#i just have a lot of feelings about dao okay

[elitesheepi]

Something something Ember Island Something something Changing Emotions

Katara coming to a horrifying realization. A terrible, no good, realization that only could've happened on Ember Island.

Zuko is attractive. A shocking realization, she knows.

Of course he is. That's just an objective fact, she reasons to herself. Even back in Ba Sing Se, she always knew he wasn't a bad looking guy. Bit of a temper, and nostrils flared to much for her taste but... He was a little handsome.

Now that things are okay between them, Katara can't help but look at him. Really look at him, and all she sees is a kind guy, who is very attractive. And that's just ruins her whole day because it's not fair. She supposed to be preparing for the comet, not oogling one of her closest friends.

He's not making it any easier on her. Does he really have to firebend with his shirt off? She doesn't waterbend in just her sarashi! ...Okay she does, but that's different.

Still, she asks him as much. Sweat is still dripping down his neck and chin. Whatever else evaporated from his heated body. She can feel his blood pumping through his body, the exertion in the pink dusting on his cheeks. Or maybe that's a normal blush cause she did just ask why does he need to be shirtless. Showing off his muscular build, toned arms and--ugh! Does he have to look at her with that puppykit look in his eye? Now he's just being unfair!

"It helps," Zuko explains like it's nothing, "It's like a grounding technique I guess. Feeling the flow of energy through your body as you bend fire. Besides, you bend in your sarashi sometimes, what's the difference?"

'It's totally different!' Katara wants to claim as she hands him a towel. She's not...him. And she'll say that as much when her own face is burning with a blush. Katara decides to leave it be for now, and heal up the small burns he did get from Aang's fire on his hands. Because she's just that mature and yes it is completely necessary to hold both his hands as she heals him. His firm, rough hands from handling his dao... It's more than a little unfair that his hands are bigger than her's too.

It's also unfair how he tucks her hair behind her ear and says "Are you okay? You're kinda warm." In that low voice only meant for her to hear. Her heart stutters in chest. He's just looking at her with a little bit of worrh, why the stupid butterflies in her stomach? And why does she not want him to move his hand away from her? Well, she knows why, but she doesn't wanna say it. Or maybe she does, but he's going to have to make it up to her somehow.

"I-"

"Hey Katara, check it out! I'm finally getting the hang of my fire bending stances!" It's like a cold splash of water over a fire. Katara shakes her head, plastering on that gentle smile. Aang is excitedly waving for her attention across the court yard.

She catches Zuko's golden eyes before turning to the Avatar, "Good job Aang! You're really improving!" She thinks anyways. Zuko kinda snatches her attention each and every time during their sessions. "I'm going to get some fruit juice inside. You want one?"

"Yes please!" Aang wants to go with her, she can sorta tell in the way his eyes keep looking between her and Zuko. He doesn't get two steps before Toph is dragging him with her now. "You had your time with Zuko, now it's time for some real fun." Katara can be concerned about the giant crash later. Another crash of rock. Waaaaayyyyy later.

She spares a glance over her shoulder, and takes a little pride in how he jumps. "Well? Shall we?"

"We shall?" He responds, confused.

"Did you think I wasn't to get a fruit juice for you too? Besides you said I was too warm so..." She slides her arm in to his. And if she stands a lot closer to him than necessary, than fine. She beams up at him with a pleasantly, sweet smile, "Let's go get some."

Now it's his turn to blush. Good, let him be flustered and dumb over a pretty person. It's his turn anyways.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

listen I love DAO, DA2, and DAI very much and will replay all three on repeat but DAO really spoiled me with the whole "origins" part, something DA2 and DAI severely lack.

In DAO, you get to play through one of six origins that show how you got recruited to the Grey Wardens and affects how you play. I play as a Tabris and that plays a part in every decision she makes from how she views the Grey Wardens as a whole, who she romances, what she does with Loghain at the landsmeet, etc. It's incredible because that origin you get adds so much to the immersion each playthrough.

But then there's DA2 which I do adore with all my heart, but I can't lie, the first time I played it was very much "Oh, I have to be this human named Hawke? and the only differences in backstory really come from whether I'm a mage or not ...Ugh, okay, but only because you showed me Carver and now I'm attached, I'll keep playing, I'm sure nothing bad will happen to him."

And then DAI, which I also adore, comes along and just, "Okay pick who you wanna be. Great, here's a paragraph detailing your backstory, but you get to start in the same spot no matter who you make your Inquisitor to be, have fun."

It's not like it's a deal breaker that we can't play through an origin first before jumping into the main story. The player can take that element into their hands to make up for it. We see it all the time with players sharing the upbringings and family dynamics for their Hawke, or fully fleshing out their Inquisitor and why they were at the conclave in the first place.

I think DA2 does this a little better since at least it feels like Hawke had a life before Kirkwall. Your mother and survivng sibling are reminders of that life, as are every mention of your dead sibling and father. You're always reminded that you're a Fereldan refugee. You lost everything to the blight and now you have to rebuild yourself up in a new city.

But the Inquisitor? A lot of times it feels like the Inquisitor didn't even exist until they fell out of the sky. Sure, Cassandra can ask you where you're from or Josephine will ask you questions about your life prior, but that's about it. it's so unfortunate because DAI was the perfect set up for a origin stories the same way DAO was; what lead the Inquisitor to be at the conclave? What specifically put them there?

The first time I played DAI, I didn't put much thought into my Inquisitor. It took me playing through DAO and DA2 and starting a replay of DAI to actually figure out my Inquisitor and you know what I ended up doing?

I used a DAO origin.

Yeah, we know that all the wardens exist and the player picking their character decides where Duncan will be to recruit them and the others are just shit outta luck. I decided my Lavellan's actually Surana who escaped the circle with Jowan and she eventually joined the Dalish and adopted a new name after he died. Lemme tell you, roleplaying that as my Inquisitor's backstory makes everything in DAI just 10x better.

Every staff Ash crafts is named after Jowan. She wasn't born Dalish but her cover story says she was, and she slips up a lot. Her accent doesn't sound typically Dalish. Threnn tells her "Loghain was super cool actually" and Ash flashes back to when Jowan was taken by Loghain's men and when she tracked him down to Redcliffe only to find out Loghain planted him there to poison the arl, he was caught and tortured by the arl's wife, she begged a pair of wardens to let him go if they found him.

Ash is very against blood magic after it eventually killed Jowan and she isn't shy about expressing it. So you know Varric pulled my Hawke, a blood mage, aside like, "Listen, keep the blood magic stuff to yourself, the Inquisitor has a thing about it." and Edgar just gives a thumbs up and keeps going, "man, blood magic bad, amirite?"

Every conversation Ash has with Solas and Vivienne is just her biting her tongue and forcing out, "...yeah, okay." She knows the Chantry and Circles are bullshit but can't go off about it because hmmm, you know an awful lot about this for being Dalish?

Ash and Cullen see each other again after ten years and both just, "Hmm... you look famil...liar.......... oh no."

But that's my point: If I'm going to replay DAI, I boot up DAO first. I play through the mage origin as Ash, and as soon as Jowan runs off screen, I quit out of the game to boot up DAI with a little "Ten Years Later" mumble to myself, and it's so much better.

Honestly if I could find a way to incorporate an unused origin into my Hawke's backstory, I probably would! Because DAO knew what it was doing and it's super effective. I can't gush about DAO enough, I swear.

I can only cross my fingers that DA4 y'know, goes back to it's origins.

[liverbiver9]

Act One Notes: 後悔莫及 (Too Late for Regrets)

On AO3

Relationships: Jiāng Yànlí & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn; Jiang Yanli/Original Character; Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn & Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín & Wēn Qíng; Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxian

Characters: Jiāng Yànlí; Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn; Original Characters; Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín; Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī); Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín and Wēn Qíng's Mother; Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī

Additional Tags: Time Travel Fix-It; Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence; Jiāng Yànlí-centric; POV Jiāng Yànlí; Genderqueer Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn; Trans Male Character; Kid Fic

Hello!

TBH I considered posting this fic here but I truly can't be bothered to figure out how to put all the links and everything so I'll just post the whole fic once it's finished on AO3. In the meantime, I have literally So Much to say about this fic because it's been rotting my brain for weeks now, and there's only so much I can fit in the author's notes, so here we are!

DON'T READ PAST HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS

So, act one:

This chapter really just sets everything up; there's not a whole lot of plot, and the purpose of it is to mainly set up Jiang Yanli's character and her motivations.

I didn't want her to be the perfect Shijie that Wei Wuxian (and therefore we as the audience) see in the novel, but I also wanted to stay true to her characterization. The first bit at Nightless City is taken directly from the novel, with some formatting, grammar, and small narrative changes. It was while rereading this part of the novel (Chapter 78: Nightfall--Part Three, Exiled Rebels Scanlations) that I really got a revelation about Jiang Yanli:

Jiang Yanli, "I'm... I'm here to tell you..." To tell him what? That it's fine? That I don't hate you? That everything is fine? That I don't blame you for hav[ing] killed Jin Zixuan? It was impossible. But she couldn't say anything that was the opposite either. And so, she didn't know what else she could say to Wei Wuxian, under such circumstances. It was just that she felt she had to see this brother of hers once more.

This scene part is gut wrenching. It is obvious that Jiang Yanli doesn't forgive Wei Wuxian nor thinks he's innocent. In fact, the whole reason she's here is to see him "once more," or one last time; she doesn't think he can turn this all around. I don't think she wants him to die, but I definitely think she's expecting him to be exiled and to never see him again, which is why I added the reference to Dongying (Japan), because I could see Jiang Yanli refusing to kill Wei Wuxian but agreeing he's too dangerous and shipping him off in exile somewhere.

She has resentment towards him, but she also loves him. In general, she just has a lot of conflicting feelings about him, and I think she feels guilty about it. No one wants to think the worst of their family. So I think a lot of this fuels her snap decision to take the blow for Wei Wuxian.

Of course, in this fic she's too distracted by her conflicted feelings to notice the blow and he ends up taking it like intended. I had a lot of fun with this twist!

Jin Furen also has quite the role in this chapter despite never actually showing up. I think after the death of Yu Ziyuan, Jin Furen found it her duty to take over the motherly role in Jiang Yanli's life. I do think she genuinely liked Jiang Yanli, but I also think she had her own ulterior motives in play.

To be completely frank, the paragraph about Jiang Yanli's pregnancy and birth being hard, and Jin Furen essentially condemning her to an early death because of it, was kind of an afterthought? Jiang Yanli is often characterized as ill or of poor constitution, despite this not really being in the novel (I blame CQL), but I chose to give her chronic illness for purely selfish reasons.

I recently got diagnosed with Ehler's Danlos Syndrome, which is a genetic disorder that affects my body's connective tissues. One of the things the doctor told me when I got my diagnosis was that pregnancy would be much more dangerous for me because of it (I won't get into the details, but it did scare me shitless). I never really wanted to be pregnant tbh (too dysphoric) but the option had always been there. This diagnosis pretty much destroyed that option. So, I projected my illness onto Jiang Yanli because, why not?

I had completely forgotten I added this in chapter one until I posted it and got several comments talking about how fucked up it was LMAO

The real reason I wrote this fic was because I wanted a fic where Jiang Yanli gets to raise Wei Ying. She already raised him in canon (fight me on this I dare you) and sort of raised Jiang Cheng; I say sort of because as gentry, and especially as heir, he would've had tutors and nannies and all sorts of people helping to raise him. Communal childcare was the norm back then!

But Wei Ying wouldn't really have that, unless the senior disciples decided to take him under their wings, which we have no evidence from canon saying they did. We do have evidence of Jiang Yanli caring for him like a mother, though Yu Ziyuan says she acts like a servant to him (which really just says SO MUCH about how she views parenting). We also have evidence that Jiang Fengmian wasn't all that attentive (Wei Ying's clothes and shoes were too big for him; ill-fitting and worn clothes are a super common sign of child neglect). I would imagine that servants and disciples would be nervous to show Wei Ying any favor as long as Yu Ziyuan was around, so any care he did get was probably inconsistent.

