Warden Thorne, we have been given charge of this mission. It’s either us or no-one. We take the grenades and bid farewell to our favourite Warden couple, ordering them to return to the others. We then recite the oath of the Grey Wardens between us. “In Peace, Vigilance,” says Antoine. “In War, Victory,” says Evka. “In Death, Sacrifice,” says Thorne.

The Deep Roads

We descent into the cavern and find ourselves immediately struck by an overwhelming sense of the Taint. There are more darkspawn here, and they are coming.

We quickly go about preparing the grenades, when we are suddenly stricken by a strange sense. It is similar to the Taint, but also different, almost…purer. Suddenly, we become incredibly aware of the cavern around us. We can sense each layer, each type, each consistency. We can sense hidden passages, the tunnels the Darkspawn are digging right now. And we feel…whole, strangely so. And this is only something we experience if we picked a dwarven Thorne, for we are experiencing Stone Sense.

At this moment, a figure approaches us from the dark, followed by darkspawn. We look up and see a tall, cloaked being, wearing dark armour that we can’t recognise. We can definitely sense the Blight in it, but it’s…weirdly different in a way we can’t describe. The figure has veins of lyrium writhing all around its form, red lyrium.

It speaks to us, but we can only hear its voice in our head. It asks us to stop, to let be done what must be done. When we ask who and what this thing is, it simply refers to itself as “The Emissary”. While the Emissary won’t tell us exactly why it wants the villagers, it hints at a great and regrettable mistake that has to be rectified before it’s all too late.

Being the Warden we are, we attempt to still go through with our grenade plan, but the Emissary casts a spell of pure, raw magic on us, causing us to be knocked against a wall. But we refuse to go down fighting and challenge the Emissary to a one on one.

Similar with Laskaris in the Shadow Dragon origin, the Emissary is a fight we aren’t meant to win. But if we lower its HP to 0, the cutscene will be a little different.

In our seemingly dying breath, we hurl the grenades against the weakest parts of the crack, which we can clearly determine due to our Stone Sense. The Emissary howls in fury as the rocks descend upon us, sealing the Deep Roads off of Lavendel for good. All turns black around us.

Saved

But strangely enough, this isn’t the end. We wake up back in Lavendel and see Varric. He says he followed us in secret as he had a feeling we might be needing assistance. When Evka and Antoine showed up without us, he increased his pace and the three made it just in time. Varric climbed down and found us in the rubble, saving us from certain death.

Evka and Antoine join us and profusely apologise for leaving our side, despite us ordering them to do so. Well, it seems the Wardens in general have a feeling for disobedience as of lately.

When we inquire about Lavendel, we are told that everyone is save and none have been taken. This is because of the time we took to explore the place before the battle. By sealing the basement and collapsing the great rock, the darkspawns’ numbers were too few for what came next.

But…what came next? We find out the moment we walk outside.

A whole entourage of Wardens hurry about Lavendel. The reinforcements arrived after all. Or so we think.

High Constable Janos and the First Warden approach us. When we remark on the lateness of the reinforcements, the First Warden orders us imprisoned. What? Why? For disobedience, of course. We see that Janos is uncomfortably silent during this exchange.

But we saved Lavendel. We repelled the darkspawn horde and sealed the entrance to the Deep Roads. What could he possibly be so mad about? It can’t just be about disobedience, right?

Well…as we slowly, horrifyingly learn from the conversation, Lavendel wasn’t meant to survive. All who were there, Wardens and villagers alike, were supposed to fall to the darkspawn.

Here we get the context: the Calling has been manifesting in more and more older Wardens. At the same time, Weisshaupt is receiving fewer and fewer recruits. This combination will eventually have the effect of the order facing extinction. And outside the Anderfels, the Right of Conscription means less than nothing now. The world has grown complacent in a world without the Blight, even though the recent one has only been twenty years ago. And the Anderfels doesn’t have a large enough population to feed the ranks on its own.

By using this abnormally large darkspawn horde, letting it consume villagers and Wardens alike, the First Warden hoped to convince the nobility to encourage greater recruitment again. It can’t be a coincidence that the Calling has been manifesting increasingly more frequent now.

But Thorne has been a thorn in this plan’s side and ensured that the First Warden’s plan backfired spectacularly.

Shocked, we turn to Janos and ask him if he was aware of this. Yes, he was. In Death, Sacrifice. In War, Victory. And the war isn’t over as long as Razikale and Lusacan still slumber beneath the surface.

Caronel has been stripped off his rank as Warden-Commander of the Anderfels and Evka and Antoine will be assigned to very far-away duties for the foreseeable future. Thorne, however, as the instigator of this chaos, is to be tried for disobedience and treason.

This is where we can lash out, accusing the First Warden of having lost his way. We can also add that Lavendel’s villagers wouldn’t have died anyway as the Emissary wanted to collect them. When we tell the Wardens of what we saw beneath the surface, the First Warden, as we would assume, does not believe us, assuming we’re using this as a convenient excuse to paint ourselves in a more heroic image. Janos, however, knows us, so he isn’t so sure.

At this point, Varric chimes in and argues against trial and imprisonment, stating it as just a waste of effort. Instead, he offers to take Thorne away for a matter of great importance. The First Warden objects, stating that Weisshaupt’s affairs are to remain its own. Janos, however, in a change of tone, takes Varric’s side. Whatever Thorne’s reasonings are, one can’t deny that we are a true Warden. NO matter the disobedience, we fought against the Blight and won. There will be other opportunities to gather more recruits, but we do not deserve a trial for doing what we joined the order for.

The First Warden eventually relents. Remember, he is still a Grey Warden, with Thedas’ best interest at heart. Him doing this whole Lavendel thing was him acting out of desperation to keep the order alive in the long run. The morality is incredibly questionable, he’s definitely an asshole, but he is not heartless. Rather than putting us in chains, the First Warden suspends us from all Weisshaupt duties and instead tasks us with travelling the lands, searching for new recruits until further notice. Dismissed.

Leaving Lavendel

When the First Warden leaves, Janos makes an attempt at conversing with us, apologising for sending us into death. We can be either understanding, or angry, or just hurt. Despite our rough exterior, we are hurt because Janos was the one who saved us from another execution in the first place. Janos definitely feels bad about it, but orders were orders. Yeah…orders were orders, we respond.

Varric approaches us and confesses that he’s not here by accident. He’s looking for someone among the Wardens to accompany him on a very special mission of the utmost importance. He heard from some of his contacts that Lavendel would have fitting candidates. And he is certain he just found the one. What exactly are we doing, now that we’re stuck with him? Varric promises to reveal everything in good time. Now, he would very much like to get out of this place. We can either go immediately or have some final conversations. Being the completionists we are, we of course choose the latter.

We can talk to Evka and Antoine and just be glad that we’re all still alive, despite being given rather shitty jobs now. Well, that’s a no on the promotion for now, right? But we’re confident we’ll see each other sooner rather than later.

Caronel honestly doesn’t even care about his demotion. He’s just glad he survived and is now able to return to Valya. But if he were still Warden-Commander, he would make us Senior Warden in a heartbeat. Sometimes, one simply has to defy orders.

We can talk to Mila, who excitedly announces that her father has taken Janos’ offer to be Weisshaupt’s new blacksmith, given that the fortress desperately needs one again.

The Wardens who were under our command during the battle look up to us in awe and call us a hero and inspiration, no matter what the First Warden says. They actually pretty much despise him now as he was so willing to just let them die.

Once all of this is done, we head to Varric and and half-enthusiastically announce our readiness to depart. Varric smiles and welcomes us to the team. What team? Oh, we’ll see. But he recommends us going by another name for the foreseeable future as the First Warden might just be petty enough to make our life more difficult by telling foreign Wardens or members of the nobility about our streak of disobedience and conspiracy theories. Well, that’s easy enough, we say, back in the Dornen, the others used to call us “Rook” for that one time we headed straight in and brought down a very well-connected Hossberg nobleman. “The strongest piece on the chessboard,” Varric chuckles. “I like it.”

Now going by Rook once again, we head off with Varric. As Lavendel is nearly out of sight, we turn around and look at the gathered Wardens one last time. This…is not how we pictured leaving the order one day. But no, we haven’t left it. We’re just…taking a vacation. With a heavy heart, we turn back to Varric and follow him into the unknown.

And that’s it for this one! Now we have our Grey Warden Rook origin story. It’s a lot, I know, but the Wardens have a lot of material to work with. And the whole plot surrounding the Emissary will make sense later, I promise.

Next time we shall be heading off into Arlathan Forest to draft a potential Veil Jumper origin story! Stay tuned!

Rewriting Veilguard Part 4 - The Veil Jumpers

[germesthegenie]

What can I say? Give me a lady with a cool power and/or silly outfit and I’ll probably draw them

Finished the rest of Arc 5, thoughts below:

As expected, big cape fight was very cool

Neat to essentially see, again, something we saw a lot in Worm but from a different perspective (and being executed by more morally questionable people). Hollow Point and the Undersiders mobilizing against the Fallen isn’t too different from things like the Somer’s Rock alliance against the ABB, but now we’re seeing a lot more collateral, and how the heroes have to respond to situations like that where villains are fighting each other with varying regard for civilian life

Little V and Big V reunited! Nice little reunion scene before things went to hell.

Valefor’s shard deserves to be talked about alongside Broadcast when it comes to playing favorites. He got heavily nerfed and just got his power reworked to be arguably stronger (with less control). Is this technically a second trigger or did the shard just give him this as a treat? And I guess what will it figure out next? Mind control through interpretative dance?

Jokes aside, Valefor’s scenes were terrifying and brought back the fear we briefly got from his Worm Arc 21 appearance. Victoria’s flashbacks were sad to see, and I do have another drawing idea based on that scene where she instinctively releases the Wretch. I do find it funny how the temporary solution to him was malicious compliance though lol

Speaking of the Wretch, nice to see Vicky getting more used to using it and learning to cooperate with it. Wonder what she can do with it if/when she gets full control? Bigger forcefield that can fight will be a lot more useful once it’s not fighting everything that gets too close.

Chris’ forms are certainly… something. He’s like Beast Boy except the shard used eldritch horror and books like All Tomorrows as a catalog for the forms. I’d try drawing them but I’m not even that great at regular animals, much less… banana thing.

