#i will still call her josephine in my writing ..

[codevanish]

just a little side note (i plan to update my slides over the next week with info specifically regarding her aliases) but people do not generally know josephine as josephine acker rather she has many personas+aliases but most commonly used in a post-2010 era are —— charlotte matieu, daisy o'connor, este middler and offhandedly she does and will introduce herself as josie without giving any other context as the only person in her life to ever call her josie was her mother back in the early 1900's. for the sake of cohesiveness you can default to your muse knowing her under the name josie if it is not otherwise specified and/or upon first interaction as josephine, when applicable, would simply explain it away as a middle name she is fond of should the need for explanation ever arise.

[anneapocalypse]

I'm just gonna say it, the idea that Dragon Age has this big history of "playersexual" love interests I think is largely BS. It's a term somebody came up with that probably seemed like a good idea at the time, and devs and gaming news outlets have been parroting it mindlessly every since.

If "playersexual" means that an NPC's orientation is only toward the player character or changes based on the player character, and therefore they can't be said to have a distinct sexuality, that is just... demonstrably not true for most of the relevant characters in Dragon Age.

Leliana is not playersexual. She has a past relationship with a woman. There's a whole DLC about it.

Zevran is not playersexual. He tells you in dialogue that he's interested in men and women.

Isabela is not playersexual. She mentions past involvement with men and women, and will have a relationship with Fenris if not romanced by Hawke.

Fenris is not playersexual. See above about the relationship with Isabela.

Anders is not playersexual. In Awakening he mentions liking pretty girls, and he has a past relationship with a man. Not everyone may get the latter dialogue in the game (and it's fair to question that writing choice), but it's also in World of Thedas; it's canon even if you didn't hear it in your game.

The Iron Bull is not playersexual. He can have a relationship with Dorian if not romanced.

Josephine is not playersexual. She has a brief hint of a relationship with Blackwall, even though it doesn't last.

The player character's gender has no effect on any of these relationships canonically happening.

The only love interest you could maybe make a case for (simply because we have no other canon relationships to point to) is Merrill, and her lack of experience is largely alluded to being a result of her being sheltered as the Keeper's apprentice, rather than her having no interest.

While not all of these characters will outright tell you they're attracted to the same gender if not romanced, they all canonically have romantic or sexual interests of some kind outside the player character and none of those change based on the player character's gender, only (sometimes) on whether they are in a romance with the player character. My point here isn't that there's no room for queer identity to be made more explicit, but that their sexualities explicitly do not revolve only around the player character.

And if that's not the definition of "playersexual" then okay, what is it?

Do NPCs literally have to be having a threesome onscreen, visible in every single playthrough no matter what, for us to accept that they have a sexuality that isn't contingent on the player character? Alistair or Sebastian's availability as a romance to female PCs only is generally considered sufficient evidence that they're canonically straight (whatever else fans may headcanon or desire). It's possible to have Sera in your game without ever talking to her about her sexuality, but she's still canonically a lesbian. So exactly what standards for "canon bisexuality" or "canon pansexuality" are we falling short of here? And why is it only for bi/pan characters that the bar is set so high?

These games actually go to considerable lengths to show us that its characters have lives and personalities and preferences apart from the player character. Why is it never enough? Why are we so resistant to just calling these characters pansexual and bisexual? What do we gain from that refusal? And what do we lose?

[bharv]

“Magister Pavus.”

“Inquisitor Cadash.”

You look old, she wants to tell him, but she’s sure she looks older. She settles on something else instead.

“Your hair is ridiculous.”

“It’s all the fashion, my dear. Not that you’d know what it’s like to be a la mode.”

“If it’s Orlesian, I don’t want it.”

“Oh, but I’ve missed you.”

He sits with her and takes her hand for just a moment, and she could almost cry at the feeling of the callouses from his staff, still there even though he is softer now. 

“Is Bull joining us?”

“It’s not a good time,” Dorian says quietly. She knows that tremble at the edge of his voice. He is afraid. “Besides. I wanted you all to myself.”

“Well. You’ve got me. Now what?”

Things in Kirkwall were… less than optimal. The guild wanted her to make her play against the acting Viscount, eager as always to spin gold from shit. All she wanted was to bring his body home, back to the city that he loved, that he never wanted to leave. She had promised Bianca she would try.

“I think you should meet her,” Dorian says, and she can feel her jaw tense.

“I don’t have anything to say to her.”

“You know what I’m going to say-”

“Don’t-”

“Varric would want you to.”

She breathes through her nose as the servers bring more wine and pour it. A hearty red, the sort you could only get in this part of the world for the price. Dorian smiles at the boy, a handsome sort, and pushes an extra gold into his hand.

“So this is a trap,” she murmurs as she raises her glass to her lips, and he laughs.

“Maker forbid. It’s an… invitation, is all.”

“She’s already coming, isn’t she?”

“Well. She’s Tevene. Likelihood was she was already here. You know how it is.”

She’s heard of this child, this Rook. Barely out in society before Varric swooped in to recruit her, with a letter of recommendation from Maevaris Tilani herself. But it was all nepotism, of course it was. That was how the Kalna dwarves worked. Thorold had been instrumental in placing the girl with a surface family when Bartrand was lost to the madness, and the resemblance to her uncle was clear as a blue sky.

“I know exactly how it is.”

“Come now. The girl is all of eighteen. She’s lost. Well. We’ve all suffered a great loss. She could use…”

“What? An inspiration? A mentor? A hug?”

“Even you were a child once.”

Not aged eighteen, she wants to say, but she says nothing. She knows it is not this poor girl’s fault that she was saved from being sold to the carta, or worse. It was all luck, all one good or bad decision.

Or somebody advocating for you.

“Fine,” she says, draining the last of her glass. “I’ll speak to her. I’ll listen. I’ll be the sage elder dwarf, the blasted ancestor. But if you think-”

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I have a room upstairs, and I thought we could relax.”

She laughs. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Kaffas. I mean that we can have a little more to drink. Perhaps smoke. There’s no great rush.”

“Just the end of the world.”

She looks at him again. He’s always had that edge of earnestness behind the bluster, and after all these years she can still read him like a youth.

“So the plan is to get me lightly toasted so I won’t be so…” she struggles to find the world, but she raises her hand before he can protest. “Who put you up to it? Did Thom write to you?”

“Josephine,” he confesses sheepishly, and she can’t help but laugh. He joins in, and for a moment she is ten years younger, and it all seems so different and yet in so many ways the same.

“Well, I trust she knows how to avoid incident. Far be it for me to disobey the boss.”

“It is, as they say, the good stuff. I’ve been assured.”

“I didn’t take you for a smoker, Dorian.”

“I can’t say it’s a regular pastime. You’ll have to look after me.”

“If you get paranoid, I’m calling in reinforcements.”

“Just make sure they’re handsome.”

“Deal.”

[extravagantliar]

i dunno if you've given it thought, or even posted about it yet, but... what do you think varric would have nicknamed everyone in the veilguard (perhaps assan and manfred included, inspiration and spoons willing)? O:

hey there! Mary gave them nicknames in the first couple of drafts she gave datv! I also had nicknames ready to go as well! I never published my list for a few reasons, as I wanted to wait, but some of these wont be surprising to you.

neve was slick in the comics, and I agree with this - I also think like she calls rook trouble, he called her trouble at one point and flurries when she changes the weather

harding - mary never gave her one - a la the same vein as Aveline, as he’s spooked by her like a horse, but when she’s not looking she’s also red ( just like Aveline in da2 ).

lucarnis - his first pass nickname was scruffy. which I also liked and I think it pairs well with the other nickname I had loaded for him knowing spite was a thing early. spooky would be the nickname for spite that pairs. I ended up changing my first draft nickname of jekyll and hyde for them - but I still think varric would use those when talking about a pair or calls lucarnis ‘chef’ rather than the fandom second pass of ‘knives’

bellara - mary ended up calling her bangles, which is super cute and super fitting. when her character was dropped I picked up the old name i used for Josephine and called her scribbles for my first playthrough, she has remained scribbles but also gained purple - as sometimes bellara we need to show and not tell.

davrin - had a reused nickname which is hero and is very apt. however it also feels rather shallow, as yes he is, but I would love to have davrin spotlighted with something new. hero for sure stays, but I also think wrangler ( nickname I gave him before datv ) or feathers would have been strong at the end of act 3 considering everything davrin gives, it would be apt for him to carry that name. Assan is squawks and Varric would be unnerved by him but overall friendly

taash - mary nicknamed them smokey and it’s also apt. the one I had loaded before datv was actually sparks or teeth or something to do with the first look we got, then I put that aside and landed on marigold eventually just gold - marigolds flower under the worst conditions and carry on even with the weight. i am still very VERY fond of sparks.

emmrich - was nicknamed bones by mary, which doesn’t surprise me they’re all trek fans and well emm does have that whole plot. i also wildly oscillated from doc to bones several times as trailers dropped and eventually bones was my pick too. doc would be well used along with his title of professor and well - to be annoying - otrano after the first piece of gothic lit ( and the origin of manfred’s name! )

manfred - he never got one! Poor baby! Neve calls him fred, which I adore but I also think varric would call him jaq ( one of the servants in the castle of otrano ) or my favourite rattles.

though at one point we called emm the wizard and manfred the strawman as I had just finished son of a witch and I’m glad I scrapped those two

solas kept his nickname of chuckles from everything I wrote from 2014 to the end of October 2024 and I couldn’t write over it if I wanted to. People dislike it because it’s a reuse. It fits solas better than purple Hawke who could have had something like jester ( as a way to poke at the viscount choice ). Mae and Dorian were Mae and Sparkler. The inquisitor is a couple of things depending on who holds the title and then Bran is Bran. The elves ( Elgy and Ghilly ) were affectionately called problem one & problem two

[ic-napology]

Was chatting just right now with @credo--ergo-sum and suddenly remembered my main silly Naposéphine headcanon. Now I need to share it with you too.