So yeah, Jiang Yanli was probably the most parental figure to Wei Ying growing up, which is all sorts of fucked up. And she already has so much conflicting feelings about him at this point that I simply had to make it more complicated by adding the parental love in there. I don't think the jump was too quick either; she seems to be a person that is very aware of her own feelings, she just doesn't share them often, so I think she would instantly recognize her love for the type it is--the world view adjustment will come later, of course.

She's just so fascinating!! I had so much fun writing her. Cannot WAIT to discuss chapter two OMFGGGG

[quitealotofsodapop]

So, Egged MK is almost certainly put on house arrest after the self-sacrifice stunt, but whose house? His, Pigsy and Tangs, where he was raised and will be most comfortable? Flower Fruit Mountain where Sun and Macaque can keep an eye on him and he is constantly loved on by all the monkeys? The bull families where there's an entire army of bull clones serving him, Red is always close by and Iron Bull can keep an eye on him and their grand calf?

I feel like after a lot of fighting, they eventually set up a rotation, so MK won't go crazy staying in one place.

Ref.

Oh definitely!

MK hates the idea of being cooped up in one place for too long - no matter how much his dads, mentors, and Red try to get him to rest in his delicate condition. Especially after harnessing the powers of the Five Stones and trying to sacrifice himself to the Pillar. That put MK in timeout at Pigsy's for a while.

MK was pretty much passed out after harnessing so much power. Pigsy and Tang made sure he was all nice and tucked into his bed, and fed his favourite dishes every night. MK felt like a little kid staying home sick from school all over again.

Sandy always drops in to make sure MK is taking his natal vitamins and drinking ginger tea for his morning sickness. He's a big softie and can't stand the thought of the Egg being hurt from all that hero-ing they did. He very briefly curses the Black Tortoise for putting MK under so much stress, but quickly apologies and offers some peppermint cookies he baked. Mo happily curls up on MK's lap during these visits - purring loudly against the monkey's belly as if he can hear what's inside.

Mei visited near daily - keeping her fave monkey man up to date on how chaotic their world had become now that billions of people shouldered the Pillar. Lots of funny videos are shared of humans' whose powers activated for the first time.

Red visits as well, not only to tag along with Mei as they did before, but to "court" MK in a subdued fashion. His Noodle Boy isn't in the shape for hitting the town just yet - but MK def finds the flowers, sweets, and heartfelt conversations just as good. Often they fall asleep in each other's arms. Pigsy pretends he didn't see them.

Wukong feels nervous leaving MK alone at all. This monkey will leave a hair clone hidden in the room to keep an eye on MK. Macaque catches Wukong doing this after a single day and scolds him. Only for MK to reveal that he's been seeing Macaque watching him from the shadow of his tv all morning.

After roughly a week; MK develops major cabin fever and is nearly screaming to be let out of his room. It smells. He hasn't had a real shower. He wants to get his own cheese tea!

Begrudgingly his family lets him.

Only for an arguement to spike up between the dads, monkeys, and the Bull family about where MK is going to stay for the remainder of his pregnancy.

Pigsy and Tang advocate for MK to stay in his apartment. Keep him somewhere familiar and close to his family and modern medicine.

Wukong and Macaque suggest Flower Fruit Mountain. That's where MK was born, and where he accidentally spawned his Egg. Maybe his Stone Monkey instincts would prefer returning to his island of birth to have his own baby?

DBK and PIF of course want MK to come live at the Bull Palace in the Flaming Mountains. Him and Red Son have already expressed their intent to court one another, and the Egg has taken enough dao from Red to be considered her child. They can have an entire squadron of Bull Clone servants tending to MK's every need. They are not only concerned for their future grandchild, but for MK himself. PIF's pregnancy with Red was very risky, and they both have trauma from the dramatic birth. If MK were to truly go into distress as so many records of Stone Monkeys suggest, then they want him nearby so that they comfort him and even call in Xiwangmu or Guanyin to help.

The argument continues even as MK walks in through the door with Red and Mei at his side.

MK: "Hey guys, is it okay if I had like a rotation for where I stayed the night?" Wukong: "Huh? Why?" MK: "I want to keep up my training as much as possible, but I know Dadsy and Baba would get worried about me. And I know the baby is gonna be a little fiery-bull baby, so I need to get used to the palace." Mei: "Don't forget sleepovers with da best auntie ever." MK: "Word. And I don't want anyone to think I prefer anyone over them! I love all you guys, and I hope that the baby does too." (*puppy-dog eyes*)

The fam shares glances... and agree to MK's plan.

Being a monkey, MK is instinctually drawn to make a nightly nest, something that before only manifested as messy blanket-hogging. Now he's cooking a mini-monkey, that instinct evolves into making a literal blanket fort every night.

What better way to indulge this instinct than by letting him make a fresh nest in all his favourite locations (almost) every night?

Pigsy and Tang are as adoring as before. They start clearing out the upstairs storage space to make a nursery for the Egg. MK catches Pigsy swearing as he assembles a crib, and just starts bawling at the sweet gesture. The apartment is sort of MK's "default" nesting space when he can't decide on somewhere or would be left alone otherwise.

DBK and PIF are surprisingly protective of MK in this time - owing to PIF's own past pregnancy with Red Son being so risky. The queenly demoness shows MK all of Red Son's most embarrassing wood-block paintings, and all the baby clothes they had saved for just an occasion. DBK will literally carry MK to and from the bathroom if he so pleases it (Red has tried, but can barely carry MK to the couch before he gets winded). His nickname of "Little Thief" now evolved into a term of endearment - what else to call the one who stole his son's heart? The army of robotic Bull Clones tend to MK's every whim - he feels uncomfortable asking a regular servant, and still thanks the robots for their help. [MK just seems like someone who'd thank an automatic door or roomba.]

MK's stays on Flower Fruit Mountain is always time for celebration. The little monkeys can tell that he's carrying, and swarm him for grooming and nap times. Wukong isn't comfortable teaching MK anything too strenuous at this time, but he does trick him into attending pre-natal yoga classes. Macaque is barely any better - he helps MK with his nightly nest-building, like a grand-monkey helping their grown cub. Macaque is the first to confirm the Egg's "quickening" when MK starts to feel it. The monkeys are just delighted to be in each other's company at this time.

If MK just wants some time with his bestie, he heads over to Mei. She has her own apartment deeper in the city, and has already tricked out an "MK and EK room!" ("EK?" "Egg Kid!") for their visits. It took her a moment to understand why MK was making a blanket fort, but she happily joined in when she realised it was a nesting behaviour! Dragons naturally join in with nesting to keep their litter-mates and their eggs warm. There's def photos of MK fast asleep in the nest, hugging Mei tight. She captions one of the photos "Looks like I'm a body pillow tonight. Future nibling has started kicking!"

Occasionally during his time with the Bull fam; MK runs off with Red to the Fire-Wind Cave for... meditating. And actual meditating since MK learned that Red Son used to be Guanyin's disciple and wanted to know what he learned from that time. Lots of soft cuddling and bonding occurs.

A few time Xiwangmu has busted in and offered MK some time in the Celestial Realm so that she can get to know him and her future great-grandcub. MK only comes once he's assured that the time difference isn't how the stories claim it to be (a celestial day is just super long, not actually a whole year passing on earth), and that he can take Red Son or his family as company. Xiwangmu has already prepared an entire wing of the Jade Palace in preparations for the new royal baby.

MK get's time alone of course. If he's not in his regular spots, he's normally playing arcade games or enjoying some nice street food. He makes a point of leaving offerings at the Temple of Nüwa. He wants to honour the goddess that gave him life, and the choice to preserve the lives of this world.

So it's no wonder that MK's Stone Egg 100% ends up being born in none of these super-safe places...

foreshadowing

[biboomerangboi]

This is absolutely nothing to do with the Netflix show I haven’t even watched that thing but I’m once again thinking about Sokka and Sokkas Master again and going insane.

Especially with how Sokka was never supposed to be a warrior. Like fundamentally he’s just not built for that kind of life. He was born into war and has been basically been told and trained to believe that one day he is going to die for his tribe and especially for his sister and that’s his destiny and he’s like okay that’s my job that’s what I do and everyone in the tribe knows this and sees this as my role as I am the only man left. (I sincerely doubt a bunch of woman and old people were actually looking at this kid as the last warrior seriously until he went to fight the fire nation BY HIMSELF but that’s not the point, the point is he was doing it)

But but the thing about Sokka is he’s not a fighter, he’s a scholar to his core. He doesn’t win hand to hand against Zuko but he does get a hit in with his boomerang that takes an insane amount of math to do perfectly and even though he loses the fight we realise already that Sokka is coming at this war from a different angle that anyone else is.

Like Sokka knows when he joins Aang he doesn’t have as much to bring to the team, he basically assigns himself the role of provider and bodyguard and is now willing to die for both of them because they are two of the most important people in the world and he could have been cynical the entire time. He was prepared to be cynical. Until he goes to Kyoshi gets his shit rocked by a girl and is like oh damn there’s different ways to go about fighting and war and I actually don’t know a lot of it can you super pretty warrior lady teach me your ways and from that moment on Sokka becomes a student.

He gets the mark of the wise with Bato, he figures out how to get Katara on that prison ship and that the fortune teller is a hoax and gets the water bending scroll all through thinking things through not fighting them head on. He invents the fricken war ballon and it’s so clear that all his thinking is now coming at things from an angle no one expects which is so perfect for this war in particular considering it’s been basically a slow tug of war between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation for decades. He’s looking at these things and he’s like hey I’m not a bender but I do know how benders think and how a lot of people think because I’m trying to figure out how the world works. Like by the time he gets to North he isn’t as great with the weapons because again HES NOT A FIGHTER AT HEART but he is a thinker and he points out all the holes in the Norths strategy with full confidence.

Like in book 2 all his thoughts are about winning and out thinking the enemy. He learns about the library and gets so genuine excited about it but he can’t be a true nerd cause of his responsibilities but he basically plans a way to win the war, learns haikus, try’s art, gets into wrestling and learns so much about other cultures and skills he’s always thinking and winning and no longer doing things on impulse.

But of course he still feels insecure about that and doesn’t see his brain as his true weapon because he was supposed to be the warrior. That’s his role.

So he goes to Piandao who sees all of that and sees how Sokka is so so smart and eager to learn and think in ways that no one expects and he nurtures that. He teaches him art and calligraphy and gives him a Jian! He gives Sokka a Jian "The Gentleman of Weapons" not Dao even though Dao are made for soilders and Jian are for scholars, nobels and people who have time for proper sword craft. (Not to mention the fact they are primarily used for Tai Chi which is also the base for water bending which is just a detail I love). Like the Jian is a sword for scholars it’s for scholars!!!

Sokkas a thinker not a fighter and that’s so amazing to me.

Like he starts as the boy that took on a fire nation ship by himself then ends the series as the guy who’s strategies won the war, a trusted advisor for basically anyone of importance because they know he’s smart and are willing to listen to his ideas and with such a happy future for him to grow without the weight of having to be a fighter weighing him down cause that’s not who he’s supposed to be.

[vodkacheesefries]

big spoilers for dragon age the veilguard from early access players beneath the cut.

Also lengthy rambling/opinions.

proceed at thine own peril

In theory I'm okay with things being boiled down into a handful of simple questions to help new incoming players establish a background for their game.

HOWEVER, we're only getting three, and those are:

Did your Inquisitor disband/keep the Inquisition?

Did they vow to save/stop Solas?

Who did they romance?

That's it. This is. A choice.

I get it. it's been 10 years since Inquisition came out and longer since DA2 and DAO. A lot of people probably haven't played the early games, and there are hundreds if not thousands of choices across all three games that including them in Veilguard would be difficult.

