#honestly many of the Masters do this to some extent

[peliginspeaks]

It's been more than two entire years since I finished BaL and now I'm using mobile data at work to be angry about Veils. Okay so. Here's the thing.

When it hunts, Veils paints itself as a beast. It tells you it's only natural for it to kill, that its appetite must be sated, that its confinement down here is to blame for its actions. This creature, who controls the silk industry in Victorian London, claims instinct is its only motivator and to accuse it of strategy or power-hunger is absurd. But when you want to kill it? Then of course it's an incredibly complex being, so much higher on the chain than you, with plans and strategies beyond your feeble human mind. The whole point of the narrative Veils paints around itself is to both excuse itself of accountability and lift itself above the very idea of being fallible, by manipulating its image to fit either mastermind or animal as it sees fit. And people fall for it. I'm not going to yuck anybody's interpretation of the story (very genuinely I love and value differences in that across players) but I see very very few people acknowledge Veils as a political threat or essentially member of government, and many more focus on the monstrousness of it and the role of instinct in its reasoning.

Bag a Legend is in many ways a story about "violence begets violence", about cycles and corruption, but it's also (as many many stories in Flondon are) a commentary on authority. Veils is, at its core, an authority figure who extended its role from political violence to at-will physical violence against its own charges. Its base role, even if it hadn't become the Vake, is violent. It is heavily involved in the Great Game as well as controlling a vast chunk of London industry, and was actively negotiating the purchase of the Sixth City when the PC killed it - a political action in the interests of the Bazaar that would have killed a vast swathe of people it has no reason to care about beyond as a resource. Even if it had never sunk claws into a person, it would still be violent and extremely dangerous. April knows it, the nuns know it, but it seems a part of Veil's strategy is to get any prospective hunters to forget about that part of its role only when it's convenient and remember it only when it's intimidating.

Incompetent when questioned and all-powerful when threatened. The parallel to real-life corrupt authority is just. Infuriatingly familiar. Excellent job, Failbetter.

[kalims]

⊹ giving them flowers

premise. no plot we are just giving them flowers cause guys deserve some too <3

content. fluff, mini scenarios, azul turns into a silly nerd (affectionate)

featuring. jamil, sebek, riddle, azul.

note. actually accidentally posted this yesterday and got a heart attack (also an actual consistent posting schedule...?)

jamil gives you a look.

he spares a long stare at the bouquet you clutch between your hands, wearing an awfully cheeky grin that's chipping off the scold in his throat. "how many times have I told you this?" he deadpans.

but from the obvious fact that you're holding it. it's not like jamil can do anything about it.

"you don't buy flowers for yourself," he says firmly. I'm supposed to be the one getting them for you. he would like to add.

"they're a waste of madol?" you tilt your head.

he answers immediately. "no, just—" jamil's eye twitches like he's trying his hardest to keep something. "don't,"

perhaps he's being a little too blunt but it makes him upset. is he really messing up in gift giving to the extent where you have to buy something for.. yourself? and jamil is pretty sure gifts are called as such for a reason.

and that they're from, or gifted to another person.

you chuckle in your fist, but he continues to ramble; "also it's hard to care for flowers when you don't know much, i don't want you to—"

"jamil hon, my baby, the apple of my eye, the love of my life, they're for you,"

you say simply, and watch in amusement when his moments stutter before they stop to a complete freeze.

a furious wave of heat crawls up on his back but he's praying frantically. now is not the time. he seethes.

... he just tripped over his words.

jamil reluctantly accepts the flowers after you've finished laughing your ass off, and the only thing in his mind is the love.

okay maybe he should pick up a book about caring for flowers. do they even survive in the harsh conditions of scarabia?

whatever he'll make it work.

you should've expected this.

despite your arm honestly starting to tremble under the stress of holding it out for about 2 minutes straight now, you still attempt a smile—although strained. wouldn't want sebek to find it an unfriendly gesture.

even though he probably already thinks that anyways.

you don't want to color sebek in a way that shows that his only personality is being suspicious to everyone, and of course. the dearest young master he adores. (seriously though it's a little concerning, and you're kinda jealous.)

sebek stares at the bouquet in your hand with scrutinizing eyes, as if to say non-verbally: 'what is this'.

you sigh when he just stares at it like it's a bomb. "it's flowers." you deadpan.

sebek pursues his lips, looks away before looking back. "I can see that!" he says like he wasn't wearing a face that made you think you had to explain. but he just crosses his arms and falls silent with a huff. "for the young master, yes?'

he pauses. "I can atleast acknowledge your gesture, human!"

was that supposed to be good? you weren't given the chance to explain because he continues again; "though I will have to make sure that these aren't anything the young master is allergic to." he nods to himself, as though proud for being so thoughtful.

your eye twitches. you're a little surprised that he didn't even imply that it could be possibly a bomb inside to try and assassinate them.. but you notice a slight tense-ness to his demeanor.

you know cause he's huffed about 5 times in the past 1 minute, he's looked away and he's very clearly sneaking peaks at your hand.

—then he huffs to himself! then it repeats.

"I will take them to the young master at once!" he announces with his loud volume, stepping forward to grab it from you but you ultimately beat him. you're just praying he doesn't find you 10x more suspicious the moment you had wrenched it back to yourself with surprising strength you didn't know you had.

even he looked surprised!

"no, sebek.." you heave. "they're not for malleus, they're for you."

he didn't have the heart to correct the way you addressed the young master before he dutifully exploded.

he's shaking away from you with a wobbling, agape mouth. he could only open and close them dumbly, not beir capable to let a word out.

you suppose he was too speechless because he didn't even say anything when you happily pushed the bouquet to his chest like nothing happened.

for someone who's most diligent in studying, you'd think riddle would be able to catch on easily on the gist of your actions.

but he just blinks when you hold out your hand. pretty gray eyes trained on the bouquet of red roses in your grasp, then onto your face with inquisitive question apparent with the raise of his brow.

"we have plenty of roses in our gardens." he says, as though like giving him... these is the most bizarre phenomenon in his life.

it seems like he feels the need to add. "we grow them."

you smile, the sweet thing awfully tight on your face. "they're for you," you explain. a little perturbed that you need to in the first place, but it's riddle so you sorta understand?

riddle squints. "why?"

you blank. "like... like a gift, for you? you know. cause I want to."

then as if the slowness of the processing going on in his brain gradually speeds up. it's obvious he's probably realized the implications of your little gift from the jolt, then widened eyes who stare in disbelief.

riddle gulps. "for, me?" he asks stupidly.

your raised brows say yes.

it's almost hilarious when he accepts them gratefully and stares at them like you just sprouted a literal white rose from the ground, wrapped it in some fancy plastic, and then handed it to him with a smile.

silence ensues again. riddle notices, screeches in his head to do something about it except he can't, cause his mind seems to be broken right now and he can't exert any words but a stammer.

and he'd really like to relearn how to speak because you're fidgeting on the spot, clearly nervous by his silence.

"sorry," you chuckle. "um.. it's just red roses, not white, or blue, or pink—"

"no!" he blurts out far too quickly. hands stretched out in the air a little as though reaching out to stop you but then stiffly staying by his side. riddle clears his throat. "I mean... this is... very important to me."

you look like you don't really believe him cause he was going off about roses in his dorm before.

he flushes, away from your gaze. "because its from you."

you can barely see azul.

or gauge out his reaction if it's supposed to be good or bad, because you can barely even see his eyes from all the sudden sheen of white over it. did all the smoke in the room just gravitate over his glasses conveniently or something?

you can spot the joints in his fingers twitching but oddly enough he remains stiff in front of you. uncharacteristically silent, which wouldn't really lead to good things.