So Napoleon gave Josephine the name she's famous with, but I headcanon that it also happened viceversa. I've always been bothered by how she called him "Bonaparte" despite them being very close. I know that it was normal back then, but it still feels odd to me, so I needed to find some other reason.

Naps dropped the U from his original surname Buonaparte around the time of their marriage. It was for pronounciation purposes, because "uo" is not pronounced the same way in Italian and in French. Maybe many thought it was actually "ou". If you know both languages you know it's a little mess.

I keep imagining Napoleon hearing his name contantly butchered for seventeen years, even without mocking intentions. In the context of his first years in France, it must have drawn a parallel with how excluded and estranged he felt. A name represents you and the way people treat it represents how they take you and your presence. Also think about how the British made a point of calling him "BUonaparte", as a reminder of how he wasn't even French to begin with, much less deserving of being their sovereign.

The period around his marriage was crucial for Napoleon's process to belong to the French society, which the marriage itself was a huge part of. It makes sense that he took the name-changing decision now.

I headcanon that "Bonaparte" was the way Josephine personally butchered his name. Can't bother with dealing with a difficult sound, so let's drop it already - that seems typical Josephine laziness. Especially about letters you may also write ("oh non, please don't talk to me about writing...")

But Napoleon might have actually liked the sound of it. Maybe he liked it because it came from her? That's not important. He surely must have liked how it was faster to write too. He would then take inspiration from that to change his surname.

Josephine helped Napoleon when he had to enter in Parisian society and become the figure we know today as Napoleon Bonaparte. It's nice to think that his final name was her idea, not just the opposite, as in "I helped in creating you so your name will tell everyone about it".

That would mean that Josephine sticked to "Bonaparte" as a reminder of that.

Do you like this headcanon? Hope it isn't too much of a stretch from reality!

[trulycertain]

Finished Veilguard about a week back. My thoughts on the character writing (massive spoilers herein):

The character writing... feels like DA2 to me. Not enough time and too much internal upheaval. The characters are fascinating and I like them! But they're sketches - albeit often beautiful, interesting ones - not finished paintings. (Origins and Inquisition's definitely feel like paintings to me.)

It's not about writing ability. A lot of old hands who wrote beloved stuff were on here. Trick Weekes, obviously, who gave us Solas and Bull and so much other good stuff; Sheryl Chee (who wrote Leliana and Isabela and has my hat forever for them); Brianne Battye, who wrote Cullen in DAI, whose arc I adored; Mary Kirby got to write Varric and part of Lucanis; Sylvia Fetekeuty gave us the beautiful, tightly-worldbuilt quests and politics like Orzammar, and In Hushed Whispers - heck, she wrote Josephine… I honestly just think it's a lack of time and clear direction due to so many game leads being in and out.

I love all the intra-crew interaction, it's really awesome to see. I like that I can tell companions have their friends and favourites and smoochfellows (I'll be honest, I did not call Taash/Harding, I thought for sure Taash and Davrin would end up with something going on, though I also did not call Neve/Lucanis and judging from their friendship, I bet that romance would be wonderful - they're probably my favourite team to take out other than either of them with Emmrich, or Bellara + Emmrich - I love magic talk.) The team meetings are a great idea that reinforce that. Also, I really love the fact that companion banters will play in the Lighthouse too (I realised after I reloaded and got a similiar conversation post-coming back that it's the same as banter when you're out walking - so it'll advance with personal quests, and if there's a pairing you don't usually take out with you, you still get a chance to catch the odd interesting chat). I do wish it were still a three companion team, though - even more because of this. I also love the tiny things, like Lucanis adjusting his meals for the fact Rook is a tea drinker and Emmrich is a veggie. (God do I relate to "vegetarian who talks relentlessly about their special interest while others sigh and takes a while to work out what to do when flirted with".) I love that companions pick up their banter again if it's interrupted by fights! Wonderful quality-of-life improvement thing, and also a bit more realistic feeling. People get bored and talk, and wonder things while they're wandering.

I absolutely love the plot of this game. I think it follows through on so many ideas in such a cool way, and I love Solas in this game, and the art and performances are beautiful. It has lots of respectful, loving tie-ins to the past games and clearly is thinking about them. I just think the companions, much like DA2, are fantastic ideas that just needed a bit of time.

I mean, let's take Neve - my romance, trope catnip for me in "tired mage who's not afraid to just deck someone, PI, stoic, normally male tropes applied to female chars, sharp-dressed" - as an example. Veilguard does more natural conversation flow - you can't sit and quiz companions on their selves and backstories like a job interview. But because you only get investigation options in chats anyway, you only get to ask companions about stuff they want to talk about. Which means with Davrin all you'll know is Wardens and Assan, mostly, but you can at least ask him about his past. With Neve, all you get is Dock Town, depression and fish.

I found out a lot about her backstory and family after my first playthrough - because you only get that through banters and taking out the exact right team. DA2 did this too, and it was a sign of rushed writing. As opposed to DAO and DAI, where you have their basic conflicts sketched out for you, but banters add colour, context and nuance - but regardless of team you take out, you get the basics. And they'll tell you stuff, if you ask and show interest.

Lucanis, Neve and Harding talk far more amongst themselves about some actually pretty key stuff, but not to Rook - unlike Emmrich, Taash and Davrin, who when you've spoken to them long enough will tell you a bit about them, and you can go, "Oh, I see how they got like that." Like, Neve is laetan from a soporati mostly templar family, and that elevation of having a sudden mage in the family basically tore her family apart nearly as badly as Fenris'. The class and mage stuff is major to her self-identity and why she's in Dock Town. But despite her fondness of Dock Town, her accent has no class markers except "posh London" and none of this comes up if you don't take exactly the right team out; I found some of this out through Reddit, of all places.

Now, you may say, "Isn't that replay value?" I'd argue not, when you're in an RPG that sells itself on its ensemble cast. Neve's introductory dialogue establishes that she's Minrathous and really cares about her city. And that she's a PI. The rest… is plot exposition. And it mostly carries on being exposition, albeit in a stylised way. So she has a liking for fancy hats, is pessimistic and is exhaustedly principled and love-hates Minrathous… but you knew that in her first five minutes. Even the fried fish thing, which exemplifies her love for the city and how she's grounded even though she's a mage? Ten hours in at least. And even if you play a Shadow Dragon who is also from a military family and felt left out? You get more opportunities to talk about that with Tarquin than Neve.

By contrast, here are some examples of character details that were well-done replay/"thanks for paying attention" value:

I adored many char moments, like her being wary of Emmrich but liking Manfred - calling him "Fred" - and eventually warming to them both, and her helping Taash out on gender and recognising some of this because she knew Mae and Tarquin, and Lucanis trying to feed her something healthy… but other than the middle part, all of this pretty important character growth is in easily missable banters. DA2 did this too and it drove me nuts. I took her everywhere with me because I liked her so much! And I still knew none of her backstory. Because Tevinter Nights and banter fill it in. You learn very little; you'll come out of the game thinking exactly the same of her as you did at the start. She's beautiful and every trope she's made out of is gold and her actor has a gorgeous voice, but compare a character like… heck, not even Dorian - Sera, or Bull, who offered new perspectives on Ferelden and the Qun (post-Blight and working-class, Ben Hassrath). Neve has an arc so tangled with her city that it feels like you should have got more of a glimpse of everyday working class Tevinter life through her, which I would love to see explored, and you just… don't. Noir PIs are tied to their cities, the one is a metaphor for the other, and it feels like they did that metaphor so much better with Hawke as a battered allegory for Kirkwall.

In Inquisition, let's say you never talk to Dorian past recruiting him. You never even find out he's arguing with his dad, never mind that he's gay. You still get that he's a very gifted mage, pretends to be arrogant, let down by his mentor and "not everything from Tevinter is terrible." You don't get his family history, that he hates the cold and has allergies, the nerdy magical talk, the necromancy nerdery… but you get a sampler plate of "preens, principled, proud Tevinter mage". You get a good picture even if it's incomplete.

In some ways, you actually get to know the Viper better if you choose Treviso. Less overall interaction, maybe, but you get that great scene with him mourning the dead and his response to him being Blighted, and the stuff with Antoine and Evka. And then you get that codex upon his kidnapping confirming his family name, but you have to have been paying attention to the lore to know why him being a Vesperian is such a big deal. You still know who he is and why he's here even if you barely interact with him, though.

I also loved, on Tarquin, that you get to know a bit more about him either way, but it's only if you save Minrathous that you get to know just how sad he is about the Viper not trusting him, how much they talk, the fact he's the tired admin - such a mood - and the fact he's not cis. You've shown your commitment to the Dragons by then, it's not just trotted out as a basic "getting to know you" thing with a character who isn't otherwise loud and proud. Whichever city you save, the finale confirms he's actually probably a mage, too - you see him using what looks like frost/accuracy magic, briefly. My guess is that either a: like Felix, he wasn't strong enough in it to achieve much rank b: he was limited by class c: his dad went, "Nope, if you're a man, you're a soldier now.")

Those two Veilguard choices felt like such great replayability. Like I said with DAI's banters: you get the basics, but certain choices you make give you access to new info which suddenly recontextualises and illuminates things for you. I particularly enjoyed talking to Tarq as a fellow Shadow Dragon from a fellow military family. The tired wry understanding felt very real.

