#i probably had a dragon age tag at some point but god knows what it was

[maternalcube]

veilguard is going to kill my pet theory thats been living in my head for the past.... uh decade. thats okay bc its not like i expected it to be real and it barely counts as a theory anyway and i will play in that headspace if i want to regardless. but yknow. ah well.

[flokali]

Hi!! I am brainrotting and cannot get it out of my mind, so I thought to share. A very simple thought.

Accolyte Zhongli. Very willing to please et cetera. But biting him? Like come on, biting a Dragon? Is it ownership? Is it playful bite? You know, the sudden urge to bite someone (or is it just me?). So biting a very willing Zhongli.

Sobbing. This will haunt me for a while.

Slight NSF_W

Thinking so many thoughts... happy belated valentines day every1 ><

Warnings: NB! Reader, yandere!Zhongli, SAGAU, implied Dom!Reader/Sub!Zhongli, unhealthy relationship dynamics, biting, soft-violence (?), possessive behavior, jealousy, ask to tag!

Dragons in Liyue are known to be loyal, fierce, and elegant; the stories always describe them as powerful beasts who are to be respected, with sincere hearts and wisdom beyond a mere mortal’s understanding.

In a way, such behaviors did translate to your acolyte, Zhongli. He was one of your oldest followers, not just in age but time serving you, over six millenia he has existed and can proudly state he’s worshiped you for most of it. You would think that the years would have mellowed him out, polished up the edges of his devotion, soothe the tempest in his heart into a much milder dribble, and yet – you knew very few of your acolytes who could rival the passion he seemed to hold towards you.

The relationship between you and all of your followers was strange, at least to you — going from a normal person to being worshiped as a God was not an easy process, much less in a world as different from your own as Teyvat was to Earth — however none were perhaps as strange as the relationship between you and Zhongli.

He is always at your side, from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep. At first, his insistence on being your attendant had been met with heavy resistance from the others but his stubbornness greatly overpowered their annoyance; no matter what rotation you were in, Zhongli was always by your side.

You knew of his vessel, Morax, the large dragon that he’d used to fake his death, and you knew that “Zhongli” wasn’t his true form – you just hadn’t guessed some traits would have seeped into the other form or maybe it was simply part of his personality.

He was possessive and overprotective over you, it was like an internal struggle between submission and the need to monopolize you was constantly going on in his head, yet he refused to outwardly admit it.

“I am simply concerned for you, Your Grace.” He’d say whenever you’d bring up his overbearing nature, considering that he and the rest viewed you as an all-powerful being, you’d think he’d have more trust in your ability to protect yourself. And yet, whenever he’s allowed, he’ll always attempt to deter you from leaving his side. At some point you realized it was probably for his sake rather than your own, but by then you had grown endeared to the man and decided to allow it anyway.

Even as your most loyal follower who you spent most of your days with, Zhongli had his quirks and habits about him that simply baffled you – no matter how many days you’d spent with the former Archon, there were just things he’d do and say that’d leave you questioning all you knew about him prior.

All you really knew about him before was reduced to what had been revealed in game, from the Traveler’s perspective and the NPC’s who’d speak about him. Meeting him and interacting with him quickly let you know that his personality, at least when directed towards you, was quite different from what you had assumed from your previous observations.

An example of such discrepancies was his obsessive need to please you.

The traditional Liyue clothes you once complimented him on? Most of his wardrobe has changed to include such attires more frequently. The hair accessory you bought him once when you traveled to Fontaine? You don’t think you’ve seen him without it since. That one time you complimented him when he wore warmer tones? It seems his closet has been rid of any other color.

It was unsettling if not a bit cute, who wouldn’t be a little bit flattered to know their opinion held such weight to a man such as Morax; but it was only a matter of time before it all escalated

Somewhere, at some point, your relationship with Zhongli changed – morphing into something more complex than you would have expected. You would soon wonder if he was classified more so as a lover or some sort of concubinus than a mere helper, his role as an attendant seeming more like a guise so he could spend his time with you each day.

Fleeting touches now lasted longer, the feeling of his hot gaze on you burned stronger with every passing moment, it was a natural escalation; kisses now were no longer restrained to the hand, they now landed on your lips, your cheeks, your neck, wandering hands found their home in your waist and the small of your back.

When he told you he loved you, you knew not if he spoke as a devotee or a lover.

It was during a heated make out session that you found out his weakness to being marked and claimed, much to your surprise. He’d been quite insistent on not leaving a single mark on your person, not a hickey or bite, you guessed it must have been a preference but never asked about it either. You decided that, for the time being, you would avoid the topic until it naturally came up - and up did it come.

You had been on top of him, sitting on his lap and caressing his hair as your lips danced with one another’s, his golden eyes were shut tight in pleasure as he let you use his lips and body as you wished. His hands rested on your waist, tightly gripping at your robes and skin as he desperately clung onto your body. Soft whines left his lips periodically, his breathing was quick and you could feel his heart beating where your chests met.

You playfully decided to trail kisses across his face, at first he whined when he felt the loss of your lips on his but he soon fell quiet – other than a few moans and whimpers – as you left open mouthed kisses into his skin and down his neck.

It’s there that, in the heat of the moment, you decide to bite his neck, leaving a small hickey on his flushed skin. His reaction is immediate; his head falls backwards, his whole body heats up and you feel something stiffen below you, his face burns a bright red as a loud moan escapes his lips. His grip on you tightens, his fingers digging into your skin to a point you are certain it’ll leave a mark, and his heartbeat quickens; pleasure basically radiates off of his body the minute your teeth nib at his neck.

You stop, teeth sunken into his skin and hand tangled in his hair, his reaction so lewd and surprising you become flustered and stop dead in your tracks.

Zhongli, however, only pulls you tighter into his body, using a hand to press your face deeper into his neck, as if urging you to use more force in your bite – timidly you give in and nibble into his flesh, further deepening the imprint of your teeth in his skin. His whole body feels hot to the touch, his mind feels hazy, your soft bites into his skin send shockwaves through him.

You had no idea what you were doing to him, did you? Or else you wouldn’t have been so careless when picking the spot, but it doesn’t matter, in this moment of intense pleasure, the former Archon decides to give into delusion and believe you knew the meaning behind biting a draconic being such as himself — and in the neck of all places as well.

Old traditions dictate that a bite mark, especially in the jugular or neck, was a sign of ownership. It was often that mates would mark each other in the neck with enough force to leave scars, sinking sharp teeth into one another with ironic tenderness. It showed trust and care for the other, both to be marked and leave a mark, as it required vulnerability and care from both parties. It was a deeply intimate act, one that would be reserved to life-long partners and mates, it was a gesture of possessiveness and devotion tinted with love.

If he were to be honest, Zhongli would have thought himself to be the one to mark you instead of the other way around, it’d been something he’d often fantasized at night before your arrival, and yet, as he felt your — significantly duller teeth — bite into him he could feel his admiration and love for you grow as he became yours; even if you may not have known.

He’d always imagined himself on top of you, your naked form beneath him, as he sunk his canines into your flesh until he tasted your holy blood. He’d imagined himself cradling your pleasure stricken body while you moaned his name, a sinful sound coming from a divine being. Instead, it is himself that lays within your grasp, panting in ecstasy as he holds himself back from coming completely undone and showing a depraved side of himself even he did not know of.

If he was honest, he almost wishes you’d draw blood, sink your teeth so deep into his skin it breaks layers of flesh and leaves a deep scar that could never heal – a sign of your favoritism and ownership, one that he could proudly say was unique to him. If only you weren’t so careful with him, so scared of hurting him; he means no offense, but your current form is significantly weaker than his and he’s survived wars most have not heard of; even if you wanted to sink your nails into his skin and carve your name into his body, he thinks his strength and shear devotion to you alone would prove the pain to be nonexistent.

A gasp of your name leaves his parted lips, it’s erotic - the way his pink lips let a symphony of pleasured sounds - a wave of hormones rushing through his body, sending his brain into overdrive.

You look up at him, not having expected such a lewd reaction, but the sight of his half-lidded eyes as they burn into your own sends a hot-buzz down your spine. His cheeks are flushed, his lips bloodied as he bites them, his bare chest is heaving up and down; the expression on his face is orgasmic. His loose hair sticks to his forehead as sweat runs down his temples, clearly your gesture had taken quite an effect on him.

You slowly remove your lips from their spot, about to question his reaction - wondering if you’d perhaps crossed a line, but he stops you with a crooked smile and warm hands against the back of your head.

“It is okay, Your Grace,” he whispers, tongue darting to wet his drying lips, he guides your head back into his neck, “bite me all you want, my neck is yours for the taking.”

You giggle a bit at his eagerness, feeling his hard-on press against your ass. You playfully adjust yourself in his lap, softly nipping at his neck before biting down in a new spot.

“Ha-ah,” he moans once more, you feel him startle beneath you, “don’t be afraid to draw out blood, either… in fact, please, feel free to do so.”

He can only hope you take on the challenge, eager to flaunt your lovely bites to Neuvillette and any poor soul that even so much as thinks of questioning his position in your life.

[elvensemi]

I'm Publishing Serial Webnovels

Hi guys! I'm @elvensemi, and some of you might know me from writing Dragon Age fanfic Keeping Secrets, or from writing weird gargoyle porn with @unpretty, or from that time I accidentally told a popular blog I write dragon porn on my main blog @solitarelee, or maybe from that one fanfic where the knight with a crossdressing kink fails at slaying a dragon so hard he gets seduced!

I've graduated college, and you know what that means! Student loans Free time! And so I'm finally pursuing my long term dream and publishing serial webnovels. The short version is: ebooks, I'm publishing ebooks via Patreon to see if it works because I don't want to deal with Amazon and marketplaces. Chuck Tingle does it, kind of!

I am writing such things as!

The Problem with Faeries An urban fantasy series for fans of Holly Black, featuring faeries and a librarian who has been cursed by a witch to turn into a tiny dog at night.

Everything at Once A coming of age fantasy novel set in a post-post-apocalyptic world full of many monsters and very few humans, with a nonbinary (genderfluid) protagonist and a rotating cast of gods and monsters.

The Demon Isles An adult romance series set in the same world as Everything at Once, this one's for the monsterf*ckers. Step into the shoes of an escaped slave who's been stranded in Fantasy Australia But All The Dangerous Things Can Be Seduced.

A Place Among the Stars An adult sci-fi political space opera that is also technically just solidly omegaverse sm*t plus space dragons. That's right, one of my friends dared me to write omegaverse and I overdid it and now they're aliens! All for you my friend.

Novelizations of works that previously existed only as RPs, such as Sanctuary and The Kingdom of Aeris.

AND SO MUCH MORE.

For $5 you get access to SFW material, and for $10 you get access to that and the things that are not SFW. You can view a full summary of the serials I'm working on at tinyurl.com/SemiSerials , or click the read more.

The Demon Isles (NSFW, Second Person)

Oceanside is a world full of elves and gods, monsters and magic. You, however, a human with no magic, no martial training, and a fear of... most things. Stranded on an unfamiliar island full of monsters, you must learn to harness humanity’s true power in order to survive. The issue with that is, as far as anyone can tell, humanity’s true powers are friendship and fuckability.

The Demon Isles is a erotic, second-person monsterfucking romp through the dangerous Demon Isles. The second person character is referred to by gender neutral terminology and they/them pronouns, physical appearance left ambiguous. Sex scenes have two versions with different sets of genitalia for the main character. Tags and content warnings are available for each chapter.

The Problem with Faeries (SFW, Third Person)

The problem with faeries is that we love them. We know all the sharp and cruel ways they twist us apart and we love them with a helpless, hopeless foolishness that never fades until it destroys us.

Bree is a human living in Valesport, a small town on the east coast of the United States that functions as a secret haven for the supernatural. As a cursed human, it’s one of the safer places for her... at least, safe from other humans. Everything else Valesport has to offer remains a threat. She’s already had her run-ins with werewolves, vampires, and whatever the hell Jean Cernunnos is... so, in retrospect, she was probably due to get into trouble with the Fae.