"hello?" with your free hand, devoid of any flowers with the power of freezing a person. you wave it in front of his face which seems to have done a pretty good job with snapping him out of whatever trance he's in.

the glasses slip down the bridge of his nose but he fixes them at record speed. admittedly with clammy fingers.

azul coughs. "thank you very much." he clutches them tighter, pursuing his lips.

"I know octavinelle is not the best place for warmer places," he starts and a flash of confusion on your face is something he misses. "but I will manage it and find an accommodation for these, around 34 or 35 degrees."

your brows furrow. what.

"hmm yes... a nice vase, I'll use the most pure water there is." he rants. "then I'll fill it up with two thirds of its container and make sure it lives healthy."

that's... concerning.

"I'll have jade clean it regularly." he says and you're honestly more scared for the flowers. "I cannot trust floyd either so I'll trim it by two centimeters at the right angle occasionally when it dries."

he says all that, with a pink face.

you awkwardly stand there taking in azuls apparent plans on how to ensure the lifespan of your 'thoughtful' gift will be extended as far as he can help in to commerce your honor.

[brucewaynehater101]

About Tim's kill count: I think Tim tries really hard to be okay with murder. He's accepted that's something other vigilantes do, that sometimes it's the most practical answer. He knows that self defense is a thing, when it's you or them... Well, no one can be blamed for choosing themselves over a villain. He is the smart, logical Robin. He can be rational about murder. Stars know someone has to, and B is too much of an emotional mess when it comes to that particular subject.

So when Tim has to blow up Ra's bases, he tries really hard to be okay with it. He gave them a three minute warning (it's not much, but he knows how fast they are), so technically it's not like it's his fault if they decided to stay. He had to do it, it wasn't even just self defense, he had a civilian hostage to take into account. It was the only logical solution that allowed him to save Batman too. So yeah, he knows his reasoning was completely sound despite the circumstances. Honestly, he deserves Kudos for not losing it considering the amount of stress he was under and the fact he nearly died and lost an organ.

So yeah, he is pretty sure he's okay with it. He knows that if Batman ever truly catches up un his RR reports of that time he's not gonna be happy. He figures he can deal with that (he can't, he can barely deal with his own guilt. Deep down he knows he'll collapse like a wet napkin).

But instead of Batman the one to confront him is Jason having heard from Talia or finding the evidence on an outlaws' mission. And Tim is relieved because this should be easy. Not only is he a master manipulator: Jason is okay with murder, extremely emotional and still feels guilty about Titan's Tower. He's not even on talking terms with B. Tim has the upper hand in this encounter.

Cue to Jason's pov and it's just so painfully obviously that Tim is trying to rationalize the guilt away. Jason doesn't know whether to acknowledge it (the kid looks like he needs to actually talk about it, sue him) or to let him be delusional for a bit longer. He isn't the biggest expert on healthy but that doesn't look like it.

Tim succeeds in getting him to promise he won't tattle to Bruce, and is really proud of himself for handling the situation. Jason is now panicking thinking about what would Bruce do if he finds out (Tim doesn't know the extent of Batman's reaction to Jason killing at first).

(I got a little carried away with the idea of Tim being convinces he's okay with murder and Jason, who is pro murder for certain people, seeing right through him like "Oh honey")

Oh!!! I've seen some fics that cover what would happen if the Bats found out about Tim's kill count or the bases, but I haven't really seen ones with dark/abusive Bruce.

Tw: abuse, murder

Here's what I'm thinking:

Jason is fantastic for being the first to find out. He'd be supportive, understanding, and non-judgemental. He'll have no moral issues with murder. Perhaps he could have some mental breakdowns on the fact his younger brother had to resort to that or the high number of deaths or that someone younger than him had to stain their hands (which could also lead into him finally processing Damian's kills as well), but he wouldn't have any issues with Tim commiting murder.

Then we contrast that with Dick. He doesn't blame Tim. He's fiercely protective of his brother and will beat up anyone who gives Tim shit for it. On the other hand, he does have moral issues with murder. He'd probably have an internal debate with himself. He wants to support Tim, but the kid killed so many people (in this AU). Tim killed in self-defense. Dick has a particular understanding due to his time as a cop, but his vigilante rules have always contrasted with his cop ones (not just killing. Breaking laws, how civilians are treated, who your "allies" are, and whether you can trust your coworkers to do what's right). He's devastated that Tim was in that position and blames himself (maybe even takes those deaths upon his own moral conscience).

Both of them love, care, and support Tim in this. They also have very different ideas about murder.

Tim is also trying very hard to deny to himself how much death is actually on his hands. He's struggling to pretend he's fine and trying to logically convince himself that the deaths are acceptable.

In this AU, Bruce obviously flips the fuck out and acts like a piece of shit. Feel free to hc how far he takes that shit.

However, this has important ramifications against Damian. Whatever his feelings are about Tim at this point, watching his father abuse a kid he adopted (and considers his own) for the sin of killing? For self-defense? What if Damian ever kills again? Would Bruce react the same? What if there was no other choice? Also, does this mean that his father will never truly love him? Will his past always be held over Damian's head? Will Bruce ever forgive him? Is his father's love conditional? To add on, Damian has complicated feelings about LoA as well. He'd need to process the extreme destruction Tim enacted against the LoA. Just Damian having mental breakdowns.

Cass's confliction with murder and her love for Tim could also be added into this. I don't know much about the arc where she becomes a villain, but that would add to her turmoil.

Now, Alfred is a confusing one. How dedicated is he to Bruce? Is this the characterization where he sasses the man, not so subtly hides his guns around the Manor, and will stand up to the man? Or is this the one who will follow Bruce's lead even if it means psychologically torturing his grandkid? Is he somehow both at the same time? Can the kids trust Alfred to protect them or choose them over Bruce?

Babs would be protecting Tim (and the others in their support of Tim) to the best of her ability. In my mind, she's chill about murder due to her dad being a cop and her working with murderers (like Harley). She'd run interference to protect Tim until Bruce finds out, and then she'd be trying to get him away from Bruce.

Anyways, I'd love to see all of the characters, their feelings/experiences, and the conflict expanded on.

[sullina]

i honestly really appreciate Mairimashita Iruma-kuns take on demons, because demons in many fiction-works (which is... all of them, bc demons aren't actually real...) are portrayed as selfish and only doing what they want, or are literally just 1:1 to humans but this time with horns.

And yeah, in "Iruma-kun", they're also selfish and do whatever they want, but they're also still very much social and have a (more or less) working society. So they can work together, despite their selfishness.

And this also reflects in the demons we see working. Full disclosure, i don't remember that much right now, but just thinking of the teachers at Babyls, they all absolutely love their jobs and are amazing at it, if to varying levels.

And why wouldn't they? Demons only do whatever they wanna do. The teachers at Babyls aren't forced to work as teachers, they chose to become teachers, because that's what they wanted to do. And if you love something, you're willing to put a lot of work into it.

Even Kaluego, despite his usual demeanor and attitude, loves being a teacher, and especially wants to see every single one of his students grow to their fullest potential. Why else would he have a notebook dedicated to each and every single student? I don't think teachers are required to do that, so the only answer left is that he loves his job.