Beast of Burden when he provokes the girl who blasts holes in people and she blasts a hole in him 🤯

Nice scenes with Ashley all around, lots of complexity to that one. She’s like Goth flavor Rachel (and now I’m seeing why the ship of her and Victoria is popular)

March! Still not sure what to make of her yet. Helped Rain, sure. But also, nemesis of Foil and kidnapped Parian one time. But also also, really cool power in terms of visuals. Imagine if Foil got the anime version of Sting and Worm ended with Scion getting depression-stunned into a Judgement Cut instead of a bolt.

What’s with the trend in cape names in Ward? Like we’ve got people who sound like names/subtitles for Dark Souls bosses (“Lord of Loss”, “End of Days”, etc.). Not opposed to it, just wonder if the post-apocalypse got people to break out the dramatic names.

Quick little detour away from the Fallen to let us know Cauldron’s still kicking, though seems Teacher’s taking over while actual founding Cauldron members were on “break”. Congrats to Citrine and Number Man on the marriage and their family of a couple identical clones of himself.

“Someone’s gotta represent the fourth”. Great twist, but also poor Tohu and Bohu. Who’s gonna rep them? Would they get a shared cult or individual ones?

And so one of four in the Mall Cluster falls. It’s interesting we get a sort of afterlife scene, with Snag free from the cluster/shard influence and still able to communicate to some degree with his clustermates (though muted whenever he tried to tell them not to kill each other lmao). And an ominous ending damn

[blackbat05]

Unexpected Refuge

Detective! Joaquin x Bookstore Owner! Reader

Plot: Your book store is a place of refuge for those seeking knowledge, and shelter?

Genre: PG-13

A/N: K-drama giving me ideas once again. Also SDCC 2024 announcements?!!! Just blew my mind🤯 Excuse me for the poor execution, really wrote this on a whim. Also realized that Joaquin was a character I wrote before I went into a mental health crisis😂 How time flies~ (Tag update because I am a nuisance: @tom-whore-dleston)

The man pants heavily as he darts into the nearest alley. Shouts of anger and thinly veiled threats were getting closer. He’s proud of his stamina but he can’t keep running away from them. He needs to recover his energy.

But where?

A light shines up ahead and without a second thought, the man races towards what could be his potential temporary safehouse.

Bang!

There were no customers inside. Just plenty of books, and a wide-eyed woman blinking at the hurricane of a man that just stormed her store.

He hurriedly digs into the inside of his coat, showing his credentials.

“I’m so sorry, my name is Joaquin Torres. I’m a Detective and it may sound crazy to you but I’m being chased by a group of Gangsters and I could really use some shelter.” His plea comes out in rapid fire.

The poor woman takes a quick look at his badge and for a brief moment, Joaquin believed that she was going to toss him to the dogs.

“This way.” She leads him further into the store and opens a latch on the floor that leads to storage. “In here!” She commands with urgency.

As soon as Joaquin is safely tucked away, she locks the latch and places stacks of books on top of it. The door flies open and the same Gangsters rowdily burst into the store. Joaquin feels a tinge of guilt. He can’t imagine how her store must be tossed upside down thanks to him.

What he didn’t expect was the woman holding her ground and demanding the Gangsters to leave as they apparently ruined one of her newest books that was just bought in.

“And stay out!” She screeches before flipping the sign to inform customers that they were closed for the day.

“Um…” The woman reverts back into her bashful form that Joaquin was amazed at her acting skills. “They’re gone. You can come out now.” The door opens and she helps Joaquin out.

“Thank you.” Joaquin doesn’t know what else to add. His shoes are suddenly very interesting.

“I thought you were lying about being a cop.” Her voice is soft and gentle, causing the insides of his stomach to do a couple of flips. “I guess not. Those guys were scary.” The tension breaks and Joaquin grins at her becoming flustered at the attention he was giving her.

“You can stay here for a while more. To make sure.” She offers.

Joaquin really wanted to. But if he didn’t get back to the precinct. Sam will have his ass.

“I would love to but my partner’s waiting for me. I should probably go.”

She nods in understanding, “Of course. Be careful.” The two walk to the door and she pops her head out to make sure that the coast was clear. She smelled like berries and vanilla.

“Coast clear, officer.”

He liked the way it sounded on her lips. He didn’t want it to be the last time.

“Um… would you like to have dinner sometime?”

She raises her eyebrows in question and Joaquin hurriedly explains, “It’s not what you think! I just wanted to thank you for today. Really. You saved my life. Not many people do that. I usually do most of the saving- I guess I should shut up now.” He observed her amused expression as he continued to ramble.

“Sure. I know a great steak place.”

***

“Hey Barnes! Torres here has a date! Any tips?” Captain Sam Wilson, loud as ever whenever he felt like heckling his best friends follows Joaquin around like a wart on his foot.

“Leave the man alone, Sam.” James Barnes gives him the middle finger. Cool blues turning to Joaquin, “Just be yourself. Everything will be fine.”

Yeah, not exactly reassuring either.

The old fashioned way it is.

Joaquin finds himself standing in front of your bookstore with a bouquet of roses in his hand. He catches your eye and you give him a sign to give you a couple more minutes as you cleaned and locked up the place for the night.

“Thanks for waiting!” You rushed out in sunflower colored dress, looking radiant. He swears his heart thumped loudly against his chest. “I was surprised to get your call.”

“Well, I made a promise.” Joaquin leads the way to the Steak Restaurant where you had the absolute time of your life chatting with the boyish detective in front of you.

“Oh my god! That really happened?” You laughed, tears forming in your eyes. “It seems to be like a recurring thing going on in your team.”

The two of you headed down the street after that sumptuous meal. Your hair is tousled all over the place and you feel like you’ve just ate a whole cow, but Joaquin doesn’t take his attention of you for a second.

As he recounts another mishap during a undercover mission with Sam, a wolf whistle rings through the air and a figure, no- three of them appear from the dark alley, each looking more menacing then the other.

Joaquin’s mind kicks into overdrive instantly and feels you tense up against beside him. He instinctively moves forward to shield you from them. But they’re not blind.

“Look who we found… Detective Joaquin Torres and oh! I see you got company.” The middle one leers at you and Joaquin has the urge to punch it off his face. You give his hand a squeeze, as if to reassure him to do whatever he needs to do to get these suckers.

As quickly and quietly as possible, you take out your pepper spray and ball your fist to conceal it from them.

“How is it that you three assholes show up at the most inconvenient timing?” Joaquin distracts them.

They smirk at each other and Joaquin lunges forward to take the middle and left man onto the ground, leaving the last as easy prey for you to pepper spray him to your heart’s content.

What you didn’t expect was the man to wildly brandish a pocket knife, nicking you in the process as he swings it around.

“Ah!” You hissed loudly, clutching your left hand. Joaquin immediately turns his attention to you and swiftly takes the third man down with ease.

He dials in a number and police cars arrive in no time to take the men away. Joaquin jogs over to you while a uniformed policewoman helps to bandage your hand.

“Let me.” He smiles and thanks his colleague for the efforts and works on finishing the job in silence. You can’t read minds, but you could guess.

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” You reassure him.

Joaquin doesn’t say anything. He lets out a small exhale. So you try again.

“In fact, I feel pretty badass. Don’t you think?” You gently pry your hand away and show him your now bandaged hand proudly, grinning from ear to ear.

“Torres!”

The Captain jogs over, giving a pat on his back. “Came as quickly as I could. Everything alright?”

“Yeah. Thanks Sam.” Joaquin reassures. Sam nods, his gaze falling onto you.

“This is the girl you couldn’t stop talking about?”

“Ok, Sam. Stop.” Joaquin pleads, trying to push him as far away from you without much success.

“He was asking me how to impress you! Hey? I didn’t get your name though!” Sam yells over his shoulder, making you laugh at their antics.

“Y/N! I’ll see you around Sam!”

“Oooh I like her already, don’t fuck up Torres.”

“Leave!” Joaquin has to push Sam into the car and makes his way back to you, looking sheepish.

“Sorry, about that. Sam can’t seem to keep his mouth shut.”

A pocket of silence fills the air and you have to know.

“You were trying to impress me?”

Joaquin blinks. He momentarily opens his mouth and comically looks like a fish out of water. “Did it work?”

“Well…” You pretend to tap your chin carefully and Joaquin squirms in his shoes a little. “You impressed me the moment you came bursting into my store seeking for shelter.”

You laugh at Joaquin’s groan. “Not the answer that I was expecting.”

You give him a peck on the cheek and Joaquin momentarily freezes. “Is that a better answer?”

He holds his hand to the cheek that you just left a kiss on. For a moment, you’re scared that you’ve fried Joaquin’s internal circuits to respond coherently. But he breaks into a foolishly but adorably big smile.

Joaquin holds you by the waist and brings you closer to him and gives you a kiss of his own that leaves you spinning senseless.

“One hundred percent.”

[stalkedbytrains]

“Cheryl? Where is the file for the next appointment? I can’t find it anywhere.”

“It’s the folder with the green tab,” Cheryl called from her desk at the front of the tiny office.

There was the sound of many papers shuffling around and finally an “aha!”

“The Rainbow Snake?” Came the voice from the office. Cheryl’s boss often read out loud when they were studying a client. Just a weird quirk of theirs. “Australian Aboriginal Deity. Oh I do remember them. We were at a party together… 2,000 years ago give or take. I don’t think they’ll remember me, ah well thems the breaks. Let’s see… hmm… I can see that this is going to be a problem Cheryl. Damn colonialists. I wish we could make the British gods fade away. Fucking King Arthur deserves to be relegated to the dust bin. I can tell that we’re going to need some deep cuts on this one. Start making a list of Australians we can contact, I have a feeling.”

Cheryl did as she was told. Her boss was almost always right about these things. She knew what the gods wanted before they even got here.

Several minutes later there was a knock at the office door. Cheryl got up to open it and invited in the dark skinned person and the beautiful snake they wore like jewelry but that might have only been because the snake itself was a living work of art. Like living breathing stained glass.

As Cheryl escorted the Rainbow Snake in, her boss came out and bowed deeply to their guest.

The chipper woman had tied back her full brown hair and smiled widely at the Snake and their human escort.

“A pleasure to meet you again,” the boss said, “it’s been many centuries but I am glad to see you once more. Please come in to my office. Would you care for any refreshments?”

After settling and getting water for the Rainbow Snake, Cheryl sat back down outside the office and listened to the pitch. She never got tired of listening to it.

“How can I help you?” Her boss asked.

“We heard that you can help us gods. Stop us from fading. We need faith. We need followers. The people are dying, the language is dying,” said a dual voice. The voice from the snake, and the voice from the human.

