#i think they should be thanes as well!

[ashtonisvibing]

you know you've gotten too invested into the roleplaying aspect of a game when you go on a 3min rant about power imbalance and inequality and how being singled out just because you have some kinda power is a disservice to the other people who helped you in your quest

........

anyways i started playing skyrim cuz it came in today

[hum-tittle]

Here's the order, I think the squadmates would be found if they played hide and seek.

Mordin- He doesn’t hide. He says he wants to study how we all hide and react in a non dangerous but stress inducing situation. But he is actually running several bets against everyone and is keeping track of that data.

Javik- He refuses to hide, he says something about how hiding is weak and he will not practice weakness

Tali- She giggles when playing hide and seek

Grunt- he thought he was hidden well behind the counter but the top of his head is visible

Legion- He definitely would have been higher if his face wasn’t a literal flashlight

It has now been about five minutes.

Jack and Miranda- They both hid in the same closet. They start to argue about who should leave “their” hiding place. They then started throwing things and were quite loud.

James- He self eliminates. He was bored and just wanted to do better than Jack.

Ashley- She also self eliminates to flirt with James

It has now been about 10 minutes since they started

Liara- James sends Gliph to get Liara revealing her location.

Jacob- He was hidden decently it was just where Shepard happened to look

Joker- EDI helped him find a good safe spot before she hid

They’re 20 minutes into the game

Kaiden- He climbed somewhere to hide and Shepard found him while doing that stretch thing they always do.

Zaeed- He fell asleep while hiding and his snoring gave him away.

45 minutes have passed since the beginning

Samara- She felt it would be unfair to use her biotics against non-biotics.

We are now at the hour mark of the game. Javik is getting annoyed and is now determined to help Shepard find the last few.

Garrus- Javick found him. Once Javik started helping, so did everyone else.

Wrex- Is found by Tali in a small compartment. After the genophage cure, he has developed amazing hiding skills. Everyone is still confused how he was able to fit in there.

It has now been an hour and a half with three players not found. They split into teams to find them.

Thane- he is “found” by Grunt and Jack. He heard them talk about their lack of childhood and how they wish they got to experience things like this. He lets them find him.

It has been 2 hours since the start. Shepard suggests giving up and letting EDI and Kasumi win. Javik is enraged he can’t find them. And refuses to give up.

Edi and Kasumi- Javik finally found them after 30 minutes of searching. They were hiding in the same closet Jack and Miranda were in earlier. EDI and Kasumi were working together and knew after the mess Jack and Miranda made no one would think they would be hiding in there. Javik was so annoyed he wanted to play again but with his rules, and he wanted to be the seeker.

[not-today-flah]

How you meet

Vilkas

You walked into Jorrvaskr with hope of joining the Companions. You had already met Aela and Farkas while fighting a giant outside Whiterun. Aela greeted you and told you Kodlaks whereabouts. You were a little nervous about meeting him but you brushed aside your feelings and stepped into the room. You where met by two faces, one curious and the other agitated. You suspected that the older of the two was Kodlak but you had to be sure. “Hi…are you Kodlak?” You ask shyly the younger man rolled his eyes, you shot back a disapproving look. “Of course he’s Kodlak.” The younger scoffs. “And who are you?” You ask, a tinge of sass in your voice. “Vilkas.” He states coolly. You glare at him and he glares back. “What brings a stranger to Jorrvaskr?” Kodlak butts in. “My names Y/N and I’m here to join the companions.“

Ralof

When you met Ralof on the way to Helgen, it was only brief, but you liked him. He had great spirit, and tried to make dark times a little lighter by adding some humour to the situation. There was no time exchanging names properly, there can’t be when there’s a DRAGON attacking. You went with Ralof you wouldn’t go with those damn Imperials. When you both made it out of the keep you followed Ralof to Riverwood where he introduced you to Gerdur his sister. She was very welcoming, she gave you some supplies and access to her home. You were walking to Gerdurs house with Ralof, “You know you should join the fight to free Skyrim, we need people like you.“ Ralof mentioned as you walked, “You really think I should, thanks.” You smile and he beamed back. “I’ll consider it.”

Farkas

You walk on the cobblestone path, making your way to Whitrun. Gurdur sent you to tell the Jarl that Riverwood was in danger of a dragon attack. You walk by a couple buildings, paying no mind to your surroundings until you heard a battle cry coming from one of the farmers fields. Three people were fighting a giant, you race over and draw your bow, hitting it straight in the eye. The giant falls over with a thud and the three people look over at you, ones a woman with long red hair, green war paint, and a bow. She comes up to you, “You handle yourself well, you’d make for a decent shield-sister.” She says. “What’s a shield-sister?” You ask curiously. You feel a gaze on your back and take a quick glance over your shoulder, you catch a very handsome man staring. He looks down and scratches the back of his neck with a light blush dusting his cheeks, you give him a small smile which makes him blush more. After Aela explains what a shield sister is and tells you about the companions, you say your goodbyes and hastily walk to the city. As you walk you smile at you feet at the man named Farkas.

Argis the Bulwark

You step out of the Understone Keep in Markarth as the new Thane of the Reach and as the new Thane you have a knew housecarl. You walk up the stone stairs until you reach your secluded home at the top of a hill. You walk through the doors and instantly feel the comforts of a home. Walking farther into the house you hear a man clear his throat making you jump a little. You had never had a man as a housecarl before, this was going to be interesting. You step into the living room area and are greeted by very muscular man who has a tattoo on the side of his face, his left eye was completely white and had a scar across it. Blind, battle wound probably. He gave a small smile and bowed his head, “Pleasure to meet you my Thane.” He says. “The pleasure is all mine,” I grinned, “and you can just call me (Y/N).” I say. His smile grows, “Okay, (Y/N). My name’s Argis.”

Brynjolf

You needed to buy some supplies from the market in Riften. You knew that Riften wasn't the best place to buy things but it was the closest city. When you got to the market square someone approached you from behind making you jump, you turn around and look up. "Haven't done an honest days work for all that coin you're carrying, eh lass." The red haired man in front of you said. "I'm sorry what?" You blink and dumbly look at your pockets. He chuckles a bit which snaps you out of your confused state. Your gaze turns suspicious when you look at him again. “My wealth is none of your business.” He gave another small laugh at that. He looks pretty ordinary, he’s a Nord with long red hair and a beard. He’s actually quite handsome, and he’s dressed proper so you assume he is of high status in Riften. “Actually it is my business, and, you see, I’m searching for someone to do a certain job.”

[ladytanithia]

WIP whenever tf

I've had practically nothing in progress writing-wise in ages. Lost my mojo. But I'm trying to get back into a groove. Not happy with how I've done BLP so far, so I'm rewriting it, from the beginning, and incorporating Miranja's journal into it.

However, this scene from Out of the Ashes came up in a conversation the other day, and OotA technically still counts as a WIP, since it's not finished (dammit - NONE of the parts of Miranja's story is truly finished!). So I figured what the hell. It's been a long time since I had any writing to share, and this is one of the best scenes to really show how Miranja's mind works. Not even any sex here. <gasp!>

Tagging friends whose writing I've been enjoying whilst not producing anything myself. @dirty-bosmer @lillxart @mareenavee @skyrim-forever @thequeenofthewinter @theoneandonlysemla I hope you enjoy it.

It was just about eight o’clock in the evening when they arrived back in Solitude. Before doing anything else, Miranja went directly to Castle Dour.

Tullius was sitting on the bench in the corner by the enchanting table in the foyer. Miranja had gone straight to the war room looking for him, hadn’t found him, had checked his bedroom, still hadn’t found him, and had backtracked to the front door before he finally spoke to her and drew her attention.

“Looking for me, Auxiliary?”

Surprised, Miranja turned toward the sound of his voice and approached him.

“Yes, sir. Here’s the Jagged Crown. Legate Rikke sent me to deliver it to you.” She handed over the Crown, and Tullius took it and turned it in his hands, examining it with interest as he replied.

“Excellent work, soldier. I have to admit, I had my doubts it even existed. Did you run into any trouble?”

Tears filled Miranja’s eyes, but she kept a stiff upper lip. Teldryn’s hand in the middle of her back certainly helped give her fortitude.

“We lost a lot of good men. I hope it was worth it.” Tullius didn’t need to know that she was also talking about the Stormcloaks who died.

“That’s not for you to decide, soldier. I wouldn’t have sent you in the first place if it wasn’t going to be worth it.”

Miranja’s pride stung at those words, while at the same time, her sense of justice was offended. She was the gods-damned Dragonborn, as well as a Thane in this hold, and she had become largely unaccustomed to people talking down to her. And in her opinion, this stupid war wasn’t worth the loss of ANY people, if you got right down to brass tacks. No one should be dying over what she felt was a deeply personal religious issue. It was tantamount in her mind to killing people for what they did in their own bedrooms.

“You seem to forget who you’re speaking to, General. May I be candid with you, sir?”

“By all means, Auxiliary. Let’s hear it.” There was a challenge in his voice and in the way he jutted out his chin.

“With all due respect, sir, I don’t like you very much.”

“Well, that’s fine,” Tullius replied indifferently. He rose and brushed past her to carry the crown into the war room. “I’m not here to win popularity contests. I’m here to keep the Dominion out of Skyrim, and to quell this dissention.”

Miranja followed him, and Teldryn tagged along quietly behind her. “The Dominion is already in Skyrim, whether you want to admit it or not. I pass Thalmor on the road every day taking Stormcloak prisoners to gods-know-where to do gods-know-what to them. The only reason I don’t kill them is that I don’t want a bounty on my own head.”