Also Balam, who gets so excited about new things that it scares most students.

And Bachiko, who taught Iruma archery. She was tough on him, but she never called him annoying or wanted him to go away, unless you count the beginning of their training, but even that was because she had so many students give up and didn't think Iruma was any different. Once he had proven himself to be capable and willing to do whatever it took to master archery, she was behind him 110%.

I just love this take, because on the one hand, it's more fresh, and on the other, also seems a little more... accurate?

Because consider any other medium where demons are portrayed as hating and killing each other on the daily, but still have cities and schools, and just a society in general (if a broken one), and it's said that it's "always been this way". Basically just "humans with horns and way more hostile". Why the fuck would they band together if they can't cross paths without trying to tear each others throats out? Why would they reproduce? If a demon can't care for anything other than its own individual self, why would they raise their children? Let alone anyone elses children, like in schools? You don't band together, unless there's some sort of benefit that outweighs the cost. In that kind of world, it makes no sense that demons would have cities, let alone countries, and without countries, there wouldn't be any wars either. Wars are fought by countries, which is a collection of people, or demons in this case, all fighting collectively for the same goal. If demons don't fight for a collective goal, because they're not a collective, there can't be any wars, only senseless bloodshed where it's everyone vs. everyone and the winner is the last individual left alive.

And yeah, in Mairimashita it's still said that it kinda sorta was like this a long time ago, but it's not like this now, and the clear reason is that Delkira, the demon king, made it this way, in part by introducing the rank system that allowed anyone to get higher in their society. And even then, in that "a long time ago", demons still had a society, just not an equal one. And while we see demons being selfish in the manga/anime, we also know that they CAN care for others, be it their friends or family. And in that amusement park arc, i distinctly remember a child being trapped in a building that could come down any second, and Iruma, the resident human, stepping in to save the child, which inspired his demonic friends to step in and help him. So yeah, demons in mairima are very much naturally selfish, but not to such an extent that they can't care for others.

[t0rturedangel]

hiii!!! i'm the same person who sent the ask regarding jekyll and i LOVED it! im honored to be the first asker and i might fill more - so if it's alright, may i request jekyll and/or hyde with an innocent yet motherly!darling who worries for their wellbeing, even going as far as gently scolding them and making them feel relaxed every once in a while.

take your time and take care!! xoxo

╭ . . . 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 ੭

𝐃𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐘 𝐉𝐄𝐊𝐘𝐋𝐋 / 𝐌𝐑. 𝐄𝐃𝐖��𝐑𝐃 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 ♰ ৎ﹕𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘯 (𝘩𝘤𝘴)

YAYYY ANOTHER JEKYLL & HYDE REQUEST, I'm honestly in love with the book and game so I'm sooooo happy you came and requested more!! :D I hope you like this

𝘩𝘤𝘴 ~ 𝐉𝐄𝐊𝐘𝐋𝐋

✧⠀⨾ Despite never saying it, Jekyll adores you and values you a lot- like more than he cares for Utterson and Lanyon- and thats saying a lot since he knows the two very close

✧⠀⨾ he loves it whenever you visit, because you take the time out of your day to make sure he is doing well, even helping the servants make some tea for him and clean up a bit after- for some reason Jekyll loves your tea more than anyone else's, you make it so perfectly

✧⠀⨾ he also tends to try and not cause as many mistakes as he usually would while you're there- whether it be via experiments that he maybe burnt himself with or just casually bumping into things, you'll always be at his side right after and be scolding him while patching him up as well

Currently, you were sitting by the side of Jekyll- who has managed to mix up the wrong amount of chemicals needed for one of his recent experiments which caused it to overflow and accidently got on his hand- which burned... a lot. ❝ how could you be so careless Jekyll? look you've hurt yourself again.... Please be more careful around your chemicals, you know first hand how dangerous they can be! ❞ you patched Jekyll's hand up, holding with with delicacy which made it seem as if he'd break if you were careful enough which was true to an extent, Jekyll was feeling weaker lately- he's been more careless with himself and how he acted leading to this mess. However, he couldn't help himself from smiling at you with a fondness- you were always there for him, out of the kindness of your heart and that made him adore you more than anyone else could. You were truly a miracle to him

✧⠀⨾ Jekyll doesnt understand how he managed to meet you and befriend you, but he thanks god everyday for it.

✧⠀⨾ As a thank you, he always buys you gifts that he knows will make you overjoyed, he pays attention to what you like and dont like so when it comes to thank you's, you're never disappointed or sad

✧⠀⨾ All of his servants, cooks and Poole love you since you're sort of keeping their master together while also keeping them happy- whenever you visit they're always chatting with you about anything but this isnt about them

✧⠀⨾ Jekyll find your innocence adorable, and questions on if you are the completely moral person you make yourself out to be- or do you also indulge in your vices? do you have your own Hyde? though he'll never ask, no never, he just loves this perfect image of you- sweet moral you who wouldn't hurt anyone ever

𝘩𝘤𝘴 ~ 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄

✧⠀⨾ the first time you met Hyde, it was probably an accident- Jekyll has though of something so horrid that Hyde couldn't help but take over, it was never Infront of you (Jekyll is so grateful for that you don't even realize)

✧⠀⨾ Though when Hyde did see you, all of his rage and anger suddenly just went away?? it left him so confused and almost made him angry and vicious again until you began to talk to him- normally??

✧⠀⨾ you weren't disgusted with him? you didn't find him hideous? you didnt run away, screaming in horror? no, you didnt do that, oddly enough you walked over to him- smiling happily, and introduced yourself leaving the creature so confused and baffled he almost completely ignored you (he didnt though- you were too intruging to him)

You smiled at Hyde, grinning from ear to ear as you held out a hand for him to take and shake. ❝ hello! I'm [name] it's so lovely to meet you ❞ you didnt run away, or looked at him grossed out which almost irked the monster but he stayed out of pure curiosity. ❝ I'm Hyde.❞ he replied almost coldly, though you didnt get angry with him- instead fascinated ❝ oh! yes i have heard of you- you're a good friend of my dear Jekyll's! i dont understand why everyone is so sacred of you ❞ you smiled even more- leaving Hyde to question you and your intentions, yet he made no move to hurt you. Everyone was shocked, sorry- correction- everyone outside, in the beauty of the moon was shocked to see Hyde, the murderer, the man who trampled a girl to near death, the one who smites women down for simply looking his way- walking down the street with the sweet little thing like you latched by his side, smiling from ear to ear as you chatted about something while Hyde listened. You has done the impossible, yet only you could do it

✧⠀⨾ he secretly love having you around, you're the only person who gives him the light of day at the minimum and at the maximum you care for him.

✧⠀⨾ once he returned to his home after getting into a fight with a man who was capable of fighting back- the man obviously was killed as Hyde had overpowered him with sheer brutality and died bleeding out, though he did manage to get a few hits on the deformed man (Hyde) leaving him bruised.

✧⠀⨾ you were waiting for him- happily with a knitted scarf for him (you felt bad for him as it was always cold in the night time of London and Hyde barely wore anything warm) but when you saw him, bruised and beaten you didnt even care about the scarf or how he even got hurt

✧⠀⨾ you sat there, much like how you were with jekyll, scolding him and patching him up carefully- despite him stating MULTIPLE times he can handle it and wont die.

