#i love when elves are just the worse lmao

[jeminie-rising]

onigiris for valentine's

[ Inumaki Toge x Reader ]

link to AO3: [ onigiris for valentine's by JEMINIE ]

summary: "Perhaps he didn’t get a bag with a purple ribbon, but he looked at his own colour on the ribbon that was tied on your hair."

Or, it's valentine's day and you give everyone a bag of cookies with ribbons of their favourite colours apart from Inumaki. He then realises that his ribbon was actually in your hair all along.

warnings: Inumaki Toge uses sign language, Soft Inumaki, Inumaki says more than just rice balls ingredients, fluff, toge and reader being complete idiots in love, no smut!, they're both so in love, Not actually unrequited love (they just shy), Yuuta is so supportive, love confessions (finally), slow burn

characters: inumaki toge, The Inumaki Clan, Fushiguro Megumi, Itadori Yuuji, Kugisaki Nobara, Zen'in Maki, Panda, Yuta Okkotsu

word count: 6,623

authors note: hi, i know i know. It's the end of February and why am i posting a Valentine's themed one shot?

WELL BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

sorry, i wasn't in the mood to write about love during the month of my ex's birthday lmao. so not only was i late, but this one shot might not be as good as i would have hoped. I shall come back in the future to fix it, hopefully

In the meantime though, ENJOY xx

and reminder:

sign language in this fanfic, like in all the others, is based on japanese sign language, not ASL.

this is part 3 of the Holidays with Toge series but can 100% be read on its own

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Don’t wait for someday. She’s thinking the same thing as you. - kids that fly

It has been weeks since New Year’s Eve. January seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and even worse, it seems like nothing really has changed. Not the classes they took, not the amount of times Itadori begged for you to help him out with English, not the missions you took up with your classmates, and not the way Inumaki treated you.

You started to believe everything that has happened was a figment of your imagination. His little trick and tease during the countdown to the very last second of last year, was nothing more than his way to pull a joke out of you. It’s not that it was something out of the ordinary. He liked to pull pranks on people with Panda all the time. Something Maki had to deal with every day, being the only other classmate they had that was present. Unfortunately for her, the mysterious fourth second year was always absent, making her the only and biggest target of Inumaki and Panda’s annoying plans.

But exactly because of it, they moved on from Maki and started widening their target to the first years. They started with Itadori, quite the gullible one and easier to get forgiveness from. A safe bet, you’d say. They managed to make him believe he was invisible for an entire afternoon. Even miraculously got help from Megumi, who did not want to get involved. But because it came natural for him to ignore Itadori, he indirectly added to the two’s bit.

They managed to pull one on you too. But in comparison, your prank seemed quite mellower. One day, mid-january, you came back to your room after class only to see it filled up with Christmas decorations when you were sure you put them down just the previous week. Even then, you were certain that you never really owned Santa curtains and elves bedsheets. It took you a whole two days to bring down everything.

Up to this day, you weren’t sure how it was that they entered your room. 

“I can hear you both snickering there,” Maki warned the two solidified prankers of the school, “if this is one other prank you’re planning you will–”

“It’s not!” Panda was quick to defend himself, “Toge was just making a joke.”

“If you two have so much time to joke around then might as well use that to train the first years.”

You and Nobara couldn’t help but smile at that idea. Training with a second year other than Maki? Definitely! 

Maki was a force of nature. She may not have any cursed energy but she made up for it with raw skills and talent. Nobara swore she would take ten Pandas over one Maki any day. And that she did. Maki wasn’t even done sparring with her before she ran towards Panda to start their training. You only looked at her, a little bit of betrayal in your face for leaving you behind.

Maki looked at you expectantly, now that Nobara was gone, you were next.

“I, actually–”

“Hey, guys!”

Everyone turned around but only the second years reacted to the newcomer. 

“Who is that?” Itadori asked, almost appalled, as soon as he saw Maki actually smile.

Megumi, who was the only one from the first years who has been in the school long enough to know, smiled proudly as he answered Itadori, “That’s Yuuta Okkotsu, the last of the second years of the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Te–”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nobara interrupted him. “That’s the last of our upperclassmen then?”

“I guess...?”

With a groan Nobara let down her shoulders, “ugh, so there’s really no handsome guy in this entire school uh?”

“Hey!” Itadori pouted, but Nobara was already waving her hand, shooing him away.

“I think he’s kinda cute,” you admitted.

“Yeah, in a sick Victorian kid way,” Nobara was looking at Okkotsu from the midfield with the rest of her classmates. He was quite far from them, but she could already observe him without problems from where she stood. “He looks like he’s ready to go at any time, are we really sure he’s a special grade?” 

Megumi scoffed at her question. There was little to underestimate about Yuuta Okkotsu, and his grade was not one of them.

“Hey guys come here!” Panda waved for the first years, “let me introduce you to Yuuta Okkotsu, our classmate and friend.”

Everyone gave a small nod, all with their own reasons as to not make the first step, but overall, the cursed energy he emanated from that distance was enough to keep them away.

“Don’t worry, he’s not gonna bite,” Panda reassured them.

“Not him anyways,” Maki added, making Inumaki chuckle.

“Hello, I’m Yuji Itadori!” The pink haired boy was the first to introduce himself, you couldn’t help but wonder if he trusted Panda enough to do it or he really was just that kind of guy to not care about his own safety. The times you went on missions with him made you think it was the latter.

“Nobara Kugisaki,” she simply said, studying him with her gaze. She only let a beat pass before she added, “You’re really a special grade sorcerer?”

Yuuta could only smile at her, and with the most casual tone he answered her, “uh, yeah, I am.”

“He doesn’t look like one, does he?” Maki snickered, knowing exactly what hid behind the false appearances.

“I guess…” Nobara continued, still quite skeptical. Her reply mostly being for his appearances. “Well, my friend here thinks differently.”

Your eyes widened, “I didn’t say anything!”

“You said he was kinda cute!” Nobara reminded you. Your eyes were almost falling out of your eye sockets.

You were not the only one. Everyone present was quite taken aback by that comment. Not really expecting that at the moment. Yuuta couldn’t help but glance towards Inumaki, the boy’s face was half hidden, but he knew his friend enough to notice that little frown between his brows forming.

“And I guess you must be [name], right?” Yuuta tried his best to break the ice that was formed. You frowned at him, confused as to how he could possibly know your name. Catching on your reaction he continued, “Sorry if that sounded weird. I was away for missions, but my friends kept me updated about everything and everyone… Inumaki especially talked to me, so of course I’d know of you.” 

“Oh, well, yeah that’s me,” you chuckled, then turned towards Inumaki, his gaze was avoiding yours. He spoke about you? You quickly shook the newly forming delusions away. He must speak of every single one of you.

That’s just the kind of person Inumaki Toge was in your eyes. Sweet, kind, considerate, and so loving and caring about other people. To the point where he would limit his entire life to a few ingredients just to make it a little bit safer for everyone around him.

“Why are you here anyways, Yuuta?”

“Well, I wasn’t around for Christmas and New Years, at least on Valentine's Day I could spend it with my other single friends!” Yuuta cheered.

“Single?” Panda asked skeptically before whispering, “Is that safe to say for you?”

Yuuta could only chuckle, but you, Nobara, and Itadori were left confused. Itadori was the only one mouthful enough to bother to ask, “does Okkotsu-senpai have a girlfriend?” Others hesitated to answer, and when they did Itadori was quick to add thinking he got it wrong, “or boyfriend? …Partner, perhaps? …lover?”

“Yuuutaaa,” a screeching voice came out of nowhere bringing the three first years ready for combat, sensing the cursed energy around them becoming heavier out of nowhere.

“Calm down,” Maki warned, and you weren’t sure if she was referring to you first years who were instinctively in fighting positions, or Yuuta and whatever entity that was slowly appearing from behind him.

Everything within you, every training combat and exercise was pushing you over the edge to attack, but you hesitated. You pulled yourself and your instincts back, knowing well that if it was an enemy, your second years would be the first to react. With a deep breath, you calmed yourself down.

“Rika, it’s okay,” Yuuta was… reassuring the creature?

You frowned. Unsure how to react and even less sure what to think. Was that what made him a special grade? Was that even a cursed technique?

“Yuutaaa, why are they flirting with youuu?” 

The voice seemed to reverb until your bones, chilling your spine. But the tone seemed like that of a child throwing a tantrum, something about it seemed odd. It wasn’t until Panda started explaining the situation that Nobara placed her hammer back in her belt and Itadori let go of his tight fists.

“Sorry for having spooked you,” Yuuta apologised quickly after the explanation.

“It’s alright!” Itadori was the first to smile at him, “I understand your predicament.”

“Predicament uh, big words from you,” Megumi scoffed. “Trying to impress or something?” 

“Shut up,” Itadori gritted his teeth.

The second years all laughed, and Yuuta went back to the topic he was hoping to have since he came, “anyways, I was hoping we could all do something for the fourteenth? It’s a Friday so we all could go do something after classes…”

“I think that’s a fun idea!” Itadori cheered at the thought of being able to go out with his friends, “Maybe we can watch a movie?”

“I would love that!” Yuuta smiled fondly at the pink haired boy, “It’s been ages since I’ve been to the movies…”

“I’m going if we’re not watching one of those weird movies with long ass titles you like,” Nobara sighed.

“I heard they’re making a release of rom-com movies for the week of Valentines,” you brought up the ad you recently searched. It was in your plans to invite Inumaki for a date, but you knew that was never going to happen. This group activity could be the closest thing you could get to seeing him during Valentine’s day.

“Perfect!” Itadori looked through his phone to buy tickets for everyone before anyone could even agree on coming.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

You were a coward.

Or at least that’s what you have been thinking of. Hiding behind the opportunity of hanging out with everyone to avoid confessing your love and asking Inumaki on a date. Both Panda and Nobara have been cheering for you since the winter holidays to take a step, and you were sure that this Valentine’s was going to be your perfect opportunity. However, it all went to smoke when Yuuta came around (you pathetically excused yourself). Or maybe he gave you the opportunity to see Toge on Valentine’s day without having to confess your feelings. 

With this new motivation you thought of what you could possibly do to make the day a little bit more special for him. Maybe a Valentine’s gift was going to be enough? Or was that too forward?

You thought of giving him chocolate. But only giving him while giving others nothing felt kind of weird. So you started making everyone some cookies, something different from his but still made from the heart. But by the time you made everyone a pack of cookies, you noticed how his chocolates paled in comparison to homemade cookies. Sure you didn’t want his gift to stand out, but now it seemed like it was too little.

You racked your brain over what else you could do, but before you realised it, the first few rays of sun came through the window and you knew you had no more time to do anything else. You still had to prepare to go to class and fix the kitchen. With a calming breath, you told yourself that you’d have time during the lunch break. So without battling yourself over it for longer, you quickly cleaned the utensils and counter you used.

You almost didn’t make it to class in time, but fortunately, your training as a sorcerer was helpful to you in more ways than just fighting curses. Classes that day went smoothly. Well, not smoothly, more like they were just background noise for all the thoughts you were getting for later than day.  

“Hey let’s have lunch at th–”

“Sorry but I have to do something right now!” You said running away already, giving them no time to say anything. 

“Where is she going?” Panda asked, confused to see you running away.

It wasn’t often that everyone would have lunch together. Usually it was first years with first years, and second years among themselves. Often everyone would have their lunch alone too as they had their own things going on. But that was one of the rare times when Okkotsu was home from his long term missions, so they all decided to take advantage of that by spending more time together.

“We don't know either…” Itadori admitted.

“Girl things?” Megumi offered it as an excuse but he honestly didn’t care much. Compared to Itadori, he trusted you to do stuff on your own without getting in too much trouble.

Inumaki stayed quiet, not even offering an ingredient as an addition to the conversation as he usually does. The only one noticing his gaze fixed on you running away towards the dorm rooms was Yuuta.

“She’s probably okay,” he reassured his friend by putting a hand on his shoulder. “She doesn’t seem the kind of person to go through troubles by herself.”

“Tuna tuna,” the boy replied, his gaze lowering to the chocolate he hid in his pocket.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Other than your absence, the break went quickly and without a hitch. Everyone had a laugh sharing stories with each other. While for the afternoon classes, you were, once again, tardy, but nothing too outrageous to get the teachers to complain. Their annoyance seemed dissipated thanks to the sweet smell that came from the big paper bag you had with you.

Itadori couldn’t help himself, he had to ask about it. He leaned to the side and whispered closer to you, “What do you have there?”

“It’s just a little gift,” you giggled to yourself.

“It’s for Inumaki-senpai, isn’t it?” Nobara leaned in to join the conversation.

“Aww dang,” Itadori pouted back into his seat, his groan a little too loud catching a stern look from their teacher. He lowered his voice again, hoping it would be low enough to not be reprimanded despite knowing he could be heard anyways, “I wanted something too…”

“Just wait for later!” You tried to keep your voice low.

Patience wasn’t one of Itadori’s virtues. He kept poking at you during class, after class, on the way to the cinema, and when they were in line to claim their tickets. The others weren’t phased by anything at this point, especially when it came to Itadori, but Yuuta was new to the bunch.

“You guys seem like a good pair,” he said, smiling at you and Itadori. There was only a beat, before he realised his choice of word and had to add, “I meant that as a like platonic pair –like good friends–”

“Yeah,” Itadori laughed, “I imagined.”

“But what are you guys doing?” He asked, “Is this a normal occurrence?”

