#i think after they're together for a while he realizes his own power. and uses it for evil.

[absentmoon]

i think since (post dlc pre-s2)fen and ivor come back for breaks on weekends . ivor gets reaaally really cuddly and clingy and affectionate.. since theres not reaaally time for that on the less boring adventures You know. hes kind of unfair about it too

[zillychu]

hi hello looks at the tags of ur recent act 5 sif art. i wld LOVE to hear more about the stress level mechanic you mentioned if you perhaps wanna ramble about it 👉👈

I kept putting off answering this ask forever bc I wanted to finish the idea it came with, but idk when that will happen so here we go!

This was a game mechanic I thought of while refining an idea for a hypothetical sequel (two actually, for a trilogy), where Siffrin essentially remains OP as hell. But this does not actually make things easier.

Ramblings about the distress level mechanic, and story thoughts under the cut! This contains spoilers!

Re: In Stars and Wind

(get it. re: because it's a sequel. and also re:wind. wind is important. and there are no loops but Sif rewinds. god I'm so funny)

[[ Act I, part I ]]

Starts as a slow, cute holiday where the player gets to control different party members for each part of the story for different points of view and inner thoughts, to get a better feel of where everyone is emotionally.

Now in Bambouche, the party is traveling together, the atmosphere very much a relaxed and welcomed vacation. We see some of the new, but very mild conflict they have to juggle–how everyone has different opinions on handling their exploding fame, different ideas on where to go next… acclimating to Siffrin’s new demeanor and ailments. 

It's nothing terrible! Siffrin is more susceptible to Crafting sickness now, like an old injury that's fully healed but can get sore easily. Using Craft normally tends to mean lingering fatigue, maybe a nap or two. Heavier usage, and he gets body aches and fevers. 

He's also…different, now. They all know, they understand, they take it all in genuine stride. It's just a bit bumpy when Siffrin brings up something he shouldn't know, references things that never happened, still instinctively reaches for their knife or looks for easy ways to die when they feel cornered. Sometimes he gets unreasonably scared in battle, sometimes unreasonably scary. His power fluctuates from lv.1 to lv.999 (wait, wasn't the level cap supposed to be 99?)

Odile and Isa are the first ones seen discussing how odd that is. They saw those after-images of him running through the House on his own, they know he's strong. Much stronger than anyone could be even with years of fighting Sadness. (How long was Siffrin trapped in those loops, anyway?) Hell, he had the power to become something akin to a god.

They chalk up his moments of weakness to Craft Sickness, perhaps even a new and lingering disorder. They're not worried about it being a bother, they're just worried about what it could mean for him. They've brought it up before, but Sif also looked a bit confused and would say he just felt weak and tired for some reason. They think maybe his ridiculous power back then was only there due to the Wish Craft that no longer exists–maybe they're blowing things out of proportion.

Though all in all, everyone is happy! They're all together, seeing new places, becoming closer. 

At the end, they have a campfire picnic at night. It's then that everyone solidifies they're family now, and Sif is struck by how similar it all feels to that night. The night he wished he had back. He breaks down into tears and they try to comfort him, but he's happy. He tells them about that night now lost in the loops, how everything went right that day. Everyone laughs and cries and it's full and bright, their little campfire shining like a star in the night. They all love, and they're all loved. 

[[ Act I, part II ]]

Despite all the warmth. Despite all the joy and progress they've all made. 

Siffrin is still hiding something. 

Back in purely Sif's POV, we find out there's much, much more to his condition than everyone realizes. 

He struggles with keeping his masks in order, some of them popping up against his will. He doesn't have multiple personalities, but he is a bit more extreme with his personas. He tries to be Siffrin, the rogue, the traveler, the friend. But he's also Siffrin, who endured over a year stuck in a time loop, who aged what feels like eons, whose power now rivals a god's and can barely contain his extreme reactions to distress, to knowing or even thinking his family is in danger.

Sometimes, during a fight, he thinks a Sadness hit a friend a bit too hard–and he eviscerates it, gaze too dead and too cold and he can see the way his allies freeze up. Can see their uncertainty, their waiting fear (just like that time). Thankfully, he can shake it off once he notices they're safe, and they relax when he's “back to normal" easy enough. 

But it isn't just battles when this can happen. Sometimes even doing the simplest most mundane thing can slowly slip the contentment off his face (even if he's still happy!), or habitually slip into masking too hard with unnervingly fake smiles. Sometimes he'll simply order some food only to find the shopkeep staring at him warily.

But that's okay. He's used to acting. His family tells him he doesn't need to do that, that he shouldn't hide anymore. But this isn't the same, is it? He really is happy, he's just covering up some weird muscle memory that'll disappear in time. This is a good thing, actually! He's being more honest this way! Right? 

Like he's being “honest” about the Time and Wish Craft irrevocably etched into his soul now. He's not lying, he really does get Craft Sickness easily now! It's just. It's maybe not all coming from his “injury" of overusing Craft and nearly destroying the world. Not entirely. But that's part of it, so he's not lying! 

(Lying by omission is still lying. Stupid. Useless. Don't you ever learn? When will you learn? Can you learn? Why do you keep repeating the same mistakes–)

They're not the same mistakes though! He's getting better at talking to his friends, letting them know when he needs help. He's changing he's changed too much go back go back go back just like they are!

He knows he needs to tell them if something big happens. And he will! He'd never get trapped in a another time loop and not trust them enough to avoid relying on them. He knows now how much it hurts to see a loved one shoulder so much pain when you can be there to help split the burden.

But what's going on is nothing. It's silly! It's just him being silly. There's no reason to tell them about something they'll probably get all worked up over when it's really not that big of a deal. Friends don't tell friends absolutely everything, they've all admitted as much too! Sometimes you do have to balance little white lies, little secrets. Pick and choose which battles to share, which to keep personal. 

So it's really not that big of a deal! He's figuring out why his body still innately uses Time Craft sometimes and he rewinds the world a bit. 

Okay. Okay that sounds so much worse than it is. Really! He's not stuck in a loop anymore, he doesn't rewind whole days. He'll just. Sometimes he'll get hurt, or really scared, or really upset and the world kinda. Blinks back a few minutes, or hours. Back before the thing that caused him distress. 

They don't need to know about that. It's no big deal. Nothing has ever changed drastically anyway (Bonnie would have just gotten scuffed up falling down that hill, that stomach wound Odile sustained could have been easily healed, Isa would have recovered from a broken fractured leg, Mira could have dealt with that overzealous fan herself) 

It wasn't like he watched them die again again again, he didn't die, the world wasn't ending. Everything was fine!

Did that weird cat just talk. 

[Gameplay changes from here, traveling from town A to town B. There are still a lot of Sadness roaming about, you save a couple people, etc etc]

[[End of Act I]]

[GAMEPLAY DIFFERENCES]

Everything is the same, but has additional statuses now!

Buffs and debuffs have two levels, normal (1 level) and critical (2 levels)

In addition to HP, there's now distress (DL= distress level)

Distress increases with: 

Battle duration

Damage taken (healing proportionally reverses this) (lower HP = bigger increase)

Allies getting hit with Criticals

Allies getting low on HP

New enemy attacks that inflict negative emotions

Distress decreases with: 

Healing

Shields and buffs 

New distress-specific items

New neutral Craft ability: Breathe

Resets to 0 after battle victory

Effects of distress:

When personal distress hits a certain percentage, allies gain certain debuffs and/or buffs (intentionally made to show stress can be beneficial, up to a point)

20%: ATK/DEF/ATKSPD up (1)

40%: ATK/ATKSPD up (1), DEF down critically (2) (most mob fights stop around here)

60%: ATK up (1), DEF/ATKSPD down critically (2)

80%: ATK/DEF/ATKSPD down critically (2)

100%: Cannot act. Essentially frozen, can only be decreased with specific items/skills or battle end.

Siffrin only: 

As personal distress increases, the chance increases that Siffrin loses control of his strength, dealing massive damage 1.5x above a Critical, but at a cost. These are called Overclocked attack/Crafts (haha, get it?)

Overclocked attack: Hits all enemies and your party, lowering HP (including yourself)

Overclocked Craft: Increases both ally and enemy stress (including yourself)

80%: Act 5 Siffrin unlocked. Sprite permanently changed until distress is lowered under 50%. All attacks/Crafts are now Overclocked, and he only has DEF down critically. Allies gain distress 1.5x faster.

100%: Unleashes Wish Craft immediately (regardless of turn order), dealing massive damage to all enemies and allies, and brings HP down to 1. Gains special “Craft Sickness" status, where all stats are down critically for the remainder of the battle. 

This state is Siffrin instinctively attempting to go full bigfrin, but non-fatally stabs themself to keep their mind grounded :)

(You eventually obtain equips and/or Craft skills that minimizes the backlash of Siffrin's Overclocked hits and Wish Craft, making it a viable strategy to intentionally distress him. This has an effect on the story! It's not healthy to burn yourself out to achieve more in life, stop that.)

And that's all I have for now! I'm not sure if/when I'll get the urge to finish things up, but I have a super rough draft. Can you guess what the weird talking cat is about? :) Teehee

[amiya-shirou]

Spoilers about Babel and Zwillingstürme im Herbst

I was thinking about Arknights' recurring dynamic of siblings who must confront each other no matter how important the other is for them and realized there are more parallels than I expected between Theresa/Theresis and Arturia/Federico - to the point the latter pair feels like a still growing, less actualized, somewhat inverted version of the first.

Arturia is Theresa: focused on emotion and empathy, has weird mental powers (that interact pretty well with Theresa's, as seen in her interactions with Amiya), her ultimate ideal is a level of connection that goes beyond the scope of her own civilization and in trying to achieve it she's at the same time dooming herself, her halo almost looks like the Black Crown (which I doubt wasn't intended, since the Law is definitely comparable to Civilight Eterna). The contrasts between them are pretty evident too: a white Devil who perfectly looks the part of the saintess and a black Angel who perfectly looks the part of the villainess.

Federico is Theresis: the more down-to heart, more serious, less idealistic brother, who has difficulties expressing emotions to others (or even understanding them in Fede's case) and is extremely close to his sister but also feels he must stop her as her ideals lead her down a dangerous path for others. Theresa/Arturia are going against the will of the Myriad Souls/the Law, and Theresis/Federico confront them by acting as protectors of that will for the sake of the people that would be affected. Even in this case, there are evident contrasts: Theresis is seen as a negative figure, the villain in Theresa's story, while Federico is seen positively and Arturia is presented as the villain in his story.

Despite everything, the siblings know each other best. Federico can tell if a crime is Arturia's fault or not because he understands her more than anyone else; when Arturia's ideals crumble after the discussion with the Witch King and she seeks death, Federico is the one she wants to be killed by. Years of civil war and aiming for the others' destruction didn't put a dent in the trust and affection that exists between the Sarkaz twins, and when they're reunited in Londinium they're once again betting everything on each other like it's the most natural thing do to.

Civilight Eterna chose both Theresa and Theresis as successors for the will of the Sarkaz; they were special, the legendary twins with the potential to change Kazdel's fate. The Law calculated the immense adversities Terra is going to face in future, and chose both Arturia and Federico as the next Saints, essential for Laterano to prepare against them.

The one advantage the Giallos have over the twins is that they're younger, less caged by the collective will of their people. They can still reach a good middle point and work together for a better future without needing to extinguish the other for their ideal to prevail. While Theresa and Theresis understood the value of the other's belief, they were fundamentally opposed because they acted as the symbols of two separated possibilities for the Sarkaz, possibilities that clashed with each other despite their continued survival being the ultimate objective for both. Instead, Zwillingstürme im Herbst shows Federico taking steps towards Arturia and learning to use emotion as a way to understand her even if he can't feel them the same way she does, while Arturia realized the value of Federico's logical approach and that his approach can make her objective more concrete rather than just an abstract ideal.

Federico helps Arturia give footing to her philosophical inquiries, reminding her that it is possible to find an answer and reach a conclusion and that her ideals do not need to remain abstract but she can actually take steps to realize them; meanwhile, for how strong the Kazdel twins' bond is, Theresis will always be an eternal reminder that most of the Sarkaz reject Theresa and her dreams for an hopeful future, and was never able to truly help her sustain Babel. And just as Federico one-ups Theresis on this matter, the same does Arturia to Theresa: she wants to see her ideal realized, she has learned that she also has a role in her utopia and that she shouldn't forget about herself while seeking it, in opposition to how Theresa can only see herself as a sacrifice, the soil upon which the flowers will grow after her death. Theresa and Theresis were doomed by the weight of Kazdel's history and suffering, but the two Sankta's story ends in a hopeful tone as their fate is not yet written, and in fact both of them are less a symbol of the will of Laterano and more clear outsiders in their society, rare different voices in a very conformist state and thus have the potential to change it rather than be shackled by their people's voices.

[impale-me-radio-daddy]

Reddest Flags, Longest Nights

⩙ Summary: The year is 1989. The Berlin Wall has fallen, and Nintendo have just overseen the release of the Game Boy. The first ever episode of Baywatch has just aired, and Ted Bundy has just been executed by electric chair. Vox's relationship with the Radio Demon is on the rocks. Their solution? To add a third person to their bedroom: you

⩙ Warnings: Explicit sexual content, Vox X reader X Alastor, Radiostatic is a committed relationship (well, they're trying), Reader is a girl and she has a pussy, tentacle sex

⩙ Other notes: This is set in a sexy alternate universe for the characters in @bapple117's Bluest Monday

“I'm not for sale,” you say. It's a truly stupid, suicidal thing to say, with the Television Demon's talons wrapped around your arm, and his associate the Radio Demon watching with amused interest as Vox pulls you into their private booth.

“Come now, dear, that surely isn't true.” It's not Vox who speaks, but Alastor, his tones the same genial, cheerful ones he uses for his broadcasts. “Everyone has a price, after all.”

“Everybody fuckin' wants something, yeah.” Vox agrees, releasing your arm once he's convinced that you won't immediately bolt away. He's not slurring his words, but his movements are clumsier than you would expect. He's drunk, you realize. Both of them are. “People want power. Money. Control.”

“Sex,” says Alastor, flashing a grin at Vox, who makes a noise like someone just tuned him to a dead channel, his face filling briefly with static.

“Shh-yeah, some people want sex, Al. That's a normal fuckin' thing to want.”

Alastor's smile grows, a little smug, a little cruel, and his red eyes turn to you. “What about you, dear? Do you want sex?”

“Al! You can't just fuckin' ask a girl that!”

“Last I checked I was better informed on etiquette than you, old chum,” Alastor's smile slides sideways. “And besides, if our interests align, there's a deal to be had.”

You hadn't come to the club intending to sell anything, but the two demons are adept negotiators- Alastor assuring you that no, he doesn't need your soul per se, just your services, services of a personal, private nature, and aren't you inclined to give those, isn't it in your own best interests? All the while Vox is giving a more direct incentive, the front of his boxy face focused on you, entirely you, dexterous talons skating over the exposed skin of your forearms with enough pressure to make you shiver, with the implied promise that he could touch you in less socially acceptable places, if only you would agree to what the Radio Demon was offering.