✧⠀⨾ Much like Jekyll- Hyde questions your innocence but enjoys it none the less- the two of you acting as the opposites attract trope

✧⠀⨾ Overall, the two of them adore you so much- you're the sweetest and kindest person to the two of them and they're grateful, in their own ways (Jekyll buys you stuff and Hydes beats people up for you)

[lassieposting]

Fucking. Obsessed. With this.

Because like. I know a lot of people love the whole "Astarion has babies with their Tav and is a wonderful daddy" headcanon, and that's fair - y'all do you. But personally? I can't see it. That man would be an appalling father, imo. Astarion doesn't like kids. And that's okay! (Unlike kicking them for shits and giggles which, while often tempting and undeniably hilarious, is. Really mean.) Anyway. My point: not everyone, in fiction or real life, needs to like or have kids.

But what I fucking love about this interaction is that like. He cares. He very clearly cares, and he sucks ass at trying to hide it. He's concerned for her safety. And, since this is a man who very deliberately tries not to care about anything other than his own survival, lest it be used against him, that implies a pretty impressive level of effort on Yenna's part. He would indulge Tav's worry either way, but I don't think he'd be too bothered himself unless she'd gone out of her way to befriend him. And honestly, that makes sense - she's a sweet, gregarious kid who isn't put off by being snarked at. Kids in general tend to love people with big personalities, which Astarion does. Kids tend to attach themselves to people who'd really rather they kept their distance, which Astarion does. And kids tend to admire and look up to people who seem impossibly classy and clever and worldly-wise, which Astarion would at her age.

This kid, behind the scenes, has been spending time with Astarion. Being nice to him. Maybe asking him questions or trying to talk to him about stuff. She's spent enough time with him that he's started to care.

And y'all know what dynamic I love? Deeply reluctant big brother Astarion.

From what we see of the seven vampire spawns and how they interact, we know the following:

Astarion is one of, if not the, oldest. He says he was one of Cazador's first spawn, but all the ones we see defer to him, so it's possible he's the oldest surviving spawn - I wouldn't put it past Cazador to permakill one that was no longer of use to him. That means he would've found himself in the unenviable position of having to help newly-turned siblings adjust to a traumatic and deeply abusive lifestyle. Considering he was in the same boat, he probably wasn't all that nice about it. But they would likely have relied on him to teach them survival tactics anyway - how to keep Cazador happy, how to say and do the right things to not rock the boat.

The spawns do have some degree of familial attachment to one another. It's a highkey toxic, trauma-based attachment, but it is there. Astarion tells Tav, "At least you've met my family now," and snaps at one of Cazador's servants, "I won't be ordered about in my own home." He calls Dalyria by a nickname, and she expresses concern that he came back when, "You got out, you were free." She clearly believes that he cares for her enough to stop hurting Petras when she begs him ("Brother, please!").

Astarion wants to protect. We see this most with Tav, but there are a couple of lines that suggest that he - like so many older siblings in abusive family situations - knows that his presence, his role as the primary target of Cazador's possessive, violent obsession, has shielded his siblings to some (paltry, piss-poor) extent over the years. Cazador likes to break his toys, and as long as there is still some fight in Astarion, he'll remain the warped and twisted "favourite" - the one Cazador likes to torture and torment the most. He knows that with him gone, they will become the new targets of their master's rages ("Now that I'm gone, well...I pity the other six.")

Anyway. What I'm getting at is that while I can't see Astarion ever serving any kind of fatherly role for Yenna - or for anyone, really - I feel like he'd step fairly easily into the reluctant older brother role with which he is so familiar. That's what he knows.

Like, he will absolutely be snarky and snide with her, because that's who he is. He's spent most of his life in an environment where the only people he got to spend time with, aside from his targets, were his siblings, and they served as rivals and threats more than friends and loved ones. Anyone Astarion isn't actively seducing tends to get his bitchy side. But at the same time, gods help anyone else who picks on her. Only he gets to do that.

He will whine and complain if he's asked to keep an eye on her. But he will do it, begrudgingly, and if she catches him in a particularly good mood he might even come up with a vaguely age-appropriate activity to keep her entertained ("I don't suppose anyone ever bothered to teach you to play whist.")

[journals-of-the-guardian-project]

LORE POST #1

Redesign of my Chat Noir redesign to go together with my rewrite which I will talk a lot about under the cut. I'm pretty set on this design too and will link it at the beginning of the fic when I get ten chapters completed and ready to post :3

What is different from canon, why I am changing some things, etc. Feel free to just read my thoughts around the design if you want to read my fic without any guidelines of what I'm planning so far for him

BUT I won't spoil anything major dw

The design:

I've changed chat noir's design so it would blend in more at night. The preferred the sleek black tones over the glow in the dark green I gave him before. I take a whole lot of inspiration from the PV of miraculous ladybug in these designs so of course his hair is still floofy.

When initially designing Chat noir, the tips of his hair are darker since I really liked that trait some other redesigns gave him so I included it without making his whole head of hair black.

I got the idea to base his design off of rust and RAN with it! He still has some greens in his design but they've shifted closer to yellow green and gold for the color scheme!

I've liked the idea about the clothes in the hero designs looking more cloth like too so I've incorporated that into the design with pockets and a zipper cause I can. Since Adrien has been thinking about being a superhero for a while, his design is more thought out were it could be.

EDIT: Forgot to mention!! Ladybelle has a lil more black in her design and now chat has a little more red! :3 matching

I saw some concept art of Chat Noir with a hat at one point and I loved it so much I wanted to keep it in to a certain extent, SO Marichat moment all the way. I decided to add the bells back into his design (I missed them) and took inspiration from @/callimara's Chat Noir design.

Chat noir will still be very cat like in this and I thought it'd be funky if his feat were like a cat's

Overall it isn't much of a design change for some aspects but I really like how it turned out!

K story stuff now:

I want to get ten chapters done before I post chapters again on the first fic since I don't think I did the best job introducing what I've changed. This isn't talking about adrien agreste's life this is more his role as Chat Noir. I'll get to adrien when I get his redesign sheet finished

(any part of this section might be edited in the future but this is basically part of my ideas)

Honestly a whole lot of the fic(s) is(are)

Fault of canon? -> Solution

I've been developing for two years now and I just gotta write it out... Entirely hinging on my execution sigh

Chat noir's powers are now on a more equal footing with Ladybug's (Ladybelle now) and I'll get more indepth when I post Ladybug's redesign and stuff but basically

The miracle box is a mix mash of several miraculous's from other boxes due to an event Guardian Marianne caused. Supposedly, she unleashed the Rabbit kwami of time on the guardians in an act of defiance. Resulting in rips in time eating away the members present for such an event, burning to death in fire. Marianne managed to run away with the miraculous's she could obtain and do her best to live her life knowing what she's done.

The Ladybug and Cat miraculous are a duo pair. Strongest when used in a partnership. Many are tempted to use both at the same time for what the powers merge to become but this isn't the strongest path.

Tikki and Plagg are soulmates you could say. They aren't really romantic but they are bonded for life. Never one without the other.

They are the only miraculous pairing in the new mixmash of the guardian box. Eventually Marianne gives the responsibility to Master Fu, her lover, before the rabbit comes after her as well.