A fan favorite finally finding a venue of publication, The Problem with Faeries is a SFW urban fantasy with a side of romance perfect for fans of Holly Black. It is third person and follows the point of view of the protagonist, Bridget “Bree” Corey, as she finds herself tangled up trying to navigate faerie drama and her own personal feelings, neither of which she is particularly equipped to handle.

Everything at Once (SFW, First Person)

Babs wants everything the world has to offer... everything except what it’s actually prepared to hand over. As the eldest child of the ruling noble family--or what passes for it--of the only human village remaining old and large enough to still have a ruling noble family, even if just in name, Babs’s whole life has been laid out in front of them since the moment they were born. And they want none of it. However, after a bold escape from the village they knew all their life, they find themselves adrift in an unfriendly world of monsters and magic that seems much larger and much less friendly than they had hoped.

Everything at Once is a SFW fantasy novel set all over the world of Oceanside as our determined protagonist, Babs, attempts to explore all there is to explore and experience all there is to experience (it is possible they have not thought this through). Babs is a non-binary, gender fluid illusionist referred to varyingly by he, she, and they pronouns based on presentation. The story is a first person mixed POV exploring a wide range of characters and topics, but always staying focused on the many transformations of the main character as they learn what it is they want... and what it is to want.

Future Projects: Projects that are in development but do not have a set release date yet.

A Place Among the Stars [Working Title] (NSFW)

A Place Among the Stars is a NSFW erotic political space opera featuring Omegaverse style aliens and also space dragons, amongst other alien races. It features two protagonists: an exiled and excommunicated Saint who once led a cult that threatened the peace and stability of his homeworld, and a mid level government official presiding over the walled ghetto where the Ab’ed keep all foreign visitors and immigrants to their planet. They quickly find themselves entangled: politically, as the Saint once again threatens the stability of the world around him--in more ways than one--and sexually, as the tension between the two reaches a fever pitch.

Sanctuary (NSFW, Third Person)

Most people would consider Ren unlucky. After all, she’s been homeless since she was a child, has no living family she knows of, and she was recently kidnapped by sex traffickers and ripped away from the city she had been living in for years. But as far as Ren is concerned, she’s the epitome of good luck: not only has she survived all the things life has thrown at her, but she’s escaped said sex traffickers and even found shelter in an abandoned, boarded up cathedral. The fact that the cathedral, undisturbed for a century or more, is home to a guardian whose only experience with the world is violently murdering intruders, well... once again, whether that’s good or bad luck is based purely on interpretation.

Sanctuary is a NSFW urban fantasy erotic romance featuring a cis female protagonist and a male (as these things go) gargoyle love interest, as well as a mix of other romantic interests (primarily M/F with some F/F or NB/F thrown in). Tags and content warnings are available for each chapter. This fan-favorite returns in serialized, ebook form for easy reading. Follow Ren’s journey anew from mixed perspectives as she explores the streets of Valesport and finds something she’s never had before; a place to call home.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Movie 1: Broly (2/3)

Well, enough of that flashback stuff. Let's move on to the present.

So after the destruction of Planet Vegeta, uh all of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super happened. This is kind of a weak point for this movie, because it's story is rooted in Goku's origin tale, but the climax takes place when Goku's a middle-aged man, so a lot of lore has happened in between. There's a similar thing going on when Raditz and Frieza show up in DBZ, and when Broly made his debut in the 1993 film, but Goku was 24-30 in those stories, so it wasn't quite as big a strain.

The thing is, the stuff we had to skip over was extremely important, and the movie simply can't go over all of it. If someone who knew nothing about Dragon Ball watched this thing, they would probably think that this is a story about Goku and Vegeta trying to avenge their people by defeating Frieza, except that already got dealt with in 1991. Goku, Vegeta, and Frieza have each been killed and resurrected... twice. This movie doesn't have time to explain all their baggage, much less how Goku and Vegeta became pals. So no one even tries to fill in the audience on who this big purple cat man is. You either saw Battle of Gods or you just have to roll with it.

And you know what? Good. No one was there to explain Ox King or Mr. Popo to me when I first got into this thing. I've been watching this stuff for a quarter century, and I still don't know what the fuck Tien's third eye is all about. Context is for the weak.

Anyway, this scene takes place on a private island Bulma bought some time ago. She had a resort built here so Goku and Vegeta could spar without damaging West City. And the food is good, so Beerus and Whis tagged along, although neither of them really have any impact on the plot at all. Whis asks Goku why he wants to get stronger, and Goku explains that he's feeling inspired after the recent Tournament of Power arc from the tail end of the DBS anime. Vegeta, on the other hand, is only concerned with Frieza, who was restored to life during that storyline. Frieza's more powerful than ever before, and Vegeta expects him to get even stronger and menace the Earth again.

Sure enough, Bulma gets a call from Trunks as Capsule Corp, who informs them that Bulma's collection of Dragon Balls and the Dragon Radar have been stolen by goons wearing Frieza Force uniforms. But the joke's on them, because Bulma only had six of the Dragon Balls collected. The seventh is on the Ice Continent, so they know exactly where to go to intercept the thieves. Beerus doesn't want to tag along for the trip, so Bulma leaves her infant daughter Bulla with Beerus.

So what was Bulma planning to wish for? She admits that she was going to ask Shenron to make her look five years younger. Why only five? Because if she got too young all at once, people would think she had work done.

So what does Frieza plan to wish for? Immortality was what he wanted on Namek, but not this time. No he only wants to grow about five centimeters taller. Why not just use his second or third forms to be tall? Because he wants to be taller in any of his forms. Why only five centimeters? Because he wants it to seem like he's still growing.

I've never been too happy about this gag. I mean, it's a good gag, but I liked it better the first time, when Commander Red planned to use the Dragon Balls to make himself taller. It does add some complexity to Frieza's character, though, since he's not just stubbornly trying the exact same routine that got him wrecked on Namek, and then killed on Earth, and then re-killed on Earth again.

This time, he's not trying to take the Dragon Balls by force, because he knows Goku and Vegeta are too powerful to challenge head-on. So he's using stealth instead. The minions he sent to Earth are weaker guys, which mean Goku and Vegeta wouldn't sense their ki. And it seems like Frieza's plan is to just sneak down to Earth, make the wish, and head out before anyone can stop them.

And he's not pursuing the same wish he had twenty-odd years ago. Really, Frieza was never that interested in immortality in the first place. He only decided to wish for that because it was the one thing he didn't already have. But now he's been dead twice over, and that's given him a new perspective on life and death, and he seems to think being unable to die would be similar to the unending torment he experienced in hell. Neither does he seek an invincible body. I'm not sure Shenron could give him greater strength, but Frieza feels that would take all the fun out of "the game". If nothing else, it's interesting to see Frieza consider this at all. Back in the Namek Saga, he never thought about wishing for greater power, because he believed he already was the strongest in the universe. Now that he knows otherwise, he seems fairly content with that.

Meanwhile, we meet the last two players in this drama, Leemo and Cheelai. They're operatives in the Frieza Force, but they're not warriors. Leemo's been with the Frieza Force from the beginning, and Cheelai's a recent recruit, having joined up to avoid the consequences of stealing a Galactic Patrol ship. Their orders are to find more warriors to join the Frieza Force, since their ranks are pretty threadbare. Remember, when Frieza destroyed the Saiyans, they made up half of his fighting force. The other half was still quite formidable, but all of his best troops ended up getting killed during Frieza's disastrous invasion of Namek. Then Frieza came back and tried to attach Earth in Resurrection F, and he brought like a thousand soldiers with him, and those guys all got killed as well.

As Cheelai observes, Frieza is down to women and old men like herself and Leemo. There just aren't many warriors available in the universe these days, because all the good talent got killed off a long time ago. As they discuss this, Leemo picks up a distress signal from Planet Vampa. Thinking their might be a reward for it, they head over to answer the call, and find...

Paragus! Also a bunch of alien monsters. Fortunately, Paragus isn't alone...

They also find Broly on Vampa, and he's all grown up and stronger than ever. Their scouters measure Paragus' power level at 4200, which isn't too impressive these days, but it's way better than anything the Frieza Force has at the moment. And Broly's power is too high for the scouters to measure, so they definitely want him to come along. On the way to Frieza's ship, Cheelai feeds Broly rations and takes a liking to the big guy.

When the four of them report to Frieza, Paragus explains that he had to cut off Broly's tail because of the frequent full moons on Vampa, which cause Broly to lose control of himself as a giant ape. Occasionally, Broly still loses control of himself anyway, but Paragus can rein him in using...

... a shock collar, which he can activate with a remote control. Leemo and Cheelai are horrified to learn of this, but not so horrified that they turn down the generous reward Frieza gives them for their discovery.

Now, one thing that always bugged me about this movie is that Frieza immediately starts making plans to use Broly against Goku and Vegeta. He wasn't planning to attack them this time around, but now that he has Broly on his team, it seems much more favorable. Later, when the fighting starts, Frieza is disappointed to find that Broly can't transform into a Super Saiyan, but why would he expect Broly to be able to do any of that? Sure he's a Saiyan, but Goku and Vegeta have mastered power levels far, far beyond what other Saiyans have ever dreamed possible.

But I keep forgetting that Frieza can sense ki these days, the same way Goku can. Back in the Namek Saga, Frieza had to rely on scouters like the rest of his goons, but when he trained to become Golden Frieza in Res F, he learned to sense energy. So when he sizes up Broly, he's not just guessing at how strong this guy is. He can actually perceive the untapped potential in Broly's body, and he seems to recognize that Broly would be capable of giving Goku and Vegeta a hard time. So it makes sense.

Anyway, Paragus is happy to cooperate, since he still despises King Vegeta for what happened, and he's down to attack Prince Vegeta to even the score. And Broly has to do whatever Paragus wants or he gets another shock.

Later, Cheelai tries to get to know Broly better, but Paragus forbids Broly from speaking. While they argue over this, another henchman tries to drunkenly hit on Cheelai. I really like how Leemo tries to defuse the situation here. He's not a fighter, so it suits his character that he'd try to employ a nonviolent solution, like offering to buy this guy a drink. Being a noncombatant in the Frieza Force, he's probably grown accustomed to swimming with the sharks like this. But it doesn't work, and then Broly steps up to use a non-nonviolent solution, which is violence.

But Paragus doesn't want to offend his host, so he gives Broly another shock. Cheelai confronts him over this, and while she chews him out, she swipes his remote control. Then Paragus gets summoned to talk with Frieza. While he's gone, Cheelai destroys the remote, and they listen to Broly tell the story of his green fur wrap.

It's a pretty simple story. The closest thing Broly had to a friend on Vampa was one of the large green creatures on the planet. Paragus used the creature to train Broly, goading it to attack, and then having Broly dodge it. But over time, the creature became accustomed to Broly, and they became pals. But Paragus wanted the creature to be hostile, so he shot its ear off with a laser pistol to piss it off. Ever since, Broly has kept the ear and wears it as a memento of their friendship.

I like how easily Cheelai and Leemo sympathize with Broly in this movie. They're not good guys at all. Cheelai's an opportunistic thief, and Leemo's a cog in Frieza's evil empire. But they're not heartless, and Broly's story is so tragic and innocent that you can't help but feel for the guy. Leemo compares Paragus to his own rotten father, so you can tell that he can relate to what Broly is going through. And Cheelai can tell when someone's being used. Paragus can dress it up all he likes, but he's just using Broly's power to serve his own selfish interests.

Moving on, Frieza's team on Earth have located the seventh Dragon Ball, and Frieza's fleet moves in to join them for the wish-making. But Bulma, Goku, and Vegeta get their first. They probably would have arrived sooner, but Bulma wanted to stop somewhere to buy cold-weather gear. Let's just take a moment to admire her safety-yellow snowsuit. She looks like a baby duck in this thing and it's great.

Frieza confronts Goku and Vegeta and introduces Paragus and Broly. I never really noticed these guardsmen who stand by while Frieza steps out of the ship. Paragus should have gotten one of those uniforms, since that pink shower curtain he's wearing looks dumb as hell.

I mean, look at Goku. Bulma got him a sweet blue coat and he looks like a million bucks. He tries to convince Paragus and Broly to get along as fellow Saiyans, but that doesn't get him anywhere. You'd think he'd know better by now.