You're tempted. You're so, so tempted. You know that this is a bad idea, that these two are bad news to be around, that you should just go back to your normal sinner life, but instead you find yourself leaning in to listen more closely to Alastor's solicitations, and Vox, still touching you, grows bolder, his hand dropping below the table to stroke your thigh.

The top of your thigh at first, skating the seams of your clothes, then dropping to your inner knee, Vox's claw drawing a daring line from your knee and up your inner thigh to your panties.

Your breath hitches, and Alastor tips his head at you, expression amused. “You seem distracted. Would you like me to repeat that last part?”

“Would ya like me to repeat that last part?” asks Vox, his grin as wide as his face and lecherous.

“I can make him stop, if you'd prefer,” says Alastor, with a casual menace.

It's hard to listen to the full terms and conditions with Vox's fingers massaging the fabric of your panties, and maybe that's the intention, but you can't bring yourself to ask him to stop, or even to ask Alastor to ask him to stop.

“What've you got to lose?” says Vox, his heavy box of a head nudging against your shoulder as the pads of his fingers press against your now slick-drenched gusset. Your thighs press together, his hand trapped between.

“Of course,” says Alastor. “If you'd like to think about it-”

“Oh, she's thinkin' about it, Al,” says Vox, his tone laden with filth.

“I'll do it!” you blurt, and both of their faces light like pinball machines. “I mean, yes.”

“Splendid,” chirps Alastor. “Now, as a rule, I will close a deal with a handshake, but for this-”

A kiss.

You've never imagined kissing the most terrifying demon in all of Pentagram city, so you have no idea what to expect, but Alastor's hand on your cheek is a feather light touch, a swirl of green magic around you. His lips on yours are chaste, brushing rather than prying, in stark contrast to Vox, who takes the opportunity to push your panties to the side with his fingers and stroke a slow line along your slick-coated inner lips. You whine against Alastor's mouth, and he slides his hand to the back of your head, holding you there as the deal is sealed.

That’s how you go home with them, Alastor holding the green chain that fastens to the shackle around your neck. Vox drives uptown, away from Voxtek, away from the Radio Demon’s broadcasting tower, and you end up in a quiet, well-appointed apartment in the most nondescript tower block that you have ever seen.

You note the shoe rack; the way that Vox’s shiny black dress shoes are stacked up next to Alastor’s bespoke deer-soled boots, and it occurs to you that this isn’t just Vox’s playboy apartment, as you’d expected. The two of them live together. There is only one bedroom.

“So, what now?” asks Alastor, holding out a gentlemanly arm for you to lean on as you remove your shoes in the entrance. “I believe your suggestion was to try new things, yes?”

“Jesus, Al.” Vox’s sigh is heavy. “We’ll just go to the bedroom, undress, and, uh, see where we go, yeah?”

“See where we go?” Alastor’s voice inflects upwards into his upper registers, the sound of a capacitor about to burst, and you realize that you are in considerable danger.

Alastor is grinning, but his body language is stressed, his ears back, lips pulled back over his gums to show the most of his teeth. In your second possibly suicidal move of the night, you squeeze his arm, where you have been holding him since taking off your shoes.

Alastor’s gaze snaps to you, eyes dangerously red, but there’s uncertainty in the corners of his smile. He kissed you, back in the club, you reason, so he can’t find you entirely objectionable. You lower your gaze, sliding a hand up his forearm, and his ears shift, subtly. He exhales, a little of the tension going out of his chest, and you slide your hand to his upper arm, pushing him back against the coat rack behind him, pressing him against an electric blue shell jacket, and he just lets you.

If Alastor were half a foot shorter you would kiss him, but as it is he stares down at you, his smile a question, until finally he gets what you’re trying to do, and bends his knees fractionally so that you can stand on tiptoes and press your face to his.

You can feel his smile under your lips, parting as you dare to pry, your tongue finding his teeth, and then the tip of his tongue, cautious against yours. You can feel the little shiver of his breath, his hand down your back. At first you think he’s about to slip his hand under your waistband, but instead he spreads his large hand under your ass, cupping it, and lifts you off your feet.

You feel a moment of vertigo, and a swoop in your stomach that is definitely not vertigo as Alastor holds you with your face level to his and slips his entire tongue into your mouth. You took him initially as a conservative kisser, but perhaps he was holding back before. You groan against his lips, feeling heat spread into your lower half as his tongue explores your mouth, the tip probing the roof of your mouth, the soft flesh of the insides of your cheeks. It’s not just the kiss but the feeling of helplessness that it brings, of being held aloft by a being so much more powerful than you. Your knees press the coats either side of Alastor’s waist as he cradles your ass, your tongue lapping against his, eyes closed, arms locking around his shoulders. By the time he breaks the kiss you are gasping, heart pounding in your chest, and Alastor gives you an appraising look.

“You are very small,” Alastor comments, his face a little flushed from the kissing. He doesn’t set you down, however, shifting his forearm under you as you wrap your ankles around his waist, his staff in his other hand.

“Ah, she’ll do fine, Al,” says Vox with a glance over his shoulder, unbuttoning his shirt as he stalks through the living area and into the bedroom. Alastor follows, carrying you as if you weigh nothing.

Seeing the bedroom only serves to solidify your impression that the two of them live here together. There is definitely Alastor’s side of the bed, with red deer themed slippers poking out from underneath, and Vox’s side of the bed, with a digital alarm clock and a special pillow with a square cutout for his head. Two powerful demons, together in secret. It’s enough to make your head spin as Alastor sets you down, gently, on the his side of the bed.

“Alright, let’s fuckin’ do this.” Vox clambers onto the bed, shucking off his shirt, a pause before he reaches you, his hand on your knee. “You too, Al.”

“Must I?” Alastor gives a sideways sort of smile.

“You don’t say that in front of a girl!” barks Vox, and you get the impression he would be pulling his own hair, if he had any. “You’re gonna hurt her feelings or some shit. And yeah, Al, you gotta join in. Otherwise it’s just me fuckin’ a girl on the bed in front of you, and that’s not really a fuckin’ threesome now, is it?”

Alastor smiles thoughtfully. “You did say we would see where we go. I could read a book.”

“Fuck my life,” Vox mutters, flopping back, his boxy head hitting the duvet heavily.

You tug on Alastor’s sleeve again, catching his attention. “You don’t have to do anything.”

“I’m aware,” says Alastor, expression guarded, smile thin. He pauses. “Are your feelings really hurt?”

Your smile is wry. You’d be lying if you said his reticence didn’t hurt, at least a little. “My ego, maybe?”

“Ah.” Alastor looks down at you, and you are caught for a second by just how red his eyes are, like rubies, or pools of fresh blood. His fingers whisper across your cheek, pushing away a strand of hair. “We can’t have that now, can we?”

Tossing his staff onto Vox’s supine form, Alastor climbs onto the bed. He cups your face in his hands and kisses you for the third time that evening, all pretense of propriety gone as he pushes you onto your back, your head onto his pillows and his tongue snaking its way into your mouth. It takes your breath away; you can feel nothing else, only the dance of your tongues and lips, slick with saliva, Alastor’s hands sliding down to your jaw and your neck with the barest pressure. He traces the lines of your arteries, almost absently, and you moan into his mouth as you feel your body respond to him, your pulse growing insistent between your legs. You spread your knees without even thinking about it, your cunt level with his navel as you lie shameless and gasping and red-faced beneath him.

“Now we’re talkin’” Vox grins sidelong at the two of you, propping himself up on his elbows. “You are such a fuckin’ tease, Al.”

“Mm…” Alastor looks down at you, his lips parted and shiny with spit. “I do hope that’s a compliment.”

“Thank you,” you breathe, and Alastor presses a finger lazily to your lips, his eyes narrowing fractionally as if to say no thanks needed.

Vox, meanwhile, is removing your panties. He’s not shy of the Radio Demon’s body either, his hand on Alastor’s flank as he makes the space he needs to get them off. In short order you are naked, your clothing peeled away and the sheets warm against your back, though with the gazes of the two men on you, the room feels far from cold. Vox is down to y-fronts, which his cock strains against valiantly, while Alastor keeps his trousers and shirt, his tie and waistcoat discarded beside the bed.

Vox kisses your breasts, not even trying for your face, Alastor sitting back to give him better access. Vox’s lips are strange, part of the curvature of his front glass and yet not, warm and staticky against your skin, supple as his lips curve around your nipple and suck. His tongue is stranger yet, its sensation alien as the buzzing of fluorescent lights as he traces a circle around your areola and brings your nipple to a shivering point. Vox repeats the action with your other breast, Alastor stroking the vents on the back of his boxy head, his expression unguarded and fond.

“Al-” Vox makes a frustrated noise, his breath hot on your breast. “Pay attention to the girl.”

Alastor smirks, his expression almost flirtatious. “I was,” he says, his eyes meeting yours briefly, “But you and your big head got in the way.”

“Oh for crying out loud, Al.” Vox pinches the top of his frame with two fingers, his other hand on your breast. “There’s plenty to be done here-” Vox’s hand moves down your body, over the softness of your stomach and to your sex, a reassuring squeeze on your hip.

Alastor looks at you, your pink cunt spread open for him, and his brow knits slightly. He’s still touching your leg, hand stroking your shin where it rests against his waist. He’s nervous, you realize. Afraid of fucking up. Afraid of spoiling things.

“Wait-” Vox’s face is thoughtful as he reaches the same conclusion. “You’ve never eaten a girl out, have you?”

“I’ll have you know,” says Alastor, his spine straightening a little. “That I ate two ladies just last week.”

“No, fuck- I mean… eat pussy, Al.”

Alastor raises an eyebrow. “Certainly not!” he pipes. “The taste is revolting, the fur gets stuck in my teeth, and they have too many small bones.”

Vox gives a growl, and you find yourself holding back a laugh. Alastor catches your eye again, his eyes narrowing, red and beautiful as he bends to kiss your knee, a brush of his thin lips. “As my friend here has surmised, I am new to the neighborhood,” he says, his smile a little embarrassed as his gaze travels your inner thigh. “If you would be amenable to showing me around?”

You had expected the Radio Demon to be dominant in the bedroom, to take charge and fill the room with slapping, squelching sounds, but instead he is quiet, his gaze intent as you nervously spread yourself for him. You don’t know what directions he might want, so you hesitate, shrinking back as his eyes seem to drink you in.

“May I?” he asks, and when you nod, he drags a finger through the wetness that seeps viscous from your cunt; a slow, deliberate touch that seems to set every nerve ending in its path aflame. He pulls the finger away, his expression fascinated as a clear string of slick stretches between his finger and your cunt. “How interesting!” he exclaims, before popping the finger in his mouth, eyes closing as he savors your taste.

Vox rests Alastor’s microphone across his knees, impatient. “Al, you’re meant to put your face down there.���

“I’m building anticipation,” says Alastor, his lips a thin smile. “And if you had an ounce of natural showmanship, you would understand that.”

Vox shakes his head, his hands and mouth going back to your breasts, your shoulders and your neck. Vox’s head is too large to comfortably fit in the crook of your neck, but his tongue more than makes up for that, slithering bright across the sensitive flesh of your throat as his claws gently knead your breasts. The biggest side effect of this is that Vox’s large head blocks your view, and you cannot see what Alastor is doing.

There is a cannibal overlord between your legs is the first thought that registers as Alastor’s lips move glacial up your inner thigh. He kisses, he sucks, and he tastes, his fingertips ghosting feather light over your hips and stomach, tracing lines from your navel to your mons.

Vox finally deigns to kiss your mouth as Alastor reaches your cunt. Alastor parts your labia, his long tongue stroking between your folds as Vox’s tongue slips into your mouth, the doubled sensation delicious in its intensity. Alastor’s movements are hesitant, almost conservative, but your cunt is sopping wet enough that even the stripes he licks up your inner labia have you moaning into Vox’s mouth, your hips bucking needy into Alastor’s face.

Alastor’s fingers squeeze into the flesh of your ass, holding you firm as he tends to you, his face pressed firmly into your cunt, lips dragging across slick pink flesh as his tongue probes, a breath of pause between each attempt, his hands weighing how much each teasing lick makes you strain against his grip. His nose brushes your clit, which makes your entire body twitch, and he repeats the action more deliberately a second time.

It’s not long before he has found the most sensitive parts of your anatomy, along with the pattern of touch that best makes you arch your back and cry out. Alastor’s tongue moves back and forth, sweeping hot and wet and divine over you as you spread your knees as wide as they will go, your stomach tightening as you arch your back.

“Holy fuck.” Vox breaks your kiss to look impressed, one clawed hand kneading your chest. “Al, you’re gonna make her cum.”

Alastor doesn’t answer, a primal growl into your cunt, and you cannot answer, the only noise in your throat a mewl of helpless pleasure as Alastor, a man who has spent decades in Hell inflicting pain on souls attacks your nerve endings with a furious precision. You’re going to cum, and you don’t have a choice about it, not with his grip steely on your hips. You want to beg, but your lips can’t even form words as Alastor’s tongue robs you of sense, of language, of decorum, each movement of his mouth sending you hurtling towards the edge. Vox’s hands on you are marginalia to the treatise on pleasure that Alastor’s mouth writes.

It occurs to you, as your orgasm hits, crashing over you and shattering you into pieces, that Alastor might have ruined sex with other men for you. Alastor carries on, tongue pressing into too sensitive flesh through your aftershocks, even as you whine and try to twist away, until Vox touches his shoulder and stops him.

“She’s done, Al,” says Vox, his claws gentle in your hair, and you whimper against the warmth of his chest as Alastor releases you. “Hey, babydoll,” murmurs Vox, the proximity of his screen making the hair on the top of your head stand on end. “You good?”

“Y-yeah.” You swallow, language returning to you in bits and pieces, and look at Alastor, who kneels between your legs still, his face glistening with your juices. His eyes are uncertain, and you reach out to him, catching his thin wrists and pulling him to you.

“You’re good at that,” you say, looking up at Alastor as you lie sandwiched between the two of them, Vox’s strong arms around your waist, Vox’s cock pressing into your lower back.

Alastor kisses you, tasting of you, and pulls back, looking pleased with himself. “It’s a lot like torture,” he says, eyes half lidded. “All I need to do is listen to your screams.”

“God fuckin’ damn it, Al,” grouses Vox. “It’s always the horror show stuff with you.”

“God forbid a man have hobbies,” Alastor’s head tilts, but there’s no venom to his reprise. “And for your information,” he adds, a glance at you. “It’s not always torture. I also enjoy dancing.”

You laugh into your hands, the afterglow of your orgasm filling you with a pleasant kind of warmth, and Alastor steals another kiss, grinning all the while.

“What now?”

“Now?” Vox grins, dangerous. “Now it’s your turn, Al.”

Alastor’s smile becomes fixed. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Vox’s smile grows wider, and he disentangles himself from you, a crackling kiss to the side of your head. “C’mere.”

Alastor gives an undignified squeak as Vox leaps and tackles him into the bedsheets, dexterous claws on the buttons of his shirt and his fly.