But there are a handful of choices/decisions that it is absolutely wild to me that they aren't including in Veilguard's questionnaire. At the bare minimum I was hoping for the following:

What was the fate of your Grey Warden?

What was the fate of your Hawke?

Who drank from the Well of Sorrows?

Did your Inquisitor disband/keep the Inquisition?

Did your Inquisitor vow to save/stop Solas?

That's it! Only two more questions than we already have, and two of them are the same as the ones we're getting. All of the important story choices, and small choices that you could make in the prior games boil down to the fate of your character in that game so there's no need to get more detailed than that.

For example, obviously if your Warden survived the final battle, the dark ritual took place, so there's no need to ask more about it. Obviously if Hawke was left in the fade, they didn't go to Weisshaupt, and Alistair/Loghain/Stroud stayed in the Fade. Obviously if Morrigan drank from the well of Sorrows, your Inquisitor isn't going to be linked to Mythal, but Morrigan is.

Those feel like arguably the most important story beats from the previous games and I feel like that still keeps it simple enough and doesn't rely on importing potentially thousands of choices you made across the three prior games, while still explaining just enough without having to explain too much to new players.

(side note: I suppose if we want to get extra fancy we can add a question for "Who did your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor romance" because callbacks to those relationships have always been fun, especially if we're getting any sort of cameo of past companions. Which at this point, I don't think we are.)

As far as past player characters returning, I get why that's hard to do because there's so many different endings for the Warden, and even Hawke post Inquisition. Would I like for them to show back up? Sure. But I'm okay if they don't.

TBH the most I've been hoping for is that maybe somewhere in a level/mission you're on, maybe with Davrin, you could find an easy to miss crumpled up letter/codex entry on it talking about how if your Warden was still alive they found a cure and disappeared into a well deserved retirement and to not bother them with anymore end of the world bullshit ever again.

Hell, I'd even accept it if it mentioned they'd started hearing the Calling and went to the Deep Roads and they're sorry they couldn't do more. I just want to know what happens to them. It doesn't have to be a pivotal plot point or anything.

Crumbs.

I am begging for crumbs, Bioware.

PS: I know it sounds like I'm being incredibly critical of the game, but I am actually very excited for it and I do think I'll enjoy it, despite any ties, or lack thereof, to prior games. I'm a big fan of being critical of the things you enjoy.

Now if you want me to get really critical because I don't like something, ask me how I feel about Inquisition because WHOOO boy I could give a Ted Talk about how much I dislike Inquisition.

[fereldanwench]

i'm still holding off final judgement until the gameplay today, but seeing some stills on twitter kind of helped me solidify what i found so off-putting about the style in the companion trailer

although before i post those, a few counter arguments because i'm already tired of ppl bashing the ppl who aren't vibing with it, and my head is clear enough to put these thoughts down:

"cinematic trailers rarely look like the actual game" - true to a point. however: 1) typically cinematic trailers strive to look like a higher definition version of the game, which seems to be the opposite here. in the case of DAO and DA2, i would say the cinematic trailers actually strived for more realism, not stylization, as that was the trend at the time. 2) this is a cinematic trailer, but it is also done in the game engine so it's not unreasonable to assume that the end product is gonna look somewhat similar 3) this was supposed to be their best foot forward so suddenly going "don't worry, it's gonna look better in-game" is just a bad marketing move. it's not on the audience to give this company the benefit of the doubt (particularly in light of all the shit that has gone down there in the past decade)

"not everything has to be super realistic!" - agreed! not liking elements of this particular style doesn't mean i'm opposed to stylization in DA at all. i think DA2 is much more stylized than DAO, and not only does it look nicer, it looks more distinctly dragon age. DAO visually is also very generic, especially for its time. i still love the almost painterly look of DA2, even all these years later

and i think DAI has issues with the character models, especially the uncanny valley disconnect between the really stiff animations and realistic faces (having played it within the past year, they've aged pretty roughly), but in terms of environment and armor and whatnot, it did build off the style presented in DA2 in a way that effectively modernized it for that era. it did go for a more realistic look, but it was cohesive and still distinctly dragon age

"people reacted like this to DA2 and DAI's trailers too" - no, they did not, lmao. DA2's trailers were the reverse--they looked more realistic than the actual game. now there was some backlash against the stylistic choice in the actual game. i remember david gaider talking about it in a panel at dragon con in 2012--apparently ppl were upset that the companions looked like they were made with cosplayers in mind, which i thought was an interesting criticism. but no, the trailers did not get this sort of response.

and DAI's trailers used a lot of in-game footage, and the cinematic ones were both pretty accurate to the game and well-received by the audience. DAI's marketing was also absolutely bonkers and nonstop for like 9 months before the game was released, which in hindsight i think was way too much, but in terms of visuals, we knew exactly what we were getting.

"you guys just think anything with a style to it looks like fortnite" - lmao, okay, yeah, describing it as fornite is probably unfair and inaccurate, but i know for me, i kind of use it as a shorthand to reflect my general dissatisfaction with the way so many 3D styles (in both games and movies) just have this bland, cartoonish look to them. the pixar-ification of everything. i just don't like it.

and the logo with the bright purple and overly smooth text doesn't really help here either. i think a less saturated and darker purple paired with a grungier font would also help in making this feel like less like fornite season 3458345: dragon age avengers.

plus it was originally gonna be a live service game and i think that it still has some of that dna artistically

SO ANYWAY

these stills, which i think are also in-game engine but im not entirely sure if they're from cinematics, gameplay, or just renders but they seem to be in-line with the trailer:

and seeing emmrich and to a lesser extent neve in these pics solidified why the stylization didn't work for me on a visual level (never mind it being paired with the light-hearted planning-for-a-silly-little-heist vibes)

so when i first saw the trailer, and i saw varric, i was like "nice"

he looked like a higher definition, older version of a DA2/DAI hybrid of his model. he looked really good. i thought harding looked good, too. it did take me a minute to realize who she was, but it really wouldn't be a DA trailer if we weren't left wondering who tf a returning character was lmao (remember the confusion over alistair's appearance in one of the DAI trailers? this is actually tradition now)

but as the trailer goes on, the style doesn't even stay consistent--it just gets progressively more cartoonish right up to emmrich, which is the exact moment that made me go WHAT

he looks like a cartoon character. the hard lines in his face, the stiffness of his hair, his overall proportions--he looks like he should be a villain in a pixar movie. like i'm digging his overall vibe and as a concept of a character design, i love it. but this execution of it next to fellow old wrinkled man varric looks so off

and then we go right into davrin who is beautifully rendered and designed--he doesn't look out of place next to varric or harding

some characters have the soft, wispy hair while others have hair that looks like a hard shell with lines carve into it. some characters have finely detailed wrinkles while others have thick, cartoonish ones. some characters have realistic proportions while others have more exaggerated features.

stylization is only effective when it's purposeful and consistent, and from what i've seen so far, it's not. it's all over the place.

so there's my thesis about why i dont like the art direction in the trailer lmao

and like i've been saying since it dropped, i am reserving full judgment for the gameplay reveal, but based on the other stuff bioware has teased, i'm not expecting this aspect to change too much. i've seen other ppl who were on the fan council thing say the tone in the game is more in-line with the tone in the other games, so maybe that'll help smooth out this disconnect

[robsterskellington]

I wrote a bit more. Continued from this:

(Basically, what would happen if Wei Wuxian woke up in the Burial Mounds after being thrown down by Wen Chao, but all of his memories from before then were intact- meaning from long after he and Lan Wangji got married)

It was strange, reclaiming the Lotus Pier with Lan Wangji at his side, but Wei Wuxian couldn't deny that he felt calmer for it. He didn't know what he was going to do about their feelings- Lan Wangji never had the guts to talk to him personally, and while he took Wei Wuxian's first kiss, it was only because he saw an opportunity while he was blindfolded. But the problem now was that if Wei Wuxian confessed now, it might be seen as insincere.

Hell, so much he could change would look strange; he'd try and be kinder towards Jin Zixuan, especially knowing now that he truly was his Shijie's one true love, he'd be more respectful of Jiang Cheng's duties and not shun him... but some things had already changed, and it made him unbelievably happy. Wen Ning had been so happy to see Wei Wuxian, and he couldn't resist hugging him- Wei Wuxian didn't want his Ghost General by his side, he wanted this man to live as good a life as possible.

Last time, the problem had been that not all of the Wens who survived the Sunshot Campaign were willing to discard their family name. This time was different- Wei Wuxian never hid the fact that he was protecting the Wens in Yiling and they heard him out, before ultimately agreeing that it was more beneficial to them to leave Qishan behind them, for their lives and futures weren't worth discarding. Thus, Wen Ning was now Jiang Ning, just as many others had changed their family name to match their new Clans.

Lan Wangji informed Wei Wuxian about A-yuan, and how he was now Lan Yuan, until they could come up with a good curtesy name. It took everything in Wei Wuxian to keep his mouth shut, for once.

They stepped into the main hall, and Wei Wuxian felt so much agony in his heart. Jiang Cheng looked at him and went to reach for him, but Wei Wuxian whispered, "Madam Yu was always right about me, wasn't she? Our Clan fell, she and Uncle Jiang died... and it was all my fault. I know that 'sorry' won't make up for all the lives lost, but I don't know what else to do or say to apologise or make amends."

"Mom said a lot of things, Wei Wuxian. And I never did enough to fight for you, so you don't need to apologise." Wei Wuxian gave him a funny look- Jiang Cheng *always* argued against Madam Yu when she punished Wei Wuxian, stating that it wasn't fair that he got beaten or scolded so frequently. He obviously couldn't take any punishment for Wei Wuxian, because he never did anything that warranted a punishment. Jiang Cheng sighed, "Just... you mentioned not being able to go down a normal path. Why not?"

"Way to change the subject," He chuckled weakly before indicating for Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji to sit with him. That was when he finally told the truth, himself: "I can't cultivate anymore. I don't have a Golden Core."

Both of them looked stunned as Wei Wuxian proved it, unsheathing Suibian and revealing that he couldn't use it with spiritual energy, it just wasn't possible. In a panic, Lan Wangji grabbed Wei Wuxian and tried to give him his own spiritual energy, only to see that there truly was no Golden Core to put it in. He started to tremble, and Wei Wuxian gently took his hand and held it. When Lan Wangji didn't pull away, Wei Wuxian gently squeezed it.

Jiang Cheng looked like he would throw up, but then blurted, "Baoshan Sanren! Can't we go to her, and tell her the truth?!"

"No. That was the biggest lie I've ever told you. Here's the truth: *I have no idea where Baoshan Sanren resides*. Even if I did, just because my mother was Cangse Sanren, there was no guarantees that she would help me." He looked down and took a shuddering breath, "The reason I was willing to trust Wen Qing before, was because she was a famous doctor who had a brilliant theory-"

"It's *Jiang* Qing, actually." The men looked up to see the aforementioned doctor, exhausted but grinning when she saw Wei Wuxian alive, wearing the purple robes of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan. "Though *do* keep flattering me, and after, you need food and some fucking sleep. You look dreadful."

"Wow, thanks a lot. Bitch." They both laughed, but Wei Wuxian knew he had to be completely serious. He looked at Jiang Cheng's horrified face and sighed, "Jiang Qing had theorised that someone could have their Golden Core removed and transferred into another person. When you lost yours, I knew what I had to do to secure your future."

Lan Wangji gasped softly and Jiang Cheng's eyes filled with tears, as Wei Wuxian moved his robes aside to reveal the scar and stitching on his abdomen. To prove the point further, he held out Suibian to Jiang Cheng, who unsheathed it and watched it radiate with a red aura. This was what Wei Wuxian had done, for him. And he still asked how he could possibly make up for everything? He'd already sacrificed his future, his powers, and he knew that people would fear him for using the dark arts. "...why..? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't risk you refusing." That was the final truth of the matter. Jiang Cheng knew that if Wei Wuxian had suggested it before, he absolutely wouldn't have accepted. How could something be so selfish yet selfless at the same time? He looked at the incision, and silently asked Wei Wuxian, who shook his head, "I don't want to talk about it. All I'll say is that I can't gain a Golden Core by traditional methods anymore. However..." he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a shining Golden Core.