I really like the whole cast, but the most... I don't know, finished? characters feel like Solas, Emmrich, Bellara and Tash. Perhaps Davrin, though he still needed a little time. I adore Lucanis (and startlingly, may like Spite even more!) but I definitely feel like he needed more time and writer stability. Emmrich lets you in on his fears and his worries a good while after knowing him, and also lets on that he's grown up in the Necropolis and it's all he knows, and that he spent time talking to spirits and was more in tune with them as a kid than most. That's not structured as an exposition dump. You have to do his personal quests to see them, but they're very much "friend decides to let Rook in on something, embarrassedly" and "come to see my favourite place". The spirits you meet are as part of other side quests and that stuff comes up naturally. Taash's intro tells you right off their mum is constantly criticising them and doesn't like them "acting butch", that criticism is due to their mum being very Qunari, and that they're really into dragons. If you pursue their quests, you get them coming out, a thorough discussion of how they feel about this stuff, them being a jerk with Emmrich, their bluntness getting them into trouble sometimes, and certain rituals and friendships in the Lords being influenced by it. So you get told all that, sure… but you also get to see it spread and ripple. There's an arc. And almost all of that you can get even without the "right" banter. Davrin's Dalish background is relevant to the plot and is a matter-of-fact part of who he is, but if you pursue his quests you get to find out about him working out whether to hide/suppress the gentler parts of himself, that he was an adorable kid, that he's into whittling, and that he's very no-nonsense about the Evanuris' bullshit because he is a stoic who gets the job done and his Warden identity takes priority, even while his Dalish upbringing informs his personality and his hunts (imo this was very well done).

You might say, "But isn't 'Characters stand around telling you their tragic backstory' the BioWare Problem?" Yeah, sure! But there's a natural build with these above examples. And shoving stuff into banter is still telling, not showing; there's no writerly sleight of hand there, either. I'd also argue that one of the reasons people have often spoken about Emmrich looking out for their Rook, or having more connection with their Rook, is that his chats with them are written much more in the Inquisition style than Veilguard's, though there are some exceptions.

Another thing: characters rarely interject/add their tuppence in quests compared to the other games, has anyone noticed this? That also gives me fewer chances to clock their stances on things, or whether they hide behind snark, or their pet issues. Same with location comments/colour commentary, which are such a tiny thing but really do help with a feeling of reactivity (BG3 did this great, but it's a very different genre and devcycle, so I'm just gonna compare past BioWare). There's no "Smell the oppression" in the Gallows or "Should've brought a sweater" in Noveria or "It must have been some time since templars [in the Hinterlands] faced a mage of any talent" or… most of Garrus and Miri bitching about Omega. I can think of, maybe two? (Half of Fenris' interjections were a slightly more complex, "ugh, I don't give a shit, can we get back to hunting slavers", but you still caught that he hated blood mages, liked the Guard and Isabela, and had an incredibly dry sense of humour.)

That lessening of dialogue, to me, points to a lack of time. My theory is the plot was laid out and carefully tooled, and companions were written/rewritten last, when the timeline was tight. As folks have pointed out: for all his faults, Gaider was famously a tight lead who gave writers their favourite characters to encourage ownership and investment, said Weekes' concepts for Solas were fantastic but made them rewrite him several times because he was coming off so unlikeable, worked very closely with VAs and always got stuff in on time. Also, he has never said this, but Weekes and Busch have always said he did the vast majority of worldbuilding and pretty much all the reveals in the plot were stuff laid out in the writers' room during/after DAO, and Weekes has said they knew of this stuff and it was passed onto them. So I think a lot of it may be upheaval and his absence being… keenly felt. It always seemed like there was a lot more Gaider in DA (compare how many characters he wrote) than there was Drew Karpyshyn or Casey Hudson in ME. DA2 was still messy as hell even with him very much involved, though, so *shrug*.

I very much enjoyed Solas' dialogue, though. That felt all Weekes, and like they were at their most passionate. Bits of it felt very Mordin, actually.

I do think everyone did a fantastic job pulling together not just a coherent but enjoyable and at times very beautiful product after such a difficult devcycle. I would argue they did a much better job than with DA2. There's a lot of skill and thought in this. It feels much, much more finished than DA2. It's just a lot more "action" than "RPG" in terms of party mechanics and dialogue. That still makes it feel like a complete, enjoyable action-adventure game, whereas DA2 was much more RPG with a lot of its mechanics but felt indecisive and unfinished to the end. I also think it's a good intro to the series, though the first hour might be a bit confusing. You get a good intro to the Wardens and Mourn Watch and Tevinter. Also, I love Arlathan and I could write essays on why. It just felt like, unlike most DA entries, the plot was stronger than the people this time round.

[linka-from-captain-planet]

My primary interests in fandom are women, women being weird, women being pathetic (sexual), interpersonal drama between women, and plausible yet cracky rareships (of women), and that is really the only excuse I have for writing this fic

Rating: Explicit, No Archive Warnings Ship: Josephine Montilyet/Celene Valmont with a looming yet offscreen Briala/Celene Tags: Pre-Inquisition, Orlesian Grand Game (Dragon Age), the highest stakes game of Gay Chicken ever played, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Sexual Tension, Hook-Up, Cunnilingus, Touch-Starved, Porn With Feelings But Not The Ones That Tag Usually Implies, Briala/Celene is past/background but eternally present

Summary:

It is exceedingly bold for Josephine to approach the Empress of Orlais with her family's plight while a civil war still wages on around them, but it is her last opportunity to have the Empress' ear to herself before departing to join the Inquisition. Her appeal is more, or less, successful.

[sunsolii]

Napoleon (2023) Review

I know many of you have posted your own reviews and what I'm going to talk about will cover most of what people have said but I wanna give my own perspective on the movie. As you know spoilers will be said, so if yall still haven't watch the movie go before reading.

Alright first, I would like to say the movie overall wasn't that bad nor it wasn't great. Some battle scenes were a bit confusing, Borodino was the one which I got the most confused because of how quick the scene was. One moment I was watching soldiers fight and then it was done, which I guess they wanted to get to the part of Napoleon arriving at Moscow but I digress.

During the Seige of Toulon, I was a bit confused with Napoleon's reaction throughout the whole battle. He was hyperventilating and panicking which seemed strange to me since he was always calm and collected during stressful situations, especially this battle since it was his 'debut' and was an important plan in getting Toulon back in French hands. I understand him being a little bit nervous, but he had to stay calm for the soldier's sake.

Now, lets talk about Napoleon and Josephine's relationship, oh boy, it was a mess. I did like how Naps acted a bit awkward during their first meeting since he was pretty shy and weird around the ladies in real life, but after that the whole relationship seemed too toxic than what it really was. Like the scene where Josephine returned to the chateau after Naps came back from Egypt and him yelling at her and basically telling her she was a slut, him threatening divorce because she couldn't get pregnant at the beginning of their marriage, or when Naps got angry at Josephine yet again and threw food at her, or him slapping Josephine during the divorce scene. I literally let out a gasp when that happened. That whole representation of their relationship was a freaking mess, and don't even get me started with the sex scenes! They were so weird and Naps making animals noises before doing it didn't make it better. I think the worst for me was when Naps called Josephine "little one" like don't start with that kinky shit smh. Also the part where Alexander went to visit Josephine at Malmaison was not necessary, they did develop a friendship but it was nothing more than that.

Besides all the negative things I did like a few things about the movie. For starters Napoleon's first interaction with Josephine, that was a nice touch. The lamb chop scene was hilarious and everyone including me laughed at the scene. Naps falling down the stairs after almost getting killed by the Directory and saying "oh fuck" under his breath while standing up was funny. Even the scene afterwards where Naps and Lucien were struggling to get out and keep everyone inside was funny. His facial expression he made while trying to regain himself had me dying.

What caught me by suprise was Junot being in the movie because correct me if I'm wrong but no other movie had Junot included in it, so when Naps first yelled "Junot" during the Seige of Toulon I was like 'huh? Junot? Like Jean Andoche Junot?? THE JUNOT?? I can't believe what I'm hearing!" and sure enough Junot was in the movie! Even though it was only for like 30 minutes but him being in the movie made me so happy because he is never mentioned in any form of media.

Overall it wasn't as bad as I expected. I still wished they would've added other marshals like Murat and Lannes, but I do appreciate them adding Davout since he is also someone who doesn't get mentioned in movies a lot, so props to you Scott (I guess). I did get over the historical inaccuracies pretty quick, but Wellington and Naps meeting did rub me the wrong way knowing that they never met each other in real life. Also, Ney with a moustache...why??

So that's all I wanted to say about the movie. Sorry if this was a longer post, but I wanted to write down everything before I forget. Thank you for reading!

[josefavomjaaga]

A fabricated letter from Napoleon to Joséphine

@gabrielferaud wondered about a fake letter I had mentioned in another post; here it is. It has been included (nolens volens, as it seems) in the "Correspondance générale" - despite huge doubts about its authenticity – as No. CG3 – 5436 :

[no date, but assumed to be written after the battle of Marengo] My dear friend, my first laurel was for my country, my second will be for you. When I fought Alvinzi, I was thinking of France; when he was beaten, I was thinking of you. Your son will give you a dragonne offered to him by General Morbach, who was taken prisoner by him. You see, Madame, that your Eugène is worthy of his father. Do not think me too unworthy to have succeeded this brave and unfortunate general, under whom I would have been honoured to learn to triumph. I send you my love.