“Impudent! I can undress mysel- mm!” Alastor is silenced as Vox catches his chin and kisses him, open mouthed, long blue tongue lapping your juices from Alastor’s chin, and you watch as Alastor melts for the Television Demon, his shoulders going slack, his shadow splaying itself across the pillows. Alastor’s shirt comes off without complaint, and you crawl over to touch him, your hands on his narrow chest, his shoulders, his arms, as Vox undresses him the rest of the way. Alastor’s heart is beating fast; you can feel it through your hand on his sternum, like a butterfly’s wings beating futile against a glass windowpane, but it slows as Vox kisses his back, and Alastor places a clawed hand over yours. “I suppose you both mean to fuck me,” he says, a little sulkily.

“You tryna say you don’t want that, Al?” Vox’s teeth glow as he grins. “You don’t want me to fuck you as the lovely girl here sucks you off?”

Alastor’s smile purses, but he can’t bring himself to say no, not with you staring up at him prettily and Vox growling sweet nothings into his neck.

His cock stands at attention, the tip red and angry, and you take him in your palms before you get on all fours and take him in your mouth, feeling the quiver that runs through his stomach as your mouth envelops him.

“F-fuck,” Alastor hisses, filter failing, his hand in your hair as Vox’s talons circle his narrow waist. He’s sensitive- you can tell that much from your first few sucks, his precum salty and organic tasting, each movement of your tongue drawing soft noises from his throat. Part of that might be Vox working him open, your position in the bed lowering fractionally as Vox pushes Alastor’s knees apart.

“See, you want it, don’t you Al? Gettin’ completely fucked.” You feel Alastor’s talons tighten in your hair as Vox pushes into him, Alastor’s cock twitching against the back of your mouth, and you breathe through your nose, enjoying the feeling of Alastor coming undone.

“Vox!” Alastor’s voice is tight, high in his register, and Vox slows, stroking him and easing him through sensation, the two demons’ hips moving in tandem as Alastor ruts into your mouth, a strangled noise in his throat.

“Say you like it, say we fuck you good,” Vox growls soft, but the only things coming from Alastor’s mouth are obscenities, his senses overwhelmed by the two of you working together.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Alastor’s chest heaves, his eyes screwed shut, his lip bleeding where he has bitten it, his cock hitting the back of your throat with every roll of his hips, a lewd little whimper escaping his lips with the apex of each of Vox’s thrusts.

“There you are,” Vox breathes, seeming to sense Alastor’s imminent climax before Alastor himself. You feel Alastor’s cock swell in your mouth, his grip tightening. “We got you, Al. Let go.”

“Don’t -ngh- tell me what to do,” says Alastor, emptying his load into your mouth, hot and salty. He gasps, and you swallow it down. “Shit.”

“Oh, you’re so good, Al. So fuckin’ good.” Vox’s voice is a groan as he presses his face crackling into Alastor’s hair and starts to fuck him in earnest.

You move your face from Alastor’s cock, and it would be the easiest thing in the world to lay back on the pillows with Alastor’s microphone and watch the show, but instead Alastor grabs your wrists and pins you under him as Vox pushes him to all fours, and Alastor kisses you, unreserved and passionate. He tastes of you, and you of him, small whimpers still escaping him as Vox fucks him. Your fingers are in his hair, over his ears, over his antlers, his thin back, and he holds you to his chest, lips locked with yours as Vox finishes inside him, the three of you shivering with it, the room still in the aftermath.

“Ngh.” Vox’s screen shows a test card for a good twenty seconds. “Fuck.”

“Yes,” Alastor agrees, a slow exhalation as Vox withdraws from him.

The three of you are side by side in the bed for a moment as Vox drops to the sheets. Vox’s breathing is labored, Alastor’s more controlled, and neither of them speak.

Alastor rolls onto his back, turning to Vox. “You’d best wash up.”

“What?” Vox narrows his eyes. “Why?”

“It’s rude,” says Alastor, with a coy smile. “To keep a lady waiting.”

“Oh.” Vox stares at you as if he’s just remembered you are there, face coloring. “Oh. Shit. Yeah. Keep her warm for me, Al.”

Alastor takes his staff back in one hand, and pulls you to him with the other, your head nestled nicely against his bony shoulder as you watch Vox disappear into the bathroom, water running. It feels as if you could both drift off like this, comfortable and satiated, and you almost do, until Alastor’s fingers start tracing a slow line from your knee to your thigh, and your eyes flicker open.

“He’ll be pissy if he finds us asleep,” says Alastor, his tone amused. “So, unless you want to see him blow a fuse-”

You swallow as you feel him part your labia with his fingers, careful with his claws as he drags the pads of his fingers through the slickness that seeps from you. “Is this really the best way to stay awake?”

“Probably not,” admits Alastor. “But it is one of the more entertaining ones, don’t you agree?”

“Very,” you agree, your breath hitching as Alastor’s finger graces the base of your clitoris, drawing a small circle, pressing your flesh against the bone of your pelvis with his fingertips. “I am very entertained right now.”

“A performer is nothing without his audience,” quips Alastor, but his smile seems genuine. You’re wondering how he’s going to manage his claws if he fingers you when he extrudes a long black tentacle from his back. “Open wide now.”

Your legs spread, Alastor strokes your knee, the back of your calf, the arch of your foot, and his tentacle slithers, wrapping fully around the meat of your thigh before its tip teases at your cunt.

He doesn’t penetrate you right away, which is a good thing; ready and willing as you are the tentacle is girthy. Instead, Alastor teases with it, his smile relaxed and his ears pricked as he listens to your breathing, your sighs. Your words, when you are able to use them.

“There, there, just there,” you tell him, and your reward is a squeeze of his hand on your ankle, his breathy voice in your ear, telling you what a good audience you are tonight, how supportive, how participatory. The tentacle moves in tandem with his hand, the tip twirling at your entrance as he strokes the folds of your cunt, dragging slick from your hole up over your clit, coaxing it from its hood, his touch so light that it makes you hold your breath, and then firm, a pressure that has you gasping, moaning so loudly that he holds his microphone to your lips and asks you to repeat yourself.

When Alastor’s tentacle pushes its way into you, you are ready, more than ready, speechless at the girth of it and giving heady little gasps as you feel yourself stretch around him.

“You’d better not reach the climax before Vox gets back,” says Alastor, a soft murmur in your ear as you whimper, senseless against his chest. “He really will blow a fuse if you do that.” He’s enjoying himself, you realize. He’s playing with you, his smile relaxed as he manipulates your body to his liking.

But you are already mounting the summit, your body helpless in Alastor’s clutches. He barely needs to use his fingers, not with the tentacle pressed into you, an obscene squelching noise as he curves it in and out of you; Alastor simply holds his fingertips over the tip of your clit and lets the motion of the tentacle do the rest of the work, each brush of contact with the exposed nub of flesh like a lick of flame across your nerves that makes you cry out, over and over, until your throat is hoarse with it.

You cum as Vox returns, a spasm through your body, your cunt fluttering around Alastor’s tentacle, and the Radio Demon grins at Vox.

If Vox’s eyes weren’t just images displayed on his screen, they would be bulging right now. He stares. Alastor grins at him.

“Al.” Vox’s lips are an annoyed line as he watches Alastor pull his tentacle out of you, your cunt fluttering around nothing. “How the fuck am I meant to compete with that monster?” His cock is well proportioned to his frame, but it’s nothing compared to the tentacle. You look between the two demons, hoping they’re not going to fight.

Alastor’s grin widens. “You’re a resourceful man, Vox. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

Vox shakes his head as he climbs back on the bed. “You’ve always gotta fuckin’ upstage me, huh.”

“That’s why you like me so much,” says Alastor. “Isn’t it?”

“Ah, fuck you, Al,” says Vox, all bark, and Alastor beams at him.

Alastor pulls you on top of him, your back to him, and hooks his chin over the top of your head, so that you both face Vox when he climbs atop you, on his hands and knees.

Vox kisses you, softly, hand cupping your face, and you feel Alastor’s sound of approval through your back, the low hum of an electrical appliance.

“You ready, babydoll?” Vox asks, and when you nod, he pushes into you.

You feel him. Your orgasm has made you tender, Alastor’s tentacle has made you tender and you feel every inch of Vox as if your cunt were just made yesterday, shipped direct from the factory.

“Oh fuck, that’s nice babydoll.” Fragments of test card float on Vox’s screen as he pauses, in you to the hilt. “You feel fuckin’ nice. Fuckin’ soft, god.”

You feel Alastor huff into your hair with amusement, and he reaches for your legs, pulling up your thighs and then your knees, pulling your legs flush with your chest; a mating press for you and Vox.

Vox grins, his hands joining Alastor’s on the underside of your knees, and he fucks you in earnest.

That his cock is smaller than Alastor’s tentacle doesn’t matter one bit, not when you’re pressed like this, his cock able to reach the deepest parts of your tender cunt with ease. He fucks you, and you cry out; not the mewling whimper you had before but a full throated cry that escapes you at the apex of each thrust, your throat already sore, your voice cracking, but crying out regardless.

Vox’s monologue is all sweet, sweary nothings- you’re doing so good babydoll, so wet for me, so soft, so good, so fuckin’ good and Alastor’s commentary is drier- do you think you’ll be able to walk again after this? Now that’s a scream worthy of my studio, all the while you are crying out, tears in your eyes, a pressure in your abdomen, Vox hammering into the most sensitive parts of you, over and over and oh.

Your cunt flutters again, Vox growling a good girl before his seed floods into you in hot, pulsing waves.

You lie there, boneless, seeing stars, the three of you breathing hard. Vox drops his face onto your chest, and you stroke his hot vents, as you’ve seen Alastor do. Alastor lets go of your legs, a kiss to the top of your head.

“Fuck,” murmurs Vox.

“Seconded,” you croak.

“Mm,” buzzes Alastor. “Quite.”

Vox rolls off you, and you roll off Alastor, the three of you side by side on the bed, points of contact between you; your leg crossing Alastor’s thigh, Vox’s arm across your stomach.

It is a long, hazy moment before Vox sits up, digging through the dresser on the Vox side of the bed, and pulls out a pack of cigarettes.

“In the apartment?” Alastor complains, sleepy.

“It’s a fuckin’ special occasion, Al,” says Vox, leaning over you to place a cigarette between Alastor’s smiling lips. Alastor takes it, and Vox lights it, before offering the box to you. “You smoke?” he asks.

If you didn’t already, it was a hell of a time to start.

[avelera]

I have seen some discourse going around about how Mel never manipulated jayce. Do you agree? And what are your views considering mel?

I say this because I think that she did kind of manipulate jayce in the beginning but genuinely ended up falling for him in the end. I mean she had to genuinely care and love him if she ended up subconsciously saving him with magic.

I think that a lot of people from what I have seen were pissed at season 2 ep8 when jayce got into the argument with Mel but I thought it was quite understandable that he reacted the way he did especially after what he went through. That being said I still felt bad for mel because she literally lost everything and was ready to open up to him.

Sorry for the ramble

I think a lot of the Mel/Jayce discourse is being done in bad faith right now, mostly by people who are anti-Jayce/Viktor rather than pro Mel/Jayce for whatever reason. I would point out, that canonically Mel and Jayce are not together at the end of the show and they also canonically (in my opinion) break up. So it's fine if you just really like the ship or wish things had gone differently, but it should be acknowledged that any Mel/Jayce fic outside the brief time they're together in the show is as much an AU as any Jayvik fic where they got together earlier.

As for the manipulation, I mean yeah, it canonically happened. There shouldn't be a debate. Jayce calls her out on in it 2.08 and Mel doesn't deny it, she just gives her reasons for why she manipulated him. Ostensibly it was to help him and Hextech too but she absolutely used sex as a tool of persuasion with deliberate intent to use it for those ends, she absolutely flirted with Jayce to ingratiate herself to him, she absolutely called him an investment (though there is a slight plothole on how he knows that, it was never said in his hearing), and even if she poses it to herself as helping him she also used those persuasive power to nudge him towards Hextech weapons which he categorically did not want to make, so her own ends superseded his benefit or preference in canonical instances.

For those who deny manipulation took place, go back and watch the opera house scene in S1. She plays him like a fiddle. Indeed, the expert violinist on stage (playing an actual Stradivarius irl, btw) is symbolically depicted as Mel's counterpart, showing how expertly she is manipulating the situation, and Jayce.

Now, I think you can chart how much Mel was with Jayce for her own ends vs. affection for him by her support for Hextech weaponry. When she's pushing for it, she's using him for her own House's goals. When she drops Hextech weapons as an issue and instead supports Jayce's vision for it (in S2) that's when she's acting out of affection for him. It's tragic that her affection for him grows while his declines so sharply as a result of his ordeal and finally realizing the early manipulations (kinda like that trope where someone dates another person for a bet, then falls for them, and then the other person learns about the bet and breaks up with them, only this one without a happy reunion after).

Their relationship is tragic. It's a tragedy. And it ends tragically with them apart and us left wondering if they could have made it together under other circumstances. "What could have been?" is an overarching theme in Arcane, and it is our own choices, our own ambition and greed that get in the way of getting what we need instead of what we want. Every single character is built around these principles, with the happy endings being those who get what they need instead of what they want, and the tragic ones (like Mel) getting what they want (power, to be an official Medarda as she says in her first scene) and not what she needs, which is anyone around her to share it with. You can feel the loss but you have to also acknowledge how she ended up there and why she narratively can't earn Jayce's love after what she did at the start of the relationship.

[felassan]

GamesRadar: "It felt like we needed to do something": How Varric Tethras went from nearly being left out of Dragon Age: The Veilguard to becoming a foundational character

Interview | Exploring the role of Varric Tethras in Dragon Age: The Veilguard with BioWare's creative director, John Epler

Excerpts under cut due to spoilers.

John Epler: "Varric is such a fan favorite, and has been part of Dragon Age since Dragon Age 2 – it felt like we needed to do something. At the end of the game, it's very clear that a chapter of Dragon Age is being closed, even as a new one is being started, and having Varric involved in the ending and that final beat in the way that he was felt right to us."

""While it may have "felt right" for Varric to be in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and factor into its ending in this way, says Epler, it took some time for the team to come to that conclusion. With such a long development cycle, the loveable dwarf wasn't even part of the story at one stage. "It's interesting, because in some of our earliest versions of what we wanted to do for Dragon Age 4, Varric was not actually involved. Varric was doing his own thing as the Viscount of Kirkwall," Epler says. "But I think especially as we got to the version of Dragon Age: The Veilguard that shipped, it felt very strange to have a story about Solas not also include Varric. For us, having them [Solas and Varric] exist in contrast throughout the story - obviously, with Varric being something existing entirely in Rook's mind - provides different ways of looking at the core theme, which is regret." As Epler explains, Varric is "not someone who does a good job of confronting his regret", whether that be in Inquisition when it comes to his love interest and crossbow namesake, Bianca, or with his brother in DA2. Rook, on the other hand, is forced to confront them, while Solas's regrets "drive everything he does." He's a character that "refuses to be happy, refuses to feel joy, because he feels it'd be a betrayal of his people, of what he's done". But as Epler adds, having Varric "be the kind of linchpin" around which all the regrets hinge "felt powerful". Varric may not be good at confronting his own regrets, but his death and role eventually pushes Rook to face theirs, and in turn, you can try to help Solas get past his own if you so choose.""