“Wise choice,” Tullius acknowledged briefly, but added, “Think what you want, Auxiliary. It could be much worse.”

“I’m sure it could. I just want you to know that I think you’re a cold, insensitive…” She hesitated for a moment, searching for a milder word than ‘asshole.’ “…jerk. I wonder if you have a compassionate bone in your body, and if you really care about the people of Skyrim at all.”

Tullius’ face darkened with anger. “Listen up, Auxiliary. I’m here to do a job. Not that it’s any of your damned business, but I have family back in Cyrodiil who I love and miss terribly. I’ve been in Skyrim longer than I ever wanted to be. I’m doing what I’m paid to do, what I believe is for the greater good in the long run. I hope that’s also what you’re doing, why you joined the Legion in the first place.”

“Of course it is,” Miranja glowered back. “But I’d like to think I’m going about it in a more personal, compassionate way. I’m not sitting in a fancy castle ordering everyone else around. I’m on the ground, learning about the people and helping them in more ways than just killing Stormcloaks and getting Imperial soldiers killed.”

“Well, good for you,” Tullius replied with overt sarcasm. “Imperial Generals don’t have that luxury. I didn’t get to my station in life by being compassionate.”

“That may be so, General, but it’s obvious you’re not particularly happy. And there’s no reason to take it out on others. You chose your path.”

“And you chose yours when you joined the Legion, Auxiliary. You can either follow orders or take up residence in the Solitude prison. Which will it be?”

She was sick of being addressed as a title. “My name is Miranja. Miranja Laurentius. And I will follow orders, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“You’re absolutely right, Miranja. We all have to do things we don’t like to bring about things we do like.” He stopped and regarded her with a scrutinizing look, as Miranja stared back with some surprise at his unknowing echoing of her father’s words.

“You said your name was Laurentius?”

“Yes.” She didn’t bother with the ‘sir.’

“Your father was in the Legion, wasn’t he?”

“Yes… sir.” Where was he going with this?

“Ah, yes, I see the resemblance now. I worked with your father briefly in Hammerfell some twenty-five years or more ago. I remember him because he had the same bleeding heart and lack of respect that you do.”

“I’m proud of my father and his work for the underprivileged,” Miranja said, jutting out her chin as Tullius had earlier. “And both my father and I give respect where it’s due. We just feel morally compelled to point out injustice regardless of who’s perpetrating it, and that includes the Empire.”

“Well, his soft heart is what kept him from advancing past Captain. He could have been a general himself, if he’d been tougher.”

“My father and I don’t measure success by titles and wealth. We measure our riches and our station in life by the happiness we create and the love we give and receive. My father retired a happy, peaceful man, and he’s still bringing joy to those around him and earning respect for his deeds.”

“Well, that’s a heartwarming story, Auxiliary, and your opinions are duly noted, but it’s time we got back to business.”

Miranja heaved a resigned sigh and closed her eyes for a moment, then spoke tiredly. “Very well, sir. What’s next?”

“I need someone I can trust to deliver a message of great import to Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We have it on good authority that Ulfric has raised enough men to attack the city of Whiterun. The Jarl, however, refuses the Legion’s support. This missive should convince him. Be aware, soldier, these documents contain sensitive intelligence for the Jarl’s eyes only.”

Yes, yes, she’d overheard the conversation between Rikke and Tullius when she’d first walked into Castle Dour yesterday. “Of course, General. We may not see eye-to-eye, but we are on the same side, and you can trust me. Balgruuf was one of my first friends when I came to Skyrim. I’ll see this gets delivered.”

“You do that,” Tullius replied, eyeing her thoughtfully. “You’re dismissed.”

Once they were outside, Tel whistled – or tried to, and only partially succeeded with the scarf over his face – and shook his head. “Damn, woman, I can’t believe you spoke to a General like that and didn’t end up in the stockade.”

“Speaking your mind isn’t a crime, Tel, and I didn’t disobey any orders. I asked him for permission to be candid, and I also made sure to include ‘with all due respect.’ My father taught me that. I know when I’m within my rights.”

Teldryn chuckled. “I like a woman with cast iron balls. I bet your dick is bigger than his.”

Miranja grinned and blushed with a mixture of amusement and embarrassment. They were still standing between the door guards, and there was no way the guards hadn’t heard the whole conversation, but they were wisely keeping their mouths shut. She knew the barracks would be abuzz later, though.

“So, what are we going to do with the rest of the evening, boss?”

[orginllazyblog]

Making head canons for my fav afk arena family: Gavus, Eugene, Lucilla, and Liberta

Why? Bc we need more content

Some of the headcanons are inspired by ao3 fics

Psst! Lilith, you can make so much money with this

They went to a different place to rebuild their home instead of going back to their old house in the dark forest in case the other celestials & hypogeans tried to separate them again. They were thinking of moving to the oak inn, but there were some celestials/hypogeans living there, so that plan was scratched.

During the mid-winter festival, the couples game, Eugene used this as an opportunity to confess to Gavus but failed to tell afterwards

For their new house, the twins wanted to do the work while their dads took the time to catch up. In the end, the four of them work together and completed their new house

The twins question their dads, which one was the oldest one. Gavus told them that they were "born" on the same day, while Eugen suggested the twins should do rock-paper-scissor.

Their new house seems small, but when you enter, it's a lot bigger than you expect. The location is unknown.

Eugene is the dad who does the crafting. One of Eugene's crafts for furniture was Gavus couch, the twins bed, a walk-in closet, and lastly, the kitchen table. The rest was bought

Liberta picked a hobby of baking, and Lucilla picked up sports

When it comes to going out as a family, either they tag along with others (Thane and Baden) or stay at home. Gavus and Eugene did teach the twins of self-defense in case they're in big danger.

If there was modern technology like ours, the family would do game night. Such as Let's Dance, Mario Party, Mario Kart, and other competitive games. Gavus and Eugene would have one of those couple fights.

"Pigeonhead! You threw another blue shell at me!"

"And I'll do it again."

"Liberta, let's team up. I got the banna peals ready.

"I got my red shells ready too!"

Back when the twins were children, Gavus and Eugene would take turns to sing them a lullaby. Gavus was surprised by how well Eugene could sing well and almost flustered, which Eugene caught him. 🤨📸

"My my~ Was that a blush I see, Gavus~"

"One word out of your mouth, then you're sleeping on the floor."

How Gavus and Eugene started having feelings for each other was different. Gavus fully started trusting Eugene more even if he's a hypogean. With Eugene, he was touch starve (given the video clip on YouTube), so he misses Gavus warm affection.

That one time when the twins got themselves in big trouble: Liberta and Lucilla began to question if Gavus and Eugene may be more than just friends. So they sneak out to find Estrilla, knowing she might have the answers. And when they got back home, they saw one of the lights on.

"Do you think we're in trouble?"

"I did leave a note saying we will be back."

When they tried to sneak into the house, they saw Gavus in the living room with the lamp on while the living room was dark.

"And where have you two been in this late hour?"

"Um... we went with Daddy Eugene at the grocery store."

Right where Lucilla said that, another lamp light on, which Eugene was folding his arms while being upside down

"Oh?~ But I just went to pick up grocery in the morning, didn't I?"

I'll probably make a small fic here bc of the last headcanon I can see this happening.

Also, does anyone remember that Lilith did afk arena animations. Could Lilith do animations for this new family? They did it with the forsaken family: Shemira, Niru, and Daimon

[pinessydr]

tagged by @illumiera last week and ready to answer this week question. Thank you! Topic: This week, Sujamma wants to know about YOUR OC's special someone. What makes their relationship special? How did they meet? Were they enemies to lovers? Lovers to enemies? Lovers AND Enemies? Are they romantic or platonic? What's their favorite way to cuddle? Favorite date night? Anything and everything you can think of 💕

It may not be an obvious choice, but I would like to tell you about Nakhkriin and Alduin. The first time they met was during the selection of the next priest for Skuldafn when the previous one died of illness. In my headcanon, the procedure for Skuldafn is different from the others because here, the priest is chosen by Alduin himself. In contrast, in all other temples, he simply looks at the choices that the Council has already made to not disturb him. No one knows exactly what motivates Alduin and how to win his sympathy, so Nahkriin had no expectations and was surprised to make it to the “final stage”. But Alduin said he was "curious". And that's how his life in Skuldafn began.

This event was preceded by their needs. Alduin is eternal, he has destroyed the world many times and seen its beginning. When the day of the Devouring comes, he gains strength and loses all attachments and emotions to complete the cycle. It is inevitable. But while the kalpa continues, he explores the world he is supposed to destroy and tries to better understand why Shore gives her heart repeatedly. Life and death don't matter to him, but he does wonder why they matter to others.

Nahkriin is an ex-slave. His circumstances were so difficult that one day he realized he could not remember a good event in his life. He was ready to end it all and attempted suicide but was saved by Krosis. Looking into his mind, Alduin saw this despair in the past, but he also saw that at their meeting, Nahkriin sincerely loved life with all the problems and injustice. He was also a martial artist who did not hesitate to kill, but also a healer who made every effort to save.

So, yes, Alduin was curious why. Skuldafn became the first place where Nahkriin really felt at home. He got along well with dragons because, unlike people, they had never hurt him before. He is proud to be a servant, not a slave (in Skyrim's political tradition, housecarl and thane are bonded by trust and respect, and his responsibilities are very close to housecarl's). He also... likes to be special for the first time in his life. Alduin still doesn't understand mortals, but he believes that Nahkriin should at least be satisfied because, otherwise, it would dishonor him as a patron. He likes to learn, for example, why Nahkriin cares about roses when they'll wither anyway and project it to the entire world. He knows Nahkriin will die one day and fulfills his requests, as he is his first personal priest who dares to ask for something. And the first one to allow himself to touch his scales delicately, which, by the way, is pleasant. Their relationship is strange and difficult to characterize in one word. They are still master and servant, god and a priest, but sitting in the rose garden, they sometimes, without knowing it, reveal the secrets of the universe to each other.

