#in fact you were the one who wanted to do my world quests for me bc you were frustrated with my lack of passion to the game 💀💀

[st6rly]

i this one dude who thinks we're friends (we arent) is mad at me for bashing the natlan plot now like im sorry the big corp sucks man like 😹😹 im a writer im going to criticize a flipping in-your-face power of friendship ahh plot

[sammakesart]

Castles in the Fade, or What Was the Point of the Veil Anyway

Something that will now haunt me until the end of time is why was the concept of the Veil ever introduced into this series.

We’ve been hearing about it since the very first game. There’s a codex entry about tears in the Veil in Origins. Tamlen mentions a thin spot in the Veil if you play a Dalish elf. Sandal has a prophecy in Dragon Age 2: “One day the magic will come back—all of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see.” Admittedly, this is just one line said by a character who often says odd things, but it hinted to the fact they were planning to do something with the Veil from the very beginning. The state of the Veil is repeatedly brought up. It all had to mean something! Or so I thought. 

When I saw “The Dread Wolf Rises” quest in Veilguard, I said, “Oh, here we go!” The Veil is coming down, magic is coming back, and it’s going to set up such an interesting story for the next game. 

Alas, no. 

I hadn’t really enjoyed my time playing Veilguard up until this point. It felt like the game was ducking and dodging every bit of world building and lore that could possibly bring nuance or complexity to the story. Every returning character or faction was a cardboard cutout of themself. They shoved Solas is a time-out box and gave him nothing to do. They refused to let him have any impact or influence on the story when he had been set up to be our main antagonist back in Trespasser. This game used to be called Dreadwolf! And while we learn about his past… we never talk to him about it. In the present, he’s in stasis.

Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain are our villains. And they are your typical evil for evil’s sake villains. They are mad, bad, and only as dangerous as the narrative will allow as to not give Rook and co too much trouble. They are surprisingly patient while Rook fixes all their companions’ problems… until Elgar’nan moves the moon to cause an eclipse. A vital component in making his own lyrium dagger. For some reason. This guy can move a satellite!? And he just let Rook walk away in previous encounters… twice. Ok. Sure.

The Evil Duo need their own dagger ostensibly to tear down the Veil, because they want to unleash the full force of the Blight onto the world. Because they are evil. And they were thwarted last time they tried to Blight the entire world. Why do they think Blighting the world is a good idea? What’s the point of ruling a world if everyone is dead? I guess they haven’t thought that through, because of the madness and the evilness.

Ok, I thought. Perhaps the gods will be the one to tear down the Veil. Or maybe we’ll have a choice to let Solas do it his way before they can, which will be less chaotic and less full of Blight. Because the Veil has to be coming down one way or another? Why introduce the concept of the Veil, especially a Veil that has been thinning and failing since the series began, if it’s just going to… stay.

There is a principle in storytelling called Chekov’s gun. If something is mentioned in a story, it must have a purpose. If you keeping mentioning that gun hanging on the wall over the fireplace, it’s because at some point in the story, someone is going to take it down and use it. The Veil felt like Chekov’s gun to me. Chekov’s Veil, if you will. It’s been here from the beginning of our tale, the spectre hanging over our protagonists’ heads for multiple games.

The Veil has been a character unto itself. It was the central focus of the third game, and its dissolution was set up to be the core conflict of the fourth game. We learn everything we thought we knew about the Veil was a lie. It was not created by the Maker to separate the Fade from this world because of jealous spirits, it was created by a guy named Solas to trap the elven gods and the Blight from destroying the world. Also, the elven gods were never gods, and they are also evil.

This reveal will surely throw the Andrastian religion into chaos! This puts the very existence of the Maker into question! The Evanuris are a lie; it’s only fair Catholicism—oh, I mean—the Chantry is a lie too. We briefly touch on that in Veilguard… then it is quietly discarded. Religious crisis averted.

But I digress.

When the title of the fourth game was changed from Dreadwolf to Veilguard, I started to see the writing on the wall. Still, I held out hope the Veil would have some greater purpose in the story. That its introduction as a concept was for a reason. That something in this world would change.

Instead, from the get-go, the question of the Veil is no question at all. We only get Solas and Varric making oblique or catastrophizing statements about it. Solas says little beyond he has a plan. If I ever wanted to hear a villain monologue about their plan, it was now! Varric, on the other hand, decries Solas’s plan. He warns that should the Veil fall, it will destroy the world and drown it in demons. And that’s that.

We never really learn why Solas wants to tear the Veil down, or why he thinks it will help anyone. “The Veil is a wound inflicted upon this world. It must be healed,” he says. And that’s basically all he says about it in Veilguard. In Inquisition and Trespasser, we learn it took the immortality from the elves. It cut most of magic off from the world. Spirits are trapped and are being corrupted into demons, and most of what we know about spirits and demons is wrong. There are ancient elves possibly asleep? That part is left vague, but ancient elves are still about. We meet some in Mythal’s temple. There seems to have been some merit in bringing it down, because elves were flocking to Solas’s cause at the end of Trespasser. He had agents working for him already. What do they know that we don’t know?

Apparently nothing, because by the time Veilguard rolls around, there are no mention of agents. He is working alone. His only motivation now seems to be he’s too deep in his sunk-cost fallacy. The Veil is unnatural, so it must be removed—consequences be damned. We are never given any reason to think Solas has a leg to stand on in his pursuit of tearing down the Veil. We never hear any kind of counter argument from anyone, not even Solas, as to why the Veil should come down. We are only told it will destroy the world. It will drown the world in demons. This is all Solas’s fault.

There is no nuance. No complexity. No moral quandary to mull over. The game gives us vague warnings with no explanation as to what exactly is so world-annihilating about the Veil coming down. We must take Varric’s word at face value. We’re the heroes; Solas is the villain. Stop him.

It makes me wonder why Solas was ever a companion in Inquisition, let alone a romance option. Solas was presented to us as a complicated character in Inquisition. We had the potential throughout the game to make him see the value of this world, to help him realize he was wrong about it. “We aren’t even people to you,” the Inquisitor says in Trespasser. Solas replies, “Not at first. You showed me that I was wrong...again.” He began the third game viewing the world as tranquil, seeing the people in it as nothing more than figments in a nightmare, just as we saw our companions in the In Hushed Whispers quest. He ends the game having made friends, having recognized he was mistaken. He might have even fallen in love. (Or he may still seen no merit in this world if the Inquisitor antagonized him the entirety of their time together.) But something makes him continue with his plan to tear down the Veil, despite recognizing this world is real. He must know something we don’t. Something we’ll learn about in the next game.

We’ve been hearing about the Veil for three games now. We’ve set up our complex antivillain for the next installment, and he’s going to tear the Veil down. We swear to stop him or save him. But it has to be more complex than that. It can’t be so straightforward. Uncomplicated. Simple. Boring. Right? Right?

Nope. He really is just the villain, mustache-twirling and all. He apparently had no greater motivation, no as of yet unrevealed knowledge that would put this whole Veil thing into a new context. It was really as simple as the Veil falling will destroy the world, so Solas must be stopped. There is no new information that is revealed which makes us question what we are doing. Solas is never given any nuance or complexity to his actions. Nuance and complexity have actively been taken away. Both him and the Veil are looking like they are the worst things to be in a story: pointless. Why introduce the Veil if it’s just going to remain unchanged? Why introduce a character like Solas, bother humanizing him (for lack of a better term), giving us his backstory, setting him up as a cunning antagonist, only to make him look stupid, then put him on a shelf until the last ten minutes of your game?

Solas was the trickster archetype of this tale. He was our version of Loki from Norse mythology. What is the role of the trickster archetype? To challenge the status quo. To bring about events of extreme change, like say, the tearing down of a Veil that holds back all of magic. Loki is a huge contributing factor in Ragnarök. Through his manipulation, he causes the death of the beloved god, Baldr. This ushers in a long winter, which signifies the beginning of the end. Loki is imprisoned for this crime. When the final battle between gods and giants begins, the sun and moon are swallowed, plunging the earth into darkness. The earth shakes and Loki is freed to fight on the side of the giants. The world burns in raw chaos, falls beneath the sea, and is reborn. The world is remade, and a new realm of the gods and a new, better earth is formed.

It really felt like this was the setup they were going for. Solas causes the death of Mythal, and this is his catalyst for creating the Veil, which ushers in a world without magic. This could be seen as equivalent to the long winter. Solas falls asleep, trapped in dreams. He wakes and sets in motion bringing about the apocalypse. It’s not a perfect one to one, but it’s there if you squint. We have a war against the gods in Veilguard. I was expecting a few remaining Titans to wake and join the fight. But we don’t get any of that. There is a final battle, but it does not end in the end of the world. Or a better world. It just ends, and everything is the same.

It seems our trickster god caused his apocalypse thousands of years before our story started, when he created the Veil. His role in this tale was over before ours began, and he really is just some relic from a long-past age. He has no role, no purpose in this story. He is here to be thwarted. He is no Loki at all.

If you can’t tell, I wanted the Veil to come down. Did I think the Veil coming down would be painless? Have no negative consequences? No. Of course not. But keeping it up has negative consequences too. And it made for an interesting story. Or at least it could have. But we never explore that. The game presents no counter argument to having the Veil stay up, which, again, begs the question: what was the point of introducing the concept of the Veil at all?

Did I think the Veil coming down was actually the best solution to help Thedas become a better place? I don’t know, and I never will, because the game never argues for it one way or another. It just tells you to want it in place and to stop asking questions. In real life, a catastrophic event is not the best way to solve any of the world’s problems. But this is the realm of fiction. We have gods and monsters, magic and myth. We have introduced the status quo of Thedas, recognized it needs to change, then our trickster god appears ready to fulfill his role in the narrative. 

Instead, it all comes to nothing.

I got to the end of Veilguard… and everything was more or less the same as it was at the start of Origins. Veilguard actually tries its hardest to pretend any previously mentioned problems don’t exist, so of course the Veil coming down has no merit. There are no problems to solve in this world, apparently. Solas is just stuck in the past and can’t get with the times. Silly Solas.

The Veil isn’t even a permanent solution. It wasn’t to begin with. It was some duct tape wrapped around a broken pipe, and we’ve just slapped an extra piece of tape on it. It’s still leaking. It is still unnatural, and will fall eventually one way or another. Large amounts of bloodshed weaken it, so I guess Thedas better achieve world peace real quick to avoid any battles. There were seven super-powered mages holding it together… now there is just one. Ironically, the Veil was going to fall after two more Blights anyway. The Wardens were doing Solas’s work for him! It would also have released the full force of the Blight at that time… which Solas was trying to avoid, I presume.

It feels like keeping the Veil up just pushed a big problem onto Thedas’ future generations. We’ll keep slapping bandaids on it until it all falls apart. Someone else can deal with the fallout, but we’ll be dead by then, so who cares.

Primarily, I wanted the Veil to come down from a storytelling perspective. The Veil was an interesting concept and I wanted the story to do something interesting with it. Conflict is what makes stories stories and the Veil coming down could create so much compelling and complex conflict. And the Fade is weird, and I like weird. Stories are also about change, and I wanted to see Thedas change. Yet, Veilguard is over, and barely anything has changed. Instead of magic coming back being a conflict for the next game, they went with Fantasy Illuminati. Oh.

The Veil turned out to be a nothing-burger, and no problems in this world are even close to being solved. Slavery is still rampant in Tevinter. The elven people are still oppressed everywhere. Mages have no more rights in the South than they did in Origins. Spirits are still trapped and being corrupted. The Calling still exists, though might be different somehow now? They don’t really get into that. The Chantry’s validity is still not allowed to be questioned. The Blight still exists in some form, but again it’s vague. Oh, and we learn the dwarves have been gravely wronged, and the Titans are still tranquil. At least if you redeem Solas and a romanced Lavellan joins him, they can work together on healing the Blight and helping the Titans. Oh, good. One problem is being acknowledged and some action will be taken. Offscreen. Hurray? Solas doesn’t have a really great track record of fixing problems, so Lavellan is definitely going to need to be there to make sure he doesn’t fuck it up.

For some reason, this game seemed terrified of letting us think about anything for more than two seconds. It shied away from complexity or nuance at every turn. The game is called The Veilguard—ironically, that word is never uttered in the game—but we are given no real motive for guarding the Veil. We’re unquestionably the hero. The villains are uncomplicatedly evil. Save the world… never wonder what you are doing or why.

I wanted the game to make me question if the Veil staying up or coming down was the right choice. I needed to be given a real counter argument. Convince me the alternative would actually be better or worse, because as I mentioned… things suck quite a bit in Thedas already for a lot of people right now. Let the Veil’s fate be a difficult choice to make. If the conflict cannot be what to do about the Veil, it should be am I doing the right thing about the Veil. If the heart of your game is so thin on motive, everything else falls apart around it.

I hoped they were setting up a complex, Thedas-sized existential conflict for this game in Trespasser, but no. I wanted something to happen, but nothing did. 

I want to feel challenged and changed by a story, not left feeling empty. I’m tired of superficial entertainment. I want to sink my teeth into a narrative that doesn’t paint the world in broad strokes of black and white, good and evil, heroes and villains.

Ultimately, I think my issue is why even introduce a concept like The Veil if you’re not going to do anything interesting with it. Or anything at all. What I thought was Chekov’s Veil turned out to just be a MacGuffin. And that’s disappointing.

[alessiamalfoyzabini]

Moondir - 01

Pairing | moondir!OT7 x human!Reader

Word Count | 5,6k

Warnings | +18, angst, dirty and crude language, references to mass extermination, MC is forced to have a gynecological examination, discomfort and humiliation, references to future forced impregnation practices, MC is evaluated as if she were an animal, this is not for minors.

This fanfiction is dark and yandere, if you don't like the genre, don't read and if you are not of age, don't read.

I don't want to hear any complaints in the comments, thank you.

This does not reflect my way of thinking or living at all, it is just a work of fiction, it is like watching a horror movie, many of us love horror movies, but we would never dream of what we see in those movies happening in reality as well.

Simply put, this story was written for entertainment purposes, it should not be seen as a reflection of my values, opinions or morals. I absolutely do not condone such acts.

⤷ Summary | The Moondir, born of the Moon Goddess' love for a wolf, were persecuted and enslaved by humans for merely existing. Moondirian women have been captured and killed in the most heinous ways, men have instead been forced to do dangerous work in place of the humans themselves, and after more than a century, this has virtually brought their race to the brink of extinction. A group of Moondirian rebels have succeeded in their quest to regain their freedom, and not without the use of the crudest violence. Their females are now gone, and it will be human women who will help them repopulate the world.