“More than you’d think,” Maki sighed. 

“It would stop if you could finally spill the beans,” Nobara poked at you. “What are you hiding?”

You looked at the remaining line for the movies. There was still quite a line, pairs of people for the most part, and those that weren’t were a group of girls celebrating in pink –galentines, you thought. There would be enough time before your group’s turn so you decided to take the opportunity at your grasp.

Putting down the paper bag, you started grabbing the elaborated pink bags tied each with a different coloured ribbon. Analysing the colours of the ribbons, you started to distribute them to all the different members of the group.

The green one to Maki. You assumed she’d prefer a darker chocolate flavour, given how much she enjoyed coffee in the early mornings. Similarly to Megumi’s, which was tied with a teal ribbon, who received coffee flavoured cookies from you.

In your hand you still had a red ribbon confection and there was no question to who it would go to. Even Nobara was eagerly looking at the bag with her favourite colour. The girl grabbed it from your hand before you could even offer it to her. Soft and chunky cookies inside, just like she likes them. Similar to hers, but bigger in size, was Panda’s. His bag was also the biggest one among the ones she held. A black ribbon wrapped around it tightly. 

After giving Panda his bag, there were only two more remaining. Yuji awaited his turn impatiently, his feet marching in place as a way to stimulate his eagerness. You almost wanted to keep his bag to tease him, but his face made you guilty enough to give his next. A bag adorned with a pink ribbon, and different flavoured cookies inside to reflect his chaotic nature. 

“Yaaay! Nothing beats homemade cookies!” He celebrated them above everyone’s head the moment he had them in hand.

Everyone chuckled at the boy, his enthusiasm contagious to everyone. But it wasn’t enough to keep Toge distracted for long. He looked at the last bag you held in hand, and could smell the sweet sweet cookies that fought their way out of the white ribbon.

“And this one…” you held the bag in front of you, “is for you!”

It wasn’t only Inumaki who was speechless, but among everyone was Yuuta, who hesitantly reached out for the bag you were handing him, “Me…? I–I wasn’t expecting anything… we–”

“Of course you get some too!” You laughed as if it was an obvious thing.

“Uh… how about Inumaki-senpai?” Itadori pointed out what everyone was thinking.

At his question, a dust of pink blush, similar to his ribbon, tainted your cheeks. You were trying to avoid doing this in front of everyone, but with everyone’s eyes on you, you had no choice. You opened up your purse, instead of the paper bag, hesitantly, hoping for an escape. And there it was, like the Gods answered your prayer.

“Next!” The lady called out for them.

This was enough to grab everyone’s attention to the cashier lady. In between busy choosing the movies and which seats to take, you took this opportunity to grab the purple tupperware from your purse and push it against Inumaki’s side.

“For you,” you whispered. “Happy valentines, Inumaki-senpai.”

You didn’t even let him say anything before you rushed your way after the other first years, who were arguing if it was better to have all seats in one row or take two rows of equal numbers.

“She gave you… tupperware?” Panda peaked over Inumaki’s shoulder, “Are the cookies inside?”

Inumaki could only shrug his shoulders. Some part of him wanted to have a cute bag with a ribbon too, but he shoved that feeling aside. He was about to eat cookies you prepared for him, who cared what they came into?

He carefully opened the tub but instead of the sweet smell of cookies he smelt the familiar scent of… onigiri?

The two looked at the tupperware container holding two rows of onigiris carefully placed over purple sheer paper. There was a moment of silence between them as they stared at the rice balls, before Panda started laughing dropping on the floor, catching the attention of people around them.

The silver haired boy could only frown and send a kick to his friend, “Bonito flakes!”

But the panda only laughed more at the unintended pun, “t-that’s right! There are bonito flakes –This may be the best prank ever!”

Toge looked back at the tupperware to notice one of the onigiris to have bonito flakes on top of it. That wasn’t common to have from store-bought onigiris –these were home-made, he concluded. With one look he searched for you among the first years, unsure truly how to react or feel about the gift he received. Although, once found the little bow on your head amongst the others, his doubts were somehow cleared. 

How could he not have noticed before? 

“What’s your favourite colour, senpai?” You once asked him once when the flowers were blooming and offered a various range of colours for him to pick on without having to speak out loud.

Inumaki looked pensive for a bit. Then pointed at a violet that was by her hand, “tuna mayo.”

You followed his finger with your gaze. For a second you thought he referred to your new set of nails, but then noticed the violet in between your pinky and ring finger. 

“Violet?” You asked to clarify.

He gave a single nod, “Salmon.”

“It’s a pretty colour!” You affirmed, “they’re similar to your eyes…”

Inumaki was once again grateful for the collar that hid his face and his red. Hoping to change the attention from himself to you, he pointed his finger back at you, “mustard?”

“Me?” You asked before thinking about it. You aren’t sure why you had to think about it. You knew what your favourite colour was. It has always been white. The infinite possibilities white could hold is far too alluring for you to not have it as your favourite colour. But after seeing the purple in Inumaki’s eyes, you hesitated for a bit. What were possibilities compared to the certainty that you found in him? “W-white,” you finally admitted after a moment too long.

Inumaki looked up at the sky, his gaze pensive and they looked farther away than where you ever could, but then he pointed at the clouds. You could only nod, smiling at him. 

“Yes, like the clouds.”

He then looked down at the ground. Picking a single daisy, he offered it to you. 

“Yes, like daisies.” You reached out for it and twirled it between your two fingers, “and mongolias… and jasmines –my favourite!”

Inumaki looked at you, his head tilted, “Mustard?”

“Yeah, I love Jasmines, they smell like comfort!”

Inumaki seemed to think about something for a bit, then brought his hand to his hair, he grabbed a few strands from his bangs and looked at it making cross eyes you giggled at. Then he looked through his bangs and directly at you, “Mustard?”

You frowned slightly unsure if you understood him correctly. This seemed to not translate to you in his ingredients, so he shifted his body towards you and clearly showed his hands. Back then, he was already studying sign language from the book you have gifted him on his birthday. He was still quite choppy on his sign language but he was getting the hang on it quicker than you did.

You knew his intentions and with a focused eye, you followed his hands as he unzipped his collar down. A sign of vulnerability from him, you learned. You tried to not get entranced by the snake fangs by each side of his mouth and forced your eyes to follow his hands instead. With all his fingers together he twisted the tips of them against each other. Colour.

“Colour?” You repeated his sign out loud and he gave you a nod.

He then pointed his pointer to his teeth showing his own fangs. The small smile he formed as he signed and flicked his finger, made you almost forget what he was trying to say. You shook your head trying to regain focus, but poor Toge assumed you didn’t know that particular sign and looked up instead to point at a new cloud. Then back to your daisy that still rested between your fingers. 

You nodded and repeated the sign for the colour white by grinning your teeth out and flick your pointer finger against it. “White,” you spoke out before bringing your two fingers at each side of your cheek as you dropped your hand down, your two fingers met at the tip of your chin. “I like the colour white.” Before a pause you added without sign language, “My favourite.”

He couldn’t avoid a smile at your words. He pointed at you before repeating your own sign. You. Bringing his fingers to his chins, highlighting his snake eyes, and dropping his hand to meet his two fingers to the tip of his chin. Like. Then he pointed at his forehead.

“Y-You…” You gaped before finally realising, “...r hair.”

He nodded and you could not keep in a smile, “yes, I do like your hair colour.”

White was your favourite colour. That was not something Toge would forget anytime soon. That was the colour of his hair, the colour of the flowers you smelt like, the colour of endless possibility. Ever since that afternoon at the field of flowers with you, he has seen the colour in a different way. 

He looked at your ribbon again, the one that held your hair together, but it wasn’t white like it usually would be to match your uniform, it was purple instead. His favourite colour. The same colour as the paper that held all his onigiri safe. Perhaps he didn’t get a bag with a purple ribbon, but he looked at his own colour on the ribbon that was tied on your hair.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

The movie was a hit. Everyone fell in love with the characters as much as they fell in love with each other. Itadori in particular was ecstatic over the ending.

“I can’t believe she wasn’t dead after all!” He jumped as everyone followed on the way back home, “I still don’t understand how it happened…”

“Of course you don’t, simpleton,” Megumi commented a few steps behind.

“It wasn’t said in the movie!” Itadori fought him.

“There are implications!” Megumi scoffed.

As the two argued between themselves you couldn’t help but laugh. It was nice to have a moment with them like that. With studying and missions, it was hard to find a time where everyone could act like normal kids –as normal as a sorcerer could get anyways. Having a literal panda walk with you guys didn’t really keep the attention away from the group. You could only guess the things going on inside people’s heads. But you assumed, just like you did when you met him for the first time, that people thought he was just one of those people who liked to get into anthropomorphic animal costumes. 

You looked behind you to check on the said friend, beside him, of course, there was Inumaki who already had his eyes on you. You knew it was too late, but you still looked away and hoped he didn’t pay mind to you. After giving him his valentine's gift, you weren’t sure how he would react, but he hasn’t said anything and that made you more anxious.

“You should make a move,” Yuuta approached him after witnessing the very short interaction.

“Tuna?”

“You never know when it’s too late,” the boy shrugged. “Sorcerers like us don’t have the privilege of time.”

Toge couldn’t look away from his friend. He was right, with all the missions you both had to go through, even more now after Sukuna’s return, there were no promises of a tomorrow. He only had today and his feelings. And with nothing more than that, the boy gave his friend a thankful wave as he caught up to you, who walked ahead of them.

You, in turn, hoped for any kind of reaction for your gift, a comment, a sign. You weren’t really expecting a grand thank you, but nothing seemed a bit too much. Sure you walked away the moment you passed the gift, but part of you was hoping for even a nod from the distance. 

You felt a tap on your shoulder and you knew it was him.

“Kelp,” he greeted you with a gentle nod.

“Hey, did you enjoy the movie?” You asked, hoping that the question would lead him astray from the thought of your onigiris. But it only did so much as he nodded again.

“Tuna tuna,” he changed the subject again, pointing at your purple ribbon.

You followed his hand, something you found yourself accustomed to at that point. “Ah yes, it’s new, do you like it?”

He paused before nodding at you, “salmon.”

“Seems like you hesitated there,” you chuckled, teasing him, but it didn’t seem to budge him at all.

“Onigiri,” you heard him say, that new word made you almost snap your head towards him in surprise. You weren’t quite sure if he meant that literally or if he was using new food-related words to communicate his thoughts. With a slight frown you tried to look for the answer in his subtle expressions.

“Onigiri…?”

He nodded, grabbing the tupperware you gave him from his bag, “onigiri.”

“Oh,” you nodded, “yes, onigiri.”

He then placed the tupperware back into his bag, allowing him to use his hands for signs. You watch him as he placed his left hand flat over a pointer finger directed towards you. With one single movement, he pointed towards you. Why?“Why onigiris?” you asked clarifying, he hummed at your interpretation. “Well, I thought you’d like to have onigiris, I just assumed they were your favourites since you chose the ingredients to be your vocabulary… Did I get it wrong?” “Bonito flakes!” Your worried expression made him shake his head as quickly as he could, hoping to shoo away your doubts. “Tuna mayo.”

“Yeah,” you chuckled. The sound of your light laughter was too soft for Inumaki to hear over the chatter of the people around. Especially with Itadori having a full conversation with Nobara right in front of you. He had it in mind to curse them to shut up for a second, just to hear your giggle better. But he quickly moved that bad idea aside when you spoke again. “Each of them have different ingredients inside, I made one of each of the ones you mention the most –There are two of tuna mayo, your favourite.”

Toge could only smile fondly at your words, his chest fluttering with affection towards you, even more than before. He thought about the savoury snacks he had in his backpack, and then of all the cookies and chocolates that were being exchanged throughout the nation at that moment, and he felt like he had the best deal out of all of them. You didn’t simply give him chocolate, like he initially would have wished for, but took time to think about what he would have liked most and actually make it. He puffed his chest lightly at the new treasure he held in his bag, eager to take a taste of them as soon as he could.

“Do you like it?” You asked, looking at him, as you all walked down the street, now closer to your school, “Maybe I should have given you cookies too…”

“Bonito flakes!”

“So you’re okay with it?”

He smiled at you, and he looked around before placing a hand on your shoulder. You looked at him in slight surprise, but his gaze was directed towards Panda, “Tuna tuna.”

The friend smiled at him and gave him a single nod, as the others continued to walk away. You saw Panda pulling Itadori away by his hood. Something about wanting to watch being mumbled away. Without Itadori and the rest, there was a soft silence around you, realising how much quieter things were when it was only you and Inumaki. Nothing awkward, just peaceful. But what did warrant for such quiet and for your friends to go ahead without you both? Your delusions were already jumping everywhere, and you had to push them away before you could get ahead of yourself.

Your gaze turned back to Toge, who had his eyes already on you. “Is there something wrong?” You asked unsure. You felt like there was something to be said, but couldn’t bring yourself to take the first step to leading the conversation.

He shook his head, before zipping down his collar. You were quite sure that he was going to use Sign again, so you followed his hands closely to focus. But to your surprise, he brought his fingers to your chin and gently pulled your face up to meet his eyes. 

This simple gesture was enough to cause you to sweat cold. You fidgeted with your fingers hoping to distract yourself from his, that were still on your chin. 

“Inumaki-senpai?” You asked hoping he would finally get to the point. You weren’t sure how much longer you could handle being so close to him without breathing.