“We can do that. Sort of. I am sorry to say that it’s not a direct thing. I don’t just snap my fingers and make you some new believers. Human beings a wonderful little creatures. They crave us. They need us even if they don’t believe in us anymore. They want our stories and our myths. And that is what I provide. Stories.”

“How does that help us?”

“Do you know how down bad the Norse were? The Christian’s basically destroyed their religion, all we know of it is this bastard version of what was left after the Jesus freaks invaded. But then the comics happened. The Mighty Thor! And don’t get me started on Neil Gaiman and his Sandman and American Gods stories. I send that man a fruit basket every year. I love him. Have you seen how well the Norse pantheon is doing? Loki has seventeen penthouses, and more belief than he knows what to do with.”

“Bah. Western religion. White religion.”

“You are right. I am sorry that was a poor example. Perhaps I should have started with Māui and how well he’s doing with that Disney film Moana. I set that up.”

“You did all of that?”

“Well. Not directly. You know how us gods work. I gave some inspiration here and there. Got a writer to have an idea. Got a director and a bunch of executives to see the bigger picture and how it could be a hit. They did the rest themselves. Like I said, whether or not they know it, humans want us.”

“You can make me a hit movie?”

“Or a TV show or a video game. Those are hard though. Movies are kind of easy now a days, TV is having a resurgence now but you run the risk of cancelation and things like that, video games can be hit or miss honestly. Only the Greeks and Norse really pulled that one off and hoo let me tell you they paid for that one. Great games but still. I don’t want to look at those God of War games ever again. Books are easy. Worked really well for the Greeks and some of the Egyptians. Rick Riordan does great stuff. It all depends on what you want.”

“I can have anything?”

“Sure. Internet stories are easy. Quick and cheap but you are really gambling with the payoff. Could be either a total wash or go viral. Not something I can really recommend but if you need something now it can be done. Movies or tv can be great but there are also risks. It might be two or three years before you see anything.”

“Do I get to choose who does the work?”

“A little. I can influence certain people but sometimes the best person for the job is some down on his luck writer in a hovel in LA. Sometimes it’s Neil. But Neil is expensive.”

“I want a movie, I want it to be written by one of my people.”

“I can do that. But the problem is that reach might be very tiny. There are plenty of Aboriginal writers, I’m sure some can even be extremely talented, but something big and grand and bringing in all the faith and worship and stories you may way may be limited. If you want the Disney treatment you have to give up a whole lot of control.”

“No. I want it to be of the people.”

“Very well. Now, I can influence and give inspiration all over. I can even get this in the right people’s hands. But it is always a crap shoot. All I need to do is channel some of your power into the right person when I find it. Then creativity takes over, they do their work, I nudge some agents and companies their way and if we’re lucky you see some return on investment in a couple of years.”

“What do you get out of this process?”

“My dear, I’m the Muse. I feed off the creativity. These artists come to me most of the time. I just set them up with gods who need a little faith. And six points on the back end. I have a lot of alimony to pay.”

[lifea16]

Mastermind live thoughts [Spoilers below cut]

The animation is amazing like oh my god! 💕

Ah, gonna be the Stolas trial I see

Andre stop flirting with your sister

✨Unpaid interns✨

Fuck.. double trial I see

RUN

Be fucking faster

Why do they sound like the cherubs

What is this….?

“Face the music” is honestly a bit too funny

Trailer scene time!

FUCK

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

Blitz you don’t deserve to be deadnamed :/

???

Andre what did I just say, stop flirting with her, at some point comphet is cursed

Oh thank Satan (?) that Blitz actually defended himself against the possibility he forced himself onto Stolas

Candle head in Wrath?

Vassago bilingual? And he here!

Don’t you wanna take Stolas down first??

Yep.. they are claiming Blitz S/A’d Stolas in the trial. Fuck. At least hopefully the Blitz antis will realise they’re wrong in the episode

Bestie (/s) I think you got Blitz and your sister’s names confused. Put Stella on trial coward

Grimour, Stricker

You tell them Blitz!

Poor Mox :(

Go off Bea!! /pos

Yep you too Ozz! Tell ‘em

Mammon aren’t you Ace?? Don’t you want not to be fucked??

Satan looks a lot more like a Candlehead than I would’ve thought

How is this not the finale?? AAAA

Well shit….

Yay! Classism!

Poor Fizz, seeing your best friend (?) almost get executed live on TV! TF

Blitz sacrifices himself (tries to) <//3

(My hc) “Bitches (Blitz) say “I wanna die” like a broken record, but when you almost get executed on live tv, you shit yourself

Stolas save your future boyfriend now!!!

Go off Blitz! Tell ‘em off on their classism

As much as I understand not liking racial coding, .. Blitz and imps in general especially in this episode are very POC coded, with a lot of he’ll just being racist

</3

No Blitz don’t accept your fate 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Stolas ex machena please please please please

😭😭😭😭😭😭

Why Blitz must you care so fucking much about your family and if I could cry I’m pretty sure I would be by now

The screencap I paused on is so pretty.. To bad it’s Blitz getting executed (And almost made me wanna cry) or I’d make it my banner

Aaaaa

Fuck yes Stolas!!

Blitz is saved !! ✨⭐️💕

Boyfriends protecting eachother 💕

Yay! Songs! <3

XD “half a brain”

“Some kind of Mastermind-“ roll credits

Stolas I know you’re dealing with rascists but please don’t act like that with Blitz rn ur doing a regression and I hope it’s an act

Nevermind lol kinda

Yep. This is a clear racial allegory. No hiding it now

Fancy ahh reveal Stolas

Also we just shifted the “I’ll sacrifice for my loved ones” horse to Stolas instead of Blitz

Stolas ur an idiot too

Fuck yes! Romantic ish Stolitz duet part!

No Blitz you fucking deserve to live <333

And I’m back too “if only tears could fall” again.. Please Blitz take his sacrifice and save him after that till the system breaks and you two will be free

Either death or.. whatever happened last two episodes

Shit

Where is Lucifer? Just because Luci’s in his depression era doesn’t mean you are the ruler of hell Satan

Oh nevermind

The sins have existed before Luci fell. Interesting

Blitz is so defensive over Stolas and his life ahh 💕😭

Step 1: *Panic* , Step 2: “Wow this is a sturdy door”

Blitz is being silly but not swearing so he must be concealing his emotions again

<33 Group hug <33

Are we starting some weird chain now (Octavia was now alerted and running for Stolas)

Or not..

Poor Via </3

Loophole! Also more racism allegory!

Banishing him is actually a decent idea (for once)

Ohhh Andrealphus just wants power. Honestly I should have figured sooner lol

If this is Mastermind then what the actual fuck will Sinmas be (unless it’s another Queen Bee situation)

100 years.. So have a relationship with Blitz and once that’s done go back to royalty! Sounds great!

..wait are we getting imp Stolas

Nevermind lol. Just hatless

He will enjoy very much

Ooh!~ Our theories were right! (Stolas must also learn classism the hard way for a bit)

So the white pupils are permanent now

<3

OMG Blitz hero! Yay!!! <3

<3333

Blitz is at an all time high and Stolas is at an all time low.. interesting

<33333

So.. are they immediately dating now?

THIS WAS ALL SO AMAZING!! Favourite episode now!

[another-whump-enjoyer-blog]

Analysis of a Whump Awakening in a great movie

So I’ve seen some posts about whump awakenings, some of them mentioning Disney movies, but not a single one points this movie (well, this one is Pixar’s, but owned by Disney) I really wanna point it out, because I spent some time searching in the tags, as many ways I could think of, and got no success.

After seeing this movie again after so many years, I got this exact feeling:

I remember watching it over and over again in VHS, because I really liked it and I enjoyed one scene even though I didn't knew exactly why.

Now I know why and I’ll point it out. So please, bear with me cause it's a long post. (I swear I tried to be as brief as possible but there are just so many things I needed to point out cause this movie is so good, this character is so badass and this scene is so intense I've just find myself obsessed with it once again)

The movie is A Bug’s Life and I seriously can’t believe how underrated it is. Yes, I know the animation seems outdated, but come on, it’s Pixar’s second film, from 1998. The story is simple but executed in a such a GENIUS way it stands above the recent soulless movies Disney has made.

Now, if you enjoy whump and have seen this movie, you know exactly which scene I’m gonna mention.

Yes, I'm referring to this one.

But first, I just got to admire Flik’s development on this scene.

The first time there’s a confrontation with Hopper, he is totally terrified, hiding behind other ants when Atta tries to point him as the responsible for losing the offering, which he totally is. (But come on, why did they put it at the edge of the cliff?)

And then, when he stands up for Dot, he immediately regrets drawing Hopper’s attention. Just look how scared he is.

He breaks eye contact and steps back as Hopper commands him to do.

And now, back to THE SCENE

This time is different, he has changed since the last encounter. But also it’s not the same Hopper, he’s angrier and determined to regain control. Flik is fully aware he is intending to squish the queen just to set an example.

And now he just tried to trick him with the fake bird, which make things so much worse. Once again, everyone is in danger because of him (The bird fail was not his fault, but he already is stigmatized for being a constant failure)

So there he is. Standing up for Dot and Atta, taking full responsibility for his idea so he can stop Hopper from hurting anyone, proving the last thing he is thinking about is himself. He knows whom he’s talking to and knows there will be consequences.

"Leave her alone Hopper! The bird was my idea! I'm the one you want" (This line and the way he delivers it 👌)

And this is what he gets.

Not only does he gets brutally beaten, but also it must have been humiliating to be put as an example to all of those who felt disdain at him.

It's not too graphic but everyone’s reaction to it and the sounds he makes are enough to know how bad it is. Also the poor ant is left all bruised.

Look at him!

Come on, is there any other Pixar's movie in which a character gets hurt like this? Yes, there are other characters getting hurt. But none as viciously as him. Holy shit, they went too hard on him!

Now Hopper is using him to set the example for everyone, to keep them in line.

But Flik is not having it and somehow gathers the strength to get up.

(The sounds he makes and the effort it takes him to stand up 👌)

It took just a look from Hopper to intimidate him before, but now even when he is menacingly approaching him, Flik doesn't stop talking back. He's so defiant right now and doesn’t break eye contact. Not until Hopper hits him, confirming what he just said.

Hopper looks so terrifying with that raged expression and the fire behind him. He's such a vicious villain and it’s so well established I really thought at this part: Oh, no! He is so screwed!