So Broly's rarin' to go, and Frieza sees no reason to make him wait, and it's on. Broly attacks Vegeta, and that brings us to the final leg of this movie, which we'll cover next time.

[invinciblerodent]

Re: people’s needlessly pessimistic whining about Veilguard and the lack of focus on decisions from the other games. Idk I just… I’m kind of glad that they didn’t focus on that? Inquisition came out ten years ago, origins 15 years ago. I’d argue it’s good for the story that they chose to put the focus on the story of the game they’re publishing *now*, and not endless, gimmicky throwbacks. Especially since no one was really happy with how they handled it in inquisition.

Exactly! Yes, that's just what I mean!

Sorry for the rambling that I'm about to do, but I said this earlier today to my friend: I think the choices here from a writing- and development standpoint are either:

a series of small cameos that are vague and fundamentally unimportant enough to be taken- or switched out quickly without upsetting the entire plotline (as to not make the game both incomprehensible to new players, and/or so big and bloated that it's just borderline unmanageable),

or references that are relatively few and specific, but they affect the story in meaningful and interesting ways.

And I wholeheartedly believe that the second option of these two is far preferable to the first.

As nice as it would be to see beloved characters returning for a spell... like you said, it's been 15 years since Origins, and we've had three games with wildly branching possibilities for most characters- I honestly believe that it would have been an unnecessarily large added workload (that 99% of players potentially wouldn't even see) to account for all the possible deaths, romances, friendships, and fates that each companion could have in that time.

Plus, my main point in my grumpy tags on that post- from its infancy, Dragon Age has, in large part, relied on a series of unreliable narrators to tell its story.

The very moment you choose an origin in Origins, you choose a very specific lens through which to view the plot of the game that emphasizes different stakes in each big quest. They purposefully made a known liar the narrator of DA2, and Solas (another main player known to be a liar and a trickster) even spells this out in Haven, that (though I'm paraphrasing) reality can be fundamentally different depending on who it is that's telling its story, and what's their agenda in telling it.

Almost all of the events of these three games are told to us by imperfect people remembering things the way they saw them, through journal entries, letters, and word of mouth. We never even got (and were told that we would never get) a confirmation on whether the fucking MAKER is even REAL or not.

With that in mind, I honestly think it makes perfect sense for the majority of what the Warden, Hawke, and the Inquisitor have done to become distorted, misunderstood, and eventually lost to legend in a remarkably short time, especially considering that we're presumably in entirely different parts of the continent, with only Solas and Varric there to present likely diametrically opposing accounts of the events of 9:41. (Like yeah, sure, by that time whether there are werewolves in the Brecilian forest, or whether this or that person who was near to the action twenty in-game years ago in some Fereldan backwacter is dead or alive today, is probably meaningless pap to anyone who wasn't there at the time.)

Plus, yeah, one needs not to look further than Hawke and blood magic to see why Bioware might be reluctant to get really specific with including choices and characters who can be fundamentally affected by player choice. (I personally liked Hawke being very firmly against blood magic, but yeah, with them potentially having been a blood mage at one point, it was kind of a doozy.)

I just.... god, I know I sound bitter, but I so dearly wish people would just use their imaginations instead of complaining about stories not being exactly what they want them to be, and demanding for writers and actors to confirm everything.

---

Honestly all day today, it's been making me laugh to just imagine my Inquisitor Trevelyan being not just glad to be forgotten, but actively participating in the spreading of unfounded rumors about himself.

Like fuck it, he's retired. Nobody bother him, the Herald of Andraste is now an elven mage woman. Who was also sleeping with the Dread Wolf (definitely not the Big Scary Imperial Magister), what of it. Yeah, them being a non-mage human man is a common misconception, that was clever misdirection at the time, you're likely confusing the Inquisitor and the Inquisition's general. Ignore the missing arm, that's just an unfortunate accident and a total coincidence.

If they don't get mentioned after all (which I find unlikely tbh, knowing that Dorian is basically primed to be a returning character, what with him invariably being a Magister regardless of player choices) I can just headcanon that as soon as they caught wind of Varric's whole entourage approaching Minrathous, they just started packing frantically. No story is going to catch them with their pants around their ankles again!

(No, babe, leave that, there's no time, we have to go, quickly, the plot is fast approaching! We've already survived one ending of the world, this time? This time, we're going to my aunt's in Llomerynn. I hear it's nice this time of year. If the world is ending, I'd rather watch it happen with a fantasy!mai tai in my hand, and my feet in the fucking Amaranthine.)

[shivunin]

Fanfic Writer Questions

Tagged by @greypetrel - thank you so much! 💗

I know this has made the rounds already. If I tag you and you've already done it, please feel free to tag me in the replies or disregard!

Tagging: @nightwardenminthara @vakarians-babe @transprincecaspian @star--nymph @blightbear @inquisimer @dreadfutures @scribbledquillz

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

43

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

688,185

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Published? Just Dragon Age. But I have some unfinished/unpublished Mass Effect and Baldur's Gate stuff as well.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

All of these are Cullavellan fic:

Your Fate for Mine (129,681 Words | E)

More Than Memory (5,214 Words | E)

Search Your Hands (13,581 Words | E)

Unyielding (3,083 Words | M)

The Epaulet Mate (7,303 Words | E)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, though more slowly than I used to!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ooh. Probably The Scourge of Sundermount, though it wound up less angsty than the original ending (in which Cullen and Lavellan are turned to stone forever)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'm a sucker for a happy ending, so this is much harder to answer! I am avoiding answering this with the obvious innuendo haha. Maybe In Any Life? I feel like the vibe of that last chapter is so very soft, with a spring breeze blowing through the window in the house Fenris and Maria made together c:

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten some snarky comments, but never outright hate (thankfully!)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes--not sure what is meant by "kind." M/F and F/F--soft and gentle, hard and fast, mildly kinky, plot-relevant and pwp, etc. A variety of smut, haha.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not really. Crossovers aren't really my jam, but if I wrote one it would probably be Inquisition characters in Mass Effect (like a genre switch thing, not picked up and dropped into our solar system).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

When I was like 13 on FF.net, yes. It's why I stopped writing fic until I was 28.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Only in a sense! I have a few pieces sharing an OC with a friend that were largely rp first before I set them down as a narrative c:

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

God. Don't ask me this haha. My first DA ship was Fenris/Hawke and it still lives so closed to my heart, but Cullen/Lavellan got me into the fandom and Zevran/Tabris brought me someone very dear to me. I don't think I could ever judge any of them by the merits of the ship alone at this point!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Hmmm more than I'd like to admit :/ Probably The Red Crossing Arrangement, which is an arranged marriage/Halamshiral still belongs to the elves AU. It took so much more world building that my ability to write it slowly petered out. The odds are high that it will remain at roughly 80k for the foreseeable future (unless I suddenly want to get back to working out trade routes and governance and commerce, which is what did me in; I'm good at world-building culture on account of the degree and all, but the semantics of daily life don't really interest me as much) (tragically, this means the Adalene and Elandrin fix-it portions of this story may never be published :C and this does honestly make me so sad :C)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Voice and characterization/internal dialogue. I've been told that the canon characters I write feel very similar to canon and that's something I'm really proud of c:

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Physical space. I forget to define the setting very, very frequently. It's the next thing I want to focus on in my writing, actually, when I get back into it!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Eh. I think it can add flavor, especially in fantasy settings where the cultures and worlds are built dissimilarly to the real world. I don't think there's anything especially fun about not being able to discern what's happening in conversation---I think it's most effective when it's a handful of phrases that repeat (hello, I'm sorry, I love you, etc.) or when followed by a translation of some sort. As a lover of Latin, I especially find google translations very unreliable and often incorrect. Better to just italicize it and indicate it's another language, imo.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Code Lyoko

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Oof. It depends on when you ask me this haha. For the moment, I think I'm loving As Two Reflected Stars a little extra right now c: I just love wound-tending and idiots in love and this is definitely both!

Blank version below!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments?

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

16. What are your writing strengths?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favorite fic you've written?

[corancoranthemagicalman]

I've seen many posts about people missing how common asks used to be so I have been trying to send about an ask a week. Now I send this ask first anytime I follow someone as I really don't want to bother anyone, so I'd love to know if you enjoy receiving asks and if so what kind of asks. Not having energy for asks or being comfortable with them is perfectly okay.

The categories I have in my ask notebook that I file under are in colour. Please feel free to make your response as long as you want or private (the asker cannot directly respond to private responses).

Self, Job/Work: please let me know what you are comfortable with from eh idk just ask it to nothing personal at all.

Baggishield/Tolkien, Dragon Age, Johnlock/Sherlock, ineffable spouses, other fandom: Please let me know what fandoms. I think my main fandoms and ships are Bagginshield/The Hobbit, Sherlock/Johnlock, Dragon Age Inquisition, {Pippin/Faramir Merry/Eowyn}/The Lord of the Rings and I dip my toes in a few that I currently can't remember but ships I don't engage with the canon of at all are: Good Omens but only for Crowley/Azirapheal, Stranger Things but only for Steve/Eddie , The Witcher but only for Geralt/Jaskier.

OC's, art/drawing, their writing, blog specific only

Story snippets ideas and prompts: Do you like receiving them?

Pets: I'd love to know all about them

Garden and Hobbies: What type of gardening and/or hobbies?

Like being tagged in things: If so what kinds of things?

*Asks are sent for fun, no pressure to answer.

Oh, hi!! Well, firstly, thanks for the follow!!! Secondly, I love asks! I (unfortunately) don't always get to certain things (because life and,,,life lmao!) but I do love getting them, and I really want to make the effort to get back to engaging so! Here's the info for your notebook!

Self, Job/Work: Just ask! I usually prefer to keep vague on some things, mostly because I like to keep "professional" socials separate from my fandom ones lol and would prefer there not being a direct connection. But for the most part, I'm flexible on talking about myself :)

Bagginshield/Tolkien YES YES YES UGHHHH I adore all of that. I peeped your profile and saw some Gimli and Legolas I think which is also mi amor <3 Elsewise, I'm all over the place, but do post Supernatural, Good Omens, and Baldur's Gate (i've bought all the Dragon Ages and that's next on my list) with hyperfixations sorting as often as they can. (You can check out my AO3 to see some of my favorites [CBlue], or most often I try tagging fandoms if you need to block anything or want to hunt for something specific. (I'm also stumbling back into some Geraskier too on ocassion!)

I don't have OCs that I post here (they tend to be more on my professional one lol), and my art tag changed because tumblr ate the previous one I'd been using (sometimes its #my art and sometimes its #C Draws or #C Arts), so that's a bit everywhere and not often. I more often post my fandom writings [CBlue on AO3, which if I may pimp out a writing of mine, I wrote Compression, a Bagginshield fic (though, apologies as due to recent AI scalping all of my works are now locked to registered-users exclusively]. This is my everything blog, so everything goes here lol.

Oh my god please send me snippet ideas and prompts. That's one of my favorite ways of engage---spinning with people! That's why I LOVE participating in fandom! I get some of that outlet on a few of the (more intimate) fandom Discords that I'm in, but I'm always open to some of those from asks and such too!!

Pets: I have 6 cats, all of whom are rescues. To the point that the last three were actually rescued out of my wood pile from a storm that was going to hit last year. I don't post pictures of them (mostly to keep that fandom life separation like I mentioned), but I talk about them! People who know me probably also might remember my old man, Tucker, who was the loveliest of puppers. I had to say goodbye to him earlier this year (back in April, and it's just been...a time since then. I miss him often, but every memory is nothing but fondness.) They're all so lovely, and I love talking pets! (If, you know, six cats wasn't an indication ;))

I don't have a garden at the moment, but I do love talking about it!! Hobbies tend to be my fandom hobbies, but I'm also trying to get back into reading more often and I have a few crafts planned. And I love doing a gamer when I can in my free time.

I loved being tagged in things!! I don't always get to them because I am the toxic person (/j) who sees a notification and goes "I will respond when I'm able to," but when the notification is gone I forget all about it. Actually, you've just reminded me that I was tagged in a tag game that I wanted to do, so I'm going to go do that now lol!!