➢ Author's Note | Hi, guys! 🥰 Here I am back with the story I had announced a few days ago, it will be divided into chapters, be sure to always read the warnings in each chapter! I'm very excited because I've been thinking about this storyline for a while and I really hope to do a good job 🤧 Let me know what you think, I love you ❤️

Taglist is open: @katherine-kookie - @btsuga-d - @pantara - @angelicsmilesworld - @lennieharper - @takemeaway5402 - @jiminismine4ever - @m00njinnie - @ke1k029 - @velvet-stardust2002 - @darkuni63 - @douknowbts - @aiiselle90210 - @fewercascade - @mageprincess7 - @get-that-brain-working - @whipwhoops - @dragons-flare - @seokjins-luigi - @pjmsneverland - @jimincrystal - @ajkwww - @ungodlyjoon - @hecateslittlewitchling - @namjoonsbuspass - @xicanacorpse - @btssimplove - @antisocial-mochi267 - @reallygenerouskoala - @dabishou - @themwordsblog - @deluluisme - @justanarchiveforfics - @blackberrywonie - @the-holy-hobi - @justlikecrazy - @herareila - @furioustrashlover - @mar-lo-pap - @dachshunddame - @pantaral81 - @lattejimin - @withmuchluv-tannie - @calmyourtitts7 - @plushjeno - @rafesbunniebby - @rms-expensive-girl - @polnaraffsrack - @rg2108 - @paramedicnerd004 - @jungshaking - @ane102 - @moonstarw

Main List - 01 - 02

Is it really so strange for you to find yourself at the feet of the man who swore to destroy your family?

Although your brother has downplayed his words over the years, you have now had the confirmation you so feared. Min Yoongi meant what he said and came back to end your existence, dressing as the icy captain of his team.

“I see you're all right,” he murmurs with a smile that does not reach his feline eyes, devoid of any human warmth. He looks down at you, imposing his presence on you, and you find yourself forced to bite your tongue not to answer him curtly. But, in fact, your silence only seems to provoke him.

One step forward from him and you find your chin clenched between two cold, ungentlemanly fingers, “I don't like this look, Y/N... I've always told you that sooner or later I'd wipe it off this pretty face,” his hot breath brushes your face, making you shiver. Mint and tobacco. A typical male smell that he didn't have the first time you met him.

You still don't respond to him, though you can't help but notice how much he has changed. The thin, shadowy young man like a ghost is gone; in his place is a hard, unreadable man. His high-quality jacket sparkles with prestigious medals and accolades, his tight pants highlight the sinuous lines of his athletic legs, and his solid leather boots shake the floor with every imposing step he takes.

You in comparison are just a little mouse who should beg that man.

“Will you die quietly, Y/N?” a question asked in a distant, mean tone. As if he hasn't known you for a lifetime.

You tighten your lips, releasing yourself from his grip angrily before spitting a stream of saliva straight into his face. Some soldiers remain impassive, others widen their eyes, stunned by your audacity or perhaps your death wish, but Yoongi remains perfectly calm and, with one hand wrapped in a dark glove, picks up the trail of saliva slowly creeping down his snow-white cheek.

“Interesting... proud to the end,” he murmurs with an amused grin, his eyes twinkling with interest as they return to scratch your fragile skin, “Yes... pride is a trait I've always detested about you,” he admits, using the same hand with which he picked up your saliva to nod to his men. Suddenly two of them grab you by the arms impetuously, holding you down for their captain.

Your heart speeds up and you can feel the dull thump pushing against your eardrums. A shameful fear grips your stomach as you see him approach further. He slowly kneels in front of you once more to whisper in your ear, undisturbed.

“The women of my race were just like you; beautiful, proud and fierce,” he begins, using a tone so sweet it makes you shiver.

His race. Moondir.

Neither beasts nor humans. Born from the union of the Moon Goddess with one of her strongest wolves.

Creatures born specifically to strike terror among the humans, great enemies of the Goddess, who, however, sought and found a way to enslave the Moondirians and succeeded. But after a century of mistreatment and starvation, the Moondirians have managed to rebel against the dictatorship, saying no more to those chains made of abuse and suffering, succeeding in setting up a rebel group worthy of opposing human power.

Now they have taken control of every country and rule with ferocity, taking revenge not only for the mistreatment they suffered but also for the extinction of their women.

The Moondirians have been forbidden to procreate, and to be safe, every female of their species has been killed.

Guilt compresses your chest when you think that none of those women were given a dignified or quick death, even more so when you remember that your father and brother willingly took part in that carnage.

Yoongi squares you with a new ferocity in his gaze, “Can someone remind me what human practice was when one of our women was captured?”

A faint frantic murmur rises from the soldiers, observing you in turn with disgust.

Another man approaches you, with a cadenced, light step; he is as tall as Yoongi and wears, along with the typical uniform, a stiff, black cap with silver embroidery that lets you know he is a lieutenant. His plump, soft lips are tight in a severe, irritated line, distorting his real beauty.

“When a Moondir woman was captured, they would rob her of all her possessions, proceed with forced undressing, and after a whole series of shameful abuses designed only to humiliate her, they would end the practice with a bullet in the head, if they felt generous enough that day to let her die right away.”

Yoongi nods in his colleague's direction, “What do you want me to do in this case, Jimin?”

Your heart leaps into your throat, peering into this man's furious amber eyes you can already get a taste of what will happen to you. But why is Yoongi leaving the choice to someone else?

“We are not inferior to humans, we should show them that we are capable of worse,” he barely manages to hold back a snarl that makes your skin crawl.

You will die. Like your brother, like your father, like your mother. There is no way they will leave you alive, and perhaps that is the best thing that could happen to save at least some of your dignity.

The Moondirian - Jimin - finally turns to his superior, “But without killing her of course, we need her.”

Suddenly the world comes crashing down on you. What does he mean by “we need her”?

Yoongi's icy bearing begins to chill even your bones, his satisfied grin makes you nauseous.

“What are you going to do?” opening your mouth to give breath to your fears costs you quite a bit of effort, the acid in your stomach begins to churn, clamoring to rise back up into your esophagus.

“We have no more women, Y/N,” he says softly, “You will be one of the many other humans who will help us become what we once were, which is a great and powerful people.”

Some sneer among the soldiers, others turn away to let Jimin, who no longer seems interested in your fate, pass by.

“Will you kill men and use women to bring others of your kind into the world?” at your choked question, Yoongi returns closer.

“Have you regained the use of speech, darling?” you shush immediately, shuddering at the feel of his palm brushing your face, “That's it, good girl,” he murmurs before moving closer to your ear again, “We've already killed most of the men, we'll kill the others we flush out of their shit holes, and as for the women... we're already having a great time fucking them like whores.”

A knot in your throat prevents you from swallowing the tears you are trying so bitterly to hold back, “You're a bastard,” you hiss in his direction, making him burst out laughing.

“And you will soon be a whore with your thighs open and your lap always full of cum, just like all the others.”

Your stomach churns with disgust and you eventually vomit, even putting your soul back in.

Contrary to what Yoongi said, you are not thrown into a cell to suffer the pains of hell, at least not right away.

You are forcibly yanked out of your home by a pair of snarling soldiers, you turn to gaze with tears in your eyes at those old walls that saw you come into the world and grow up. You have nothing left in there now. Your family was never rich, what your father and brother did was for the good of all, but you cannot deny the satisfaction in their faces every time they completed a mission.

The punishment for their sins affected you, too, because you grew up on money made from the skin of many other people.

“Get in, woman,” a soldier rudely shoves you into a military truck, you are practically surrounded by men more like beasts, and a ridiculous squeak escapes your lips as a disgusting taste makes you curl them, it was not a good idea to vomit.

You observe their uniforms and the weapons they hold against their well-placed bodies. You recognize everything, even the men in your family wore those uniforms, the Moondirians took and looted, now possessing what once belonged to humans.

“Where are you taking me?” you ask, trying not to let your voice tremble, and almost no one pays attention to you. Only one turns toward you, reserving a wicked grin.

“Trust me, human,” he chuckles, “You don't want to know.”

Discouragement assails you and you pay attention to the night landscape you see out the window, or at least what allows you to see the large bulk of the soldier standing in front of you with crossed arms.

“Don't ask too many questions,” he grunts, nailing you with an ugly glare, “The stench of your fear is making me nauseous.”

If possible, those words agitate you more; your father had told you about this ability of theirs, but you never really believed it. Other than Yoongi, you never saw a Moondirian in your life, and Yoongi was anything but sociable. He worked in your father's place, and as absurd as it sounds, even the poorest family was entitled to own at least one Moondir wolf. It was just one more way to humiliate them, but you child could hardly have known that. To you he was simply a sullen boy of few words, someone your brother had taught you to ignore for everyone's sake.

When Yoongi managed to escape, your brother and father-although concerned- scoffed at his words of vengeance, words that stuck with you for a good ten years, more than enough time for the Moondirians to create riots, revolts, murders and conquer all there was to conquer.

Mankind, from the height of its arrogance, believed it had everything under control, until little by little the throats of all the most important Leaders were cut, throwing the world into a black crisis from which it was then impossible to recover.

“Hey, human,” grunted another, “We're here, come on down.”

With trembling legs, you are dragged listlessly inside an old building that you recognize as a long unused hospital, inside-despite the long years of neglect-there is still the pungent smell of disinfectant and the neon lights work quite well. Inside, it has been kept clean and tidy, although employees at the front desk are missing and the main entrance is virtually deserted except for a few soldiers posted on guard duty.

The firm grip on your arm is painful, but you dare not say anything to the wolf who is escorting you. Rather you are terrified, wandering with spirited eyes from corridor to corridor, watching the hospital signs without really seeing them. You hate hospitals, you hate everything about them, and you don't understand why they brought you here.

A desperate wail escapes your lips as the wolf stops in front of a metal door with an opaque glass porthole.

"Straighten your feet, you fool! You look like a damn-"

“Hold your tongue, soldier,” the metal door slowly swings open, two blue eyes rimmed with long, thick lashes stab at you from all sides, while in response that soldier stiffens, “We need cooperation, if you treat her that way you will make my job more complicated.”

The man who opened the door is continuing to talk to the wolf at your side, but he does not look away from yours, he is firm and stern, making you petrify on the spot.

It is not just embarrassment or fear what you feel, it is something more visceral, a disarming awareness. Those blue eyes are laden with promises the man has every intention of keeping, a threat whispered gently, your heart beating so hard and so fast you don't question that he is listening with rapt attention.

Then, as if your gazes hadn't just nailed each other, he waves you in.

You try to put one foot in front of the other, aware that you have no escape route in that place, and when the soldier begins to follow you as well, a low growl of warning makes the hair on your neck stand up. But the warning is not for you, it is for that wolf who instantly freezes.

You don't know who this man is, but he must be someone with a lot of power, because up until a few moments ago that soldier was playing up, while now he looks more like a dog on a leash.

Making yourself as small as you can, you walk uncomfortably into the medium-sized room, eyeing the clean linoleum floor, then the light green walls with a few medical posters posted, finally the desk filled with papers and files locked in large binders.

“Have a seat,” the man says, pointing to an examination couch that makes you shudder. You search your eyes for medical instruments such as needles, gauze and who knows what else, but beyond the smell of disinfectant you see nothing else.

As if he has read your mind, the man gives you a sarcastic smile and it is as if a veil is lifted from your eyes, making you see past his blue ones. The first thing that strikes you are the full lips bent in that mischievous smile, the shape of the cupid's bow is enchanting, and smooth black hair manages to graze the base of his neck, while his bangs almost cover the well-defined line of his elegant eyebrows.

“Do you fear medical equipment?”

You tighten your lips at that blatant tease, feeling mixed emotions. You can't even remember the last time you've been to a doctor; you don't even know if this man is one.

“Are you a doctor?” you ask abruptly, almost as an accusation.

“Sort of, yes - not the way you humans understand it, though,” he replies with a shrug, shrugging off the partition to pull out a wheeled cart where medical tools are stored. You pale when you notice a speculum.

You take a quick step backward, toward the door, with every intention of escaping, and the man quickly turns to stare at you with slightly dilated pupils, no need for him to growl to freeze you once more where you are, “No risky moves, human,” he warns you in a deeper voice, “I'm still a wolf,” he hisses, gritting his teeth hard. Then you see it, a deep scar around his neck, which only moments before was covered by the tips of his hair and the collar of his lab coat.

“I don't want to be touched by you,” you murmur, terrified. You've always refused to face a gynecological examination, but you know what a speculum is for and you're uncomfortable with even the thought of him...!

You shake your head, but the man is not intimidated by your statement.

“It's going to happen what needs to happen, girl,” he replies, disinfecting his hands and putting on sterile gloves, “Now lie down on the table, after the examination we'll talk a bit so I can register you in the system.”

You didn't understand half a word he just told you, but his voice is enough to convince you not to take any steps.

The man snorts slightly, bowing his head and squinting his unusually blue-colored eyes.

“You should listen to me, I'm not going to hurt you... I'll probably also be the only man who will touch you gently enough not to make you cry” his words hit you like a violent slap, a knot tightens your throat and suddenly your eyes fill with tears.

“I didn't do anything wrong, I don't deserve such treatment,” you murmur swallowing the pain, the man stares at you with an impassive expression.

“Many of us have said the same thing, yet humans still played God by hunting us down, killing us and enslaving us” his harsh words make you realize that he will not listen to you, he may speak to you with an unusual calm, but the hatred is always there, ready to burn you, making you guilty of actions you never committed. Violence only breeds more violence.

“What will really happen to me?” you ask fearing your fate.

"If I deem you eligible, you will be escorted to one of our procreation centers, our staff will complete your genetic tests, and you will be assigned to the right males."

You will be raped, and not just by one man, but by many.

“Like a beast,” you blurt out angrily, incredulous and disgusted. Yoongi did not lie.

“Yeah, like a beast,” nods the man, “But you always have a choice: Are you going to lie down on that exam table, allowing me to figure out if and how healthy you are, in the most humane of ways, or do you want those soldiers to take you one at a time - or even more together - so that you remain pregnant in the most inhumane of ways?”

A shiver of terror squeezes your gut, making you want to vomit again.

Silently and with a lost look you begin to take off your shoes, “Wise decision,” he nods, beginning to arrange a gray monitor, “You can leave your underwear on, if it will appease you.”

You swallow bitter tears with each layer of clothing that leaves you, you feel humiliated as it is, but what other choice do you have?