Filk was so badass with his speech, even though he is visibly in pain. He didn’t know he would inspire everyone and get saved from a certain doom. They never believed in him, so why would they now?

They all knew how screwed they were, they didn’t meet the quota and it was impossible to do so. The bird was the only hope and they we’re so eager to do it but they dropped the plan so easily as soon as they knew it was his idea. That’s the faith they had in him.

Still he didn’t show Hopper any fear. Damn he was so fucking brave!

Just look at this sadistic smile when he is about to squish him. Flik is so weak he can’t do anything about it.

But then Atta stands up for him.

(I love the parallels, first she is so terrified she is about to throw him under the bus, but now she doesn't hesitate to put herself in front of Hopper to protect him. Also I love how she mimics Hopper’s circle of life thing he told her first)

Flik looks so vulnerable, poor ant. I love that Atta tells him she’s proud of him.

And then all the ants finally attack the grasshoppers, making them fly for their lives. Leaving Hopper behind.

But it isn’t enough to stop him.

Now that he completely lost control over the ants and his gang abandoned him, all because of Flik, he only has one thing in mind: revenge.

(The way he targets Flik 👌)

I love how Atta is now so protective towards him.

(The way he snatches and takes him away 👌)

It was short, but still a great and intense chase scene.

I love the way the gang grows to respect him. When he is gonna tell them his idea to make a bird they don’t wanna listen, until they get their egos inflated by getting asked for autographs. But in the scene were they’re celebrating and Flik approaches them to set them free, cause he is not going to put them in a position in which they have to fight, they take some steps closer to him and pay full attention, they genuinely care to listen to whatever he has to say.

And now they get into action so fast, as soon as they see he is in danger they turn themselves into the warriors they were reluctant to be, motivated for his sake. That’s so heartwarming.

Flik is at Hopper’s mercy now. It is now when he’s seen truly terrified. He screams for help, hoping for his friends to rescue him. He knows how screwed he'll be if Hopper succeeds in taking him away.

For a moment it seems like Hopper is gonna get away with him. Where is he taking him to? What is he gonna do to him? It’s clear he wants him dead, but seriously, HOW was he intending to do it?

(Pay attention to Flik's free leg, he's trying to kick Hopper's hand but it's useless. There's nothing he can do.)

But fortunately Atta comes to the rescue again.

Then, it comes this moment.

(The way Hopper lands cutting his path and towers over him👌)

It's also admirable how Flik doesn't get blinded by fear and remembers the real bird they encounter before. (That scene is such a key moment, not only foreshadowing Hopper’s doom but Fliks wit. While the circus gang is panicking, he quickly comes up with a plan)

Flik knows they can’t escape from Hopper nor fight him, they have no chance with him. So he hides Atta and tells her “No matter what happens, stay down”, knowing exactly what he’s getting into and being willing to take it.

Look how terrified Flik is. Yes, he knows what he is doing but it doesn't seem like he's fully acting it. Even though he’s begging, giving Hopper what he wants so he thinks he won and puts his guard down, he does seems scared. There’s no guarantee he’ll be okay.

This poor ant has been put in distress three times in a row now.

(The way he grabs him by his neck and strangles him. Again, the sounds he makes 👌)

The way he strangles him is so brutal.

"I'll get more grasshoppers and be back next season. But you won't!" Damn the way he says the last part.

Hopper has such a murder face, he is so vicious. The way he effortlessly grabs him and the violent movement of his hands is terrifying.

Flik's expression as he gasps and reaches Hopper's hands shows how hard he's squeezing. If the bird had taken a few more seconds he would be dead.

And thankfully the bird comes out, being this his third rescue.

Just look how tiny and fragile Flik looks in Hopper's hands. He just lolls along with his movements, totally helpless 👌

I just love how relieved and proud of himself he looks as he says “Yep!” when Hopper ask’s if it’s another fake bird.

Just look at him, this poor ant has had enough.

And then the scene ends in the most satisfying and gruesome way.

The way Flik gets to defeat Hopper is genius. It is clear how dangerous he is and how helpless Flik is against him, so he outsmarts him and the fact he is able to do so under so much distress is just badass.

Everyone acknowledges how Hopper’s death is one of the most gruesome and horrible from any other Disney and Pixar villain to have, and it's true. But not so many mentions the fact that Flik is put through so much distress, poor ant shouldn’t be able to get up so easily after that.

I would've liked to watch some aftermath involving a lot of comfort, because he really deserves it, along with a HUGE apology from the colony. Except from Dot, of course. Also I think Atta does redeem herself by saving him twice.

The Queen is the one that owes him the biggest apology for accusing him of putting himself before the others. Yes, he made a lot of mistakes cause he is clumsy, and the miscommunication with the circus bugs wasn’t entirely his fault (The fact he did take the time to explain but talked to the rollie pollies was hilarious)

They lied to him first. But I liked that detail when everyone cheers for his departure and he thinks they’re supporting him, that was so cruel but anticipated how gullible he is. Of course he was gonna believe the circus bugs were warriors that easily.

He was in no good position to just tell the truth even if he wanted to, so he had to work with what he had, pleasing the colony and pleasing the circus bugs. That was a shit ton of pressure over him and he was doing it so well. His plan was good, he gave hope to the colony for the first time ever and gave all the credit to the “warriors” since no one believed in him. He was always thinking of ways to make things easier for everyone. And he further proves that by putting his life at risk for them.

He deserves more praise, the colony should've received him back like: "Hey, we're really sorry for judging you and also, take this: 👑 you dropped it king"

Taking such a brutal beating, getting so violently taken away and getting so viciously strangled isn't something someone just can go about as if nothing happened. I really wish for an aftermath scene full of comfort.

I know, I know, they have to stick to a running time and for the sake of the plot and the tone of the movie it has to skip the aftermath and that’s okay. I just I like to imagine how it might went between that scene and the next one. There’s definitely a time skip cause Flik isn’t bruised anymore, and Heimlich got time to grew wings

Overall, I think it’s a great movie (my Pixar’s favorite, if it isn’t obvious already) and a great scene that concludes with the message put through the movie, by Flik and Hopper, about a seed becoming something bigger. (It's a great thing they both have opposing speeches about a seed, Flik meaning inspiration and Hopper meaning a warning) I can’t emphasize enough how this movie deserves more praise!

I really miss the evil and merciless villains that were evil for the sake of being evil and intimidating we don't get to see anymore in modern movies.

But anyway, because of all the things that happen in the scene and because there's that trope of a Whumpee sacrifying for others, using a phrase such as: "I'm the one you want" the whumperflies this scene gives me are just...

So tell me fellow whump enjoyers. What do you think about this?

[ask-the-royal-absol]

(Response to: https://www.tumblr.com/ask-team-misfit/747248524259885056/destino-approaches-lief-carry-a-body-pillow-of )

Seems that this evening was going to be full of surprising events. First they had made someone cry and now Lief, someone who Destino had heard could have a little fun, shoved them and became angry at their words. Not just once, twice. What was happening? What they had said wasn't even the worst insult they could have come up with. Oh great, Felix had warned them before about the consequences of their actions. Perhaps they should have taken his advice for once. Then again, Destino didn't really want to think about their so-called friend at this current moment.

Slowly picking themselves back up from the floor after the second shove, Destino brushed themselves off with their paws, taking time to ensure everything was back in place. They turned to check themselves. Seems everything was in order, except from the pain from being pushed over. They were going to feel that for a bit. Destino placed the pillow down, looking directly into Lief’s eyes. No smile, not even a smirk. Their eyebrows furrowed and their tone was of a more serious nature.

"You know if I was given poor advice, I wouldn't take it. I would choose to ignore it. It's like if I was to tell you to jump into a fire. Would you do that? No, I doubt you would. You'd use a little bit of that initiative to consider whether it was a good idea or not. You were the one that chose to take my advice. I don't see how I could be the one to blame for all of this when you decided to act on the advice I gave you. It was your choice. Not mine."

The urge to throw an insult in there was strong. Very strong. However, it didn't seem the right time for it. Destino didn't want to cause this fairy to come at them again. They already had a deep-rooted fear of them in the first place. Who knows what this one would do if they continued to push? He seemed rather volatile at the moment. Destino had to show him they were more powerful. They couldn't let this fairy think he could do as he pleased. Destino stepped forward, getting closer to Lief. Their voice felt rather calm in tone.

"I really don't appreciate being shoved, fairy. Especially not by one of your kind. It's not often I allow someone to touch me. And for someone of your status to feel it's ok to push around royalty for the sake of your anger? If we were in my kingdom right now, I guarantee that would lead to immediate execution.”

Destino felt a little surprised that that last statement left their lips. It felt incredibly weird. They needed to dial it back a bit. Bring the vibes of the evening back. Shaking off the feeling, they brought a slightly more light-hearted tone to their voice.

"Sadly, this isn't my kingdom. I don't have the power to carry out any threats should I so desire. However, perhaps you need to consider if you should be using physical action in a place like this. I mean, looking at the amount of legends here, I doubt they'd be most pleased with some lowly mortal trying to cause a fight at a peaceful event like this. Trust me, I've had my share of legends kicking my ass. It's a pain to recover from. Go get a drink or something to calm that anger of yours, buddy. I thought maybe I'd be able to have a bit of banter or something with you but if you're going to take out your issues on me, I don't want to be a part of it. I've already got enough on my plate to deal with without having another to stack on top.”

Destino felt gross. That was too friendly for them. Urgh, this evening was turning out to be more troublesome for them than what they had hoped.