He took a step back, much to your health. But his gaze was still fixed into yours, silently guiding you to not look away. Not that you could even if you wanted to, his eyes were as hypnotising as that of a snake luring a prey.

Then he did what you didn’t expect him to, he began to open his mouth.

“I…” he attempted, “have been practicing.” 

You swore your heart stopped the moment he opened his mouth and began to beat only at each word he spoke. Unsure if you were supposed to ruin the moment, you kept quiet, not daring even to move a muscle, afraid you might miss something.

He seemed to be thinking about it for a bit, then with careful breathing, he spoke again, “I have been practicing, to not infuse my words with cursed energy.” He paused as he breathed in a big chunk of air. You wondered if it took a lot of him to do so.

“That’s amazing, senpai,” you said before you even realised you were talking. Perhaps when Inumaki could talk, it was you who was rendered speechless. You looked for words to say as he smiled at you clearly quite proud of himself. “Since when?”

He paused before answering. For the first few times he did so, you thought it was because he was thinking about what to say, but it seemed like he was actually selecting which words to use. Despite him keeping from infusing his words with cursed speech he still deliberately thought of words that were still relatively safe to speak, just in case. 

“Since New Year’s Eve,” he carefully enunciated his syllables.

You couldn't contain your own smile, “You’ve made amazing progress!” 

He smiled back at you and gave a small polite bow, “Tuna mayo.”

You giggled at his favourite onigiri ingredient. Perhaps he was still more at ease with speaking like that. And to properly show his gratitude, he was going to do it with ease.

Then he took another deep breath in and nodded to himself. You watched him patiently, hoping for more words from him. It was cold, middle of february but spring was still so far away from arriving in the hills of Tokyo. But you paid no mind, you could stay there for an entire day and a night if it meant that you could have a conversation with Toge.

“I wanted to be able to speak properly with you,” he said after having attentively selected his words. He imagined everyone would practice their speech to themselves and to a mirror before giving it, and although he did so too, it still didn’t feel enough for him. Nerves got to him quickly as he inched closer to where he was aiming. He looked at you, hoping to gain courage from it, but it only made him even more nervous. 

In the long pause, you assumed he was done, so with a small smile you tilted your head, “that’s sweet, Inumaki-senpai.”

“Wait–” he shook his head, “Ikura.”

Your eyes widened slightly, shutting up. It was faint, but you felt the tingle of a cursed energy in his ‘wait’. It didn’t hurt, you noticed, his cursed speech never did hurt you. But it was an odd sensation crawling into your skin and grabbed onto your very muscle cells, forcing you to comply by pure force. There was worry in his eyes, as he noticed it too, but you smiled at him hoping to reassure the boy. With a single nod from you, he was able to breathe again. Perhaps your actions too had the same effect on him as his cursed speech. It took so little from you for him to change emotions and follow your silent commands.

“I wanted to tell you so many things,” he continued his thoughts from earlier. For the first time ever since you’ve known him, it was him speaking and you were listening. It was a dream that you never thought would be real. It made you so grateful for your world of curses, spirits, and impossibilities.

“I like the colour white too now,” he admitted out of nowhere, remembering that one afternoon in the field of flowers. 

“And I don’t actually like fish eggs…” he said, recalling that one time you offered some to him and he could only grimace at you. You never knew why he did, but now you knew it wasn’t directed at you.

“I don’t like morning assemblies,” he admitted before carefully selecting his next few words, “that’s why I never go.” –That’s why you never see me. He wished to say, knowing from Panda how often you looked for him during the assemblies. But if he said those words he was scared you would go blind, or worse, you’d never see him specifically.

He took a deep breath and then, just as he practiced, “I wanted to thank you for Christmas,” he said remembering how it was her idea to bring everyone to visit him, “and that I am sorry for taking your last grape on New Year’s Eve.” You tried to hide your smile at the memory. At the time, you were stunned and flustered, but looking back it was quite silly. But if that memory was not going to make you blush, his next words would have been enough to do so.

“And that you looked very beautiful.”

He smiled looking at you. Perhaps because he started to get the hang of it, he wasn’t feeling as nervous as earlier. But the more he spoke and the more he looked at you, he could only find more courage to spill all his secrets. To give you everything he had. To tell you every single thought he ever had selfishly hoping you’d keep them all.

“I was going to tell you on New Year’s Eve,” he continued before chuckling to himself, “but we got interrupted.”

The memory of your silent conversation on New Year’s Eve came back at you. The way he held his fingers on each side of his cheek close to expressing how he felt. You kept your eyes fixed on him, afraid to even blink. Afraid that in that fraction of a second where you blinked, your lashes might swipe him away from you or miss his words.

You had a vague feeling of what was to come. He was so close to telling you so many times that you developed so many ‘What-If’ scenarios that all of them resembled the one where you were in at the moment. You prayed to all the Gods looking over at you two, to the saint of Valentine’s day, that nothing would interrupt you anymore.

“This might be nothing compared to your onigiri, but…” You watched him as he pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket, and with another deep breath in, a solemn look, and a fond smile, he offered both the chocolate and his feelings to you, “I like you.”

[as-i-watch]

Senshi used Pretty Privileges

Its highly effective

[nipuni]

Alright, time to share my opinions about Veilguard!! I have both criticism and praise so bear with me as I jump from one extreme to the other 😆 spoilers ahead of course!

The game has a very rough start with the dialogue being formulaic and rushed and the characters overexposing. It feels like a heavy handed attempt at summarizing all of previous games' lore for newcomers or in case you forgot but it's so overdone it feels coddling and trivializes a lot of previous events. Luckily this gets better once all of the introductions are out of the way, though the excessive hints and clarifications continue until the end sadly.

The locations are absolutely incredible and very diverse!! This is a highlight of the game for me. There is so much detail and care in every map and there are so many of them. My pc is struggling to reach medium settings and yet everything looks stunning. The verticality of the maps is so imposing and the graphics have a very dreamy quality that I love. I also enjoy the maze-like structure to the maps, it's more linear but makes everything look a bit more intentional. The color and light direction was amazing, all the visual development really!! it has to be one of the prettiest games I've ever played.

When I started I have to admit it did not feel like I was in Thedas and it all felt a bit theme-parky, if that makes sense. A lot of previously important and established world elements that made Thedas what it is were overlooked or made irrelevant. But the more I played the more it started to feel a bit more similar to Inquisition, for better or worse depending on what you feel about Inquisition. But!! this also feels like a selectively sanitized version of Thedas compared to previous games. In it's attempt to stay safe and uncontroversial in some aspects it loses a lot of substance and it changes the tone. The surface level politics, ignoring previously established major societal issues and a tell-don't-show approach makes the world seem more simple and shallow with no grey areas to explore. ( the humor also falls flat and out of place often too, and WHY is everyone always smirking, enough!! godlike beings are destroying the planet please this is not the time for Marvel banter aaaa )

The pacing at the start is a bit of a mess. It is so fast it felt like jumping from one world shattering discovery to the next with no time to process. The characters also seem to underreact to important information and major developments. It felt like the game was rushing me through all this to get to the part of the story it wanted to tell me while I was still wrapped in my shock blanket trying to catch my breath lmao. I really like all the key story points they touched upon, I just wish they dwelled more on them to give them more narrative weight. ( though blaming every bad thing to ever happen on the Elves was certainly..a choice )

I think the writing could have used more subtlety in the first half and more boldness in the second 😆 but I loved the thematic parallels between Rook and Solas and how every quest informs the main storyline. I do wish Rook was given more impossible choices and put in more difficult situations that forced them to lie or betray their own to better drive the point home though ( listen I just love a Trolley problem!! we need more of those, I'm the Trolley problem's number one fan!! ) I feel like they missed the chance to put Rook in Solas' role and be as vilified and hated for it as Solas was despite their best intentions which would make Rook's regrets stronger and in turn make their escape from the fade all the more impressive and give them a better understanding of Solas to either use against him or earn his respect. The line 'they called me the Dread Wolf, what will they call you when this is over' from the trailers was so good I was waiting for this!! But everyone just loves Rook no matter what!!

But I feel like I stated too many negative aspects in a row so moving on to some things I enjoyed!

The characters were very lovable to me. The romances weren't as long or impactful as I would have liked but I enjoyed all the companion quests. Emmrich is a delight and his quest is so wild and fun. I loved learning about Nevarra and I was awestruck by the Grand Necropolis. The mourn watch was so interesting, it showed a whole new side of Thedas' lore I knew nothing about! and I loved Manfred! Davrin is so charming, he became a favorite. I loved his quest too and learning more bits and pieces about the Dalish was great, I wish we got more. Seeing the Wardens through his quest also made me enjoy them a lot. Assan was very cute too and I'm glad he was treated as an animal and not turned into a goofy Disney sidekick too much lmao 😭 Lucanis is hilarious. The fantasy Spain/Italy was a bit silly and off at times but he is very sweet! and I love the Spite possession, that was so fun I'm glad they kept him that way! Bellara is adorable, her first backstory quest made me cry and I just love a nerd! I wish the second part of her story was written better however, and she sort of devolves into 'it's hard, I wish it was easy but it's hard' dialogues too often sadly. Anaris and the Forgotten Ones' portrayal was underwhelming and anticlimactic which was disappointing. Harding is also very cute and her Titan plotline was the most interesting to me, I bawled my eyes out in her quest!! I love the dwarven lore of this universe I'm so happy we got more of it!! ( she also fucking died in my playthrough?! I was devastated what the hell 😭 'whatever it takes' WEUEUGHHHG I'M SO SORRY) Neve was a slow burn for me because of my choices in game slowing that relationship down ( saving Treviso I mean, perdón amor 🙏 ) but I love detective novels and she is such a badass I ended up loving her. Taash was unexpected, I didn't think they would be so young. The coming of age story was sweet, though I found myself cringing a lot too at the handling of it I have to admit ( and the Lords of Fortune in general, and the Antaam...and que Qun..listen- kajshfgf ) but I also enjoyed learning more about the first expedition and the Qunari in general despite the messy writing and choices. I also loved Antoine and Evka! and Strife! And I haven't even read any of the novels they are in 😆 also Mila!!!! and her dad oh my god and Felassan haunting the narrative!! speaking of haunting, I would have loved for Cole to be in the lighthouse too I think it would have worked well 🤔 especially with the whole 'reading Solas' secret diary' thing the game had going on lmao

Everyone seems to get along except for a bit of friction that is quickly resolved at the start, which is hmm missed potential? I would have preferred more tension personally. I enjoy the drama! gives me more to work with and gives you a better grasp on everyone's personality by contrasting values. I think they wanted to speed run a found family trope for the new hero to establish some emotional stakes early on but it ended up making everyone seem like a group therapy session instead. The group meetings also have everyone either state the obvious or repeat the same opinion or conclusion to each other, I would have loved these meetings to have more bickering, have people get mad and storm out and also get to listen to different takes on a situation. Make Rook struggle more to take the reins and keep the team functional, learning how to be a leader.

Speaking of Rook! ( who in my case has a northern British accent that I loved so much 🥺) They seem to have a very established personality. I was expecting more of a blank slate but I'm lucky that the personality they went for kind of matches what I would normally choose in a first playthrough. Though the lack of range in the choices is irritating and takes away some replayability and role playing potential. Rook is very supportive and selfless, I wasn't expecting this tbh! But it all made my Rook turn into the team's weird supportive necromancer mom so it worked out in the end I guess lmao. I can't wait to draw her!!

I was so overwhelmed by the amount of information we got about Solas and his past!! I was expecting answers but not these many and not for them to be such an integral part of the plot!! The game feels like it's about him more than anything else. His arc is the best written out of all. He is mentioned in every conversation, he's the main advisor and the narrative foil, you get to talk to him often, you work for him and with him and go into his memories it all feels so surreal to me lmao I love him so I'm delighted ngl! but also making the other Evanuris so cartoonishly evil makes Solas into such an obvious choice of an ally, god of trickery or not, that it sort of takes the decision out of your hands and makes some dialogue options and companions' opinions seem almost nonsensical. I have no idea how this game would feel to someone who absolutely hates Solas' guts honestly. I suppose I will find out soon enough 😆

About Solas' story, I loved it! I somehow also feel that I knew it already, all the speculation and theories that Solavellan fans were crafting for years were so accurate that it was all very validating. Even the wildest ones! Solas as the Maker, the elves spirit origin, Mythal giving him a body, the war with the Titans, the origin of the Blight, Solas being on your side as advisor, I can go on, we knew!! Also I have to mention this I'm sorry but they made him look so hot!! unbelievable. And the bloodied teary eyed pathetic look in the end ouurghhh I'm cheering and clapping!!

The romance conclusion was so lovely 😭 the Loki and Sigyn ending we deserved to such a mythological epic!! and open ended enough for all of us to cook!! and we got to see him fight and transform into the Dread Wolf!! and whimper and cry!! and bleed and love!! that's all I ever wanted, incredible we were really spoiled what the hell I still can't believe it 😭 GDL acting was brilliant as usual! the visuals were also incredible and exactly what I had in mind when I imagined where the story may go, the eclipse, the giant wolf, the glowing eyes, the Elvhenan ruins, the statues, even the hair lmao it all aligned exactly to what I've been painting all these years but better I was thrilled 😭

Solas backstory with Mythal also offers players that didn't romance him a chance to see him act out of love and show a side they wouldn't be able to reach otherwise and I think it was smart! also very tragic and sheds more light into all of his choices and words and his relationship with Lavellan too and the parallels and reversals and uughh thoroughly enjoying the emotional distress 👌

Pleasing both the Solas lovers and haters at the same time was always going to be hard with him being such a polarizing character by design and the world states being so different but I think they did a good job! at least from my side of things.