[lillxart]

Sujamma Sundas!

Thank you for the tag, @dirty-bosmer !

I know most people are busy doing things rn so I won't tag anybody this week, but next week I'll shell out all my tags! >:3

I'm not sure where I'm going to put this snip snip, maybe in 'The Dragonborn and the Justiciar' (or however I title the fic) where Snow White and Ondolemar get together. For context, Snow White's started the Forsworn questline. Suddenly she's asked to attend a meeting with the town's officials about the Silverblood Mine's security, and she starts bellyaching about it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Snow White starts banging her fists onto the ground while flailing her legs around. Throwing a proper fit on the cold stone floor. “I don’t wanna I don’t wanna I don’t wanna I don’t wanna I DON’T WANNAAAAAAA! >O<”

Ondolemar waits until she tuckers herself out and her face turns blue. When she starts wheezing and stops moving her arms and legs he rises from his stone desk and neatly puts his reports to the side. “Well, given at how you’re the Thane of the hold you don’t have much of a choice.” In truth, a part of Ondolemar is glad she was going to be there. Those kinds of meetings were absolutely insufferable and he hated them down to his marrow. The only reason why Ondolemar is forced to attend them is so Jarl Igmund can lord it over his head that the Thalmor’s presence contributes nothing of value to the city. But Snow White would make it bearable for him, she has a habit of relaxing him whenever she was near. While it is selfish of him to wish her by his side despite her disdain, never let it be said no one in love was ever not selfish. 

“Mmmmm… >-<” Snow White continues to whine about it, smoke already coming out of her ears imagining how she’d even begin to speak at a gathering like that. She’s not some fancy delegate! What is she going to say if they ask for her opinion??

“Words, my love. It’s important to vocalize your thoughts at times like these.” Ondolemar reminds her. 

Right… “It’s just… I’m…not… ;w; I’m not good with my words…”

“Your written essays and other scholarly documents related to anything arcane or alchemical are beautifully constructed. You can have a silver tongue when you put your mind to it.” She's schemed against him, after all.

“But it’s easier with stuff I care about. I don’t care about all that stuff they’re going to be talking about… ~-~;” She rolls over onto her back. 

Ondolemar chuckles and moves his chair out a bit, properly facing her. He haughtily smirks, prideful of his own accomplishment in this area. “One of life’s most valuable assets is to learn how to feign interest. Speechcraft and body language are just as powerful a weapon as an ax or sword. I know for a fact you can be well spoken. You just need to concentrate and articulate your point in a way that sounds agreeable to them, or parrot what they’re saying in a way that sounds contributory.” Snow White scrunches her face up and puffs her cheeks until her face goes red, Ondolemar rolls his eyes. “It’s impossible for you to concentrate on what you’re going to say until you’re actually at the meeting, dearest. And don’t hold your breath when you think.”

“PHFAA–! >O<” Snow White releases the breath she was holding. “;~; I’m sorry.” 

Ondolemar chuckles at her impishness. “I thought you’d be relatively invested in the Silver-Bloods? Considering their conflict with Forsworn. I thought you might take the opportunity to learn a little bit about them and perhaps use their lapse in security to your advantage.”  

While Ondolemar brings up a pretty good point, sitting through a meeting discussing their prisoner security doesn’t seem too valuable in terms of learning about any weaknesses the Forsworn might exploit. Or any weaknesses that might lead to a compromise, that too. Compromise should always be the goal. “S’tupid.” She folds her arms and pouts. 

“My dear, believe me when I tell you never to underestimate the value of listening in on even the most humdrum seeming of conversations. Opportunity is to be had everywhere, you’d do your best not to waste the privileges of Thane you’ve been given.” Ondolemar lectures. 

“Ok! 0p0 If you say so! I’ll go to the meeting and I’ll do my best to listen.” Satisfied, Ondolemar stands and places one arm underneath her legs with the other on the small of her back, picking her up. “Weeeee!~ >w<” She giggles. 

Ondolemar smiles, despite his urge to remain smug. “We’ve both been doing enough thinking for today, yes? I believe it's time we focus our attention on pleasure rather than business, don’t you agree?~”

[jobrrr]

I don't get it because when Rae gave Claire the amulet Claire was confused because she believed Rae truly has feelings for her but in this week's episode she's back to not believing it?

Hi, thanks for the ask anon. Happy to provide my take. Hope you're ready for a long post.

I guess we have to start with how our two girls are flawed as characters. Claire has two big things that she has to work through. First she lives in a pretty rigid world, and she has been raised a noble, and is expected to act like a noble. While she has a high standard for what she thinks a noble should be, this world view has only started to be challenged and her truths aren't really being truths anymore. When Matt the commoner got badly hurt by Yu’s attendant and she saw how that unfolded the cracks started to form. To her that was wrong, nothing about that should have happened like that but it did. I’ll be spoiler light to start, but going forward her assumptions about a lot of things are going to be challenged and change doesn’t happen overnight. So what does this mean for Rae and her? Well in short they are incompatible in her mind, and even if she wanted something, that doesn’t matter because she has to be a proper noble and proper nobles do not get together with commoners. Factor into that that she has expected that she will do what a proper noble lady will do, and that is to marry a proper noble man. As I mentioned before Claire holds the idea of being a noble to a very high standard, to her it’s an important role and carries a lot of responsibility and she puts a lot of her self worth into the idea.

So we get this line, ‘I’m me and you’re you. I’m a noble and you’re a commoner. Nothing more, nothing less.” Honestly I love this line, cause it's why Claire is tragic. She won't allow herself to act on her wants, and the thing is, even if it takes her a while to come to terms with it. She does want Rae. It’s why she never lets the amulet go, and we will see it again. There is a reason it's part of the closing credits. 

Now secondly, and this sort of feeds into the previous point, a part of Claire believes she can not be loved, and that she deserves it. She does not think that love fits into the ideal of a Noble, and while she gushed at Thane at first, I think that it mostly because she was acting in a way that she thought she was expected to. She is a very high ranking noble, and so she should aspire to the best wife possible. I’m not saying she didn’t have a crush on, but I do think these expectations she placed on herself put a lot of weight into that crush, and if we pay attention to what’s going on between these two? Thane spoke against his father to help them in court and save Lene’s life. Afterwards what did she do? She was with Rae, they celebrated and she never brought him up. As we saw in her flashback, Claire lost her mother at a very young age, and the last thing she told her mother was that she hated her. This is the root for her self value, and when Lene is exiled it’s like opening an old wound for her. Claire thinks she is unkind and unlovable.

This is a huge source of self doubt for Claire, and there is a part of her that thinks she will drive away everyone in her life. There is a part of her that blames herself for Lene leaving, that if she had paid more attention, tried harder, been better things would have turned out better. So how does Rae factor into this? Terrible, at least from Claire’s initial perspective. Rae comes in, being incredibly silly, and spouting what’s to her is nonsense, about being in love with her. It puts her guards up because she has this self doubt, she thinks she is being played, used. It doesn’t help when Rae seemingly changes her father’s mind by dropping a single name. And it really doesn’t help that Rae never explains anything to her and so rarely acts genuine. Claire is perceptive, she knows how to read people and play the social scene. We see it when she comes to Rae’s rescue in the cafe. She knows something is up with Rae, and she isn’t going to figure it out until Rae tells her.

So let's talk about Rae now. Rae, narratively speaking is misleading, from the beginning she set the expectation that this is going to be silly, as a series (and it is) but then we get more serious moments, like Misha asking if she is gay and then we start to see the depth to her. So We have this moment.

In the manga Rae doesn’t explain anything in the moment to Claire, outside of saying she is her guiding light. She doesn’t want anything from Claire expect for to be happy. In the Anime she still doesn’t explain everything but she does say a lot more, and if I’m being frank I think it runs against why it works. Without Rae’s explanation, it keeps Rae a mystery to Claire, hard to pin down and potentially dangerous, no matter how alluring or happy she makes her. And I think this is what makes a lot of Manaria, and the Scale of Love arc work so well.

Rae’s flaws mirror’s Claire’s. She doesn’t think Claire can love her, and it’s why she acts the way she does. She is ultimately avoiding being hurt, Rae is a silly person, but she acts it up and she acts it up a lot. She makes her love for Claire seem like a joke. Because if it’s a joke, then the appropriate reaction is to just laugh and not think about it. Claire will of course reject her because she was never being serious. And this way she won't reject her for real. Because that would hurt too much. Driving Claire away for real is the worst thing that could happen in Rae’s mind.

Also like Claire, her world view and assumptions are working against her. Rae grew up being gay in highschool in Japan. It’s something she talks about later and we won't see it animated unless there is a season 2, but it wasn't a great experience and she is carrying a bunch of her own baggage from Japan. She wants a relationship with Claire, but in her mind that is impossible.

And Rae’s knowledge of the world as a game is working against her for this. She is making huge assumptions about Claire because she thinks she knows everything about her, she even claims to know more about the game then the game devs do. The worst assumption is that Claire is straight, and that Claire will be happy with Thane.

These flaws are the friction in the relationship, and it’s as they both unpack and untether themselves from those flaws, their relationship grows. We have had stirrings in Claire up to this point, but to her Rae’s flaws are making it hard for her to trust her, and coming up in this arc we are going to see Rae have to start to confront her own flaws.

