#i think being with someone like that would take the pressure off of wyll a little bit

[pinnithin]

yknow i didn't necessarily start my wyll origin run with the intent of romancing astarion in mind but the more i play the more i find their similarities amusing when it comes to like, the surface level personality they present to strangers in act 1.

wyll is a compulsive flirt. you see it in dialogue with shadowheart and lae'zel - he just tosses out a couple lines that clearly aren't supposed to go anywhere (asking lae'zel if she believes in love at first sight, blatantly reusing the same flirtation attempts with shadowheart) and i see this as part of his Blade of Frontiers persona. obviously a traveling vigilante would have no time for romance or relationships, but he's socially aware enough to have learned that people respond well to a certain level of rogueish charm. especially if his reputation precedes him. he can safely and positively engage in surface level flirtations with the people he interacts with because the person doing the flirting isn't real - at least not to him. he often says the Blade is his best self, but to him its an ideal he strives to achieve, not the person he really is. and i imagine that includes the ability to give discouraged people positive attention in a nonthreatening way. its safe. its superficial. he doesn't have to follow through.

this is overshadowed somewhat by astarion's tendency to flirt with anything that has a pulse, but the perspective they both have on it is pretty similar. theyre both coming from a place of not actually being interested in the recipient of their attention - whether that be through astarion's ulterior motives or wyll's lack of capacity for a relationship - but they both still put on this front because it's habitual. it's worked for them and it's gotten them through the varying degrees of social contracts they find themselves in. so they wind up trading lines easily because they've studied from the same script.

anyway what im getting at is bumping these two personalities against each other can definitely result in wyll and astarion committing to the bit so hard they accidentally wind up in a relationship. like, you're safe, you know the rules, you're speaking in a language i'm familiar with but we both understand that neither of us expect anything back on an emotional level. wait when did we start confiding our deepest secrets with one another. what do you mean you trust me.

[andauril]

wip wednesday

@shewhowas39 tagged me so here is a little snippet of the BRAND NEW 1st Chapter of 'Mosaic of Broken Chains' I'm currently working on on the side (it's about 1/3th finished now).

He still couldn’t get the bloody devil out of his head even now, hours later. And for that matter, his travel companions seemed to fare little better with it. He’d overheard them talking, and they had talked about little else. If anything good at come of the entire encounter, it was that no one seemed to remember the boar anymore. Astarion supposed being shadowed by a literal denizen of the hells put any possible vampire threats at the very bottom of the things they were worried about, and he wasn’t about to complain. Or about to remind them of the ‘threat’. Perhaps it would be safe tonight to slink off and try to hunt again. That boar had been old and he was still so hungry … He glared at the tent he was trying to set up. Sleeping in the woods was still a novelty, and no one could expect him to know how to put up an entire tent after only a couple of days. It was better than the kennels, but he still yearned for a real bed. “Do you need help with that?” Silaestra’s wandered over to him and was inspecting his work with a slight tilt of her head. “How … quaint of you to offer, darling, but I have seen you set up yours … I’ll take my chances with someone who actually knows what they’re doing, I think.” He showed her a smirk. “No offense.” “Who says I was offering to do it myself? But I think I could talk Wyll into lending you a hand …” She returned his smirk. “I would’ve done so, but I think now I won’t … No offense.” He laughed at her comeback. “Careful, darling. I may just start to like you.” He held her gaze for a moment, showing her his best smile - careful not to show any fangs. He needed her to like him, after all. And eventually more than simply like him. She was his best bet for an ally, after all. But he couldn’t move too quickly. He needed her to yearn for him first. “Hm … It would be horrible if you did.” But she held his gaze, lips still curled into a playful smile. Then, after a moment, she broke it. “Though not why I wanted to talk to you.” “I’m dissapointed, darling.” He pouted. “It’s the bloody devil trailing after us, is it not? But I’m a little wounded you didn’t ask my opinion on it first.” “You’ll live.” Her tone was dry. “And your opinion does matter to me. Would I be here now talking to you about it if it didn’t?” She frowned. “I can’t say I feel very safe with a cambion on our tail.”