When only your bra and peach-colored cotton panties remain on you, you slowly reach for the exam table and being very careful not to brush against the man who is now waiting for you sitting on a wheeled stool, you lie down with an insane urge to cover yourself from head to toe.

With a satisfied murmur he picks up a bottle, spreading clear gel on your lower abdomen, the icy sensation of the gel giving you chills, making you wince.

“What's your name?” the doctor asks, focused on the monitor-apparently able to read the strange shapes that appear between the grayscale image as he slowly moves the probe across the area of your abdomen. He pushes the probe across your skin for greater visibility and you stiffly murmur your full name

“My name is Kim Seokjin, and if you come back into the program, I will follow you as a doctor for a long time,” he replies, pushing the probe toward your lower abdomen, “Lower your slip a little.”

The request fills you with discomfort, but you do as he tells you, the fabric drops a little more with a slight rustle, and the probe reaches down to touch your pubis. You remain rigid as a statue, scrutinizing Seokjin's expression, but never once has the man looked at you with strange, slimy eyes. He is absolutely professional as he creates freeze-frames, occasionally asking you to take deep breaths and other times to remain totally still.

“Good, now place your legs in the stirrups, I will proceed with an internal examination.”

You widen your eyes, staring at him pitifully, “D-Do I have to?” you hate yourself for the tiny, terrified tone you used, but fear and shame are eating you alive.

The man - Seokjin - freezes for a moment, staring at you with a strange shadow in his blue eyes.

Finally, he sighs, “When was your last period?”

You think for a while before answering, "I think -- about two weeks ago? I guess have a regular period...?" you answer a little unsure, you haven't exactly kept track, because...

“Have you had sexual intercourse recently?”

At his question your skin heats up, turning redder than a tomato, “I-I... no, I mean... I haven't had any, ever” you bite your lips in embarrassment. You know very well that at your age it's strange. Your father always complained that at over 20 years old you were still not married, but it simply didn't happen, you never forced yourself to do anything, although there was no shortage of opportunities.

Seokjin's eyes shine for a single moment, but it is enough for you to catch his amusement.

"Basically I have no reason to proceed internally, but I still ask you to let me continue with my examination, I will only touch you superficially, I will go no further. Is that enough of a compromise for you?" you breathe shakily, nodding slowly.

You slip off your briefs and with a courage you don't feel you have position your legs on the stirrups, spreading them apart. Your heart pounding in your ears as you wait for the exam to end, you stiffen when the man touches your intimate area, going so far as to do something you've never allowed anyone else to do.

“What are you-” the words die in your throat, you feel the sensation of latex gloves against the entrance to your vagina, and two fingers checking its elasticity and shape. Your stomach clenches in raw shame, but you remain still, acknowledging the gentle, shallow touch, just as he promised.

“Right now I am checking the appearance of your vulva and the general elasticity of your entrance, to make sure there is no redness or sores, but everything seems to be okay,” he announces as he walks away, “You may wear your panties again, but remain lying down,” he announces, leaving you confused.

If the exam is over, why would you stay lying down? A wave of panic turns you pale; it is so intense that Seokjin turns in your direction with a stern look.

“Your smell is steeped in fear, woman,” he scolds you, tossing the latex gloves into the bin next to the monitor, then handing you some Kleenex to remove traces of gel, “If I wanted to do anything to you, believe me, I would have done it by now.”

You swallow before nodding, accepting the Kleenex and lying back down.

“Now I'm going to check the general state of your body,” he informs you as he returns to your side, in awe you watch as his hand rests on the soft skin of your abdomen, claws you didn't notice before glisten under the neon light of the room, but the touch is so gentle that the claws don't even reach out to touch you. The Moondirian's blue eyes slowly clear as a gentle tingle invades your body. The sensation reminds you of a lover's lips lightly brushing kisses against your skin, causing delicious shivers throughout your body, you find it quite natural to close your eyes, relaxing against your gloomiest expectation.

Seokjin continues his examination minutely, your blood flowing like peaceful waves inside your body, with the palm of his hand he moves closer to your chest, until he touches the curve of your breasts covered by the cotton bra. Although he has reiterated that he has no strange intentions, the sensual movement of his hand along your most sensitive skin makes your throat contract, a movement that immediately attracts his attention.

He thus begins to murmur something in a language unfamiliar to you, a song as sweet as a bird's song. You feel welcomed into a big hug and find yourself instinctively sighing, your heartbeat finally beginning to calm.

After another two minutes, the words stop and the warmth of his hand leaves your body, rousing you from that brief respite.

“You have excellent blood circulation and your vital organs are healthy, you are healthy,” he announces, “Now you can get dressed.”

You blink quickly, still with a foggy and confused mind about what exactly he did, "What happened? I felt strange," you whisper more to yourself.

“Do you know what the people of Moondir are like, Y/N?” he asks you, sitting down at his desk as you quickly get dressed, shake your head in denial, and Seokjin crosses his arms.

"We came into the world through a Goddess; our father was a wolf. We are connected to nature in more ways than one, and every Moondirian is born with the ability to rule an element. My element is Water, and with it I can control any kind of fluid, including blood, and through blood I listened to your body," he explains as if it were something very easy to understand even for someone like you.

When you sit in front of the Moondirian doctor, you can't help but ask, “Why are you so kind to me?”

His pointed smile leaves you breathless, and not positively.

“I know what you're up against, that's all,” he replies, igniting a flame inside.

"Are you doing this out of pity? I don't need it!" you growl, trying to retain some dignity, but Seokjin shakes his head.

“You are more stubborn than a puppy,” he sneers, before lowering the collar of his lab coat, finally allowing you to see the scar around his otherwise pale, sculptural neck. The mark is deep, but it is so old that it has lost the bright color of blood, blending in with the rest of the skin, “Do you know what this is instead?” he asks you.

You don't know exactly why such a devilry had been invented, but you remember that Yoongi, when he still worked for your father, always wore a thick electrified collar. The memory sends shivers down your spine, because you witnessed what that terrible object could do-it took at least a whole day for Yoongi to recover from those horrible shocks.

When you don't answer, Seokjin chuckles, “Of course you know, I can tell from your smell that you are aware of it, but maybe you don't know the reason behind its use.”

“Was it to punish you?” you ask, but the man shakes his head.

"Worse, it was suppressing our sexual instincts. “ he reveals with gravity, ”They exterminated our women to prevent us from procreating, and to prevent us men from feeling desire they designed a contraption as small as it is powerful and useful for their purposes.“ in his blue eyes you see a shadow drop, and when he resumes looking at you, there is no amusement, ”Out there you will find many of my kind who will not mind taking you by force, they have endured over a century of sexual deprivation, there is no one left to keep them on a leash, Y/N."

The world seems to be collapsing on you, you know the people of Moondir are not human, you know they are part wolf - beast - so you also have reason to think that you will be dealing with unscrupulous men, “Will I die like this?” you whisper with trembling lips, unable to believe that such a thing is happening to you of all people.

"No, you will not die. You are healthy and your body is mature, you are perfectly eligible for this task, and you will be cared for by experts at the procreation center, every kind of relationship will be followed, documented, and if there is a need, someone will step in to rescue you."

“That doesn't me-” but whatever you would like to say is interrupted by another man who opens the door wide without knocking.

You petrify like a marble statue, returning alert and anxious, how long has it been since the visit began, an hour? More?

He entered as if there was no one inside the room, if you hadn't dressed in time would he have had the horrible opportunity to look at you?

“You're early,” Seokjin does not seem pleased with the newcomer, who does nothing to apologize.

“You took too long this time, and I was wondering if you finally gave in to your instincts,” shrugs the other. He is a perfectly fit Moondirian specimen, his clothing similar to that of Yoongi and Jimin except for the camouflage color.

His deep green eyes nail you to your chair with vivid, eerie interest, his brown hair pulled back allowing you to peer into his face without any problem. His elegant features almost hide the madness behind those cheerfully cunning eyes. He reminds you more of a fox than a wolf.

"Stop it, Hoseok. I'm working," the other picks him up harshly, beginning to sign and stamp papers with a strange red, pungent-smelling substance.

"Oh, yeah? And here I thought you were examining these women for another reason,” he laughs lightly, approaching you with an all too confident stride, “One that involves very little words and more the body."

You move imperceptibly away from him, your survival instinct is warning you this Moondirian is different from Seokjin. Definitely. He seems more dangerous, more driven by his baser instincts.

“You're rambling, as usual” Seokjin unceremoniously hands over a freshly compiled file of documents, “She's eligible, don't damage her” Hoseok's smile turns meaner as he teams you from head to toe.

Then he takes a long breath, appreciating something, “I can't smell that other weird gel you use when you dilate them, you haven't examined her inside and it only means one thing,” he sneers alluringly, Seokjin's blue eyes light up with irritation.

“It means you won't touch her, she'll get safely to the center and you'll stay away from her after that, got it?” he asks with a certain amount of patience.

There is something unspoken in the air, you speculate that this Hoseok did something to one of the women and that Seokjin was not particularly happy about it.

“A hundred years of abstinence and you're acting like you're not feeling the effects, they fried your brain in that shithole and now you don't work anymore?” but the wolf's clear provocation - Hoseok - falls on deaf ears, Seokjin's attention is back on you, watching them both wordlessly.

A hundred years?

Can a Moondirian really live that long? That would explain Yoongi's youthful appearance. Aside from his more trained muscles, he hasn't changed a bit.

“Hoseok will take you to the nearest procreation center, he will see to it that you arrive safely, no matter how unreliable he may seem, I can assure you that with him by your side, no one will dare touch you with ill intentions.”

You nod as if intoxicated, casting a nervous glance at the man with the incredible green eyes. As unbelievable as they are disturbing.

“Yes, little flower ... you won't have to fear any one except me.”

‘You filthy bastard, try touching me and you will find that you are not the only one who can bite.’

Keep that furious thought to yourself, tightening your arms around your body protectively.

“One more thing,” Seokjin resumes, blatantly ignoring his colleague's response, “As I told you at the beginning of the visit, no rough movements, they excite us more than you think,” the doctor's warning hovers in the air like a gunshot, and you don't know if you will end that long day with all your limbs in place.

You leave the hospital with a weight in your chest; you are eligible.

Before you left, you asked Seokjin one last question, you asked him what would happen to you if he didn't find you eligible for their new repopulation plan, the doctor's glazed look was more than enough of an answer, then had come Hoseok's whisper at your side, amused.

«In that case I would have taken care of it, little flower.»

In a sports sedan that attracts far too much attention, you observe Hoseok, who drives in a relaxed and cheerful manner. As if he were a normal civilian and not a Moondirian trained to kill.

The profile sculpted with an almost aristocratic grace unnerves you. He is an animal of the worst kind, not deserving of that beauty, much less all that freedom.

“If you keep staring at me like that you're in danger of wearing me out, little flower,” you gasp, taken aback and appalled by the pointed smile he turns on you, “But I can give you a picture of me if you like me so much.”

In response you avert your eyes, pointing them to the clean but unusually empty streets. The razing has stripped the city of its soul, the once colorful and brightly lit stores are closed and empty, others have broken windows with obvious signs of struggle.

A frightening thought begins to creep into your fragile mind.

“You have killed the men and are using the women for your own purposes, but what about the children?” you ask in a hoarse whisper, your eyes lost in nothingness.

Hoseok snorts slightly through his nose, turning onto a highway.

“We are not so cruel, little flower,” he says almost bored, "Children have purer and more elastic minds. They have learned to fear us because of you adults, now they will learn to live with us, nowadays it's called a ‘reset’."

Children are not to blame, he does not say but that is what his words imply and you sighs relieved. Apparently, Moondirians have animal instincts in every respect, just as they love to hunt their prey when they run away, they also tend to take care of cubs, regardless of species.

“Don't be so relieved, woman,” his sharp teeth gleam under the flickering light of the road lights, “I would think more of myself than of others if I were you.” There is something true in his words, you can feel it in the way he utters them. Hoseok must have gone through hell, and you are sure he will put you through it too. Like a personal gain.

[afterglowsainz]

we used to have more pt. 4 | oscar piastri, pato o’ward

part 1 part 2 part 3

pairing: oscar piastri x reader, pato o’ward x reader

summary: where a talk in a hotel room and a work trip to mexico make things clear for you

fc: different girls from pinterest

warnings: mentions of toxic relationships

a/n: ahhh sorry it took me a while to post this! but finally here it is the last part of this mini series that i loved creating <3 thank you so so much for supporting it the way you did, all the comments, reblogs and likes meant the world to me while writing it💗

—

liked by oscarpiastri, landonorris and others

yourusername home sweet home

tagged lissiemackintosh

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username dry ass caption

username girlie is NOT happy to be back

username y/n i know you wanted to stay in america but you can at least act a little bit more excited to be back 😭

username the fact it was sunny all weekend and she posted a pic of the only HOUR of rain is diabolical

declanmurray you can at least pretend

yourusername i’m not contractually obligated to

username pls 😭

username idc she’s down MOTHER IS BACK

oscarpiastri happy you’re back! ❤️

username chat when the guy you’re off and on for years says he’s happy you’re back how to do you react?

username ohhh but we’re having THE fashion icon that is y/n again at the paddock i cannot complain

patriciooward have fun!

yourusername <3333

username pls the way she ignored oscar so severely 😭

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patriciooward can never say no to a side quest

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username NORBIIII 🥰

username every photo was whiplash after whiplash

username incredibly cute and incredibly hot

username don’t push girls

username i am that cookie actually

username i need him in a way that’s concerning for feminism

yourusername boys 🥹

patriciooward miss you!

username no they are my parents

username oscar i was rooting for you but now … i’m not so sure

liked by patriciooward, maxverstappen1 and others

yourusername the prodigal son returns home 🇲🇽

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username omg is this a hard launch??? what is this !!!

username patoooo 💖

username the way you can see everything about her posting changed since she arrived in mexico

username is it wrong to assume it’s because she’s with pato again? 😩

username pato and y/n in mexico is everything

username ohhhh oscar reaaaally fumbled this time

username nahhh im being delusional thinking oscar still has an opportunity (pls y/n give him a chance 😩)

username well, at least she’s posting again 🥳

patriciooward ☀️

yourusername ☀️✨✨💫

liked by indygossip, f1wags and others

f1gossip indycar and mclaren’s reserve driver patricio o’ward was seen last night having dinner and sharing a kiss with f1 community manager y/n y/l/n

it has been rumored for a few years that she was on a relationship on and off with mclaren’s oscar piastri, but it was never confirmed as the driver kept going back to his exgirlfriend

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username not oscar catching strays 😭😭

f1gossip ���🏽‍♀️

username honestly i can’t be mad about this. she deserves someone who makes her happy and pato obviously likes her. they look good together 💗

username THAT SHOULD BE MEEEE

username someone check on oscar 😩

username watch him go back to his exgirlfriend after hearing the news 🙄

username genuinely hoping he doesn’t do that otherwise he’s just reinforcing y/n’s decision of moving on

username anddd that relationship CANNOT be healthy, for either of them

username i knew they were together from day one, y’all were just blinded by oscar

username because they’re meant to be 😭😭

username in another life perhaps!