@ask-team-misfit

[devanitoland]

ghost hill / house toland lore dump

key history

the tolands were a lordly house of some strength by the time of nymeria’s conquest, some thousand years ago as one of the main allies of mors martell and princess nymeria (a shrewd move on nymeria’s part to forge an alliance with a key landing point on the sea of dorne). it is not noted whether they were orignally first men or andal in origin, but as mors' house was founded by an andal, i like to think they were andal. however, the tolands' origins have been lost to time thanks to marrying into rhoynish families, and the tolands of today are considered to be rhoynar.

the tolands successfully resisted the dragons of aegon the conqueror during the first dornish war. the lord toland at the time sent out his champion to face aegon. after aegon slew the man, he learned that the man was lord toland's mad fool, and that lord toland himself had escaped.

once a mighty house, house toland has suffered through two generations of poor leadership. devani's father was rather uninterested in the life of a ruling lord, and his wife, devani's mother, is known to overreach her position and regarded as a social climber. once he passed, lordship fell to her brother aditya, the current ruling lord, who has made a sequence of poor decisions including a feud with the jordaynes. devani's sister, pallavi, married doran uller and was later executed for her role in trying to assassinate him. aditya's current heir is devani, who has spent most of her adult life missing after running away as a teenager and has only recently returned.

devani's paternal aunt married into house manwoody and is the mother of joy manwoody and her sisters. joy's position in court gave the toland's some protection, but after her death, they are once again in a precarious situation.

castle

their ancestral seat, ghost hill, lies on the southern shore of the sea of dorne, near the broken arm.

located atop a hill, ghost hill has chalk-white walls that shine against the deep blue of the sea of dorne. there are towers at the corners of the castle, which has a great central keep.

despite the name, ghost hill is a bright, welcoming castle with beautiful architecture and overall a pleasant place to be, if you can tolerate the ruling lord and his mother. devani toland is rarely found within the walls of ghost hill, as she is one of those who cannot tolerate their company.

sigil, words and values

prior to the dragon, the toland banners displayed a ghost. in later days, the tolands would take a new banner, showing a dragon biting its own tail, with the colors green in gold in memory of the motley of their brave fool - a mockery of the targaryens’ vain attempt to take the Toland seat

there are no canon words for house toland - however, i like the idea that their words are "the spirit is stronger". the word spirit has a double meaning - both in the literal sense of the spirit of the tolands, and a reference to their ancestral seat of ghost hill.

house toland is known to value wit, trickery, creative thinking, and unconventional solutions to problems, and is incredibly proud still of their history in doing so.

climate & geography

the ghost hills region takes its name from a series of hills and mountains in the area, inspired by the eastern ghats of andhra pradesh. the hills make up the most striking features of the landscape and are shaped by several rivers that flow through the area, emptying into the sea of dorne. the castle of ghost hill is atop one of the hills.

toland lands border that of the martells to the south, and the jordaynes to the west. north east lies the broken arm of dorne, with the sea of dorne serving as their northern border. most of the land is generally fairly fertile, with small amounts of desert at the inland border where the ghost hills meet the tor.

the ghost hills sees a decent amount of rainfall and occasional monsoons, usually blown across the sea of dorne from the stormlands. clean drinking water is not scarce in this region.

flooding is not uncommon closer to the coastline, but the more arid areas nearer to the desert occasionally suffer drought, and are forced to move towards the rivers and ocean.

population

the smallfolk are mainly organised into small towns and villages that operate as communities, and are usually part of extended family structures. once a year, the communities gather in the town at the foot of the ghost hill keep in a large festival that is primarily focused on marriages between the different communities.

music, dance and the arts is important to each community, who have their own different, but related, dances and songs. artists are highly revered.

most smallfolk are illiterate, and possess no formal education. those who can read, write, and perform mathematics are usually employed as traders around the port.

those who live in the ghost hills speak their own language, which is equivalent in the real world to telugu, often as their first language with hindi as a second. the smallfolk in particular are more likely to speak only telugu. around the port town, small amounts of low valyrian is not uncommon due to the essoian visitors. devani herself is fluent in telugu, hindi and common tongue, though she picked up many more languages in her time in essos that she keeps in her back pocket.

flora & fauna

birds: jerdon’s courser, blue flycatcher, jerdon’s baza, bustard, spot-billed pelican, hoopoe, spotted owlet, crow pheasant, pied cuckoo, pitta, brahminy kite, myna, spotted eagle, vulture, whistling thrush

mammals: grey slender loris, blackbuck, civet, treeshrew, mongoose, sambar, bison, boar, muntjac, small population of leopard, dhole, hare, tufted grey langur, flying fox, macaque, smooth-coated otter, reed cat,

reptiles: geckos (golden gecko, granite rock gecko, and slender gecko), skinks, snakes (shieldtail snakes, sharma’s racer, beaked worm snake, rock python, coral snake, bamboo pit viper, king cobra), mugger crocodile, turtles (black turtle, flapshell turtle, tent turtle, softshell turtle), star tortoise, psammophilus, sitana, chameleon, monitor

amphibians: rock toad, frogs (cricket frog, bull frog, burrowing frog, tree frog, golden back frog), caecilian

fish: razorbelly minnows, south indian flying barb, channa barb, ghostfin catfish, river carp, sunstripe perch, glassfish, rasbora, mullet, threadfish, trout

flora: acacia concinna (soap pods, used to create hygiene products particularly for hair), goldenleather fern, plants in the ginger family, neem (used for medicinal purposes), mosquito fern, periwinkle, turmeric, hiptage, club moss, jasmine, mango, cobra saffron (used for medicine, fragrances, and psychedelic effects), bullet wood (fragrant, used for oral hygeine), murraya exotica, lotus, holy basil, amla, serpentine wood, sandalwood, ashoka (a sacred tree, believed to be linked to fertility), teak, bamboo, orchids

industry and economics

the ghost hills are a fertile area with a great range of flora and fauna, as well as natural mineral resources found in the mountains. this includes granite, iron, limestone and quartz, with limestone being the primary material for buildings in the region.

farming is a huge part of industry in the ghost hills, both in terms of pastoral grazing and crop growth. traditionally, the tolands have sustained economic growth by exporting crops to less fertile regions of dorne.

other notable goods produced in the region include pottery, woven baskets, items crafted from bell metal, and lumbar (primarily for construction).

due to its proxemity to the ocean, the keep of ghost hill and the town surrounding it houses a small port, though it has no ships of its own, it conducts trade through visiting ships from other regions. it was these ships that varun toland sailed on in his youth and devani toland would use to escape dorne as a teenager.

the ghost hills are economically a little backwards, and money is not generally used apart from for taxes and by the toland family. instead, a bartering system is used by the majority of the smallfolk. the notable exception is in the town at the foot of the ghost hill keep, due to its importance in trade matters. the bartering traditions means poverty does not exist in a traditional sense. most smallfolk live within extended family units, ensuring basic needs are met and cared for by their own. whilst this provides a comfortable life for most of the smallfolk, it does make moving to other areas more difficult.

government, crime, and the law

taxes may be paid with coin, or in the form of agricultural products that would then be sold on.

the line of succession is as follows: 1. aditya toland (the current ruling lord) 2. devani toland (the sister of aditya) 3. kheerat toland (the son of devani, whose existence is unknown) 4. slya manwoody (the sister of varun toland, devani and aditya's father) 5. the twin infant sons of armaan yronwood and joy manwoody (slya's grandchildren) 6. the other manwoody siblings

both varun and aditya have taken a hands-off approach to the smallfolk, allowing them to largely self-govern within their own villages and communities and remaining distant figures. in contrast, devani enjoys spending time amongst the small folk since her return, and often can be found weaving baskets, visiting their communities, taking part in their music and dance, and is generally well-liked by them.

the ghost hills have endured two generations of lax leadership from varun toland and his son, aditya. as such, crime has gone less punished in recent times, and theft, smuggling, and other acts of criminality are common. criminals are usually handled by local communities, to varying effects. mob justice is not uncommon, and punishments are often decided by the elders of the villages. more serious crimes, such as murder, may be passed along to the tolands for judgement.

martial & defence

there are a series of forts within the peaks of the ghost hills, primarily used for defence in the past, but today more commonly used as marketplaces.

soldiers of the ghost hills are part of a small land army, primarily infantrymen, numbering roughly 2500 men. primary weapons are clubs, spears, bows, and firangi swords. there are an even smaller number of cavalry men, but they are expected to provide their own horses. the army is split into six ranks. in times of need, the smallfolk are expected to volunteer, though there has historically been no punishment for not doing so.

as is dornish tradition, the people of the ghost hills favour sneaky tactics and guerrilla warfare, utilising the features of the hills and mountains in order to get the upper hand.

death and mourning

a notable custom of house toland is in their mourning practices. after a body is cremated of a family member, or other significant person, a chalk ghost is made to represent them and left in the grounds of ghost hill, open to the elements. the mourning period can only end once the ghost has eroded away. tolands of the past have been known to strategically place the ghosts depending on how they felt about the deceased - due to the shame devani's sister brought upon the family, for example, her ghost was positioned so it would constantly feel the spray of the sea of dorne, and thus was eroded within months. in contrast, devani's great-grandfather built an alcove in the walls of the castle for the ghost of his daughter, and it still stands to this day, almost a century later. the latest ghost to be installed in ghost hill is a memorial to dante uller.

[ladytesla]

The Great Faerun Baking Show (part four)

Hi, remember me? Wasn't in the best headspace for a bit, but now I'm gonna try and follow through with all this.

For those of you who are just stopping by, I had a horrible idea a while ago and this is the result. I have no idea what's going to happen or who's going to win. I’m just going to roll a D20 ‘bake check’ for everyone and write out the results, including what everyone rolled so y’all know I’m not cheating just so my druid boyfriend can win.  The person with the lowest total score (out of a possible score of 60) goes home.

We've got the main 6 companions, Jaheira, Halsin, Minsc (and Boo), Minthara, Dammon, and my tav Medora (who y'all can just pretend is Alfira if you don't want someone else's tav in the story, since they're both female bards)

Week One, Cake Week: Star baker was Karlach, Minthara went home

Week Two, Biscuit Week: Star baker was Halsin, Shadowheart went home

Week Three, Bread Week: Star baker was Wyll, Jaheira went home

Week Four: Pies and Tarts, or "Ammunition to Throw in Dribbles' Face"

Signature: Wellington

Astarion: Lamb wellington. It was quite dry, and the fake blood garnish was in poor taste, but it was at least edible.

Dammon: Vegetarian wellington. He miscalculated how much moisture the veggies would have, and his wellington turned out quite soggy.

Gale: Bream wellington with veggies. He tried to bring in some Waterdhavian flair to his recipe, and it worked really well for him.

Halsin: Vegan mushroom wellington. It was very badly misshapen and the puff pastry was somehow charred at one end and underbaked at the other.

Karlach: Chicken wellington with cherry sauce. The flavors were lovely and incredibly well balanced, and earned her a Hollywood Handshake.

Lae'zel: Curried monkfish wellington. The flavors were so unique and the bake was so well executed that she got a Hollywood Handshake.

Medora: Venison wellington. She got distracted by Halsin's biceps and burned it to a crisp. The oven even caught on fire, which caused more than a little panic until Gale used magic to put it out. The wellington-shaped charcoal briquet found in the oven was unable to be judged.