Before Manaria shows up, Rae is stuck in this limbo. She thinks she is happy to be around Claire, and to take care of her but it’s not going great. Lene is gone and it’s been hard on Claire. Rae is trying to use her usual methods to cheer up Claire but it’s not really working. I think this addition from the anime is stellar actually. Lindsay Sheppard nails it in the English version. 

It’s said in such a fond way, but it’s solemn. She wants Rae around, but she does not see how it can ever happen. A part of her thinks that whatever relationship she has with Rae, is doomed to end just like Lene, and her mother.

So enters Manaria. God Rae needs a kick and pants and Manaria is here to do that. Rae needs to grow for the things to happen and this is probably one of my favorite parts of the series.

That made sense right? I hope this makes sense, honestly these two have been living in head so much that last couple months.

[ourlittleforever]

Gifts Given

It's the night before Christmas, and Xander has a gift for Millie.

610 words, rated G

Shameless self indulgent holiday fluff <333

Soft instrumental music filled the living room, the phonograph’s needle adding a pleasant bassline hum to the song; warm light ebbed from the fireplace, dancing across the Christmas tree and presents. Millie hung up the last stocking – one for her father, Grezzo. She smoothed out a wrinkle in the fabric. It was still so strange to think of the old merchant as her father, considering she’d only found out her parentage in the last few months. 

Grezzo was coming up to visit Millie and Xander for Christmas the next day. Xander had opted not to take Millie to his family’s estate; he’d said that while his family was eager to meet his new wife, they were maybe a little too eager and might overwhelm Millie. 

He was reading a letter from his youngest sister, Tiffany, now. Xander sighed affectionately as he digested the note’s contents. “Please tell Millie I’m very excited to meet her. I will be the best little sister-in-law she’s ever had. Better than Abby will be. I already made friendship bracelets for us,” he read aloud. “God. They’re going to jump you when we get there.” 

Millie grinned. “I’ve never had so many people excited to see me.” 

She turned to watch Xander set the letter down, then take a sip of his bourbon. The glow of the fireplace set his auburn hair alight. Xander rubbed his scruffy face (Millie asked him to hold off on shaving until the day Grezzo would arrive – he was so handsome with all that stubble…) and patted his lap. “C’mere, pretty girl.”

Millie sat on his good leg, leaning against him. The phonograph looped, the song starting over and lulling Millie into a comfortable, warm, sleepy feeling. She laid a hand on his chest; she could feel the thrum of his heartbeat under her fingers. Her eyes drifted closed. She could fall asleep right there…

“I have something for you,” he murmured, kissing her forehead. He opened up a drawer in the side table and pulled out a tiny box, wrapped in blue paper with a silver ribbon. “Go ahead and open it.”

“It’s not Christmas yet,” she replied sleepily.

“Consider this an early gift, sweetpea.” He handed her the box. 

Millie took the gift and inspected the label. To: My Dear Mrs. Thane. She couldn’t suppress her drowsy giggle. “Feels weird to be a Mrs.,” she commented, running her thumb over the label. “I like it.”

“I like it, too.” Xander nuzzled against her. 

Millie could sense his anticipation, so she tore into the paper, then opened the box. “Oh!”

Inside was a set of two rings: one was a simple silver band; the other had a gorgeous light pink gemstone and a few small white stones on either side of it. Xander kissed her cheek. “May I, my little love?”

“Xanderrrrr!” Millie laughed as he kissed her hand then slipped the rings on. “Why two?”

“Well, I didn’t – couldn’t – get you an engagement ring, and I hadn’t gotten you a wedding band before we went to the courthouse. I figured you should have both. These slot together – see?” He took Millie’s hand and kissed it again. “It’s morganite. The jeweler said it means we’ll be happy forever. Not that we needed a rock to tell us that. And I’m sure Grezzo’ll be happy I actually have a ring for you.” Xander chuckled as he watched her examine the rings closely. “You like them?”

“Oh, Xander… I love them.” Millie sniffled. “You’re too good to me.” She kissed him, smiling against his lips. 

“Merry Christmas, baby.”

She hugged him tight, kissing all over his stubbly face, making him laugh. “Merry Christmas.”

[admirelight]

Thane and Samara should have interacted more often in ME2 and ME3, at LEAST as friends, if not more, especially if Shepard didn't pursue either.

No way Thane wouldn't see Samara as a Siha, and Samara finding comfort in someone experiencing similar end of life aging, and child raring regrets.

The two companions soaked in their comfortable silence. Eyes closed until Samara caught a hitch in Thane's breathing. It brought her back to the ship, on the hard ground, under the infinite void and uncountable stars. A well-known bittersweet feeling invaded her heart and clouded her thoughts. She knew that soon, she would no longer have this shared tranquility.

"I never thought I would find such familiar company in the vastness of space. My code never permits time for such peace...thank you." Her dark blue lips push for a smile as her piercing eyes gleam toward him with serendipitous joy.

"I've wallowed in my battle sleep for ten years, Samara... Siha...it has left me cold and empty. I had considered myself already dead. But when I hear the sound of your heart, I am reminded that my own still beats... I believe this thanks is mine." He holds her stare, studying the moment as if to capture it forever. He gives a smile back to her and moves his hand to hold hers, covering it as an act of protection from the sorrow that is soon to befall them. They both returned to their quiet meditation, hand in hand.

Friendship? Love? The two did not care to label this feeling. They had no time to worry about trivial issues, not when they could bask in the warmth of each other, for soon will come, but it wasn't here today.

Samara would visit him in the hospital (this is where Shepard would meet them both for the first time in ME3) and even rushes to the hospital at his request as he dies to Kai-Lang. You will see her at the temple later after saving her child, and she will lemant not killing Kai-lang for Thane, whispers that the sea calls to her, promising respite from the terrible demand of her code. Her hand trembles ever so slightly as she brings death near her temple, finger clinging to the only solution she can think of... but you save her from herself. Your friend almost breaks down in tears. As you explain, she doesn't have to, Thane and her children wouldn't want her to do this either. Her daughter steps forward to express her intentions of staying, and Samara is embraced by her offspring. She prays to Shepard for shaking her beliefs ever so slightly and to Thane for offering a place of peace as she silencely recalls his prayer for her.

Liara finds emails between the two, a few letters, speaking about their children, the trip on earth where she "happened" to have work. A final letter Thane sent to Samara (it is similar to the one Shepard gets) and the one she tries to send back.

"No matter how dearly I held my code, and think of its importance. I dream of my daughters, of you, and my chest hurts with a wish that I had held you all much closer than that..."

[wildshona]

Sisters

OK so finally the post about Amelia and Zoe arriving. Chris and I picked them up from Heathrow and brought them home. They had a few suitcases and there is some stuff that Richard had come over to go into storage - stuff from her old house.

It was the first time I had met Zoe, she's a cutie. Very quiet and shy - well, she's been living with my dad you wouldn't expect her to be noisy and expressive. Polite too and you would expect that. She was tired and so was Amelia who stood there in a mid calf level pastel blue dress that looked as though it was out of a wholesome American movie about nice families in the 1950s. When I last saw her - when she was 18 - she wore what every other girl that age wore.

Anyway, we got home and we showed them where they were to stay. Amelia got the room with the big bed and the whole wall of mirrors which she was too tired to comment on and Zoe got the other guest room which also has a double bed which she looked at no doubt thinking thats a lot of space. We had put some toys and stuff in there and some child sized furniture.

Did they want to eat? Amelia said she would but the thought Zoe should go to sleep. So we left them to get her into bed and Chris got some eggs and bacon going and sone cereal.

Amelia cam eout and ate and in between kept thaning us and burtsing into tears again - there had been tears at the airport - so I burst into tears again.

Then she went to bed.

Chris and i went on with our day. He has this big meeting coming up in Berlin about Europe in a new second Trump world so he had work to do. I went back to bed for a bit and fingered myself to sleep. I hadn't slept much the night before.

A few hours later Zoe emerges and Chris wakes me up. I forget myself and walk into the lounge naked. Zoe didn't comment but Amelia ddi. Chris had woken her up to. That is when Chris told her that I could wear what I liked or nothing at all if I liked as it was my home.

Amelia's head went down and she meekly apologised. She was wearing a nightie and this was my second clothing surprise. It was much sexier than I thought it would be. I mean it came down to the floor but it was pretty transparent. Her nipples were obvious and it was clear she now shaved her cunt which she didnt when she was 18 cos thats what sluts did not good wives.

There was clearly a much bigger story going on. Anyway Zoe got fed and I went and put some clothes on - no point in making it awkward. Just a mini and tee. normal stuff. Amelia got Zoe out of her jim-jams (pyjamas to you) and into day clothes and she changed back into Mrs Mid West 1950s clothes and the day started though it was afternoon now. Zoe was sortd with picture books and colouring and toys and seemed happy enough.

Amelia sat on the sofa with me, threw her arms round me and burst into tears again . Then came THE APOLOGY.

The apologyy was a surprise. No she wasn't apologising cos dad had been a bastard and she had taken his side or the fact that she had probably been happy that i got the heavy treatment when we were growing up so she got the light treatment.

She was apologising thatshe had accused me of causing her to run off and daddy killing himself which she had done on the phone a number of times. She now saw things differently. That she wasn't being treated differently cos i wasn't there to be his slut but because of the new friends he made when he moved to the States.

When we had lived near Oxford he had gone to the local Anglican church - all very normal and mainstream if you like that sort of thing. In Virginia he joined a happy clappy evangelical church with a definite segregation of women and men. The roles almost exactly fitted my dad's map of the world - dominant men who made all the decisions and women who did what they were told.