Lan Wangji's eyes widened, "Wen Zhuliu's Golden Core. You stole it. Then..." they looked at Jiang Qing who took it and examined it, "Is it possible?"

"I'll have to test it to see. Like transferring organs or blood, some Golden Cores may not be compatible with certain people. It's unfortunately very complicated. It was lucky to have worked the first time, there was a less than fifty percent chance of it working." Jiang Qing missed how Jiang Cheng nearly passed out from that knowledge, knowing that one of his siblings nearly died so he could have the means to use spiritual energy.

Wei Wuxian kept hope in his heart. If this worked, the Golden Core would repell the resentful energy inside him, and he could go back to how it was before. If it failed, then he'd simply have to be more careful. He'd do whatever he could to benefit the cultivation world, just as he'd done before with his Spirit Lure Flags and knowledge of monsters. He just hoped that he didn't screw up as badly. Thinking about all the mistakes he'd made, even though not all were his fault, made him depressed beyond words.

Jiang Qing put the Golden Core to his chest, but it refused to go in- when they put Wei Wuxian's Golden Core into Jiang Cheng, it had immediately sank into his chest and settled, like it belonged there. Wen Zhuliu's Golden Core was just as stubborn as the man himself had been, and Jiang Qing shook her head solemnly, "I'm sorry, Wei Wuxian."

"Can't he take his back?" Wei Wuxian was about to tell Jiang Cheng to shut up, but he continued, "I'll find another way. This isn't fair on him, he's done more than enough for me and my family!"

"No. Golden Core's are incredibly strong, but even they feel strain. It probably wouldn't survive the strain of being torn out of a body again, especially when you would have to stay conscious the entire time it's removed." She put the Golden Core in a pouch and sighed, "Wei Wuxian stayed awake for nearly three days when we removed his."

"So... Wei Ying is stuck on this path?" Jiang Qing nodded to Lan Wangji, who didn't even know what to do or say. He'd hoped that if Wei Wuxian had come to Guzu with him, Lan Wangji could expell the resentful energy and guide him back to a normal path, then it could go back to how things should be. But there was nothing anyone in the world could do, now.

Wei Wuxian sighed then shrugged, "Fine, then." Lan Wangji flinched but Wei Wuxian crossed his arms, "If I'm stuck on this dark and narrow path, I'll find a way to stabilise it. I already know a lot of things I can use this power for, ways in which I can help people. So I will. Obviously I'll need help from time to time, and if there's any chance of me losing control of my temperament, then I definitely need you guys."

"As if you could get rid of us so easily, Wei Wuxian." Jiang Cheng finally smiled, albeit weakly. "This is your home. Will you still be going to Guzu on occasion once this is over?"

"If Lan Zhan wants me to." He turned to look at Lan Wangji and spoke softly, "I know I annoyed you in the past, and I understand if... if you hate me, but... please don't give up on me, Lan Zhan."

"...never." His voice had been so soft, that Wei Wuxian tilted his head, and Lan Wangji looked into his eyes, "I've never hated you. I will never give up on you. You're still *you*, even with this. I don't like that this path was chosen for you, because that's exactly what happened, isn't it?"

At last, everyone understood why Wei Wuxian was the only one to master Demonic Cultivation. A Golden Core rejects resentment, while someone who once cultivated would have a much stronger mind, body and soul; Wei Wuxian had the perfect form, but no Golden Core to protect him, making him the only one truly capable of harnessing this power. But he didn't choose it- he only accepted it when it was his only option, because dying should never have been in consideration.

Wei Wuxian smiled weakly and nodded, "Yeah. I even said before, after our first class together, that just being curious wasn't enough for me to want to throw away everything I'd worked for. I goofed off a lot, but I really did take everything I was taught seriously. I loved being able to use spiritual energy, to protect people, to use weapons at their full potential." He looked down, "Don't get me wrong, I find this path interesting, and power is always going to be addictive, but I didn't choose it."

Lan Wangji hated seeing Wei Wuxian upset, and spoke softly, "You're not alone. And we'll figure something out."

"That's enough of all that." They turned to see Jiang Yanli walk in, with a tray holding five bowls of soup, "I'm sorry for eavesdropping... I didn't know if I even had a right to say anything."

"It saves me from explaining things to you later, Shijie." Wei Wuxian had to stop himself from running into her arms, hugging her and crying. Instead, he took the soup she provided, and tilted his head at Lan Wangji's portion, "Is it a different colour?"

"I heard the Lan Clan aren't very good with spice, so I made sure not to add any. I didn't for yours either, Doctor Qing." Wei Wuxian grinned, loving how thoughtful she was.

Lan Wangji looked at the soup and sipped it, his face lighting up a little and he couldn't stop himself from smiling a little, "This is wonderful, thank you, Lady Jiang."

They all ate, none of them talking any more, just enjoying some comfort food in silence. Wei Wuxian felt like his very soul had healed, surrounded by the people who meant a lot to him. He'd asked about Jiang Ning, and Jiang Yanli assured him that she'd already given him some food, and that they could all take the time to rest.

This also gave time for Wei Wuxian to think about his next move. He'd already managed to do one thing differently: when Jin Zixuan had scolded Jiang Yanli during what had been dubbed 'the soup incident', instead of beating up the peacock, Wei Wuxian had pulled him aside and stated very bluntly that just because he felt nothing for Jiang Yanli, that didn't meant she felt nothing for him.

He'd been blunt and harsh with his words: "You only think you hate her because your marriage was *arranged*. If Madam Jin and Madam Yu hadn't decided before the two of you were even born that you'd get married, I'd bet my very soul that the two of you would have gotten along and maybe fallen in love on your own!" Jin Zixuan didn't know what to say, and he couldn't dispute his words. Wei Wuxian had remained calm and spoke softly, "Now you understand why Clan Leader Jiang and I were angry at you when we were kids. She adored you. Look, obviously I have no right to keep you away from her, but for now, both of you need some space. Besides, we have more pressing matters now, don't we?"

Jin Zixuan had indeed given Jiang Yanli some space, but it became obvious that it wasn't his choice- she wouldn't even glance his way anymore, and he realised just how badly he'd messed up. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were furious with him, but both of them focused on making her smile again, rather than focusing their anger on the asshole who made her cry.

Wei Wuxian snapped out of it when Lan Wangji looked at him with concern, but he just smiled. The smile quickly faded when he remembered what his next move was the last time- the creation of the Yin Tiger Tally. Knowing what it could lead to, he didn't want to create it, however it truly was the one weapon able to help them fight with a chance in the war. At least this time, he could ask someone else's opinion, "Lan Zhan. You remember that sword I found, back in the Xuanwu of Slaughter's cave?"

"Mn. It was a strange sword, you were holding onto it when we killed the monster. What of it?" He was curious, but a little worried about where this was going.

"It was full of resentful energy from those who died, eaten alive by the tortoise, but it also had the Sin of Murder within it. It's likely that if melted and reforged, it would make a very powerful spiritual weapon. It has more power than even I ever will, and that boost of strength could be just what we need for winning this war." The issue was how risky it would be. After all, literally anyone could use the Yin Tiger Tally, Jin Guangyao proved that before he died in the future- his brain hated using past tense to refer to a future event, but obviously that was what his life had come to.

It would absolutely give him the strength to win, but he also had to remember that no matter how skilled he was, it was impossible to control that amount of corpses alone. Even during the fall of Nightless City, Wei Wuxian had put everything into summoning zombies to just attack the Wens, but couldn't stop the zombies from also attacking their own men. It was counterproductive, and just senseless killing. Perhaps he could try and simply lay siege to Nightless City on his own, but if he was overwhelmed, he'd die again. That was if the people who wanted revenge wouldn't just come and attack anyway, getting in the way.

"*No*." He blinked and looked up at Lan Wangji, his expression stoney and stern, "Even with your powers, there's no guarantee that it wouldn't harm *you*. If there's no other way, then I'll help you. But please, consider this a last resort only." His expression softened a little when he saw a look of powerlessness in Wei Wuxian's eyes, "You're strong, Wei Ying. But you're not invincible, and I don't want you getting hurt again. Losing you once, it-"

He cut himself off, but he'd already been heard. His ears went red, and Wei Wuxian hid his smile. Obviously the in character thing to do right now would be to tease him for his slip up, but unfortunately, this mind of his had memories of tender moments and a heart filled with love for this person. So, Wei Wuxian instead took Lan Wangji's hands and looked into his beautiful golden eyes, "Okay. I trust your words, because you've already proven that you're just looking out for me. You won't lose me again, and I'll push that idea into the back of my mind. If there's no other choice, I'll create the weapon. If we can win without it, then that's that."

Lan Wangji found himself unable to pull away, or call Wei Wuxian shameless again. He just squeezed the hands in his, and looked into Wei Wuxian's cloudy grey eyes before stating sternly, "You need to sleep. You're exhausted. We have time to rest, you need to take it." He wasn't quite sure what came over him, but he grabbed Wei Wuxian, scooping him into his arms and looking at Jiang Cheng, "Bedroom?"

Jiang Cheng just stuttered the direction of Wei Wuxian's bedroom and watched Lan Wangji run off with his older brother in a bridal carry, "...what the fuck just happened?"

Jiang Qing smirked and Jiang Yanli tilted her head, "That explains why A-xian never spoke of any interest in any woman. Though I wonder why he never told us he was interested in Second Master Lan? Did he think we wouldn't accept him?"

They didn't actually do anything, which both relieved and disappointed Wei Wuxian- relieved because he didn't want to rush their relationship and risk ruining anything, but disappointed because he *never* got to be this close to his husband at this point in their lives. The Wen Clan had actually taken good care of the Lotus Pier, so his old bedroom was still intact and similar to how it had been before, thankfully. Lan Wangji laid him in bed, and just sat on the chair beside him, "Sleep. I'll watch over you, and wake you if anything happens."

Wei Wuxian *was* beyond exhausted. But he desired to be closer to Lan Wangji, it was just really difficult. They were still kids, in a way. He yawned, but couldn't settle. Lan Wangji could see that it wasn't on purpose, it was like Wei Wuxian's consciousness was stubbornly keeping him up, when Wei Wuxian himself just wanted a good night's sleep. He took Wangji from his back and slowly started to play the song he'd written, the song Wei Wuxian used to communicate that he was still alive in the Burial Mounds.

He played wangxian, humming slightly to his own melody, and watched as Wei Wuxian slowly stopped fidgeting, and finally relaxed, even letting out little snores. Lan Wangji stopped playing, and watched over him slightly, gently moving Wei Wuxian's hair out of his face, before whispering, "I honestly thought you would tell me that you aren't mine to lose. I'm glad you didn't, because that would have been wrong. I want to protect you, Wei Ying. Let me. *Please*."

There was no response, Wei Wuxian was too busy dreaming, and Lan Wangji just sighed with relief. Things would be okay, he'd make sure of it.

[privatebooth]

All these talks about the new Dragon Age game are making me nostalgic.

I remember how when DA2 was being made there was so much hype, and I was not thrilled at all. Origins left such a strong impression on me, I hated the idea of moving on to something different. Change was always difficult for me to accept, any change. I know a lot of people didn't want to part with their wardens, there's nothing original in that, but...

I hated Hawke before he even came into existence. I only wanted to see more of my Warden and Zevran who turned my world upside down.

Instead, they made this new character who spoke and had a semblance of an actual personality which I couldn't even control!

Then Bioware started feeding us little snippets of the game, and I saw the grumpy little brother, obviously displeased with his life, which pretty much instantly endeared him to me, and I thought I could try playing this game just to make him smile. Also, I really liked Nicholas Boulton's voice, and didn't mind hearing more of him (my Warden was a city fem elf, so I thought working with him would be fun).