Minsc: Pork wellington. The puff pastry didn't puff whatsoever.

Wyll: Traditional beef wellington. The problem with classics is that you have to execute it absolutely perfectly. And he did! And got a Hollywood Handshake to boot.

Technical: 12 Egg Custard Tarts

We only had one tie this week, and scores scattered all across the board. Worst to best:

9. Lae'zel 8. Halsin 7. Karlach 6. Medora 5. Astarion 4. Dammon 3. Minsc 2. Wyll 1. Gale

Showstopper: Designer Fruit Tart

Astarion: He used all citrus fruits in his tart, which worked well with the chocolate custard he made. It was noted that he's relied on citrus and chocolate before, but the judges were hardly complaining.

Dammon: Once again the resident blacksmith has proven that he has quite the eye for detail, as his tropical fruit tart was perfectly precise and artfully decorated. He earned a Hollywood Handshake.

Gale: Created a lovely fruit mosaic tribute to his former 'friend' the Netherese Orb. Unfortunately that might have jinxed the tart, as he tripped and dropped it on the way to it being judged.

Halsin: Again, he'd harvested all the berries himself for his tart. Cloudberries, mulberries, sea buckthorn... he tried to find berries most people might not know about. The pastry case was a bit crumbly, but otherwise the presentation was lovely.

Karlach: Her tart had red fruit, red custard, and red tart dough. While the flavors were all right, the presentation was very much lacking. But as we know, Karlach is very unapologetic about presentation if something tastes good.

Lae'zel: May or may not have used fruit from the astral plane that causes hallucinations. To her credit, she didn't know said fruit causes hallucinations in istiks. The fruit provided a lovely light blue color to her presentation that hadn't been seen before, and once the judges didn't think their hands were melting anymore, they admitted it tasted quite lovely.

Medora: She started out rough this week, but managed to pull through with a tart featuring stone fruit like peaches and plums. The salted caramel drizzle on top really tied everything together.

Minsc: Noel Fielding played a joke and pretended to kidnap Boo. Enraged, Minsc instinctively threw what he had with him at the host... which unfortunately meant his tart sailed across the tent and hit Noel in the back of the head. Unfortunately, that meant said tart was unable to be judged. They both profusely apologized to each other and let Boo eat as many crumbs as he wanted, though.

Wyll: Apparently Duke Ravenguard enjoys a good fruit tart, so Wyll used all of his father's favorite fruits in the design he made. It was beautiful, and very well-balanced in flavor.

The Results:

Our star baker AGAIN this week, with a whopping 55/60, is Wyll!

And unfortunately, due to throwing a tart as well as his score of 22/60, Minsc (and Boo) have to leave the tent.

Feel free to play along in the comments! How would your tav or favorite npc compare?

Next week is Underdark Week. Have your antidotes ready.

[infranthrax]

so i had an idea way back when but i never executed it. now since lotusswan and longanswan are a thing now i can ☺️ this may become a series. let me know what you all think!

a memory is being recorded… hold on… ✨

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐒, 𝐖𝐄

longan dragon cookie vs. lotus dragon cookie

cw || longanswan and lotusswan ships

tw || toxic relationship mechanic, gaslighting, implied forced separation/character death, and overall longan being the sociopathic prick they were born to be

synopsis :: sugar swan is interjected into the harsh reality of two dragons— with longan’s everlasting dreams of “purifying the world,” and lotus trying to bring her some kind of solidarity, through through the means of doing the exact thing longan did to them.

word count :: 3.2k words

wing to wing, they danced around…

stamping their feet with a flumpy sound…

embracing treasure, as dragons ought…

this is the treasure they nightly thwart.

in the times of old, before the dark flour war, there was a young dragon, serpentine, and ruling of the many lotus flowers that grew from a mystical cave of light and purity. the dragon had a companion, hailing from the valley yonder, with hair as crème as her fellow lilies, eyes of red rubies, and a gentle smile akin to sunlight kissing cold skin.

however, the serpentine’s guardian heeded forth— hear their ring… “they are but a cookie. you are a dragon. that is an unfathomable relationship that no one would even muster.” the serpent pleaded with their guardian, each passing day and night they felt as though they were excused; it only pushed their fleeting love downward. they were hushed, yet vocal, they pushed on— their faith evergreen: “but… I love her, father.”

the guardian looked down upon their kin with a look of downcast, not feeling sorry, but rather pity. feeling as though their son was misguided somehow, they let out a disgruntled sigh, turned their back away, and left with their only parting words being:

“If you truly loved them, one must let them go.”

the dragon of the caves where the lotus flowers bloomed in the crystal waters never saw her again after that fateful meeting. they later spent their days not playing their beloved mandolin but mourning… suffering in the depths of loneliness and sorrow. the young serpent did not know of the perversions that their guardian had in store for them. to be true, one could say that the poor serpent had… witnessed too much— learned too much too early. was taught things that young children should never witness… but, alas…

little do the dragons know, however, that… children are quite adaptive, and remember more than their parents tend to believe.

Perceptive, we.

flash forward to days of recent, where the cave is just as prosperous as it was in the older days. the sky illuminates the inside however as erosion has plagued the stone above. the now mighty dragon, once a childish snake now a grand serpent, even though they very much preferred the indoors and the comfort of their palace, couldn’t help but not pass the beauty of the day. a stroll was in order. hydrangea cookie, their beloved attendant, brimmed and beamed with delight at the great serpent's decision, quickly retrieving their favorite umbrella. heading up to the surface they were greeted with a gentle gust of wind and the everlasting glow of the sun. slithering onward into the valley as green as emeralds, onto a nice path, lotus holds their umbrella that graciously shields them from the cruel rays of the sunlight above. a gentle smile they wore, they cascaded down into a garden.

a garden of lilies.

this was her home. lotus looked about the garden in the lushness of the valley that extended downward into a gorgeous forest. they looked at a singular flower that grew on a part of the terrain that had risen. a vibrant white lily… having been blessed with rain, its dewdrops made it as though it was glistening with glitter. lotus slowly made their way towards the singular flower, crouching down to look at it more closely. they smiled at the flower through dimly lit turquoise eyes, and an old wound reopened in the pit of their stomach. hydrangea cookie walked up to them slowly, looking down at their crouched form. she noticed that they started to lightly quiver the longer they stayed in that position. “hydrangea,” the serpent suddenly spoke, their voice cold and creaky, almost sounding like they were going to cry, but were holding themselves back with everything they had, “hydrangea, i want this flower.” the attendant next to them nodded, and immediately bent down to pick the lily from the ground but was suddenly stopped by one of lotus’s rushed hands. hydrangea looked up at lotus with a hint of worry.

“what’s wrong?” she asked softly. their brows furrowed as they looked solemnly at the flower below them. “be gentle— matter of fact, let me.” they croaked as they pushed hydrangea’s hand to the side. they then carefully took the bottom of the stem of the lily and gently pulled it upward at the root, releasing it from the ground. with the lily now in lotus’s hand, they extend upward and gaze at the valley around them, being flooded with a garden of extravagant white lilies. carefully circling on the path, their attendant moves over to the side to not trip over Lotus’s tail. “hydrangea, close that thought…” they started, hushed as they spoke as the valley of white lilies clouded their vision. Slowly coming to a stop, they turn to hydrangea cookie and pull her in closer to them at their side, gesturing them to look out at the valley. “i want all of these. i want them to be planted at the palace. t hey shall be pieces of memorabilia.” lotus then began to slither away from hydrangea only to turn back to her from a small distance away.

“we shall gather the rest of the attendants here tomorrow morning to uproot all of these lilies, and i personally shall arrange a menagerie for them. a menagerie to commemorate the memory of the lilies.” hydrangea blinked a bit, surprised by her master’s sudden passion for the lilies in the valley. there was a lot that their attendant knew about their beloved master, however, there was still a lot to uncover, as lotus primarily keeps to themselves a lot of the time. She knew not to question lotus or their motives, but the curiosity was killing her. She felt like she had to indulge.

“may I ask why, great dragon?” taking a leap of faith by asking them the question, they expected them to be bothered with her, but instead, after lotus had reopened their eyes, they gave hydrangea a kind, small smile. “you know I like flowers.” they responded, before deciding to circle back around. “now, come. I have plans tonight and I have not the time to waste.” hydrangea only nodded as she hurried towards lotus’s side once more, to stroll with them back to the palace where they would repose for the rest of the day. but, as lotus said, they did have special plans reserved for the night ahead. the attendants rested to sleep for the night, but lotus’s nighttime activities, on the contrary, are unknown to them all. whatever lotus does in the night is… not very well known to a lot of attendants besides hydrangea cookie, who often stays up until lotus dragon retires. But, up in the dragon's chambers lies not just the air of fragrant lotuses—fresh and clean, but the sweet aroma of sugar and vanilla, all accompanied by a pinkish-fuchsia glow.

soft pink feathers accompanying her lilac hair, shine and straight as it died down to a sister’s sunset. a fair smile graced her lips as her velvet purple eyes remained closed when she drank her tea. a gown made of the finest fabrics— those of cream and royal blue, embroidered with the finest gold. she was the epitome of beauty, even in the olden days she was known to be pure, full of good faith, and glorious to all who gazed upon her… or, she seemed that way, at the very least.

sugar swan, a woman of the arts, was known as a woman who ruled over a sugary paradise. little did she know that she would also be feared— in the days of old, the all-powerful longan dragon stood frequently by her side as they watched her rule over her kingdom of the isles. longan dragon was, and still is, her polar opposite, though it is true to say that in their case, opposites do attract. But, what was she doing at the lotus palace, of all places? a lot of lotus’s attendants wondered the same as well, as they don’t haven’t been expecting company as of late, but they have been told to greet her with kindness and warmth whenever she visits, no matter how late or early she may be.

she sets her small jade tea glass back down on the grainy wooden table underneath her, her graceful smile still ever present, decorated by a light sheen of the tea she drank and the gloss that adorned her blushed lips.

“do you not recognize the fault in your ways?”

sugar swan urged as she walked along with longan dragon in their palace, trying to stop them from ignoring her. she needed them to hear her, to listen to her for once. she quickly paced in front of them, their gentle hands meeting the dragon’s silken robes. “my dear, you misunderstand them, please..! …please, even if you wish not to, please listen to me.” longan looked down at the sweet swan, an indifferent look decorating their grey face, golden eyes agleam. she has their attention now.