The difference in outlook was that there wasn't a slut/whore role outside of that. A seperate role, my role. If a man wanted his wife to be sexy and do the more "frowned on things" in the privacy of their homes then that was the way that God had meant it to be.

So daddy startde to buy Amelis sexier underwear and night dresses whic she wore in the house and sometimes underher respectable clothes when they were out tho never at church. He also bought her mini skirts and tight tops which she wore without a bra. Those were only for wearing in the house and if there was a casual knock on the door she had to make herself scarce. When his new buddies came round to watch sports and she was required to get the food and drinks served - even then she wore the sexy slutty stuff so that daddy could show he had an obedient wife. Of course they didn't touch her but they talked about her as if she wasn't there and asked if she did this or that in bed.

And she was having to do more. Now she was regularly sucking him off and having to swallow cum. Now the fucking had become more varied like it had been with me - more positions. He called her names when he was in bed and had started to slap her. He had even talked about fucking her arse tho he hadnt done that yet.

If she protested and wanted to know why he was treating her like a slut - my role_ he slapped and said he was his wife and would do what he said ad God ordained.

He had even said that if he wanted her to lie with his friends she would do it. Not that he had.

She had blamed this on me but she has had a lot of time to think.

Anyway, that cleared a lot of air. She still calls me slut every so often but she uses is it to mean Shona - old brainwashing dies hard.

She has been amazed by what people wear her. I mean she's 22 ans shes dressing like she s 60. So I guess there will be shopping expeditions.

Yesterday Chris took her to an appointment with Toni to get her and Zoe checked up and registered with a GP so that was good and they are fit and healthy apparently tho blood tests will take a week. AS Chris is going away this weekend Toni has invited us over on Saturday to use the pool so we have to get Zoe a swim suit and arm bands or something and it seems Amelia doesn't have a swimsuit. Hehe.

I think that's enough for now.

[her-gracious-lady-herald-bits1]

Prompt: time your oc hurt someone

Setting: pre-dragon age origins

---

Her hands won’t stop bloody shaking.

She’s been trailing the shem guard-Sergeant for weeks now, learning his habits—when he drinks, where he pisses, how he stumbles home through the warehouse district thinking he owns every sodding shadow.

Tonight’s different. Tonight, Kallian’s got her mum’s daggers strapped to her hips, and her heart’s hammering so hard against her ribs it makes her want to laugh or vomit or both.

She’s about to kill her first shem. Proper kill him, like. Not just nick his purse or stick him enough to run away. The thought should frighten her more than it does.

(Three strikes, Kalli.) Her mum's words feel bitter on her tongue. (One to stagger, one to bleed, one to finish.) But Adaia never taught her how to murder. Self-defense, aye. How to cut a purse, sure. How to make shems think twice before grabbing at an elf girl—that was lesson one through bloody fifty. But this? This is something else entirely.

He comes stumbling round the corner, swaying like a tree about to topple, using the wall for balance. Marcus Thane. Guard-Sergeant. Not a demon, not even a monster. Just a sodding man. The kind of man who’d break an elf girl’s fingers in the markets for daring to lift a pouch. The kind of man who’d cut her mum down when she came charging to save her with blades drawn. Just another drunk shem staggering home too late, too stupid to think he’s walking into a right bloody reckoning.

Her fingers tighten around the daggers. Familiar as breathing, these blades. Been practicing with ’em since she was tall enough to reach the kitchen table. Now they’re gonna taste shem blood for the first time since—

(Since.)

"Oi! You sodding murderer!"

The words tear out of her before she means them to. Stupid. Should’ve just stuck him in the back and been done with it. But some part of her needs him to know. Needs him to understand exactly why he’s dying in this piss-stained alley.

He turns, nearly losing his footing. Recognition flickers in his drunken eyes. Then a furrowed brow. "The knife-ear kid..." he mutters, voice low. like he’s struggling to place her.

The words twist something deep in her gut. She steps forward. "Her name was Adaia.” Her voice wavers, too high, too tight. "Say it. Say her fucking name."

"Yeah, I know the name." He squints at her, swaying. "She pulled steel on us, girl. Damn near carved up Jonas before we had her down. She brought it on herself."

The rage hits so hard she can taste it, sharp and metallic like copper on her tongue. He doesn’t even remember properly.

(He bloody well will)

"She was protecting me," she spits. "You broke my fingers, you twat. She came for you because of me!"

He doesn’t even flinch. His hand brushes toward the sword at his belt. "That it? This about revenge, then?" He laughs, a low, mirthless sound, and steadies himself against the wall. "Think you’re the first to lose someone? Just trying to do my job, girl."

The blade is in her hand before he finishes the sentence.

The first cut slices across his sword arm. Not deep enough. Not nearly deep enough. He roars, swings wild, but she’s already dancing back. Another slash opens his thigh, and he stumbles, blood pooling black in the moonlight.

Could end it now. Should end it now. But the rage is screaming in her ears, louder than the night watch in the distance, louder than her mum’s voice whispering (quick and quiet, Kalli.)

"Fight proper, you little cunt!"* He charges like a drunk bull.

She sidesteps, hamstrings him. He collapses hard, sword clattering from his grip.

"Like you fought my mum proper?" Another cut. Another. She’s making patterns in his flesh now. "Like you gave her a bastard chance?"

"Please—"* His voice cracks, thick with panic. "I got kids—"

Her dagger stills for a moment.

"So did she!" The words rip from her throat, raw and burning. *"She had me! She had—"

Her hands tremble. The blade wavers. And Marcus is sobbing now, crawling, bleeding.

(End it, Kalli. End it now.)

She tries to find his heart, like mum taught her, but her hands are slippery with his blood, and he won’t stop making those horrible sounds and—

"Shut up!" She can’t tell if she’s screaming at him or herself. "Just shut up shut up shut—"

It takes three tries to finally do it. Three more sickening thrusts, the blade sinking deep, his body convulsing, going limp. She stands over him, breathing hard, watching the thing that used to be a man, used to be a killer, used to be—

The night watch’s distant calls snap her back. She runs. She flees. Whatever you call it when your legs move but your mind stays behind in a piss-stained alley with the first person you’ve ever killed.

Spends hours scrubbing blood from under her nails, watching pink water stain the basin before tipping it out.

Victory tastes like bile and copper. Justice feels like hands that won’t stop shaking, no matter how hard she scrubs them clean.

Her mum’s voice echoes in her head: (Quick and quiet, Kalli.)

But she wasn’t quick enough. Wasn’t quiet enough. Wasn’t enough to save her mum, and now she’s not even enough to properly avenge her.

Just another knife-ear kid playing at justice in the dark, learning the hard way that some stains don’t wash off.

No matter how hard you scrub.

Her hands won’t stop bloody shaking.

---

[annabthesolitarywriter]

✍️✍️✍️

(I cheated and now you have to pick 3 bwahahahaha)

Thank you for the ask! It took me a long time to pick them, but I have my three characters at last! I'm going to talk about Hilde (Rohirrim OC), Lóthuil and Meleril (Gondorian OCs; youngest daughters of Aragorn and Arwen. Their older sister Gilraen appears in my Gaps and Ghosts one-shot for Tolkien OC Week 2024)

Hilde

She's not of noble origin and is native of Rohan. She spent her early childhood in the Westfold (she was born there) and, although she never had a title, she was not always poor. She comes from a family of traders—they primarily traded horses, but also clothes, barley and other items—and they used to be “rich” compared to their neighbors. That was before the War of the Ring, when Saruman’s forces as well as Dunlendings attacked and burned the Westfold. Her family lost everything—I headcanon that those who are not nobles live together in the same house like a big family and support one another unconditionally in whatever someone might need—and Hilde’s grandparents died trying to save their possessions. All of their children died (they had five children total) except for Hilde’s father, who was a child of ten at the time (roughly around TA 3018/3019). Settlements in the Westfold were eventually rebuild once Éomer became King and Hilde's father served Grimbold, Thane of Grimslade, for a time. Grimbold gave him a place to stay in his manor and paid him a weekly salary of ten coins. As a result, he amassed quite a bit of money and, at the end of his service to Grimbold, he had amassed quite a bit of money. He was then able to leave the Westfold to settle in Aldburg, capital of the Eastfold and former capital of Rohan. He found himself a decent house—not a mansion or anything, but still, a nice little house with all that he needed to live comfortably—and, a few years later, he found himself a wife as well. Unfortunately his wife was a beautiful as she was inconsiderate and shallow and spent all of her husband’s money while he was away. (This happened roughly around FoA 9 when Éomer and Aragorn and their armies where busy subduing the Haradrim. I headcanon it was no major battle or anything, but everyone thought a major conflict would erupt, so everyone who could wield weapons was summoned to join the army). When Hilde's father returned home, he quickly found he no longer had money and, of course, things between him and his wife were never the same again. He did not divorce her (I don't even know if divorce exists in Rohan, I should look it up), but they were only married in name. Hilde’s dad started working as an assistant blacksmith and, although it was hard at first since he knew nothing of the craft, he quickly learned the basics and, overtime, he became quite good at it. He also decided to resume what had been his family's business for generations—trading horses. He thus found a way to make money again; money which he promptly hid from his wife. They were no longer on speaking terms and he often spent his nights at the blacksmith workshop to avoid being with her. The hostility continued until she got sick a few years later. Out of pity, he decided to sort of rekindle their relationship and took care of her until she got better. Hilde was at last born in FoA 17. With her mom fully recovered and quite a bit of money coming in (and somewhat of a repaired relationship), they started to act like a normal family and had quite a happy life for a few years. The money and other valuables and most things still remained hidden—I think Hilde's mom was actually kleptomaniac, it's just that her illness was not known in Rohan….for obvious reasons—but they found a way to make their relationship work (mostly for the sake of their child, but also for themselves).