The editors of the Correspondance Générale have added the following explanation in a footnote:

Bourgeat was the first to publish this text, but he did not say where it came from. According to him, the letter was written after the victory at Marengo. By a sort of tradition, it is therefore always included in editions of letters from this period. We are following this tradition here, but, along with Chantal de Tourtier-Bonazzi, we doubt that the dating is correct. Alvinzi, the defeated Arcole commander, did not take part in the 1800 campaign. Furthermore, the tone of the document is not consistent with that of the letters sent to Joséphine during the second Italian campaign. ‘One has to wonder whether this is not a forgery,’ concludes Chantal de Tournier-Bonazzi.

One really has to wonder, especially as this letter is part of a book called Mémoires et Correspondance de l'Imperatrice Josephine, published in 1820 by one Regnault-Warin, a novelist and pamphlet writer who, according to his Wikipedia page, was producing this kind of thing en masse. At the time, Eugène was still alive, and he apparently took the pain to write to the "Moniteur" about it. I could not find any reaction of that newspaper directly, but there were several comments in German newspapers from Bavaria to Berlin, (one of them translated below), so apparently Eugène really had protested vehemently.

And when a Beauharnais protests vehemently, it sounds like this:

The Moniteur recently communicated the following letter addressed to it by the Prince, Duke of Leuchtenberg: ‘Monsieur, I have just read a work published in Paris under the title: Mémoires et Correspondance de l'Imperatrice Josephine. I thank the author of this work for the justice he has done my mother by almost always marking the verbal utterances and letters which he attributes to her with the imprint of the genuinely French sentiments that inspired her throughout her life. I declare, however, that there is not a single line in this writing that really came from my mother, not a single line that came from my sister or from me, not a single anecdote concerning my family that corresponds to the truth. I am sorry, Monsieur l'Editeur, that I must speak of myself, or allow myself to be spoken of; but as I do not wish to contribute to the deception of the public by my silence, I have thought it my duty to publicise this statement, and I expect from your justice that you will not deny it a place in your journal. Receive etc. Munich, 15 January 182o (Signed) Prince Eugene.’

Eugène’s protest did not keep other writers to publish similar inventions, the most famous probably the memoirs by Mme Lenormand. But Mme Lenormand wrote some years later, in 1827, and had the advantage that by then, Las Cases’ Mémorial had already been published, and that Eugène was already dead.

Most of this kind of fabricated letters probably come from memoirs.

[dross-the-fish]

Most of Solas's regrets in Veilguard seem to stem from sacrificing his morals out of love for Mythal over and over again. He could never ask Lavellan to join him because he doesn’t want her to sacrifice her morals for him the same way he did for Mythal. Solas could so easily have asked a romanced Lavellan to use the Anchor to tear down the Veil—it was its original purpose, after all—but he would never make that request of her.

This is why Lavellan is the one pining after him, and his ultimate sin is giving in to her instead of turning her away. Honestly, I find it less damning than what Anders did to Hawke. Anders not only aggressively pursued Hawke but emotionally manipulated them into becoming an accomplice in his act of terror. Even if Hawke agreed with his stance, Anders never gave them the choice.

Solas, on the other hand, is tender and loving when they are together. He even considers giving up his plans to live a simple life with her. But his grief and guilt are too overwhelming for him to follow through.

Does Lavellan deserve better? Probably, yeah. After everything she’s been through, she’d likely be happier with Cullen, Josephine, or Sera. But what happened with Solas wasn’t some ordinary romance. She met him during a world-shattering event, where she was thrust into the center of everything. At that time, he was kind, supportive, and gave her the guidance she needed.

Sure, they might have clashed initially over the Dalish—his bitterness toward them stemming from bad experiences after waking—but he eventually changes his mind. If Lavellan chooses to keep her Vallaslin (a literal symbol of his failure), he respects her choice, supports her, and still calls her beautiful. Solas isn’t just any man; he’s a being who has walked the earth for thousands of years. As Lavellan says to Rook: "You felt the power of this mind. His love could burn against me like a bonfire." That’s not the kind of love you can just move on from.

And Solas? This man spends 10 years stalking her in her dreams, leaving breadcrumbs for her agents to follow if she wants to. He won’t pressure her, but he gives her the option. Even his final letter shows his selfishness and vulnerability—he wants her to understand him, hopes she finds the new world better, and admits he wishes he could stay with her. He’s a selfish, pathetic man who can’t make a clean break. Even at the end, when she offers to go with him, he doesn’t ask her to stay but also doesn’t have the strength to reject her outright. One is certain he does love her.

Tbh we're just going to have to acknowledge that you and I do not like the same things out of a story. I do not view any of this as "good" from a writing or storytelling perspective and it's probably my least favorite flavor of romance. I cannot find it in me to respect either Solas or Lavellan's side of the relationship in the scenario you've presented for me. i'm not even saying that you're wrong in your interpretation. I just think we disagree that this is a positive thing. I would also say that I feel it weakens Solas as a potentially interesting villain if we interpret from his regrets that he was acting against his own morality and only tearing down the veil out of a nostalgic sense of love for Mythal. Again, this reinforces that Solas is Lavellan's top priority but she isn't his because he won't do the thing he considers "morally correct" for her sake but he will keep going against his own wishes or desires out of love for Mythal. "Solas isn’t just any man; he’s a being who has walked the earth for thousands of years. As Lavellan says to Rook: "You felt the power of this mind. His love could burn against me like a bonfire." That’s not the kind of love you can just move on from."-

Yeah this line made me flinch HARD when I heard it in Veilgaurd because I don't like the trope of a romance being somehow magical or special or more important than friendship or family and the fact that it has consumed her to the extent that she's saying something like that feels less romantic to me and more like I'm looking at someone who's become obsessed.

She doesn't sound like a partner or a lover she sounds like a worshiper and when you consider Solas is a "god" of sorts that just gives me the ick. Sorry. I am really not trying to yuck your yum but I don't think I can be convinced there is anything salvageable to this romance.

[dragonmarquise]

BRC Headcanon Full Names

I have another BRC ask to work on tonight, thus I figure I should post this now. So then, behold! A big ol’ list of full name headcanons!

Basically a continuation of this post I made a long while back. This covers pretty much all the major characters, at least the playable ones. Plus even specific crew members from the rival crews!

Some of these have specific meanings that I used for the particular character, others were just kind of more general vibes, like “Oh this sounds cool/cute/etc.” A few of these will have extra notes on why I picked particular given/family names, but otherwise just assume it was because I liked the sound of it! Went with mostly Dutch last names for most of these characters since, well, dialog in parts of the game imply New Amsterdam is still in the Netherlands, so that made it a bit easier when I couldn't think of anything else to try, y'know? :P

Also note, not everyone here has a middle name. Not everyone irl has one anyways! Also also, some of the Dutch last names may be in the format of “Van (something)” or “De (something”, so just wanted to point that out in case anyone might get confused and think Van/De is a middle name, lol

Starting with the main cast:

Tryce = Tristian Christoffel

Bel = Annabella Pieper

DJ Cyber = Cyrus Rafaël Nassau

Felix = Bernard Manfred Van Steen (I still maintain that Felix looks like his real name would be Bernard, lol)

Vinyl = Florence Zoë Hendriks (when she was a child, she would sometimes write it as “Hendrix” and try to convince people she was related to Jimi Hendrix; it worked more often than it probably should have)

Solace = Levi Smit

The five bonus BRC members:

Rave = Vanessa Yvonne Ziegler (A headcanon, note, her dad is a black German, and her mom is from the Dominican Republic! Since she has a bunch of lines in German, and at least two in Spanish (one in particular being specifically Dominican slang), so that’s how I’m handled this :P )

Mesh = Bassam Karimi (first name means “smiling” in Arabic, last name is derived from the given name Karim/Kareem, which in turn means something along the lines of "generous, noble" or “dignity”; my research into this yielded differing results, but this seems to be more or less the overall idea. Honestly think it both sounds nice and really suits him!)

Shine = Sol Bakker (“Sol” just means “sun” in Spanish and Portugese, basically the idea is she derived her street name from that!)

Rise = Josephine Katherina Thomas (She hates being called any sort of nickname for her first name. It’s either Rise or Josephine, that’s it)

Coil = Oscar Meijer (Fun fact, the English equivalent of Meijer is Meyer/Mayer. I genuinely did not intentionally make Coil’s real name to be a roundabout reference to the lunch meat, but now that I realize it, I’m definitely keeping it this way, loool)

Some others:

Rietveld = We know here full name is Irene Rietveld, but a bonus idea: the rest of BRC point out it’s a bit awkward for her to go by her real name as her street/writer name, so she eventually settles on Rivet as an alias! :D

Escher = Matthias Conrad Escher (Originally just Matthias, but then decided to make a reference to the actual M. C. Escher, “Yeah, my parents knew what they were doing.”; thanks to @slappels for the suggestion way back when!!)

My Devil Theory OCs! The season in parentheses is what in-game palette they correspond with.

Sai (spring) = Tomás Lucas Ortiz

Nunchaku (summer) = Roxanne Beverly Sullivan

Daishō (autumn) = Hiro Francisco Morikawa (first name using the character for “prosperous” (浩); last name using the characters for “forest” (森) and “river” (川). Not that he ever gets a chance to write them in Japanese characters anyways :P )

Bō (winter) = Gavril Jansen

Now for DOT EXE! A repeat from the full DOT EXE headcanons I made a while back, but still including it here for convenience.