“you’re misunderstanding the point of the cookies— their existence is not pointless, great dragon. evolution seeks to create life, and that life i wish to protect. i wish for you to spare them.” her voice was soft yet stern, and her hands pushed softly on their chest, beckoning them to stay as they pushed against her. their eyebrows softly furrowed, clearly displeased with sugar swan and their attempt to stop their plans. although they have vastly contrasting views, they’re still together, even if it means they have to borderline hate each other. “sugar swan, you are not listening yet again to the atrocities you spit,” they started, putting a rough clawed hand to her shoulder, “these crunchy beings are destructive. they will destroy the world i have watched for centuries. the world my sons and daughter have had the glory of aiding in flourishing. all was right. and it needs to stay that way.”

moving sugar swan gently out of their way, they slowly pace, their shoes gently clacking with the marble quartz floors of their palace, full reflections bouncing off of its surface. the golden glimmer of the palace walls, the trimming, it was all an illusion of what longan was— grand, strong, all-powerful, and beautiful. they surely seemed that way to many…

wrong, they were.

“that. that, my treasure… is how order is achieved.”

walking up to sugar swan once more, they took their hand and took her by the jaw. their harsh, golden eyes that were sleep deprived, sunken in yet glorious, they looked— bore into hers made of amethyst. her hand met their wrist, as she tried to convince him otherwise with no words. “my treasure, you know that I am doing you a favor,” longan dragon spoke softly, like the very first demon that beckoned the pure, “the favor of restoring order for you. you need not worry about lifting a finger— one is ready to assist you in any way possible, you know that.” “and your way of ‘restoring order’ is by means of causing chaos to the cookies..? by taking what was graciously handed to them away?! you want to cause mass genocide just to fulfill your selfish wishes, how dare you!”

“I AM NOT A MURDERER.”

the sudden tonal shift that longan exhibited caused the woman before them to jolt suddenly, looking into his blazed golden slits, once subdued by a blackened abyss that surrounded them. putting a gentle hand on their wrist, she started to urge them, borderline pleading with them. the palace seemed to start to tremble as a bolt of lightning could be heard from outside, striking the waters below. “…my dear, i… i’m sorry—“ “i will never expect you to understand, i won’t make you understand. but you will come to understand me.” longan blurted, cutting sugar swan off,

“and I never go back on my word.” longan crept onto sugar swan, causing her to slowly recoil backward as longan walked forward. she eventually bumped into a column that longan pinned her to, raising both of her wrists to the cold quartz surface, their leg prying in between her own as they looked at her with eyes of cruel certainty, as though they were telling her to wake up— to walk with them rather than away from them. they leaned down and whispered in her ear,

“you have told me you would live for me, yes?”

her head swiveled over to the side as she then felt their hand at her throat, gently gracing her skin with sharp nails that could at any moment, spill her beloved blood on his floors. she let out a huddled breath and put a hand to their chest, slightly frightened by the psychosis longan dragon exhibited. she knew that they were trying to manipulate her using their relationship as a crutch, but it was just easier to make them think she was complying than to face their heated anger, coated in a borderline bipolar shell.

“of course…”

she would reply. longan removed their hand from their throat and delivered a sweet kiss to the shell of her ear, moving their hand to her hips and pushing them further up their thigh still, pushing her closer to them on the column. their breath was hot against her skin which only made her quiver. licking up her neck, they replied against her skin,

“would you die for me?”

slowly swiveling her head back around, she looked straight ahead as the dragon that suffocated her sense of space stood before her, their head craning into their neck delivering soft yet sharp peppers of kisses as their teeth collided with the flesh of her neck and shoulder, gently coaxing her with sweet, affirming actions that were but of mockery. her eyes darted to them, her teeth gritted inside her mouth as a bead of sweat lingered and gathered on her temple, her soft lilac hair glistening in the golden lights of the palace— something of a ruse to cover the doubt and uncertainty that she had stowed away within her conscience. her hand softly slid down their chest, following to their own. looking back down at her and removing themselves from the crook of her neck, she responded, quietly…

“yes.”

longan looked down at sugar swan, now with a small smile as they raised a hand to her delicate cheek, cupping it gently. giving it a pat, they then move away from the column, relinquishing them of the right of her bubble. stepping back from her did she step forward, putting a hand to her chest to clear her throat. she looked at them as they walked to their right, looking back at her with a soft smile, something that was rare to see on them.

“then, if that was the case, i do believe that you would make an effort to understand the paramount of this venture and the good it would cause.”

they walked from her, a twisted look on her face. she also had walked away from the column, distraught with her own conflicting emotions about longan, why oh why were they like this? playing the pied pipers in their shared chambers, she sat on her side of the bed, tears in her eyes.

Just like now.

Back in the now.

“is there something the matter, dear sugar swan?” lotus craned forward, setting their jade cup down, and noticed the singular tear in her mauve eyes. seeing this they took a gentle finger and set it to her eyes, wiping away those tears that threatened to fall down her face. “pretty bird, don’t cry,” lotus charmed as their hand slowly lowered from sugar swan’s cheek, “whatever brings you discomfort, my dear?” sugar swan looked up at the dragon in front of her that was lotus dragon— longan’s third son and the second youngest among the draconic brood. their pale eyelashes softly blinked as their hua dian shone in the dull purple light. she couldn’t help but see longan in lotus. but they already knew that. lotus has always strived to be the opposite of their father, while still being cunning in their own light. with a psychopathic charm did Lotus garner, a sweet air and a merciful smile. they looked at sugar swan longingly as they intentionally made a quick choice to absorb rather than just listen like they usually did with the cookies of the paradise. after all, sugar swan wasn’t like the other cookies— she was a creature like them.

“lotus dragon, i know you know your father better than i. why do they do the things they do?” she asked painfully. her eyebrows were furrowed with confusion and doubt as her voice cracked. lotus closed their turquoise eyes, similar to longan’s with the back sea— a glowing blue diamond in the rough. opening them back up after a moment of thought, they spoke, a velvet, yet smooth and calm voice filling the air. “longan is a strange man. i can tell that they have hurt you,” they spoke softly, going to cup one of sugar swan’s cheeks in their hand. she took the top of their hand in the palm of hers as she cut him off.

“but why?—“

“longan is very arrogant and closed-minded in their beliefs. it does not surprise me in the slightest that they would have these expectations of you to help them carry out their new world design. however, that isn’t like you. you are the life to their death, and they cannot seem to realize, my dear bird, that what they see in you is flawed.” lotus then stood up from their coiled sitting position, slithering around their dimly lit chambers, almost tracing their tea table in a circle. sugar swan looked around as they perused her, looking at them as they calmly slithered around. stopping right behind her, they leaned forward, putting both of their hands on the bottom of her jaw, cupping her face, and holding it forward.

“what they see is not what they see— they see not but a marxist dream that has a crude foundation, only one you can demolish.” surely, lotus dragon knew what they were talking about. When longan betrayed lotus that very fateful day, they made sure to send a clear message, and even though it seemed not to dispel the ivory dragon, it did bring peace to the lotus paradise, despite it costing a hellish, flooded, storm-ridden hellscape. sugar swan realized this from the tales, the stories she had heard from wind archer about a so-called “day of reckoning.”

the same touch lotus had was just as featherlight as the one that longan possessed, and upon this realization, sugar swan quivered in fear, yet with a hint of realization. the only difference in this; what lotus was explaining to her… longan was indeed very subdued by their own psychosis, knee-deep in a senseless delusion that marks a vision of self-serving utopia, all for what? all for their plan to turn to damnation as evolution naturally takes its course? for sure, longan would end up swiping sugar swan in a loop, a never-ending dramatic loop that would ultimately lock her up in a gilded, golden cage with no key and no lock. life needs death to thrive, but luck is but a factor that is gambled.

“do you understand?”

[judasisgayriot]

hello again! you once again prove yourself as the queen of heroes ramblings. you responded with so much detail so quickly! loveeee it :)

i wanna ask you more, i like getting your mini ted talks. what are your thoughts on sylar/peter as a ship? i personally don’t really see it in the show, but i’ve read some real good fics with them.

Hahaha omg I love you anon I’m glad someone enjoys hearing my unhinged rants about this show…

Soooo. Maybe the girlies will hate me for this one lol. Thing is, I can see how sylar/peter would lend itself to having some good fics written about it. Like, the concept is there, it has potential. The foundations for a good hero/villain ship are there, they are definitely set up as foils and parallels to each other, they have the whole ‘two sides of a coin’ thing going on. But like you, I don’t really see it in the show at all. It’s like they had the potential but didn’t actually execute it/make me give a fuck about it/make me remotely want to ship it, lol.

It is/was a popular ship in heroes fandom (lol heroes fandom in 2024 is like 12 people but hey) and I do see why for the above reasons. I actually think the episode ‘the wall’ is a great concept but again, they don’t sell me on it/execute it well/actually follow through on making me remotely believe they’d become friends by the end. Right before they break out, having spent what was apparently like 10 years of mind-time together in there or whatever, Peter still hates his guts and wants to smash his head in with a sledgehammer lmao?? (I mean girl same. The whole ‘peter has to forgive sylar, narratively and kind of literally, if he wants to escape the mind prison’ plot point grinds my gears. I think he should get to never forgive him ever for killing Nathan if he doesn’t want to lmao. Shout out to that one fan panel with Milo where he’s like ‘peter would never forgive him he would eviscerate him’ king you are speaking my fucking language lol. I digress.) like afterwards I can buy that sylar has latched onto Peter and wants to be his friend/wants Peter to like, model being a good person for him, but not that Peter actually gives a shit in return or wants anything to do with him lol

(Sidenote, that in itself is a rly interesting concept, and me and @buildarocketboys developed a fic idea about peter agreeing to like, ‘mentor’ sylar and hang out with him but if and only if he kept shapeshifting back into Nathan for him. Now THAT is fucked up and deranged and the good stuff and actually makes me, avowed sylar disliker, feel kinda sorry for the guy lol. Yessss let me marinate in the badwrongness of all of that and how Peter is the one acting fully insane. Anyway. I digress once more.)