I'll talk more about the changes I've made to Tikki's character in Ladybelle's post but as a part of the Miraculous cure, something all pairing miraculous's have to purify evils and darkness, it requires both parties to be present. Usually some form of touch or communication initiates the Miraculous cure

"Pound it!"

Chat noir can use his power alone to defeat evils but it's like cauterizing a wound. He doesn't figure this out for a bit.

I'll talk more about the miraculous cure in Ladybelle's post

This is still a part of the story I'm working on but:

the miraculous of destruction gets more powerful the longer the user wields it. With techniques and familiarity, Chat noir will be able to make black pockets of nothing just from a touch. Yes I'm including this from the concept art. Though he'll only get this later down the road

Chat noir is still a form of escapism to Adrien and part of his character arc is realizing he can't rely on it like that. A large part of adrien's character I'll talk about in adrien's post ties into Chat Noir too

I'm still figuring out some plot points for him so this is where I'll end this off. But I will say I'm planning on Chat Noir getting more time with the kwamis and more of a role in the Guardian arc and guardian stuff in general

[starbound-jupiter]

also pigeon evbo is fuckin awesome i love the idea that the species he is reflects how people treat him n stufz and as for the other ppl in the noob level i like to think theyr all just some type of like bird you see everywhere here in my country theres mayas literally everywhere and nobody rlly pays much attention to them just maybe feed them every once in a while and then they just blend in with the surroundings like how the pros dont rlly care that much abt the noobs so they dont rlly notice them that much hehe :33 not sure abt what other avians they could be tho!! and if in this au everyones a creature of some sort what would the pros be? and the masters? oh my gof wait thought just came through what iff emf gained the ability to like shapeshift once they became champion omg i originally thought like emf is normally how they look like canonically but like all misty? not entirely solid but has like ykno particles floating around and once theyre champion they can go full mist mode and change their proportions and apearance and stuff but still kinda look like themself? but honestly the idea that emf can shapeshift into any form and chooses to be ominous as fuck is hilarious lmaoaoa anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk there will be more

OHHH IM SO GLAD YOU AGREE!!! AND ALSO EXACTLY!! SHAPESHIFTER EMF MY LOVEEE <33333

but to address your other point,, we’ve established that the noobs are different species of avians, and if you wanna get real angsty with it they’ve all probably had their wings clipped so they can’t fly or save themselves when missing a jump and the fighters are vampires, but what about the other species?

so!! honestly i want to say the masters are also shapeshifters, but like- to an extent maybe? as in they can alter their physical appearance to some degree, but it increases exponentially if they become champion. and that might actually be a pretty cool incentive to do so, if they go from being able to vaguely alter how they look to changing their fucking state of matter lol.

tbh, i’m not quite sure about the pros!!! there are so many options, i’m not sure which one to pick!!! (if anyone wants to drop a comment or an ask you are so so welcome to do so!!)

[little-paperboat]

i burned my fingers on this forbidden fire

it's been a loooong time coming, but i am very excited to share the first chapter of i burned my fingers on this forbidden fire! ❤️‍🔥 All dedicated to the Holy Rolan Empire, of course! x

Summary:

It's finally over: the Absolute has been defeated and Baldur's Gate has been saved. A month after the final battle, everyone's gone to pursue their own destinies - everyone but Tav. She might be home now but she's never felt more lost, struggling to pick up the pieces of the life she left behind. Rolan got everything he wanted: his family is safe and sound, and he is the new Master of Ramazith's Tower. He won, and all he has to do now is prove that he's up to the task. It should be easy, so easy - but then why does he feel like he's constantly failing? One night they meet again, and a proposition rekindles the spark between them. But when Tav's world crumbles around her and secrets are revealed, it's Rolan's hand she reaches for. Will he be there to catch her? (or, Tav meddles and Rolan stands his ground)

In this first chapter, Tav is doing fine. She's doing great! So good. Never better. She's the hero of Baldur's Gate, and everybody loves her. Sure, maybe she's alone because all her friends are gone, and maybe she's still staying at the Elfsong because she can't really move on, and maybe her new job makes her feel useless, but honestly, she's fine. It doesn't even matter that Rolan has been ignoring her this whole time.

I hope you'll like it! Little preview under the cut x

The Elfsong was busier than usual, noticed Tav as she turned the corner, pushing her way through the merry crowd gathered outside. Ale and wine flowed freely as if it was a perfectly ordinary evening in Baldur’s Gate, which, she supposed, it was - to some extent. 

Ordinary didn’t mean much anymore these days.

Then again, she hadn’t had an ordinary day in a long time.

In the distance, someone yelled her name and she waved blindly at the crowd, earning a few drunken cheers. That never failed to make her smile, and, slipping inside the tavern, she made her way to the bar where the owner was busy trading beers for gold.

“Hey Alan! Is there a special occasion I’m not aware of?”

Gatherings under the influence of alcohol were frequent as of late, but never to this extent. It almost felt as if the whole of the Lower City had agreed to meet at the Elfsong tonight.

Alan shrugged, undisturbed in his pouring of pints.

“They just finished rebuilding the last of the docks. Calls for a celebration, don’t you think?”  

Ah. She turned her head back to survey the crowd, now noticing the many unfamiliar faces.

“You know I never say no to a party,” she said. “No news about the Upper City though, I assume?” 

“Correct, princess. But as long as you keep that sweet gold comin’, I’ll make sure you’re treated like a real lady.” 

That made her chuckle, and she winked at the bartender. 

“Oh, Alan. I am a real lady.”

Leaving him to his work, she made her way up the stairs and to her room. The loud conversations were soon reduced to a hushed background noise, the quiet privacy unnerving as ever.

Everything was exactly as she left it this morning: a calculated mess; a neatly-kept shrine of who she was a month ago. Rationally, she couldn’t expect things to start moving on their own, but to be fair, she had witnessed stranger things. Maybe it would happen somehow: a sign of things moving on, a physical manifestation of the start of a new life. 

Her fingers lingered on the bedcovers, the last sunlight of the season peeking through the windows, bathing the place in a comforting autumn glow.

That didn’t ward off the cold inside her chest. 

Slowly, she sank to the floor, head resting against the mattress.

If she closed her eyes, she could still hear Wyll and Karlach’s laughter from the next room, and the play-fighting of Shadowheart and Lae’zel. Halsin would be quietly humming a soft song near them, and if she focused hard enough she could make up Astarion’s footsteps about to barge in her room unannounced - wallowing in self-pity, darling? Gale would softly tut, an arm around the vampire’s waist, asking her if she wanted to come to dinner. 

On the other side of the wall, there was a loud sneeze.

She sighed. The new tenants were dull, loud and annoying. She didn’t see the point in trying to be friendly - actually, she actively schemed to avoid any contact. 

She let her legs fall on the floor with a soft thump, feeling like an abandoned rag doll. 

Who’d come and pick her up, if she decided to not move anymore? Now that was a good question. For how long she could stay in her room until someone came to check on her? A few days? A whole tenday? More? Her face had been everywhere after the defeat of the Netherbrain, and even days later, still adorned some sparse street posters. Despite her battle scars, she remained easy on the eyes and people naturally sought her out when she was in public. 

Behind closed doors though… no one bothered to care.

While she enjoyed toying with the idea of playing dead for a while, she was fairly sure that someone at the Council would eventually notice her absence, if only to point out how unreliable the Hero of the Gate was.