The demo came out when I more or less started to come to terms with the fact that I'll never see my warden again, but may still hear something about her, and I was desperate for something. I played with all combinations of classes and genders, absolutely hated the gameplay - still do, loved being a rogue in DAO, but here it makes me want to smash my keyboard - but was very happy to find that mages are much more fun to play now, since I wanted to have Carver in my team.

Okay, but I still hated Hawke. I didn't know anything about his story, didn't care to know, and I told him right away "You will fail". I really didn't want him to succed, there was no way he could ever compare to HOF, who solved every single problem, saved every single soul she could save, and befriended everyone she ever met. The icon of diplomacy and efficiency, with just enough arrogance to be lovable (cocky elf voice FTW!) I still miss her so much.

The good thing about not caring too much about this guy was that I actually allowed Hawke to be human. I didn't feel pressured to play the hero who must always make the right choice. He was allowed to make questionable decisions, to fail, it was expected of him. I didn't want a lousy wannabe superhero. Can't persuade that angry Dalish elf on Wounded coast? That's okay, Hawke, you're not the Warden - she definitely could have talked her down. A crowd of weary Fereldans protecting Anders? Carver, you go talk to them.

On and on, it became more apparent that Hawke's story would not be as glorious as the Warden's, and he won't be as much of a hero. He truly was just a guy who was trying to get by and take care of his family and friends. No ambition to fix the world and save everyone.

The Warden remains an unachievable ideal I can only dream of emulating.

Hawke... he is so much more relatable, and a lot closer to me than any Bioware char will ever be. I love him so much.

[kaija-rayne-author]

Ugh I can’t not theorize. I’ve been at it non stop. Once a story catches my interest my brain just going into hyper speed trying to figure out how the writers (if they do a good job) will bring all of their themes, hints, etc to fruition. All I’m missing is a cork board, pins, and miles of red string.

What’s super exciting this time is I’m actually dealing with a property where the writers are….good? I’m so used to being disappointed when fan theories (often my own) turn out to be much better than the canon, but I don’t see that happening here. Weekes is clearly a masterful writer and knows how to build up to a satisfying twist.

Because you just know another twist is coming. Solas, despite everything, is just too soft hearted to make a convincing final boss. It couldn’t be more obvious that being The Dreadwolf and putting aside his own conscience takes every ounce of energy he has. Eventually he’ll have his breaking point and that’s when we’ll find out who our true villain is.

It’s Mythal. I’ll eat my damn hat if it isn’t. She’s either not the person Solas remembers, or maybe she never was. In either case, there’s been plenty of clues both in DAI and in subsequent materials (specifically Tevinter Knights) to imply that there’s something else going on here.

We keep seeing imagery of the Dreadwolf as a mutant abomination that is part wolf and part dragon. It’s easy to point to the end credit scene of DAI and say “well yeah he fused with Mythal who is a dragon” and sure it looked that way…but is that actually what happened?

We saw Flemeth part with some form of magical energy before Solas arrived. We also know that she’d taken the soul of Uthemiel from Kieran. Uthemiel happens to be a dragon, or was until he was tainted and became an Archdemon.

Archdemons can control Darkspawn. And taking a Darkspawn army past the Veil to enact vengeance upon the Evanuris sees like something Flemeth would do. But that doesn’t seem like something Solas would want. His agenda has always been to fix his past mistakes and tear down the Veil for the greater good. He doesn’t seem that fond of Darkspawn, in fact he was pretty pissed at the Wardens for screwing around with them.

Where I’m going with this, is I think it’s entirely possible Solas is being used. He may have unwittingly fused himself with an Archdemon, assuming it was the essence of Mythal. The real plan, now that plan A failed, might be turning him into an Archdemon so Flemeth/Mythal can use him to start another blight and wield the darkspawn. Corypheus managed to mind control an Archdemon, so clearly it can be done.

And if that’s the case, then ooooooh boy.

Poor Solas.

OMG. I missed this one and I'm so glad I finally found it!

What a fascinating idea. Holy shitballs.

Okay, so I just restarted DAO, I'll be on the lookout through these playthroughs (I'm doing DA2 next, then probably DAI again, because I'm an utter sucker for lore) for hints about all that!

I thought the whole point of the dark ritual w/Morrigan was to purify Urthemiel's 'soul' through being born as an innocent child. But what if that didn't work?

But then, wouldn't Kieran have shown signs of taint? Hmmm. Maybe not, given it's just the soul?

I'm still not convinced that Flemythal parted with any kind of energy in that scene. BUT if she did... well, she's pulled the whole 'soul piece recovery schtick' before. So if it was energy or a soul, it could've been hers. Leaving just Urthemiel. Which would very possibly warp Solas into a dragon/wolf thing. And Mythal is very used to Solas going along with what she wants. So it feels like something she wouldn't think twice about. She uses Morrigan too, and Kieran, so it’s definitely something she's used to doing.

I have a strong feeling Solas is indeed being used. And has been since he was 'born' from the fade. There's a lot of hints to his resignation, nay, even belief that it's right that Mythal used him. (This is... common, in abuse survivors, FWIW.)

But I believe it's canon that his forehead scar came from when he burnt off Mythal's Vallaslin? I have to see if I can find that again. I can't remember where I read it.

I think Mythal will be rather unpleasantly surprised in the spine Solas has developed since her 'murder'. He doesn't seem at all likely to me to be all 'hey! My enslaver is back! Let me just get my slave brands again'. Now, if he were still truly alone, he might just cave into it because man, does Solas have some pretty massive Mythal issues. Not sure if he regards her as his mom or something else or a mix of things, urk.

BUT he's not actually truly alone anymore is he? No matter how hard he tries to be. A Romanced Lavellan can tell him "Var lath vir suledin" which translates sorta, into "Our - love - way/path - endure/strength to withstand loss."

So he knows he's not alone. That inky will absolutely go to the mat for him. He has actual friends, too. He said Bull has him, if you don't betray Bull w/the Chargers. Solas doesn't strike me as someone to say that lightly.

So, he also knows he has friends, too.

I think, if Mythal actually is the big bad (kinda hoping for this tbh) she's gonna have a rather rude awakening when it comes to Solas. Who, from all I can tell, has always willingly served her whims. Because she was 'the best of them' doesn't mean she was actually good.

I talked about how he's heavily neurodivergent coded before, and we're generally loyal to a fault, which Solas very much shows.

But we do also often, eventually, reach a 'no more' point. After which, we'll absolutely close all those doors we'd previously left open.

If Solas acts the way I suspect he might, he'd then use everything he knows about Mythal and the Evanuris to help the game protag (I still wish I could just carry my inky over) defeat the buggers.

But what would it take for him to finally reach that point with Mythal? Mommy issues are soooo hard to deal with in therapy because it's so damned easy to backslide.

Hurting Inky? Doing something that will destroy the fade (like marching a darkspawn army into it)? Making him betray all of his followers who truly believe in him and his goals of freeing enslaved elves?

Solas deeply believes that slavery is wrong. In a way that makes me think he was actually enslaved at one point. Obviously to Mythal.

Oh, fuck me. What an amazing story they could tell about the whole 'but there were good slave owners' bullshit nonsense some people like to spout.

Of course, I still really wish Bioware would tell a story with a disabled protag. Which the end of Inquisition really would set up nicely. But given their shit disability rep, I know not to hold my breath over that.

[paintedbutton]

Okay, serious first opinion on Veilguard, let's go.

I've played about 10 hours of it so far, and while it's pretty fun and engaging, I'm not completely sold yet.

The combat, to me, is a major weak point. Sure, it's fun, sort of, but it doesn't feel like Dragon Age to me. It's missing a LOT of elements from the previous games. In a way, combat feels a lot like the exaggerated beginning in DA2 - everything's flashy, my rogue seems to be teleporting all over the place, you get it. For me, the build-up's missing. I couldn't even tell who was and wasn't a mage for a bit there because everyone seems to be glowing all the time. I'm missing the strategic aspects of combat a lot. Not just the ability to pause and position your party, but also the ability to actually think about what you're doing. I feel very railroaded a lot of the time what with the ui very insistently telling you that THIS IS A COMBO, THIS ENEMY IS WEAK TO THAT, etc. The classes don't seem to matter anymore. I've yet to get a warrior into my team, and the game doesn't seem to care too much about it at all. It's still fun ... I think ... but it feels a tad too much to me. Too button-mashy.

I like the lighthouse as a base of operations, and I like how everyone finds their little home to hole up in there. It's interesting, and I'm looking forward to exploring it more.

Story-wise, I'm a little on the fence so far. It could be good, I think, but I'm a little irritated that Solas/we just unleashed two ancient elven gods on the world and everyone just shrugs and rolls with it. Some parts of the dialogue feel very wooden and expository, but I guess that's to be expected when you have a decade between games and need to give everyone the same base of knowledge. On the other hand, some stuff is hardly explained at all (the Veil Jumpers, what's even happened with the veil after Inquisition, etc). Some things (Harding getting magic) feel a little rushed. But I'll be interested to see how it goes. And I do like that Varric's little storytime sequences have made a return.

What I do very much like is that Rook is rooted in the world, and that not only their choices but what they say seems to matter. Kudos to that. Although, at least in my few hours of gameplay, some aspects do seem to be missing. I made my "practice" Rook and elf and a Crow, so I thought - city elf, obviously. When she uttered the words "our gods" without blinking an eye, I was a little miffed for a moment. Maybe there's opportunities later to flesh out Rook's backstory through dialogue or something, but so far they get a background and that's about it.

The art direction is hit and miss for me. The game is beautiful, the costumization seemingly endless, and none of the enemies are rooted in any sort of previous art design, which makes me kinda sad. I know we knew this from the trailers, but I just don't understand Bioware's insistence on redeveloping the wheel with every single game. I joked about the darkspawn, but seriously. The lack of consistency annoys the fuck out of me (as do the darkspawn in general tbh. They made something interesting, lore-wise, in DAO and built interesting aspects on top of it in DA2. I'm not sure I like the "we're throwing that all overboard because elven gods are cooler" is a direction i necessarily like). I couldn't tell what anything at all was supposed to be, compared to the earlier games. Except for nugs and halla maybe.

In conclusion: I'm having fun, but I'm unsure. It may be a Fallout 4 situation for me. Fun game, but not the franchise I've come to know and love.

[dontmind-thismess]

Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed fanfic recommendations, pt. 1

Rewrite the stars by moonlit_dewdrops (@/moonlit_dewdrops)

Summary: "What if Jiang Cheng found out about the golden core earlier? What if he had tried pulling Suibian out from its sheathe right after recovering the sword from the Wens? AU story about how Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian's relationship is affected by the suddenly reveal of truth and how it will affect the rest of the plot"

Tags on Wattpad: jiangcheng, mdzs, wangxian, wattys2021, yunmengbros

Status: Prologue + 23 chapters, complete (Wattpad; AO3 ver. has an additional story with 10 parts that are extra scenes)

Wattpad AO3

Everyday means everyday: Untamed fanfiction by moonlit_dewdrops (@/moonlit_dewdrops)

Summary: "Lan Wangji and Wei Wu Xian have reunited again two years after their departing in the mountains. After taking the role of Xiandu (or Excellency) and restabilizing the cultivation world, Lan Wangji finds Wei WuXian again and brings him back to Cloud Recesses. After 15 years total of separation (the time LWJ waited for WWX + their 2-year separation), both of them finally confess their feelings to one another and eventually accept each other hands in marriage. Lan Xichen struggles to forget the events of Guanyin Temple until Jiang Cheng offers a helping hand while battling his own demons. Meanwhile, Lan Sizhui, Jin Ling, Ouyang Zizhen, and Jingyi enjoy their playful youth as friends but what if something new emerges? As the cultivation world prepares itself for an upcoming marriage between Lan Zhan and Wei WuXian, what other challenges will arise before they truly accomplish true happiness?"