"Without a mark on your hand like the Inquisitor in Dragon Age: Inquisition, or an army you can bring together like the Grey Warden in Dragon Age: Origins, Rook is "just a person with a team", as Epler puts it, so you have to make sure that they're as ready as possible to face what's to come. [...] Epler says Varric felt like a natural character to juxtapose Solas. Acting kind of like "the angel and the devil on your shoulder", Solas - while not actually a devil - is the one who's more focused on the mission and goal of stopping the gods, while Varric constantly reminds you that your team matters and you need to take care of them first and foremost. The decision to kill Varric early on was partly fueled by a worry that people would find Solas "a little too sympathetic in his goals". From past experience, Epler says the team saw a lot of that with The Trespasser DLC, where many really wanted to help Solas and believed he was right. But he is going to end the world, after all, and once you realize the twist about Tethras' true fate, Varric serves to demonstrate that "Solas will sacrifice almost anyone or anything in pursuit of what he sees as the greater good." But even if he is willing to go to extreme lengths, Solas does still regret what happens to his old friend. In fact, Epler explains that he even finds it comforting to think that Varric is still out there in some form. "Varric's a complex character," says Epler. "He runs away from his problems, he likes to shade the truth, even to the people that he's working with. The Varric that you see, the Varric that Rook experiences, [are] the best parts of Varric that Rook remembers. It's just this mentor figure that's always there for them. And I think even Solas finds some comfort in knowing that there's still a piece of him out there, even though he knows that it's manipulation, it's not the real Varric."

""DA2 starts with a character death about 45 minutes in, when your siblings dies. And the feedback we got, which was very fair feedback is, 'okay, but I don't care, because I've known this person for like, 45 minutes'. So having Varric die at the beginning, originally that was it. He was going to die, and it was going to be this big, shocking moment," Epler says. "But part of the problem with making a game 10 years after the last one, and needing to make it so existing players – but also new players – can get in and feel a lot of the same things, is you can't bank on two games worth of built up memories, built up attachment, to make the death land. For a lot of players it would have been like, 'okay, but I've only known this guy for 45 minutes. So why do we care?'" In order to still have the death at the beginning of the game, the team eventually landed on the idea of his not-so-real presence in the Lighthouse in order to give players more time with Varric. "And that's the beauty of game development," Epler adds, "something that you start off with as a way to solve a problem actually becomes so core to the identity game.""

"Varric Tethras was originally brought to life by Mary Kirby, a veteran developer who has worked on the Dragon Age series for many years at BioWare. Sadly, she was part of the layoffs last year, but as Epler fondly highlights, Kirby wrote the vast majority of the conversations you have with Varric. "She was one of the first people we told 'Hey, so we're talking about killing Varric, you're okay with this, right?' Because at that time, she wasn't even on the project," Epler says. "But Mary was fantastic to work with, she and I worked [together in the past]. I was Varric's cinematic designer for Inquisition and for DA2. There are a couple of things that came up towards the end of the project that I had an opportunity to write. And it was lovely to remind myself how Mary had always written Varric, and how that character came together.""

[source]

[thedinanshiral]

Bellanaris.

After witnessing Solas' regrets through his murals in The Veilguard many wondered, what exactly was his relationship with Mythal?

Even the Veilguard members had questions and discussed about it.

Spoilers for everything. Goes with this one too, if you want more of Solas analysis from me.

He followed her without question -or reserving the ones he had- and maybe reconsidered that love in their friendship when her crimes with the evanuris outweighed what Solas could stand, when he asked her to run away with him and she declined, and by the time she listened and tried to stop the others it was sadly too late. When Solas started his rebellion he was already carving his own path away from her, but their love was still present and it was because of that love that he warned her, and that she finally decided to listen. She may have been his dearest friend and he did everything for her. When he writes to Ghilan'nain and says "you would not be the first to sacrifice your morals for love" he was talking about himself, he was referencing his personal experience because that's what he did with Mythal.

I'll be blunt, i don't think they were romantically entagled. It's been mentioned in past games that the ancient elvhen related with each other on different levels that present Thedosians may struggle to comprehend. Now knowing they were originally spirits helps understanding things a bit better; spirits are beings of raw, intense emotions, whatever they feel they do so on a much higher degree, and whatever words they used to communicate it once translated fail to convey their real, full meaning.

I think Solas and Mythal were friends, but friendship for them was felt much strongly. There was love between them but not in the sense we'd imagine it now.

They were not equals, there was an imbalance neither were truly aware of until Solas rebelled and maybe then he started understanding their differences and from there his feelings for her changed, as he changed, his purpose twisted from Wisdom meant to guide in times of war, into a rebel leader fighting in what were supposed to be times of peace. He went from being a friend to becoming the enemy.

The romance with the Inquisitor may have been a last minute addition to the game (I have my doubts, it's too perfect and fits too well with everything to have been improvised) but it makes perfect sense only a female elf Inquisitor can sway him like that..because it's reminiscent of his relationship with Mythal, that past bond coming back to haunt him except this time the roles are a bit reversed: he's the powerful god, she's the simple mortal. But Lavellan is far from being a simple creature and she reminds Solas of all he ever loved and cared about and changes a terrible broken world into something that can be fixed, She turns his despair into hope, the fact she came out in such a way from the same world he broke tells him something may still be saved..

In both instances Solas finds himself in the service of a powerful elven woman in a position of leadership trying to save the world. But with Lavellan there's no protocols, there's no real hierarchy, with Lavellan they're more like equals, they're partners. There's no master and servant, there's people on equal standing fighting together for a common goal.

Lavellan becomes Solas' partner in a way Mythal could not and would never be able to.

Mythal was possibly Solas' first relationship, whatever label you'd like to apply there, a loyal friendship sustained mainly on his one-sided devotion to her that he eventually grew out of. While Lavellan is real, realized love, a relationship that may have started out of necessity, finding mutual respect that turned it into friendship, later developing further into something both wanted and neither could ignore. There's no one-sidedness with Lavellan, there's only mutual desire, this love unlike the past one is overwhelming, requited and wanted. Lavellan makes the first move, she's the one that isn't running away and in fact, in Trespasser and later finally in Veilguard, she shows him she's the one willing to run away with him. She's the one willing to do for him the sacrifices he once made for Mythal, even when she doesn't have to, when there's no ancient bond, mandate or obligation of any kind. Lavellan is willing to be with him out of her own free will and for the love she holds for him.

For roleplaying and replayability it would have been great if Solas could have been romanceable by more Inquisitors, but by his nature and personal history it makes absolute perfect sense that only a female elf could. Now we know he was a spirit and spirits are at their core very simple and fixed creatures, interestingly ironic considering they come from a realm where nothing is fixed. Solas isn't just stuck in his ways, he's a spirit! There's a limit to what he can understand and experience, even if he's a spirit of wisdom and is very knowledgeable, his nature is still limited (as we all are), his focus is singular, and a female elf Inquisitor fits right into that singular focus of his. Making other races romanceable for him would have broken that and it would have taken away from the Thedas pattern and his personal pattern as well.

He left the fade to enter the physical world because an elvhen woman he loved asked him to, and he followed her loyal to a fault until he had to break away from her when she chose an abusive status quo over his desperate cry for freedom and justice.

He destroys the world as a result in a desperate attempt to save it, and wakes up thousands of years later to find one person who shows him something of all he loved lives on and in doing so gives him purpose. Spirits need and crave purpose and Lavellan gives him just that.

He falls in love, something he could have never foreseen, an event completely out of all his calculations, but the pattern is shifting, there's no longer an evident imbalance, he's treated as an equal, even when she learns who he is she still talks to him like he's just the man she loves.

And on his lowest point when he's about to repeat a past mistake and destroy a world trying to save it, he returns to the Fade accompanied by the elvhen woman that loved him back with a devotion he was never shown before. Some may argue they're not equals, because he's Fen'Harel and she's a mortal elf he lied to for the better part of a year, that they're not equals because he always kept that secret from her and maybe took advantage of her affection to get what he wanted. But they are equals in the end in the sense that they feel the same way, and are capable of the same sacrifices for each other, and their respect is mutual in equal measure.

Solas may have been mistaken, but had their circumstances been different you know he would have stayed with her, as he wanted to. Most of his dinan'shiral is fueled by monumental guilt, regret, shame and a hurt sense of duty and that's what prevented him from giving in to his feelings for Lavellan, just as he understood Lavellan wouldn't abandon the Inquisition for him, and wouldn't just let him burn the world without opposition. Because Lavellan also has duties she's devoted too as much as she's devoted to him. They're an unstoppable force and unmovable object clashing against their will and if it weren't for the people around them you know a Lavellan that is on equal standing with Solas would have confronted him, maybe neither would have succeeded, maybe they would have died in each other's arms if it came to it.

But fortunately it didn't have to end that way, and yes, I'm sure Solas knows too well he doesn't deserve her (because she's too good), that she doesn't deserve him (because he's such a mess), but Lavellan has always been there to prove him wrong and he welcomes that with a smile.

I headcanon my Gallia Lavellan would be a spirit of Devotion. Wisdom and Devotion make an odd pair, but she's Devotion all around, mostly for him, their love that endured everything, but she's also devoted to the truth, to their causes, to the people, to Thedas, she's devoted to doing the right thing and to doing it as best as possible; she's devoted to continue learning about the world, protecting those she love, and those who have no one to look after them.

She does all that by following him into the Fade, by becoming the fixed point in his life, his North, his Anchor, to remind him what should be done, not only what must be done, to remind him of what truly matters. She doesn't simply follow him into the Fade out of love for him but out of love for the world, which is another thing they have in common.

Lavellan is truly his match, and Solas is aware of it in a way that makes him more ashamed for everything he's done and feel more undeserving of what is yet to come for him by her side.

I don't think Wisdom turned to Pride, I think Wisdom became Pragmatism in the wars, later turned to Regret for most of his life and through Devotion's love and perseverance he returned to Wisdom with a renewed love for life. Maybe he's become Love now, love for her, love for the world he's protecting, love for his people, and for all that love he decided to sacrifice himself, his own freedom, to spend in eternity with his one true love.

And for once in his very long and troubled life i think this time he made a choice he does not regret.

[in--somnium]

Pogue was trying to keep up a relaxed vibe. His voice was doing a good job of exactly that- no tell tale signs of distress or discomfort. Keeping his posture doing the same was much harder. He felt tense, his muscles rigid as if afraid. His parents were good people, overall. He shouldn't be so worried about talking about them. But he also knew that there were things about them that were… less great. Like the way his father hit him when he was pissed off. Or the times he'd called his son a "fag" for even the smallest things. Keeping his hair long had been his one, major, defiance and while his father threatened to cut it off in his sleep, his mother stood by him on it ("It's the trend now. Besides, his hair frames his face nicely." His mother had said. Only for his father to reply with a rant about emasculation and "effeminate" men like the way other people chose to live their lives was a blight on his otherwise perfect little world). 

But they didn't need to know any of that. Even Jayn didn't need to know any of that. It was just how his parents were. He could live with it. He had for this long, after all.

"It was nice talking to the both of you, too," Pogue replied politely. He had a feeling the conversation had gone well. That was good- he wanted them to like him.

Soon, the goodbyes were said and he felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. He'd survived it and he'd only had to give the most basic of information about his parents. Good.

Pogue chuckled when Jayn pressed her face to his stomach and screamed. She must have been holding that in for a while. "Your parents sound great. I'd love to get to meet them some day," He said honestly. A real conversation, maybe dinner. The only thing that worried him was, again, the topic of his family. But he was particularly good at steering conversation away from himself by now. It was always easier to do in person, too.

Though Jayn seemed to have realized something was wrong because, while Pogue had thought the worst of it was over, his girlfriend asked a question that hit him so hard he felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.

Again, he tensed up a bit, though he tried to let it slip from him quick enough that hopefully she wouldn't notice.

"It's nothing, baby," He assured her, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "They're just boring and my dad works a lot." Both of which were true, but neither of which were the truth she was seeking.

Luckily for Pogue, before anything more could be asked of him, Tyler and Aaron were coming their way. Haunted House over. Judging by the laughter and their need to catch their breath, either they'd had fun or they'd snuck off and had sex. He assumed the prior was correct, though the latter was far more amusing.

The last leg of the haunted house had included portraits with moving eyes and, eventually, “ghosts” (holographic projections of some sort) that had swooped down at them, cackling and disorienting against the dark backdrop of the room. The Devil himself had appeared in the final moments to welcome them into the hellish “fires” (accompanied by an uncomfortable heat) that danced against the wall, a gaping door into the unknown and then… they were free. Tyler thought it fitting considering how much of a hell the actual world could be anyway, but he wasn’t here to try to analyze a haunted house on Halloween. He was just glad he was back in the light. Or, as much light as there was considering the evening had started to settle in.

"Welcome back to the world of the living. We could hear your screaming all the way out here, ya big babies," Pogue teased good naturedly, and Tyler reached out to playfully punch him in the shoulder. 

"It was pretty great," Ty answered. He wrapped an arm around Aaron and leaned into his boyfriend a bit. "Not as good as the one Junior year of high school, though. I swear I almost pissed myself when that guy lunged out at us that year. Remember that? If he'd been any closer, I think Reid would have actually punched him," He recalled, laughing at the memory. 

Gore didn't bother Cassia much. Neither did the scarier parts of the haunted house- people jumping out at them or grabbing for them. Low lights. Cracks of thunder. Loud noises. Cass was able to keep a level head about it all, remember it was all in good fun, nothing to actually be scared of. Each scream or shout of fear from her was quickly replaced with a small bout of laughter at her own reactions. She was having fun, without a doubt. And by the time they reached the narrow hallway, she was overcome with a sense of thrill that led her to be prepared to take the lead even before Caleb had offered it to her.

The dim lighting and the adrenaline had both been doing a good job of keeping her mind occupied enough that she hadn't yet noticed just how anxious Caleb was. It wasn't until he spoke that she caught on to that edge in his voice, that slight breathlessness.

She wasn’t sure what was wrong, but he was clearly feeling uneasy. Had something scared him? Well, it was a haunted house and the point was to be scared of course, but… had something actually, truly, unnerved him?

She wanted to ask, to make sure he was okay, but she also didn't want to question it or say anything that might make him more uncomfortable. Clearly he was trying to keep his discomfort hidden. So she kept the realization to herself for now and, instead, made a mental note to keep the lead so she could assure he wasn't getting the brunt of whatever was to come.

She also may have… used the smallest bit of her powers on him in the moment before they slipped through the narrow passage. She kissed his cheek and used the moment to offer him a bit of silent reassurance with her powers to soothe his anxieties. Not enough that he'd suddenly feel fine, but hopefully enough to take the edge off. Her father had, for a long time, told her that it wasn't okay to manipulate emotions with her powers- just because she could didn't mean she should. But small things like this couldn't cause any harm, right? And the contact of her lips to his skin was the perfect catalyst for it. Usually she was subtle enough that people didn’t even question why they suddenly felt just a bit less unsteady. She assumed it would be the same with Caleb. After all, emotions come and go. They settle down or rise back up. It wouldn’t be a far stretch to think that the little kiss of reassurance that she’d given him was enough to put him a bit more at ease.

Or… so she hoped.