I think my favorite part besides the Solas related stuff was the Blight. I loved how horrific and gross and threatening it was! I've always loved the concept of the Blights and I'm glad it was such a huge part of the story in this game. I also loved Treviso!! has to be the most beautiful city in Thedas ahhh and the Necropolis!! the gardens!! Vorgoth!!! Kal-Sharok!!! I can't believe we got to see it!! and a Titan!!! the giant floating face of Ghilan'nain in the clouds??? and the huge archdemons and dragons!! oh and that warden dragon trap in the shape of a griffon?? and the giant blight tendrils!! the siege at Weisshaupt was outstanding!! and the floating panopticon castle situation in Minrathous uughh there is so much I loved.

OH I also enjoyed the Varric arc even though I saw it coming since the trailer it was still played well and it was touching 🥺

The ending felt a bit jarring to me in tone though, a bit too cheerful considering...the horrors. Over half the continent destroyed and most of the problems Thedas had before the game are still there. Veil in place and all 😆

But I had fun!! I'm nitpicking really, the conclusion to Solas' story feels very satisfying to me which was my main worry so I'm happy. It is a good game!! with a sort of soft reboot feel to it and aimed at a younger audience which is probably what they were going for? You can sort of feel the struggle the team went through during production in the way the target audience seems unclear sadly. I also can't help feeling like this is an ending, so much was revealed and resolved!! but maybe I feel that way because that is what I felt after Shadowbringers / Endwalker in FFXIV once my favorite part of the story was wrapped? They can always pivot to a new continent and expand on the world and cultures we know almost nothing about, but that is always harder to sell so I have no clue where they will go from here 😵‍💫

Anyway I'm still processing a lot of stuff that I will probably talk (and draw) about later, this is already long enough!! for now I'll look up how to get the artbook because the art direction of this game is fantastic!! I would love to hear your thoughts too really, I'm curious about the experiences of players who made different choices and with different tastes to mine!!

[apostaterevolutionary]

So another thing I want to talk about post-veilguard re: the lore. There's been plenty of long explorations of the de-fanging or just skipping entirely when it comes to the political stuff and I think the topic's been covered pretty well by others at this point, so I won't dwell on that. But I do want to talk a bit about the higher, more mystical lore with respect to gods/religions and the direction it's taken since inquisition's dlcs. Because... ngl, I didn't love it then, and I don't love it now

(Veilguard spoilers, but this also is about inquisition's dlcs too)

So. First off: I have not actually played the descent or trespasser. Because, at the time they were released, I was playing on previous gen consoles and thus I literally could not buy them even if I’d wanted to (and at the time, I did want to). I maintain that was incredibly dumb 10 years later, given trespasser was the actual ending of the game locked behind a price tag, but let's not beat skeletal horses huh lmao

Anyway. So I have only read about the events of those on the wiki/in people's posts (I don't enjoy watching let's plays unless it's someone doing something weird so). I own all the dlcs now, as I now have a computer that can run the game and I bought all of them, but every attempt to replay inquisition since my insane fervour when it first released has failed. I just can't finish the game, so I can't play the dlcs. Anyway. All of this to say: my knowledge of what happens in them may be skewed and even wrong. But I'm gonna talk about the topics anyway, so please feel free to chime in if I’ve got something wrong

So firstly: the titans. I remember really not liking this development when the dlc came out cause like. What? I read the wiki page then (and again recently, cause I remembered very little lmao) and honestly I still don't like it cause it just feels so... at odds with everything else in the lore? Idk. I still don't get how it fits in with absolutely anything. Feels out of nowhere and doesn’t really fit. But okay, they’re here now, and I’ll talk about their tie in to the rest of the lore later. But suffice to say: it just felt like a weird thing then and I maintain it does now too. Like it just doesn’t fit and feels like a weirdly forced addition. I guess that’s personal opinion but I gotta say it

But the bigger part of this is. The sort of... removal of all religions in Thedas for the sake of just. Elves were everything? At first, I really disliked the rewriting of elven gods as tyrants cause it's like... the simple, silly elves mourning everything they lost but actually what they lost was oppression and slavery even worse than today!!! That has implications I really dislike. But now it's... okay Tevinter gods? Well, people worshipping dragons makes sense, even if they weren't really gods - sike! They weren't just dragons either, they were fucked up dragons controlled by the elven gods. The elven gods which aren't even gods, but really just random people. Except those people were also fade spirits made physical. But still not gods! It's important that they are not in fact gods and just powerful mages! Oh also the maker is bullshit too and Solas was the maker, at least in the context of the golden city story (I'm actually fine with the maker and that story specifically not being real it's just. The combo of everything, you know). Also the elven not-gods destroyed the titans too! So also dwarven problems were their fault too! And destroying the titans created the fucking BLIGHT!!! You know, the worst thing to ever exist! Everything comes back to just these guys!!!

Like. It’s all Solas and the Evanuris all the way down. Everything is just them. It makes the world feel so… small. I don't like how everything's just narrowing in on one thing here? Fantasy with different races and religions are fun because it's like. I found the original stories interesting. The story of the elven gods and the forgotten ones being locked away by a trickster so that only he remains is such classic myth shit. I enjoy that. Lyrium being a weird, magic rock that just exists and also it’s poison? Yeah, that makes sense - we have radioactivity in real life lmao, why can't rocks be weird in a land of magic. The blight just. Existing as an evil thing, either as a result of the golden city story or something else - that’s also fine. And as much as the andrastian religion has done some terrible stuff (and the like. it just being christianity but jesus was a woman this time is kind of boring), the concept of worshipping an absent god is actually pretty interesting

And now it just feels like

Idk to me it feels so limited to just boil all of these interesting mythologies and beliefs down to just... well it was all the Evanuris. Everything was the Evanuris. Also they weren't even gods, they were just terrible. There are no gods in this world. If you want a religion, better bring paragon worship to the surface or go join the Qun cause apparently they're the only ones who have any kind of factual stuff going on in their religions (for now, at least lmao)

I recall seeing a post somewhere asking why no one in this game is religious at all. Well, I think this is why: most of the religions are about to not exist anymore. The dwarves are mostly okay, cause paragons are just ancestors, they were real people (though I'm sure there are some who's history has been distorted). Like the titan thing is a thing but idk how bothered most dwarves are by that, it’s not really brought up much. The Qun doesn’t have any sort of deity that we know of so like. They're okay. Except they don't have a military so. That's a problem for the nation, which could lead to the religion ceasing to exist if anyone decides to conquer them back after all the shit. Idk. I'm an atheist irl lmao so this feels kinda weird to harp on but it is very weird to me for a fantasy game to just. Destroy all the gods and beliefs like that. I suppose it's a unique choice but still... Why

(I also just remembered we still have the Avvar I guess, but they worship spirits, no? Which are also not really gods, but at least that’s also a believable religious concept. I’ve never seen a fantasy setting with no real gods before honestly. It’s a very bold choice, one I’m not sure I like)

And maybe! I'm missing something, either something that was maybe hidden in a codex or book I haven’t read or something that happened in one of the dlcs I haven't played but. Idk. The world of thedas feels just so small and cramped now that we know that everything most citizens of the world has ever believed was false and just boiled down to a small handful of old timey tyrants. Even the falseness I could deal with, but the limiting of just. Oh it was all just these guys. That’s it. All them. That's just... I don't like it. The larger context of dragon age lore is… idk it’s been getting smaller and smaller since the end of inquisition and I don’t like that

I started drafting this partway through playing and one of the things I also talked about was ‘where the hell are future games going to go now???’ but now I’ve also seen the secret ending and that… once again implies there’s something bigger behind absolutely everything? I sincerely hope that’s in a like. Subtle influence thing and not ‘oh yeah, Loghain and Bartrand were actually ~manipulated~’ way cause taking away their agency makes them infinitely less interesting characters (plus Bartrand already has the lyrium idol as part of the reason he did what he did). Like pls don’t let this turn into an idea that people can’t just do terrible things. Please, we really don’t need that. That may not be where it’s going but idk, that got my hackles up lmao

AND apparently in the reddit AMA they said they were done with the Evanuris’ story but like… the Evanuris were just everything that’s ever been believed in? I guess they don’t have to personally show up but… idk I kinda figured there’s no way to get away from them now. Also Solas, is still kicking around, even though presumably with the veil being tied to him... assuming he did get out or was freed again, he wouldn't kill himself to tear down the veil, right? Right??? This isn't an issue that may come up one day????? I kinda feel like it's a little bit of a plot hole

But that’s kind of a side point. The larger thing here is how we see the major religions and mythologies in Thedas all just converge on the same thing, a thing which is no longer an issue so. They’re mostly just gone? I can’t imagine the chantry is going anywhere soon (though with the south so thoroughly fucked, who knows, maybe too many people died and the religion will die too cause the political power structure is completely gone – if Tevinter didn’t get a new, good leader during veilguard I’d say they’re definitely going to take advantage of the weakness of the south to make their empire big again. Also ngl I actually think that would be an interesting thing to happen but oh well lmao). Not only are there no actual gods in Thedas, almost every religion was actually this one group and that’s it. That’s just so bizarre to me and I don’t like the implications. Fantasy settings and religions and deities go hand in hand and I guess they don’t have to but. It does feel like the world is smaller now, not bigger

Idk I don’t really have a real big conclusion here it’s just. Why do this? Why tie so much of the lore back to just one group? A group you’re also apparently done with now? And with the secret ending hinting at yet another group that even more things are going to be tied back to… This feels like very simplistic storytelling, not complex storytelling to me. And I don’t like that

[screamingmandrakes]

Due to the interest in my Tomarrymort post yesterday, I’ve decided to dump a Harrymort WIP I’m not sure if I’m going to finish. This is a little over 1k words. Content warning for non-consensual Somnophilia and references to previous sexual assault. So fair warning - dead dove: do not eat.

Thank you to @xenomorphology-ao3 for some lovely touches on this fic.

Given as this is not finished, this is not edited. Some things in it might be worded poorly because I hadn’t refined it yet. Basically, don’t hold this to too high of a standard lmao.

This was intended to be a sequel to all is fair (in love and war) It’s Voldemort having a inner crisis about the fact Harry will die some day lol.

“There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!”

- Chapter Thirty-six, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Little does Lord Voldemort value.

Few things are preeminent: power, for starters, second only to the blood of his mother coursing through his veins. Third, his body: spindling with skin stretched tightly over sharp, protruding bones, the vessel that brought him to victory. Nagini, a weapon forged for battle, with jagged fangs and the speed of a whip, follows suit.

Before all these things comes something immeasurable. His Soul. His Boy. His Harry. But as little as Lord Voldemort values, so too does he fear. He is an unstoppable force, unmovable by will. Unbreakable, even when abandoned in the forests of Albania. His Death Eaters paid the price for their insolence, yes, but he is a forgiving Lord. After all, he had forgiven Harry many times, drowning out the angry screams and curses until they finally faded away.

There is only one thing Voldemort fears, and that is death.

Not for himself, not anymore. Lord Voldemort will never die. Power rests heavily in his hands, soldiered into the minimal soul he has left. Time and victory have built him into an indestructible being, but His Boy does not exist as the same. He is not as fragile as Voldemort often deems; even as a young boy, he had withstood the force of his master, protected by the blood of his mother. But he is mortal — whole. Harry spends most of his days locked in their chamber, sitting in the middle of their inordinate bed while glaring bitterly wherever Voldemort stands. When he does not, he is kept close to his master’s side, bound to him by magic. Lord Voldemort takes care of what is his, and His Boy is no exception, but as mighty as he is, Harry does not exist without vulnerability.

It is now, as His Boy sleeps once more, dosed under yet another sedative potion brewed by his Lord’s dutiful servant. In the morning, Harry will rise to a goblet tainted with Amortentia. Harry has only a few precious moments to feel the full spectrum of his fury-led resistance before he’s subdued again, lulled into the fantasy fate crafted for them upon the death of his mother. This is a cycle driven solely by Harry’s refusal to submit – to accept the reality that has always been meant for him. It is not one Lord Voldemort prefers, but a necessary step he must take.

Food comes aplenty for His Boy, served on silver platters by trembling house elves. With a loud crack, they apparate out of the room as swiftly as they arrived, leaving Voldemort alone to attend to Harry. A product of his parents, Harry is just as willful as his foolish mother had been, refusing to accept mercy at the expense of his autonomy. Under the effects of the Amortentia, he is a willing participant, eagerly lapping the juices of freshly ripe pomegranates from Voldemort’s skeletal fingers. When he wakes, barely coherent, he fights with a fury Voldemort yearns to consume.

His Boy’s rage is a delicacy. Who is he to deny himself such a feast?

But for now, he is compliant, stretching across their bed with a dazed look on his face. His eyes rest at half-mast, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as he comes in and out of consciousness. With each sunset, Harry’s body grows thinner. His pallid skin stretches over his bones, bleached from months without the sun. Voldemort’s long, bony fingers graze the tender skin of Harry’s inner thigh, his shirt bunched above his belly button, and he is reminded once again of Harry’s mortality. Each breath Harry takes is a breath closer to death.