Cueball = Ernesto Alberto Visser (Dutch father and Italian-American mother; “Her side of the family were like, the conservative Italian-American types. The kind that makes an annoyingly big deal about celebrating Columbus Day.”; his first and middle name come from two different great grandfathers on his mom’s side)

Eight Ball = Frederik Visser (older half-brother to Cueball, they share the same dad)

Cinco (five ball) = César Hugo Raúl Garcia-Flores (last name got hyphenated when he moved to New Amsterdam while getting his papers in order and stuff; not sure if I ever clarified it in the original post, but in most (probably all?) Spanish-speaking countries, people have two last names, one from their father and the other from their mother. When moving to a country that doesn’t allow for two last names, some people end up forced to pick one or the other. Cinco went with just hyphenating it to be able to effectively keep both.)

Neun (nine ball) = Sebastián Montero Sebastian Jäger

Twoson (two ball) = Beau Driessen

Fourside (four ball) = Robin Zaal

Jūrō (ten ball) = Maximilien Théodore Perrault

Quatorze (fourteen ball) = Marie-Madeleine Lucille Perrault

And heck, the rest of the New Amsterdam crews too while I’m at it. Same as with DT and DE, the season in parentheses is the corresponding in-game palette for the playable rival character.

The Franks:

Flesh Prince = Ruben Vos (last name meaning fox, and apparently was/is a nickname for a clever person… or a person with red hair, lol)

Bill (spring) = Caspar Westenberg

Charles (summer) = Thomas Vogels

Michael (autumn) = Abraham Joël Admiraal

Larry (winter) = Lennard Van Herten

(For their street names besides the Prince, they’re named after famous basketball players, specifically from this list; Charles, Michael, and Larry are probably obvious, with Bill there’s at least two different Bills on that list lol)

Eclipse: (Street names come from constellations, I tried to go with more (relatively?) obscure ones for the names)

Vela (spring) = Sara Al-Ghazzawi

Aquila (summer) = Melissa Agnes Fortuin

Lyra (autumn) = Hannah De Klerk

Cassiopeia (winter) = Xandra Gemma Daalmans (given name is actually Alexandra, but she goes mostly by Xandra for her business)

And finally the rest of FUTURISM: (see my recent short headcanon post about them!)

Nyx (spring) = Laura Kappel

Jazz (summer) = Vincent Linden

Veronica (autumn) = Paula Prinsen (Paula is the feminine form of Paul, which in turn has roots in the Latin word Paulus which can mean humble. This is an intentionally ironic name choice for this character, lmao. Also Prinsen means “son of the Prince”, so this one is more in line with her haughty attitude)

Quantum (winter) = Esther Katja Hoedemaker (She goes by Kat as a nickname)

This next one only applies to my fanfic AU of “What if we take the postgame at face value and Red somehow became a separate person from both Felix and Faux”, but anyways:

Red = Russell Miles Van Steen (Picked the first and middle names himself, note that Russell just means “red” lol. He took on Felix’s last name since they see each other as brothers after a certain point. And it’s not like Red could come up with a better last name anyways. His middle name when paired with Felix’s middle name is a Miles Edgeworth reference :P )

[twilidragonrin]

Hey, quick question, is another piece for Underneath the Howling Moon in the works like a stand alone or a new chapter for In the Clutches of the Wolf's Jaws ? I read all of it again and resurrected my brainrot.

If not would you have some small facts and headcanons to give ?

Have a nice day

Oh you better believe there is another story in the works for Underneath the Howling Moon. And I am also working on another chapter for Clutches of the Wolf's Jaws, it's just a little slower because a lot of my brain rot has mostly been the little stories that took place before the current events of Clutches. But I do have some facts and headcanons to give out!

Bela is two years older than Cassandra, and Cassandra is a year older than Daniela. Making Bela and Daniela three years apart.

When the sisters transform into wolves, their clothes are left behind. Many clothing have been lost due to Cass and Dani transforming in the middle of nowhere in their estate.

Alcina has specific nicknames for her girls based on their traits as wolves. Bela: "My little shepherd." Cassandra: "My little bloodhound." Daniela: "My little pup."

The girls have middle names in this series! If Alcina calls out their full name then they know they're in deep trouble. Bela Josephine Dimitrescu Cassandra Milicent Dimitrescu Daniela Fiora Dimitrescu

Daniela was very sick when she was younger. I never went into details in the fic but she actually had aplastic anemia. Bela was a perfect donor for a bone marrow transplant that Daniela needed.

So in the current time of Clutches, the girls don't have jobs. The most is them working around the estate, Bela helping Alcina with paperwork, Cassandra in charge of the staff, and Daniela helping however she can.

Aside from Bela, none of the girls are trusted to get jobs outside of Alcina's business because they might end up revealing themselves. And Bela just prefers to work for her mother.

Hobbies!

Bela: Reading, considering she loves to learn. Not much romance like Daniela though she does have some soft spots for certain romance. Botany, absolutely considering I think she would love to cook and bake. Grows her own fruits, vegetables and so on. Definitely works for Alcina from time to time. Other hobbies would include playing the piano, and painting.

Cassandra: Loves to restore antiques. She likes to work with her hands. Probably is the family's own handywoman, happily getting dirty and fixing stuff. Absolutely loves to play the guitar too. Other hobbies would include some sports like hockey, and surprisingly dancing.

Daniela: Reading romance even though she loves to do physical activities with her boundless energy. Wouldn't be surprised if she does sports but she couldn't really settle on one thing. If she was asked what her favorite is, she would pick basketball. Other hobbies would include sculpting, and surprisingly sewing.

Clothing! This is something I'm taking from my friend who suggested what the girls should wear. I'm not normally keen on writing clothing so this should help gauge what everyone wears.

Bela: A casual chic/business casual style. As she’s the oldest who takes the most after Alcina and helps on the business end, it fits that she wants to make herself look presentable but approachable.

Cassandra: She wears a more casual/artsy style. As she’s the most physical out of the sisters she needs clothes that she doesn’t mind getting dirty and help her move around easier. But she still likes to look good so she mixes it up with fun and chic styles. Think like cute overalls and tank tops. But also some jackets too.

Daniela: The youngest and most energetic of the sisters, I could see her leaning more into the tomboy/sporty style. She’s a free spirit and the least likely to care too much about looking prim and proper. Plus, she’s running around all the time, it helps to have something more loose and easy to tear off when she transforms.

Alcina definitely punishes the girls differently whenever they're in trouble. Growing up, it was such a struggle because Cassandra would always talk back whenever she would lecture her. But Bela would become a sobbing and anxious mess if she were to talk to her the same way. It absolutely caused rifts between Cass and Bela in their teenage years. It's what led to Faults of a Mother.

That's it for now! I'll be thinking of more facts and headcanons, especially about Donna and Angie! Thank you so much for reading, it really makes my day to know there are some people who have massive brainrot for my silly yet heartfelt werewolf series!

[star-girl69]

Keep Me Ablaze

Jake Sully x Neytiri x Fem!Reader

—-

a/n: i heard you all, so welcome to my new series!! if you haven’t seen it already, check out the main masterlist with some more details on my page. i hope you all enjoy!!

warnings: death, swearing, tell me if i missed anything!!

Chapter One- Josephine

—-

This room, with its four metal walls and sparse furniture, the memory of screams are held in it.

Grace's hands shake, her ears ring, and all she can do is stare at the ceiling, stare in front of her. Maybe if enough time passes, if she stares long enough, it will all simply go away. Go back to how it was, before.

"Ms. Augustine?"

She shakes her head, raises one of her hands to her mouth, pulls down and let's her jaw go slack.

She can barely hear whoever is speaking- voice are hazy, the world is spinning. The memory of her sister screaming-

"Grace. Grace, come on," a man says, and she suddenly registers the hand on her shoulder.

"What, Max?" she snaps, wanting nothing more than the sink into the floor.

"The baby.." a woman starts, and Grace gasps and shakes her head. She can't. She can't do it. She's weak, she can barely keep herself upright. "Please," the woman whispers, and the bundle in her arms let's out a small cry.

Grace had already raged, screamed and thrown, and now she wishes to sit and wallow in the emptiness that threatens to swallow her.

"That baby deserves a family, Grace. And you're the only family she has left. Don't- don't do this."

A storm swirls inside her, the memory of her sister, the future that her baby is. Grace's niece. A piece of her, a piece of her sister.

"Give-" she starts, but her voice catches. "Give her to me. Give her to me."

The baby is a grounding weight in her arms, and she bats away the hands that try to help her. She doesn't need them. She needs herself. But maybe she's been spilling over a bit too much, been working too hard. She needs an outlet, a place to pour out her energy.

"She looks like you," Max whispers, and Grace has the strength to open her eyes.

She scoffs. "No. She looks like her."

—-

"Grace," he says, and she is still hazy, still trapped in the fog. All she can do is look at the baby in her arms, raise one of her hands to trace her face. "We-we have a birth certificate, if you know what you want-"

"I know," Grace snaps, tired of being under minded and treated like glass. She's not glass. She's fucking steel, and everyone in this forsaken base will know.

But, Max is her friend. "Sorry," she mumbles, eyes lifting to meet his.

"It's okay." He doesn't comfort her, doesn't smile, simply shifts and places the paper and pen on the coffee table next to her. "Whenever you're ready." he says, but Grace knows she'll never be ready.

She waits until he leaves, then she holds the baby tight in one hand, unfurls the paper. Everything is filled out. Except for the name, and a place for her signature.

Max was right. This baby deserves to be around family, right? And she's the only family left. She has to do this, has to give the baby this, give her sister this.

She puts the end of the pen in her mouth, uncaps in angrily, shuffling the baby. She sniffles, and Grace stops, stays still until the baby calms. She mutters a curse under her breath.

“If I had a baby," her sister mutters, tapping her fingers, "I would name her Y/N.”

Grace flinches at the memory, but forces it down.

"Y/N…” she says, liking the way the name feels. "Y/N." She writes the name down, thinks that this is no trouble. Until-

Middle name, the line reads, and Grace knows it's optional. Knows she doesn't have too.