But yeah! I think that's everything and hope it's in any way that makes sense lol. I definitely appreciate you asking!!!

[chromatic-crow]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged by @tetrapod7

im gonna put this under a cut cause its...a lot lmao but thanks for the tag

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

22 published and 2 waiting for reveal for fic fests. they're done so I'm counting them.

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

72,623 words

3. what fandoms do you write for?

hockey only so far. dunno if that'll change for a while honestly

4. top five fics by kudos:

something unexpected

i can't let this go

doll me up in my bad luck

drippin' confidence, lose my common sense

just say the word, we'll take on the world

5. do you respond to comments?

soooo, i didnt at first cause im like. super anxious about comments in general but i do now cause i really appreciate it

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

uhhhh.......i honestly dont write a lot of angsty endings but I'll be fine is mostly just angst, im a sucker for happy endings and mostly, i just never know how to end stuff so uhh idk unless you count ficlets or the ask fics, theres a bit of angst in there sometimes

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

aughhhh it's not gonna be revealed till july for a fest but of the ones published....and this ones old and im not too happy with it anymore but probably love you like a brother, love you like no other

8. do you get hate on fics?

not that I've seen luckily, won't lie, I'd probably give up writing for a bit if I did

9. do you write smut?

*stares at blog and ao3* yes. mostly for some reason. I say this like I don't know that I'm just a horny fucker on hrt lmao

10. craziest crossover:

uh...not done any

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope, would be weird if someone did honestly.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

also no.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

does a groupchat fic count even if its never left the chat? if not. no, would be fun tho

14. all time favorite ship?

oh my god i have to dig deep on this one but.......m!hawke/anders from dragon age 2 or uhh shit i can't even remember the other ones at this point so we'll stick with that i guess.

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

uh. literally all of them that aren't the one I'm currently obsessed with? but if I had to choose one, maybe the royalty/wingfic that I started a while back

16. what are your writing strengths?

oh....uh....guh. okay I've been told my dialogue and characterization is good. and I'm starting to feel better about all of it but I still want to say none. mostly cause I only see the things that I could have done better but oh well.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

......yes. okay so its not like I've been writing for long (since dec) so I obviously think all of it but mostly sentence starting. I feel like I start too many sentences with 'he'. but I also don't know how to start most of them differently. also flow of story, it gets choppy sometimes when I just. can't piece it together and give up. and endings....i hate endings, I never know how to end them

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

ehhhh, I've done it once. wont do it again honestly. i mean if its a language that the writer knows i think its different but my dumbass going to gtranslate and probably getting something that isn't even accurate is a bit different lmao

19. first fandom you wrote in?

hockey rpf. first and only so far lmao

20. favorite fic you've written?

.....uhhhh probably I can't let this go, yet again. but since it's in line with my longer wip squared is up there as well

tagging with no pressure of course: @stillfertile @whatthe-puck @hauntedppgpaints idk im blanking right now, so anyone else who wants to

[materassassino]

fic writer questions

I wasn't strictly tagged by @liesmyth but I was told to do it, so that counts, in my book!

how many works do you have on AO3?

Precisely 120. I've not anoned or orphaned anything so that's the exact number I've ever posted, as well. (although I guess if it's just fics it's 118, because two of those are artworks, and even then it's probably 117 because I'm listed as a co-author for a fic I just had the idea for, and I will never touch that to change it because it was written by my friend Socks who passed away.)

what's your total ao3 word count?

921,788. We'll break a million at some point, I imagine. I'm a slow writer.

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Ever Decreasing Circles [Star Wars]: 2478 (makes sense, it's my only real multichapter)

Not Going Anywhere [Voltron]: 1832 (I have no excuse for this, the brief Klance lunacy at the beginning was a shameful moment)

Smile with the Rising Sun [DC Comics]: 1354 (this genuinely surprised me, I guess the people yearn for JayRoy Christmas fic?)

Fledging [Star Wars]: 1191 (this one makes sense, the people yearn for happy Skywalkers)

Kick the Beam [Dragon Age 2]: 1037

do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I do genuinely try to respond to all of them, I love getting comments most out of everything. If I didn't respond, it's because I forgor.

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I don't really do unhappy endings, it's just not my style, but I think it's either Schwanengesang [Hetalia], a human AU where Gilbert freezes to death on the Russian front, or The Baffled King Composing [The Silmarillion], which superficially ends on a hopeful note but The Reader knows exactly what happens to these very characters, and it's not good, so the characters are blissfully unaware of their own doom.

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Write What You Know [Star Wars], I think. Not entirely sure. It's a lot more lighthearted, imo, and it ends with a wedding and a fuckton of money, so that seems pretty happy to me, lol.

do you write crossovers?

Not usually. It takes a very specific set of circumstances to make me write them, and that's the two different canons being able to mash together coherently in my head. I've written two, and the issue with those is they're both crossovers with fucking Neil Gaiman shit, which makes me annoyed because Sandman crosses over so fucking well with The Old Guard (When Shall We Threen Meet Again?).

(The other was Rise of the Guardians+American Gods. Don't know why I wrote that, it made sense at the time and does not in hindsight.)

have you ever received hate on a fic?

Only bot hate, unfortunately. I don't really write anything super controversial, I'm mortally vanilla, so I dodge a lot of aggro, tbh. There is an instance of something where I strove for historical accuracy, but even that only sparked an actual mature discussion on Twitter and not any flames. Context helped there, I believe.

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Yes. I would say I prefer to write m/m, but tbh the most smut I ever wrote was for Shallura (to the point where that was my reputation lmao). I've struggled with it a bit over the last few years but I'm getting back into it. I tend towards like really fucking sappy emotional stuff between people who are in love, like I said, I'm very vanilla and not kinky at all, it doesn't interest me.

have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. I don't think I've ever been big enough in any fandom to attract that sort of attention.

have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Three of them, two in Chinese for Write What You Know and The Jacket Fic, and one in French for a Free! fic. I like it when people ask first, but I will usually give permission. :>

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not actively. I'm a co-author for the fic mentioned in the first question, but other than that, nothing. I'd like to, though, I feel like the accountability would be useful to me, lol.

what's your all-time favorite ship?

This is not a question that's possible to answer. I hyperfixate and then move on while maintaining a general fondness for the old ship once I've switched fandoms. So it's more of a current OTP thing going on than One Ship to Rule Them All. Also there's things I've shipped really strongly and never written anything for. At the moment the big OTP is JoeNicky, before that it was DinLuke, before that it was Wangxian and so on and so forth. A comprehensive list would be tedious.

And the HMS Terror, of course.

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I'd like to finish my handful of DinLuke WIPs, but I don't exactly foresee that happening now. I've pretty much moved on (although to be fair once you've been into Star Wars it does become a cornerstone of your personality, a bit like Tolkien). I will try extremely hard to finish the Battle of Yavin Anniversary Gala one, at least.

There's also a Glorestor fic I've had jangling around in my head since 2014, in two different iterations, but when that will ever be actually witten is anybody's guess, lol.

what are your writing strengths?

I'm never good at self-analysis, tbh. I think my prose is pretty good in general, and I'm good at character voice and staying in character. I've been told I'm good at developing well-rounded and enjoyable OCs with very little actual information on the page, so I'll call that a strength because it doesn't detract from the canon characters.

what are your writing weaknesses?

Action: writing punchy, effective scenes that are actually exciting to read is really freaking hard, especially with any form of combat. There are only so many ways to describe a swordfight. Environmental description: people who take three paragraphs to describe a room are fucking insane, I'm sorry, I can use my imagination perfectly well, thanks. Smut: I'm ace so I always feel like a goddamn imposter, despite the fact that I've also never been a freaking Jedi, or I've never been to Renaissance Rome, and yet I'm perfectly fine writing that.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Depends on the context. I am guilty of huge blocks of text in other languages (conlang or not) but I do try and always include interactable footnotes for those. Like idk, learn Italian ya wimps, lmao. I've put whole speeches in Mando'a in Ever Decreasing Circles, and bits and pieces of other languages in Old Guard fic. That said I will always, ALWAYS transliterate if it's a language that doesn't use the Latin alphabet. Never leave that shit unreadable for people. I can't read Mandarin, I can't read Cyrillic, if you put that in the text all I am reading is Charlie Brown adult noises, it's like hitting a brick wall (as much as my transliteration requests constantly annoy the people who help me translate those languages, sorry guys!). Also, unless it's a single word, never use Google translate ever. Always find someone who actually knows those languages and get them to do a quick translation for you. The global nature of fandom shouldn't make it that hard, it's not really an excuse for using Google translate. It'll stop your bilingual readers' eyes from bleeding.

(I did always swear to myself I would never put random endearments in other languages if the characters were speaking English in general... but I've failed miserably at that by now, lmao.)

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Naruto, in like 2007/2008. I never transferred those fics over to Ao3, they're too old and terrible.

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

When I was in the Mo Dao Zu Shi fandom I really wanted to write some Wangxian, but I was far too intimidated by the fandom. A lot of people on Twitter talked about how white people shouldn't be writing any fic for it and I internalised that heavily to the point where I just... didn't. Looking back it was a little silly of me, no one is the sole arbiter of what should and shouldn't be written and what counts is doing research and being respectful, but it's too late now. I have written a little bit of SangCheng now and that's enough for me.

As for the future, who knows? I do not control the hyperfixation.

what's your favourite fic you've written?

Even in Another Time [The Old Guard] and Toccata [Hetalia] (yeah, sue me, I'm still proud of it 12 years later, it still reads well).

Now I get to tag people~

@dangerouscommiesubversive, @wingsofbadass (sorry I make you translate so much stuff), @veradragonjedi, @non-un-topo, @raedear, @maered613 and @ctrldao3.

[icespyders]

i honestly really really hate being so negative. dragon age is my very favorite video game series; KotOR was my first bioware game, and i had a lot of fun in mass effect, but i fell in love with dragon age, warts and all. my favorite of the three is DA2 for god's sake, clearly i'm a very forgiving soul when it comes to these fucking games; i've always been so taken by the character writing and the lore that i don't mind all the jank. the gameplay never got in the way of my exploring and romancing and codex-hunting. and some part of me was truly desperately hoping i could find it in my heart to get excited about Veilguard after the first trailer like ruined my entire sunday but i watched this gameplay video twice and i just hate it. the second time i watched i kept notes and i didn't realize how long it ended up, like, it's just this infinite depressing list of things that i didn't like. so i'll try to organize my word vomit. let's start positive.