He further trails the curve of Harry’s thighs, his sharp nail snagging on the expensive fabric of his pants. They’re tailored perfectly to his size, crafted from the highest quality material he could acquire. The Malfoy’s were not pleased to offer their funds for such a service, but Lord Voldemort’s word comes as law and no request by him shall be overlooked. Moving upward, he traces the button securing the clothing around Harry’s waist, his nail momentarily slipping under his waistband. Harry stirs, blinking hazily but otherwise does not object. Voldemort’s power does not come without resources; he is accompanied by the most skilled of potion makers. Snape brews as he’s asked, holding no questions for the purpose. A dash of valerian root does nicely for a modified sedative — not quite awake, yet not asleep.

“My Soul…” Voldemort hisses to nobody in particular. Harry’s chest rises and falls with a gentle motion. He seems truly at peace like this, far from the sobered version of him. Voldemort craves such a reality, but the taste of Harry’s stormy temper isn’t entirely opposed. It’s strength, something Voldemort has always valued. A narrow, shallow scratch lingers in the wake of his claw as he graces the hair lining Harry’s torso. Though still thin, Harry is far different from the scrawny boy Voldemort had faced while existing as nothing more than a part of Quirrell. Yes, he should have known then, known when Quirrell’s skin bubbled under Harry’s fingers, that His Boy was part of something much bigger than a prophecy.

Voldemort’s nail travels further, combing through the dark, coarse hair until he dips into the divet of Harry’s navel. Harry shudders sleepily, his stomach twitching under his touch. The bed groans as Voldemort leans closer, his other hand reaching to brush the hair from Harry’s face. He is just eighteen now, only a few years older than Voldemort was when he murdered his father. Yet Harry is different. When he isn’t bellowing at Voldemort or existing in a drugged up stupor, Harry is kind. He speaks to the house elves with compassion that makes them scatter, fearful of the unfamiliar sweetness. He tells them please and thank you and offers a smile, even when it’s exceptionally weak.

His Boy is nothing like him, yet they are one of the same.

Perhaps, one day he’ll allow Harry to have a wand again. Not yet, as His Boy is still rather combative. Their duel in the graveyard had been a fluke, a stroke of luck, but Harry is not entirely inept at battle. Not enough to give him freedom. But now, as His Boy remains plaint under his fingertips, it is Lord Voldemort that harnesses all of the power. The hand not on Harry’s stomach grazes over the scar on his forehead, feeling the thrum of their connection in his fingertips. Voldemort does not feel whole—cannot feel whole—but there is a snap like two puzzle pieces fitting together whenever he touches Harry.

His hand falls from Harry’s forehead, passing over his collarbones and down his chest until he stops where the boy’s shirt scrunches up. For a moment, both hands rest there, white claws stark against his skin. It’s the perfect image — Harry, long limbed and thinly built, muscles undefined from months of inactivity, at his Lord’s disposal. He is frighteningly fragile like this, and the thought makes something acidic churn in Voldemort’s gut. It’s an abnormal feeling, one that doesn’t belong to a being like him. Lord Voldemort does not care for others, but Harry Potter’s life rests in the palm of his hand, his to twist and mend. His to protect.

His Soul will yearn for nothing — feel pain only from the hand of his Master. He has made sure to take vengeance where it is due; the remaining heirs of His Boy suffered terrible, merciless deaths. Voldemort feasted on the pain, savored the wailing of the detestable mother and the terrified yet defiant bellowing of the red-faced father as their brat of a son thrashed on the floor. Exterminating vermin comes with ease.

But love — no, love is not something that comes naturally to Lord Voldemort. It is an act met with repulsion, perceived as weakness. There is no good and evil, yet the notion of love remains inexplicably good. Voldemort does not feel love— no, love is a vulnerability, love is foolish. Love is what killed Lily Potter, yet kept His Boy alive. He does not — cannot — love Harry, but he holds the urge to tear the world apart and offer him the pieces. Power has little place within Harry Potter, and Lord Voldemort owns no desire to share such a thing. But Harry has no place among the Mudbloods of the world, and what can Voldemort offer if not rightful respect?

Slowly, Voldemort moves upward again, his hand gliding along Harry’s torso until his fingers slip under his shirt. Harry shifts once more, his eyelids fluttering open to show glassy, unfocused eyes as he attempts to find purchase in reality. Voldemort merely smiles, lip pulling back menacingly to expose the two serrated teeth protruding from his mouth. He knows Harry will not remember this come morning.

His skin is hot to the touch as Voldemort’s fingers, cold and clinical, explore his body. It is not much different than he had been fifty some years ago, but the curves and contours of Harry feel much more delicate. Despite his inactivity, in actuality, Harry is still rather strong, clawing at his Master with ferocity whenever Voldemort comes to take what is his. His fingers slip through the splattering of hair on Harry’s chest.

[fandom-susceptible]

TDP Rewatch S1 E7: The Dagger and the Wolf

Claudia has her first intro voice.

Yk it hits that when Viren mentions his children in the "previously on" section, the scenes the show chooses to use to identify them are of the moment Soren genuinely plays along with Callum, and the moment Claudia forcibly burns Harrow's body, violating his funeral.

Honestly though, it would have been legit safer to take Ezran's wet clothes off and wrap him up in whatever spare fabric they could find once they had the fire going. Staying wet is just going to make it harder to recover. That said, they're teenagers and a child, two of whom are relatively sheltered and the third of whom lives in a dense temperate forest that likely doesn't get a lot of icy water. They probably just legit don't know.

Also . . . Callum was so young when they lost their mom. Does Ezran even remember her, personally? He recognizes Callum's drawings of her immediately, and seems to understand why Callum's drawing her, too. Or does he know her from Callum's drawings?

A small pouch of moonberries is enough to sustain all three of these kids for a full day. This is the TDP lembas. Also, are the bogey berries really an ancient Xadian cure . . . or an old Xadian prank? Because Rayla has such a gremlin little grin when she tells Ezran to stick them up his nose. They're so cute.

Just once I wish a show or movie set in medieval or pseudo-medieval times would have like, wolfhounds in it. Brave did it right, but why does Soren have a trio of herding dogs with him? These are shepherds and heelers. Like, very clearly color based on a German shepherd, border collie, and blue heeler, all with the general shepherd body plan. What he needs are wolfhounds and terriers for tracking dogs. It's not even a case of "oh they might just use different animals for this in this fantasy world". These are dogs. Humans bred dogs to do specific jobs. This dog body plan is what happens when dogs are bred to herd things. The body plan he needs is something like these:

(credit to AKC website for the photo, I had to screenshot it to show it here)

or this, the ancestors of modern bloodhounds, called limers.

Or greyhounds, which largely haven't changed their body plan and were also sighthounds and hunters on par with the wolfhound. The wolfhounds and greyhounds would actually stand taller than these little herders, too.

Don't get me wrong, I love herding dogs, but this just doesn't make sense for what he's using them for.

Okay I'm focusing back on the show now.

I love Human Rayla. "Fellow humans, human fellas!" "Like money, and startin' wars!" and Ezran just being like "yeah that's pretty good". This boy is so aware of his people. I also like the implication that Moonshadow elves don't really use money. Makes Runaan's confrontation with Viren later about the coins, and all our "the fate worse than death . . . CAPITALISM" jokes funnier, lmao

Rayla's fake human accent is great, too, it resembles nobody else in the show.

"subcentury life expectancy" so yeah Moonshadow elves tend to live more than a century.

I also love how Rayla's just counting on nobody noticing her facial tattoos under her hood.

The whole scene where they introduce the Sunforge blade is more interesting now that Allen's been given a whole name and personality. He was clearly introduced with the intention of just being a big oaf in the background but he and Lujanne are actually real damn cute later on. The guy he fights is . . . just like. TDP Coran, from Voltron, and I was in both of those fandoms when I first watched it, so it had me amused. (VLD disappointed me with the end of Lotor's arc and the fandom turned real damn toxic so I dont really engage with it online anymore).

How is a body part less gross to you than underwear, Claudia?

Ouch. I didn't really remember that bit of Soren's anxiety rant here - "If I fail, I don't know what Dad'll do to me". He's rapidly descending into panic mode in this moment, at the very idea of Viren punishing him, and that . . . that has real bad implications. Especially when paired with how Viren casually used dark magic on Callum back in Episode 3, and how we know Viren got violent with Lissa and that's why she left. And Viren striking Gren when he was angry with Amaya. Just . . . they really tell us without telling us that Viren was physically abusive of Soren, don't they.

It is interesting that they use medieval style signage to indicate what different establishments are in this world. They have symbols and art on them indicating what the place does. In actual medieval times this was because of a low rate of literacy, but that doesn't seem to be an issue in Katolis, at least not that we've seen. Is it a remnant, is it just a choice? It leaves Callum and Ezran guessing at what a specific sign means because the symbols are different than they're used to, but they can still figure out what it is because it's simple and pretty direct.

Ezran with the horse was so damn cute.

I really like how the guy with the Sunforge blade realizes he's being followed and instantly bolts. It's an appropriate reaction from a guy who's essentially just swindled a lot of people in a small town, which he even references.

Callum is a TERRIBLE liar but Ezran is a fantastic liar and I love them trying to tell this story together.

This poor vet, can you imagine being this guy? Two random kids you've never met show up, soaking wet and filthy, carrying some packs, being super cagey about asking for your help. You get some hot liquid into them, warm them up in the barn, they're visibly so nervous about telling you what's going on with their ANIMAL problem, but you're probably more worried about what the hell they're doing here all alone.

And then they show you a goddamn dragon egg.

He's having the absolute weirdest day.

Even the guy Rayla went after was just asked for help and then waylaid for the dagger he's clearly been attacked over before.

Soren, I'm pretty sure your heavy plate armor is a bit more of a problem than your muscles moving into this crack.

I forgot that sweetie wolf Ava was only two years old in this season. She's so baby. Just barely grown up wolf, could bulk out even more in the next few years, especially carrying around a whole human child on her back.

Ellis' dad telling her they have too many mouths to feed already is a story note I think we forget, huh. Ellis probably has several siblings, and possibly other animals like mounts, working dogs, or livestock in the home.

"Oh, can you SEE better if I'm QUIET?" Soren absolutely understands sarcasm.

The cave they get the glowy bugs from makes me wonder if that's more where Moonshadow elves used to live, is in caves around the mountains. Their civilization revolved around the Moon Nexus 10k years ago, and there's not a lot of forests there. Maybe it was mountainsides by day, caves near the Nexus' water flow at night?

Rayla, dropping your hood was a very teenagery but also very stupid thing to do in the middle of the town square. I do love the Scooby Doo chase sequence of getting out of town though.

I remember seeing Lujanne's name in the credits sequence of this and going nuts for days trying to figure out who on earth that could be, because I didn't have the chance to watch the next episode until later, lol.

[mystxmomo]

🩹, 🔺, 🍎 for anyone ^_^

YIPPIE. THANK YOU FOR THE ASK

Link to the ask game in question

I'll continue to talk about Enclave, Nymryn, and Ilyrae for now.

🔺 RED TRIANGLE POINTED UP — does your oc know how to use any weapons?

Most of the characters I currently am focusing on do, by nature of being DnD characters, lmao.

Enclave has a preference for smaller weapons and poison, as per her background as an assassin and a drow. She's not beating the allegations with it. She's a caster class as a cleric, but most of the spells she has access to are either ceremonial or buff spells with the aim to better help her melee. She CAN use larger weapons, but she doesn't prefer it.

Contrasting this, despite being a wizard Ilyrae is trained with a short-short sword and, my god, willing to use one. Despite being very proud of their ability to use magic, they understand it's dangerous to rely strictly on it. That said. Don't throw them out into a fight first thing, they're an insomniac and a squishy thang.

Related to the above, it was mentioned on Nymryn's character sheet, but as a result of spending most of their time around Ilyrae and having the bulk of the training they've done in recent years be with a high-elf, his fighting style is actually closer to a high-elves than a drows. Nymryn doesn't actually like fighting or violence all that much though, and most of his fighting style revolves around uh. Running away unless he must.

🍎 RED APPLE — where was your oc born? do they still live in/around their place of birth or do they live somewhere else? how do they feel about their birthplace?

Ilyrae is canonically from Evermeet. There are not, in fact, a lot of canon cities/settlements that Ilyrae could be from in Evermeet, and I'm doing a lot of weird homebrew cultural shit (I love homebrew cultural shit) for them as a result of it. We'll name the settlement later.

While I have you here, I'm going to hold you hostage and have you appreciate how bad Early DND elves evidentially are at naming things. Horsefields my beloved.

As part of their backstory, they're canonically on an indefinite pilgrimage. They return back to Evermeet once a decade. It is their home, but they don't feel very attached to it. They have a lot of thoughts regarding the idea of what home is, and that they don't actually feel like they have much of one as a result of how they've lived most of their life. They don't believe that traveling as much as they have has humbled them, in as much as it's made them feel more alien and uncomfortable in a world they already feel disconnected and uncomfortable within.

Fun fact! I haven't actually decided on where Enclave and Nymryn are from specifically in the underdark. They were both definitely from a lolth city, and it would be pretty easy to throw them both from Menzoberranzan (Which, to be clear, they both definitely spent a lot of time there, it's just a question of if they were born there, given that a good part of their backstory is "new blood nobility")

But I'm not sure yet. I'll have an answer on that when my brain starts fixating on that part of the underdark or I'm writing things to develop that portion of their life.