She writes it down anyways.

Y/N should have a piece of her mother.

—-

"Why did you have to die?" Grace mumbles, feeling the baby cough against her again. She looks down, fondly. "Tired yourself out? All done crying?"

Then, as if she heard her, the baby starts crying again. Softer, this time, like a call, like she's missing something. Someone.

"I know, I know, I know," Grace repeats, "I miss her too, I know."

She stands, bouncing the baby like she's supposed to, right? She thinks she knows that. Saw it, somewhere. Maybe in one of those baby books her sister was obsessed with.

She stops in front of the one framed photo in the room. She thought about smashing it. But the baby should know what her mom looked like, right?

"Why did you die, Josephine? Why the fuck did you die?"

—-

"Aunt Grace, will you tell me that story again?"

Grace sighs as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed, soft pink bedsheets ruffling.

"Sure," she smiles, even though she's sure that YIN has it memorized by now.

Y/N smiles so brightly, looking so much like her mother, and Grace has to bite her lip as she pulls up the cover to her neck.

"Okay, now. So there was this woman, right? Her name was Josephine, but everyone called her Josie. She was kind and smart and all those amazing things that everyone says about everyone- but she really was. She was so kind, flowers bloomed for her and all that. She was smart, won all these fancy awards that didn't mean much. She was one of the first scientists to come to Pandora, too. Josie loved Pandora. She loved the plants and the wildlife, and she loved the Na’vi. But there was something she loved above all else- a man named Martin. He was a solider, strong and brave, all those things. They loved each other a lot, and eventually, Josie became pregnant. Everyone was so happy for her, but no one was happier than her and Martin. Then, one day, Martin was helping Josie in the woods, because she loved to try and find new plants-"

Y/N gasps and pulls the covers over her mouth, but leaves her eyes peeking out over the top. Grace can't stop the laugh that pours from her lips.

"Shh, Aunt Grace, keep going, keep going!"

"There was an angry thanator that came out of nowhere. Martin fought bravely, but he ended up getting hurt. Josie cried when as she pulled his head into her lap, but Martin could only smile. When she asked him why, he said that he had saved her and their baby. That was most important. Josie was sad for months and months, until her baby came. It was hard, losing Martin, but she did it, for her baby. Then, they lived happily ever after, or whatever crap you like.”

Y/N let's the blankets drops, smiles wide and let's out a relieved laugh, even though she already knew what was going to happen.

"Okay;" Grace sighs, doing her final check of the room, her mental list. Teeth brushed, pajamas on, story done. "It's late. Time for you to go to bed, baby."

"Okay," Y/N groans, drawing out the word and throwing her head back with a smile. "But I- Aunt Grace,"

"What is it?" Grace asks, taking her hand. Her smile falls, and she looks down at the sheets mournfully.

"Am I kind and smart? Pretty, like Josie?"

"Oh," Grace breathes, her smile softening. "Yes, of course you are, why wouldn't you think that?"

"I don't know," she mumbles, chin tucked to her chest. "I just... I wanna be like Josie. My middle name is Josephine, so I should be like her, right?"

"You are." Grace squeezes her hand. "You're smart and kind, and I'm not just saying it because I love you. I'm saying it because I know it."

She sighs, eyes meeting Grace's. "You really know so?"

"I know," Grace smiles. She places her finger on Y/N's chin, making her smile. “You're a lot like Josie. You've got a little piece of her in you, ya' know."

She thinks for a moment, processing, before she smiles and tucks herself into the covers again.

"Thank you, Aunt Grace. Goodnight, I love you."

"Love you too, baby."

—-

taglist:

@kitkat1690 @tiajk @reallysparklychaos @behindthearcane @neteyamforlife @aeslenya @ghoulbli

[daitranscripts]

Leliana Conversation: Investigate

You Are Well-Connected

Leliana Masterpost

PC: You seem to know a great many people.

Leliana: I’ve made friends and, on occasion, enemies. It’s unavoidable.

1 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: You met the Hero of Ferelden? [2]

Investigate: Did you know Hawke? [3]

Investigate: How do you know Josephine? [4]

Investigate: Tell me about Morrigan. [5]

General: We’ll talk later. [6]

2 - Investigate: You met the Hero of Ferelden? PC: You have a history with the Warden who ended the Blight, don’t you?

Romanced, HoF died (and Leliana was not killed by the HoF) Leliana: We were in love. Even in the midst of all the chaos, I was happy. Truly happy. And then [they]… I’m sorry, I’d rather not talk about this. [back to 1]

Romanced, HoF alive (and Leliana was not killed by the HoF) Leliana: [They are] always in my thoughts, even when we’re far apart. My love is on a quest of [their] own. When the Inquisition has no further need of me, I will join [them]. For good, this time. I have lost enough. I will not lose [them] as well. [back to 1]

Left the party due to low approval/crisis Leliana: The Hero of Ferelden was not what I expected. We traveled together in the early days of the Blight, but joining was a mistake. We never got along. I was you and had silly ideas. [back to 1]

Any other approval level, HoF died Leliana: I had the privilege of calling [them] “friend” before [they] died. The world seemed much duller after that. It still does. [back to 1]

Any other approval level, HoF alive Leliana: Leliana (female HoF): I count her among my closest friends. She’s probably the only person I trust completely. I haven’t heard from her in some time. She just… disappeared. I try not to think of what might have happened. Leliana (male HoF: )I count him among my closest friends. I still write to him for advice when I can. He hasn’t replied to my letters in some time. I try not to worry about it. He can take care of himself. [back to 1]

Killed by the HoF Leliana: The “Hero of Ferelden.” (Laughs.) There are no heroes in real life, just people. And people can do terrible things. Like striking me down, for example. It’s hard not to bear a grudge. [back to 1]

If asked before Leliana: We’ve talked about this. I’d rather not do it again. It brings up memories. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: Did you know Hawke? PC: They say you spent some time in Lothering. Did you know the Champion? Leliana: We spoke a few times. I seldom left the chantry, and we never became more than casual acquaintances. I saw more of the Hawke twins. Bethany in particular. She would spend time in meditation at the chantry, and she seemed to like my stories. The other one, the young man? He was a little surly. I did encounter the Champion again later in Kirkwall. Those were terrible times.

Dialogue options:

Special: Why were they terrible? [7]

[Back to 1]

7 - Special: Why were they terrible? PC: Was this when the chantry was destroyed? Leliana: No, that happened later, but even then the news coming out of Kirkwall was… disheartening. There were some in Val Royeaux who wanted the Divine to declare an Exalted March on Kirkwall. Justinia sent me there to see if that could be avoided, to gather evidence to calm those agitating for war. I guess it didn’t matter in the end. [Back to 1]

4 - Investigate: How do you know Josephine? PC: You seem to know Josephine quite well. Leliana: I met her a long time ago, but we didn’t become good friends until years later. After the Blight, in fact. I’d just returned to Val Royeaux, and she welcomed me back by throwing a diplomatic ball. She was the Antivan ambassador at the time, you see. The ball was… all right. Too many politicians. At midnight, Josie and I left to find a real party. We’ve been friends ever since.

Dialogue options:

Special: A real party? [8]

[Back to 1]

8 - Special: A real party? PC: What do you consider a real party? Leliana: It’s not a real party until someone’s smallclothes are pinned to a chantry board. And that’s all I’m saying about it. [Back to 1]

5 - Investigate: Tell me about Morrigan. PC: What do you know of Morrigan?

Morrigan had Kieran Leliana: She’s changed. She used to be so… disagreeable. Cruel. She said things just to hurt people. Now the sharp edges have worn away. Perhaps it was Kieran.

Old God Kieran, Leliana not romanced by HoF Leliana: He seems so normal, like any other little boy. And so polite. Not that I was expecting anything else. I mean… never mind. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ Old God Kieran, Leliana romanced by HoF, HoF did the ritual with Morrigan Leliana: He saved us, did you know? I would have lost my love without Morrigan’s child. I may never know her intentions, but I’ll always be grateful. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ Kieran is a normal child Leliana: I suppose becoming a mother could change anyone. [back to 1]

Morrigan did not have Kieran Leliana: I first met her when we were traveling with the Hero of Ferelden. We never really got along. Morrigan can be a powerful ally. Just never forget that she’s here because she wants something. Work with her, learn from her, trust her if you must, but never underestimate her. [back to 1]

Not recruited in Origins Leliana: I met her at court a few years ago. We never got along. She inserted herself into the empress’s confidences. Be wary of her. Morrigan can be a powerful ally, but only when it benefits her. [back to 1]

6 - General: We’ll talk later. PC: We can continue this conversation later. Leliana: You know where I am.

[sweetjulieapples]

I went back and did In Hushed Whispers so that I could get a grumpy Cullen screenshot for this.

Dear Commander - Chapter Twelve: Reprimands

Cullen x Trevelyan

AO3 MASTERLIST

(Spoilers for the "In Hushed Whispers" quest)

The Herald returns to Haven and there's much to be said.

Full chapter below:

Aside from the muffled voices of chantry sisters from the other side of the door, the war room was silent. The advisors were still, processing the report that Leliana had read out loud. After a tense pause, Josephine was the first to react. Her breathing quickened, becoming erratic and loud enough that it drew concerned glances from Leliana. She frantically scribbled notes on her clipboard.

“Josie?” Leliana asked in a soft voice.

She looked up from her notes, “They were sent through time?” she asked in shock. “Empress Celene’s assassination and what happened to…” She cleared her throat. “How many mages is The Herald bringing?” Josephine asked with a faint undertone of stress to her voice.