STUFF I LIKED:

Minrathous looks cool, though i'm pissed we seem to spend so little time there. but it looks totally different from everywhere else we've been in the series and that's cool! the neon-y magic lighting, the big ominous circular floating tower, the narrow streets - some of the layout reminds me of kirkwall which is apropos since kirkwall was originally a tevinter city. so that's nice

Neve is hot! her design is cool and very tevinter and I like that. but the dialogue is so generic high fantasy garbage that I feel like I only got a sliver of her personality (confident + sense of humor which is honestly not much to go on for personality but i'm searching for crumbs here). i'll definitely be interested in getting to know her better, once i inevitably get brain damage and trick myself into playing this shit when it's on sale for like $3 in a year and a half

We only got a little bit of it but I like the reactivity/mention of backstory, anything that acknowledges player choice! Like neve's response to rook's stoic/direct dialogue line, and all the mentions of rook's faction in dialogue, that's all very nice

I don't mind the map markers/waypoints broadly but they're not necessary for this railroaded gameplay segment we see in the trailer. it'll be useful for other quests i guess

I also don't care that we're back to the DA2/DAI-style dialogue wheel with tone tags. i'm glad it's the same icons from DAI so i don't have to learn new hieroglyphics. i know a lot of people bitch about it but it's the neatest way to express the options imo

LORE????

i know a lot of these plot points are set up in supplemental novels and whatever and i personally feel like bioware needs to be banned from putting plot-critical information in novels and comics that nobody in the world wants to read. i've been playing and re-playing dragon age games regularly since 2018. i have never ONCE wanted to read any of this material. but apparently neve and one or two of the other companions are featured in Tevinter Nights and The Missing and whatever and i'm just fed up. no. i play the games. include the information there

so the shadow dragons faction is linked to tevinter/based in tevinter, but broadly, not just in minrathous, based on rook's dialogue about how he's unfamiliar with the city when the others expect him to know more. probably they're also linked to dorian? maybe shadow dragons is dorian's faction of non-horrible magisters?

bioware said in the developer Q&A that it's been 8 years since trespasser. that is absurd. wtf took solas so long to do whatever he's doing, what was he waiting for. the end of trespasser made it seem like disaster was imminent, but apparently solas needed 8 more years to find his little plot knife and set up all those incredibly unstable pillars

Where is the Inquisitor/inquisition??? Why is varric in charge of this???? Esp talking to solas, the end of trespasser makes it very personal between the inquisitor & solas and now they're just AWOL. the fact that inquisition isn't even a faction you can pick according to the developer Q&A is such a mistake, them saying inquisition isn't a major faction in the game is shocking to me. why does nothing matter

The venatori?? The venatori????? they're back but not the inquisitor?????? i thought i killed you losers

so who's that at the end, two of the other evanuris. Solas accidentally freed them from their prison bc rook fucked up the ritual. that's a fine hook but i hate the entire retcon of the evanuris lore but that's a longer rant

ART STYLE/UI

oh boy

the rain effect/puddle effect looks like it's from another game + why is it raining everywhere??? the huge ghibli rain droplets on everyone's clothes look weird, they're ginormous and so prominent. why is everyone is wearing hydrophobic clothes lmao

the interact button is ew. the approval/disapproval UI looks weird and it's in a weird place on the screen. the demon designs are bad. the hair textures are suspect. again, what's up with the hydrophobic clothes. but i lost it with neve's snowflake spell effects hahaha oh my god it looks so cartoony and weird, it's so unserious. those snowflakes are SO BIG!!! and SO PROMINENT!! everything has its moments of looking weirdly cartoony; the walls in minrathous stuck out to me as just looking odd in a way i can't quite put my finger on, the walking through the eluvian effect looked SO bad that my immediate thought was "oh wow that can't be the final version"

the lip-sync is...weird sometimes. I can't quite put my finger on why that's bugging me either but it's disturbing my eye

they got rid of so much of varric's chest hair, it's a felony. i also don't like harding's re-design, i feel like they tried too hard to make her pretty and i barely recognized her at first glance

it looks better than the reveal trailer but i don't love it

it's so funny how rook changes armor mid-cutscene. they clearly cut out a menu of the player setting equipment but the first time I watched the thing, I blinked and rook had fully changed clothes and it made me bust out laughing

finally: lol you can see texture pop-ins even in the gameplay reveal video (rook's armor around 8:00) they still can't optimize a game for shit

DIALOGUE

how did they fuck up the dialogue sweet god

right off the bat: the exposition is really clunky, enough so it made me wonder whose benefit it's for. do they really think people will pick up this game without playing at least DAI first? varric is explaining shit that no one in their right mind in-universe wouldn't already know, like "solas bad! breaking the veil bad!" i know that. bioware hates making games for people who already like their games

the dialogue overall is just...boring mostly. super predictable and utilitarian. i get like zero personality out of anybody, like i noted with neve in her intro. i get the SENSE of a personality but it's like. drinking la croix. just a hint. harding is particularly boring (and, side note & apparent hot take: everyone is acting like harding was a big fan favorite and i'm like. she's fine. it was nice to chat with her in DAI in every new region, just to see a familiar face, but narratively she brings very little to the table for me, she's not that interesting. and I don't get how everyone's acting like she was an obvious choice for a returning NPC who gets the promotion to companion. I'd rather have like. Josephine or somebody who had an actual character arc in DAI. Krem from the chargers (i know he can die so it can't be him but i'm dreaming here, sue me). Briala from WEWH. fuck, I'd be more interested in maryden the minstrel honestly, then we have half an excuse to bring cole back too, I feel like he probably has some reaction to all this veil-destroying shit. cole is better friends with solas than varric ever was, why isn't he here talking to solas. isn't varric still the viscount of kirkwall. why is he here at all). the delivery of the dialogue is really bland too, it's like all the actors are reading their lines for the first time and whatever idiot at bioware's in the booth with them was like "ya that's a wrap" bc they wanted to go to lunch sooner

DISHONORABLE MENTION: the entire dialogue exchange in arlathan forest btwn neve and harding is egregiously bad. "I've never seen anything like it!" "The tremors are getting worse!" "We've got demons!" it sucks

COMBAT

i'm just so pissed off

it uh. i hate it. it's my least favorite thing by far and it dashed my hopes the hardest. i can tolerate ugly UI and questionable art and a dumbass story, it's dragon age, that's what i'm here for. but it simply doesn't look like a game i'd enjoy playing. it reminded me of God of War 2018, like the leakers said way back when, and also like the Batman Arkham games with that little alert effect around rook's head and the dodging/parrying and the combos. but it's not what i come to dragon age for and i'm really bummed out. the additional details from the developer Q&A didn't make me feel any better (3 abilities??? i thought DAI was stingy with just 8, to say nothing of DAO and DA2 which, by endgame, grant you so many abilities that you can't even use them all in one fight. i like playing mages, i only get 3 spells? fuck that). it looks like a fixed camera focused on rook in combat, so you're getting attacked from offscreen and there's nothing you can do about it. the little lines showing you how projectiles will move is lame. the pop-ups about picking up gold are silly. i can't control companions??? what the fuck game even is this

I hate the action wheel. I hate that it takes up the whole screen, and it seems you can only pause when you're doing the action wheel. gross

so I see the little line with the dots on the bottom during combat that indicates when you can use special attacks. question: does each companion get their own bar for their own abilities, or does the whole squad draw on that one pool of points/resources/whatever. bc I have a bad feeling it's the latter

lol @ fighting those venatori goons on the edge of a cliff and you can only knock them off once their health bars are empty, you can't shove them off to kill them quicker. you wish you were bg3

it's like they made it to be played on consoles/controllers not PC

10 xp for killing like 8 demons?????

VARRIC & SOLAS??? STORYLINE?????

seriously, can anyone explain to me why talking solas down is varric's job. for real. it's been 8 yrs since trespasser and we're only just now getting to the evil plan???? the fuck is solas waiting for

harding & varric are suddenly besties with solas??? lmao. are harding and solas ever in the same room together in DAI, seriously. i know varric and solas have friendly banter exchanges but all of that content is determinant, the only actual quest that links them is cole's quest and they spend that whole quest respectfully disagreeing

anyway. varric goes to talk to solas (it should be the inquisitor doing that but ok) and solas destroys bianca (death penalty for that alone tbh) and then they just like...keep standing there talking??? why isn't solas trying to hurt him or anything. also, why is he so dumb that rook can sneak around and knock over a pillar to ruin his ritual. how does this ruin the ritual. he's so stupid. why can't varric just tackle him, we're all just STANDING THERE waiting for the world to end

"The veil is a wound inflicted on this world!!" ...yeah inflicted by...you...right solas...come the fuck on. shut up

this intro in minrathous is basically the beginning of me3 including walking across thin planks and doing lame auto-platforming with a recurring character from a previous game while the world is getting exploded around you. come on

THIS IS JUST FUNNY

Varric about Solas, a career liar who he knew for maybe a year and is now actively trying to destroy the world: he's my friend!!! Varric about Anders, who he hung out with every day for 6+ years and merely blew up a church to start a war, which was not a world-destroying event: hes dead to me!!!!!!!

man oh man i'm just. aaaaaaaugh

i think a real big problem in dragon age that bioware clearly has no idea how to handle is...hmm how to describe it. narrative compounding?? the weight of all these games filled with choices that somehow have to cohere over one narrative despite being written and developed by whole teams of different people over the course of like 20 years. it's a problem mass effect doesn't have, at least not in the original trilogy, since the original trilogy is all about shepard. so it's easier to cohere all those choices together, and in ME3 i was actually really satisfied by the sensation of continuity and completion i ended up with, how many characters reappeared and remembered how i'd interacted with them before. i've always liked playing someone new in dragon age, but it makes it really difficult for the story to track all these previous decisions and ensure they have weight. and everyone's gonna get attached to different characters and questlines and outcomes and feel like they're important, but not all of them can actually BE important. i understand that. that's just part of the RPG experience. but i feel we're reaching a point in dragon age where each subsequent game disregards increasingly critical aspects of the previous game's story and it's making so much of the prior games feel retroactively...worthless. like. where's the inquisition? did nothing i do in that game matter? the developer Q&A mentioned that you'll design your inquisitor in the character creator, so clearly they're part of the game, so why ALSO say the inquisition's not a significant faction in the game? wtf are we DOING??? and obviously the Warden's been AWOL since DAO and i doubt that'll change, and the developer Q&A mentioned the Here Lies The Abyss choice won't make an impact so that possibly rules Hawke out too, and as the games go on it just feels more and more absurd that these past heroes have nothing to do with current crises, and all the timeskips create increasingly long lengths of time between each game, making new appearances from old characters seem more and more unlikely. and so many of the companions/old heroes can die in their respective games, so if bioware decides, hey, let's bring merrill back or whoever, how do we write around that? there's just too many choices, but the POINT of the games is the choices, and it's just become impossible to account for everything, but ignoring past plot beats/decisions/characters is frustrating for people like me, who play and replay and try different options and speculate about what might happen next based on their own specific choices. and some of it is understandable. like, i'm biased in favor of my preferred characters and questlines, obviously, and i can't always get what i want. but it's such a bizarre choice for something like...oh idk THE ENTIRE INQUISITION to stop mattering. ugh. augh!!!!! i can't take it

IN CONCLUSION

if varric dies in this game you will see me on the news

[cr-noble-writes]

20 Fanfic Questions

thanks for the tag @mallaidhsomo!

How many works do you have on AO3?

124

2. What's your total AO3 words count?

675,033 (about 200k or so of these aren't actually mine because when you do a collaboration with several authors, it adds the total word count of the fic to everyone's word counts)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mass Effect mostly. Once in a blue moon Dragon Age. The majority of my posted fics are Supernatural.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Season Z Watching You Truth or Dare You Should See Me In A Crown Lock Me Up (These are all Supernatural)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I respond to every comment I get! There have for sure been times where its taken me months to do so, but I always do.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Here's the thing, "angstiest" is super subjective. I've got lots of fics with pretty angsty endings. There was a point at which people regularly called me a murderer because I had a habit of killing characters. However, I tend to find 'fate worse than death' much angstier than character death, so this one in which Dean burns off his soul to find Cas' grace to save him is it, I think: Whatever It Takes.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

You Should See Me In A Crown. I have a tendency to not do straight up happy endings. Like, trauma doesn't just go away, ya know. So my happy endings tend to be more melancholy/hopeful or what have you. This fic is absolutely an exception to that. Everyone gets what they want, the guy gets the guy. Basically I wrote this like an action movie haha

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've never gotten *hate* on a fic, but I have gotten comments that are rude and shitty in the way of commenters being demanding about what should happen in a fic or complaining that things weren't written the way they wanted them to be. My response to that usually something along the lines of "you fucking write it then."

9. Do you write smut. If so what kind?

Yeah! I very much enjoy writing smut. I think probably most of the smut I write is pretty vanilla, although I have definitely written some more intense kink by request and also because I like to challenge myself and learn new things. I do think my sweet spot when it comes to smut is leaning into the emotion involved. For most of my characters sex is less about the physical act of sex and more about trust and intimacy, so leaning into that works for me.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have an unfinished Supernatural/Into the Badlands fic, and honestly I only ever wrote one chapter, but I had initially planned to do a chapter for every episode of Into the Badlands. I also have a half-outlined, partially written Supernatural/Dragon Age crossover in which Dean is a templar, Cas is an apostate, and Sam is a Grey Warden haha

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Several! Its why my word count on AO3 is so high, actually lol

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I have a lot of ships across a lot of media, but the one I always always always come back to is mShenko.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh god, I have a ton of abandoned WIPs from my Supernatural days that I'd love to finish but probably never will. I just can't bring myself to write Supernatural fic anymore.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Character voice and creating dynamic relationships between characters.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Consistency, especially in long fics. My writing style tends to change, sometimes pretty significantly, from one chapter to the next.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Hell yeah, I love multilingual characters, and I love putting foreign language dialogue in fic. If you're using a made up language, you can kind of do whatever you want. If you're using a real language, try to find a native speaker to help you with it so you don't accidentally end up writing something offensive or that you don't mean to.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Marvel

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Lust. I wrote this fic for the SPN Dark Fic bang in 2019 because I wanted to write murder husbands. It was honestly super fun to take a full loving, domestic dynamic between Michael and Crowley and juxtapose it with them also being incredibly brutal murderers.

no pressure tags: @imbiowaresbitch @nickelkeep @bleuzombie and @rotschopf-thedrow

[impmansloot]

Getting to Know You Meme

thanks for tagging @russenoire !!