Hoping that he felt just a bit better now, she took the lead as he’d suggested. Careful footsteps, glancing back from time to time to try to see him despite the knowledge that it was too dark to catch a glimpse at him. And then she stepped out into more dim lighting, an eerie, moonlit glow settled over the “greenhouse” they were now in.

It took Cassia only a few seconds to realize what was going on in this room- Zombies.

Of course the realization came when the dead body on the ground suddenly grabbed for her ankle and she screamed, reeled back, and bumped right into Caleb. Zombies didn’t freak her out, actually, but that guy had been made to look like he was literally cut in half! She hadn’t expected him to suddenly come alive! That had actually, sincerely, scared the hell out of her. Even so, she found that small bit of laughter bubbling up again, especially now that she had her back pressed to Caleb and could feel the warmth and safety of him right there against her.

“C’mon! This way!” She told him, pointing towards the obvious exit on the other side of the room. It took them a minute to maneuver past the zombified actors, growling and snarling and making their way in a slow, ominous, gait towards them. But they finally made it, Caleb’s hand securely back in her own, and they passed into the next room.

An art gallery.

Admittedly, Cassia was super impressed. The paintings and sculptures were really well done. The art department for this haunted house had really gone all out! She wished she could have taken pictures to show to Jayn- she thought the other girl would have appreciated how lovely these works were, even if they were meant to look sort of faded and cobwebbed and… was the guy in that painting looking directly at her? And, oh shit! Did that statue just move?!

A (fake) sword was brought down close to Caleb and Cassia was quick to tug him out of the way (even though, realistically, the actor was going to miss on purpose, anyway). Then the ghosts began to flicker out of the artwork, swooping at them as they moaned or cackled or even screamed.

How freaking cool was that?! She’d been to her share of haunted houses, but the effects they were using in this one were killer!

Finally, they slipped from the art gallery into a dark room with a warm, reddish, glow and an exit that looked like you were walking straight through fire. The Devil greeted them and Cass stopped walking entirely. She had a feeling this was the end of the haunted house, the scariest parts done but a final message, of sorts, being offered. The “Devil”’s fully black eyes and that pointy-toothed grin were, quite honestly, unsettling. Something about it didn’t sit right with her, but she couldn’t explain it. She tucked herself against Caleb’s side and, gently coaxing him in a wide berth around the actor, then they walked through the “flames” into a dark void that, soon, led them right outside.

She blinked against the brighter light of being back outdoors, and felt that discomfort of the last few moments finally dissipate. She looked to Caleb, smiled wide, then finally leaned up to steal a kiss. “We’re definitely doing that again next year!” The unintentional implication that they’d still be together this time next year. They hadn’t been together for long yet, but, even so, she really did hope that they’d still be together next year. Maybe longer, even. But she didn’t have time to find a way to take it back or apologize or anything before she heard a shout of Caleb’s name.

“Caleb! Cass! Over here!” She looked towards the voice and caught Pogue waving them over with a big smile on his face.

“We shouldn’t keep them waiting,” She said, then, just because she still felt a bit buzzed from the adrenaline, she kissed Caleb once more before leading him towards the others.

Now it was just a matter of waiting for Reid to show up before they could move on.

So far, so good. Jayn was, for the moment, a nervous wreck. She was listening to Pogue, obviously, but she was also weighing each sentence against what she knew her parents were each thinking. As his girlfriend, she hoped to all the gods who were out there that her parents were fine with his reply. As his friend, she was curious to see what he said, just because he hadn't really talked about his parents around her before. She doubted that they were racist because he'd dated Kate for as long as he had...but that was all she knew.

Okay...a stay-at-home mom who liked interior design, and a dad who owned a profitable construction company...that didn't sound bad. Jayn didn't think her parents would have a problem with any of that. Then why was she getting weird vibes? She racked her brain, wondering what terrible secrets his parents could be hiding. Obviously, there was the witch thing, but that wasn't really "bad"--plus, she and her parents already knew about that. Jayn wondered and wondered until she was nudged out of her thoughts by the little kiss Pogue sat on top of her head. It was basically a reflex, the way she leaned into it and then into his side.

"Well, it sounds like they both like what they do. That's important, especially when you get to our age," Jayn's mom said, and the smile she had was perfectly audible. Her kid breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "Alright, I know my daughter's probably wondering when we'll let you go since she loves Halloween so much...it was nice to talk to you, Pogue."

"Use a webcam next time! I want to see who my little girl's running around with," Mr. Hardy added, though he was clearly in a good mood, too. Jayn was unamused. "Alright, goodnight."

"Night, Dad. Night, Mom. Love you." And then the call was finally over. Jayn put her phone away, pressed her face into her boyfriend's stomach, and let out a weak scream, ever the dramatic. "...thanks for...not thinking they're weird," she muttered, looking up at him. She sort of wanted to ask when she was going to meet his parents, but she worried if it was too soon. There was a difference between him talking to her parents for a few minutes, and her going over to have dinner with the Parrys. And what if his parents didn't like her for some reason? How much did they even know about--

That was how she figured out why the topic of his parents seemed strange. She knew that Reid's mom doted on his two younger sisters, who annoyed him even though he was always making himself available for rom-coms and dating advice. She knew that Ty's family was Jewish and that his dad was the cook while his mom was the baker. She knew a decent amount about Caleb's family because she lived with them. But she didn't know anything about Pogue's parents (besides their careers) because he never brought them up. Jayn bit her lip, worried.

"Pogue? What aren't you telling me about them?" A tiny part of her brain whispered that they were serial killers. Hopefully, that was the dumb part.

Caleb was usually more into mysteries and historical fiction than anything else, especially when the two genres were combined (The Three Musketeers and anything involving Sherlock Holmes were his favorites). Books focusing on romance and intense worldbuilding didn't do it for him. But since he'd found out that his crush, his girlfriend, was the daughter of an urban fantasy author, he decided to try something different. He'd started reading Mr. Keller's novels a couple of weeks after the girls had met him and the others at Nicky's when the book club had been formed. He had only just finished the first book in the series, so he was in no shape to join Cassia, Jayn, Reid, and Ty's meetings...but that didn't mean he couldn't learn a little about the latest addition to the magical story. He was horribly curious that way, wanting to hear as much as he could until there were spoilers.

Thankfully, his curiosity was shushed and nudged to the side when the haunted house became his main focus. He followed Cassia's lead toward the next exit and...ugh. Gore didn't freak him out as much as it disgusted him (there was one of the two reasons why he'd chosen law over medicine). His eyes went straight from the macabre "corpses" that decorated the room, to the walls, so he could look for the exit. Just as he thought he spotted a way out, an actor lunged at him and Cassia, startling him so badly that his doubled portion of the Power reared its ugly head. If he'd been in a room with better lighting, his black sclera would've stood out and scared the shit out of Cass. Thankfully, he reigned in his magic before it could do anything more than make the dim lightbulbs flicker. He managed to tug his girlfriend in the right direction, through some fake cobwebs and past some thunder-and-lightning SFX that poked at his already-shaky skeleton.

Caleb was starting to feel lightheaded. The logical part of his brain, which was buried underneath the worries about that case study he had due in a week, told him that he should probably breathe, as opposed to...well, not breathing. He tried to catch his breath as quietly as possible, not wanting to upset Cassia. After all, she couldn't help him not have anxiety issues. She couldn't erase Chase from his mind any more than she could take the stress out of his brain cells. So he just clenched his jaw and kept going, like he always did, until he realized that the passageway was forcing them into a single-file line. Even if he'd been ten years younger, he wouldn't be able to keep Cass by his side as they moved on to the next room.

"After you," he managed, hoping that she didn't hear how shallowly he was breathing. He would've gone first, but he was busy trying to get himself together. They'd all been having so much fun with the games and conversations...Caleb hadn't even considered how much the haunted house would really affect him. He only ever felt as fragile as he did after he'd had a nightmare, or when his course load was getting to him because he forgot to take his medication.

It was amazing how something as simple as a kiss from his boyfriend could make Aaron feel tough. Then again, he'd stopped having problems with his confidence not long after he had come out. Whatever was going on inside him, Aaron was enjoying his Halloween date with Tyler...even if he kept squealing like a kid every time a fake zombie jumped out from the shadows. And when the actor grabbed his ankle, he let out more than just a squeal.

"SHIIIIT!" he screamed, literally jumping back into Tyler's arms. He blinked, realizing how close Tyler's face was to his, and snogged him properly before he looked for the next exit. "Over here!" He led the way through the creepy greenhouse, and out into some kind of ancient art gallery. There were the paintings you'd see in Scooby Doo, with the eyes that moved if you looked closely, and then there were worn-down statues going all down the hall. At least one was bound to be an actor in cracked grey makeup, so Aaron braced himself as he kept moving forward.

Reid was excited and had a little grin to prove it. Whoever was in charge of the haunted house did a great job, as far as he was concerned. He could see the story behind it all: zombies, or some kind of menacing creature, had rampaged through some rich family's house, and he was the nosy person who decided to check out the crime scene. Cool!

"Reid? Damn, is that you?" He paused, as did the "bloody" guy who was supposed to be scaring him. They looked each other over, then chuckled in recognition.

"Hey, Mar." Marley was Reid (and sometimes Tyler)'s very reliable weed guy, not to mention a former classmate with a penchant for collecting cool seashells and shiny rocks. "Didn't think I'd see you in here..."

"Yeah, well, it's a side gig. Pays kinda nice. Awesome costume, by the way. Wouldn't know it was you besides the blond hair." Reid grinned and bowed dramatically, which made his friend laugh a little. "Alright. Get goin' before I lose my job bein' nice to the customers." The mighty Mothman wished the guy a happy Halloween before he continued on his way. And of course, he was still losing candy as it trickled out of his bag.

[lostinforestbound]

Hi, like your writings a lot ❤️ may I ask for a request?

What about Rolan asking sorcerer/wizard Tav to be his teacher after Lorroakan death? Tav has never been bad for him, only saving his life and his siblings, giving advices and protection, so, why not? At least, it a good way to become closer OR Rolan quietly (or not quietly) pining for powerful Tav

Thank you so much for your patience! I think I'm finally back in the game! I actually have thought up this situation a lot (especially with my own Tav who's a Storm Sorcerer, maybe I'll introduce him sometime soon)! This was a lot of fun to explore! I'm also a sucker for pining tropes!

Rolan with Sorcerer!Tav Teaching Him Magic

When Rolan takes over the tower, he makes it his sole mission to master the weave. It's harder than it looks, but he's very determined.

There's some aspects he doesn't understand yet, though. Especially how those bloody sorcerers are able to manipulate existing spells and make them more powerful

When everything is over, the Netherbrain defeated, he begrudgingly asks Tav to him about "Metamagic".

Can he learn the aspects of Metamagic on his own? Of course he can! Not only is he a prodigy, he's now the master of Ramazith's tower. All the knowledge he has access to gives him the ultimate advantage.

But he wants to get closer to Tav. He's been pining for them so helplessly since the Shadow Cursed Lands. This is his one opportunity he can spend time with them without it seeming strange.

He also knows Tav is the one person that won't treat him like an idiot. They'll treat him as an equal, a fellow peer of the arcane arts. He'll be respected.

Tav seems happy to do so, teaching all they know about the basics of Metamagic, how they're able to use it, and how Rolan might be able to use it as well.

Rolan can't see it through his frustration, but Tav is so confident in his abilities. While this may take time, they truly believe Rolan can master Metamagic even without being a sorcerer, and pass their own abilities. They may be more advanced than he is, but Rolan is a quick learner.

Gods, sometimes Rolan is so damn distracted. Why must he get so flustered when Tav adjusts his form? Why are their hands so warm? Have they always been touchy? It's all in his head, certainly.

Writing Blurb

Sparks are flying in the palms of Rolan's hands, carefully trying to split the Witch Bolt into two. He never realized the amount of strain it takes to separate one central point of magic, and the amount of concentration it takes. Rolan knows a wizard isn't supposed to be able to do this, but he's also no ordinary wizard. He can do this if he just-

Tav observes him and his hands carefully, and his concentration falters when he realizes they're staring. Sweat beads on his brow as he tries to keep the spell together, but unfortunately, it fades into nothing after all the hard work.

"Damn it!" He practically shouts, shaking out his hands in frustration.

"You were a lot closer that time." Tav comments, about to put a hand on his shoulder, but he turns away before they can.

"We've been practicing this same thing for days. DAYS!" He exclaims, running his hands through his now sweat-damp hair, "Why can't I get this? I should be able to do this by now!"

He's hardly the impressive "master of the tower" he pretends to be. How could he be such a failure? In front of Tav, no less? He's no fool, Tav is a savior of Baldur's Gate, of course they're much more advanced than he is! They know spells he hasn't even been able to touch yet, but gods damn it all, he wants to impress them with something.

He needs to be worthy of their attention. Then maybe, he'll have a slimmer of a chance with them.

They place a hand on his back, jolting him out of his thoughts. "A master of the arcane can't cast properly under stress. We can take a break-"

"No, no, I can do this," He states, raising his hands to start again, "Let me-"

Tav gently grabs his hands, interrupting the spell in an instant. Oh, how he hates it when he feels his face flush; not from exertion, but from embarrassment. He helplessly imagined a situation where he got to hold their hands, but it wasn't anything like this. He hoped it would've been in a more romantic setting when he felt ready to woo them.

"You can't focus when you're stressed like this. I would know, I've tried." They say, summoning a mage hand idly to grab the bottle of Arabellan Dry on Rolan's desk. "Let's take a break and regroup."

He huffs in annoyance but reluctantly sits with them as they fill two glasses with the wine. They hand one over, and he immediately takes a generous sip to calm his nerves. When have they ever sat so close to him? They're practically touching knees- stop, he needs to get it together.

"You'll get it. It's impossible for a wizard unless they have sorcery in their blood."

Scoffing, he takes a few gulps of wine before speaking. "Then I will be the first."

They give him a sweet smile, ignoring how it made his heart flutter. "That's the spirit."

"I don't understand what I'm getting wrong," He quickly continues on, trying to suppress the warmth in his chest. "As soon as I think I have it in my grasp, it fails."

"We'll figure it out. I know you can do it. Think about how you made some spells your own. The Mage Armor, the Thunderwave, the Magic Missle- you have so much potential. Rolan: Master of Ramazith's Tower, always achieving the impossible."

He looks away when he feels his face grow hot again, not noticing when Tav gets up. When he finally turns towards them, they're offering a hand to get back up, so he takes it after pulling himself together, wine forgotten.

"Now, let's try again."

[hoseokslefteyebrow]

The Anomaly || JJK

Chapter 7: The Shibuya Incident

summary : In which you're isekai'd from your (own) parallel Jujutsu Kaisen universe to the canon universe.

wordcount : 2.5k

Pairing: Jujutsu Kaisen X Reader, eventually Character x Reader (idk who yet tho)

Masterlist | Next

[ Parallel Jujutsu Kaisen Universe ]

" Where are you even going at this hour? "

Sukuna glances up. He'd left the door to his room open, for no particular reason. 

Meanwhile, Megumi glances at the many cursed tools he's got spread out over his desk and bed. 

" M' gonna find the little shit. "

Megumi raises an unimpressed brow. 