Tags on Wattpad: cql, jiangcheng, jinling, juniors, mdzs, the untamed, wangxian, weiwuxian, xicheng, yunmengbros, zhuiling

Status: Prologue + 28 chapters + 2 extras, complete

Wattpad AO3

Sequel: Untamed Hearts

Tags on Wattpad: mdzs, wangxian, xicheng, zhuiling

Status: 16 chapters, WIP

Wattpad AO3

Protective by dreameh [AO3] / 🌸(@/dreameh) [Wattpad]

Summary: "Wei Wuxian would die for the junior disciples, anyone who knew him personally knew that much. He also likes cuddles (he's clingy, okay?) and the boys are more than willing to give him those. When Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen go on night hunts with him, it normally gets chaotic, fast. This time around it happened to be chaotic well before the night hunt had started. Or: Wei Wuxian is such a mother hen and Ouyang Zizhen's father is a dick. The junior quartet are as close as brothers."

Tags on Wattpad: cql, gdc, jinling, lanjingyi, lansizhui, mdzs, modaozushi, ouyangzizhen, theuntamed, weiwuxian, wenning

Wattpad AO3

The Twin Prides of Yunmeng Wake Up In The Past by Rika (@/HarukiUsagi46)

Summary: After the dual between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin, the two of them doesn't know that when they fall asleep that night they don't know what is about to happen to them. While sleeping in his bed Wei Wuxian hear, "A-Xian time to wake up. A-Cheng and you already sleep pass your breakfast." Wei Wuxian shot straight up, 'Jiang shushu? No way, isn't he suppose to be dead,' Wei Wuxian look around the room, 'I'm back? I'm back in my room, back in Lotus Cove. No way is this happening.' "A-Xian, I'm coming in," when the door open Wei Wuxian eye went wide, 'Jiang Shushu' he got out of bed, rush toward Jiang Fengmian and hugged him. This surprise Jiang Fengmian a lot since Wei Wuxian never gave him a hug, "A-Xian what's wrong?" "I.....I....I'm just so happy to see you again Jiang Shushu," 'I will do my best to change the past,' "Oi Wei Wuxian!" Wei Wuxian look out the door to see a heavy breathing Jiang Cheng. "A-die can I talk to Wei Wuxian?" Wei Wuxian and Jiang Fengmian let go of each other, " Okay but don't take too long, you both need to be at the training field to train okay?" The two boy nodded their head, Jiang Fengmian left the two of them along. When Jiang Fengmian is gone, Jiang Cheng walk into Wei Wuxian room and closed the door. "WEI WUXIAN WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE? HOW IN THE HELL DID WE END UP HERE IN THE PAST?!" What will the two boys do? Will they change the past? Will they keep everyone alive including the Wen remnant?

Tags: changingthepast, jiangcheng, jiangwanyin, lanhuan, lanwangji, lanxichen, lanzhan, mdzs, theuntamed, wakingupinthepast, wangxian, weiwuxian, weiying

Status: 24 parts, complete

The Fake and Real Wei Wuxian by Rika (@/HarukiUsagi46)

Summary: What happen if Wei Wuxian drop his fake personality when Yu Ziyuan try to whip him with Zidian? He use his fast speed and went to slashed Wen Chao women across her throat before she can scream for Wen Zuliu. "Wei Wuxian what have you done?" Yu Ziyuan shouted at Wei Wuxian Wei Wuxian put on a smirk, his eye narrowed at Yu Ziyuan, "what have I done? What have I done?! I stop this women from making up lies! Lies that you fell for! I stop her from calling for reinforcements! And you! I am sick and tire of you using your hatred and jealousy toward me just because Jiang shushu use to love my mother!" Yu Ziyuan sent out her Zidian at Wei Wuxian only to have him grab it by his hand, "I think that is enough out of you!" He pull Zidian away from Yu Ziyuan and throw it toward Jiang Cheng. "You better be grateful that she haven't call for reinforcements yet and if she did, this clan will become a bath blood full of your disciple." What will happen next?

Tags: dropact, fakesmile, hurt, jiangcheng, jiangwanyin, lanhuan, lanwangji, lanxichen, lanzhan, mdzs, sadness, theuntamed, truefeelings, wangxian, weiwuxian, weiying

Status: 26 parts, complete

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

This week on "CJ needs to gush about DAO": Morrigan's dark ritual.

I adore Origins because depending on how serious you take roleplay, every decision you make is a thread that leads back to your origin, and in this case of the ritual, who you choose to romance can have a major impact on how you handle this choice.

For context, my canon run is with a female Tabris who romances Alistair and keeps him as a Grey Warden, and is close friends with Morrigan. It's more in character for my Tabris to reject Morrigan's ritual and not even bring it up to Alistair, which would result in her leaving him behind while she makes the ultimate sacrifice in killing the archdemon... however, agreeing to convince Alistair to do the ritual with Morrigan is the only choice in the entire game where I break roleplay because I'm selfish and weak and I want Tabris to live.

I have a lot of strong feelings about the ritual, like it hurts me. It makes me want to chew on furniture. I can talk about it until I can talk no more. I so badly want to be strong enough to remain in character and reject the ritual.

Let me explain: Tabris survives an origin that deals with sexual assault. She gets kidnapped on her wedding day, she watches the other kidnapped women and her husband get murdered, and then is too late to save Shianni from being assaulted... and Tabris carries that trauma with her throughout the entire game.

If the way to save her life is to ask the two most important people she cares about; one being her lover and the other being her best friend; who she knows hate each other, to have dubiously consensual sex in order to make a baby to absorb the old god soul... she's saying no. The last thing Tabris would ever do is put someone into a sexual situation where consent is at all dubious after what she saw happen to Shianni and nearly happened to herself. She'd rather die than force that upon Alistair and Morrigan.

That's what I mean when I say origin affects everything; I know some will side eye that with "Really? Your warden would rather die than let Alistair sleep with another woman? It's one time, and Alistair agrees to it, so no one needs to die?"

Let me be clear in saying this isn't a "Morrigan slept with my man" issue. Sure, that part's awkward and it sucks, but that's not even breaking water tension, let alone diving into the deep waters to the core of the issue.

For my Tabris, this is about betrayal, consent, and accepting fate.

The person offering Tabris this deal is someone she thought of as a trusted friend who has actually been lying to her the entire time. It doesn't matter what Morrigan's intentions are now or if she genuinely wants to save the wardens. She knew from the beginning why Flemeth sent her with them, she admits as much. She knew a warden would need to make the ultimate sacrifice and then leveraged that to get what she wants. Morrigan waited until the night before, when Alistair and the warden learn one of them has to die to defeat the archdemon, and took advantage of the high running emotions and possibly the fear of dying to make the warden agree to her ritual.

At least, that's how my Tabris interprets this confrontation. She feels betrayed by someone she came to love like a sister and went out of her way to help Morrigan with her mother upon learning what's in Flemeth's grimoire. And then that someone tells her no one needs to die, she just needs to convince Alistair to sleep with her... which is a huge fucking problem.

The Alistair and Tabris romance is slow; it took a long time for either of them to be comfortable with being emotionally vulnerable and trusting each other with basic intimacy, let alone sex. Tabris is mortified at the idea of putting Alistair in this situation. Not only would it feel like a betrayal on her part to ask that of him, but she knows the last thing Alistair ever wants to do is father a bastard who then goes on to grow up without him. How could she possibly ask him to do that?

Then you consider that ritual or no, there isn't a guarantee that they'll survive anyway. Say they do the ritual and Tabris dies anyway; she made Alistair sleep with Morrigan in order to save her and then she died anyway. Or if Alistair dies then Tabris gets to live with the fact that the last person Alistair was with was a woman he hates because she asked that of him… and either way, Morrigan gets to walk away with what she wanted.

Tabris led the group, and she's accepted that if Riordan dies [which he does] then she'll be the one to make the sacrifice, even if it means breaking both hers and Alistair's heart.... except she doesn't because I'm a coward who doesn't want to lose her because my worldstate isn't good without her in it but I also refuse to lose Alistair so I just pretend it plays out differently in my head it's fine-

But... that's how I play Tabris and view the situation. My friend @pi-creates and I have discussed the dark ritual at length. While I play a Tabris who romances Alistair, Pi plays a Mahariel who romances Morrigan, so we have vastly different interpretations of the ritual itself and Morrigan's intentions.

Which yeah, it makes total sense that someone who romanced Morrigan with a different origin, and has the option to do the ritual with her rather than asking someone else to do it, wouldn't see this the way I do.

To quote Pi: "Playing as a male warden in the Morrigan romance makes the whole situation feel different, and maybe it’s because she’s presenting it differently due to the emotional connection, but it feels more like she’s opening up about her initial instructions (that she had been given by Flemeth) and offering a solution to avoid the possibility of death. And for my Mahariel, the constant threat of sudden death has haunted him from the start – he caught the blight and was ripped away from his clan (something he did not want to do in the slightest), got forced into a Grey Warden ritual that could kill him, was forced into a battle that could kill him, going on this whole quest that he never wanted but has now become responsible for regardless of his thoughts on the matter… the dark ritual may be one of the few moments where he is presented with an option to decide if he wants to walk into certain death, or take actions of his own volition to stop it.

"The idea of the ritual still feels like a dodgy thing to do since the ultimate outcome is unknown at that point, he’s taking Morrigan at her word that it will save the warden and that this child would be unharmed, just with an old god soul that she isn’t exactly clear on why she wants that and is determined to runaway immediately after the battle to secure it properly. It could be interpreted that it’s purely a preservation thing, but I’m biased to wanting Morrigan's intentions to not be power based.

"But also, taking part in the ritual isn’t as outlandish for my warden since he and Morrigan have already been involved in an intimate relationship. It’s the future of the ritual that is scarier – the idea of this old-god baby, and the idea of Morrigan insisting that she’s leaving afterwards when Mahariel and her have a loving relationship. He’s hurting, but he doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t want Alistair to die, he doesn’t want Morrigan to leave, he definitely doesn’t want pregnant Morrigan to leave on her own… it’s complicated, but for completely different reasons."

And I find that fascinating. I want to know how other players approach this part of DAO, what origins they play, and who they romanced. Seriously, this is an invitation to anyone reading to share their thoughts.

What about a warden who doesn't even have Alistair in their party because they made Loghain a warden? Is there anyone out there who has Loghain do the ritual with Morrigan and why? What about male wardens who don't romance her? Do you choose to do it with her anyway, or do you ask Alistair or Loghain to do it? Do you tell Morrigan to fuck off with the ritual? Why? Who makes the ultimate sacrifice in that case? And what about Morrigan herself? How do you interpret her intentions/motivations? I want to know.

I'm telling you, this is a discussion that gets me excited, as most discussions about DAO do.

[bengiyo]

Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

Last week, we returned to the world of Bad Buddy to find Pat and Pran in their closeted era during the later part of college. They've maintained the façade that they're enemies for years, with only four of their friends being let in. Currently, their faculties are competing for access to an auditorium for a play. Pran's team won out but he needs to get permission from the story owners to continue, who just so happen to be Tian and Phupha of A Tale of Thousand Stars.

So, they decide to go to Pha Pun Dao to find them but Pran is determined to prove he doesn't need Pat's help, despite the fact that they are both clearly better together. There, they realize that Tian and Phupha are experiencing similar struggles that they faced before.

Many hijinks ensued. I thought Tian was going to kill Pran before they bonded. Phupha and Pat definitely messed around. Now Tian, Pran, and a precocious child are lost in the woods trying to recover Torfun's diary.

Just Pran and his tote bag against the world.

Oh, interesting. Pat likely went through the draft?

Of course Phupha taught Tian how to find help if he gets lost and Tian was just being stubborn.

I'm okay with this split on the pairs.