01) are you currently in a serious relationship? nope! also a "serious relationship" is different for everyone!

02) what was your dream growing up? i remember really wanting to be a writer in middle school, other than that don't remember except for maybe being a vet like every other little kid because you know, working with the animals

03) what talent do you wish you had? i don't know if it's a talent but falling asleep easily and not being disturbed by sounds and light a lot... being able to do two different things with different hands properly with my brain not being confused af

04) if someone bought you a drink what would it be? usually i don't like drinking but i do enjoy craft beers sometimes so that'd be it?

05) favorite vegetable? too many of them, let's say tomatoes for now

06) what was the last book you read? the last one i think was I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé, right now I'm (finally) reading The Masked Empire by Trick Weekes, a book for Dragon Age series

07) what zodiac sign are you? leo

08) any tattoos and/or piercings? i recently got my earlobes pierced, no tattoes

09) worst habit? maybe not the worst but biting skin around my fingernails

10) what is your favorite sport? running. i also like playing volleyball, badminton, and table tennis but I RARELY have the opportunities to play them. I only played badminton relatively recently cause my friends had rackets and the flying thingie. i don't watch sports usually though only competitive tetris

11) do you have a pessimistic or optimistic attitude? i'm usually optimistic (for my own mental health's sake) unless i'm like, spiraling. it doesn't prevent anxiety though.

12) tell me one weird fact about you. i'm afraid of angelica plant, idk why

13) do you have any pets? i don't own any pets but yeah, a cat

14) do you think clowns are cute or scary? something worse.

15) if you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? i'd make my feet bigger, i want to wear chonky shoes

16) what color eyes do you have? gray?

17) ever been arrested? no

18) bottle or can soda? bottle but i like the feel (?) of can soda, it's just less practical to me though

19) if you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? i'd go to a therapist/psychiatrist + other doctors + maybe other quality of life stuff. i'd probably start saving up to move.

20) what's your favorite place to hang out at? my friend's house, one picnic spot where apple trees grow, the big supermarket closer to midnight... and home

21) do you believe in ghosts? a bit

22) favorite thing to do in your spare time? indulging in my interests/hobbies?.. playing video games, drawing. hanging out with friends is neat too, especially if it includes tabletop games

23) do you swear a lot? yeah

24) biggest pet peeve? hmmmmmm. logical fallacies in any sort of discourse? (i mean we're all at fault at some point). other than that too many, especially in writing and fandom culture

25) in one word, how would you describe yourself? softlocked

26) do you believe in/appreciate romance? yeah sure

27) favourite and least favourite food? favorites are sushi and kimbap, least favorite is chicken that is edible but not fresh, like day old, the flavor gets weird (at least that's what comes to mind first)

28) do you believe in god? in a personal way

29) what makes you happy: delicious food, free time when I don't need to worry about work, being able to talk to people, my blorbos

30) currently listening/the last thing you listened to: probably some song in Right Place, Wrong Person by RM

31) favorite place to spend time: wherever i feel at home and safe

32) favorite lyric: "I wanna be a human 'fore I do some art" (Yun, RM, Erykah Badu) and "Like morning comes after night goes, would summer come after spring goes, Like fruits ripen after flowers wither away, everything must suffer" (everythingoes, RM, translated by doolsetlyrics). That's a whole ass verse but really, I could include more. The whole song is about the fact that pain is inevitable but it's not eternal, it helped me through a lot.

33) recommend a film: unfortunately, i don't watch a lot of movies...

34) recommend a book: a book with a bit controversial name It's all in your head by Suzanne O'Sullivan. It's about (cases of) psychosomatic diseases, as well as stigma around them. As a person who's had several instances of those, I generally found it compassionate and educating

35) Recommend a band, a song, or album: I already mentioned Right Place, Wrong Person album (which is great), so I'll also recommend a band Shortparis, one of my favorite songs from them is Нелюбовь

36) recommend a TV show: Revolutionary Girl Utena, naturally... (reading a trigger warning list recommended)

37) where are you from, and do you still live there? Where have you lived? northwest of Russia. i mean yeah I'm still in that region, but I moved only once.

38) do you have any pets or animals in your life? how did you find/get them? again, a cat. it's my sister's, she was found near the railroad as a kitten

39) what's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten? i don't think there's a thing i would consider unusual

40) how did you 'find' fandom? it just happens... some things stick with you and some don't no matter how good they are?

41) make a list of 5 things that you see without getting up. a pair of pants, a hanging cachepot, a rolled up yoga mat, a mirror, a short cup with two handles for the cat to drink from

42) how do you style your hair? i don't... i just blow-dry it and let it do its thing. i mean i get it cut

Any of my moots and oomfs feel free to participate too <3

[jackdawsfavorite]

Your player character being the center of the wheel that the spokes of your companions rotate around is so strange in BG3. I’ve been pulling up memories of comparable RPGs trying to figure out what’s bugging me, and I think it’s as simple as: in Mass Effect and Tides of Numenara and Tyranny*, you got something special going on that motivates people to tag along even if that’s all they’re doing, trailing in your gravity. In BG3 some NPC is like, “We’ve been waiting for someone like You, who has a brain worm but isn’t horny for its associated god-thing,” and I’m like, there are four of us. And I got more back home! And while you can technically enter any conversation with a non-companion as another party member, and get their specialty dialogue options and everything, you can’t effectively roleplay as them in those convos without everyone still reacting as if your player character was the one who made those choices, so it doesn’t seem like you’re supposed to play as companions interchangeably like in Divinity 2 even though the mechanics for it are kind of still there. So it’s just my semigeneric ass in the driver’s seat making all these fuck-off huge calls. Even if I was playing a premade character instead of custom i bet it would feel weird.****

There’s an option with shadowheart to straight up say, “You don’t make the decisions, I do,” and maybe I should have picked it to see if she’d had something to say about nobody having ever agreed to that and there being no reason for that to be the case.

*Dragon Age 1 isn’t included because I don’t remember it well enough to say. Dragon Age 2 isn’t included because it did a good job of making you just a bunch of people who lived in the same city and got involved in each other’s business all the time. Or didn’t get involved! You could just ignore whoever and it wasn’t weird because you weren’t camping together. Dragon Age 3 isn’t included because the amount of power you’re abruptly given in that game is ridiculous. Divinity: Original Sin 2 isn’t included because it did a good job at giving everyone their own shit to deal with and reason to be traveling together, and those reasons could break down.** **I straight up turned on and killed half my party partway through my first playthrough because There Can Only Be One Victor is a big part of the plot and we hadn’t come to an agreement on who’d get to be big cheese. I probably didn’t have to turn on them right then, but I chose to and I felt good about it because one of them had a demon attached to her who couldn’t be allowed access to power and the other one I didn’t fucking like. Meanwhile in BG3 I’m like, by all rights I should leave Astarion to fend for himself on this beach. By all rights I should kick him out of the group when he literally fucking kills you if you don’t stop him and makes me reload because I’m not gonna spend resources patching up from 1 hp immediately after a long rest, and then makes me regret the reload later because even though the narrative triggers and small choices in this game have been unnuanced and mechanically fickle maybe the scene where he wants to talk about what eating other companions would be like would’ve included a line where I point out it’s not funny because I know he can’t control himself because last time he had the opportunity he fucking killed me to death.*** Obviously I’m glad I kept him around because I’m engaging in his story, but it’s less fun to break roleplay to make very specifically unwise decisions to do that. Feels like hopping on a rail. Which is another post altogether. …What was I talking about?

***I think I literally said, “At least he’s sexy,” out loud at some point, and how do you think I feel about that now??

****Except maybe the githyanki. I don’t know much about her because I just didn’t find her before moving on from the first map and figure I’ll catch her on a replay, but she seems very domineering.

[kariachi]

#is it worth to read Pern? I’ve been thinking about it for awhile and i have an omnibus of the ‘first’ 3 books (from @naphamatics)

Had to put this in an actual reblog...

First up, making it clear, this is my thoughts on the matter and nobody else's, and just off the top of my head. Other people, potential other answers, you know the drill.

Pern is an interesting book series with some very nice concepts at play, the potential for some amazing worldbuilding, and awesome dragons of a few different varieties.

Pern is also acceptably written at best, under-utilizes it's concepts and potential, and has about as much bigoted shit in it as one can expect from a series started by a white, middle-aged military brat in the 60s. She tried, bless her heart, but she and her son after her were very bad at not being offensive, managing some of those acts of bigotry you can only really get from bigots who don't think they are and wholly believe they're helping, and other acts that are just blatant 'okay no matter what you say you hate these people'. The sexism, ableism, and classism are rampant and often aggressive, the racism and queerphobia only a bit less so. It's also very protagonist-centered-morality as a series, to the point where "asking us to help with critical matters during a natural disaster is an insult" is a concept we're supposed to agree with in one book. In the end I would say, it depends on how much bullshit you can stomach, how much you focus on or care about characters over world, and just what you'll go through for bondable dragons. If you're like me and often get into things at least 70% for the base world you'd probably have more fun then if you get into stuff for specific characters for often than not. In the end though, it's up to you, based on what you've seen about the series (and rjalker has a very good read-though here that I can recommend- it's very critical with the series and pulls negative punches, but one can hardly call that a fault). You already have the first books, I would say that if you're still interested in giving them a shot and don't want to go through online archives then give the first book a go (with the warning that it includes death, murder, kidnapping, rape, and abuse (all including by our leads)). Or, if you want to try with a mellower side of Pern then Dragonsong is available on the Internet Archive I believe- it's for younger audiences so... If you're interested in seeing how you like the books they're both solid places to start and see what you think. And if you still find the concepts regarding dragons and such interesting but decide you don't want to bother with the books and their bullshit, then feel free to read a few wiki pages or trawl the tags here on tumblr, and play around your own self how you want to. Gods know I do more often than not.

A post I've made before but, I think the Pern fandom missed an opportunity when they decided that white would be the super special bonus dragon color.

Don't get me wrong, I love whites, I love Ruth, but

Ruth was all the colors, he was just really fucking pale. We don't know whether that was due to him being leucistic or natural color variation (between a few offhand comments through the series and a direct statement in the DLG concerning firelizards we can reasonably accept as canon that dragons can come in a range of shades of their specific color), but we know that's the case.

I just feel like by latching onto 'white dragon' the fandom missed out on a chance to do more interesting things with the concept of dragons that present all the colors, or even just multiple select colors.

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

~*~

Hello Mojo, hope you're doing well and that you had a good break! I wanted to signal boost the MDZS May Diaspora event collection on AO3, and point out my favorite fic from there: 归心似箭 | Longing to Go Home by dragongirlG! It's both tender and bittersweet and it features such mature writing. The author got some hate for it when it initially got posted so I wanted to counter that and give it some love instead! [Who would do such a thing?!  @dragongirlg-fics I’m sorry that happened to you, and here, have *so many hugs!* I’ll try to do a thing just for the diaspora event, but meanwhile, I’ll just treat this as a follower rec.]

归心似箭 | Longing to Go Home

by dragongirlG (M, 8k, wangxian)

Summary:  The destruction of the Yin Tiger Seal does not kill Wei Wuxian; it ages him instead. He takes shelter in a cave expecting to die, but instead he lives, slowly learning to embrace life with each new day.

Thirteen years later, a young man with a Lan forehead ribbon stumbles into the cave. His name is Lan Sizhui.