Hmmmm ... who could I tag? @lillotte17 if you have anything to share, no pressure ofc!

[blackjackkent]

Wyll steps forward, crouches down to rest a hand in respect against the dead dragon's massive skull.

As his hand draws close, a sudden flare of white light flickers in the dragon's empty eye socket - then bursts outward like an explosion.

WHAM. The light bursts across Wyll's body, through his head, wrenching him off the ground and onto his back, floating contorted in midair.

Dimly he's aware of Hector screaming his name in alarm, but he can see nothing, feel nothing, he is conscious only of the tremendous presence flooding his mind.

Narrator: The dragon's spirit floods your mind and memory in a great torrent of power. He is with you, he is within you, he *is* you. The next words that spill from your mouth are not yours, but the wyrm's.

"I AM ANSUR. HEART OF THE GATE. BUTCHERED IN FLESH, RISEN IN SPIRIT."

Gods, it hurts... it hurts... He struggles for all the training his father gave him, the soldier's discipline and the leader's awareness and battles for control of his own mind.

Bite back the words that aren't yours.

Narrator: Ansur binds you despite your best efforts - yet thought flows effortlessly between you.

Narrator: The spirit pauses, and you feel the Astral Prism stir. Ansur senses the Emperor's presence within it.

ANSWER ME, FAESSI, the great dragon growls in his mind. WHY HAVE YOU COME?

The pain in his wrenched arms and back is overwhelming but he manages to grip on to the pieces of a response and draw them together into a coherent whole. My father sent me. Duke Ulder Ravengard. We need your help...

Narrator: A deep sigh resonates within you. The torrent stills - only disturbed by the dragon's next words.

VRAK. MY WORDS AREN'T MEANT FOR YOU, the dragon growls. THEY'RE MEANT FOR HIM.

The pain eases, the terrible power gripping him shifting as if to reduce the pressure on his spine. But he is not released, nor does he understand what's going on. At first he thinks the dragon somehow means Hector - but he suspects they may be locked in a moment all their own, and that Hector and the others have no knowledge of what is occurring here at all.

No... the dragon means someone else.

Narrator: The Emperor stirs in the Astral Prism... then in you. Calm, curious, and detached.

Dimly Wyll is aware of the Emperor's presence drifting into being at his side, wreathed in an undulating gold light, a counterpoint to Ansur's blue energy.

The dragon's voice seems to smile coldly. BALDURAN, it says. YOUR PRESENCE HAS STIRRED ME, AS IT EVER DID. I AM AWAKENED.

Ansur, the Emperor answers, its tone unreadable. It's been too long.

(A/N: For those wondering why I am not doing my usual flipping-a-shit about this reveal, I direct you to this post, my greatest victory in the field of deep cut reference spotting, where I worked this out about a month in advance. However, if I had not, I would ABSOLUTELY be losing my mind right now; this is huge.)

Wyll's body writhes with an undirected, desperate squirm; had he control of his face, it would show bewilderment, astonishment.

He called you Balduran? he thinks, and even such a simple thought takes such tremendous effort to formulate under the combined weight of the two personalities clashing in his head.

A name I once answered to, the Emperor answers. Its attention is fully focused on the dragon and very little upon Wyll; it answers almost carelessly. A name I did not expect to hear again, least of all from the mouth of an old friend.

FRIEND, YES, rumbles the dragon. AND MORE. UNTIL YOU KILLED ME. HAVE YOU COME TO DANCE ON MY BONES, BALDURAN? WAS SLAYING ME NOT SATISFACTION ENOUGH?

Wyll can see the Emperor's tentacles twitch out of the corner of his eyes. Satisfaction? the mind flayer answers. No. You left me no choice.

YOU HAD EVERY CHOICE! the dragon thunders. YOU WERE BECOMING ILLITHID. I OFFERED YOU MERCIFUL DEATH. YOU CHOSE TO FIGHT. AND NOW YOU BRING YOUR THRALL BEFORE ME. HOW FAR HAS THE GREAT BALDURAN FALLEN?