Eitherway - Answer to the second part of the question. Nymryn flat hates it. Nymryn only spent about 20 years in the underdark, and regards coming onto the surface as the best choice he made for himself. He doesn't have a lot of complicated feelings about his connection to the underdark. His feelings on the matter are a pretty black and white (And, purposefully, a little immature) "That was a bad place, and I was only hurt there, so why should I care about it or the people there?"

Enclave, on the other hand, has a much more nuanced approach to her feelings on it and the people in it.

Something about Enclave's character that I haven't gotten the chance to talk about is that she is someone who, for better or for worse, does have empathy as a driving force of her character. That idea of empathy is deeply warped by her own lived reality, but it is there and functional to the point of being a flaw. Love and Empathy are a moral neutral to her - That she once loved the underdark will forever influence her opinion on it, even if she understands logically that it's somewhere that changed and hurt her and the people she cared about to an unforgivable degree (This also extends, for what it's worth, to people.)

(As an aside, Enclave and Sabdra are two sides of the same coin when it comes to how they see the underdark and, by proxy, lolth. They both... see past the curtain, so to say. Which is to say, they both understand that Lolth's influence towards the underdark is not actually one interested in power or survival of the fittest, but chaos and control. Enclaves response to this was, of course, finding the god that she saw as doing the most to combat that, while Sabdra's response is becoming loyal to the ever changing tides of that chaos.)

Ultimately, Enclave likes the surface better, and realistically understands that she is healthier and safer on it. She firmly believes in practice that it would be best for drow to leave the underdark, and see's it as unforgivably war-torn and a place that will be lost to it's own struggles due to lolth's influence. You need to understand - As empathetic as she is, she IS absolutely still someone incredibly arrogant about her heritage. She believes drow are great, being a drow is great, and that they deserve the power she's helping to gain.

However, there's always going to be a part of her that is both deeply homesick and nostalgic for an idea of the underdark that never actually existed, and couldn't have ever existed. Because there was a period of her life that she loved it.

🩹 ADHESIVE BANDAGE — does your oc have any physical and/or mental disabilities?

So, I don't actually like. List out what a lot of my characters mental health issues are a lot. Mostly because it's one of those things that I feel like the narrative should speak for itself, rather than like I'm advertising that it's something they have. However, because you're dangling the keys in front of me, I will give some of my thoughts on what I intend them to have.

Enclave and Nymryn are both, MAYBE to the surprise of NO ONE, suffering from varying level's of PTSD and Trauma and coping/healing very differently as a result of it. Just fact of life coming from the underdark, you don't come out of that place well.

Enclave has like. Unironic psychosis. This is separate from everything else going on with her and with what lolth did to her, which. While I think is a metaphor for getting disabled within your adulthood and being forced to relearn how to function and perform with that disability, I would be a little uncertain in putting a one-to-one label on it and a real world disability. But it is one, and that is what it's exploring.

Nymryn is, in fact, missing an eye. He doesn't have a magic prosthetic in there yet.

Worth saying - I've calling Ilyrae the most autistic elf I've made and it wasn't like, a joke in the slightest. Keep that in mind with phrases like "They don't believe that traveling as much as they have has humbled them, in as much as it's made them feel more alien and uncomfortable in a world they already feel disconnected and uncomfortable within."

[themanwhomadeamonster]

Pawn Behaviors - Beyond the Rift

Grabbing this meme from @arisenreborn! Source

❖ BEHAVIORS & HABITS: 

❖ COMMON: 

Cordial but superficially. He puts on a warm smile and is friendly with many, but it all feels very fake, even by Pawn standards. Some might prefer the polite and simple formalities over what he's attempting.

Needs commands to be able to do anything, otherwise he becomes extremely clumsy. However, he's quick to defend the Arisen if they're attacked, regardless of his current position.

If he likes the Arisen, he'll make light jokes and banter.

➵ UNCOMMON:

If he's not fond of an Arisen, he'll keep his distance and will behave (personality-wise) closer to something like a Calm pawn. Very blunt comments without emotion behind it.

If he straight up doesn't like the Arisen he'll stay quiet.

➵ RARE:

He tries not to make heavy breaths like when drained of stamina because it kind of rattles his body.

➵ DRAGONSPLAGUE: 

Would tell the Arisen off and blame them for his own poor decision-making, regardless if it actually is his fault or the Arisen's

❖ THOUGHTS & OPINIONS: 

➵ THE ARISEN:

Serving other Arisen feels like a job to him and he doesn't become too attached to them. He'll say flowery and supportive things but won't mean it. Customer service behaviour.

He hates it when Arisen expect him to act like a faithful servant, but he also still insists on being given precise direction so he can at least fulfil their wishes properly.

Instantly thinks lowly of them if they make a big deal of his body.

An Arisen can get on Nalxis' good side if you actually treat him like a friend and look after him - it's what he was made for after all!

➵ OTHER PAWNS:

Struggles to see how other Pawns can be so eager to serve Arisen who aren't their own. Tries to be relatable and make jokes with them but they tend not to land

Sometimes wonders what their physical sensations are like; he was surprised the first time he saw a Pawn's body entirely disappear to the Rift. Even when he eventually does develop sensations, he becomes very excited to try feeling different things. Fire is the odd one out that doesn't hurt him, though ice makes him VERY careful.

➵ WORLD:

Will never not be fascinated by living things, flora and fauna. Struggles to wrap his head around the fact that they're powered through an entire complicated series of systems with no magic required rather than just "simply" being powered through the Rift (or the Brine 👀). In that regard, he also wonders why people don't just use the Rift to power Golems. It's such a natural and easy thing to harness of course!

As he journeys he slowly begins to develop the senses of smell, taste, and pain. Vo was surprised to hear that Nalxis had said, "Ouch!" for the first time genuinely when across the Rift, and was a bit disappointed he wasn't there to witness it.

➵ BATTLE: 

Usually tries to avoid being directly hit. His body's strong but blows stun/knock him down easily compared to other pawns.

Love/hate relationship with Rattlers - Vo has been trying to tinker with their hide to see if they can improve Nalxis' durability, but for now they're a menace that can damage his own body. Worse so that being a thief makes him near useless against them.

➵ NPC's: 

Isn't fond of NPCs that start to get too close to Vo, especially Vermundians. He doesn't like watching Vo get burned if the latter ends up not clicking with someone, which Melve and the Outpost have done already (ever-grateful for Ulrika's support though!). Battahli aren't as big of a concern; they hate him and Vo by default lol.

Wears a hood to hide his ears when around Elves. Despite also being wary, they sure seem nosy about him!

➵ QUESTS: 

In I, Talos, probably just imagine Nalxis' body suddenly collapsing when he leaves it to enter Talos. Gave no warning to Vo but to be fair, Nalxis didn't expect himself to feel compelled to leave his own body either lmao. Poor Vo ends up spending a bit of time scouring Agamen trying to find the head while carrying a hollow vessel.

➵ BONUS: 

He's heard passing tales from other Pawns about how a fog has sometimes clouded their memories after a journey. He's curious to know that experience.

[sorcerous-caress]

Don't worry I'm definitely not rushing!! There's so much content and I'm still learning- stuff like wizards and warlocks scare me since they seem so complicated so I've been using Karlach and Lazael since they seem more straight forward for now. Astarion is definitely my favorite playstyle though- I've always loved Ninjas so being able to do 2 bonus actions is...*so* nice! Yeah- I can't say I'm surprised at the fixation 😅

Admittedly, I do absolutely adore him and am looking forward to writing for him; already have a fic in progress in fact- but I've seen a very similar thing happen to another character where he's either made entirely negative and insane or entirely positive and has to be "protected" when it's really a mix of both. Some parts of fandom I think are just like that 😅 Glad I found here and other more indie blogs who focus on npcs and niches though too so I get a wider variety!!

I'm so weak to being patronized and being talked to all condescending like and I just imagine this mean, bully male drow just targeting this crybaby Human in camp. They try to act all tough, but the drow just knows they're being a brat so he'll put them in their place. He's so damn *mean*- and he only gets worse when they run to their camp mates for help, or to hide. He steals your diary, telling you to "come get it" in a note he leaves them and they have no choice but to reluctantly leave their camp mates tent to go into the forest. It's dark- and even with their weapons, the Human's hypervigilant- but they still get taken off guard. Pulled back against a tree by their fragile little throat. Reading their most personal thoughts to blackmail them- ugh. Their crush in camp- how desperate they are, maybe even their secret kinks and desires? Gods, I'm so weak.

Oh God- or imagine a Human who's *scared* of the dark? Or a Drow who makes them scared of the dark by constantly frightening them during it? The predator/prey dynamic? *Please*. Also, self-indulgent(like all this *isn't* lmao-) because I'm sick atm and can't take large pills but Drow watching a Human work themself up to taking the medicine and just- taking it himself and then kissing them to force it in their mouth, not breaking it till they swallow, purple fingers dragging down their throat to make them shiver and raise thier shoulders. You've ruined me author. I can't do this. 😭 When I transfer my side blog to my new main blog I may have to write something for this dynamic because of you. So glad I could make your day a little brighter like you do ours lovely! Thank you for all that you do, as always! Sorry this is so long- the writer inspiration hit out of nowhere lol ❤️ -S

Fuck yeah ninja Astarion, let's fucking go!

That sounds wonderful anon, feel free to share your fic whenever you're finished <3 I'm sure it will be amazing.

And god yes, you get it, the whole human kink thing. Especially how condcending the elves would be with it, fuck especially the drows who already think they're above other elves.

Like maybe the other species keep their restraints a bit while in the party with the human, as much as their mind runs wild, they attempt to show some decorum and dignity. Only act like the perverts they are when the human isn't watching.

But once the male drow joins them? He's picking on the pathetic little human on his first day. Pulling and picking at your clothes, asking if humans really just walk around wearing slutty clothes all day?

He probably gets off on tormenting you, reminding you how he's hundreds of years older than you so you should shush your pretty little mouth and let him do what he wants, afterall aren't you humans so obsessed with showing respect for age? Then show him the respect he deserves whenever he pulls you on his lap, out of the blue and without a care to whoever is watching.

It's like second nature to him how casually he demeans your entire being, everything you ever hoped to achieved he probably has already, every place you wanted to see or travel to he has already seen, most historical events you read about he has lived through himself.

So in every way, he tells you that he clearly better than you. So don't go whining whenever he steals your diary and taunts you with all of your embarrassing secrets, or whenever he takes something precious from you and make you beg for him to give it back.

He teaches you some words in drow elvish, excepts they're completely not what he told you they meant. Watching you confidently call yourself his personal slut when you thought you were saying something else. Refuses to give you his name, makes you use all of these titles that are so humiliating to yell outloud midbattle, but he won't help you if you don't use them so poor you.

[tathrin]

Ehehe, hello, I am here to feed the procrastination gremlin! Those prompts all sound fun, but 21 and 28 are speaking to my heart rn.

Maybe 36 to if you feel up for it but it's your writing and you decide how many you wanna do<3

The procrastination gremlin thanks your mightily! Because I tend to Get Too Long when I write thing, I'm going to preemptively separate these out into their own posts and just assume that I'll ramble too much for it to make sense to do them all in one lmao. Also I will definitely do all three because yes more gimleaf yes. This is an ask meme that I will literally always be accepting prompts for (although if somebody sees this in the tag in like a month or so and wants to send one in, maybe include some context so that I know what that random number I just got in my inbox means? lmao). So, prompt taken from this; anyone can feel free to send other numbers in at any time. Literally.

#21....on a place of insecurity.

Gimli stared at his reflection in the round silver mirror, his hands paused even though his braids were still half-undone. "Do you ever wish that we had crossed the Sea sooner?" he asked.

Legolas blinked at him, cocking his head in that familiar birdlike tilt of confusion that Gimli knew so well.

"Sooner?" Legolas repeated. "How could we have come sooner?" A frown furrowed his smooth, beardless face; a temporary crinkling of skin that would never show the faintest wrinkle. "You mean before Aragorn died?"

"You're right," Gimli sighed. He tugged at his braids, their once-bright copper laced so heavily with strands of silver that he sometimes felt like he had just walked out of a snowfall. "We could not have, of course. But...do you ever wish..."

"Leaving sooner would not have spared us the pain of his death," Legolas said quietly. "It would only have meant that we would not have been there for him when it happened; only have meant that we would not have been there for Arwen or their children either. Knowing of his death only from stories brought by later travelers would not have spared us anything, I do not think; knowing of his death without having been there ourselves would, I think, have only made it hurt the worse, my dear."

"Yes," Gimli said, "yes, of course. I did not mean—"

He stopped. Legolas had walked up behind him and bent down to look over Gimli's shoulder into the mirror. It should have looked awkward, the sight of Legolas's long spine arced at such an angle, but elves were spindly, lithesome creatures. Wood-elves in particular seemed to be as supple and spritely as saplings, and Gimli had yet to witness Legolas contort himself into a position that strained his pliant bones.

"Gimli," Legolas said, "what is wrong?"

"Nothing," Gimli said. He lowered his eyes and his fingers both, twisting his remaining braids into place as quickly as he could without mussing the pattern of the plaits or dropping strands. He scowled, even though he knew that doing so would only deepen the wrinkles that already lined his eyes. "Nothing is wrong."

Long, smooth fingers pressed gently on his own calloused ones until they stilled. Gimli looked down at the overlap of those long digits across his own, the one set brown and spindly as twigs yet unblemished by time or strife; the other pale as underground mushrooms and gnarled by both time and heavy forge-work.