~*~

Hi Momjo!!! I recently read the most *adorable* fic, and I loved it so much that it dragged me out of seclusion (read: social anxiety cave) to rec it. It's called 'Covered in Bees' by ScarlettStorm in which the Cloud Recesses is an apiary, and Wei Wuxian has suddenly found himself host to a swarm of bees. ~ @akyra-talanoa

Covered in Bees

by ScarlettStorm (T, 8k, wangxian)

Summary: “Cloud Reccesses Apiary,” says a toneless, deep masculine voice, with zero question in it. Wei Ying doesn’t care, because whoever possesses that voice is probably going to come save him from bees like a fucking hero while wearing like, a suit of armor. That’s what you wear to catch bees, right?

“I have like, so many bees outside my front door right now,” he says, mouth running out ahead of him before he can even begin to think about reining it in. “It’s like a sandstorm of bees out there. There are so many bees. I got out of my car and there were just bees and I don’t want these bees. Do you want these bees? Please tell me you will come get these bees. I can’t leave my house and I have enough food for maybe a week but then I’m gonna have to learn how to cook dry beans and no one wants that, especially not me.” Wei Ying runs out of air, takes a breath, and belatedly adds, “My name is Wei Ying. Hi.”

Or: The beekeeping AU that no one asked for.

~*~

Hi, you are a bless to this fandom. Your blog feels like a library, so thoroughly arranged and always within hand reach. [Thank you, wow!]  Recently, I was going through Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn is a Wēn tag and came across a fanfic, it has 3 chapters till now and is so intriguing that i thought to recommend it to you. I don't know if I can recommend or if you have already checked the story, The legendary Phoenix and his Dragon by Devipriya. I am in love with this story. I hope you will enjoy it too, do check it out

The legendary Phoenix and his Dragon

by Devipriya (T, 7k, wangxian)

Summary:  Wen Wuxian, the essence of who he is, he is a naughty child, a prankster, an enchanting dizi player, a graceful dancer, an irresistible lover, a truly valiant warrior, a ruthless vanquisher of his foes, a man who left a broken heart in every home, an astute statesman and kingmaker, a thorough gentleman, a righteous individual of the highest order, and the most colorful incarnation.

He has been seen, perceived, understood and experienced in many different ways by different people. Different people saw different facets of who he is. For some, he is God. For some, he is a crook. For some, he is a lover. For some, he is a fighter. He is so many things.

But the phoenix, seen from the eyes of time was just a playful man. A man who plays with his awareness, with his imagination, with his memory, with his life, with his death. An individual who does not just dance with somebody. He dances with life. He dances with his enemy, He dances with the one he loves, He dances even at the moment of his death.

To taste an essence of who is Wen Wuxian, be with me in the journey of exploration, NO! playful exploration of life of a playful man.

~*~

Hi! Thanks for running this blog, it's helped me find so many fics. For your next follower recs post, I wanted to rec "This love like a flood, a fire, a fear" by natcat5. Its summary is vague (which I suspect is why it isn't better known) but it is a beautiful retelling of canon from LWJ's POV with slight canon divergence. I love the author's characterization of him and the prose is gorgeous. It is easily my favorite fic in the entire fandom, and I don't say that lightly. ~ @nyanja14

This love like a flood, a fire, a fear

by natcat5 (M, 57k, wangxian, lan wangji & lan xichen)

Summary:  “I will love you as misfortune loves orphans, as fire loves innocence, and as justice loves to sit and watch everything go wrong.”   - Lemony Snicket

~*~

i came to this ask to rec this baseball one called "Waiting for Spring" by thievinghippo on ao3. It somehow made me care about baseball soooo 'nough said ~ @scifikimmi

Waiting for Spring

by thievinghippo (E, 131, wangxian)

Summary:  “It is a well-known fact across the major leagues that one does not smack Lan Wangji’s ass.”

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. Everyone smacks everyone’s ass in baseball. It’s how the game is played. Lan Wangji does not get to be exempt from this most sacred of baseball traditions.

Wei Wuxian will make sure of that.

Or, a Major League Baseball AU

~*~

hi mojo! i wanted to rec Something Good by boxoftheskyking (a loose sound of music/canon divergence au) and also MDZS: The Golden Engine by iffervescent (immortal wangxian modern au where they gotta solve a mystery and save china, featuring jiang cheng/lan xichen)

Something Good

by boxoftheskyking (T, 43k, wangxian)

Summary:  "That Wei Wuxian, you know he used to be such a promising cultivator. Head Disciple of the Jiang Clan, can you believe it? You see, juniors, the punishment for traveling the path of demonic cultivation. No golden core, not so much as a whisper of spiritual power."

As a punishment for real and imagined crimes, Wei Wuxian is sentenced to work at Cloud Recesses as the lowest of servants. When a surprising reassignment lands him with eleven children to care for, everything changes again.

A Sound of Music AU

MDZS: The Golden Engine

by iffervescent (E, 82k, wangxian, xicheng)

Summary:  In the modern era, immortals Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian return to Gusu. New evil and old friends + new friends and old evils.

~*~

Hi Mojo! First of all let me just tell you that you are amazing and this blog is like a gift from the gods! Bless you and your endless patience and hard work. [Oh, thank you so much!]  I know that you have just accepted follower recs and I have missed miserably but I still wanted to write and bring attention to a writer by the pseudo Xiao_Hua on ao3, I think they are quite good and I just recently found the account with so much content. If you do have the time to check them out, I'd rec catfish, my fox or the red ribbon.

The Red Ribbon

by Xiao_Hua (M, 21k, wangxian, TGCF crossover)

Summary:  Wei WuXian died but not before saving HanGuang-Jun and A-Yuan, leaving so much more behind than just his ribbon.

My Fox

by Xiao_Hua (E, 13k, wangxian)

Summary:  Once he headed to YiLing that all changed for him. His priorities have been mingled with and ordered in complete disarray even without him noticing as he was left heavily influenced by a creature.

Or one where Lan WangJi is a dragon-spirit and he finds his mate in the form of a fox.

Catfish

by Xiao_Hua (E, 15k, wangxian)

Summary:  Wei WuXian has a common sense that believes it has a nine-to-five job while Lan WangJi finds that incredibly hot.

Or one where two catfish realise that neither of them truly catfished.

~*~

Hi Mojo i'm recommending this amazing fic it is called song of joys and regrets. it's a time travel AU it's amazing. And your Blog is a Godsend Thank you! [Aw, you’re so sweet!]  ~ @highgoddess

Song of Joy and Regrets

by HelloKitten (not rated, 59k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  The Archery competition at Qishan this year has hit a snag. As the Sects face the wrongs perpetrated by their future selves, Wei Wuxian finds himself adopted by half of the cultivation world who are determined to save him from himself.

Baby Wangxian suffers. Adult Wangxian's job here is done.

"I'm starting to see a pattern to all his plans..." "Do they all involve him being bait?" "Yes" came deadpanned responses.

~*~

Here’s a 2021 Reverse Big Bang entry, in time for Father’s Day; [Oops, my bad, sorry!]  Under a Blanket of Black Wings, by ChaoticAndrogynous (#31398395); LWJ, recuperating from the 33 lashes, tells A-Yuan a series of fairytales about a heroic monster and the brave little boy he befriended. Vampire! WWX (in the framing story as well as the story-within-the-story); happy ending.

Under a Blanket of Black Wings

by ChaoticAndrogynous (T, 19k, wangxian)

Summary:  Lan Wangji tells A-Yuan a bedtime story about a beautiful monster and the brave little boy who was his friend. Thirteen years later, the monster returns.

~*~

Hello Mojo! Have you read ‘Key Differences’ by Pupeez4eva? Its a MDZS!WWX meets CQL!WWX and its really good! [It’s on my list!]

Key Differences

by pupeez4eva (T, 6k, wangxian)

Summary:  “I don’t understand,” Wei Wuxian said, while his alternate self continued to stare at him with almost a look of hurt in his eyes. There was longing in there too, which Wei Wuxian would have easily recognised if he paid enough attention. “How could you not get together, after everything. What even went on in the Guanyin Temple if you didn’t confess?”

“The Guanyin Temple,” Wei Ying repeated incredulously. “You’re asking me if I confessed at — honestly, a lot went on that day. It was a life and death situation. There was no confessing.”

Wei Wuxian stared at him, appalled.

(Wherein Wei Wuxian ends up meeting an alternate version of himself who, much to his horror, never married Lan Wangji. Obviously he has to do something to fix this).

~*~

Hey Mojo i would recommend this fanfic if you already haven’t, it’s called “ take me back to a time “ by DizziDreams. It’s sooooo good

take me back to a time

by DizziDreams (T, 144k, wangxian, 3zun)

Summary:  Wei Ying has a lot on his plate right now.

It’s finals week -- which isn’t so bad. He’s never had to study much to do well in classes. But that just means that things are that much more tense with Jiang Cheng, who, as far as Wei Ying can tell, only takes study breaks long enough to glare at Wei Ying where he sits on the couch playing video games.

It’s not studies that have Wei Ying stressed out. It’s everything else. It’s the recruitment for the research trial he’s coordinating. It’s jiejie and her impending marriage to His Royal Douchebag Jin Zixuan. It’s the volunteer work at the palliative care facility. It’s Wen Ning’s worsening condition. It’s Wen Qing working herself thin to care for her brother and Wen Yuan. It’s the way Wen Yuan never seems to have enough food.

So, yeah. There’s enough on Wei Ying’s plate already, meaning it’s not entirely welcome when he comes home and finds a man standing in his bedroom. A man in extravagant white robes, a ribbon tied around his forehead, long hair gathered into a topknot, fist clutching a sword at his side, who asks him, “Where am I?”

~*~

Idk if this has already been rec’d (I’ve been off the grid for a while now), but there’s this absolutely incredible fic called Restitution by an anon on ao3 people should definitely check out!

this one?

on restitution

by Anonymous (M, 78k, wangxian, jin ling & wei wuxian, lan sizhui & wei wuxian, WIP)

Summary:  When Wei Wuxian regains consciousness, he is in a bed. A real, proper bed, not the slab he called a bed in his cave in the Burial Mounds.

Jiang Cheng is glowering above him.

Wei Wuxian doesn't die during the siege of the Burial Mounds. Rather, he is captured in secret and confined at Lotus Pier. Things change accordingly.

~*~

Hi momjo! I feel like every time I come to your blog there's twenty more new and amazing fics for me to read. Thank you for everything you do for this fandom!  [Thank you, sweetie!  And yes, I think there ARE 20 new fics every day out there in the fandom.  It’s amazing!] Today I come bearing my own rec to you. I've recently read this and it's IMO one of the best fics out there. It's called Lapsteel by carriecmoney and it's a modern stormchaser AU featuring country songs and coming home. ~ @manaika-chan​

Lapsteel

by carriecmoney (T, 42k, wangxian)

Summary:  Now and then, I think about you now and then...

It's been thirteen years since Wei Ying ran for the prairies, leaving behind a family in shambles and a secret on the Pacific wind. What happens when the storm he swirled catches up to him?

Modern AU with country music star Lan Zhan, stormchaser Wei Ying, and shared crossroads.

~*~

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 3

Let’s Split Up and Look for Clues! 

Welcome back to the Seven and the Museum of Adventuring. My previous pronouncement of combat was a little premature but hold tight, we’ll get there. For now, we’re back with Antiope who just saw a glimpse of the Ending of Things (aka, Ending) and is freaking out a bit. She tells the others and they all do various checks to see what they can find out.

Ostentatia casts Commune With City and clocks that there is some kind of abjuration shield magic on the government buildings in town, stopping them from being spied on. She also clocks some lingering undead-ish magic and a weird divination effect on Antiope, specifically on the Aguefort logo of her jacket, like someone scryed on her and just got that she had something to do with Aguefort. At this, Penny reminds her that the only true piece of info they gave Ending when they broke her out is that they were from Aguefort.

Sam with a 19 Insight still feels the connection she and Ant have with Ending because of their spells turned against them in the initial encounter. Yelle does a Perception check (27) and once again doesn’t really get bad, dreadful, menacing vibes. But also, she recognizes that she’s chill with a lot of things most people don’t love. 