It's a good question, and one Wyll would be a lot more interested in the answer to if his brain didn't feel like it was being boiled from the inside out. But he struggles against the pain and the overwhelming forces clashing through his body, and focuses on his own pride, his own person, the will of his father and himself that he means to enact here or die trying.

I am no thrall, Ansur, he cries out mentally, with all the force he can muster. I've come for your aid!

Narrator: Stillness. Ansur's consciousness hovers just above yours, searching, seeing.

Dear Ansur... the Emperor begins, and there's a strange weight to its tone that is puzzling, but there's no time to work it out.

ENOUGH! the dragon roars, with such force that Wyll feels his skull might split apart. I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING, BALDURAN! AND YOU REPAID ME IN SLAUGHTER. IT IS TIME I RETURN THE FAVOR!

Power begins to surge around the great corpse, infusing it with more of that pale blue light.

I AM THE HEART OF THE GATE! Ansur bellows like a thunderclap. I AM THE ONE WHO ROARS! LET MY BONES RISE AND THE STORMS GATHER. WITNESS, BALDURAN - THE FINAL TEMPEST HAS COME! THIS TIME YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE IT!

Wyll's body collapses to the ground. He hears Hector shouting again, feels friendly hands on his shoulders, helping him to his feet. But as he staggers up, his weight slumped into Hector's side, he looks up and sees that the dragon's corpse is moving.

"Oh gods..." Hector whispers. "What happened?"

Wyll pulls his feet under himself desperately, shoving aside the exhaustion and pulling his rapier from its sheath. "Nothing according to plan, that's for sure," he rasps. "And it's that damned illithid's fault."

[missmacfire]

Shipper Tag Game

Tagged by @4typercent Thanks You! ❤️

This got a bit long... Also some questions where a bit odd? But I tried 😄

What ship were you completely obsessed with as a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

Well I didn't really get into shipping until uni, was not really aware of it as a teenager. But one of my earliest ships was Grell x Sebastian and I don't really care for it anymore.

Mostly because I don't really care for Black Butler anymore. The later seasons were bad, and I'm less inclined to look over the problems that were already there from the start.

(A bit sad, there are still good concepts there 😔)

Which ship would you consider your first one?

Not sure, probably Data x Geordi? I strongly remember being obsessed with Data when I first found Star Trek.

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

This one is easier: L x Light from Death Note. (First read)

Do you remember the first couple you saw fan art of?

Absolutely no idea. But the first video edit I saw of a ship was definitely Spock x Kirk.

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse

Probably? I do feel the urge to defend my ships when someone decides they are "problematic"

Oh and I did post hate for that one ship, but I was nice and tagged it with "anti x" and started off my post with "this is anti x, if you like it please keep scrolling" really didn't want to start an argument, I just wanted to rant 😆

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

Yes I do.

Who were the last couple in the last fanfic you read?

Astarion x Gale. I'm loving Astarion x Wyll, Astarion x Gale and Astarion x Halsin at the moment 🥰 Shipping my vampire boy with all the boys.

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

So, so many.

Is there any couple that, to this day, that you are extremely mad about not getting into?

This is such an odd question, what? Why would anyone care about that? Is there something I'm not understanding?

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they're kind of interesting?

There are ships I didn't care about in the original source, but then liked when it got a tv-show? Does that count? For example Dream x Hob and Ishamael x Lews Therin.

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would have been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

I have multiple ships with haters that say they are "problematic" but they have always had haters. 🤷‍♀️ So no?

What is your favourite crack ship?

I don't know, Nigel x Antwan was fun?

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

Probably still Yuri Katsuki x Victor Nikiforov

What do most of your ships have in common?

That they are a bit stupid about realizing they belong together

What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

Het-Ships where the guy just won't take no for an answer. The whole "don't give up eventually she will say yes" is such a bad trope that is way too common.

Like don't get me wrong, I love Darcy x Elizabeth. That someone says no once and then gets to know the other person better and changes their mind can be done well. But so often it is not, and it just looks like he wears her down 🤮

Tagging: @baba-wodnica @ahopefulsun @deaderthandoubledead @ramsaybaggins @idrisstorey @readingtheentrails @the-scarecrowlover @alwaysawkwardd

No pressure 🥰💕