When the light outside began to dim, she got up with a groan, finally finding some kind of resolve - anything to distract her mind. She had a golden opportunity to drink the night away and might do exactly that. 

At her mirror, she found her lipstick - the one that Shadowheart gave her because it felt too Sharran. It was a lovely shade of deep burgundy, rich and smooth, and if she focused hard enough on how the colour complimented her skin tone, she could almost ignore the wave of nostalgia that crept up on her. 

On a whim, she undid her braid, letting her loose curls fall on her shoulders. Using Astarion’s little discarded comb, she slowly untangled them. Her hair had grown back since that unfortunate episode in the Underdark, but she sometimes missed how the shorter cut made her feel. Daring. Determined. Brave.

She wasn’t this person anymore.

— Read the rest on AO3 :)

if you liked it, you also can follow the tag “series:forbidden fire” here on tumblr to not miss any updates :)

(c) divider by @/saradika

[niziye]

Request from @lamalicious-potato about Dranzer's HC having healing powers lesgo ☕

Honestly, this was something I had more subconsciously than anything, so expanding on this idea is a little funny, because I think: where did this actually come from?

When I try to connect the dots the first thing that comes to me is G-rev, through the battle between Kai and Brooklyn. I mean, Kai was so f.. injured - aside from the censorship, and in the end he's totally fine, no scars, wow.

Despite being a common logic in anime of this genre, this ended up becoming an HC, so the first thing I thought was that Dranzer had something to do with it:

- I think that bit-beasts in general do this to a greater or lesser extent, and this is not something exclusive to Dranzer, in this case she just has a high healing capacity.

- Some injuries she is not able to heal, whether caused by other specific bit-beasts or from the time he was at the Abbey.

- I have this HC that has an ugly scar between his hip and thigh from the Abbey facilities.

- Minor wounds and scratches usually disappear within a few hours or up to a day. I always think about how funny it sounds for someone to see this firsthand, like some of his teammates. 

- He's probably careless about his own injuries because of this.

- The fact that he heals quickly is closely related to his mental state and his synchrony with Dranzer, obviously he is not capable of doing this if he is too weak.

- The previous idea is also linked to another HC that all bladers with bit-beasts spend a very small amount of energy to maintain their beasts (like a rental lol), but Kai is not known for saving energy when necessary, so sometimes he's not able to heal.

- Dranzer also has a mechanism to "leave" his master if Kai is too fragile, this makes him recover on his own without worrying about her (he hates this btw, but he only has himself to blame for being so reckless).

- While Dranzer is capable of providing healing, Black Dranzer is essentially 'self-destructive', she needs to absorb energy from somewhere, and if she cannot do this through other bit-beasts, she will do so through her own master by default. This would probably also explain why they wouldn't complement each other so easily.

An unrelated extra: I find Kai and Dranzer's relationship extremely interesting and I love playing with the idea that even though he has "lost" Dranzer many times, he will never get used to the feeling. And he'll be anxious and stressed without her, really restless and sensitive. If I were to put emotions into Dranzer about this, she would probably roll her eyes at Kai still being an impatient child.

[periwinkla]

I’m gonna ask a bunch of narumistu shippers this but how do you think Iris would react seeing that happen? Also how would your dream Narumitsu wedding play out, and would pearl be invited? I just have so many questions! I also love your art!❤️❤️❤️

Hi anon! <3 (I'll talk a bit about SOJ so - some minor spoilers ahead) I think Iris would be happy for them. If anything, she would be relieved she didn't ruin Phoenix's faith in love. They both got closure at the end of AA3 as he forgave her by telling her that she was the person he thought all along, and it seemed like a load was lifted off of her. Honestly I'm a bit bitter they didn't even make Pearl mention her during DD/SOJ because they mentioned Gumshoe, so I don't understand the problem there. She’s Pearl's sister, and we know absolutely nothing of her fate after AA3. I myself don't think much about the whole wedding thing, so the following is something I came up with just now that you asked. Haha.

First, we need to talk about the SOJ dlc. Would they even get married? For Phoenix, it seems he would want to, so that's out of the way. For Miles, I think he's so defensive about it that it could only mean he actually wants to, as well. For the record, I’m one of those people who doesn't want to get married, and I don’t think marriage is for everyone / every couple... but I just feel like that's the impression he gave off. Mentioning how romantic the flying chapel is doesn't help his case. Why did he even have the thought? Why did he think it was necessary to mention it out loud and to Phoenix of all people? 

That out of the way, we need to ponder the extent to which the AA world follows real world laws, because by JP law they can't legally get married. It could also be that it doesn't in this instance, which isn't entirely impossible since Phoenix was able to adopt Trucy (i researched this a bit some months ago - apparently single men especially can't adopt girls, but take it with a grain of salt as I couldn’t confirm it - I would need to go look at gov sites and you need to know JP well enough for that… and I don’t). Then again maybe Takumi just didn't know/didn't care. So who knows. But this isn't the only instance where AA laws would differ from JP laws, anyway. Either way, I think it would be really sweet if they got married in Kurain and Maya officiated it. Kurain seems to have different laws in the first place, and although most certainly they would be against marriages between men in particular… Since Maya became the master, I would think she would push to change that. And I think they would get married quite a few years after SOJ, so she would have had enough time to do so (the con of this would be that at least legally, their marriage wouldn't be recognized where they live if it wasn't permitted there as well - I think?). I particularly appreciate it when stories acknowledge and explore real world problems... so that's probably why this line of thought came to me.

I also think the Kurain thing is more fitting for them generally speaking (even if they could get married where they live), because they're both very reserved people. But they would still want their most important people around. And of course, Pearl would be invited, as she is one of these people. Also she will cry buckets during the ceremony.

As for the wedding itself, there would probably be some kind of disaster like a murder happen, let's be honest. Maybe a couple of them even. And maybe some kidnappings. Ghosts may be involved. And at the end of the final trial they would go off to Kurain again and get married at like midnight or something out of frustration and acceptance at the impossibility of their life ever going according to plan. Also Trucy would walk them both, together, down the aisle. And maybe she will make the rings disappear for a few moments, because why not. Just a final heart attack for the day to end it in a fitting manner.

Also thank you!! It makes me happy to know you enjoy it <3

[faksyan]

kazi baby and maybe sunny on the side idk if she has enough in canon for an ask on her own

Oh you know it I want to talk about Kazuhira Miller. Of course I do.

(my favorite Sunny moments are all of mgrec and jomo am I allowed to answer that. Loved her there the writers did such a good job. I wish we were friends.)

First impression

Honestly, I don't think I took that much notice of him in his first appearance? I saw him in pw first, and in the beginning he is just a guy idk. The ending of peace walker and his tapes made me go a bit feral over him though. just a little.

Impression now

I'm in love with his anger issues. He's a scared animal backed into a corner that bites at the hand reaching for him even if it wants to feed and soothe him. I like thinking it gets better with age, but never quite leaves him to some extent, he did think about his revenge on bb for years (even though I think by the end it was less personal and more about. you know. not letting the world explode.)

I really really really like all of Kaz's designs. They're so expressive and tell so much about the mental space he's in. I love how resilient he is throughout all of the shit he deals with and how he passes it on to Dave. What else. There's so much more honesty I talk a bunch about Kaz in other asks, nothing else I haven't mentioned before comes to mind right now.