It seems like they got their happy ending, right? Well,…not exactly. They had a few happy years before Hilde’s dad died. Shortly before his passing, he had decided to tell his wife where he kept his money trusting that she would use it to take care of the house and of her daughter. She promised to do so and tried to abide by her promise, but she soon went back to her old ways and squandered all the money again (this time, out of sadness rather than selfishness…I mean, it’s still a bit selfish, but I think she tried to forget about her pain by spending and buying as much stuff as she could. Useless stuff, mostly). Seeing how irresponsible her mother was, Hilde decided pretty early on that she had to earn her own money if she hoped to survive—her mom mostly bought random, useless stuff instead of, you know…food, water, utilities…that kind of irrelevant stuff no one cares about—and started working as a cleaning lady for highborn people. Her mother died at some point, but the two of them were never really close as she blamed her for her misfortune and for her father's death. She basically just paid the funeral expenses and that was it, I am not even sure she attended the funeral. Probably not, though. After a few years of cleaning mansions and places belonging to nobles, she was recommended to Éomer. She was pretty famous among people attending banquets at Edoras and someone in Éomer’s inner circle mentioned her name. A few weeks later she was officially summoned to Edoras and started working there, cleaning floors, helping in the kitchen and occasionally serving meals.

Now, time-skip to FoA 39.

Wyn is in Pelargir visiting Anárion and keeps talking to him about Rohan and the fact that she wants to visit her grandmother's country. Anárion at first tries to dissuade her—he knows their mom will never give them permission to go and he also knows Eönwë doesn't want to get involved in personal things of this kind—but then he reluctantly agrees to take her to Edoras. He has to ask his grandfather for information because he barely knows where Rohan is and has him write a letter to Éomer announcing their visit. I sort of imagine Éomer going like “oh, yes, my sister's grandchildren…how many are they and what do they look like?” and Lothíriel being like “I have absolutely no idea”. That's funny to me. A few weeks later they receive a letter saying that they're welcome to visit if they wish and a few days/weeks later, they finally get to Edoras. Lothíriel hosts a welcome dinner and Hilde is there serving meals. That's when Anárion first sees her and he's immediately attracted to her. Enna has tried in vain to set him up with a Gondorian lady of her choosing (one of the many girls at her “finishing schools”) but Anárion is not really interested. She's not ugly or rude in any way, but he makes it pretty clear he doesn't want to marry her. He sees Hilde and he's immediately drawn to her, but he's kind of disappointed when he realizes she doesn't speak Westron. She only knows a few words she overhead from other people, but, due to her circumstances, she could never afford to get an education and knows nothing about what lies beyond the borders of Rohan. She is not familiar with most places in Rohan either, actually. She's never had a chance to travel so her knowledge about basically everything around her is…extremely limited. Anárion tries to talk to her, but the minute he does, she burts into tears and runs away, hiding in the stables. She spends the night there and the following morning she is back at work. Anárion and Wyn stay in Rohan for about a month—his grandfather is the only one to know that they're not in Pelargir—and Anárion tries several times to start a conversation with her.

Éomer has noticed his interest in Hilde and teaches him a few basic sentences in Rohirric (or is it Rohanese?) so that he can at least explain who he is. Anárion writes them down and practices in his room that very night, but, when she shows up, he gets nervous and just ignores her. He has to read the sentences off his piece of parchment to actually speak to her and, when he tries to do so a few days later, she just frowns and looks around. He thinks he's hopeless and leaves her alone. Wyn sort of ships them already though and tries to help. She asks Lothíriel for help and learns a few other sentences on her own before she visits her in the kitchen. Hilde is washing dishes and sweeping floors when Wyn sneaks up on her and nearly gets hit in the head. Hilde tries to apologize and the two girls start “talking”. On Wyn’s part, it's a lot of mumbling, hand gestures and random words, but Hilde sort of understands what she wants to say. Over the following days, Wyn drags Hilde to Anárion’s room while also involving Éothain into the whole thing. I don't know how Wyn meets Éothain yet, but she's so bubbly and happy that it's nearly impossible for anyone to dislike her. So, Éothain acts as the official interpreter for the two of them (Anárion and Hilde) and Anárion tells her a bit of his life-story and also says his mom has a school for girls and that anyone is welcome. Wyn immediately understands what his plan is and insists (she basically nags her nonstop) until she reluctantly accepts. They all talk to Éomer and Lothíriel about it (they also talk about Enna, how she's doing etc…) and the King and Queen of Rohan agree to let her go, but only if she's willing to do so herself. Hilde is not afraid of them and sort of likes Wyn, but she's nervous because she knows nothing about Gondor and probably doesn't even know who Enna and Eönwë are. They give her a few more days to think it over until she willingly says she'll go. They take their leave and are back in Ithilien a few weeks later. That's where things get interesting. Anárion tells Enna that a new girl that may benefit from her schooling. Enna is initially very happy about it as she assumes he's referring to some Gondorian lady he met (remember that she did not know he and Wyn had secretly traveled to Rohan) and asks to meet her. Wyn tells attendants to give her a bath and prepare a suitable dress and a meeting between the two of them is arranged. Hilde tries to tell them that she doesn't feel comfortable meeting anyone unless either Wyn or Anárion are there with her and they both readily accept to escort her to their mom and keep her company. Anárion is a bit nervous about introducing her to his mother (he's painfully aware that she loathes anything Rohan-related), but, by this point, he's fully smitten with Hilde and thinks his mom will understand how he feels. Also, he feels it's about time Enna got over her trauma and dealt with it as any adult would. The two of them meet and Enna thinks she's hallucinating Éowyn (they kind of look like one another). As a result she has a major, full-blown panic attack, which the physicians nearly mistake for a heart attack. Hilde doesn't know what's going on and thinks it's her fault and tries her best to apologize. Mírion runs to his mom—he’s constantly checking on her—and as soon as he sees Hilde (and the way Anárion looks at her), he connects the dots. He calls the healers and puts his mom to bed, refusing any help from Anárion. Wyn immediately understands Mírion is about to snap and conveniently escorts a very confused and saddened Hilde out of the room and shows her around.

Once Enna is taken care of, Mírion storms out and Anárion follows him. He prods for an explanation, but Mírion flees to his chambers and locks the main door, eventually opening it up again since Anárion keeps on knocking. A very loud argument ensues—Mírion’s like “you were in Rohan having fun with that girl while I was here taking care of our family, huh?” and basically tells him to stop fooling around and to focus on the girl he's supposed to court aka the one Enna picked for him. Anárion yet again says he does not wish to marry her and Mírion says his feelings don't matter and that he should please his mother. (Mírion is indeed courting/spending time with the lady Enna picked for him. She’s also from her finishing school and, although he finds her well-mannered and very beautiful, he is not sure about his feelings for her. Not that it matters since he'll do anything to please his mom. He's understandably obsessed with her wellbeing and would kill himself if either she or Eönwë asked it of him). Anárion is more like “I love you so much, Mother, but it's my life, not yours.” The two bothers have completely different opinions on the matter and they momentarily fall out with one another. Long story short: Mírion doesn't approve of Hilde—he thinks Anárion should have known better—and Anárion doesn't care. He adores his baby brother, but he has a will of his own and won't dismiss a girl he likes just because his mother doesn't approve of her. Mírion would do so at once just to make her happy instead. That's the main difference. So, while Enna’s sons stop talking over this apparently trivial matter, Finnie sides with Wyn and Hilde and helps Hilde learn a bit of Westron. Hilde bonds with both girls, but I think Wyn will become her bestie. Anárion is already in love with her and Hilde falls for him as she gets to know him. Before she dies, Enna gives them permission to marry and once Sauron is finally dead, the two of them marry and Hilde becomes lady of Lebennin. They'll have a daughter, Éowyn, (as a tribute to the person that believed in them the most as well as to the most iconic woman in Rohirric/Rohanese history) and a son. Mírion will eventually apologize and rekindle his relationship with his brother before he leaves for Valinor.

Fancast for Hilde: Aimee Richardson.

Aimee Richardson as Hilde and Archie Barnes as Anárion

Literally his face the first time he saw Hilde

Also, ship name is probably Hilderion

Lóthuil

Princess of the Reunited Kingdom, second daughter of King Elessar and Queen Arwen. Her name means "Spring Flower".

She was born in FoA 16 shortly after Enna’s wedding to Eldarion. Arwen wasn't actually supposed to attend the wedding, but she insisted on it because she did not want to miss her little boy’s special day. I haven't picked a day for Eldarion and Enna's wedding yet, but I think Lóthuil will be born roughly a week later. She was born in the spring, hence her name.