Ah, yes. The reminder that Tian is a heart patient.

And now Pat is covered in leeches. My goodness.

This man really thinks he can sniff Pran out in the forest.

I'm such a sucker for the ATOTS theme. It starts playing during the reunion rescue and I'm instantly simping.

Looking at Pat, rescuers also get injured when looking for lost people.

Of course Pat and Pran start bickering for real over credit.

I suspected Phupha brought Tian's medicine in the first place. Glad to be right.

I like seeing Phupha and Tian care for each other while they thought the other was sleeping. Gotta remind us that they still care for each other.

Yes, Pran. Please give Pat his love score. Absolutely unsurprised that these two released some of the tension after all that stress and worry.

Oh good. We've paired the two most unbending guys together to search for Kampung.

Now Tian is lost again. So stubborn.

Pran projecting hard onto Phupha: "Why do I feel like you're just insecure and not sure if you're good enough to tell anyone that story?'

Gosh, Pran may have fallen first, but Pat fell so hard.

Yod is all of us.

Holy shit Ohm and Nanon are so good together. I will be thinking about this "I can't live without you" scene for the rest of my week at least, and probably my life.

Phupha finally finished reading the diary. I wonder if the play even matters anymore.

Tomorrow we see Phupha and Tian reconcile and wave goodbye to Pat and Pran.

I have a lot of feelings to sort out. I feel like this weekend will call for intense blogging about both of these couples.

[quitealotofsodapop]

[I wait with bated subscribe button.]

ask and ye shall receive. chapter three is being outlined (things be heating up, but chap. 4 is when things get spicy)

[Even though he knows the Monkey King isn't really his birth parent (glaring at Nuwa), he knew that the choice to raise MK fell on his heavy shoulders. Even if MK is a *little* upset when he finds out via S4 Memory Scroll-ing with Macaque that he's a monkey demon..] + [the memory of Wukong standing outside in the city streets, affixing a strong glamour spell to the baby's head, and sobbing as he forces himself to stop holding them long enough to disappear and make a noise that alerts the pig chef inside the shop.] + [The first thing MK does when he reunites with Wukong, is hug him tight and say "I never blamed you." Wukong is confused until the realisation that MK was in his memories kicks in, and he starts sobbing too.]

cursed scrolling is not a very nice way to figure out that you're some weird monkey thing-y made for some cryptic person by a deadbeat goddess, but it could be worse.

watching the moment Wukong actually sets him down for good is honestly heartbreaking. he's visibly fighting with himself to put the infant down and put the glamor on as he cries, and even after alerting the shopkeep of the little one on the doorstep he isn't able to keep himself from looking back hesitating and looking back as he tries to subtly flee the scene. the scene breifly shifts to show that Wukong circled back in the following days "just to make sure he chose the right home" as they scroll divers heard him telling himself, as well as "this is the last check-in, just to be sure". he said that every time.

Macaque can tell just by looking at Wukong that his instincts are screaming at him for leaving the infant, hence the constant checking to make sure the infant was safe. to see Wukong in such a disheveled state due to his instincts and hormones, possibly to the extent he was neglecting himself in favor of making sure MK was okay, is worrisome, especially knowing that he didn't have anyone to snap him out of it or help. the whole time the memory is unfolding MK wants nothing more than to go give his mentor a big hug.

he ends up giving him that hug, and thankfully too. while hopping back through some of his own deepest regrets Wukong had begun to feel even worse than he already did about a lot of things, leaving MK included. he felt really guilty, so to have MK practically tackle him into a hug and tell him it's okay? he starts ugly crying in an instant.

[He just wished he had more time to know this odd, horse-like dragon that Wukong adored as a brother.]

Wukong speaks very highly of him, and DBK is honestly glad that it seems his Xiandi had someone to care for him. from what he'd seen of the dragon, he seemed very respectable and nice to be around, the kind of person he'd want looking out for Wukong. Wukong's always been bad at letting people go/grieving, so DBK understands entirely that Wukong needs time and that this isn't easy on him.

[This is THEIR happy ending, and Mac's not gonna let Azure take that away from them.]

THIS!

I love the idea of them choosing to reconnect, to work through things, figure out how they've changed and how they fit together now, and most importantly, choosing to come out stronger. choosing to ensure that no one and nothing comes between them like that ever again (let alone the same three assholes a second time).

[Fun fact; since Stone Eggs are able to "steal" the Dao of others, it ws common in Stone Monkey days for widowed monkeys to start the egg-making process while buried next to their mate in hopes that both of their traits lived on in the baby.]

do- do you think Wukong would ever visit Macaque's grave? not bury himself ofc, but lay there next to him? do you think he'd tell his beloved's grave about how the pregnancy was going, telling him all the things he'd wanted to tell him about his egg had things not gone so awry? do you think if Yuebie ever "kicked" he'd switch to telling her about Macaque, but in a way that made it seem like he was meditating a conversation/introducing the two? do you think Wukong told the grave that he wanted her to look like him? do you think going there ultimately did help make her look like him?

[and Jiuweihuli is treating the situation as if she's expecting a grandchild. Even when Wukong explains that Mac only "started the process", that doesn't deter the demonesses.]

she def uses grandma rights to spoil Yuebei rotten once she's born, and even before she's born considering some of the baby shower gifts she gets for the expecting monkey. she becomes a pretty substantial rock for Wukong once he gets past the whiplash of her doing anything more than tolerating him. Macaque also def goes to her for parenting/relationship advice, when he was down in the dumps about his fight with Wukong just before ep 1 of s4 he def went to her asking about "how to fix things so Wukong doesn't leave him and take the kid".

[Yuebei, aka "The God Killer" toddles into a fancy heavenly party and all the Celestials scatter like they saw a tiger enter the room. The infant monkey just jumps on the banquet table and starts chowing down on the hors d'oeuvres like her baba before her.]

those close to Wukong laugh at the familiarity of the whole scene. Wukong doesn't know whether to be proud or worried at the prospect of Yuebei growing up to be like he was in his youth.

[Yuebei and her big bro MK share the trait of "I believe, so it is",]

she got it from him.

[DBK has to be reprimanded for almost getting into a fight with Nezha over their protective instincts towards Wukong in this state.]

DBK remembers how adamant Wukong was the celestial realm doesn't learn of his unborn egg, so he sees the third lotus prince and assumes he's there for nefarious reasons. Ne Zha just wants to make sure Wukong will live through labor.

[Yuebei def stares at the tapes Guanyin provides in silence, tears rolling down her face as she sees and hears her Baba in different eras, telling his baby that they may never meet but that he loves them no matter what!! Especially if one of the things she yelled at Wukong was along the lines of; "You never do anything for me!"]

Guanyin sits there next to her, kinda side hugging her while rubbing circles into her back as Yuebei takes in everything before her. she has questions, some of which Guanyin answers, others they tell her she should ask her baba about, Yuebei pretty much makes a break for home as soon as Guanyin's done talking. Wukong was kinda teary eyed when she got back, but he tried to hide it.

[One of the rarer nicknames he had for her was "little moonlight" whenever he was particularly wistful.]

oooo Imagine Wukong puts her down for bed for bed one night and Macaque overhears him telling her "goodnight my little moonlight", how would he react??

[The subsetquent hours is Macaque fellign like sh*t for making Wukong hate him again + Yuebei crying when Mac raised his voice. He's convinced that he F-d Up Big, and that Wukong would never trust him again- oh hey a text from Mei.]

oh god, Yuebei bursting into tears is def what cuts the argument short with Wukong unwilling to continue the fight with Yuebei so upset and Macaque stunned into silence over waking her up with his yelling. the horror, guilt, shame he must have felt realizing that he did that, he scared her. not make harmad or fussy, he scared her so bad she started wailing.

he thinks it's going to put his progress with her all the way back to square one, but the situation ultimately doesn't allow that. he feels a tad bit guilty almost at how he's relieved she still trust him enough to call for him, when as soon as they enter the celestial realm to dethrone azure he hears her chirping for both Wukong and him.

as mentioned above, I think that after the fight he'd go see Jiuweihuli for advice on how to un-f up the situation, that he likely looked more like him busting through her office of the theater's door a crying mess as he sobs about "ruining everything" before she manages to calm him down enough to get a read on the situation and give him some actually reassurance/advice.

[Macaque still goes to Water Curtain Cave to see whats up... only to find no Monkey Kids, and the smell of a familar lion...]

as soon as Macaque recognizes the horridly familiar scent as Azure's he loses his mind at the implication of whats going on. Macaque was aware the brotherhood wanted Wukong... more permanently out of the picture back in the journey days, so he was also likely aware of their plot invovling the scroll of memory, and didn't mei's text say something about a scroll... ? and she said Yuebei was being "babysat"... right?...

if what he thinks is happening, is happening, it better not be, because if it is he's going to skin the damn lion.

[Wukong: *secretly watching from the doorway, falling in love with his Warrior all over again*]

something about getting to see Macaque being the parent he often told Wukong he wanted to someday be just makes the old king's weary heart melt with some form of love and joy so overwhelming it makes just wanna melt into the moment.

[Yellowtusk is the only one of the Brotherhood trio who recognises that people have changed in the last few hundred years.] + [Yellowtusk recognises that perhaps even he has changed. Being made to relive your mistakes throught the Scroll can do that.] + [Yellowtusk is Wise because he recognises that the best option is to jump this sinking ship now while there's still time.]

he is aware he has already done too much to be forgiven for by his other sworn brothers, but if not for them he'll do this for himself. he doesn't deserve to have the other two nitwits drag him down too. and if not for himself then his morals, this is not what he joined the brotherhood to fight for, and he'll stick to his principles on that even when it puts him against his two remaining brothers.

referencing this Slow Boiled au post.

[watching the moment Wukong actually sets him down for good is honestly heartbreaking. he's visibly fighting with himself to put the infant down and put the glamor on as he cries, and even after alerting the shopkeep of the little one on the doorstep he isn't able to keep himself from looking back hesitating and looking back as he tries to subtly flee the scene. the scene breifly shifts to show that Wukong circled back in the following days "just to make sure he chose the right home" as they scroll divers heard him telling himself, as well as "this is the last check-in, just to be sure". he said that every time.]

oh gosh. THIS

the whole scene is silent save for the sounds of rain, baby MK crying, and Wukong softly shushing him with monkey noises and "I know, I know." Placing the baby down on the storefront and visibly hesistating to make the sound that alerts Pigsy inside.

And Wukong is a mess at this point. Like even more so than when MK met him in "A Hero is Born". He's visibly exhausted and unkempt, looking like he's barely holding it together. Macaque can tell in an instant that his Peaches was in a critical mental and physical at the time.

As MK and Mac see this scene end (shadow monkey trying not to cry too), it cuts to multiple times throughout MK's childhood (ala Leela in Futurama) where Wukong watched over him. Either as a bird, a butterfly, a ladybug, anything that wasn't too strenuous on the de-powered monkey. And MK can just *see* how much his "birth mother" still loved him after all.

[he ends up giving him that hug, and thankfully too. while hopping back through some of his own deepest regrets Wukong had begun to feel even worse than he already did about a lot of things, leaving MK included. he felt really guilty, so to have MK practically tackle him into a hug and tell him it's okay? he starts ugly crying in an instant.]

MK is ugly-crying too. Like full ghibli tears even before Wukong tiredly turns to greet them.

Wukong eventually tries to break the tension by commenting on Mac's own crying + the clingy subject monkeys he picked up. But Macaque just responds by softly enveloping them all in a big shadowy hug (and maybe whispering a few "im sorry"s for the fight earlier).

[Wukong speaks very highly of him, and DBK is honestly glad that it seems his Xiandi had someone to care for him. from what he'd seen of the dragon, he seemed very respectable and nice to be around, the kind of person he'd want looking out for Wukong. Wukong's always been bad at letting people go/grieving, so DBK understands entirely that Wukong needs time and that this isn't easy on him.]