Favorite moment

Him almost killing himself and bb with a grenade. Showstopping. Brilliant. Never done before. All of first encounter honestly it does so much for him as a character. His tapes where he talks about his childhood too. Every Kaz moment is kind of my favorite I think. I like his lines as Master Miller where he tells Solid he should survive and about cheese fondue and stuff.

Idea for a story

I'm afraid I tie him to Ocelot too much because I love their dynamic. A big fic during the nine year gap where they do a bunch of dumb shit and make Diamond Dogs and kiss is the main one I guess. They go to a casino and beat the shit out of each other one (1) time and beat the shit out of other people many times. So much more bullshit happens but im not getting into that right now. I also have a story with the main focus on Paz in mind, but he's also there a lot, I just want them to be friends.

Unpopular opinion

He can be impulsive but he is a lot more rational than what people often portray/describe him as I think. Also, almost all interpretations of him in v I've seen feel kind of. wrong. Yes, he's traumatized and paranoid, but he is not a *mess*, not in a way he is often viewed. I already said about how I think Kaz's designs are very expressive, and there was this really cool post (don't really know where it's now unfortunately, don't think I reblogged it) about how his facial hair in tpp isn't him giving up on shaving, it's him having a fucking designer stubble that was a rising trend at the time. This, coupled with the fact that he wears so many layers (of also fancy clothes), carries a gun on him at all times, and orders people around as if it were his base (it is) and his soldiers (they are) is exactly the opposite of a man that gave up on his life. It isn't his low point. I headcanon the actual lowest low point in his life being somewhere during bb's coma, and by v he has gotten over it. It was a really long time, and they needed to move on to get things done, so he did. He didn't really need Snake by the time he gets back, I think. Not anymore. It was purely sentimenal by then, plus wanting revenge. And then not even that.

Favorite relationship

Oh would you really make me choose. Ocelhira for all the reasons listed here and so many more. Him and bb for all the baggage they have. Him and V for all the baggage they don't have but think they do because Zero is insane what was that plan. Him and Solid even though they have almost no screentime together. Everyone who ever interacts with him is my favorite relationship because it's Kazuhira Miller. Sorry for being abnormal about him.

Favorite headcanon

Transfem Kaz maybe, but I don't write or think about him with it in mind a lot of the time. Also I think he lost the hand in Ground Zeroes, it makes sense with him bringing up losing limbs and the pain being a reminder of what was taken from him nine years ago in his helicopter speech.

Bonus

Okay, more seriously about Sunny. Everyone always draws her so cheerful and outgoing aka closer to how she's in Rising I assume, that I didn't really expect that she'd be essentially kind of a shut-in in 4. She's a scared anxious child who is also a prodigy, and they are so fucking mean to her there. Made me honestly pretty sad. Though a lot of it might have been the stress everyone was under. I haven't gotten to her in mgr yet, but it makes me happy that things get better for her, like everyone always wanted.

[kaibutsushidousha]

To be honest, your discussion of Minase's positive and negative qualities piqued my interest. What do you think are the main recurring fgo writers' strong and weak points? Also where would you rank the lilim harlot event?

For the sake of brevity, I'll stick to one per writer. Picking apart everyone to the extent I did with Minase would take forever and would be better done after their respective Ordeal Calls.

I hesitate to call Higashide's comedy his strong point because his huge hits are about as frequent as his huge misses. I suppose I'll go with clarity for Higashide's main strong point. Even when I think he sucked at delivering his point, I can always tell what he's trying to say, which is not something I can say about Sakurai's most compressed scripts. His weak point is his lack of ambition. It's nice to have at least one person in FGO's team who will never try to escalate things, but I can't see it doesn't make his stories more forgettable in the long run.

Minase was already detailed in his own post.

Meteo’s best quality is a tone setter. Requiem, Salem, and all his events come with an atmosphere that feels very tangibly different from what FGO usually does. Often his events are bad, but never they lack a unique identity. Which segues into his weak point, being that many of his events are comedy events and the man is simply not funny. Bullying Erice is his only consistently good joke, and when he tries other things, the results are more miss than hit. See Las Vegas and Wandjina World Tour for major examples of comedy events that failed hard at the comedy side.

Nasu is a master recycler. I don't know how he does it but the man is constantly reusing the same structures, the same themes, or the same dynamics and somehow it never feels repetitive. There is always something that makes the whole recipe feel fresh and unique despite being so easy to recognize the same usual ingredients there. And what I dislike about Nasu in FGO is how he's still stuck at the concept of selling waifus from the girls with routes days. Everyone has their list of characters who get ship tease with Fujimaru but only in Nasu's case it feels like an overwhelming majority and that some of the choices create too large of a difference between the summoned character and the character in the main story. Was it really necessary to do this with, say, Morgan? Melusine? Tenochtitlan?

And Sakurai I saved for last because one major reason this post took this long is that I was struggling to sort out what is characteristically good and bad about her. Well, even now I don’t have a simple and satisfying answer. Things can’t be simple with Sakurai, unfortunately. One friend of mine described the experience of reading Sakurai scripts as “playing chess against an opponent that doesn’t tell that you are in a game of chess” and that’s honestly a fascinating way to phrase it.

Sakurai is an intriguing combination of inflexibly ambitious and inflexibly professional. She has grand ideas for her characters and she will include them in the script without fail. But she's also strictly adherent to script size limitations. While Nasu is making Camelot and Avalon le Fae with total disregard to every possible limit, Sakurai is cramming so much into Septem's and London's microscopic file space that it becomes utterly incomprehensible. Nasu wrote Last Encore's plot as a whole ass novel and hired Sakurai to convert that into anime scripts because Sakurai is his expert in fitting a lot of stuff into tiny spaces. Tunguska was tossed at Sakurai because probably no one else could fit into its raid event constraints. And because she doesn't compromise on what goes in, her alternative is not revealing the mysteries about her characters but laying out all the hints so the players can figure it out themselves, which is a really fun thing once you're used to it (read: aware that you're playing chess against her).

And the answer to "Where would I rank the Lilim Harlot event" is 1st place.

[thegamingcatmom]

What does Tanya do to show you she loves you? Like little touches or something? 😏

Tanya does lots of things to show her love. Lots of small touches, as well as big touches. Lots of sexy touches. 😏

Things Tanya Denali does to show you her love:

nose rubs (she loves those, you do too)

belly rubs

leg rubs

butt rubs (she loves those...and you do too)

any rubs, really

...

stealing a kiss as you prepare your food...and then one more, and one more, and one- (you two are on your way to the bedroom by now)

taking your hand, stroking her thumb over it

looking deep into your eyes, she loves your eyes

asking you for a dance (she does have a romantic side...she´s a millennia old vampire, after all)

"I love you" - lots of those, every day, staring deep into your eyes as she tells you

"I love you" in Slovak (she knows how much you love it)

any term of endearment in Slovak

speaking Slovak in general, because she knows it hits that sweet spot of yours (it sounds fucking romantic okay - then again, anything does, coming from her)

massaging your stiff shoulders after a long day

massaging you anywhere you require (it´d be her great pleasure)

forehead kisses

kisses on the back of your hand

kisses on your cheeks

kisses

and more kisses

cuddles

drawing you a bath and joining you if you wish for it, or giving you space if you require some alone time

giving you space in general, if you require it (we all got those days, let´s be honest)

learning how to cook so she can preen under your praise (she´s such a bean)

plucking you the most gorgeous of flowers, putting one behind your ear and marveling at your beauty

buying you the things you kept stealing glances at when you thought she wasn´t looking (bish pls...when is Tanya not looking?)

helping you master a skill, if you wish to learn it (drawing, playing the piano, singing - you´ll learn it together, if it´s something she herself isn´t well-versed in)

wrapping her arms around you and swaying you side to side

being your ear

being your shoulder

being your cooling pad in the summer, or if you´re down with a fever

bringing you hot chocolate with marshmallows on top, before wrapping you up like a burrito in the cuddliest of blankets, and serving as your body pillow as the two of you watch a movie together

Honestly? I could go on, and on, and on, and on, and-

We´d be here next week, lol. There´s just SO many things she´d do to show you her love. Not sure if Tumblr got limitations when it comes to how many words can fit when answering an ask. Which...that should pretty much tell you the extent we´re talking here, lol.