Antiope reiterates that she texted Charity that she’s interested in the internship so she can learn more info--even better now that they know the buildings are safe from scrying. Yelle remembers Aguefort’s warning about people watching them and Sam asks Zelda if her “weird boyfriend” (“he’s actually really cool”) is friends with the elven oracle. Zelda says yeah, they’re both friends with Adaine, she can ask about any weird divination stuff. Sam makes sure to specify she should look into TK but NOT Ending, no doubt remembering what happened when she tried to do a spell on her. 

It’s been a big day as Zelda says so they all go to the TGIF-esque Slappy McFinnigans to celebrate (which Sam has problems with--the fact that they’re celebrating I mean, but she’s mainly ignored). They’re quickly kicked out because Katja can’t help herself from trying to brush the mane of their centaur server and they reconvene at the more their speed SlamBurger, where a horse can fully destroy a soda machine to absolutely zero reaction.  Zelda says that Ostentatia was right in that they should all do the quest because it doesn’t close any doors and they have the 2 weeks to figure things out. They all seem a bit more on the same page (though Sam is still pretty frosty towards Ant) and start making plans.

Before they leave, Yelle pulls aside Ant and Sam and says hey, first of all, you two are still linked to Ending from before. Second of all, I know y’all are Going Through It right now and you don’t have to talk about it or make up right away but you need to get your heads in the game and you need to know that you’re both loved and still family. 

Penny, Zelda, Katja, and Ostentatia go back to the museum to try and get more information for their quest. Katja goes to the information desk (horse in tow, of course) and just starts asking information about TK. She’s told that she’s one of the museum’s benefactors and has been missing for years, and hey, do you understand that a museum’s info desk is about where the water fountains and exhibits are, not just random information about the world?

Ostentatia bails her out by calling her over so she can do her plan which is just to walk into the back area like she owns the place. Now, Aguefort students do have a certain level of clearance to be back there and she does have her school ID. But instead of explaining that, she tried to use her Earrings of Diamond Charm to charm the employee she runs into which fails. And then she does a pretty good tag-team lie with Katja about how they NEED to pass a class but that doesn’t fly. Then Ostentatia tries flirting which ALSO doesn’t work. Zelda at this point steps in and just headbuts the dude so they can book it away. I personally would have gone with, “Do you know who we are? We killed the dragon that’s your current main exhibit,” but you know. No backseat adventuring. 

While this is happening, Penny is stealthing like a pro, looking for anything Arcana related. Ostentatia and Katja also did checks (O getting a nat 20) and we’ll go through all their info gathered now. 

Katja basically gets info on TK we kind of already knew. She was a benefactor of the museum. She’s centuries old like Aguefort. She was concerned with consciousness and divinity and specifically how will and divine will manifested, as well as elemental magic.  

Ostentatia gets a lot of info with her Nat 20. She gets a full map to the temple where TK went which is called the Temple of Earth Defiant. The point of the temple is that it’s up in the open air and harsh winds--wind being a symbol of chaos and unpredictability to dwarves--but they still use it as a place to honor their heroes and they rebuild and upkeep it despite the erosion and how hard it is to get there. It’s hallowed from evil and lots of stories about it involve heroes racing there for sanctuary. It was made by dwarves but it’s a pilgrimage site for other primordial beings like goliaths and earth genasi (which is what TK is). There are 3 heroes who have big statues here: Asha Hammerheart (a SUPER dope name I must say), Yvonna of the Sundering Hills , and Kora Ironbrow.

Penny finds that, amongst Kalvaxus’s hoard there were 7 unrecovered artifacts--the Mirrors of the Eidolons (which are the smashed mirrors they found it seems). Eidelons are kind of like the elemental plane version of angels/celestials. They’re primordial (remember Katja saw primordial language on the wall of the dragon cave) and kind of aligned with things like titans and genies. Raw element with no agenda (unlike celestials and demons and such which have a clear alignment which makes up the D&D religious system). It is said by wizards--who look at these things in more of a nuts and bolts way than say clerics who take the fuzzier religions view--that Eidolons are the hands of the gods because gods are beings of spirit--how could they form the physical world. Will of the divine manifested by elemental beings? Sounds right up TK’s alley.

Sam decides she’s desperate enough for information that she calls her mom who she is understandably snippy with. Her mom gives her a contact to talk to when she asks about TK but Sam stonewalls her on show business talk. She tries to play the “mother knows best, you’ll thank me later,” in a kind of Gothel-y way while acting like anything in the past never happened and says Sam is attacking her but when Sam accuses her of neglect, she proves her right by hanging up the phone.

Sam then calls the number and it turns out to be Lola Embers (Fig’s agent) who has been waiting for Sam’s call for ages and wants to talk to her, even though she’s currently chasing her dog across the park. She says she met TK once at a genasi woman networking thing and also says she once saw Charity get into an argument with TK over government funding or not getting a grant or something similar. She then says she’s in a lake trying to get her dog and Sam, being a water genasi who can breathe underwater and also a fundamentally good person even though she’s currently being aggro as hell, goes to the park to help her. Lola assures her that if she’s ready, she’ll help her get new acting gigs and that the world is ready for the new her. 

Yelle meanwhile casts Speak With Plants on some trees near TK’s office and, after a super stoner to stoner conversation, gets a magical footprint trail of where she ran off to when she absconded 12 years ago. 

Antiope (who is in a sports bra because she destroyed her top with the Aguefort logo since that’s what was pinged, revealing in a wild, nat-1 fueled retcon that she got a tramp stamp reading “Leader” in the Red Waste) goes to see Charity to fill out some paperwork, ingratiate herself, and perhaps get some info. Charity has her hot, young, assistant (who Antiope is instantly crushing on) give Ant his shirt (and Charity’s lack of surprise at seeing his 4 horses pulling a chariot tattoo makes the group think they’re def banging). She kind of explains what the Ministry does and Antiope boils it down a bit to snitching on other adventurers. Charity says it’s more of a who watches the watchmen situation and visibly twitches when she has to say the word “snitch”. 

When she takes a second to call Antiope’s dad, she accidentally leaves a tab open on her computer which has TK’s file open (probably up from when the Maidens asked about her earlier). Antiope sneaks a peek and learns that the artifact that TK stole is called the Legendarium Extrodia and it tracks quests. It seems that at some point TK must have had top level access to get her hands on it. It also shows that TK was marked for assassination (which seems like a pretty good reason to get the heck out of dodge). Brennan also says she’s learned enough that she can use the L.E. if she finds it. 

At this point, Yelle tells everyone to come back ASAP so they can follow the magic footsteps. Antiope wants to come but doesn’t want to burn bridges with Charity (or chances with Preston--equally important) so she, at Katja’s suggestion--pretends to have diarrhea and is Nat 20 convincing. Interesting choice for the end of the first meeting with a person you’re crushing on. But Preston is actually pretty supportive as she races out the door as fast as possible.

The Seven follow the footsteps out of Solace and it becomes clear that TK was headed to the dwarven temple Ostentatia learned about. This is a multi-day journey so Cinnamon sings a glorious, magical, horse song and summons mounts for everyone which I will now name because this is obviously the most important part of the episode:

Snowfire - Danielle

Taffodill - Sam

Alagonia - Antiope

Candyheart - Penny

Starforge - Ostentatia 

Strawberry Dancer - Zelda 

Crucial info. 

As they travel, Antiope casts Primeval Awareness and gets that there is something ancient in the mountain. They travel through Pilgrim’s Pass (a village area most travelers to the temple pass through) but find it completely razed to the ground. They investigate. 

With an 18 Survival check, Antiope finds tracks that seem halfway between dog and cat. There are more than 4 legs and it’s hard to tell how old they are because there’s not a lot of rain in the area. They could have been left long ago and been undisturbed. Regardless, these are clearly from monstrosities. On a 26 History Check, Katja knows that this area used to be protected by Blink Dogs (teleporting dogs) but they seem to be all gone now. On a 22 Nature check, Yelle sees a weird feather made out of plant material. It seems like fae stuff but bad vibes. On an 18 Insight check, Sam knows this was a purposeful slaughter.

And on Penny’s 30 Arcana check, oh boy. Penny finds broken common scrawled on the wall in human blood talking about a queen of the mountain who rules the skies. That only the queen may see and none may see themselves. And that the people were told to destroy the seeing glass and did not obey. In from of that message is a bear hide covering something magic. Penny lifts it with reckless abandon and sees tons of mirror shards.

Friendship bracelets! She thinks.

Gotcha bitch, the thing in the mirror says.

Uh-oh.   

Penny calls over her friends to let them knows she may have made a tiny mistake. The group is pretty split between, “Understandable,” and “Girl, WHAT?” In her defense, she did try to cast Friends on the person on the other side of the mirror shards but that’s not enough to stop an entire pack of 50-60 Displacer Beast (magic tentacle cats)/Blink Dog hybrid monstrosities along with the Harpy Queen (voice from the mirror) and her plant feathered harpy minions to start rapidly making their way to their location. 

It is at this point that Ostentatia remembers that abominations and monstrosities cannot step into the temple which means it’s time to RUN. 

And NOW it’s combat time. 

The premise of this fight is that the girls are on their horses, moving towards the center of the temple as fast as they can while fending off the closest enemies. I won’t give an exact play by play but the two highlights are as follows:

Yelle conjures up a bunch of geese with raptor stats (...so normal geese) to swarm the head cat/dog abomination and has to do a truly stunning amount of math for which she is rewarded with SEVENTY POINTS OF DAMAGE. 

Antiope does some insane arrow trickery and gets the Queen Harpy in the wing (which Ostentatia helpfully gets on video so she can show Preston later) and then forces her to take damage as she falls. If not for an extremely lucky Box of Doom nat 20, she may have been down for the count. Antiope still comes away with more than FIFTY points of damage on her though. 

And we end the episode mid-combat! We will catch up on our girls next time!

Superlatives 

Penny: Most Likely to Make Friends During a Hostage Situation 

As a companion to Danielle’s superlative last episode, Penny gets this award for reading or misreading every situation as an opportunity to make friends or make friendship bracelets for the ones she already has. 

Random Thoughts

Did you guys notice that with Katja having Cinnamon and Charity’s assistant being Preston, that’s two of the main pet NPCs from A Crown of Candy?

Antiope’s Reaction to Yelle Saying That Maybe Things Ending Isn’t So Bad: Rail against the dying of the light! Why are you OK with this?

Penny’s Reaction to Yelle Saying That Maybe Things Ending Isn’t So Bad: Entropy is TERRIBLE! Everything needs order!

The greasy cashier’s response to Ostentatia’s flirty, “Come here often?” is “To my job? Honestly no.” Brennan? Chef’s kiss. 

My other fave line this episode is from Sam. “I believe Cinnamon fucks.”

It’s very cute that Penny is like, “I gotta text Riz about this Eidelon stuff!” Not because she wants help. Just so they can geek out together. 

The joke that Brennan didn’t think about the birds is so funny considering all the bird facts in Misfits.

Also re Birds attacking: “They made a movie about this Brennan!” 

Good on Ant for refusing an Aguefort sweatshirt from Charity when offered after the little scrying incident before. Remembering things like this saves lives. 

It has been brought up several times that Ending isn’t necessarily Bad just Ancient and Powerful and I trust Yelle’s vibe check but also, like, a forest fire doesn’t have malice behind it but it can still devastate a city while it clears out dead trees that need to be cleared, you know? Not ready to start wild speculation yet but I am curious. And am similarly curious about the sisters Ending has mentioned. Oh and the parallels of 7 Maidens, 7 mirrors. It’s all there, we just need a little more info. 

Honestly, get you a man who will see you rushing out of a building, loudly claiming to have diarrhea, and instead of being grosses out will just supportively confess his own stomach issues. I wish he was just a little younger cause I want that for Ant. 

I do like that D20 has been playing a little more fast and loose with the RP ep/combat ep format. I think it really helps with story flow. 

In this episode Antiope and Brennan as various non-Zelda NPCs rolled 2 Nat 20s. O rolled one. Ant rolled 1 Nat 1--which was on a self imposed roll to see how she responded to Sephie’s tramp stamp improv. And O may have rolled one for initiative also but I wasn’t sure.