"Gimli," Legolas said. "Tell me."

Gimli turned his hand so that he could enfold those long brown fingers in his own and gave Legolas's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Nothing is wrong, my love," he said again. "I am only feeling melancholy this morning, it seems. Think no more upon it."

He raised the elf's ageless hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to those smooth knuckles, then released it so that he could continue with his braids.

Legolas did not rise. Instead he dropped lower to fold his arms across the back of Gimli's chair, his bright eyes studying the sight of the dwarf before him in the mirror. Gimli avoided his gaze, focusing instead on the intricate plaits that hung from his chin, but he could feel the weight of Legolas's eyes passing over his face, searching for the answers that Gimli would not give him.

He did not find them.

"Will you not tell me?" Legolas asked at last. His voice was soft, his eyes full of sorrow. "Please?"

Gimli sighed and let the braid in his hands droop loose and unfinished down his chest.

He looked up into the mirror again at last and met Legolas's searching, worried eyes there. He looked at that smooth, beardless, beloved face waiting there behind him; unchanging and unchanged from the day they had first met so long ago and far away in Rivendell.

His eyes flicked sideways to his own reflection, to the wrinkles that time had carved beneath his beard; to the strands of silver that wove through the bright copper braids that hung before him. He reached out and pressed his fingers to the mirror, to the sight of the lines around his eyes, and sighed.

"I would not be so old," Gimli said quietly, "if we had come sooner; that is all. I only wonder if you wish, sometimes, that we had. That is all."

Time did not pass in Aman the way it did in other places; or if it did, then it did not feel as though it did, and it carried no trace of decay with it. Gimli had not aged a day since they had first set foot upon these white shores—but he had aged two hundred and sixty-two years before that.

He was still hale and hearty, for dwarves—especially the dwarves of Durin's line—often lived many years longer than that, and rarely weakened before the very ending of their days came upon them. But he was no spritely youngster of sixty-two, either, moping because his father had deemed him too young to go along on a Quest; nor was he a mature youth of not quite one hundred and forty, boldly striding forward at last upon a Quest of his own, all bright brown eyes and ruddy copper beard.

Gimli was old, now, and he looked it. He could see it every morning when he looked in the mirror to do his braids, or every afternoon when he caught sight of his reflection in the cooling barrels at the forge or in some clear, still pool that held Aman's crystal waters. He could see it, and he knew Legolas could as well; how could he not, when he was surrounded by the contrast of all the smooth, beardless, ageless faces of his people?

"Are you tired?" Legolas asked, and his light voice was a dry croak. Shadows as thick as Mordor's fogs filled his eyes, and Gimli turned from the mirror with a cry and caught Legolas's hands with his own.

"No!" he cried. He knew that Legolas was not asking after Gimli's slumber, or weariness from working the forge; was not asking about anything as simple as a day's ordinary exhaustion. He was asking if Gimli was tired of life; if he was tired of eternity. If he was ready, at long last, to claim the gift of his own mortality.

"Legolas, no," Gimli said, squeezing those spindly fingers so tightly that had they been the frail twigs they seemed they would have snapped beneath the pressure of his grip—but elvish flesh was strong, so much stronger than it looked. So were dwarven spirits, and Gimli had no intention of ever growing weary of the world, not so long as Legolas was in it. "I promise," he assured his elf, raising first one hand and then the other to his lips. "Never, Legolas. I am here with you, and I always will be."

Legolas's smile trembled, but it was a smile. Gimli counted it as a victory, and pulled the elf up out of his crouch and into Gimli's lap. He had too much leg to fit on such a short chair, of course, but the two of them were used to that problem; it was no effort at all to fall into the long habits that had his ankles curling sideways under the chair, his elvish flexibility making easy work of the awkward position.

"Then what troubles you?" Legolas asked. He snaked his long arms around Gimli's shoulders and leaned his beardless cheek down to rest upon Gimli's head. "My love, please. Tell me."

"I am old, Legolas," Gimli said. He unwrapped one hand from the elf's slender waist to press his fingers to the cobweb of wrinkles beside his eyes. "You can see it plainly on my face. Old, as no one else in Aman ever will be."

"Bilbo is old," said Legolas.

Gimli rolled his eyes. "Yes, all right," he said. "And Sam, too. But aside from them, everyone else here is an elf—"

"Or a maia," Legolas interrupted. "Or one of the Valar. Or—"

"My point," Gimli cut him off loudly, "is that age is writ across my face in ways that elvish faces do not age. I am only sorry, my dear, that I can do nothing to erase those lines, these streaks of silver; only sorry that you cannot spend eternity beside a dwarf in his prime of life, but must instead contend with these wearisome wrinkles."

Legolas drew away far enough that he could gape down at Gimli. "Wearisome?" he repeated. "Sorry? Gimli!"

"I know, I know," Gimli soothed, "it is a little enough thing, I suppose, and I am not ungrateful; I am only sorry for your sake, my dear—"

"Sorry!" Legolas said again. "Gimli, you everlasting fool of a dwarf! Is this what you've been fretting over all this time?

"...Yes?"

"Gimli!" Legolas squawked. "Oh, my beloved idiot! I feared you were growing tired of forever, and were going to have to leave me! Instead you've just been pouting over how handsome you are?"

"Handsome!" Gimli exclaimed. "Legolas, enough. I am sorry beyond words that I made you worry, but that is no call to mock me—"

"I do not mock," Legolas said. His lilting voice for once was as firm as stones. "I adore every inch of you, Gimli. Yes, even the wrinkles; yes, even the silver in your beard!" He shook his head, scowling down at his dwarf. "Perhaps especially the silver in your beard, for it gleams like mithril in the moonlight, even as the ancient lights of lost Trees are said to still gleam in the locks of the Lady Galadriel, oh Lockbearer!"

Gimli sputtered, heat rising fast in his cheeks. He tried to push the elf away, but Legolas tightened his grip upon his shoulders and refused to be budged from Gimli's knees.

"And your wrinkles," he continued in a softer voice, "are the signs that our years together have etched upon your face, even as your clever hands carve beauty into simple metal and plain rocks. How could I help but love them, when they trace our story out upon your face for all to see?" Legolas leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the sparkle of crows-feet that framed first one eye and then the other, then traced the deep tracks that lines Gimli's mouth and nose beneath his beard. Finally he raised Gimli's hand and pressed a long kiss to those ruddy, wrinkled fingers.

"Legolas, I...I feel I've been a fool," Gimli murmured. He found himself once again unable to meet Legolas's eyes, this time because of the blush that darkened his cheeks with a blaze of hot mortification.

"You have been," Legolas agreed, "but fortunately I knew you for a fool long before I knew you for anything else, my love, and so I am not bothered overmuch."

A watery laugh spilled from Gimli's lips, and he could not help but smile. "And you are as irritating and irreverent as ever," he retorted.

"Of course I am," Legolas agreed, and hopped up off Gimli's lap and the low chair upon which he sat and grinned down at his dwarf with a twinkling smile. "Some things do not change with the passage of time—but even though my face does not show it, I have very much been changed by knowing you, my dear Gimli, and I would not trade a second of it in exchange for a single lifted wrinkle or silvered hair."

"Well," Gimli said, "I am glad to hear it, and sorry now that I did not voice my concerns sooner."

"So am I!" said Legolas. "But I cannot hold it against you when I did not voice mine either, although in my case it was because I feared to pressure you into extending your time in life beyond your own comfort for my sake alone."

Gimli stood and took his elf's hands in his and held them tight. "Forever is only barely enough time to spend at your side, Legolas," he said, "but as it is all the time the world will give us, I will take it; but I will accept not a second less than that, and would not see that time shortened for any reason even if it was only for your own comfort, and not my own. I can think of no greater purpose for one's life than to bring comfort to one whom I so love."

Legolas beamed down at him, his pale eyes bright with unshed tears. "Well!" he said. "That is all sorted, then!"

"Indeed it is," Gimli agreed. He knew that the smile spreading behind his beard was the sort of soft, misty-eyed grin that Peregrin Took had always labeled "absurdly sappy," but he could not help himself; he felt as though he was fairly brimming-over with love, and he could not contain himself from letting it show upon his face, erstwhile sappiness be damned.

"In that case," Legolas said, his damp gaze dancing suddenly with dry mischief, "let me get you out of that tunic and into our bed and I will find all your other wrinkles and properly express my love for them, too."

Gimli decided he could finish his braids later.

[beevean]

I love how NFCV gave Dracula an entire war council and army of vampires, and then did absolutely nothing with 99% of them. Like, at that point, why even bother? They could literally just be random monsters like in the games, that would justify why they don't talk AND then they'd have badass designs and powers. Actually, the boss monsters in the games tend to be more talkative and plot relevant than most of the war council, so they actually did a worse job than the supposedly plotless videogames.

Show: Guys guys! Check this out! We have representation! We are expanding the limited world of the games! We're so progressive!

The representation:

love how the only vampires with speaking lines are the two European ones. lol. lmao even.

(also special shout out to Carmilla radfemming that "There are perhaps four other women in this castle", when she, Cho and Raman are only three. fucking peak) (god why do i still remember raman's name she's a literal nothing)

But yeah, this was an obvious attempt to make the world and Dracula's influence seem larger than it actually was. Look at him, being able to summon vampire lords from all over the world! (except Sun Thundercat and Tiddied Isaac lol) Look how vast the vampire culture is! But at the end of the day, they are literal NPCs, cardboard cutouts that the story tells us they don't like Dracula's plan, and fodder for the finale. Pretty sure they don't do anything but go on a killing spree offscreen under Godbrand's suggestion lmao.

This is also a symptom of the show preferring vampires over other creatures. In the games, there is a plethora of monsters in Dracula's castle: zombies, skeletons, Frankenstein's monsters, witches, wizards, giant armors, Medusas, werewolves, phantom knights, so many creatures. Vampires are actually pretty rare. The show just has vampires and some badly designed Night Creature at best. And vampires are treated like elves, like a nearly noble race with its own culture.

[pro-crastinate17]

hello this will be a reaction to black friday starkid because i like to talk about the things i like

(it ended up only being act 1 bc it got super long lol)

ths is only my third time watching it and the first time was like. 2 years ago (the second time was only a few months ago but i didnt absorb enough or write this so here we go again)

will be VERY long btw

in the jingle when angelas sniggle says "we're the sniggles! don't be scared!" she winks when she says dont be scared. this is. foreshadowing :thumbsup:

never getting over "hes deep down in drowsy town, sleepng the dreamless sleep of the dead!"

also JAMES TOLBERT!!!!! his VOICE im so <3 [heart]

also oh my god im reading WAY too far into this but. "hes riding santas sleigh cause hes friends with all the elves" wigglys main allies are uncle wiley and linda monroe, who are played by joey and lauren, who both play elves in santa claus is going to high school!!!

OUGH i love the announcer whose voice is that?? it is reminiscent of big bill hells lol

"i wanted a salad, but now i have a child" never gets old lol. also the exposition in this scene is FLAWLESS mwah

THE LA DI DA DA DAY MOTIF IN THE BACKGROUND LMAO (it is definitely NOT a la di da da day)

"i do not get flashbacks!!! ...i remember bad things vividly." TOM IS SO ME CODED LOL

emma doing paul's "okay" thing gives me LIFE

DYLAN SAUNDERS APPRECIATION MOMENT i love tom houston so much i love dylan saunders oh my goodness gracious literally flawless acting !!! and his VOICE i cant even (also him holding up his hands like the steering wheel is such good foreshadowing for him having been the one driving!!)

tom is COMPLETELY unable to read sarcasm. tom houston autism confirmed. (/silly)

OK OK I KNOW that "bud" is a common way to refer to weed. however. lex smoking weed in hatchetfield and says "bud" specifically?? PERKYS BUDS REFERENCE!

the "to nordstrom? ah shiiit!" he sounds so canadian?? i cant be the only one hearing this lol what was that

COREY DORRIS APPRECIATION MOMENT!!!!! HIS VOICE HIS ACTING HES SOOOO <3 [heart] also the frank and uncle wiley interaction is SO FUNNY !!! and the condescension paired with calling lex "alexandra" is a rlly good way to make it obvious how icky frank is i love it

"honest?" "cross my heart, hope to die" BUT HE WAS LYING AND THEN HE DIES. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE STARKID

am i the only one whos curious about the gerald cinnabon story lmao. what did he DO that was so bad that gary goldstein attorney at law couldnt save him from the consequences?

"thats called a BRIBE and its ILLEGAL!!!" *skeptical look* "...or it SHOULD be." IM GIGGLING

im osrry the "my CHILDREN were accidents" line KILLS ME lmao. esp bc she literally IS making it everyone elses problem (by demanding 4 wigglys)!!

ik this fandom talks a lot about "stop crying gerald i wasnt talking to you" but i dont think we pay enough attention to lindas stanley monologue. like holy shit.