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patriciooward favorite place with the greatest company ❤️

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username ahhh the masters of hard launching i’m so here for this

username THE DRESS

username i don’t know if i wanna be pato or y/n in this situation

username okay don’t rub it in 😭

miguelsossa where’s my photo creds for the second one? 🤨

patriciooward 📷: miguelsossa

miguelsossa thanks it means a lot make sure to pin that comment so everyone can see

username pls why did i thought y/n and pato went out without the whole gang 😭

declanmurray HAH don’t make me laugh

milesbaldwin we do leave them alone sometimes

patriciooward …

lissiemackintosh 😮

username speechless at this

username i’m sure pato is a saint because dealing with y/n’s friends must be a handful 🙏🏽

yourusername beautiful 🤍

patriciooward how’s the weather now? :)

yourusername warm enough, you?

patriciooward clear skies

username STOP THEYRE SO CUTE 🥰

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oscarpiastri happy place ❤️

tagged exgirlfriend

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taglist; @heavy-vettel @a-beaverhausen @astroniii @chunkpiboli @theonottsbxtch @eclecticcreatorweaselsalad @charli123456789 @stopeatread @coriyaps @nina-or-anna-or-nora @ninasw0rld @loveelylani @marauders-wife @dramallama9 @mxdi0 @piastrigate @ladyoflynx @prudyhoo @idkwtdwml123 @southernbaguette @ellelabelle @emryb @fastfactory @comicalivy @seasonswinter @no-144444 @lunamelona @saachiep81 @nataliambc @patis643 @softtina @chemiru @obxstiles @eiaaasamantha @youre-on-your-ownkid @wcnorris @hwalllllllelujah @soleilgrec

[cosmica-galaxy]

I've been thinking about the pre-corrupted beast au, and how do you think the interaction between shadow milk and baby witch would go if they were to meet up again. However, the baby still recognizes shadow milk as their original caretaker and, of course, recognizes his soul jam.

Bonus: Baby is confused because of the two soul jams that are similar, though only one is far more familiar. Baby Witch wants shadow milk, but they also want pure vanilla, but they want shadow milk more, but they also like pure vanilla, but shadow milk is original papa and fun.

Oh, he definitely scoops them up the moment he sees them reenter his spire of deceit. He would say "Heellooooo my little one~! Did ya miss me? Of coouuurse you did! What would you dooo without little ole meeee, papa shadow milk!" and the child recognizes his voice instantly and just cuddles right into him like he never left. Despite the Gingerbrave group's and pure Vanilla's worry about him holding the child, the child is perfectly fine and leans into Shadow Milk cookie like they know him personally...in which, they do. He would also probably make a comment about "where their cute little jester outfit went" when he sees them in the Pure Vanilla style attire. "No matter! It's an easy fix! With a waaaave of my waand~"--And the child would be covered in darkness for a moment before reappearing in their original jester-like outfit that they emerged from their sealing item with--"Tadaaah! The outfit has returned! A total glow-up if I do say so myself...just look at your little bells and hat, my adorable child of deceit~!" he says as he tickles them and makes them let out happy giggles. Then, he changes his focus back to his original targets and the spire quest line would proceed as normal with the child accompany him with his "games", though not taking in the danger that everyone is in because of their innocent nature. He also plays with them while he toys with his victims, by gently tossing them in the air, hugging them close, and entertaining them while he multitasks. It's natural for him at this point to do such things. Pure Vanilla and Shadow Milk will also have some heated discussions about the little one and how they should be raised. In one part, Shadow Milk gets very heated about it and reveals his very possessive nature to the cookies while his little one is being watched by Black Sapphire Cookie. "You listen to me, you imposter. I was their original caretaker and I placed them in that item for safe keeping when I got OUT of that damned silver tree. They were waiting for ME and not for YOU. It was an accident that they wound up in your care." "You haven't watched them, cared for them, and raised them for as long as I have. That worthless witch that served as their mother...was nothing short of a deadbeat! I spent WEEKS with their child at a time...in fact, I might as well have raised them on my own! The other beasts had their moments, but NONE were as close to them as I! Not even their own wretched mother...who I dealt with permanently." "You...you killed their true mother...?" "Reduced her to PIECES. She tried to take back what she didn't deserve. She barely put in the effort that I did! I was that child's WHOLE WORLD. Why should I give up what rightfully belongs to me?" Shadow Milk is a little more unhinged in his AU because of his possessive nature over the child that pretty much was his only source of company for weeks at a time. He developed an unhealthy attachment to them and ripped their true mother apart because he believes that he deserves to be their true guardian.

Pure Vanilla has to work around his possessive nature to get his soul jam, his friends, AND the baby out of such wicked clutches. So Pure Vanilla suffers a little more in this AU.

[f1cflcfic]

Won't Say I'm In Love (SMAU ft. Lando Norris) - part viii

pairing: lando norris x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n); past carlos alcaraz x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n)

summary: As a general rule, y/n does not date athletes. You've been there, done that - would not recommend. Besides, you definitely don't do love. There's no time in the world for complicated feelings when there's a career Grand Slam to be won. But what if your heart just refuses to listen?

genre: social meda/mixed au, friends to lovers

note: this is RPF and is obviously in no way, shape, or form reflective of real persons

series: part i | part ii | part iii | part iv | part v | part vi | part vii | ...

May 1, 2025

[Excerpt Vogue Interview]

There’s only a handful of tennis superstars that have managed to leave a mark on popular culture. In fact, perhaps it’s only Serena Williams who’s ever really succeeded in doing so. But for a brief time in the early ‘00s, the world was obsessed with Anna Kournikova – a tennis prodigy, who infamously got more attention for her looks than her talent.

Y/N L/N says she understands why I suggest there’s some similarities between her and Kournikova. “But you could ask any female tennis player and they’d all be able to relate to the misogyny. Because we all have those experiences, though perhaps not always to the same degree.”

Just like Kournikova, L/N has found herself on the more extreme end of media scrutiny, in part due to her relationships. Or well, “just the one, really,” she clarifies. For about a year and a half, the entire world watched as two generational talents were taking tennis by storm – side by side. Until all of a sudden, they weren’t anymore. Now, Carlos Alcaraz is a blacklisted topic, nothing but a closed chapter in her life – and playing doubles is “not a priority”, whether mixed or not. 

When I ask if she’d consider playing with her close friend Coco Gauff, she laughs. “Coco already has a doubles partner with whom she’s had some great results. I wouldn’t want to put that pressure on our friendship.”

Instead, L/N has had to rise from the ashes of a failed relationship and failed campaign to retain her #1 status in singles. “My goal for this year is to just continue to improve myself. Physically I’m definitely in the best shape I’ve ever been. Now it’s just about the mindset and taking it point by point.”

There’s a lot of people who believe in her, including those at the helm of Dior. The luxury fashion brand recently announced L/N as the new face of their latest campaign. “As exciting as it was, I was also really scared. I really believe in this partnership, but I wasn’t sure what the response would be. I found myself worrying that people might not take me seriously. Then I realised it’s absolutely stupid to spend time or energy thinking about that.”

Indeed, it’s a choice she makes every day when she applies the first layer of mascara. Or when she decides what tennis outfit to wear out onto the court. “It’s just the constant quest for validation and recognition. And because professional sports are so masculinized, there’s a part of me that wants to not wear mascara or wear a cute outfit – just to prove that I’m great regardless of beauty standards. I don’t deserve to win more, or have more success, or sponsorships just because I chose to dress up. But then at the same time, I want to embrace the cute outfits and the make-up, because I also want to prove that you can be feminine and girly, and slay at fashion and tennis at the same time.”

When asked if she’ll incorporate special designs for special tournaments, aside from when rules dictate it so, she smiles. “I think Serena [Williams] did such a great job at showing how fashion and performance overlap. They’re not mutually exclusive.”

Another person who’s done so successfully, is none other than L/N’s good friend and Formula One driver Lando Norris.  “Maybe I’ll have to ask him for some suggestions, though I’m sure Dior would have some ideas – if we were to do that.”

They don’t often talk about work, but share their struggles with one another from time to time. “Racing and tennis are obviously very different sports, but there’s also a lot of overlap. The weird dynamic of sometimes having your closest teammate or friend also pose the biggest threat. Having a calendar of competitions dictate your life. We had to share our calendars just to make it easier to see when we could hang out. But when we do – I’d imagine it’s like any other friendship. You just talk about life and try to experience it together, one moment at a time.”

Not that they have very many moments. Most weeks of the year, L/N spends traveling from one tournament to the next. “I really should be better at packing than I am, all things considering. My hotel rooms always look like a bomb just exploded. Plus the travel is brutal. Especially when you then lose a tournament and it feels like you did it all for nothing.”

It has L/N circling back to the topic of her sponsorship deal and the enormous amount of money that’s needed to sustain a career at the top level. “I’m so grateful to be in this position. I can skip some tournaments, I can afford to do that – to give myself a break. I can have a coach, and an agent, and a manager, and a physical therapist. I can pay them to be with me all year round. I can fly us all from one tournament to the next. I get my equipment custom made by my sponsors. That’s very different from when you have to go through qualifiers, just hoping you’ll make at least enough money to cover the expenses of your trip.”

So she tries to give back when she can. She plays charity matches, advocates for equal pay, and screentime. Just recently, it was announced she’ll be participating in one of Rafael Nadal’s Academy programmes. “I think that’s the best way to leave your mark. To make this sport more exciting and more accessible for the next generation. Because everyone should have the opportunity to fall in love with tennis.”

One thing is for sure, the world has certainly fallen in love with her.

May 2-4, 2025

[Excerpt F1 News]

It's the second sprint race of the year. First one, maybe not the best result for you, Lando. What are you hoping for this time around?

"I'm always hoping to get the most out of myself, but I'm still also not feeling fully comfortable in the car. Which sucks, I really just want to give the team what they deserve, which is a podium every single race - whether a full race or a sprint stint. But I also want to be realistic. So we'll see."

This race is also coinciding with another major sporting event. A few weeks ago, you and Carlos were quite vocal about missing out on the Masters. You both predicted a McIlroy win - how do you feel about predicting a Madrid Open win?

"That's easy - Y/N L/N of course."

She was just playing her own sort of qualifying tournament today.

"Not qualifying - semi-final. What's the score then?"

"Just finished, L/N is through to the final."

"Alright, nice! Well, let's see if I can do the same then."

May 5-10, 2025

[Excerpt: Live commentary Eurosport TennisTV]

"Bad news coming from the locker room, as Y/N L/N is forced to retire after a very unfortunate moment on the clay. Just 4 games into the first set, the player seemed to misstep and promptly fell down as she grabbed her left leg. A medical timeout however wasn’t enough, which also casts a huge shadow over the rest of the clay season for the current #2. A win here in Rome would have seen her pass by competitor Iga Swiatek. And if it's bad enough to withdraw, it could mean she is also going to have to withdraw from other tournaments - just to give herself enough time to recover from whatever injury she is dealing with. Could even affect her bid for the Roland Garros Grand Slam title."

"Yeah, her coach also did not look very happy. In fact, Clijsters had seemed a bit concerned in her opening match as well. If this is indeed a continuation of the injury we saw in Madrid, it means something is wrong with her recovery process, or she's pushing too hard. And if that's the case, that compromises your training and preparation schedule for the actual Grand Slams. Especially when it comes to clay, which is so particular in how it handles speed and force."

"Well, we will surely let you know once we hear more about this development. For now, it means that Ons Jabeur moves on as default winner to face Elena Rybakina in the next round."

A/N: sorry for the delay, i had a really bad migraine and a work emergency, but it's here now!

next part is available here

♥ likes, comments, reblogs and asks are always very much appreciated - i love chatting and hearing your thoughts! ♥

taglist (open): @linnygirl09 @julesbog @midnight-and-books @sarx164 @obxstiles @freyathehuntress @vhkdncu2ei8997 @berrnuu @lightdragonrayne @glow-ish @batsratswrites @blushmimi @colmathgames2 @esw1012

[witchthewriter]

𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐲, 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞

⤷ gender neutral, ambiguous race, and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!

Also this is 18+ ... we acting like grown ups.

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ | ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ ᴵᴵ

𝑁𝑆𝐹𝑊 🔞 while not everything is pure smut, I have integrated it throughout the headcanons...

・You contrast each other so carnally that it seems almost like fate.

・Astarion is bold, reckless, outspoken, experienced and very sexual.

・It wasn't a secret that you were shy, but it most definitely was a secret that you were a virgin.

・Who would expect the most sexual creature out of the group to have a partner that was the complete opposite?

・And it wasn't as if anyone could tell; everyone seemed to be a little underestimated in the group.

・With you shyness, Astarion sees it as a way ... to talk more. You don't mind of course, that voice of his calms you down immediately. It also affects others parts of you though...

・When Astarion finds out about your lack of experience and the fact that you actually opened up to him; he feels quite honoured. Trust is intimidating, it can tear someone down or build them up

・He finds you so precious, someone who he has to protect (look even if you were loud and experienced, he would still want to protect you)

・Astarion makes it a daily point never to make you feel inferior in any type of way. He always wants your input; he asks you questions - all in an effort to get you to open up

・When you start sharing a tent together, Astarion already takes things slow;

"What's the rush, my love! We have a long time to get to one another..."

・It isn't until a task during a quest that your secret is revealed to everyone.

・Embarrassing? YES. But god you were so thankful to Astarion who took the heat away from you and placed it onto anyone else <3

・When you're alone together he does like to lightly tease you;

"Such a pretty thing, how is it that you are a virgin?"

・You can explain to him if you like, but he never actually pushes it on you. It's your own business.

・But he does like to learn what makes you fluster...

・A casual brush of the fingers? A lingering glance? A whispered, 'darling,' against your ear?

・He memorises every single shiver, blush and shift of your thighs. Astarion savours the way you come undone under his attention.