Lóthuil’s birth was very difficult for Arwen, which is why Aragorn decides they won't have any more children. Personality-wise, Lóthuil is much more of a lady than her older sister, but she too is very blunt and not cut out for courtly life. She only is smarter about it and, contrarily to her sister, she knows how put on a poker face. She also tends not to be extremely blunt when addressing her parents and, contrarily to her sister, she doesn't talk back if she disagrees with her parents’ decisions. She makes her ideas known, but she's much subtler and way more gentle when communicating with her elders, which is why Aragorn pays way more attention to her. Despite their age difference (thirteen years) she's extremely close with Gilraen and tries to quietly support her. Gilraen and Daerion get married in FoA 22 when Lóthuil is eight years old—yes, Aragorn does actually wait until his eldest daughter comes of age before officially marrying her off. I think the whole Enna/Eldarion marriage fiasco made him realize a few things. I think he also wants to be certain Daerion actually cares for Gilraen. Upon his betrothal to Gilraen, Daerion is created lord of Lossarnach and Gilraen is escorted there as well, since she is to be the fief's future lady. Lóthuil will be visiting her sister very often and, although she has her own nanny and a bunch of other people at her service, she will be mostly raised by Estella (Gilraen’s governess and de-facto mom). Gilraen will of course escape to Dol Amroth as often as she possibly can and will take Lóthuil with her and the two of them will secretly spend a lot of time with “Aunt” Mörwen, Aragorn’s first cousin (her father was canon Gilraen’s older brother; an OC I won't be developing since he has no impact on the story itself). absolutely nothing. I feel like Aragorn will eventually learn to value his daughters. He loves them but for some reason he cannot show it that much and they are both hurt his aloofness around them. Both girls take up archery as a hobby to deal with their frustration and, according to Uncle Legolas, they are both excellent. Both girls are very good friends with both Enna and Nel and, after Enna marries Eönwë and sets up her “finishing school”, Lóthuil is one of the first people to be officially enrolled. This is something Eldarion suggests as he hopes it can work in his favor as well.

By then he genuinely wants to make amends and apologize to Enna and thinks Lóthuil may be key to a reconciliation of sorts. Although he will always be Aragorn and Arwen’s beloved boy. I feel compelled to mention that Aragorn is no longer as blinded by his actions after the whole accident/scandal involving Enna and their unborn baby. I think that’s what prompts Aragorn to value his daughters a bit more, and the event, although tragic for the realm and for Enna, marks the beginning of his improved relationship with Gilraen. He won’t completely change his mind straightaway, but he realizes that he was wrong to overlook his daughters. He spends a lot more time with them and actually asks for their opinion on quite a few matters. Eldarion’s opinion is definitely still more important to him, but the girls’ ideas are not dismissed either.

Now, back to Lóthuil. While she is not a poor student as far as music, literature and other subjects are concerned, she is absolutely atrocious at embroidering, playing instruments and acting…like a princess. Enna tries to teach her a few things and takes her into her service as one of her ladies-in-waiting, but she quickly realizes she’s far too similar to Gilraen to be trusted as a lady-in-waiting. Mind you, Enna ADORES both girls, but…even she has to admit they are not cut out for court life. Knowing Aragorn is still trying to marry her off to people and knowing full well there’s no chance she will get to be happy with the nobles Aragorn has an eye on, she arranges for her to travel North. She has always had a fascination with all things Arnor and Enna hopes she will be able to find some lasting happiness there. She talks Aragorn into letting her go and the King eventually agrees.

On her way to Annúminas—she goes on her own without soldiers to protect her. She doesn't like to be followed—she decides to visit an inn in Tharbad just to rest a bit and she meets a group of boys who start bothering her and making comments about her unkempt appearance and so on. Just as she’s about to confront them, another boy more or less her age tells the group to mind their own business. Lóthuil frowns as she notices everyone bowing to him and casually asks the bartender about him. It turns out that the boy who defended her is the son of the lord of Tharbad. She looks at him and immediately thinks he is gorgeous despite his ridiculous haircut. I have come up with a few scenes of them practicing archery together and gradually becoming friends (she kind of already likes him, but wants to get to know him to make sure he falls in love with her and not with her family/titles, which is why she doesn’t tell him she’s one of the princesses when he asks for her name. I think she actually gives him a fake name which is yet to be decided. They will marry a few years later (dates are yet to be decided, but I think they’ll marry around FoA 38/39). I think her husband’s name will be Idhrenion. (Ship: Lóthrenion)

Ewan Mitchell as Idhrenion & Marina Moschen as Lóthuil

Gorgeous with a ridiculous haircut. Ewan Mitchell just fits.

Meleril

Born in FoA 19, she is the youngest daughter of King Elessar and Queen Arwen. Arwen and Aragorn did not want any more children after Lóthuil and she just…kind of happened, I guess. She’s considered the ugliest member of the Arawen family since she looks way more human than her siblings and because she's way chubbier than her sisters (that doesn't mean she's fat…she's just not as thin). Most ladies are kind to her just because she's a princess, but she's constantly bullied and called names behind her back. She's retiring, private and very kind. Although she has definitely cried a few times about it, she generally doesn't let negative comments affect her. She can be very self-conscious and, though she doesn't speak to anyone about it, she thinks she'll never wed anyone because she'll never be pretty enough for marriage. She has no desire to learn to fight and never once engaged in swordfighting or archery. She prefers more traditionally feminine occupations such pottery and needlework. She's an avid reader and likes talking to people and recording their thoughts on things (had she not been a part of the royal family, she probably would have been a scholar, a scribe or a writer). She has a parrot named Elros and spent her entire childhood trying to teach him how to speak. Eldarion has a soft spot for her and, as he is worried about her spending nearly all of her time with her parrot and nearly anyone else, he encourages her to attend Enna's school. As Enna grows fond of her, they spend a lot of time together and Meleril casually happens to be around one day that Elboron visits Enna to try and make things right with her (as I probably mentioned before, they don't see much of one another as time goes by. Enna doesn't hate him or anything, but she can't look him in the eye because he reminds her too much of Éowyn and it's too painful to bear). They stare at each other and Meleril tries to avoid him because she's afraid he’ll think she's fat and ugly. Elboron looks at her and, as soon as she leaves, he asks for information about her. He doesn't know who she is yet, but he's intrigued primarily because she doesn't look as stuckup as most ladies. He can tell she's very insecure and kind of just wants to comfort her (that's the Faramir in him coming out). He tries talking to Enna about her, but Enna doesn't really want to speak to him. Meleril gets acquainted with Enna’s other siblings and becomes friendly with Selim, who encourages her to write letters to Elboron. The two of them start corresponding and Selim tries to be the best wingman he can possibly be. He also teaches her about Haradrim customs and she becomes interested in Haradrim fashion. I haven't figured out the details of their relationship yet, but Meleril and Elboron do get married eventually. (Ship name: Melboron? Elboriel? Probably Elboriel sounds better)

Fancast for Meleril: Mariya Andreeva

Mariya Andreeva as Meleril and Toby Regbo as Elboron

Thank you again for the ask & I hope it makes sense!

[priafey]

new evil woman OC just dropped >:)

her name is Palamar. she's a thane. Breton. she treats her servants like playthings. gwilin ends up in her service. i wanted to share a snippet from a new story i started that mainly deals with her fucked-up string-pulling. i'm in unfamiliar territory (bc I've barely written in first person before), but i think i like where it's heading so far.

cw: NS-FWish, nothing explicit

New additions to my staff were, naturally, of greatly differing temperaments. Most resigned themselves to their chores quickly, once they realized I was a demanding, but not altogether cruel, thane. Pebby was one such case. When she first arrived, she was an impertinent, somewhat temperamental young woman, who was careful to get into only as much mischief as she knew she could get away with. I was privy to all of her hushed jeers, the mockery she proliferated among the rest of the servants. But it mattered little to me. Pebby was an excellent housekeeper, you see. I believe she came to understand, in time, that that was her only real skill. She must’ve grown tired of hearing herself make the same jokes again and again at my expense, and the others must’ve grown tired of listening, because whatever had driven her to rail against me those first few weeks slowly dissipated, and she became very reserved. Some days, I think it a pity. Her impression of me was admittedly unmatched. Others were quite adamant from the beginning that they didn't care to please me. I respected this, because they showed a greater consideration for my time than those who came to me thinking they could learn to love a life of service, only to realize they weren’t built to endure what it entailed. When that happened, I’d have them sent to the mines at once. There, they would be happier, I knew, free from wholly giving themselves–in mind, in body, and in spirit–to the maintenance of a life that was not theirs to live. In my service, or in the service of any other thane (who I’d hope would have the decency to obscure this truth as little possible), they could at least enjoy the fleeting pretense that we were a family–that any of them ever mattered to me beyond their ability to produce my favorite hors d’oeuvres in a timely manner, or wash my Colovian cotton robes, or attend to my baser needs. The latter of these is, precisely, what I pretended in procuring this Bosmer, this “Gwilin”. I’d tried all kinds of men and mer on for size in my life. Nords were well-endowed, but made terrible lovers. Bretons were a bore. Redguards always treated me as though I were made of glass, and might shatter should they let slip too enthusiastic of a thrust. Finding an Altmer willing to stroke anything but their own ego was a fool’s errand, and Khajiit were… out of the question. So far, I’d found that only Imperials and Dunmer were up to my standards. Any toy played with too harshly will break, however. I was in the market for a replacement, and heard from an acquaintance in Riften that Bosmer had nimble fingers and were remarkably agile in bed. I simply had to put this to the test.