But, to summarize it: Any form of PDA (+ little gifts then and now)

She´s been without a partner for so long, she´ll jump at any chance she gets to show you´re hers, and she´s yours. She´ll preen under your affection, especially if others are watching. She´s just so fucking proud and in love. Just thinking about it makes me-

Of course, all the sisters have waited equally as long for their mate, but I HC Tanya Denali as the most touch-starved. The poor baby.

LEMME JUST-

Thanks a lot for your ask! 💋💋

[halliescomut]

I defended Lom, but now I shall talk about Nuea

So...a lot of this is going to be a bit rant-y, because honestly there's some reactions that have been going on that really aggravate me. But I wanted to talk more about Nuea as a character in the show, and how I think he's being presented. You hear (for reasons unknown) a lot of discussion over how Lom is almost tricking Nuea by withholding the fact that his arrangement and marriage to Yiwa is in name only. I have so many problems with this read on the situation. While it is VERY common for BLs to use naivety as a trope, it's actually surprisingly rare to see from Mame. It's not one of her go-to's and so I was actually really surprised at how many people saw Nuea as 'innocent' (read virginal) or naive. We saw a similar reaction with Sky, this idea that he's an innocent little lamb, and I kind of figured that was because that's what Rain was. Rain was clearly modeled to be this sort of ingénue-style character, young, wide-eyed, innocent to an extent, but also experimental, not constrained by societal boundaries. But what the first encounter with Prapai showed was that he was not only not innocent, but experienced. Now granted many of his experiences were likely awful and traumatic, but Gun likely didn't got straight from 1 to 100, abusers rarely do, but there's also no clarity at all on whether Sky had any other intimate partners of his own choosing, whether a relationship or just another one-night stand. But circling back to my actual point, I think there are many viewers for which LITA was their first experience with Mame, and they believe Rain to be the blueprint for her 'bottoms' when in reality he's an outlier.

How this affects the perception of Nuea, is that since he is shown to be a fairly quiet, sensitive, kind person, some viewers began making assumptions. They assume that he's not physically experienced, that he's submissive, or even shy, and that's not really the case. We don't see much to indicate that at all in the show. He's very vocal for a lot of the show. He expresses his concerns to his boss freely, without concern for reprisal, and this certainly due at least in part to the type of boss she is, but even if she were some angry, obstinate crone, I doubt that would have stopped him. He's very vocal and honest in his conversations with Lom all through the series. He doesn't put up with any of Lom's rich/privileged BS. His kindness and empathy throughout is more a show of strength than anything. He's able to pretty easily get the results he wants without being rude, or mean. Even in his frustration with Lom, he's not vicious, but exasperated, reacting to Lom's childishness more like an exhausted nanny than anything else.

Nuea is confident, like really confident. He's confident in his abilities and skill at work. He's a confident gay man, he doesn't shy away from sex. His hesitation in regards to sleeping with Lom initially is based only on his knowledge of the likely fall-out (especially emotionally). Once we get to this most recent episode it's very clear that he has no hesitation in being an active and passionate partner.

I'm willing to bet after the absolute boss way that he shut down that shitty orchard customer, that we may see his confidence make an appearance next week in regards to Lom and Yiwa's mothers acting like petulant toddlers.

I think it's also important to remember that while he is younger than Lom (his actor is actually younger than ALL of the LITA boys), he's not actually all that young. While ages and timelines are pretty vague in the Mame-verse, Prapai should be about 30 in the Wedding Plan, and Lom is meant to have been his junior while they were getting their Masters, so he's probably 27-ish. Nuea, having attended university and worked as an event planner for several years is probably 25. He's not a child, and their age difference is practically negligible. Again, I feel this is an assumption based on the idea that LITA is the norm, when it's very much not. All of Mame's other main couples (in shows) have either been the same age, or with in a year or two of each other.

So while Lom may have some power/privilege over Nuea, it's very much situational and based on him being 'employed' by him, which is something that we as the audience know he could change if he really wanted to. We see that P'Im is more than willing to go to bat for her employees, Lom wouldn't be able to pull a Karen and get him fired, or forced to work with him. And while Lom is rich, Nuea's family has a generational business and owns a large amount of property. It's not the same level of rich by any means, Lom essentially has fuck you money, but it's still not like Nuea would be without resources and support if he chose to quit his job or leave Bangkok.

Also, the fact that he gets upset or cries over Lom, doesn't make him 'weak.' I've not heard anyone say that directly, but it's been implied. It's not weak for a man to be able to recognize and express his emotions. That's toxic masculinity bullshit, and we certainly don't want to be putting that pressure on characters that are actively defying it.

I guess in conclusion, my point is that Nuea is a bad-ass, the best kind of bad-ass even, one with a kind heart, and that he's more than capable of standing up for himself both in general and with Lom.

As a final note, what I realized watching episode 3 is that Lom 10000% has a competency kink, and further watching of the show only confirms that. He first encounters Nuea while he works at Pai's wedding and immediately begins lusting. The wedding suit try-ons where he looks at Nuea after learning he took pictures of each choice so that you don't have to try something on over and over again. He gets riled up watching him do the event where Payu proposes. He falls even harder watching Nuea put the creep in his place. Like...he just loves watching his man get shit done, and I respect (and understand) that.

[daisyvisions]

also,

younghoon pisses me off because he's more subtle about being a little shit than the others so he has this kind of polite/innocent overlay to his image but then is somewhat of a cocky bastard in actuality — but then there's also this extra layer where he is actually just a sensitive guy. like he's confident and cocky and good at getting people to view him a certain way but then also he cries easily and gives off the general impression that some of that confidence may be being feigned/overcompensated in order to cover up the fact that he is very soft and sensitive. anyway this is relevant because I can't view him as either a sub or a dom. he is both simultaneously. like definitely a subby pillow prince who likes being pampered and will probably play into slave/master bdsm dynamics (to an extent), but then also he definitely fucks too, y'know? like he definitely has it in him to restrain and punish his partner and dom them into heavy mindfog just from absolutely going to town. definitely the type to be all soft and lovey and subby one moment and then switch in an instant to pinning you down and fucking you into the mattress just because he can. bitch.

YES HE IS VERY SWITCH CODED TO ME! That's why when I do my MTLs that entail categorizing him as either sub / dom my opinion always varies depending on the situation

and looking at his birth chart just now it really shows he has both those sides (Leo Sun and Libra Moon) but honestly him being a switch might be more fun than anyone might think because imagine how many role playing ideas you guys can do and he would easily fit into the role? MWAH CHEF'S KISS 💋🤌