・If anyone so much as teases you about your inexperience in a cruel way? Astarion’s fangs are out immediately.

・The fact that you, in all your sweetness and uncertainty, chose him? It’s enough to break his heart in the best way.

・Astarion never wants to push you; so it's all about touch...gentle touch, until you say you want more.

・He doesn’t just want you to want him—he wants you to feel safe with him. So he asks, always;

"Is this alright, darling?" whispered against your temple.

"Do tell me if I’m moving too fast for you, my sweet."

"Would you like me to stop?"—always asked with sincerity, never expectation.

・If you freeze up or hesitate, he stops immediately. His usual teasing tone disappears, replaced by something softer, more sincere.

"We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, my love. Ever."

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔

Places You Above Anything And Everyone Else. You Are His World.

Opposites Attract

Expressing Your Love Thinking He Was Unconscious

𝑷𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆

Soft Pining/Yearning From Afar

Slow Burn

Enemies to Lovers

𝑵𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖

Sweetcheeks; when he's feeling more playful, it's usually said when you're alone since you blush bright red whenever he says it when someones around.

My Love; this is said when he really feels grateful for your existence and the fact that you've chosen to spend your time with him.

Darling; daily nickname that he chooses over your real name. only ever says your real name when he's trying to get your attention...or trying to get you away from danger.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈

Watermark by Enya

The Train by James Newton Howard

Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkeys

Wait a Minute! by WILLOW

[marielle555]

The UA path is my heaviest gaming experience.

I want to say right away, that I'm not trying to belittle anyone else's gaming experience or impose my point of view on anyone else about what's going on in the game. Neither am I trying to criticize the game BG3 as such (after all, in order to love the game, it is not necessary to use in your playthroughs all the opportunities provided by the game, and the fact that some variants of the playthrough may be hard for my perception and I do not want to use them in my main playthroughs, does not diminish my love for the game as long as other options are possible). In this post, I want to share my personal experience of passing on the so-called “good” route of Astarion and do my own analysis of what happens to him in this case.

I love to play RPG games with full immersion, imagining myself in the character's place, and the first playthrough should be blind, without spoilers, so as not to spoil the impression. In the case of BG3, unfortunately, it was not possible to completely protect myself from outside information, because even a banal search for screenshots with Astarion led to the fact that the eye somehow clung to arguments about how bad and scary it will be to help him Ascend and “you will lose him”. The specific torment with Astarion began with a phrase in the diary that appears after completing his personal quest (if you talk him out of the ritual): “Astarion's fate is sealed. He will be a vampire spawn for the rest of his days.” Astarion himself also talks about never seeing the sun again. The desire to play through the game without spoilers no longer mattered after that, and I found detailed descriptions with companions' lines and Tav's behavior, videos of Astarion's “good” ending (without the Ascension). It was during patch 4 and it was the ending, which just nullified the entire game for me, an ending I would never want to see in my playthrough. For me, as a player, who really loved Astarion, who had this character became the center of the entire game world, all the former sincere love and admiration for the world of Baldur at that moment simply changed to hatred for all the others that will enjoy life and see the sun. The rest of the plot was not important, it didn't matter what was going on around, other companions and all these side quests, what difference did it make, what happens next, if it all ends up like this.

And although before that I had accidentally learned about Astarion after reading one of the articles in a game magazine, that he turns down a lot of people at a party, I did not read any guides on principle, I wanted realistic roleplay without hints. And there were no problems with the romance, despite all the initial prickliness and regular disapproval, Astarion suddenly wowed me by asking me for a date even before any party, when I was even totally not expecting it. It was simply amazing. And the sea of tenderness and love that comes over me after the confession scene in the second act is hard to describe. It feels like you're holding his wounded heart in your hands, holding it as gently as you can, and there's nothing more precious in the whole world than that. And I'm going to go drinking with these idiots in a tavern in the finale, celebrating some sort of “victory,” while Astarion burns? Astarion in this ending looked like some kind of outcast, an object to be bullied, he's cheated, he's in pain, and he's forced to flee again, hiding from the sun. Is such a world even worth fighting for? Hardly. Well, of course, I also read all sorts of “horror stories” about Ascension: “Astarion becomes an abuser”, “Astarion will never respect you again” and similar nonsense. Just giving up on the game was hindered by the feeling that by doing so I was still betraying Astarion, leaving him a spawn. I decided, against all the “scaremongering” to Ascend Astarion, bring him to an adequate ending and call it a day. What a wonderful reward I received for that and what a wonderful happy playthrough I had is a separate story, a story that is still ongoing.

Of course, for the sake of understanding Astarion's character and compiling a complete picture, it's necessary to go through the game both ways, and I later decided to explore the UA path, without roleplay, but with attention to Astarion and his scenes, to understand what he's feeling along this route and how “good” it really is for him.

The scene of the abandonment of the ritual. It is not infrequently written that Astarion experiences “catharsis.” Where do we see catharsis? Yes, the very opportunity to take revenge on his tormentor, when Astarion stabs Cazador multiple times - this is catharsis, but after Astarion realizes that he has to give up the dream of becoming alive again, no purification or liberation occurs as a result. Next we see tears and cries of pain followed by a depressed state.

His tears in the scene of refusing the ritual are the most bitter, a grimace of real pain on his face.

Then there is doom and a kind of detachment, exhaustion…

It's the face of a doomed man. It is the face of a man who is depressed, a man who has resigned himself to the fact that he has nothing more to want and that nothing good awaits him, and he realizes it. There is no more hope. Astarion has cried his tears and now he humbles himself. Humbling himself and adjusting and this “new way” is not what he wanted. Astarion cries if he doesn't ascend, not only when the pain and grief of what has been taken from him hits him, but also the realization that there is nothing to get back, the realization of the future that awaits him. If you fail the persuasion check needed to get him to give up the ritual, Astarion will make it very clear why he doesn't want that life.

It is also interesting to note the moment when Astarion first met the Gur's after the death of Cazador.

“It is noteworthy how Spawn seems to say compassionate things that "saved Ulma from having to kill her children themselves," and then when he realized that his trick had worked, he abruptly changes his face and smiles slyly and says with relief, "You will stop following me, right?" I interpret this as "I'll say anything as long as you stop hunting me."

To me, it's a clear demonstration that he continues to wear a mask and says things to protect himself, not because he really feels for Ulma. And we must not forget that Astarion hates the Gur's, because they almost killed him and because of them he ended up in slavery. Therefore, it is reasonable that he wants to destroy them when he gets the chance.” © channel author AlexKhodja

Depression (or pain, suffering, doom, in general, the morbidly depressive emotional spectrum) is also evident in the scenes that follow.

The scene after the ritual (responding to Tav's line “I'm proud of you…”).

Astarion: “I’m glad you think so, because I’m not so sure. I just feel numb.”

And the voice and expression in which Astarion says: “I want to feel alive again.”

And how different that is from his “I feel alive, hahaha!”

Time 10.46

Also Astarion's line in the dialogue after: "I should probably start getting used to the shadows again. Who knows how long I have left in the sun?"

I can't help but think of how Astarion meets the dawn in the Act 1 scene, after a first night with him.

In this interesting video (combining the Astarion Origin version with the Astarion companion version in the meeting scene with Dalyria and Petras in the flophouse)

Time 4.09.

Response to Tav: "You did the right thing, stopping the Black Mass."

“I know. That doesn’t mean it stings any less”.

Tav: “And if it is? Can you live with what?”

"I'll have to. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

When Astarion says: “Someone who could break the cycle of power and terror…” he makes a gesture with his hand, as if trying to find the best words, to think of what to say next, before continuing: “… that started centuries ago.”

It's so artificial, and… When has Astarion ever expressed himself like that once throughout the game?

In response to Tav's line, "I wasn't sure if you'd stop the ritual or not, honestly." Astarion replies more sincerely, "I am - well, not 'happy' with how things turned out. But this does feel right."

The scene in the graveyard is sad, though it touches the heart. It was sad to hear him retort, “You were patient.” It sounds kind of self-deprecating, as if one had to “be patient” with Astarion, as if one couldn't love him unconditionally for what he is, as if one couldn't love all the manifestations of his lively and vivid character and be happy to have him around. And about the “objectively stupid thing to do” is also very sad to hear.

Also for Astarion, Tav has a pretty nasty line in this scene, “Then don't mess it up,” and the bitter part is that if you check it, Astarion will respond:

He accepts it. He accepts that attitude. He will endeavor to please. That kind of captures the whole essence of this “arch of redemption.”

And an even nastier line: “That sounds very sincere. Are you sure the parasite hasn’t chewed through your brain?”

And Astarion just lets him be treated that way:

Well, in this scene at least, not all lines for the player are bad. 1 adequate (“You won't. Whatever comes next. I've got you.”) to 2 bad lines. All-in-all, 1 is much better than 0, there's an opportunity for choice. But Astarion… Astarion thinks he deserves to be treated the way Tav treats him in the other 2, toxic lines. Where do we have “equal relationship” here? If the developers wanted to show AA “toxic” in such a way that the player would believe it, they should have just given him those two lines about “don't mess it up” and “parasite hasn't chewed through your brain” and not had to take away the player's agency, instead keep the agency, allow for the opportunity for loving roleplay and so that AA in that moment, when Tav opened their soul to him, would share an innermost, painful thing, like Astarion before in the graveyard scene, would tell them that or something similar. But that would require rewriting the whole character. But that's how you can treat him in a “healthy” and “equal” relationship.

“I'm still nothing, aren't I? Just an expandable frail spawn who will burn to a crisp soon enough.”

Yes, that line refers to the moment, when Tav betrays him, betrays everything they promised before, Tav wants to use his body, forcing Astarion to take on an astral tadpole, to do what is against his will. But Astarion will never say or think that about himself, when he Ascended and stopped being a “frail spawn” forever. Astarion thinks of himself that way, feels that way, and it's not just in relation to the tadpole. And the “will burn to a crisp soon enough” part - that part has nothing to do with this particular moment, when Tav betrays him, it seems like something he's been thinking about, something that's been eating away at him, and just now, at this particular moment, it came out of his mouth, even if it came out because Tav betrayed him. And sure, Tav's betrayal hurts him, but he's clearly thought about it before this moment. If he hadn't thought about it before, his words would have sounded different, at least they wouldn't have hinted at the bitter ending that would await him.

Left as a frail spawn, Astarion is forever locked into his mask, adjusting and behaving as he is “supposed” to, he keeps on pretending, he doesn't try to show his real self, his insecurity is solidified and expressed by clinging to Tav, as the only person who has been kind to him, and showing himself as Tav wants him to be. “Astarion's spawn is theater (with all the masks, lies and deception still included)” Neil.

When I played with UA, I felt a deep love for him, but with a strong dash of pain. I can't call that kind of relationship “healthy”. “Patience”… It really takes patience to follow this story through to the end. If in reality my loved one suddenly changed behavior from Astarion's playful behavior in Act 2 to UA's behavior, where there is a distinct sense of depression, I would sound the alarm and clearly would not consider it “good” or “normal”. And the way Astarion himself defines this relationship, the only line is, “Nothing special, of course…” Yes, it's a joke, but in that joke you can sense some degree of passive aggression, maybe resentment and doom. And afterward, he only talks about “care,” not love. “Care” is certainly a part of love, but it is only one of the "bricks'" it is less than '“love”, especially eternal love. “How could I say no?” - Okay in Act 2, when Astarion is just starting to trust and open up, but when the relationship seems to be already serious? The hug in the epilogue looks like a friendly hug, not a romantic one, and nowhere near as deep and touching as the hug in the confession scene of Act 2. And overall, compared to Ascended Astarion, there is a certain sense of detachment. Not a fake “glass barrier”, as in the game with AA without mods, when you can see from one look at him how Astarion reaches out to you, but, alas, there are no appropriate lines or actions for Tav, and, unfortunately, there can be a certain annoyance, that you play a game, where there are 'threesomes', brothels, bestiality, different variants of cheating, but there is no opportunity to just hug or kiss normally, or at least say: “I love you” to the dearest person. It's a sense of distance of a different kind - coming from Astarion himself. He has closed himself off. And it's as if he's fading. His other lines and facial expressions are devoid of their former playfulness, and some have overly sweet, unnaturally sweet intonations.

And the kind of roleplay that is possible in this relationship, how do I even play that? Tav concretely doesn't care about Astarion's condition. Not a single attempt to find not that healing, not even some kind of artifact to protect him from the sun. Tav is calmly going about their other, “more important” business and “having fun”. The scene at the docks is the apotheosis and culmination of the epitome of the worst partner behavior example in a relationship. Tav doesn't give a damn about Astarion concretely. The truest neglect. Our character will act as if they're fine with everything. Of course this is not a rebuke to the players, the players have no choice outside of the scenario, I myself have a scene consisting of exclusively negative lines and I'm scripted to be a submissive, if played without mods, the problems with roleplay and violation of player agency are present to some degree in both routes. I just don't know how to play with the UA with roleplay, I can think of a “good ” Tav, who feels sorry for all the spawns and wants to talk him out of it, but I can't think of a character, who agrees to behave the way Tav behaves in the scenario, it's just beyond. Astarion expects Tav to abandon him, he doesn't believe them until the end, he says so in the epilogue. Tav shows complete indifference to Astarion (I don't mean the player, I mean the kind of roleplay the game allows). On Tav's part - neglect, manipulation, ignoring his needs and his pain. Going to “celebrate victory” while he, burned, sits curled up behind crates at the docks.

What happens to him at this point can be seen in more detail in the scene at the docks of Astarion Origins.

Hidden Astarion ending cutscene for origin

In the epilogue without a relationship or after a breakup, he says that he now owns his own destiny, and when he finds a way to walk in the sun, he will not miss it now, nothing and no one will stop him. And these are important words, the ritual was really important to him.

«That being said, I haven't completely given up on returning to the sun. If the opportunity presented itself - well, I wouldn't say no...»

«Every day I yearned for the sun and mourned my curse to live in the shadows”.

«I've been exploring the world, looking for anything that will let me walk in the sun again”.

Also in the non-romantic epilogue we can see how Astarion was truly robbed at the moment of this “collective triumph”: “I felt… ashamed. Like I'd lost everything, just as you claimed your victory. I didn't want you to see me like that.”

And here's the look on his face after Astarion says:

“I did at first, but then I realised - these shadows, this darkness - it's all part of me.”