" You've been looking for her for a while now. It's futile. "

Sukuna had expected the reaction. Especially from Megumi. Yuuji would've asked him to join, but he wasn't putting his 5 minute younger brother in danger like that. 

" Then I suppose I'm going for an evening stroll. Does that suit your taste better? "

Megumi blinks in annoyance. This is why he didn't get along well with Sukuna. He was stubborn, much like you. Megumi sighs, thinking for a moment before shaking his head. 

" Should I wake Yuuji and Nobara to join us? "

Sukuna glances at him in question. 

" That curse beat Y/N. And she's not weak. None of us have a change of beating this spirit alone. "

Sukuna and Megumi have a similar issue. They have a sincere issue in showing vulnerable emotions. This is probably the most sentimental they'd ever get with one another, and if you were here, you would be proud of them. 

Either way, Sukuna shakes his head. 

" We've beat cursed spirits in pairs before. The two of us will do. "

- 

Megumi doubts the two of them will do.

His eyes are wide, focused on the spirit in front of them. He's not sure if they found it or if it found them. 

" Heheheh. How cute. Two little Jujutsu students. " 

The spirit is laughing, mocking them as it looks down at them from their elevated position. 

Megumi's eyes widen, noting it's cursed energy. It was heavy, powerful. Megumi doubts this is a good idea.

" We should run." 

Of course, his pleas fall on deaf ears.

Sukuna is smirking at the spirit, his eyes wide in a kind of rage that even shakes Megumi. He knows Sukuna was a force to be reckoned with. Sukuna's heavenly pact made him one of the most powerful people around, even without cursed energy. With Y/N, he was unstoppable. 

" Where's the little shit?"

The curse raises a brow. ( Is it even a brow?), before catching on, its lips (are those even lips?), pulling into a grin.

" Ah, you mean that cute little girl?"

Something flashes in Sukuna's eyes. His hand reaching for his most powerful weapons. 

" What did you do to her?"

It's Megumi who asks, ready to summon Nue while Sukuna clicks the Chain of a Thousand Miles and Inverted Spear of Heaven together. 

The curse's eyes flash over the special grade cursed weapon. It knew it could exorcise it.

It knew it needed to avoid that from happening.

Nonetheless, it keeps up it's act, pretending to be as confident as before.

It crouches down, leaning its head on the palm of its hand as it looks at them.

" I sent her away. You won't be able to find her." 

Megumi's eyes narrow, before widening, realizing it's cursed technique.

" Rabbit escape!" 

As the shadows create a large amount of rabbits, Megumi grabs Sukuna by his collar  avoiding him from attacking. Sukuna is surprised. Annoyed too, but he trusts his classmate.

Soon enough, they're hidden away from it's view.

" It can teleport." 

" What?"

" It cursed technique must be some kind of teleportation. And it's range must be huge, considering we can't find Y/N anywhere. We can't exorcise it. We have to capture it." 

-

[ Canon Jujutsu Kaisen Universe ]

" So we're just meant to wait here?"

Takuma is the one asking the question you're all wondering.

Nanami nods.

" Yes. Our job is to exorcise a spirit if he misses it."

" That sounds awfully boring." 

" We could help him. It's a group of special grades right?"

You try your luck. You never know how it will end up after all. That feeling of unease still in your stumic.

Takuma grins at you.

" Ah right, you're from a completely different universe right? You don't need to worry. Our Gojo sensei is the strongest!"

He's beaming, yet you don't share the sentiment.

" That shouldn't mean that he has to carry that burden alone."

Nanami's eyes widen at your words, studying your expression. Nanami has met a lot of people. He's never heard anyone say words like those.

" Is your Gojo the strongest as well?"

You nod.

" Yes. He's quite the same. "

" Ooeh, what about me? Have we met in your universe?"

Takuma can't help himself, curious about where you're from.

" Yeah. We've done a mission together actually. " 

Takuma remains excited, asking you multiple questions about your own universe. You answer them as best as you can. After a moment, it falls silent again.

" Hey Megumi, where's Nobara and Yuuji? I thought they'd be with us."

He shakes his head at your question.

" Yuuji is on Mei's team.-"

His eyes glance towards Nanami subtly, like he wants to add something. He seems to decide against it, continuing.

" And Nobara is with Maki on team Zen'In."

You pout.

" There's a girl team and I'm not even invited?"

" Ah, don't worry Kamo! We're fun too!"

" Besides, you should be glad. They've got Zen'In's old man on the team. Do you have him in your universe?"

You nod.

" I think so. Never spoke to him though."

" You should be glad. He looks down on women. Maki hates him. I'm sure Nobara hates him too by now."

While the three of you had been conversing, Nanami checks his phone, subtly catching all of your attention.

" The transfigured humans who were waiting inside the building are now attacking non-sorcerers. Which is why we're ending standby and moving in." 

Soon enough he's stepping forward, shrugging his shoulders off. He lays his jacket over his arm neatly.

You wonder where he'll leave it.

" We may be acting against orders, but if we wait any longer,  it might be too late."

He sighs.

" This, my other concern is-"

Both Takuma and Megumi take his words right out of his mouth, while you listen patiently.

" The other-"

" The other veil that keeps sorcerers outside, correct?"

Takuma glances at Megumi in surprise, animatedly moving behind the two of them as they converse.

" Why deploy the veil now that Gojo sensei is inside?"

" Either something has happened inside, or they were waiting for this moment as part of their strategy. What I can say for certain is that they wouldn't move without a plan. Y/N and I focus on the enemies who lowered the veil. You two do your best to rescue civilians." 

All three of you nod in understanding.

And soon enough, all three of you enter the veil.

You wonder if the other teams were doing the same.

You're nervous.

You have no choice but to fight the disfigured humans now.

However, just as your team stepped a few ways in-

" Nanamin!"

Was that?-

" Nanamin, are you here?!"

That must be-

" Gojo sensei has been sealed!"

You lock gazes with Megumi, confirming your suspicious. This was, without a doubt, Itadori Yuuji.

Everyone's eyes widen.

" You three, change of plans. "

He turns around.

" We must join forces with Itadori at once. If he has indeed been sealed, it could spell the end for every human in this country."

Yuuji continues calling for Nanami like a child calling for his dad while you make your way over. 

In fact, he doesn't stop even when you're right behind him, until-

" Oi!"

Megumi has to hit him in order to get him out of his his trance.

" Ohh- Fushiguro, Y/N, Nanamin. And... who?"

Eventually, Yuuji ends up explaining what has gone down while the four of you were outside. Or rather- Mechamaru explains.

Apparently he's been carrying him around like an earpiece.

You follow his story, yet you can't help but notice the folded black and white fluff to your left. Wordlessly, you take a few steps towards the cat, and pet it.

It purrs in response. Megumi watches what you're doing, but no one comments on it.

" Geto did it?"

" The thing that's acting as Geto Suguru, to be precise. Shibuya is overrun with curses right now. It's overrun by special grades, weaker curses, and curse users who follow Geto, as well as transfigured humans and civilians. "

" Then attacking through the subway from neighboring stations does make sense. But in order to do that, we need that veil lifted."

" This is an emergency. We'll have to multitask."

You can see Nanami thinking as you get up from where you were petting the cat, which has now run off. Unbeknownst to you, he wanted to keep an eye on you. He couldn't allow you to die, sorcerer or not. This was not your universe. Who knows what would happen to your own if you were to die here. 

However, now that things have gotten more dangerous, he needs to be able to work without distracting himself. Gojo told him about your skills. You were nowhere near weak. You weren't the strongest either. Gojo also commented on Megumi's fondness of you. You'd be safe with your classmates.

" Some requests can only be submitted by a first grade sorcerer. I'll step outside and take care of those with Ijichi. In the mean time, I want you four to do something about the veil that's keeping the sorcerers out.-" 

He informs everyone, while walking past you. Finally, he turns to Takuma. He's seated on the ledge of the building, the cat you had previously been petting now curled into a rice ball next to him, enjoying his attention.

" Kusakabe and honorary first grade Zen'In should be inside the veil as well. If you meet them, please explain the situation  and request for their assistance. Though that shouting earlier might've done the job."

Takuma nods in understanding, his expression serious as he takes in every word. He must look ul to Nanami to react like that.

" And lastly, I'm leaving these three in your care."

And then Nanami is gone. He's disappeared through the door on the rooftop.

Takuma is quiet for a moment.

" Ino?" 

Yuuji checks.

" You guys! Before we start the mission, let me explain how serious the situation is. Starting with the two main issues with losing Gojo sensei. First! The fall of the Gojo clan. The Gojo clan is a one man team of himself. His whims and influences have saved many sorcerers.- Itadori, Kamo, you're one of them, correct?"

You nod.

" That's right!"

Yuuji looks silly as he confirms.

Takuma doesn't appreciate that.

" Take this seriously! All of those people are gonna find themselves in trouble, or worse, executed.-"

You swallow.

Why was the Jujutsu world so mean?

" The second issue is the collapse of the power balance. Those who have remained in the shadows because of Gojo will make their move.- If society is over disarray over the first, and the second will start a war, we will lose. That's how Nanami and I see it. And what do you think happens if we lose?"

Megumi looks nearly bored as he replies.

" At the very least, the age of humans in Japan would be over."

Takuma grins at him, tugging at his beanie/mask.

" I see you get the idea. Let's get going! By the time Nanami gets back, that veil will be destroyed!"

Takuma is visibly motivated, slapping a shoulder of each of you in encouragement as he walks past you.

" Let's save Gojo Satoru!"

-

[ Parallel Jujutsu Kaisen Universe ]

The two of them, were, in fact, not enough.

Sukuna finds himself wishing you were here so you'd summon that pretty blade which was as light as a feather. He could swear the sword you kept with you was simply more powerful than whatever he has in his hands now.

He hisses as he lands on top of a building harshly. From the corner of his eye, he sees Megumi do the same. The spirit was much stronger than they had initially thought. However, both refuse to give up, and soon enough, they're charging against the spirit at the same time.

The plan was originally simple enough. 

Get the Chain of a Thousand Miles wrapped around it, and force it to Jujutsu Tech.

The plan was still running anything but smoothly though.

" Two against one? That's hardly fair." 

It's mocking them though, charging up a white ball and throwing it right at Megumi. Both boys' their eyes widen. It had been physical, close up combat up until now.

It's too quick, and Megumi has no time to avoid. Sukuna throws his Chain his way, and Megumi is close to grasping it- when the white ball hits him

 First, it's a regular explosion at a decent size, nothing that would permanently put Megumi on the sidelines of their battle.

Then a huge soundwave follows, sending both Megumi and Sukuna in opposite directions.

Sukuna is quick to get back on his feet. He doesn't doubt that Megumi is too, unless he had landed harshly into a building. ( In which case he'll have to suck it up and get over it- Sukuna needs him.)

The spirit raises it's brow at him.

" You've got no cursed energy."

Sukuna scoffs, grinning.

" Yet I can still beat your ass." 

The curse grins in response. It opens it's mouth to say something, but Sukuna is done with his shit. Mercilessly, he throws the Chain skillfully his way. The curse had been stupid, probably underestimating him as it had gotten closer.

Now, Sukuna tugs it closer, bringing them face to face with one another.

" Last chance before I hand you to Gojo sensei. Where. Is. Y/N?"

The curse's eyes, which were originally wide, turn into smiling crescents.

" Why don't you find out?"

It's smiling, happy.

Suddenly, a golden ring appears below him. Sukuna's brow furrows.

And then he's falling.

He makes a mistake, holding the end of the Chain in front of him. 

Giving the curse a window to escape.

Of course it does.

And then he's falling again.

Eventually, he hits his face flat to the ground.

" Fuck's sake-" 

As he gets up, he wipes a hand over his nose. It's bleeding. He scoffs in annoyance.

He looks up, studying his surroundings. 

Wait- 

Why was he in Shibuya?

Now more annoyed than before, he huffs, finally getting up and grumbling to himself in annoyance. 

He turns to leave, intending to take the bus back to Jujutsu Tech.

However, he walks straight into...something?

He furrows his brows in confusion, glancing up, he only notices how dark the sky is now.

A veil.

Why was there a veil in Shibuya?

The Anomaly Taglist:

@luxylucylou @kalulakunundrum @strxbxrrylover @aethersslave @jenniferrvsesi @hanatsuki-hime

[actual-changeling]

I was once again re-watching good omens, and I once again realized something incredibly painful, so welcome back to

Alex's unhinged meta corner.

I really need to make a masterpost at some point.

You see, the very first episode not only foreshadows their last argument, it also tells us exactly why it will happen and what problem/offer they will have to face.

We don't usually pay much attention to it because it's a) in the very first episode and then doesn't come up again and b) we know that Crowley would never accept it.

My realization is that Beelzebub's offer mirrors the Metatron's. Both Crowley and Aziraphale are given the same kind of opportunity—but one says no and the other says yes.

Let's have a look!

This is not going to be chronological but more of a go with the flow thing because the aspects are the same but they don't appear in the same order.

The most obvious part first: the job offer itself.

Beelzebub offers him a promotion and later on specifies that he can be a Duke of Hell, one of the few people in charge. I believe that if Gabriel and Beez' plan had been to run away together from the very beginning, ze would have offered Crowley zir own job as Prince of Hell. Still, being a Duke would probably put him in a standing similar to Michael or Uriel's.

The Metatron obviously offers him the job of Supreme Archangel, which is the highest possible position for an angel to hold, aka it's the same promotion, just different colours.

Both offers also stem from the exact same problem—Gabriel is gone.

Now, Beelzebub and the Metatron aren't stupid, they know that they need to convince them to take it, they have to embellish it and play with their wants and fears.

Beelzebub presumably makes the correct assumption that Aziraphale is hiding Gabriel or that the two of them are somehow involved (because they always are), and while ze uses it as a threat/warning, the Metatron takes what is now fact and uses it in the opposite way.

Additionally, ze trusts Crowley to not only deliver Gabriel back to zem but to take care of him until he's safe and sound with his partner.

'I trust you with him' -> 'He trusted you with himself'.

I will now do a little jump to the last part of Aziraphale's conversation with the Metatron right in front of the lift. Once again, they appeal to a characteristic Crowley and Aziraphale share.

'You know earth and that is a useful asset.' What has previously been punished and was seen as a weakness—what is he, he has gone native, you've been down here for too long—is now praised.

It's good that you know earth, we see that you are worth something, you are different but that is good now.

Crowley does not care about that at all, he gives exactly zero fucks about what hell thinks of him, but Aziraphale? Who has been trying to impress the Archangels for six thousand years and been humiliated by them during Armageddon? This is what he has been craving all along, respect for his job on earth and to be recognized as a Good Angel.

Well, that was the carrot, time for the stick: threats.

They remind them of their respective status—they're both traitors, personae non gratae, and they could still be punished for that. After the trial, they were largely left alone, but they drew attention to themselves again, they became a problem.

The Metatron is more subtle, as usual. He knows that Aziraphale lied his ass off several times, including directly in front of God. This is not a just compliment, it's a threat—I know who you are and I have the power to make you feel that

'You don't just tell people what they want to hear.' Again, they are sitting at this table and both know that the opposite is true, and the Metatron is both using it to threaten him and to establish the clear expectations he will have for him should he take the job. Also, by saying he thinks Aziraphale is those things, he gives him more praise, more respect.