Anyway I’m clearly also biased bc I used to like sylar as a character back in the day but sometime over my like 4 rewatches over the last few years he really started pissing me off lol. Now it’s not like I’m being an anti about him being an evil villain or anything, I love a problematic king and I’m a Nathan stan lmao. In fact I only really enjoy sylar when he is getting to be a proper fun cackling all-out villain, he’s actually enjoyable and funny in that mode. It’s the like 9 flip-flopped badly written redemption arcs they keep trying to give him like they’re trying to make me feel sorry for him bc his dad sold him to one direction or whatever, but sorry!! I feel nothing! He’s a whiny bitch and they should have just let him be killed off one of the first 900 times it nearly happened! I don’t have any sympathy and he’s completely lost me lol. So yeah. That does make me biased plus being a Petrellicest girlie and a Nathan stan and an Elle stan sorry I selfishly won’t forgive him for killing them 😔 poor baby serial killer I’m being such a mean hater. Stan my absolutely fucking awful morally confused self hating politician guy instead loooool

Well. All that to say that I see why people ship it, it has interesting foundations that could have led to something good but IMO it just didn’t, I can definitely imagine it has some good fic out there that can sell you on it, but I just don’t see their great poetic love or whatever. It’s soooo ‘baby’ ‘fellow associate’ core by the end lmao. And it actively annoys me. But I am just being a hater I know. Sorry to the cool petlars out there it’s all hashtag my opinion

[maniacwatchestheworld]

Siiigh. Just gotta say that I'm a bit disappointed with how they did Clayface in The Batman (2004). Because like... They have some good ideas here! Though to be honest, those good ideas were taken from the good ideas present with Two-Face as a character... A man of the law who is good friends with Bruce Wayne turning to criminality after a horrific incident that changes him forever? Great ideas here! Obviously! Because these are the things that make Two-Face an interesting Batman villain! But they couldn't have Two-Face in this series, so I don't particularly have an issue with them trying to give this backstory to another villain but just... They didn't really do what they needed to do to really pull it off! It just... Feels like they didn't understand what makes this story work to the point where they could adapt it to a different character well >.<

Honestly, it feels like they should have made this story a 3 parter. A lot to ask of a show like this, I know, but they really are missing an integral part of Ethan's transition from good guy and friend of Bruce Wayne to murderous criminal, and that could have been remedied if they had just a bit more time to show Ethan's attitude changing.

Like... What they show us of Ethan's brainwashing just didn't really feel like it was enough to convince me that this would drive him to insanity... Honestly, I think that they show us too much of the process of him being brainwashed while not showing us anything to convince us that this would have a deep, long lasting effect on him... They show us the Joker talking to Ethan, him looking at one of those hypnotism black and white spirals but like... The Joker didn't feel forceful enough for me to really feel convinced...? Like... If they had to keep this scene in, they could have at least had the Joker hit him, right? Just once... Maybe give him a black eye (which would be how Ethan finds out that he's clay at the end of the episode). I feel like that's within the realm of what would have been appropriate for this show to really bring home the idea that Ethan is being tortured in this scene... Either that or cut away entirely and only imply what happened to him. They show us enough that it honestly feels like what he went through wasn't that bad! They show us both too much, but not enough. Obviously it would have been in poor taste to show the Joker actually torturing a guy on a kid's show like the Batman, but they didn't cut away when they should have either! They didn't leave enough to the imagination so when Ethan embraced villainy, blaming it on this scene, it just... Didn't feel like it was enough!

And just... While Ethan first discovering that he was made of clay was executed well enough from that point on, he just... Didn't feel like he was Ethan anymore. He felt like he was an entirely different character. Which you know. Works for Two-Face! Because in iterations where he's plural, he's literally not the same person from that point on! And Harvey's alter... Well... His answer to most problems is murder! But to our knowledge, Ethan doesn't have any of those kinds of problems. We know Ethan. And he's never been one to jump to violence as an answer to his problems. It made sense that upon first finding out that he was clay, he would freak out and try to get help. But once he discovered that he could control his own form... Well... Why does he immediately jump to the idea of murdering the police commissioner...? At the very least, in the Animated Series, they had Big Bad Harv try to assault a guy before they get disfigured to establish that, yeah! Violence and murder is a conclusion he would jump to! But while Ethan was a bit snappy at the commissioner, they once again didn't go far enough to convince me that violence is a solution he would jump to.

What it feels like they should have done was have Ethan try to convince himself that this is alright. He can fix this. No one knows the clay creature was him. And now that he's able to look normal, he can go back to the way things were! No one has to know. No one will find out. He tries to join Bruce at the basketball court. He convinces himself that this is fine. He's alright. He can just go back to his life and pretend that nothing happened. But then it all goes wrong. He can't hold his form together. He's different now. And no matter how much he wants to convince himself otherwise, he can't go back. Everyone sees him as a freak and a monster and would hurt him if given the chance. No tolerance. Asking for help didn't work. Pretending that nothing is wrong didn't work. And then it's at THIS point where he decides to choose violence and kill the police commissioner! But as the story stands it just... Doesn't quite work! It's missing that middle step from helpless panic to active and purposeful violence.

It's just... So disappointing that this idea was so very close to working! But that episode just doesn't work! Clayface but with Two-Face's backstory is a good idea! But they are different characters with different things that make the character tick, so the fact that they just didn't use the Clayface aspect to this story quite as well as they could have is disappointing!

[cacklingblobbittyrabbitty]

unhinged rainbow magic post 2 of 12

Lets go on possibly my personal faves

WEATHER FAIRIES

Crystal Unmemorable, sadly (unusual for the first fairy) This is not clothes for colder climes I love the fur, but why are your knees showing? Is this a dress? A robe? Necklace is too big - high neckline and no necklace would have been better Better pigtails than Fern Snow scrunchie = great execution of a cute idea

Abigail Unfairly attractive First ginger fairy!!! We love! Autumn vibes are top-notch This mustard shade is great, especially with the shading into the orange Necklace kinda works I believe that this bitch does not get cold ever. Crystal, however, is constantly freezing.  Has a personality! Elsa vibes! Lil green touches are very cute, and they tie in!

Pearl Once again we’re sorry for the internalised misogyny Hair is so shiny and the style complements the dress Not so sure about the fringe but this was the 2000s Dress = most inventive use of colour so far, and feels cloudy Socks are disgusting Tinkerbell shoes? High heels? Anything would have been better than chunky black school shoes Two wristbands? It should be asymmetrical - clouds are not symmetrical From the knees up, this is brilliant character design

Goldie Everything works so well BUT the neckline is too spiky That is some fucking amazing hair She has such potent sun energy Motif would still work if the spikes were more subtle on the neckline This is the ONLY necklace that works on ANY FAIRY - I guess it could be a little higher though Lovely wings (esp. the curve on the wings) Do we need to mention how lovely the colours are?? She ate that palette

Evie Best character design so far!!! The mist motif is incorporated into everything The SLEEEEEEVES Dark hair = incredible Headband works! This ages so well Embroidered parts break up the dress and add colour Asymmetrical neckline is brill 10/10 no other words - I love her

Storm More 70s vibes The fabric feels heavy Hair colour has good reasoning but poor execution Everything makes sense on theoretical level but nothing works in practice Maybe a dress would have worked better? Asymmetrical hemline, neckline, with a leg slit and ¾ length sleeves Hair shaved on one side and a curly mass on the other side = gayer Platinum rather than blonde Darker wings

Hayley Wlw icon Seeing this again for the first time in years, me and my friend both made the same noise of appreciation simultaneously Could a wraparound skirt work better on any other woman? No. Tube top? Before its time Shoes? The ankle!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ANKLE!!! The pose is powerful and unfairly attractive for a drawing POnytaaiiillll Top energy and yes I would

[captzexx]

2024

Here we go 2024.

I've made it to level 40, I guess I get a mount and extra talents. I'm still waiting for something to rear it's head appropriately for that.

So far it's not.

But if you're arriving or been for some time expecting me to do something that I say I'm gonna do, well shit. I'm sorry.

This blog is hub for all my would be writing stuff and delusions of roleplaying/collaborating with other writers in the comforting hellscape that is Tumblr. Once again I'm sorry as I can't make any promises of getting better at it.

Still down a third of myself from last year but the fear is growing as my waist kind of gets settled and muscles continue to atrophy with my growing apathy. My brain is still on a downswing as much as I fight at it punch drunk and mildly stoned.

As sad and angst laden this may be, I'm just in a mood and figured I should do a quick update as we're well out of 2023.

Onward to the content and hopefully a constructive manic episode or two.

THE BLOGS

@eldridgecandell - This is it. She ain't much, but she's the one that died and came back that I keep trying to focus on. Join me on a short explanation:

Eldridge Candell, Inquisitor of the Order of Embers, has returned to Azeroth from beyond the Veil and bein lost in the great Astral Sea. As the worlds began to collapse and the collective haze that had been the Shadowlands Conspiracy blew away so did Candell into a new world.

But it wasn't his.

Never should be or could be. He belonged where he had always been doing the thing that he was truly good at. Unfortunately that road would have be walked alone and with a whole new slew of problems. Missing students, apathetic governments, bureaucracy, and the general march of time as age catches up to any soldier.

This blog focuses on Eldridge primarily but it is not exclusive to him as I suffer/revel in alt-aholism causing me to make up a diverse cast of characters to play with the witch hunter. From Cheryl Duun a disgruntled and lost Inquisitor; Josiah Nubern a fellow apprentice of Candells who has gone over to the edge; the wandering vengeful shadow of Alfred Klaudin, a Forsaken zealot who refuses to give up his Dark Lady. More remain and are open for interaction as I make up a new cast list for them all if anyone is ever interested in playing with my version of the Order of Embers.

ON HOLD

@acrowamongsparrows - an AU of Eld as a Witcher; the show burned me so hard but every once in awhile I look at the books and wonder.

@conduitdreams - cyberpunk with robots and mecha; it just never really took off like I wanted it to or hoped others might have been interested.

@withanemeraldeye - sword and sorcery pulp adventure based around a lot of Conan Exiles and lore; another quiet experiment that is in the back of my head

@sailsonaseaoffate - the final resting place of Zexx Candell and his family, letting them sail off into the sunset among the stars in my version of Spelljammer; I might go back to it as well depending on what strikes me

@memoriesofivalice - my poor Final Fantasy 14 story blog for an AU Zexx and company; big plans but no execution as I just couldn't get enough into the game

THE FUTURE

That more or less sums up where I am at in February of 2024. I'm trying but stumbling dragging as much as I want to be productive and creative. I'm so sorry for all those I've let down in the work and play, maybe I can make it up to you and prove I've got something to say. Just need to figure out what can charge me up. Ideas are always welcome and patient words of affirmation are always gratefully appreciated.

Here we go with the rest of the year.