And just after this line, Astarion continues, “I spent too long defined by what other people did to me. The choices other people made for me - but that's over now.” Choices have been made for him, but now that he is free, he will no longer miss any opportunity, should one present itself to him. I think UA is even better off alone than with Tav, judging by the un-ascended epilogue. Even though it's much more bitter than romantic, in it Astarion says he won't miss his chance again if he ever gets one, and he finds a use for his abilities. And he won't have to endeavor or please anyone else.

This is of course my point of view, based largely on empathy, but I think real acting is precisely about conveying through facial expressions, voice, movements the feelings of the character and letting the viewer/player feel it. Where the authors managed to realistically and genuinely make me feel bad is in the UA route. But I don't see that as a minus - I appreciated the plot, and I can see my own sense in it, though in the future I won't ever choose it and would rather have a happy playthrough with the Ascended Astarion. But it's realistic, the game makes me think about what I'm doing, like in a good DnD with a harsh DM, when you can't just run around, do all the quests, help everyone, be “good” and get bonuses for it. It's necessary to act as one would act as a character, who lives in this world. Ascension is Astarion's path, it's what he wants, it's his only chance. If I didn't let him do it, if I left him as a spawn, didn't help him, why should I feel good about it afterwards? I have nothing against “good” roleplay, when some of ones moral principles are more important, it's just not definitely not my thing. I won't sacrifice a loved one for someone else's principles, “messages”, “narratives” or whatever. I don't play games for the sake of suffering, helplessness and pain. After all, if Tav and Astarion died somewhere along the way, Cazador would ascend and kill all those spawns. Astarion owed nothing to this world. The world has given him nothing but pain, contempt and rejection, why should he owe them all?

Humility - yes, that's how the UA path feels, and I can't imagine my character would give a loved one that rather than love, the joys of life and accepting them for who they are.

[librarygarten]

I’ve been thinking about the infodumping to the chain about Zelda games post and all I want to do now is tell them about the speedrunning in botw 💀

Like imagine looking Wild dead in the eyes and telling him that he could’ve beaten Ganon with a pot lid and a spoon completely naked not even a day after he wakes up habdmdvsusjsbd

Even better, imagine the potential angst if the boys DID use speedrun strategies... because of Isekai! Reader. Reader is their player, and the line between their control and the boys' free will is incredibly blurry at best >:]

#1 Chain x Speedrunner! Deity! Isekai! Reader - Who's in Control?

Part 1 includes Wild, Four, and Warriors Part 1 (you are here) ✿ Part 2 ✿ Part 3

When you first fell through the portal and joined the chain on their quest, you had revealed that they were only stories in your world. It had taken a while for them to understand the concept of a video game, and even longer for them to come to terms with the fact that some of the most traumatic events of their lives were reduced to children’s entertainment. However, as they talked with you, they came to another horrifying discovery: YOU were their “player.” Your actions in your world, the decisions you made while playing the games, directly influenced their own lives. What’s more, you were a speedrunner.

Wild

It was a peaceful day in camp. You were sitting near the fire, watching Wild cook, chatting about nothing in particular. Suddenly, his head snapped up, as if he suddenly realized something important.

“You made me fight Ganon in my underwear.” he says. He stares at you. You stare back, unsure how to respond. Anything you could say dies in your throat. He continues. “I couldn’t beat Ganon back when the Champions were alive. Back when I had the Master Sword. But you managed with a pot lid and a spoon.”

“Well, that was still you.” You can feel the sweat run down the back of your neck. “The line between what’s me and what’s you is kind of blurry. It didn’t feel like you were being controlled, did it?”

“No. I just remember thinking I had to get to the castle as soon as possible.” Wild looks down at his hands, contemplating his next words. “I did things without thinking, really. When I jumped around and shot that arrow, I didn’t know why. It just seemed… natural.”

You were aware of what he was talking about. A common way to skip Windblight Ganon. The only things needed were some well-placed jumps and an arrow. Shooting the arrow at just the right place would make it get stuck in Windblight’s head, essentially one-shotting him.

Wild turns back up at you.

“You made me fight Ganon in my underwear.” He emphasizes the last few words, as if he still can’t come to terms with this reality.

“I’m sorry?” You really don’t know what to say. Nothing could possibly make this situation worse. “It would have made a difference, really. I wasn’t planning on getting hit, so armor was pointless.”

“That’s right. I didn’t get hit once.” Wild looks shocked. “I dodged everything.”

“So everything worked out!” You smile nervously.

“But why?” He asks incredulously. “Wasn’t it hard? Why would you go straight to the castle?”

“Gotta go fast?”

Four

Another busy day at camp. There was food to cook, clothes to mend, weapons to fix. While the others went out to gather materials, you and Four kept yourselves busy, trying to get as much done as possible before they got back.

“Y/N. You played my games, right? You kind of influenced what I did and stuff?” Four asks out of the blue.

“Yea, why?” You put down the shirt you were mending and looked up at him. He was staring into the distance, as if lost in thought.

“Are you the reason why I could walk through that wall?” He turns to look directly at you. His gaze is almost paralyzing.

“Which time are you talking about?” You laugh nervously. “There’s a couple areas in The Minish Cap where you can glitch through walls into other areas.”

“The Octorock!” He exclaims, “I pushed a pot into the wall and went through the wall! Did that actually happen? I thought I was going crazy!”

“Oh, yeah. The Octo Clip is essential for speedrunning.” You explain. “It’s one of the few glitches available in your game for the 100% category.”

“Speedrunning?” He tilts his head, confused. “What’s that?”

“It’s a thing people do when playing video games. It’s like a challenge to see how fast you can beat the game. People compete to get the fastest time.” You pick up your needle again, praying that would be the end of the conversation. Talking about the nature of the chain’s free will was uncomfortable to say the least.

“Did you win, at least?” Four asks. He could understand competition; one of his games was mostly a competition between the colors.

“Ugh, not even close. I messed up the timing on the final boss so the fight took way longer than necessary. I ended up missing the top ten by a whole minute.” You lament.

“I think I remember that. I was fighting Vaati, and suddenly started panicking. I thought I was just scared.” He points an accusing finger at you. “But that was you, realizing you messed up?”

“I guess?” You shrug. “It could be both. Like, maybe you just happened to feel fear at the same time I realized I messed up? Or maybe you felt fear, causing me to mess up? It doesn’t have to just be me influencing you. It’s the multiverse. You probably influenced me too… right?” You try not to sound too desperate with your question. Surely, this connection went both ways. Otherwise… you don’t want to think about the possible implications.

“Maybe.” Four nods, but you can tell he doesn’t really believe it. With nothing more to say, you slip into silence.

Warriors

(I legit cannot find speedrun glitches for his game??? Let’s dive even deeper into the nature of freewill lmao.)

Warriors was silent as you walked along the trail. The rest of the group had run ahead, apparently excited about something they had spotted over the horizon. The last thing you heard was Wild shouting something about Hinox toenails. You were glad to have a moment of silence. You loved the boys to death, but they were a bit much at times. Unfortunately, the silence was short-lived.

“I’ve been talking to the others about their adventures. Now that we know about you, some things are starting to make sense.” Warriors’ voice is quiet, his voice low. Almost threatening. You don’t say anything. He continues. “Four told me you like to do something called speedrunning? Where you try to beat the game as fast as possible.”

“Yeah,” you say. You can feel his gaze on you. “I’m not very good at it. Most of my times don’t even get on the leaderboard.”

“And your behavior during the games influences our world.” It’s not a question. He knows.

“I guess?” You chuckle nervously, suddenly finding the dirt beneath your fingernails very interesting. “I’m still trying to figure that out. Multiverse travel be wild.”

“Was it worth it?” His voice is laced with venom.

“What?”

“What is worth it?” He repeats, then scoffs at your confused expression. “You wanted to beat my game as fast as possible. You’re the reason Zelda and I were constantly trying to push forward. Even when our supplies were low. Even when we knew we were outnumbered. That. Was all. YOU.”

You don’t know when you stopped walking. You only realize when you notice the small wet spots on the ground in front of you. You wipe your eyes, trying to stop the tears. It doesn’t help. Warriors only watches.

“I’m sorry.” Your lip trebles, but you keep looking at the ground, using your bangs as a curtain to hide your face. You don’t want him to see you start sobbing. That wouldn’t help anything.

“Sure you are.” He continues walking, leaving you standing in the middle of the path, completely alone. Before he’s out of earshot, he turns to look over his shoulder, and sarcastically remarks, “Glad you had fun.”

[astrologysaysno]

I think about the fact that Shen Yuan was transmigrated. Mostly because that, despite Shang Qinghua already isekai'd into the world, the pivotal changes were made by Shen Qingqiu.

It makes me wonder. Why did the system need to bring another transmigrator when there was one already? One that, in comparison to Shang Qinghua, who was born there, was brought relatively late into the full timeline.

Personally, I have the theory of the system messing up.

For all that we know of Shang Qinghua in the main series, not once does he seem to deviate in any way shape or form. Now, this could just be that Shen QingQiu wasn't paying attention as well as the fact that I haven't actually read the novel and am learning everything through osmosis, but in a lot of the scenes before they realize who they were, Shang Qinghua seems like he never deviated from the role, especially if you had only the conceptions SQQ had of pre-reveal SQH.

So my Theory is that when SQH transmigrated here, the system didn't properly ensured that there was room FOR change.

In my understanding of the story, the system seems to have the goal of changing and improving the narrative of PIDW. It seemed to prefer the ending SQQ made rather than the original narrative. So my confusion lies in that, combined with what I talked about with Shang Qinghua playing the role to a T, why did SQH never cause anything similar? He had decades on time before Shen Yuan arrived and became SQQ, and yet nothing visible seemed to have occurred. He didn't even seem to be given the option of an OOC unlock from what I could remember.

My hypothesis why is that when SQH was given the system, it was hyper strict in its requirements to ensure that he could be in a position to have any power to change the plot. Become a disciple of Cang Qiong, Become Peak Lord. All of that seemed to be necessary. But with such emphasis for this to occur, the personal decisions and feelings of SQH had to be overrided. This in turn created a problem

The system had become too strict, too exacting, no room or chance to be OOC. It would impose quests and it would be done with more or less accurate results. But in doing so, it had accidentally blocked itself of its most important goal, to change the plotline into something better.

Years of stamping out any rebellion or disobedience in SQH through punishment have molded his personality to not take chances to change anything. And when the system gave the possibility of killing Mobei-jun to SQH, it was also to see if SQH was still willing to change the plot. When SQH spared MBJ, it was the sign of the system to give up using him as an instrument for change.

The system had essentially trapped itself into a cycle that ensured the person who was supposed to make everything better as a second chance to write the story he initially wanted was stripped of every capability and desire to do so.

This was why Shen Yuan was pulled into PIDW.

To rectify for its own mistake, the system needed to pull someone who wanted to change the story of PIDW, or at least had the knowledge and passion to make things better. SQH had been that pick since he would have known so much of the stories behind each character, but they ruined that chance so they made a last ditch effort by dragging the next best person who could have a probable chance of influencing the plot.

[It's the middle of the night as I type this. Cause like all thoughts, they keep me awake at night.]

[notebooks-and-laptops]

Why The Veilguard Handles Grey Wardens Better than Dragon Age Inquisition: The horrors of the Blight, the Calling and the Cauldron

Grey wardens are by far my favourite part of Dragon Age Lore. On the surface; knights in shining armor who protect the world against an unstoppable nightmare. Underneath; a messed up and dubious order who recruit from the criminals of Thedas and who are doomed to die the moment they sign on with the Wardens.

And while I have a problem with a lot of the factions in DAtV, I think the Grey Wardens are handled excellently, because they're far less sanatised than their counterparts.

Grey wardens are a dodgy organisation filled with dodgy people who the people of Thedas have to tolerate because they are the only people who can protect it from an unwise unstoppable evil force. We're shown this as early as the first act in DAO where Duncan casually stabs a man because he doesn't want to die via the joining. To save the world they make unthinkable decisions and then because those decisions are so unthinkable, they keep all those decisions secret. You, as the Warden in DAO, can do some truly horrific things in the name of stopping the blight.

And Dragon age the Veilguard gets this so right. Davrin is a hero, a monster hunter who wants to do right. And yet he is confronted with the horror of the grey wardens time and time again in his personal quests. He is made to see how the order hides even from its own members the horrific things they do in order to create an illusion that the sacred oath is valient and worth upholding.

The Cauldron was by far one of my favourite parts of DAtV. The fact that all the griffin bones are just unceremoniously thrown in there with absolutely no regard for the sacrifice; the fact that the griffins of old went crazy after they were blighted on purpose to oppose the blight...its horrific and horrible and maybe it was the only way to save the world but surely there was another way?

Similarly, we reach the end of Davrins quest and the blighted Wessinhaupt...this isn't some horrible devious plan, Issya has been driven mad by what she was ordered to do to the griffins, and she can't stand it. She's blighted by the blood in her veins, just like she blighted her griffins. And the idea that some who fall pray to the calling end up there in this fact Wessinhaupt, their minds so twisted that they can't tell whats real anymore...it's so messed up I love it.

And yet we still have good grey warden characters just like we always have! Antone and Evka were my favourite side characters in any faction in this game. Do I wish the Grey Warden Commander had a little more nuance to him? Yes. But that's literally the only thing I have a big issue with. It's so interesting as well that with Antone and Evka in charge they start to allow people to take the joining without signing up. We know some who have joined before no longer associate with the order (Anders) but this is on a whole new level. It makes sense that they'd make that decision, but the implications about what characters who don't know what to do if they start hearing the calling...its delicious.

But I promised you some juicy DAI vs DAtV on this one, so let me explain. I think DAI's grey warden lore is interesting, but the fact that they're just mindless puppets of an evil Tevinter magister takes the bite out of it. I long for a game where the Grey Wardens are working with Corphyesus of their own violition because it highlights how fucked up they can get. And there's president for it both in The Decent in Da2 AND you as a protagonist might have made that decision to support the archetech in DAI.

In DAtV the wardens aren't morally dubious because they're working with Elganan or being mind controlled or tricked. The wardens are morally dubious because that's what they've always been. They're also heros because that's what they've always been. It's such a wonderful faction and I think they've done incredibly well with it.

In DAI all wardens are hearing the calling but we never really feel the horror of that properly, perhaps because we don't see wardens going down into the deep roads or perhaps because we don't have a (real) warden companion. In DAtV because we go into the deep roads and see these messed up wardens who have been on their calling, it's made more apparent just how terrifying the calling is, how individuals lose their minds and become more and more ghoul like if they don't die first.