ALSO TOM TAKES THE SPOT BEHIND BECKY IN LINE AND DOESNT PAY ANYONE and no one even notces bc theyre all too busy gossiping lmao also what do you say is SUCH a good song aaaa!!! (why is the homeless man so invested on

"tHe YeArS hAvE pAsSeD"

FRANK MY BELOVED I LOOOVE OUR DOORS ARE OPEN

unrelated but i just noticed curt (the farmer who has peanuts the hatchetfield pocket squirrel during what if tomorrow comes) does not currently have peanuts the hatchetfield pocket squirrel! how does he come to be in possession of peanuts? was peanuts also drawn to wiggly (since he is canonically a sentient being?) what is really going on here? maybe this was the real conspiracy all along /silly

JEFF BLIM WIGGLY HANDS (also distinctly resembles the wiggly hands jon does as wiggly in npmd!!)

also feast or famine is an INCREDIBLE song like actually AAAAAA !!! chaos reigns!!!

is ethan wearing a kilt? or a skirt?? also him saying "more bad" instead of worse GIGGLE

tom scaring gary off just by looking scary is PEAK comedy i take no criticism

"aHhH yUmMy!!!!!"

"I HAVE A HAIR APPOINTMENT TODAAAAAAAAAY"

the resurgence of hello naughty list?? does sthat mean uncle wiley originally wanted lex to be the prophet. DOES THAT MEAN UNCLE WILEY ORIGINALLY WANTED LEX TO BE THE PROPHET.

i cant stop saying "i have pepper spray and i use it more than you can possibly imagine", also "ohh i dont know if you wanna wanna wanna wanna wanna wanna wanna FUCK with me miss monroe" ITS SO SILLY

when he sings the little "why should you give when you can get" BE STILL MY HEART (i have gender envy for joey richter)

"all you gotta do is just do what you do best-" "SHOP." "-be a mother." "...right." I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC.

"yEs I fUcKiNg SeE hIm"

i never noticed bob is a parody of obama lmao ALSO HIM COMFORTING WIGGLY AFTER HOWIE CALLS HIM A FUCKING WEIRD LITTLE MONSTER LMAO

"iLL bItE yOuR nIpPLe OfF"

the way the wiggly is damaged is NOT what wouldve happened from being shot. but thats ok bc its my babygirl general john macnamara <3 [heart]

MONSTERS AND MEN IS SO GOOD. I LOVE JEFFS VOICE SM JEFF BLIM APPRECATION MOMENT !!!!! also he looks Rigjt at the camera when he says "its nothing on your phone" GIGGLE

[obsessedwiththedragonprince]

Se4 ep6 thoughts

I love how Soren sees the dragon and is immediately like: ✨️friends✨️? Big puppy energy. Looks so innocent!! Well that didn't go well.

No-one looking for Soren? Yikes. Wow Rayla took you long enough lmao. Not like he didn't come home last night!

Whatcha doing? while Ezran's discovering he's the new spiderman.

Zubeia will not be pleased.

Finally some thought to the freaking anonymous elf!! Did i mention how much i am loving the accent? Because yes.

Lmao Raylaa

What is this????

Like ig there was a different light source and they changed it later but does no-one watch this like, I dunno, a thousand times before it's released??

My distracted ass had to go make these gifs mid episode because why not. And this was my first time making one so when i clicked the tick and it didn't appear as an option in my videos from gallery i tried again. And again. And again. Then realised i had four of them in the gallery. So yeah. That happened.

Anyway continuing my watch. Lmaoo not even 6 minutes. Oops...

Poor Bait getting knocked overr. And again why can Ez see through Zym's eyes? Will we ever know?

Amaya it is not just a fricking candlee. Like I love you but show some respect please. Okay that escalated quickly. Is there no way to like, give the elf some comfort or something that doesn't involve killing? Like yes i actually get why death would be an appropriate punishment cause in their eyes extinguishing that candle is prolly worse than killing someone cause if u kill they still get to the afterlife but. I think the focus should also be on the elf and doing sth for his benefit?

Um i guess earthblood elves don't know he's the dragon prince? Cause otherwise they have some serious trouble coming. Is Callum going to save the day? This blackout transition was a bit unusual. Looked fine but not really their style?

Are we getting some info on elven politics? Masked guys? This little smile thing between Karim and one of Six Horns... he did some bribing? Hope not cause this could turn ugly. It prolly will who am i lying to.

'Don't u remember who u are' felt a little forced to me. They often have those inspiring speeches that don't feel like they belong there. Why isn't Callum flying around looking for Zym? And why wasn't he their 'eyes' to begin with?

The kiddo is back again! Kinda didn't like that was all we saw of him so welcome back!

Karim u little shit. I don't yet know what he's planning but i feel it in my bones it ain't nothing good. Best case he just wants them gone from Xadia. Hopefully.

Why did that elf go after Rayla? Because they are so-called protectors? That little Bait smile lmaooo. Another gif incoming.

I am a pro now.

Anyway.

Amaya on the side of the elves yes please. But i think she'll do the same Karim did with some kind of I dunno. Not clearing her of guilt completely but sth. Yess compassionate justice pleasee. I feel like they won't listen cause it'd be too good to be true but still. Prolly Karim bribing people won't help. Still not sure if he did.

This catching dragons really reminds me of HTTYD. This boy is the next Hiccup. N'than i love youuu.

Damn for a moment i really thought she'll cut her hands off. Ig that wouldn't really belong on screen but i thought the same for blood so...

this was so good!! I loved it! I actually cried Just hope Janai didn't undermine herself and look weak in the eyes of other elves. I feel like this was also more realistic so they didn't escalate things for no reason. Just show them all trying to get along. Sometimes successfully, other times less so. In love with how Janai said compassion

This entire scene was a masterpiece idc. How the architect broke down crying from relief and stress, the shrine idea, how the elf subtly accepted this as retribution, how it drove a divide between Karim and Janai, how logical the punishment was, it will be the greatest work of my life... just. Peak animation.

I knew it! The Pit of Despair, answer to all our prayers.

Will Karim and Janai fix things or will Karim not be understanding? Again a pretty scene, and Karim doesn't look hostile so far so yayy

I wanted to ask before but how long did Rayla and Soren actually knew each other? Cause i was under the impression that Rayla left practically at the end of se3 but Soren acted like they were kinda close earlier and now Rayla sounds really distressed?

Ohh Karimm lover boyy! Is he going to usurper her? Really?

Lmaoo Soren late to the party😂😂 omgg they're so cuteeee! ✨️friends✨️ for real now

The happiness on his face🥹

OMGG SIBLINGS REUNIONN!!!!

[eliza-makepeace]

HI!! do you have any predictions or maybe like a wish list for the Murtagh book??

Hi! Thank you for asking this. This'll hopefully help me cope with the horrible wait.

The things that I feel like we'll see in the murtagh book i think fit into both categories.

Especially, I had always thought that, for a book focused on murtagh, it would be necessary to deepen into his childhood, into what it was like to grow up at galby's court, the consideration people had of him as morzan's son and his own idea of what that means... Also I'm dying to know more about tornac (as paolini has already suggested we will) and about selena.

I feel like in this book murtagh *needs* to understand himself, and, in order to do so, needs to understand his past and make peace with it. It's obvious he adores and misses selena and her loss has always been something huge for him. Adding to this, i think he resents her as well, for not protecting him as she "should have", for having eragon (and him being brom's son!) and giving him a "safe" upbringing and not having had to grow up with the stigma of being morzan's son, and also perhaps, in a way, for dying and leaving him. So my idea is that he'll eventually find out things about her, and will be able to see her as the complex creature she was, and, most importantly, as his mother who loved him unconditionally.

In a rather self-indulgent way, I kinda hope he gets to see her, somehow. Whether it's in a similar fashion to brom giving eragon his message as "his father" or contacting the netherworld (i don't care that the elves presume the great beyond doesn't exist. what do they know) and get to see/talk to her, or even get a glimpse of her in the past, defending him from morzan or a moment selena and murtagh shared when he was a baby.

Also, I hope we get to see how galby's court works, the inner turnings of it, through his eyes and experience. I'm a historian so I *love* that shit. I think we'll get to see a bit of him and tornac being weird father and son together, maybe even get a flashback to when tornac died or murtagh's grief after losing him. He obviously means a great deal to him, and his loss has severely affected him, just as selena's did, but worse because murtagh was 18.

I hope murtagh meets roran, and gets to have a nice chat with eragon. He deserves to spend time with his family, and feel part of it.

Also i feel like we're going to get more in depth about murtagh's feelings for nasuada, and his experience in uru'baen with her. I know some people have pointed it out because apparently its hinted in the sneak peak. I unfortunately haven't read the sneak peak because that edition is nowhere around where I live and I can't really get it, but it seems like he's going to feel like shit about all that transpired. I've been reading inheritance actually, and despite the fact that it was a horrible situation, hopefully he'll realize that if it hadn't been for him, nasuada would've gone mad, would've become galby's slave and would've died. He saved her, just as much as he saved thorn and himself.

I can't wait to see what Bachel is about, what she'll be like and how murtagh with deal with her. Whether she's good or not, what she'll make him do.... It's a world of possibilities and I'm really looking forward to it. Also, i hope he'll meet Essie again, maybe taking the role of mentor, like tornac did for him.

Also, maybe he'll visit vroengard, but I don't really know about that lmao. We'll see. I'd love to see what you all think the book will show and what murtagh will go through!

[ninas-gf]

finished tdp this season was so awesome... not the biggest fan of kim'dael her design reminds me of a genshin design (derogatory) and I feel she's just there to be cool and kick ass and not much else. LOVED the whole pirate storyline loved callum using dark magic again because he literally loses it when rayla is in danger. . Claudia was so good I love her smmmm I hope she gets worse she's definitely one of my favs her little tentacle mermaid thing was great. poor janai she just keeps getting betrayed all she wants is to get married lmao. obligatory mention that sunfire elf designs are the coolest ever and I love them

now that you say it like that… i kind of agree with you 😭 though i will say she looks MUCH cooler in the graphic novel imo…

and the pirate part was definitely a highlight for me as well!! finnegrin made such an amazing antagonist 👀 and seeing callum use dark magic again was also interesting!!

and speaking of claudia, they just released a little teaser about her for season 6… but i could understand if you didn’t want to see it because of the spoilers

you’re right though, the elves look super amazing, especially the sunfire elves! cant wait to see more of them in the upcoming seasons <3

[zacksfairest]

🥴📝🥳🙀💥 for the fanfic asks :)

Fanfiction Ask Game

🥴 - Your weirdest fanfiction

Oh, man. I really had to think about this. I don't really write anything weird, I don't think? I think the best contender I have for this is a little something called Desperate Dealings that I wrote for @soartfullydone an age ago. It basically features the Decepticons from Transformers as dark elves/drow. It's weird in that who else would think of that but us? lmao

But, yeah, I don't think I've written anything actually too weird. Everyone is welcome to correct me if I am wrong and point me in the direction of something that I've written that actually is weird.

📝 - The fanfiction you wish to rewrite

I can only pick ONE??? When there are so many I have shat out over the years??

I suppose this honor would go to Shall We Dance? I think it was only the second Lem/Addie fic I ever wrote like seven years back. I was young and worse at writing than I currently am, Addie was in her infancy as a character, and I had nothing on the brain RE: Lem except "him hot him charming."

I've been super tempted to delete the fic entirely in recent years, but there is some worth to its existence, I guess. Its my OC and that relationship in its infancy, and it has the beginnings of the rapport Addie and Lem currently have.

I doubt I'd ever rewrite it, but I think that fic would probably deserve it the most.

🥳 - The fanfiction you had the most fun writing

Honestly? Two immediately come to mind, and I will name both of them because usually writing is akin to shoving bamboo chutes under my nails.

I had so much fun writing Goading the Lion, if I'm being honest. I had never written for Bastion before, but he is SO much fun to write. I love smarmy, charming characters so much. Also, I think that Lem and Bastion should be locked in a room. Just to see what happens :)

The second one was probably Dōnum, for The Forgotten City. But this might have just been because I was so excited to write something for that game (and also Horatius). I love it so much. Everyone go play it.

🙀 - The fanfiction that would give your mom (or any parent figure) a heart attack if they read it

THIS IS SUCH A FUNNY QUESTION LMFAOOOOO

Cycling through fics that I've actually written, and not just the fucked up shit living in my head, probably The Mark of the Beast. It's easily the most violent fic I've ever written, and the underlying sensuality/implications of the attack would likely have my parents looking at me with immense concern. I wrote it purposely to be hot, even though the situation is horrifying.

I need to write more things like this. I need to write more things that'd make my parents raise their eyebrows and clutch their pearls.

OH, WAIT HOLD ON. I think the runner up is the fic I wrote about baby Zaresh being locked in a dark room with silence cast on him. That one is kind of fucked up. I don't think my mom would be fond of me writing about the torment of a child.

I have no smut to offer. I need to change that. I know that this is what the prompt was really hoping to receive in offering.

💥 - Bonus! Tell us all about one fanfiction of your choice!

Damn, this is probably where a WIP would go. But I'm not actively working on anything right now, so here I go.

I am still incredibly fond of The Howling for multiple reasons. It was borne of a single line of dialogue I dreamt up months before actually sitting down to write it. I love the dialogue, I love the imagery and the emotions. I love that it gave me a whole new level to Addie and Lem's relationship to work with, in which Lemuel's devotion to The Cause and his family outranks even whatever feelings he has for her.

And I love that it was entirely inspired by a certain scene in The Dragon Republic (my beloved) :3

I'm a sucker for doomed ships, what can I say?

This was also the first thing I wrote following the fanworks contest, and is basically its sequel. And Ashley read The Howling of her own volition and appeared to enjoy it and reaffirmed her fondness for my silly OC <3 It meant a lot to me, and reminded me that maybe I'm actually not a half bad writer after all.