Both sides know that Aziraphale and Crowley are each other's biggest weakness; they want to be safe and together. I think it is clear what kind of threat/danger Beez is presenting Crowley, but we rarely talk about the fact that the Metatron also threatens him, just not as explicitly.

Aziraphale will be destroyed if they find Gabriel with him, and Crowley cannot let that happen. However, contrary to heaven, hell has more or less known about the two of them for decades, and they never actually cared about the arrangement as long as the job got done. They punished Crowley when he did good deeds aka not his fucking job but the opposite.

'I know you care about him, he's at risk if you don't help me find him.'

The Metatron on the other hand makes it clear that HE specifically knows about him and Crowley, and Aziraphale did not know who exactly was privy to that information and if it reached the Metatron. Not just that, he emphasizes that he has been doing research on them, he can dig up whatever dirt he likes and then kill them both.

No one would be able to stop him.

This next part is going to be interesting because it is a parallel that Aziraphale doesn't and currently wouldn't be able to see, while Crowley does see it very, very clearly.

When the Metatron tells Aziraphale he can take Crowley with him to heaven and make him an angel again, that is good news to him! It is PERFECT! It would solve out of his problems, and who wouldn't want to be an angel, on the side of good?

Everything the Metatron did up to this point, from 'saving' them from punishment at the hand of the Archangels, over getting him coffee, to giving twisted praise, has had one primary objective: Get Aziraphale to trust him.

It worked. Consequently, Aziraphale does not question what he tells him now, and believes that he truly could take Crowley with him and make him an angel again. He has no concept of what falling actually means, and what it meant for Crowley in particular, so he cannot discern the threat within it.

Yet when he presents it to Crowley, who is horrified and rightfully so, we are once again shown that no, Aziraphale does not understand. Crowley does, though. That angel he was no longer exists, he cannot go back to it because they're gone, and he would not want to either. Everything they have built on earth their life, their existence, would mean absolutely nothing and cease to exist.

Do you see the threat yet?

Here is what Beelzebub tells him, and what we are told over and over and over again throughout the season.

Erased from the book of life, gone from existence, everything they were, had, owned, lived—gone.

Erased from the book of life vs. turned back into an angel that doesn't exist anymore, that CAN'T exist again.

Put the threat and the 'offer' next to each other, and Crowley sees the same fate in both: His existence will be destroyed. Aziraphale, like I said above, doesn't. The book of life is a threat, but turning him into an angel is a blessing.

Right now, it doesn't matter whether the book of life really exists or if a demon can be turned back into an angel. What matters is that they both BELIEVE those things are real and possible, because that is what they act on, belief.

Beelzebub sends him away with bad news, the Metatron pushes Aziraphale to tell Crowley good news. Same offer, same possible outcomes (either they get to live together or one of them/both get destroyed), but entirely different responses.

Crowley says no. Aziraphale says yes.

Aziraphale thinks Crowley should have said yes.

Crowley thinks Aziraphale should have said no.

So. We know what happens next and personally, combing through all of this in detail only made it hurt worse!! If it did the same for you—you're welcome, I love my job.

[cruyuu]

Since the official art of them came out, I've seen some very hilarious takes about Yuuji and Sukuna. Some people coping HARD. "Yuuji is forcing him" Well gee, since when can he force Sukuna to do anything? Or is Sukuna that powerless against him? Even in Yuuji's domain, Sukuna didn't have to catch a damn crayfish or do archery, but he did, mind you all this happened BEFORE Yuuji said he could kill him (and even when this happened, he had support from Nobara). He's like, "ahggg fine I GUESS I can do this" lmao. In the official art, he's the one leading the dance. For what reason? Gege didn't have to draw them with their fingers intertwined, with Sukuna's arm around Yuuji's waist, and yet. Why have all this with the snow falling around them? (Yes the cat might be pandering, that's another valid reason) Right after we have the epilogue with Yuuji saying he still likes the snow and it's special to him?

"B-but he doesn't like Yuuji!" Well Sukuna called Yuuji by his full name when he was turning to dust. Have we forgotten that that's an indication that Sukuna respects someone/a sorcerer? Is it not significant going from "brat" to "Itadori Yuuji"? I'm guessing this does not apply to Yuuji then lmao. Also, I'm not saying Sukuna loves him or likes him like he loves, idk, fighting. But he at least recognized Yuuji. Another thing is that people forget that Sukuna usually says one thing and does another. Isn't this what Mahito implied? He literally called Sukuna a liar and he was like "Yeah so lmao". Their change/development is subtle, but it's there. Isn't the end of the fight an indication of this? Actually, Sukuna had an existencial crisis during this BECAUSE of Yuuji lol. For all his faults, I think some of Gege's strongest points in JJK are Yuuji and Sukuna. Sorry for the long rant btw!

Hi anon! Let me rant along with you!

I'm not on that app but I did see several posts here on Tumblr about how "there's suddenly so many skit shippers don't these ppl know that's a horrible ship" like bruh. Do you not realize Yuuji came from a brain inhabiting his mother's corpse? That Yuuji isn't even human? Are they not aware they're reading a work which isn't suitable for children?

Most are coping because sukuita is a problematic ship yet it's getting a lot of spotlight. Hell, Gege had drawn them dancing in the snow together on love day. "Yet they're related!! How could Gege :(". Well... they could lol. They clearly don't give a shit (and I say good for them!)

That's also the big issue to these ppl. Idk if they ship Yuuji with someone else and are mad that his "reincarnated uncle (grand uncle)" got the lovely romantic official art. Let's also not forget that Yuuji practically promised his forever to Sukuna. The finger that he's missing is literally the marriage finger. Am I to blame for that? Nope. Gege wrote it like that and I'm just pointing it out.

Dunno why that's stopping them from shipping their Yuuji ships. If canon's an issue, just focus on non-canon. No need to go shit on skit shippers lmfao

As for the arguments you've mentioned:

"Yuuji is forcing him"

Yuuji had also forced him to become so obsessed with tearing down his ideals and forced him to be in his close proximity while he's fighting him. He also forced him to call him brat and constantly think about him even while fighting others. The power Yuuji holds is, after all, that strong. He even forced him to change his own viewpoint and got him to hold his waist in that official art because he's now capable of using abilities which allow him to control Sukuna's actions. 👍

"B-but he doesn't like Yuuji!"

I think the right sentence is: he's obsessed with hating him so much so that it can't even be about hate anymore, it has to be that he's just in denial and that he loves him. There's a thin line between love and hate, after all. Who in their right mind spends so much time talking and thinking with delight about how someone-who-they-hate's abilities had improved? Who in their right mind changes their ways after their enemy confesses that they'd like to spend forever with them?

Their change/development is subtle, but it's there. Isn't the end of the fight an indication of this? Actually, Sukuna had an existencial crisis during this BECAUSE of Yuuji lol. For all his faults, I think some of Gege's strongest points in JJK are Yuuji and Sukuna. Sorry for the long rant btw!

Nice points and no need to be sorry, anon. It's hilarious how some ppl can't see it and are actively ignoring it lol. These two are tied to each other and are totally in love and to say otherwise is just ridiculous imo.

[jofiel]

I originally started Flourished Peony because I kept seeing people say they couldn't quite understand the 2ML (and because I missed watching a show at the same time as other people) and while I'm still catching up I'd like to say that I find him to be an incredibly easy character to understand (as well as an incredibly easy character to hate).

“Enlightenment is ego's ultimate disappointment.” - Chögyam Trungpa

Liu Chang is a deeply egotistical man who needs a certain level of suffering to excuse his own mediocrity. However his self confidence is so fragile this suffering needs to be self inflicted. The moment it's pushed onto him by another party he becomes unstable. His graceful demeanor drops and he'll adopt any extreme method to show his anger - as long as it's within the lines of what's socially acceptable. He won't step outside of those lines because he's deeply concerned about his image. Although he justifies this chasm by telling himself, and everyone who'll listen, that he's really an outstanding scholar who sticks to his morals.

You can see this in the beginning when he first married He Wei Fang. In his mind he was better than her because of their class difference. Ironically he didn't feel the Princess was better than him because of their class difference. He's always the main character and always the victim, so back then him falling for a princess just made his story more tragic and intriguing. He's an underdog among beasts. He also thought He Wei Fang was using him (when he's the only one who should be able to use people) so he refused to sleep with her not only because it'd cause the people in the household to look down on her (and potentially lead to people gossiping about her if the servants told others about it) but because she wouldn't be able to get pregnant and be permanently tied to him. If they had a son together her position in the household would rise. She'd potentially be more important than him because she has a son and money.

Instead he chose to suffer by falling in love with a princess (when he was arrogant enough to believe that his work would quickly lead him to become renowned and worthy of her father's permission before her father would marry her off to someone else) and he chose to maintain this suffering by hanging her portrait up after she was married off and vowing to never fall in love again.

He slowly begins to change his mind on He Wei Fang when he sees her working hard in the garden. She didn't order the servants to do the work for her. She didn't complain. She did it herself and in his delusional mind he thinks that's what he's doing. Every time he rejects an offer to skip ahead of the line and become an official, he's imagining himself with a scythe in one hand and the fruits of his labor in another.

The real reason why he fell out of love with the princess is because he realized that marriage with her would still leave him powerless. Before, if he became a famous scholar and powerful official they'd be on equal ground. But marriage with her now would mean that he's forced to give in to her every desire. Why suffocate himself when he already has a wife at home who he now believes is similar to him? It'd also be a complete murder of his ego. If his initial plan were successful then that's something to brag about. But now he'd simply be known as the husband of a princess.

There's a scene where He Wei Fang is talking to one (or potentially both I can't quite remember) of his parents and she accuses them of manipulation. It's like a light bulb goes off in Liu Chang's brain because he himself said nearly the same exact thing to his parents. Now there's another prisoner in his cell and they're suffering nearly as much as he is. (Nearly because, of course, nobody can suffer as much as poor Liu Chang)

"Ego implies unawareness. Awareness and ego cannot coexist." - Eckhart Tolle

"Doesn't he get that she doesn't want him? Isn't it crazy for him to act like they can still be together? Why won't he let her go? Why doesn't he listen to what she's saying???"

Because! He's! Arrogant! His arrogance is overshadowed by his soft voice, timid personality and modest values. But above all else he's arrogant and while you can be confident and knowledgeable, arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand. He doesn't understand her desires because they're not his and they don't align with what's desirable in the society they live in. He thinks he's a great man. He belittled her for a year and attempted to assault her when she tried to leave because these are all things within the lines of what's socially and legally acceptable for men at the time. He promises her that nobody would bully her anymore and when she hurt her head he offered to help her - and to him this is what makes him a good man. He acts according to the norms but also shows a level of what he considers to be benevolence.

His problem is that he genuinely believes he's like He Wei Fang. An outsider glancing at the four main characters (He Wei Fang, Liu Chang, Jiang Chang Yang and Princess You Zhen) would pair him with her and the princess with the Floral Envoy. But he's a sandcastle and she's an entire empire. While her soft spoken demeanor might seem like it's compatible with his, her attitude is much more comparable with the Floral Envoy's. Because while the princess and the ex husband might act like they're willing to be seen as unconventional, He Wei Fang and Jiang Chang Yang are actually willing to do the work and be unconventional.

If Liu Chang were truly willing to go against the grain he'd listen to what He Wei Fang has to say. That's radical. Instead he brushes her off because she's a woman, and he's a great man, and what woman would prefer to be alone instead of with a great man? Even when he's told that her mother died because of his family it almost feels like it goes completely over his head because he proceeds to carry on with the same beat, tone and excuses.

He's partially obsessed with her because he hates the fact that this is another situation where he's not calling the shots but I think he's also dead set on having her because without her he'd truly be alone in his house again. If he's with the princess he's getting pushed around by everyone: the princess, his mom, his dad, her dad, state officials, businessmen she does dealings with, social rules, etc. If he has He Wei Fang then there's someone else who's suffering with him. This time around, if she gives him children, it's a good thing precisely because he believes it means he'll always have her. And yes I'm purposefully saying "has her, have her" and not "be with her".

This also plays into him repeatedly saying, "I won't let you be wronged." Because she exists as a reflection of him and if she's been wronged, he's been wronged. If he can prevent her from being wronged, he's preventing himself from being wronged or maybe even correcting the ways he's been wronged in the past. If he could do that then he still has power over his own life. But it's an unnatural and impossible task - just like the promise he made to the princess when they were both young. Just like the pledge he made to the princess's father.

You can really see the difference between Liu Chang and Jiang Chang Yang in their treatment of Yu Lu. Liu Chang doesn't even really acknowledge her death, he shrugs it off as "just" a maid dying, and he only moves to put his cape on He Wei Fang because there's a crowd and she's not really following etiquette (although he'd characterize the moment as him being a thoughtful gentlemen who's preventing her from getting sick). Chang Yang immediately softens after learning that the jade pendant belonged to Yu Lu and he refused to profit off of her. He goes along with He Wei Fang's revenge when he didn't have to. Surface level actions mean nothing to He Wei Fang. These moments of dependability mean everything. (See also: One begs to get her back while the other helps her leave)

It'll be interesting to see Liu Chang's development as a character - if he develops at all in the drama. With his personality he could easily devolve into someone much worse.