And on top of that the Aesthetics! I love the blight boils coming back from DAO, I always found them so creepy and really giving you the full idea that the land is blighted as well as the people, so no crops can grow.

I really loved this part of the game and I'm glad we got it!

[lady-menrva]

Can we take a moment to talk about the recurring “it’s not problematic / offensive, it’s quirky” theme throughout all the three series? The entire discussion would get too long so I’ll just split it into parts and throw the spotlight on PJO here:

• ADHD and Dyslexia as superpowers: Just no. This has always rubbed me the wrong way. Want to include representation? Be real and sensitive about it. He barely even portrayed or talked about it in detail. A lot of the time, it just seemed plain derogatory and tokenist.

• Artemis and her “badass” hunt: In hindsight it seems straight up predatory and objectionable. What do you mean she mostly recruits young girls who don’t even have well-developed decision making skills. People have come out and talked about how it also seems to mirror unethical recruitment of young children in real life.

• World War II as a plot point: This has been talked about before, and I’ll throw in my two cents- the Second World War was one of the most tragic and impactful events in contemporary history, with a complicated background and multiple sides at fault. Watering it down to some conflict between demigods is unacceptable and disgusting.

• Camp halfblood in general : Camp halfblood is also just child soldier central, just like Camp Jupiter. Children were sent out to die on a routine basis in the name of heroism long before the conflicts with Kronos. The fact that this is never acknowledged or changed is just horrid. They could stay safely in the camp atleast for some time but what is the need to send them on quests? And please don't come to me babbling about how Percy challenged the gods about this, when he himself was a puppet for the next 5 books and counting (plus, even in trials of Apollo the child soldier system doesn't change). Or about how gods can't intervene, when they in fact, can.

[cookiesinthecloud]

Idk if I’m reading too much into it, but I think a lot about unukalhai telling you that his echo specifically grants him the ability to understand a primal’s mind and how he must have felt being around elidibus. Since elidibus is a primal by nature after his separation from zodiark, imagine that unukalhai would have discerned what zodiark really was created for. A being fueled by the desires of salvation designed to save the world.

And I think given the boy’s circumstances, having lost his own world, he would be sympathetic to elidibus even disregarding the ascian’s own half-truths about the rejoining and the Thirteenth.

I like to play around with the idea of whether or not elidibus knows about his ability, but my personal belief is that he did, in fact, know because he saw fit to send unukalhai to help the scions defeat the warring triad.

I just love how elidibus saw parts of Themis and elidibus in unukalhai. One torn by unfathomable loss, yet continues to hope for a better future. Someone who wants to be a hero; who blames themselves for not being strong enough to be one. Who also looks up to someone who is.

In relation to Elidibus transforming to the Warrior of light, there’s this one line unukalhai says to the wol in the warring triad quest that always gets me:

“…I had realized I was treating you as an ideal rather than as a person. I was convinced you were the light that brought hope in the darkness; that you walked only the path illuminated by the rays of the sun”.

And after everything, once you defeat elidibus and you talk to unukalhai about what he’ll do afterwards, he tells you that he wants to find a way to save his world. And the quest involving his passage to the First is called The Hero’s Journey.

[bloodchapell]

castle of sand — senku i. 15: odd dreams

brief summary: with a new night, a new dream

what to expect: lowkey dialogue heavy, sliiiiiightly suggestive but only a little

your sword's note: this was one of my most anticipated chapters because suika is introduced but it took me so longgg ougghhh, all past and future parts + playlist of this series available on my mistresslist

It was rare for Senku to have lucid dreams. He would dream, almost all nights, about ridiculous things, but lucid dreams were rare. 

He realized he was dreaming immediately, for some reason the world being modern and familiar threw him off, that was what made him realize. He was sitting at school, and it was odd, average dream. A police officer walked in and asked to speak with the teacher, and they talked for a while, the teacher then left, only coming back after around 30 minutes of uneasiness to say your name. 

"She has died, I am sorry to inform you of this, and I am equally devastated at the loss of your classmate and great student, and nonetheless, an irreplaceable person." The teacher announced. Then, the classroom transformed into a church, which was odd too, and he saw your parents arguing in the benches in the front. He stood up confused, not yet digesting the announcement. There were some familiar people around, and in the front of the church there was a coffin. 

"My girlfriend..." Kohaku cried. 

It only dawned on him when he saw you, eyes closed and pale, laying on the coffin, hair freshly cut and in the conference's suit, with a bruise on your cheek. His world fell apart, quite literally, and he closed his eyes in the dream, pushing himself to wake up. And he did, gasping for air, a single tear rolling from the corner of his eye, which he made sure to wipe instantly. 

"Wake up," He shook you softly. "Wake up." 

"Whaaaaaat?" 

He exhaled loudly, relieved at the sight of your very alive self.

"Don't ever date Kohaku."

You ignored him, and went back to sleep. The villagers got up earlier, anachronistic, like they had never stayed up reading god-knows-what until insane hours of the night, only going to sleep in despair when the sun started rising. 

The day was ridiculously simple. After breakfast, Senku explained antibiotics to Kohaku and Chrome, and drew the scientific road map with a stick on the ground. And that was it, oddly. 

"Once we bring back civilization, what do you want to do?" You suddenly asked. It was a pointless question, the quest to revive civilization was at least a decade, so thinking about it was a mere mental exercise, probably to distract you from the boredom, so he indulged.

"Go to space, obviously, figure out the science behind petrification." Senku said like it's logical. "What about you? Think until your brain pops?"

"Yes definitely, but I also want to travel around." You mentioned. Senku had noticed your odd fascination for nature, and listened to your rambles about its beauty, it made sense. “I am yet to lose my child-like wonder, and I am easily amazed by what nature has to offer, there is so much to see, so many landscapes. I used to want to travel the world and learn about the stories from the past, admire the physical survivals of the ages, but in this clean world so much was lost, I am afraid I won’t be able to connect with the people from the past.”

“What's with connecting with them? Who cares about the old farts?”

“Don’t be mean, we all can’t be his majesty Senku who rebuilt civilization back from earth, water, fire and air, and will be remembered as a historical figure and students will have to learn his birthdate for their history exams–“

“–Which you would fail, just throwing that fact there.” Senku interrupted you. 

“Regardless of my future academic prowesses or lack of thereof, every person is so everly complex as to parallel the universe itself, and every one of us wants to be remembered, so that our existence matters, that someone will step on the same path we walked and know we were there, that despite our millions of differences, we are just as human, with our darkness and infinite complexity. We all want to be remembered, and it terrifies us that we live life only for it to fade away eventually and every trace of our mundane existence is swept away by the passage of time as people forget us. I want to ease the pain of the past by acknowledging them... now though, with the lack of physical traces... I just hope their energy perdures enough for me to feel it." 

"You are a weird person." He complained. You huffed and rolled your eyes, he took it as an insult back, but he smiled. "Would you go to space?"

"No, not me, that is scary." You pointed out. "There is so much to see here, plus I would be terrified of getting on a rocket, it doesn't seem too safe, I was scared of cars even in our time."

"So you would make me travel around with you but you would not go to space with me?" He asked, almost complaining.  

"I never said I was traveling with you." Immediately you laughed at his assumption, you looked at him and he stared silently, still, waiting for your words because you can say virtually anything to him after that. "Because you would be busy and not go, and if you went, you would be fussy all the way."

After listening to the explanation he laughed. He screamed in his head at his stupid assumption, not knowing why he would even assume that. "Whatever it is not like I wanted to go and have to listen to you."

"We are not siamese twins, you are free to not go." You smile softly. "Regardless once I am back, I will tell you all about it at home."

"Why would you assume we would still be living together?" Senku smiled trying to get back at you. 

"Sleep deprivation is worse than not eating, I am only caring for your health by assuming you would still want to sleep soundly at night." You shrugged like it was obvious, he sighed. "We can be roommates." 

"Yeah roommates, you are anything but stupid, act like it." Senku reprimanded. He was not stupid either, and knew that archenemies, even friends, don't sleep cuddling. Oddly enough he did not mention it, he knew the science behind crushes and love, and had seen it first hand with Taiju and Yuzuriha, but you had never ever, ever at all mentioned anything about the topic before the previous night, and when teased by your classmates or fellow philosophy students from the conferences back in the old world, you responded that you could only fall in love with dead poets and old masters of philosophy. Though Senku himself was relatively uninterested in romance, when it came to your previous lack of interest, he was thrown off, and that is why he remained silent about it, despite knowing the truth now. 

"Fine, sleep on your lonely cold own." 

At the banter, you looked at each other, and smiled. Nothing had changed, that was good. It was the same cozy feeling of home you two had created, even if so many things had gone wrong, that feeling was still around and lingering. Occasionally your eyes would drift to look at Senku, analyzing his expression with almost devotion, the face of familiarity you had learned to cherish as you both grew, with the traces of his baby face somewhere. You were about to reach for his face but Chrome appeared out of nowhere and spooked you.

"So in your time, you survived bronchitis?" Chrome asked. "Could Ruri have bronchitis? Did these antibiotics help?"

"It can be possible that Ruri has either bronchitis or pneumonia. In our time it was a simple issue solved by usually simple medicine, I am assuming it was had acute bronchitis, having her bronchial tubes infected and swollen for a few weeks... though since you decided to go down the path of sheer and utter stupidity, chronic bronchitis could have been a future diagnosis, that's the serious version for idiots that smoke." Senku replied for you. 

"Amazing." 

"Don't 'amazing' me."

At lunch, Kohaku brought you a pair of heels for you to try. She helped you put them on and surprisingly they were more comfortable than what they looked like. You walked a few times with the heels on and after saying that they were cute, she told you it was a gift. You kept practicing your walk, while talking with Kohaku about pointless things, and when you stumbled she made sure to grab your hand so you didn't fall; Senku was fuming in the background.

While Senku explained basic science to Chrome, you taught Kohaku clapping games like you were in elementary school. 

"Seriously? Bad! You're telling me that it's actually the planet that's moving?" Chrome yelled, amazed. 

"That doesn't make any sense. I mean, if that's really the case, then why am I not flying off this branch?" Kohaku asked, sitting on a tree. 

"Incredible right? It is because of gravity, a force that draws objects to other objects with a lot of mass, it has three laws, made by some old guy called Newton, I think I remember some, if you push an object it will have a reaction that uhmm is equivalent to the force you used first, then... yeah that is about it." You said besides Senku, with your hand on your chin, thinking. Looking at the sky, he was defeated after spending all day explaining stuff to Chrome. 

"Yes, that." Senku said giving up.

"You know, I always thought it was weird how only just one star stays in the same place." Chrome said pointing at the sky. 

"That's the North Star. It's ridiculously useful for navigating 'cause it's ten billion percent true north so try to remember that." Senku nodded. 

"If you want my opinion, that looks just slightly off from true north." Kohaku pointed out. 

"No. Impossible. The margin of error is... The Earth's axis has shifted! The whole planet has been tilting little by little over the past 3,700 years; and now, in the year 5379, the fucking North Star isn't north! No wonder my stone-age GPS didn't get us all the way to Hakone. A more experienced scientist would have laughed at me. Kind of a major oversight on my part. You guys are more observant because you don't have the same preconceived notions. Idiot move there, Senku."

"Heh. Just sounds like a little mistake. There's no reason to be so hard on yourself, you know." Kohaku shrugged, and before Senku could continue, you spoke.

"Boo! What a loser, Kohaku won this one." You chimed in. 

"Then go with her!" Senku yelled at you. 

"I might." A giggle. "Switching to seriousness though, it is an honest mistake, taking into consideration the grand scale of what 3700 years really mean, our brains are not wired to process that amount of time like it is a default, so don't be too hard on yourself... but regardless, how can you truly tell north?" 

"Check this out!" Chrome brought a clay pot full of water that contained a leaf and a rock.

"Oh, magnet." You shrugged. 

"A magnet!" Senku shook you by the shoulders. "We can pick up iron sand with this!" 

"Yay... the days of rest are long over, here comes exploitation." 

The plan was set: going to the river in the morning to collect iron, Kohaku went to her hut and brought you clothes for the next day, Chrome did the same for Senku, and then they left for the night. 

"Goodnight my beautiful goddess." You hugged Kohaku as she left and she hugged back; queue Senku fuming in the background. "Well, let's sleep now!"

"Sleep on your own, or better yet, with Kohaku." Senku said without a care in the world.

"Jealous?" You smiled with malice, he remained silent, but at your playful pokes and failed attempts to tickle him, he gave in. He laid down and you did too, both trying to make sense of the bland images in the darkness of each other's face. "We got this, it's okay to make mistakes, you know? Makes you human." 

"Quit it."

"I am serious, I didn't like that back there, how dare you look down on my sun, he is a genius, far better than any other mediocre scientist even if professional, he surpasses them." You insisted and he had to contain a laugh. 

"You are so cheesy, I am throwing up." Senku rolled his eyes but didn't argue. It was inevitable to be harsh on himself when the whole world was on his shoulders, so having you remind him that it was okay to make a mistake made him feel better. He let you hug him and hide him away in your arms, his own arms feeling somewhat firmer around you, that had changed. 

"Goodnight." You leaned your head against his. 

"For fucks sake." He complained immediately, but you didn't reply. "Goodnight." 

There was no coming back from a goodnight.

The night passed fast, at least for you, but Senku stayed awake for a while, simply distracted, somewhat afraid of closing his eyes and finding himself in your funeral again. He turned around, and still you hugged him in your sleep. For some reason he thought of kindergarten, when they would have you take naps besides each other and the rest of kids; if he really thought about it, whom he once called a bothersome constant was now a source of warmth and familiarity in the hostility of an unknown world, you whom he knew almost as far as he remembered, you who had seen him grow and whom he had seen grow too, the person he saw almost everyday for around 12 years, and the person he now lived with, the person whose possible death haunted his mind, the person who made him laugh at least once a conversation, the person he wanted to see laughing hard, the person he couldn't stand having away at the fear of something happening to them. 

Senku turned around again. He couldn't see your face, but your breathing was soft so he knew you were profoundly asleep, so he reached to touch your face, outlining your features with a care he didn't know he had. His brain threw the facts there and around, survival, instinct, familiarity, attraction, it was all science too. Eventually his eyes started closing, and his hands drifted to your hair, that was no longer as short as it logically grew with time. 

"Senku, Senku, pass me the tie." A hazy image, you were dressing in his room, he passed you the black tie as you buttoned the white shirt; black suit as always. 

"You are winning the prize for best dissertation in philosophy!" Cheering, Byakuya entered the room. "Me and Senku will be watching." 