“She didn’t indicate an exact number. The report mentions ‘hundreds’,” Leliana answered, bowing her head to the floor. She looked up at the sound of Cullen’s fists slamming onto the table.

“Excuse me,” Josephine said in a exhale, moving towards the door. “I have letters to write.”

Without saying a word, Cullen soon followed out of the room. All of the noise that surrounded him became a disorienting swirl of sound . The chatting chantry sisters, Mother Giselle’s prayers, workers camped outside of the chantry and the thundering crack of the breach in the sky. He found himself fighting a mess of disjointed thoughts, each one fading in and out of focus like a candle’s flame.

He stopped outside of the chantry’s door, looking over the settlement that The Inquisition had created. Inside of the gates people worked hard for their cause. Healers, clerics, cooks, merchants, blacksmiths - civilians offering what help they can in trade for refuge. Outside of the gates, tents lined the perimeter. Soldiers. His men. What danger could befall them at his command? Hundreds of mages.

“Commander!” the messenger called, running towards him. “Ser Rylen has an urgent message!”

Cullen looked at the note attached to the clipboard and handed it back. “Yes,” was his response. The messenger waited a moment, expecting that he might say more. When Cullen didn’t speak further, he nodded and was about to leave. “Send for my Templars,” Cullen ordered.

“Yes, Commander,” the messenger replied.

“Turn them back, we need them here at once.”

News of the mage alliance had shook Haven into a frantic panic. Some were relieved while many others were terrified. As they awaited The Herald’s return, The Advisors worked strenuously to restore order. The morning of her arrival, the war council had well began before they made it to the table. Mother Giselle had ushered out any lingering Sisters so that they didn’t witness The Inquisition’s arguments in the middle of the chantry building.

“It’s not a matter for debate!,” Cullen argued. “There will be abominations among the mages, and we must be prepared!” He shook his head in frustration. How can they not foresee this danger?

Cullen hadn’t slept the night prior , nor had he been able to rest since hearing the news. The thought of abominations loose in Haven played over and over in his mind. That sweet song of lyrium lured him closer day by day. Not a moment had gone by where he hadn’t imagined what it would be like to give in, to submit to the cravings. He had gone as far as to seek it out under the guise of checking supplies for his former Templar recruits. He held the vial in his hand.

Standing there in the chantry, he could think of little else. Josephine’s voice became an indistinct hum while she disputed his concern. If he took the lyrium now, would it help him protect Haven? If he could sense the magic before it took over, he could stop it.

“…and the canvas will arrive. Do you have any idea how hard it was to arrange those items, Commander?” Josephine looked at him with sharp eyes, laced with impatience. “Food, shelter, clothing - I’ve arranged it all. It won’t be easy but I can make it happen. Thankfully I was able to keep Lady Drummond on side and her assistance will help us greatly.”

Cullen snapped out of his daze and looked at Josephine, softening his expression. “You’ve worked well, Ambassador.”

“Yes!” she agreed with a nod of her head. “I’ve worked very well and I won’t let you ruin that! If we rescind the offer of an alliance, it makes The Inquisition appear incompetent at best, tyrannical at worst!”

“We need time to prepare both the troops and the mage recruits.” He sighed, “Let’s take this to the war room.”

“I’ll skip the war council,” a voice intruded on their discussion, causing them to turn around in surprise. Dorian stood by the door, leaning against a column. “But I would like to see this breach up close, if you don’t mind.” They watched him suspiciously, waiting for him to add more to his statement. “Oh yes,” he grinned. “Everyone’s favourite mage is here to stay!” Cullen glared at Dorian, inspiring the next comment. “Well, perhaps not your favourite.”

“You’re staying?” Juliette asked excitedly as she entered the door behind Dorian. Cassandra walked in with her, looking stressed and exhausted. Cullen’s eyes followed Juliette as she quickly leaped towards Leliana, crashing into a hug.

“Oh,” Leliana murmured in surprise.

“You are incredible,” Juliette whispered, the corners of her eyes filling with tears. “I’m so sorry.”

Cassandra almost smiled. “Think yourself lucky that she willingly let you go,” she said to Leliana. “I had to pry her off me.”

Juliette stepped back, taking in the sight of Leliana’s face. Her expression was that of both amusement and confusion. They’ll never know what Juliette saw. Her written account could never capture the anguish and despair that she felt in that alternate reality, watching Cassandra, Varric and Leliana fight to the death and fall before her. The way they sacrificed their lives in order to save The Herald, Haven and all of Thedas from a doomed fate. Their actions were honorable and inspiring, a sentiment that Juliette would carry for the rest of her days.

“We both saw what could happen,” Dorian explained. “What this ‘Elder One’ and his cult are trying to do. It’s my duty to stand with you. That future will not come to pass.”

Juliette smiled at him with a sparkle of adoration in her eyes. “There’s no one I’d rather be stranded in time with. Past or present.”

The moment of tense silence was shattered by Cullen’s ridiculing scoff. “Is this a joke?” he demanded, his eyes narrowing as he directed a fierce glare at Juliette. “You return with nothing but smiles and affection - have you any idea the chaos you’ve unleashed?” Juliette’s brows furrowed and she returned the glare. Although she had anticipated this response, she was still caught off guard by the harshness in his tone. “What were you thinking, turning mages loose with no oversight? The veil is torn open!” Cullen yelled.

“We need them to close the breach!” she snapped. “It’s not going to work if we make enemies of them!”

“I know we need them for the breach, but they could do as much damage as the demons themselves!”

“Here we go…” Juliette mumbled, dropping her head into the palm of her hand.

“You were there, Seeker! Why didn’t you intervene!”

Cassandra spoke firmly, “While I may not completely agree with the decision, I support it.” She tilted her head towards Juliette and said “The sole point of The Herald’s mission was to gain the mage’s aid, and that was accomplished.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this!” Cullen muttered, shaking his head. “I…I can’t.” He began to storm towards the chantry door.

Juliette’s heart raced, she felt as though her blood was begining to boil. What they went through to make it back was no easy feat and she wasn’t prepared to stand there and let him speak to her like that. Her fists tightened in anger, her face flushed as she hurried after him. “No!” she yelled. “If you’ve something to say, then say it!”

He kept moving, slamming the door behind him. She ripped it open and followed Cullen outside. “You can’t just ignore this!”

“Ignore what?” he growled, turning to face her. “I’m not ignoring anything!”

“Me!” she yelled. “You’re ignoring me!”

“What’s left to say?” he asked. “You won’t listen, nobody ever does!”

"What’s the problem, Cullen?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “We seal the breach and then my job is done. I won’t be here to burden you any further and you can chase me and all the other apostates away!”

He recoiled slightly, scrunching his face at what she had said. “Do you honestly think that’s what I want?”

Juliette stood there, trembling with anger, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. As she looked at him, the memory of their war council prior to Redcliffe flashed into her mind. She recalled the way her heart sank at his words. ‘If you go in there, you’ll die. And we’ll lose the only means we have of closing these rifts.’ The way he looked at her, sword drawn after she cast fire during training. A wound still fresh.

She met his gaze steadily. "What else am I supposed to think?" she retorted, her tone sharp and defensive. “I’m only good for one thing, right?” She held up her left palm, her eyes still locked onto his. Cullen shook his head and tried to walk away from her. “I don’t know what you want of me. To say sorry? To change my mind and call off the alliance?”

He stopped and turned back to face her once more. “It’s too late! You’ve already gone and made a selfish decision!”

“Selfish?” she screamed. “There’s nothing selfish about it!”

“You only did it because you see yourself in them. With no regard for the safety of everyone else!”

“What I went through…Cullen, the things I saw!”

“If only you had seen what I have!” he shot back, his voice trembling with frustration. “Don’t think that you’re the only one who’s ever suffered.”

She tilted her head slightly to one side, struggling to make sense of what he meant. Her eyes were wide and unblinking. The weight of his words were beginning to settle in, but before she could respond, the chantry door burst open.

Cassandra stormed through, her expression a mix of determination and desperation, with Dorian slinking behind her. The sudden noise caused people outside the chantry to pause mid-step, their conversations frozen in surprise. The tension in the air thickened as people began to take notice of The Inquisition’s Commander and The Herald of Andraste arguing in the middle of the yard.

“Turn away,” Cassandra ordered to a group of officers that stood nearby. As the officers moved aside, Chancellor Roderick came into full view, standing with his arms folded. His face was set in an irritatingly smug expression, as if he relished the unfolding chaos. The corners of his mouth curled into a subtle, condescending smile, clearly pleased with the turmoil.

“This is what you have wrought, Seeker!” he loudly proclaimed. “Your Inquisition is tearing apart at it’s seams.”

Cullen hurried down the steps with his head bowed, his pace quick and determined. Juliette, refusing to let him slip away, followed closely, her voice cutting through the air despite the onlooking crowd that was gathering.

“…I did what was right! They’re exiled from Ferelden now, they’ve no place left to go but here!” When Cullen didn’t respond she added, “Would you rather that they’re left to die?”

He stopped abruptly in the middle of the stairs and turned around . The sudden movement made Juliette lose her balance, nearly stumbling into him. “And if…” he began. “When there’s an abomination. How many do you think will die here?”

“You say it like becoming possessed is our favourite pastime!”

“It’s not something to lightly consider!” he yelled. “Not even you are immune, perhaps especially not you with that…thing.” He waved his hand, motioning towards the anchor on hers.

Juliette scoffed, her face flushing with offense at Cullen’s words. “Oh, so all these ‘precautions' are because of me?” she shot back, hurt. “You think that I’m a danger to everyone because of the power I wield?”