DBK and Ao Lie would have gotten along like a house on fire. Both are princes with a lot on thier shoulders, protective brothers, and complete sweethearts at their core. When DBK is in the Scroll, he sees how Ao Lie cared for his Xiandi during the Journey and is glad that someone truly cared for Wukong during his most vulnerable state.

[I love the idea of them choosing to reconnect, to work through things, figure out how they've changed and how they fit together now, and most importantly, choosing to come out stronger. choosing to ensure that no one and nothing comes between them like that ever again (let alone the same three assholes a second time).]

YES. The choice to fall back in love and make it work!

To learn and relearn new things about eachother despite the troubles they've had in the past! To overcomes hurdles that would have broken them before. To both come out better together. And raise a super-cute baby too.

While it wasn't nessasary, the Brotherhood incident accidentally causes th ebond between Shadowpeach to become stronger since they're literally tackling their pasts head-on.

[do- do you think Wukong would ever visit Macaque's grave? not bury himself ofc, but lay there next to him? do you think he'd tell his beloved's grave about how the pregnancy was going, telling him all the things he'd wanted to tell him about his egg had things not gone so awry? do you think if Yuebie ever "kicked" he'd switch to telling her about Macaque, but in a way that made it seem like he was meditating a conversation/introducing the two? do you think Wukong told the grave that he wanted her to look like him? do you think going there ultimately did help make her look like him?]

Depends if Mac even had one, given that it looked like his body was dragged straight down (then again Wukong could have seen that as normal given how himself got physically kidnapped into Hell the first time).

And oooohhhh the idea that Wukong yearned so much for his former mate that he desperately wanted even a "hint" of him to live in his baby. Like even incidentally. ;_;

Mac sees a memory of Wukong lying down in the "Shame Temple" (I hc as where Mac and his last fight took place hence Shame), and talking to seemingly no one... until Mac notices how Wukong seems to be talking to him??

Memory!Wukong: "What do you think little moonlight? Will you love theatre as much as he did?" *a few seconds past, Wukong reacts to a kick* "Hah! I knew it! I bet he would have taken you to your first play before you could even walk. I just hope that you don't inherit my stage fright..."

And Macaque is just trying his best to blink away tears. "Little moonlight" is what him and Wukong often call Yuebei. He didn't know that Wukong had already dubbed the little cub that long before she was even born. And he's currently grappling the fact that Wukong loved him so so much even after the battle that took Mac's life.

[she def uses grandma rights to spoil Yuebei rotten once she's born, and even before she's born considering some of the baby shower gifts she gets for the expecting monkey. she becomes a pretty substantial rock for Wukong once he gets past the whiplash of her doing anything more than tolerating him.]

The old vixen has had enough experience with rowdy twins to know how Wukong is feeling, especially in the direct aftermath of Yuebei's birth. She's the first of the honorary grandparents (sans Pigsy) to take one look at a sleep-deprived monkey couple and go "Oh no. You too are getting some rest. Let me handle the kit for a few hours."

Wukong is still a little confused why she's so kind to him after all that happened during the Journey.

Wukong: "Didn't I like, almost kill you with my staff?" Jiuweihuli, brushing it off: "That was centuries ago, love. Times change."

The vixen and her twins are far quicker to forgive than some allies in the Monkey King's past. In Jiuweihuli's mind, Wukong had been an expecting mom/dad who was trying their best to protect their family. She has done worse to protect her skulk. She does make plenty of jokes about Wukong "copying" her during the Journey tho.

She's still very critical of Macaque during this time, despite him being her fave understudy. But she's the first to hug him and give advice regarding him and Wukong's fight just pre-S4. She recognises that her honorary-kit is trying their best to make things right, and wants to be there for him throughout it all.

[DBK remembers how adamant Wukong was the celestial realm doesn't learn of his unborn egg, so he sees the third lotus prince and assumes he's there for nefarious reasons. Ne Zha just wants to make sure Wukong will live through labor.]

Theres a flurry of chaos when PIF and DBK arrive on scene after the LBD battle, since they don't know that Ne Zha knows about the Stone Egg. And Ne Zha doesn't know that the two bros have reconciled in that time since their last fight. A very quick fight occurs until Wukong, in his laborous rage, yells "KNOCK IT OFF" - stopping the battle in it's tracks.

[Guanyin sits there next to her, kinda side hugging her while rubbing circles into her back as Yuebei takes in everything before her. she has questions, some of which Guanyin answers, others they tell her she should ask her baba about,]

Guanyin is such a good grandparent figure :3 Wukong is glad that they sorta force-adopted him all those centuries ago.

[oooo Imagine Wukong puts her down for bed for bed one night and Macaque overhears him telling her "goodnight my little moonlight", how would he react??]

Macaque hears Wukong whispering to Yuebei, calling her his "little moonlight", and Mac just starts happy-crying. "Little Moonlight"? As in mini version of Wukong's "Moonlight" nickname for Mac when they were together? Wukong gets ambushed with a happy purring shadow monkey the second he exits the bedroom.

[oh god, Yuebei bursting into tears is def what cuts the argument short with Wukong unwilling to continue the fight with Yuebei so upset and Macaque stunned into silence over waking her up with his yelling. the horror, guilt, shame he must have felt realizing that he did that, he scared her. not make harmad or fussy, he scared her so bad she started wailing.]

Oh this whole squence... the Fight just before Ep 1 of S4.

The whole thing was an arguement that they really should have talked out and come to a compromise on... but relationship progress is tricky. And when voices get raised, both just shut down the second Yuebei starts crying. Macaque ofc solely blames himself for scaring the baby, since it was his voice she reacted to.

Macaque leaves his and Wukong's shared space (likely the hut on FFM, just renovated to be baby-proof), and shadow slinks his way to the theatre where he collaspes into Jiuweihuli's arms, sobbing about how "he's ruined everything again".

Then the idea of Macaque storming the throne room to get Yuebei back, no matter if he's lost all progress with her, only to hear her beautiful happy chirp! upon seeing him!? Oh he's scooping his little girl up right into his arms and kissing her fluffy head all over whispering "im sorry" for scaring her so badly.

Also being inside the Scroll of Memory and seeing how much Wukong sacrificed to ensure Yuebei's birth and MK's safety, makes Mac appreciate them all even more.

[if what he thinks is happening, is happening, it better not be, because if it is he's going to skin the damn lion.]

If Yuebei hadn't gone baby Hercules-mode on the Brotherhood, you best be sure that Macaque really would have skinned Azure for indirectly kidnapping his and Wukong's baby (the MKrew kids basically panicked and gave him Yuebei to hold while they went into the Scroll).

[something about getting to see Macaque being the parent he often told Wukong he wanted to someday be just makes the old king's weary heart melt with some form of love and joy so overwhelming it makes just wanna melt into the moment.]

Lets just say, seeing Macaque treat Yuebei (and be extension MK) as his own cubs, is something that just makes Wukong's heart soar like it did millennia ago when they'd fantasized about having a massive family post-war.

And seeing Macaque still adoring their little moonlight, even after their arguement + the situation at hand, makes Wukong adore him even more.

[he is aware he has already done too much to be forgiven for by his other sworn brothers, but if not for them he'll do this for himself. he doesn't deserve to have the other two nitwits drag him down too. and if not for himself then his morals, this is not what he joined the brotherhood to fight for, and he'll stick to his principles on that even when it puts him against his two remaining brothers.]

Yellowtusk is a smart elephant. He's willing to call up his old patron Samantabhadra and the other bodhisattvas for an assist if it means his brothers are forced to their senses. Even in canon, he's the first to recognise that Azure's hold on the throne wasn't sustainable. Combined with Peng's goading, and the kidnapping of their former brother's child, Yellowtusk is shuting down this takeover early.

Thank you for loving this Au as much as I do! It's such a fun one to play around in!

[dont-blame-it-on-the-kids]

Haven’t read avatar tales or the lost adventures yet.

But I read (most of) the ATLA comics!

Spoilers

Approx Timeline Order:

Katara and the Pirate's Silver mid. Honestly. The pirates are cool and all but it didn't really add much for me. 4/10

Suki, Alone was actually a really good addition to the plot line! It explained a lot and it did a pretty good job in the short comic style. Wish Kyoshi actually showed up more for her tho? She had like one speaking line that was echoing what Suki was already saying then she was Gone 6/10

The Promise was boring honestly. Zuko was the bad guy again?? Only thing I remember is it started to shake up Aang’s “the four nations need to remain separate to be in balance” ideals. Establishes Yu Dao as an old fire nation colony and how life there has changed over 100 years. Also Katara being… soft about Aang’s promise to End Zuko even tho she fucking told him straight up in the show if he stepped out of line she would kill him. 3/10

The Search, god Ursa is so unwell and honestly Azula gets it from her 100% they blame Ozai but it’s also gotta be Ursa too. Azula having complete mental breakdown. The continued influence of Ozai on the kids and the fire nation was a good set up. Ursa literally putting Zukos life on the line to prove Ozai was intercepting her letters to home she wasn’t supposed to be sending anyway was insane. Giant face and memory stealing spirit who said she would only give out one favor but ending up giving out like four? Amazing. Aang’s negotiating skills 0% helpful. Serving me a PTSD milf on a silver platter who’s made some awful choices. 10/10

The Rift I’m going to be very honest I am so sad we didn’t get to see more of the acolytes in this one. (And I’m UPSET we didn’t see any older one of the original acolytes covering their tattoos in LOK that would have been an amazing plot point.) TOPH!!!! God Toph rocked in this one. And go Poppy for dumping Lao’s ass lmao, sad we didn’t see her tho. Gonna be honest I didn’t clock in this one that the valley was where RC was built. Basic story, cool bending, and possibly Suyins father?? Idk after seeing it I’d be convinced. CABBAGE MAN!!! My truest fave lmao loved the overt shots of him deciding to get Cabbage Corp up and running. It would have been cool if they mentioned that one in Imbalance tho as a facility. Also seeing Yangchen!! 6/10

Macha Makers iroh gets a crushhh and also spirits work with him like it’s after LoK b2? Very cool. It’s pretty good for one of the free comic shorts 6/10

Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy honestly not much happens in this one. Suki is adorable. We see a lava bender named Sun and we Never See them AGAIN 3/10

Smoke and Shadow this one FUCKED SO HARD my godddd my PTSD MILF on a silver platter. Azula being so unwell and Kiyi fucking nailing firebending poses she saw Zuko do once and escaped the cell with all the kids. Tom Tom is adorable. Mai and Ty Lee bonding moments my godddd 10/10

Azula and the Spirit Temple gosh this one was pretty good. Loved the spirit tho a hope to see more of that haunting thing if we ever get an ending to azula’s story. Azula having a spirit lead mental breakdown? 8/10

North and South oh god. This one was basically LoK b2 all over again. How many time are these guys gonna fight?? And tbh I ALSO don’t like how in LoK the south looked like a mini replica of the Northern tribe. So seeing the explanation of why and then it kinda just being allowed was not fun. I feel like they could have done something more than recycle a LoK plot line but okay whatever. 2/10

Imbalance 😒 talk about recycled plot lines. How many water benders are going to try to pit benders and non benders against eachother? Bad guy was almost cool. A good bit of set up for how Cranetown actually grew into Republic City, it would be nice if LoK incorporated the original spirits of that valley tho. Especially when the portal opened. Art was amazing and Toph going undercover then immediately blowing that cover was amazing. if the bad guy here or Any of the set up was mentioned in LoK and it was expanded upon here it would be better. Like if Amon referenced Liling as part of the reason the Equalists formed. I know this is the problem with pre-quils 4/10

Not in timeline order:

The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer iroh redemption arch for the worst directing choices made for him in the show? Yup. Gives June a good ending. Actually kinda like the set up of the tea cartel. Over all a nice short story. 6/10

Lost and Found very short story about Toph being good with kids?? Very cute. 7/10