You struggled to make the knot for the tie, so Byakuya helped you. After a while, the dream changed to Senku sitting with his dad in an auditorium, and they watched you read some ridiculous speech as you won. 

And then he woke up. He should have known it, it was nothing but a dream. The sun was already out, and the light creeped in through the wood, he stayed laying down for a while, simply going over the dream. 

"You're awake now." He huffed once he saw you open your eyes lazily, he was relieved. 

"What happened?" You placed your hand on his cheek at seeing the look in his eyes. 

"Nothing." He dismissed it, but you caressed his cheek a little to ease his mind. 

Chrome and Kohaku went to the hut some time after, and after eating together something light for breakfast, Chrome got all the magnets he had, while leaving the hut with Senku so you and Kohaku could change. 

"Oh well this is quite skimpy..." After putting on the bikini you sighed, ripping a piece of fabric and tying it around your waist like a makeshift skirt. Kohaku went down first, confident and without a care in the world, holding a basket and her Chrome-provided magnet, and you went down after her, wearing the jumpsuit open over the bikini. 

"To the river!" Chrome exclaimed. 

Your sulking self quickly recovered once you saw Senku. 

"Is that a skirt!?" 

"No. Stop harassing me." Senku rolled his eyes. 

"Harassment in the workplace unlocked." You rubbed your hands together as you all started walking, the uneven terrain making your steps falter at times. Chrome and Kohaku knew the way all too well, and after a few minutes walking you were all at the river. With somewhat a degree of discomfort you took the jumpsuit off, then the shoes, and walked to the river holding Kohaku's hand as Senku and Chrome jumped in the water. 

For a while, you all started collecting the black sand with the magnets and then saving it. It was yet another methodic repetition, and you enjoyed it for some reason, as your body went on autopilot, your mind went back to the school dances they would make you put on and inevitably you followed some of the steps that had stayed engraved in your memory. Senku noticed, and knew immediately what you were subtly dancing; his eyes traced your movements, which were somewhat giving him a reaction he could only describe as stress when remembering the dance, and aside from the surface reflex, his eyes gave discreet glances to your body. He knew you didn't like showing much skin, and the only comparison he had to make a mental before-and-after was the only time he had seen more of your body than the average hands and face, when he walked in when you were changing, back in the modern world —which in retrospect was completely his fault for barging into your house unannounced and which gained him a shoe in the face—, but he noticed that logically your body got more toned and fit after spending life on survival mode permanently. It was logical, and he did not think much of it, the same had happened to him despite being less athletic than a sea sponge, but he averted his gaze before he could be reminded by his body of his mortality and weakness. 

Instead, Senku decided to talk with Chrome. 

Kohaku wanted to talk with you too, she was glad to have a new friend, despite you being odd, not only because of the difference in contexts you two lived in but in general; she was happy. She stood close to you picking up the sand, making small talk. You replied almost instantly with an odd lack of emotion so she assumed you were concentrated and didn't think much of it, admiring your dedication to such a stupid task. You were so engrossed in the simple activity that you didn't notice when Chrome and Senku sat down to rest for a little too long. 

"By the way, why are we the only ones doing any work here? The two of you need to get off your asses now!" Kohaku scolded them. 

"What happened?" You asked and once Kohaku explained, you stood up. "Do not call her a gorilla ever again or you two will see the full extent of the suppressed rage I have been carrying since I came to be." 

Senku and Chrome started picking sand again, and you and Kohaku nodded pleased. You talked with Kohaku about what to cook for lunch and for a while everyone was collecting the sand. 

"Is that a watermelon?" Senku asked seeing a floating object approach. 

"Oh, that's Suika." Kohaku explained once the fruit transformed into a child. "What are you doing in the water? Did you just follow us down here or something?" 

"I'm sorry. I just wanna help you guys. It's kinda hard to be very useful to anyone because I've got this thing on my head. Too bad I'll wear it my whole life. But if you need some help, I'll do whatever I can!" The little girl said holding a magnet full of sand. 

Senku agreed to let her join, glad to have more help, and while they talked about Momotaro and Ruri, you observed Suika. 

"Why do you wear that?" Inevitably you asked, Kohaku and Chrome got spooked, but Senku explained that asking questions was like a second nature to you. Suika was shy at first, but she walked close to you and told you the reason why in a whisper, asking to not tell anybody. You nodded, taking her hand. "You don't have to be useful —objects are useful, not people—, just having the intention to help is already a formidable trait, so don't even mind the watermelon. We are happy to have you help us" 

"Wow, it's similar to what Senku said but she is actually genuine and tender." Kohaku and Chrome commented, nodding in approval.

"Seriously?" Senku rolled his eyes, complaining. "Well naturally someone like her has ten billion percent more affinity with children." 

After collecting sand all morning, the clay bucket was filled to the brim, so you all walked back to the hut. Kohaku, Senku and Chrome mixed the iron sand with coal, while Suika and you cooked lunch together. She was curious about your origins, so you explained to her that you and Senku used to be statues, and how you lived in a different world before mysteriously getting petrified. Nonetheless, you took an immediate liking to Suika. 

After eating what you had cooked with the girl, you were all presented by Senku with the task of baking the iron, a clay furnace already standing tall... after blowing air on the furnace all evening, you all gave up. Normally you liked taking your time getting ready to go to sleep, organizing your hair in the pillow, making sure the blanket was covering your face in an angle so it would cover your ear and obstruct your vision so it would make it darker but not obstructing your breathing, stretching, yawning, rolling around, but right there and then, you were so exhausted that you fell asleep besides Suika and Senku on the ground. 

"I hate stone world summers." You fanned yourself with a big leaf, sitting by a rock on the river, in an oddly heavenly forest.

"They fucking suck." Senku agreed, sitting by the river bank. 

Nothing happened for a while, that of course until you lost balance and fell into the water. Once you got out, drenched completely, the fabric of the jumpsuit became somewhat transparent. 

"Those are the wrong physics, leather doesn't react like that with water..." Senku said looking away once your figure became obvious under the fabric. "Wait, this is a fucking dream, for fuck's sake!"

"Is he awake?" A soft voice. And the poke of a branch. Senku's eyes opened like he was going to go to war. Suika backed off and ran to you. 

"Why did you scare her!?" You yelled at Senku who couldn't meet your eye in that second. "That's it, I am taking custody, not shared, she's mine, and you will pay child support."

Senku laughed. And he got up. 

Kohaku was still asleep, and Chrome was just coming back with food for breakfast. You sat down by Kohaku, caressing her hair softly to wake her up, and once she was awake she sat up and ate breakfast with you and Suika while Senku and Chrome broke open the furnace... only to reveal the same damn sand, unchanged. The disappointment in everyone's face was unmatched. 

taglist: @thelonestarinthesky, @bookworm-center, @iheartpieck

[fadeling]

if it were up to me i could fix the alistair companion quest. i mean most people probably could but i definitely would. here's my pitch:

so alistair is a guy who is actually pretty even-keeled throughout the story, although undeniable that he's idealist and naive. the thing that makes him cool is that hes not simply a bumbling fool covering it up with desperate attempts at sarcasm, he knows his own weaknesses and his sardonic attitude lampshades that while also letting you in on the joke. hes always aware of the fact that hes like if a failgirl was a boy and instead of trying to fight against that impression, he shrugs his shoulders and lets it happen. he lives in a terrible world in a faction that exposes him to The Horrors, so he has to operate on a casual, malleable attitude even if that isn't really true to his heart

that discrepancy makes him confused, conflicted, and most of all: extremely vulnerable to moments of extreme genuineness. (his romance works much in the same vein i think) the way his personal quest starts in the game is actually perfect for showing that about him. he gets ahead of himself, he lets his hopes become known and it's obvious how much he wants to Try even if he understands why the warden may reject him. if the warden accepts, it reinforces him getting his hopes up and he unknowingly feels a bit safer in letting hid idealism just exist for a bit

it's for these reasons that i actually wouldnt change how it starts or the way it's initially presented. i'm even going to keep the fact that he thinks hes the son of a maid and has a sister, because thats what eamon told him and i'm sure it was reinforced by duncan too. i dont think it's a problem for alistair to be wrong about his lineage, but something needs to be done about that

so you arrive at goldanna's house (she would also be given a name that isnt fucking stupid btw) and she's not in a great mood because shes busy and these strangers just kind of demanded her attention to talk about he's her brother when it turns out her mother never died during childbirth at all. she worked at redcliffe's manor but she like, left, man. she did die but that that was a few years later and its actually really annoying that i have to talk about it to two strangers.

her rudeness would be more justified because shes just trying to live her life but this guy has to show up at her door and hallucinate a backstory and promptly get his whole world flipped upside down. it's not really something she had the mental capacity for she just wanted to do the laundry.

NOW this would mean that alistair went into this hoping to gain something, but actually lost more than what he started with. losing the ideal domestic family dynamic stings, sure, but the strongest familial ties he had in the first place were with eamon (a little bit) and ESPECIALLY duncan. now he has good reason to doubt both of them, one of them being especially difficult because it's tangled in so much grief too.

alistair takes a chance on something, finally sticks his neck out, and then he gets hurt. the warden can help him process that in a few different ways; you could coddle him by insisting she sucks and was probably lying anyway, or you could encourage him to acknowledge the truth and still persist anyway. there could even be the asshole third option where you tell him that hes too cringe to live idk. there could even be more things to say, the point is that the sentiment of the warden would accurately reflect how his attitude changes when hes hardened thats all

also theres a bonus opportunity for adding another layer of drama between him and eamon with very little extra effort, and thats always good

[kaeyachi]

🥺👉👈 pretty please drop the kaeya dragon sovereign potential proof (if it's okay with you)

*Note: Contains leaks(?) and Genshin 5.6 AQ:Paralogism spoilers*

OH! THAT ONE!! Well, based on recent events, it might just be a potential dragon form, or me reaching as usual hehe (I'll write a summary of my thoughts on that at the end... a long summary...)

I finished the Natlan world quest purely to understand more on this topic (though I do love our little one lmao), and I basically reread some lines from our dragons in Teyvat, so now this is mostly me thinking Kaeya isn't the new new Dragon King, but he could have that dragon blood and form in him somewhere (delulu ✨️)

but if you want to know what got me pointing fingers again recently, like a mad man, it's because of this cute little detail from the character designs:

Out of all the released characters, there are only 2 characters with a pin of a similar design. Suspiciously enough? it's Neuvillette and Zhongli. 2 characters known to have a form of a dragon (not necessarily a sovereign, just has a form of one)

Diamond head with an eye, and elongated end.

And now I can't help but think, "Really? No other character? Out of all 101 of them?" Well, I did check everyone, and this is the closest we've got- it's Kaeya's original outfit

But clearly! Very clearly!! It's not the same thing! The shape is only similar to our 2 dragons, but it's missing an eye, some embellishments, etc., so maybe this means nothing! So I ignored it for some time... but then...

...an artist posts a Mini Durin character design

and they gave him the pins...

BUT WAIT

UNFORTUNATELY FOR US ALL there's actually a reason as to why I didn't just post it anyway until this ask, because while this was an interesting (and suspicious) find, this Mini Durin design is not actually final/official. Not necessarily fanmade because the artist usually does the art for GI anyway, but the outfit is "allegedly" just what they imagined for Mini Durin (still sus to give gold pins to a mostly silver and purple character tho 🤨)

but if it ends up being the actual design... then... we need to have a cute conversation with out cute little liar named Kaeya Alberich ✨️

Now as for my somewhat dated Dragon Blood/Form Kaeya theory, here it is in bullet point coz it's a lot:

Nibelung died before the Cataclysm, but he is supposed to have a replacement, like what Neuvillette is to the previous hydro dragon sovereign

According to Neuvillette, there was some time between the previous hydro sovereign's death and his birth (time unspecified, so it could be from a couple of hours to hundreds of years)

If Nibelung and the previous hydro sovereign died in roughly the same time, they could have been reborn at roughly the same time as well, which is around 500 years ago

And yes, the new Dragon King after Nibelung does exist (or did exist in the case of this theory). In fact, Apep mentioned that " by the time the new Dragon King was born, the world had irrevocably changed"

Well, Apep by that time could be located at the desert, if you walk just a bit further north of Apep's domain, you would be right on top of... a certain door to Khaenri'ah 👀

But why would the Nibelung replacement be born in/near Khaenri'ah? Well, there's a certain namecard that had a mention of a "sovereign" in Khaenri'ah (I think it was Alf talking to the sovereign? The headmaster of their magical institute of Khaenri'ah? I need to reread the namecard soon)

Nibelung is the only sovereign with no home nation mentioned. He is only referred to as the Dragon King

Nibelung is also, curiously enough, a name from an actual epic called Nibelungenlied

Guess who were also in said epic? Alberich and the Rhinedottirs. 2 clans from Khaenri'ah. It would be odd to separate them, right?

We also have an additional thing to note of- the Alberich clan must at least be a purebred Khaenri'ahn clan to not get affected by the curse, but the curse would have still deteriorated the body severely (note: Capitano questioning how Dainsleif managed to contain the curse to a certain point).

off the 3 Alberich clan members we have seen on screen, 1 discovered how to die, the 2nd became the loom of fate, and the 3rd was somehow born AND is seemingly curseless. A crazy track record.

So who is Anfortas Alberich then? This implies that either he or someone before him must have been an outlander or... was the new Dragon King

Being a dragon sovereign would count you as a member of that nation without being an outlander

And what do ya know, Anfortas is also conveniently there at around at the same time Neuvillette started to exist too lmao. Khaenri'ah is now a monarchy ruled by a human; a nation full of outlanders and refugees. There is no space for a dragon sovereign because their era is long over by that time... but there is space for another "human"

and maybe just like Neuvillette, Anfortas may have watched Khaenri'ah and how King Irmin led them and approved of it

and out of all the old clans in Khaenri'ah, being the new Dragon King or the Dragon King's kin, no matter how unimportant that title was by that time in Khaenri'ah, would still probably give them the first dibs to becoming regents right? (our twin was supposed to be the new king/queen, but they weren't there/were not ready/rejected the position? We could have also had Dainslief or any of the sinners take the position, and yet an Alberich immediately got the regent role?)

Which leads me to think that Kaeya could, at the very least, have dragon blood in him and a dragon form

or i could really just be the most delusional delulu in all of deluludom!

once again, i would like to blame the character design department for fuelling my delulu 💖 if that Mini Durin splash art is real we are opening a council for the Kaeya Dragon Form Agenda (name subject to change)