[stormdragon23]

My Top Solo Leveling Ships

Wanted to talk a little about them, so I'll just list three main reasons why I like them otherwise this post will be endless. There are a lot of other ships I like, but these are the main ones

It's a little unhinged, but that shouldn't be new

1. ChoiBaek

This shouldn't be a surprise

They are aware of the other's intentions without needing to tell each other. They both read other people and each other very well. The only reason they don't get along is because when both of them want the same thing (recruiting Sung Jin-Woo, a gate in the area, etc), they are both very willing to fight for what they want and use their perceptiveness to their advantage. One of them doesn't mind having his thoughts being known while the other minds a lot

They both want their guild become stronger but not at the expense of their members. They have the same morals, but the actions they take because of their morals are different. Baek Yoon-Ho wants to make his guild stronger by focusing on what his members need as individuals (paying them more, training new recruits with stronger and more experienced members, etc). Choi Jong-In wants to make his guild stronger by focusing on improving how the teams work together (hunting in a orderly way to minimize injuries as much as possible, taking a leadership role to make sure none of the members are falling behind, making sure the teams are adequately prepared, etc). Both of them care a lot about other people, though they don’t make it obvious to others

Both know the other is strong (Choi Jong-In defends Baek Yoon-Ho when Sung Jin-Woo thinks Yoon-Ho is struggling during the Jeju sparring match while Baek Yoon-Ho is aware of Choi Jong-In's strength during the Jeju Raid) but tend to underestimate themselves (Baek Yoon-Ho believing he wouldn't have been able to win against the Japanese S-Ranks when he held out for a while on his own against two of them, and Choi Jong-In seeing his title as "a joke" after comparing himself to Sung Jin-Woo when he always has to limit how much of his powers he actually uses because of the people around him or the environment he is in)

This got long anyways... sorry. The others are shorter

2. SungPark

I wanted to see them more than the main couple

They are both selfless to the point where they make sure others are alright before taking care of themselves

They both want their family to be safe and happy and make taking care of their children their priority. Park Kyung-Hye tells her son it's okay for him to be a hunter, even though it's the reason why Sung Il-Hwan is gone, and she understands that it's something both her husband and son feel like they need to do

The way Kyung-Hye kept waiting for her husband to return home and knew the exact moment when he wouldn't be coming back Ripped my heart to SHREDS-

They were so in love laskdjfasdlf

3. MinLee

AKA younger!SungPark

Both of them have similar trauma, so they're able to help each other, especially since they're both retired

Even they have trauma, they have put their fears aside to help people more. Both participate in the last Jeju raid despite Min Byung-Gyu being traumatized from the last one and Lee Ju-Hee being traumatized from her previous raids

The way Lee Ju-Hee hardly showed up after she told Sung Jin-Woo she was retiring and Min Byung-Gyu barely being mentioned besides his trip to Japan before the Jeju Raid? There's so much potential for them to actually meet-

I see them as the "bunny couple"

4. ChulWoo

This was actually one of the first ships I really got into

The way Woo Jin-Chul knew Sung Jin-Woo from the beginning and was watching Sung Jin-Woo get stronger without realizing it at first

The way Woo Jin-Chul looked at Sung Jin-Woo in the new timeline when he remembered the previous timeline-

Honestly, in my opinion, Sung Jin-Woo had more potential with Woo Jin-Chul than Cha Hae-in. Like, Sung Jin-Woo avenging Go Gun-Hee not just for his sake but for Woo Jin-Chul? Sung Jin-Woo actually trying to not give Jin-Chul a headache but failing? I love their dynamic

5. HeeSeok

This is probably the most cracked ship out of these, but it's cute

Both of them have a caring, almost parent-like nature (Park Hee-Jin looking after Han Song-Yi during the Red Gate and Eun-Seok looking after and warning Min Byung-Gyu during the third Jeju Raid)

It's actually possible for them to have known each other despite it not being stated in canon (Eun-Seok was a member of the Fiend Guild, and Park Hee-Jin could have been a member of the Fiend Guild as well before leaving for White Tiger. The game might change this part about Park Hee-Jin, but I'll stick with it for now)

The way Eun-Seok wears a scarf with his hunter's outfit, and then Park Hee-Jin gets stuck in a frost Red Gate? And Park Hee-Jin looks somewhat okay despite it being cold, so it seems like both are fine in cold environments

Actually, in my monarch/ruler AU, Frost Monarch!Eun-Seok could be the reason Park Hee-Jin gets stuck there in that Red Gate...hmm

Feel free to ask for more of my thoughts and talk about your own below

[archivesofthevoid]

Would you mind if I request kissing headcanons for Rolan, Astarion, Gale, Wyll, and Halsin with gender neutral s/o?

It's currently 4 am as I'm writing this and pulling this all out of a magic hat (aka my brain) so HERE WE GO!!

Rolan: personally I do not know that much about him yet!!! Though I'm going to try based off the vibes of what I've seen from him. So I apologize here if it's ooc!! But I think his kisses would be very.. sophisticated? Like okay- they're so loving and soft. Light, too. Sometimes it feels like he's trying to keep them professional and away from prying eyes. HOWEVER there's some times when he's a bit more vulnerable and he holds you for a moment longer than he should. You both don't often get a chance alone together but when you do, he's grabbing you by your cheeks in the most gentle way he can muster and kissing you like it's his life support. Which sometimes, it kind of is.

Astarion: oh boy. See this guy? His kisses can vary. At first they were rough and seemed to be fueled purely with carnal desire. However as time goes on and the two of you become more entrapped with one another, you notice he's become softer. More delicate. He likes the kiss to last and for it to linger on your lips after it's over. Other days when he's feeling down and vulnerable because of everything going on (specifically with Cazador) - those moments where his head gets to him and he's scared he's going to lose you or get taken back?? He kisses you so desperately. He'll cling to you and press into your lips. It's full of despair, desire, and need. Belonging. He needs that reassurance that you're here and that you're real. That you'll stay. Please don't ever go, he needs you so bad even if he sucks at showing it.

Gale: at first his kisses were unsure. With the whole loyalty to Mystra thing he's got conditioned into his brain - he felt like he was betraying her. Though as time went on he realized he actually loved you. Whatever he felt with Mystra he realized wasn't genuine. Well at least not on Mystra's end. But with you, it's different. He knows you love him and care for him. You don't see him as some prize to flaunt off to others for power. So after awhile, his kisses become sickeningly sweet. Sometimes they're rushed if you guys are quick to set out on the road again. Other times he will let them linger. Or sometimes he'll give you multiple kisses in one go which leaves the both of you giggling at the end. He's such a hopeless romantic that once he actually has you the way you want him, he's completely whipped for you. He's the type of man who loves with his whole being like it's breathing.

Wyll: he's actually such a big sweetie that it definitely shows in his kisses :(( /pos!! They're never long and don't often linger. Very light and sweet like warm sugar. Sometimes he doesn't even kiss you on the lips. His go to places most of the time is on your wrist, your knuckles, your forehead or your cheek. He really loves to grab your hand and press a kiss into it while smiling at you. His eyes hold so much warmth in them that you could feel like you're drowning if you're not careful. He's so caring and gentle. He's the type to cover you head to toe in tiny little kisses if you'd let him. Sure, kisses on the lips are nice but he wants to cherish every part of you he can.

Halsin: another man who worships you and the ground you walk on. Most of his kisses are on your forehead, cheek, or shoulders. He tends to your wounds first out of everyone in the party and spends the most time on you. Even if you're all healed up, he's still there - telling you how strong you are for standing your ground with such a violent battle. He leaves kisses in his wake wherever he can. His kiss to your lips though? They're so brutal. It's like his carnal beastly urges come out to play when he kisses your lips. Sometimes, much like Astarion, he uses his teeth. He'll nip at your lip and plead for you to just let him devour your mouth with his own. He doesn't often give these types of kisses because quite frankly he holds himself back. If you ask though he'd be more than willing to kiss you like that more often.

[love-toxin]

https://www.tumblr.com/love-toxin/772938952452734976/i-think-youve-stated-that-elias-struggles-with?source=share

What types of drunk are some of your other ocs?

Harley is a pretty kept-together drunk. He only gets a little touchy and if he's with you as a long-term partner, he'll get cuddly and will want to head up to bed to sleep and get some alone time. He never drinks at bars, and pretty much exclusively drinks from the stock he has at home so he can be comfortable and not put himself or you in any unnecessary danger. Angel does the same thing, and will politely decline any offers to go the bar with coworkers or friends after work. If she is gonna drink, she doesn't drink enough to get more than a little tipsy, and she would rather do it at home where it's comfy, safe, and she can kick back and watch some documentary tv with some snacks.

Leigh never drinks, but aside from the religious reasons it's partly because he's way too excitable when he's drunk. He'll go along with anyone to do anything and he's definitely not gonna remember what happened the next morning, so to make sure he doesn't sign himself up for something he can't handle or wake up somewhere he shouldn't be, he just doesn't drink at all.

Rainn and Morgan are both incredibly horny drunks, who will get so plastered they're barely even cognizant of being watched--they'll pull you into their laps or climb into yours and straight up fondle you until you're squirming, while people are watching, until you can manage to pry them off. Rainn also gets crazy baby fever when she's drunk off particular types of alcohol, so if you can get her pregnant it's best to make sure she doesn't let herself get carried away!

Ken can hold his alcohol far beyond what he should, to the point that he very seldom gets beyond a moderate buzz and has never blacked out from a night of drinking. He gets a bit mopey when he drinks and doesn't like to be around people when he does it, but when he's tipsy he has less control over his power of suggestion, so he might accidentally sway you into an undesired heat...or it might be on purpose, it's hard to tell sometimes.

Seóirse is a kissy drunk 100%. He's all over you when he drinks, and shockingly, he's a lightweight...so you'll have quite the handful to deal with when he decides he wants kisses right then and there. He'll practically smother you by crawling on top of you with that massive body, almost completely unaware of his size or the fact that he's nearly impaling you when your warmth gets him a little excited. But just wait for the hangover and the post-drinking regret to set in the next morning, and he'll make up the damage he's done to you with everything he can.

Nina can stomach alcohol better than most, and she gets competitive when she drinks. She's the tiny girl at the bar downing shots faster than any of the college kids or regulars can keep up, and she's so proud of herself whenever she wins. She'll get so drunk she speaks Spanglish more than anything else, to the point she's just making up her own words by the end of the night. But the migraine and the realization that she putzed around a dingy, greasy bar all evening are strong enough contributors to her swearing off liquor every time it happens.

Isabelle and Hyun-jin will both drink you under the table, easy. They've got high tolerances and their jobs each require them to consume at least a minimum amount of alcohol, Isabelle to test her drink-making skills and Hyun to meet with business partners and clientele. Even when they're on the edge of smashed they can still keep their composure, and can generally keep it together until the second they're alone at home or a bathroom to collapse or throw up respectively.

(cw: emetophobia)

Speaking of which, Aryll is a puker for sure, especially if it's hard liquor. Forcible intoxication was a tool readily used throughout the cult for discipline or other "religious" purposes, so aside from being barely able to stomach it half the time, liquor will make Aryll sicker than a dog in no time at all. And while he'll need someone to hold his hair while he hunches over the toilet all night, he'll need someone to hold him even moreso when he's so drunk he can't stop crying for hours at a time. He finds it so humiliating to have to be taken care of even if you're sweet about it afterwards, he swears he'll only stick to wine from then on.

(safe!)

Makoi is your resident aggressive drunk. So is Ebbi, though he tends to be calmer until somebody riles him up, then it's straight to violence. Makoi will flip if someone so much as looks at his darling or thinks about messing with his boys; one strike and it's on, he'll jump a table to knock the shit out of anyone that thinks they can lay hands or fingers on what's his. More often than not, Hayao, Kenji, and Shura will be the ones dragging Makoi away from whoever has pissed him off so they don't have to deal with the cops, but once the threat is gone, he's not one to hold on to it and take out his frustrations on you or the guys. Once you start kissing him or cooing reassurances in his ear, he'll melt and let his attention hover over you instead.

Conrad barely gets drunk, but it's not because he doesn't drink. In fact, it's the opposite--drinking is a part of his daily life, and as a village man, alcohol is as much a drug as it is a medicine and an end-of-day treat. He uses the same liquor to treat a wound that he drinks a glass of with dinner, so he's really not all that different when he's got a lot of alcohol in him. He mostly just gets a bit more reckless, and he's much more likely to take his clothes off since it warms him up so quickly.

Umi and Jiyu both party drink, but Umi really takes it to the next level. They can't hold their liquor at all and will keep going until they're completely blacked out, which is why they essentially never drink at the bar unless they've got somebody they trust with them, which is usually Jiyu. There's been a couple times that their drinks have been drugged, and they only had to sip one without noticing and be taken to the hospital for Jiyu to keep a closer eye out and smash every other one over the head of whoever spiked it. Give her a couple drinks, and she'll probably fistfight them, too--which has gotten the two of them kicked out of more bars than you can imagine.

Sahvi, aside from often mixing her alcohol consumption with weed, is a pretty standard drinker. She tends to be a flirty, friendly drunk, and because she makes such an effort to put people at ease and not exclude anyone, she gets attention everywhere she goes--especially when she's tipsy enough to tear up the dance floor at the club, since she's a pretty good dancer even when she's a little wobbly. She's the type to come up to you as a complete stranger and tell you you're cute or offer to buy you drinks, and she'll listen intently to whatever you have to say even though she'll forget like half of it by the next morning. And she's definitely down for one night stands if it comes to that, which will probably be one of the more intense if not messier nights of your life.

Adrian is a very mild drinker, mostly for the fact that he wore himself out on the drinking and bar-crawling scene in his twenties and doesn't get the same enjoyment out of it now--plus, it hurts a lot more nowadays. But when he did, he was pretty...out there. He was usually the one who had to be carried home over the shoulder by his guy friends in college, usually while drunkenly singing or babbling things that make him glad that cellphones weren't a big thing then back then. Yuri is very similar; he's got a weak constitution, so he can't handle his alcohol very well--besides, he finds a good glass of wine or champagne is a lot more refined than going out and acting like a fool for the sake of being social.

Kaito drinks very sparingly, pretty much only on special occasions, and has never gotten drunk before. He's a bit turned off by it since he watched his father devolve into alcoholism after his mother's passing, and has mixed feelings about it. Usually he gets sleepy enough with one drink that he doesn't think about having any more anyways, and will head straight for a nap on the rare occasions that he does drink.

Hybrids don't generally have a high tolerance for alcohol, so Suki has only drank once or twice and got so dizzy he hasn't done it since. He vastly prefers coffee and other sweet drinks to alcohol anyways, and he can barely get over the smell itself, much less the taste. But when he does drink even a little bit, it gets him so warm and hyped up it feels like he's in heat, so he might go a little nuts on you if he gets some liquor in his system.

Seiko would not be able to handle herself if she got drunk. Being a prodigy and having such a strict upbringing, she's always been shy around the topic of alcohol and drugs, since her father drilled it into her that giving in to those temptations (including sex and masturbation, but that's a different can of worms) would ultimately destroy her brain, ruin her academic career, and render her worthless in society. So despite the tantalizing rebellion of doing so now that she's out from under her father's thumb, the concept still terrifies her, and she has this idea in her head that if she drinks, she'll lose your love forever and instantly fall to the level of a lump of rubbish on the sidewalk. Which, while obviously being untrue, is a hurdle you'd have to clear before you even get her to touch a sip of alcohol.

Tsung really only drinks under peer pressure, and he's pretty sloppy and clumsy when he goes too far. He'll blurt things out and trip over himself and spill secrets he swore he'd take to the grave, and is generally a mess that makes a fool of himself before he ultimately locks himself in the bathroom for a pretty unpleasant night hunched over the bathtub.

When Thorn drinks, he drinks hard. He's loud, happy, and slurs his words, but he's the life of the party and completely the opposite of the goth aesthetic he likes to maintain. He'll mix drinks of absolute insane alcohol contents and he's known for injecting an unhealthy amount of energy drinks into his liquor to pickle his brain that much more. Shockingly, he doesn't get hangovers that are too bad when compared to his drinking habits, but he also doesn't drink often and saves it for rare occasions when he needs to really let loose.

Blake is probably the most normal drinker out of everyone--he doesn't go too hard, he knows his limits, and he hasn't been blackout drunk since he was a dumb kid getting into trouble just for the sake of feeling alive. He can be collected in a bar environment and is more apt to use the opportunity to scope out potential partners, rather than go crazy on booze and waste his money on drinks he could make better at home. When he is drunk, all he really does is sleep anyways.

Lilith, Ingrid, and Lyza abstain completely from alcohol for a variety of reasons; for Lilith it's mostly just a personal preference, for Ingrid it's probationary reasons, and Lyza's sober and plans to remain so--besides, you wouldn't want to see her drunk, cause her addiction could get pretty ugly. In Ilya's case, he enjoys wine now and again, but he definitely doesn't imbibe in anything harder than that out of his own faith.