“That’s not the power I’m concerned about! It’s your influence, your position and the fact that you’re making decisions without as much as a thought of the consequences.”

“I’m doing what I believe is right, even if it’s difficult!” Juliette argued.

Cullen sighed, rubbing a hand over his face in frustration. “You didn’t even stop to consider it, did you?”

“Had I the time, I’d have wrote you a letter. Does that make you feel better? Do you feel special enough?”

“You made a decision based solely on naïve compassion!” Cullen exclaimed, his voice sharp with disbelief. “How you can think that everything will just fall into place is beyond me!”

“Because mages are people too, Cullen!” she screamed, clenching her fists.

“You don’t think that I know that?” he asked with a deep snarl, his voice low and seething with anger.

Varric pulled the bottle of ale away from his lips, his eyes widening in shock as he watched Juliette scream at Cullen in the distance. The heated exchange between them was impossible to ignore, as wrong as it felt to spectate.

He set the bottle down , his attention locked on the escalating argument. Juliette’s face was flushed with anger, her voice carrying over the murmur of the crowd. Cullen’s own expression was a storm of frustration and distress, his body language tense. Cassandra, standing behind Juliette, was tugging at her arm in a desperate attempt to calm her down.

“Well, shit,” Varric muttered under his breath with both bemusement and concern.

“…I never got a choice! This just happened to me! But you. You chose to be a Templar!” Juliette continued to follow after Cullen, slapping Cassandra’s hand away once more.

“Enough!” Cassandra roared, her voice echoing with authority. Her demand was ignored as Juliette’s anger remained unrestrained.

“I’ll be afflicted for the rest of my life. But you can stop being a Templar!”

Cullen exhaled deeply, his hands gripping his head in bafflement. A hollow, humorless laugh escaped him. “You can’t just stop,” he said, his voice heavy with disbelief. “There are things…it doesn’t leave you.” He looked to the ground. “Just leave me be, Herald.”

Juliette crossed her arms tightly over her chest and shook her head. “Would it kill you to use my actual name?” she snapped. “Or is that another right you think mages aren’t deserving of?”

“Leave me alone, Lady Trevelyan!” he yelled, his voice booming with a force that startled her. She shook her head, defiant and unmoved by his command.

Juliette unleashed a shrill, scornful laugh. “There it is.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Lady Trevelyan,” she said with a mocking voice. “For as long as I can remember people have held that name against me, like I’m some stuck up noble brat.”

“You just told me to use… argh!” Cullen threw up his hands in agitation. “It’s not about your name, it’s the way you carry yourself! I can assure you of that!”

Realizing that Juliette wouldn’t listen, Cassandra turned to Cullen with a look of exasperation. “Just walk away!” she urged, fed up with them both.

Dorian gently placed his hand on Juliette’s arm, his tone calm but firm. “This is really quite embarrassing,” he said.

“Fuck off, Dorian!,” she snapped, snatching her arm back.

He stood with wide eyes and a bewildered smirk. “Vishante kaffas! Nobody can say I didn’t try.”

Cullen took a few steps away before turning back. “Talking to you is like walking on eggshells,” he said, his voice tight with frustration. “I don’t know how to navigate your mood swings. I can’t have a conversation with you, professionally or otherwise.” Juliette stared at him, visibly upset, her eyes searching for the right words. “Why? Why do you have to be like this?” he pressed.

“Because!” she snapped, her voice breaking with frustration. She squeezed her eyes shut, irritated by her own inability to articulate her feelings. “It’s just easier.”

“Easier?” he repeated, his tone a blend of annoyance and confusion. The simplicity of her answer only added to his frustration. “What makes you think that any of this is easier?”

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she struggled to maintain her composure. She took a shaky breath, her voice soft and barely audible. “It just is.”

Cullen’s expression eased as he took in the raw emotion in her eyes. The intensity of the moment made him pause. “How?” he whispered.

She stepped closer, dropping her gaze to the ground and with softly spoken words, changed the subject. “What I saw in the future was horrific. Cullen, I beg you to listen.”

As their eyes met, their unspoken connection conveyed more than words ever could. The pain and urgency in her gaze prompted a silent agreement from Cullen. His expression softened, and he nodded slightly, acknowledging her plea without uttering a word.

“Cullen, you died. Everyone here died. I won’t let it happen,” Juliette said, her voice starting to break as she struggled to hold back tears. She turned her face to discreetly wipe them away, letting out a quiet sniffle before meeting his gaze once more. “So you’d better get used to apostates, because I don’t see any other option.”

Cullen looked at her for a moment, considering what she had said. Finally, he spoke, “It only takes one apostate.” His statement was as close to a confession of fear as he would ever come, the underlying anxiety evident in his voice.

Tears rolled down Juliette’s cheeks as she struggled to find the right words. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was worth revealing what she had kept to herself for so long. “If it weren’t for just one apostate, I’d have died months ago.” Cullen's eyes softened with empathy as he listened to her trembling voice. “Templars dragged me by the hair and held me down,” she swallowed hard, trying to steady her breathing. “They ordered my cousin, one of their own, to hold his sword to my throat. Had an apostate not intervened, they would have made him slaughter me like an animal.”

Cullen's expression was a mix of anger and sorrow. His gaze remained steady, though there was anguish in his eyes. He took a deep breath, unable to find the right words to offer her.

Juliette wiped away her tears, her voice barely a whisper. “Maker, why am I telling you this?”

The look on his face only fueled her anger. She was embarrassed by her emotions and didn’t want his pity. She didn’t want to see the goodness in him, the things that she found alluring. The warmth of his smile and the quiet chuckle that he does when she says something dumb at the war council. The way his eyes soften when she looks at him and that stupid, infuriatingly charming smirk when he thinks that he has a better idea. How gently he speaks to her on the rare occasion when they aren’t arguing. She needed to see him as the villain. She wanted to hate him.

It’s just easier.

Trying to compose herself she said with a bitter tone, “So don’t stand there and act like Templars aren’t dangerous too.”

Cullen looked down, struggling to find the right words to bridge the gap that had suddenly widened between them. “I…I’m…”

Cassandra took the moment of calm as an opportunity to swoop in guide Cullen away. With her hand firmly pushing onto his breastplate, he accepted the gesture to turn around and move towards the gate. He paused for a moment, looking back at Juliette. She stood with her head lowered, her hands covering her face, an image of vulnerability and distress. The sight struck him deeply, and he felt a pang of sadness and regret course through him.

Once the gate had closed behind them, Cassandra gave him a stern look of disappointment. “Whatever that was, whatever is going on between the two of you - it ends now!”

[crowns-of-violets-and-roses]

Do you have any good sci-fi recs? I haven't read anything written in the last decade except Murderbot I think.

Oh I have so many. I'll skip the series and books that have been deluged with big American SF awards (although Embassytown, the Teixcalaan duology, The Broken Earth trilogy, and The Locked Tomb series are all more than worth a read to name a few) and list a few other things here that have been published in the last decade or so that I loved.

Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series is amazing. Set in the 25th century where nation states have been replaced by voluntarily joined polities called Hives. The books are framed as a history (the author herself is a historian as a day job) written by an infamous criminal aping the style of the eighteenth century. Lots of fun and a deeply ambitious set of books. They sometimes stumble and fail to realise their ambition but still a great series.

Deep Wheel Orcadia is a verse novel written in the Orcadian dialect of Scots by Harry Josephine Giles. English translations are provided but I found it best read by reading each section in the Orcaidan first and then the English after. Depending on your dialect of English you may often be able to understand a lot of what's happening before moving into the English translation. It follows an artist Astrid returning to her home and an heiress Darling who has run away from her life. They both come to the space station Orcadia and the novel focuses on them and the ordinary people of the station. There's lines of it still lodged in my mind years after reading it.

In Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky a runaway project to terraform a planet and accelerate evolution leads to the inadvertent creation of sentient spiders. It focuses on the development of the spider society, a generation ship of humans and eventually the two of them meeting. A great work of xenofiction. It has two sequels - I've read and enjoyed one and have heard good things about the other - but was originally a standalone and can be read as such.

It wasn't published in the last ten years but Yōko Ogawa's The Memory Police was only translated into English in 2019 so I'm including it here. Set on an island where people periodically forget about different objects and concept and they're removal is then enforced by the titular Memory Police. I'm generally suspicious of literary authors writing SF (I often find it's worse than their usual writing and not good SF) but this book is brilliant and the best I've read by Ogawa.

Isabel J. Kim is one of the best SF short story writers currently writing. While she's best known on tumblr for Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole many of her other stories are better than it. For sci-fi specifically Zeta-Epsilon is a good intro to her work. If you're into SF and fantasy her entire bibliography is worth reading and is nearly all available for free online.

Ted Chiang had a new short story collection Exhalation released in 2019. Chiang is always thought provoking and unlike many SF authors focused on exploring the implications of an idea or concept he knows how to imbue human emotion into his work. The story the collection takes it's title from is available online and is one of my favorites by him if you're looking to get a sense of his work.

Porpentine is best known for her brilliant interactive fiction (IF) . She has a very distinct voice and it should be noted her work is often extremely dark. Usually I'd recommend With Those We Love Alive as an intro to her IF but it's more fantasy than SF, Howling Dogs might be a better entry point if you're into SF specifically and if you're interested in her work she has a collection Eczema Angel Orifice which collects much of her early work. She's also written more experimental work like Foldscape a game made exclusively of folders.

If you aren't into IF Mall school was an early "rare venture into linear storytelling" that I'm fond of. She's written more linear writing in recent years and has released a bunch of short stories, novellas and an amazing novel Serious Weakness (though other than being set five minutes in the future there aren't many SF elements in it).