[trickstarbrave]

the biggest problem with skyrim i see people critiquing it not point out isn't just "the writing is shallow"

i mean it is. but a lot of games have overall shallow writing without that being an issue. sometimes you dont need 90 pages of lore for smth. sometimes simple events can spiral out of control into massive problems. the elder scrolls series definitely has a world so complex though that it should have more interesting and detailed writing, but the biggest problem with skyrim isn't that

the problem is video games are not just writing and a setting. there is game play, themes, characters, and often multiple overlapping stories/plot lines in that setting. And all need to work together as cogs in a machine or the whole thing doesn't fucking work right. it's like making a play, and while i almost fucking failed script analysis in college (dont ask), i do understand that, and how different parts of the experience are weighted as a decisions

skyrim is a game that is heavily weighted towards gameplay and exploration of a setting. its primarily a sandbox game. thats all well and good, a lot of my favorite games are. it is a power fantasy that is (supposed to be) about play choice and agency. and almost nothing in the fucking game actually reinforces and works toward it. in fact it often directly contradicts it.

skyrim tries to bring up a number of themes, especially in the main story quest. stuff like morals, power, how to wield power, what actual justice means, and the nature of violence. and it does absolutely fuck all with it. if i as a dragonborn misuse my power at best i will piss off the guards which literally can happen to anyone. most of the time no matter what i do no npc gives a fuck who i am. i can be the thane of every hold in skyrim, most of the population will still be rude assholes to me.

take paarthurnax. we all hate and bemoan the dilemma we are given. either kill dragon grandpa or be locked out of the blades stuff from now on. it seems like such a stupid choice to the point one of the most popular mods is telling delphine "shut up im in charge". but i think, even if its subconscious for most people so they don't even realize it, the reason this choice is so stupid has nothing to do with the fact we like dragon grandpa (or at least not the whole thing), but because the entire empire is built upon horrific war crime after horrific war crime of emperors with dragon souls. tiber septim did absolutely heinous shit on and off the battlefield. he killed innocents. raped. abused. lied. manipulated. and he never really repented, unlike paarthurnax. what does he get? well after a convoluted scheme we learned about back in daggerfall, he gets to be a whole ass fucking god and gets worshipped. there are potentially elves who remember his reign of terror and being ruthlessly slaughtered and removed from their homes, their cities burned and families killed, all out of greed from this motherfucker. and they are the bad guys for opposing his worship. they are portrayed as cartoonishly evil mass murderers, torturers, schemers, etc etc and at no point do we get a genuinely sympathetic take from a thalmor agent where they list out all of his war crimes and horrible shit he did that still effects them to this day, and to top it all off the empire left them to fend for themselves during the fucking oblivion crisis.

so as delphine bemoans all of paarthurnax's war crimes and horrible things he has done, how no amount of repenting can make up for it and he's too dangerous to leave alive and we should kill him Right Now because what if he, even by accident, succumbs to his nature as an Evil Dragon and does horrible things again, she is also actively defending the horrific, much more recent war crimes of other Evil Dragons just in mortal form. if delphine has a point, then so do the thalmor, but they are just cardboard bad guy elf nazis and the empire can do no wrong.

violence is rewarded time and time again, but THESE characters being violent is bad. because. all dragons are evil and able to be corrupted by power, but the player if they decide to be a massive asshole don't really face that much scrutiny besides ultimate gameplay inconvenience. because this is a sandbox power fantasy! you should make your own choices without being punished! but that means the story about power, the cost of violence, justice, and morals, as well as your greater place in the world can have no gameplay weight. and if it has no weight in the most important part of the experience, then it has no fucking weight at all

i could go on and on. like how the dragons are supposedly intelligent creatures with their own language, culture, customs, and morality system but are basically for most of the game about as smart and engaging as the average bear or wolf you encounter on the road outside of 2-3 dragons in heavily scripted, linear conversations during the story, but we'd be here all day.

[metalforhands]

Character Preferences Survey: RESULTS

Last week, I made a survey for Fallout 4, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age fans to fill out. I asked who people romanced, and I asked for their favorite characters. I kept the questions vague as to avoid complications and caveats. Using these results, I managed to find several interesting trends, as well as instances of overlap between character preferences in fans.

I made a Google document detailing all of my findings. However, I will also include the very same findings below to make the results easier to access.

Finally, I will be attaching a link to this post in the original post. Happy reading! Thank you to all who participated!

Before I begin, I would like to include a few disclaimers. 

I received 240 survey responses. It’s impossible to have every single person who has played these games fill out this survey. Consequently, the results will never be truly indicative of actual popularity. This survey is merely for fun, and so long as we all remember the results are heavily skewed towards the Tumblr userbase’s preferences, this document should make for an interesting read! If your favorite didn’t perform too well, don’t feel bad. Out of the 240 people who filled out this survey, there are thousands more who didn’t, and who like your favorite as well.

Also worth noting, I did not include Morinth because I assumed her numbers would be too low to draw any similarities. However, I want to take this moment to give a shout out to the Morinth romancers. Thank you to Tumblr user @fivekoboldsinacoat for speaking up for everyone who loves their serial killer girlfriend! Genuinely, nothing but respect from me.

If you are curious about anything not mentioned on this document, please feel free to reply here. I will either reblog with a batch of replies, or reply using my main account, @prezs. Thank you!

-

NOTABLE ROMANCE TRENDS

FALLOUT 4

Hancock: Stealing the title of most popular Fallout 4 romance! People who romanced Hancock have massive overlap with people who used the Nick Valentine romance mod. There was also significant overlap with people who romanced Garrus, Zevran, Anders, and Fenris. Dragon Age: Inquisition, however, is a complete wildcard for most Hancock romancers.

Danse: Runner up for most popular Fallout 4 romance! Significant overlap with people who romanced Kaidan, Alistair (we’ll get to the specifics of this one), and Cullen. Twenty of the sixty people who romanced Danse did not romance Alistair… and out of these twenty, nine of them have not played a single game in the Dragon Age series. Keeping this in mind, that means approximately 83% of people who romanced Danse, and also played Dragon Age, romanced Alistair. Kaidan and Cullen also have similar overlap, but not to the degree of Alistair.

MacCready: A strong performance from our resident single dad! I was curious to see if MacCready had any overlap with other widowed companions, like Thane, but I couldn’t find anything. MacCready romancers were most likely to romance Garrus in Mass Effect, however. It’s okay! I get it! You guys love snipers! I completely understand. Do you think MacCready should get a sexy face scar too? Let’s discuss.

Preston Garvey: Similarly to Danse, most people who romanced Preston also romanced Alistair. Again, not to the same degree, but enough to be notable.

MASS EFFECT

Garrus: Our second sweeper. Similarly to Alistair, he was a common denominator among several people. However, there was a notable trend between people who romanced Hancock and people who romanced Garrus. Likewise, it seems there were several people who romanced both Kaidan and Garrus. This can either be attributed to separate playthroughs, or breaking up with Kaidan after the first Mass Effect.

Kaidan: Aside from the similarities with Danse romancers mentioned above, for those who have not played Fallout 4, the overlap between people who romanced Kaidan and those who romanced Alistair and Cullen was also incredibly strong. Likewise, several people who did not romance anyone in Fallout 4 also romanced Kaidan, Alistair, and Cullen.

Jack: While lacking in votes, the most overlap Jack romancers had was with Cait romancers! This… makes a lot of sense, the more I think about it. In fact, even with Jack’s lower numbers, this makes the overlap with Cait romancers even more notable.

DRAGON AGE

Alistair: He swept! What more can I say? Alistair was probably the one common denominator among most people taking the poll, which is a compliment to his popularity with so many different people. Because of this, he showed up SO often to the point where it was hard to pinpoint too many trends. Anything with unusual overlap will be mentioned in other character sections (see Kaidan, Danse, and Preston).

Fenris: Runner up for most popular Dragon Age romance. Something, something, joke about who swept who off the other’s feet here. While most Fenris romancers are wildcards in other games, the only character with notable overlap was Hancock.

Zevran: Ah, our favorite Antivan assassin! Aside from Hancock, Zevran was extremely popular with people who have never played Fallout 4 and people who have romanced several characters per game, more than likely due to different playthroughs.

Cullen: Several of his trends (primarily with Kaidan, Danse, and Alistair) have been mentioned above.

Anders: Hilariously, Anders was the only character who managed to have several people who romanced him, but did not include him on their favorite characters list. A testament to his divisive nature. I see you guys! You made me laugh! The only notable overlap I noticed was with Hancock romancers. That, and Anders appeared on a lot of lists where the voter romanced several characters instead of just sticking to one or two.

FINAL ROMANCE COMMENTARY

Of course, exceptions exist! Several do! I know I’m one of them, as my main romances were Danse, Liara, Alistair, Fenris, and Dorian. Well, I’m not an exception to the Danse and Alistair hive-mind. But, uh. Join us?

Regardless, I may or may not have missed more subtle trends. If you’re curious about the overlap between specific characters, PLEASE let me know in the comments! I’ll be happy to update this post and answer your question.

GENERAL POPULARITY

I feel the poll results speak for themselves here. Most voters included their romanced characters in this section, along with other non-romanceable favorites. While there were exceptions to this, anything truly notable was mentioned above.

The results were also not too surprising. Nick Valentine absolutely demolished the Fallout 4 polls. Mass Effect and Dragon Age, while with more variety in their leads, also brought in unsurprising results.

For Mass Effect, Tali, despite not polling too well in the romance section, took the lead in general popularity! Following her is Garrus, Wrex, Legion, and Mordin, with an honorable mention to Jack, Grunt, and Thane. Non-romanceable companions polling so well over several of the romanceable ones goes to show how skilled Mass Effect is at making you care about Shepard’s platonic relationships.

For Dragon Age, Alistair initially demolished the poll, but Dorian crept behind him right into first place! Also popular was Morrigan (who, like Tali, scored well in the popularity section but not the romance one), Zevran, Merrill, Fenris, Varric, and Josephine. Special note goes out to Varric, the only one who cannot be romanced and managed to give Dorian and Alistair a run for their money!

Tali, Morrigan, Leliana, Merrill, Cassandra, and several of the other romanceable women performed well in the popularity section, but not in the romance section. Tali, Morrigan, and Cassandra are only able to be romanced by male Shepards, male Wardens, and male Inquisitors respectively. Leliana, all of the Dragon Age 2 women, and all of the Fallout 4 women can be romanced by anyone. Romantic unpopularity for these characters can probably be attributed to the Tumblr user base, who not only tend to play as female characters, but also tend to be drawn to male characters. I believe our results would be different on, say, Reddit, where the votes of heterosexual men playing as male protagonists would be more common.