#it took me nearly ten years to beat all these games

[littlejuicebox]

The wish spell worked.

Pairing: Astarion x F!Reader/Tav

Summary/Setting: 10 years post BG3. Follows my HC for spawn Astarion arc. See my other fics for more information, but otherwise the title speaks for itself. :)

Rating/Warnings: PG / allusions to sexual behaviors / fluff / in-game spoilers / lightest bit of angst if you squint but not really / this is self-indulgent af and idc / so sweet it will rot your teeth

Word Count: 2.2 K

A/N: HAPPY 400 FOLLOWERS POST! Thank you to everyone who likes my stories and provides encouragement. I love you all! I originally wanted to post this as a New Years Eve/Day special, but I couldn't get it quite right by then. After several reiterations, this is what we finally have! Hope it was worth the wait and multiple edits for you guys! :)

-----

If anyone had told Astarion Ancunin a decade ago that he would one day hold Gale Dekarios on a pedestal nearly as high as the one on which he held his darling Tav, the immortal elf might have actually died from laughter. The strange irony and wicked life lessons of fate were not lost on the retired rogue. Unbelievably and annoyingly, Astarion eventually found himself indebted to the wizard in a way he could never repay. 

The wish spell worked.

It had taken years for Gale to feel absolutely ready to cast the spell. Astarion waited — exasperated, impatient, and impetuous — for what felt like the longest ten years of his ageless lifetime to be given the gift of mortality. 

More than once, in the pale elf’s tearful fits of frustration, he accused the wizard of intentionally stringing him along or simply not having the skills to perform such a spell and not wanting to admit it. More than once, you had to calmly remind your husband of the great lengths Gale had gone to find information regarding the act and the even greater risk to both the vampire and the wizard if the spell was not cast perfectly and mindfully. 

It had been a long decade, waiting for that impossible possibility, but the wait had been more than worth it.

Just over ten years after you met that silver-haired rake on the beach, Astarion was miraculously returned to his living, breathing, heart beating, mortal elven form. Surprisingly, not much changed about his appearance. Most notably, his eyes turned a gold-flecked green, and his complexion took on a constant soft pink undertone, permanently tinged by the circulation of his own blood by his own heart. That beautiful undertone caused a delightful blush to creep across his cheeks and ears whenever you teased or aroused him, and you took an even more significant liking to both these behaviors, just to watch that gorgeous rosiness creep across his skin. 

And while you dearly loved that blush, your favorite part of the change had certainly been the steady beating of his heart. You would rest your head on your lover’s chest for hours to savor the sound if he let you, wrapped tightly in the new found warmth of his long limbs.

While you became obsessed with Astarion’s steadily thrumming heart, he’d become obsessed with his reflection. As soon as he’d been able to see himself, your husband had taken to having you sit on his lap while you primped and preened. He would stare into the looking glass with you for long lengths of time, his limbs coiled around your waist and chin often resting on your shoulder as he studied the mirror with a besotted, hazy smile on his face. 

After a few weeks of this, you finally asked your silver-haired husband why he seemed positively obsessed with this new behavior. Astarion’s response had floored you.

“Darling, in my over 200 years, I never imagined I would have a love of my own, nor did I ever imagine what we would look like together. I couldn’t have envisioned such a thing even if I thought it a possibility or wanted to. I simply couldn’t envision myself at all. But now seeing it? I want to commit everything to memory exactly as it is… because it’s the most precious vision in the world to me.”

And really how else could you respond to that apart from kissing your sappy, bleeding heart of a husband and allowing him to continue the practice?

Of course, the two of you behaving as innocent love birds hadn’t been the only thing Astarion wanted to see in the mirror. On more than one occasion, he’d easily charmed you into the throes of passion in perfect view of a reflective surface. Your husband’s darker, more carnal half had become obsessed with watching you two in the act and it certainly thrilled you to know he was trying to commit those sensual sights to memory. You were quite happy to oblige. 

As such, you’d soon found yourself carrying the byproduct of one of your many erotic couplings.

“That was a big one.” Astarion murmurs, and you see a smile creeping across the reflection of his face in the mirror as he glances down and runs his long fingers across the swell of your abdomen. His arms are looped around you as you sit front of the vanity mirror, placing the final touches on your appearance. 

You agree with a gentle hum, moving a hand to your pregnant belly and rubbing circles on the stretch of skin, hoping to calm the young life stirring within. You coo softly to the rolling babe as you finish your primping, “Surely you aren’t thinking about breaking out of there yet, my little love. You have a few more months to go.”

Astarion’s now-warm hands cover yours as the little one seems to do somersaults in response to your voice, causing you to wince slightly as they jolt against your ribs. He presses a tender kiss into your shoulder and chuckles, “This one is strong like their mother and impatient like their father… we may be in for a spot of trouble in a few years, my love.”

You laugh in response as you stand with a pitiable amount of effort and quite a bit of assistance from the supportive arm of your husband. “I believe you’re right… but surely we’ve taken on scarier and more difficult things than a stubborn babe.”

Astarion hums in agreement before pressing a kiss to your swollen stomach, which is hovering just in front of him now, “Surely, darling. Now let us all go say hi to Uncle and Auntie Ravengard. I’m positively famished.”

-----

You are almost out of breath as you walk the final steps toward the entry of the Duke’s home. Astarion had practically begged you to take the carriage all the way through Wyll’s estate, but you waved him off, adamant that a bit light exercise would be good for the baby. The walkway was fully paved, how hard could it be?

As it turned out, you’d severely overestimated your abilities. Though it was just under a quarter mile to the front doors of the manor when you’d decided to exit the carriage, you were no longer the young, lithe woman that traversed the wilds with a petulant vampire a decade ago. The weight of your belly slowed you down more than you would admit. Astarion implored you, more than once and with growing concern and exasperation, to return to carriage. You refused each time, forcing the driver to follow behind at a snail’s pace.

“Gods, I hope this child does not take on your stubborn streak. I will be constantly overrun in my own home.” Astarion huffs, dabbing at the few beads of sweat on your brow with a silken handkerchief as he helps you climb the small flight of stairs at the entryway of Wyll’s home. He rolls his eyes as you laugh, breathlessly, and lean into him for support as he presses a kiss at the meeting point between your cheek and ear. “But, my sweet, as much as I would have preferred we stayed in the coach, you know I adore the way you look with your cheeks all flushed after a bit of… exertion.”

It’s your turn to roll your eyes at your husband as he traces his hand over your flushed cheek, his expression practically brimming with desire. The flush on the tips of his ears is a telltale sign of his salacious thoughts. If he had it his way, he’d be dragging you into the carriage right there for a quickie. But, he knew you two were nearly running late for dinner with the Duke and forced himself to push all desires aside. For now.

Wyll and his beautiful wife, Euphemia, greet you with a flurry of excitement and hugs. Their two twin toddlers run around in the entryway, a nursemaid trailing behind them.

Wyll wears a kind, soft smile as he addresses the both of you, “Dinner should be just about ready… shall we make our way there? I hope you two don’t mind. We are having work done in the dining room — my beautiful flower insisted upon remodeling — so dinner will have to be served in the Great Hall.”

As the four of you head towards the larger of the two dining areas in the Duke’s estate, Astarion wraps his arm around your waist and runs his hand along the side of your nearly bursting belly once again. There is a subtle pause at the doors of the Great Hall, and your husband’s eyebrows crinkle in a silent question before you gently press a kiss into his cheek and whisper, “Happy Rebirth Day, my love.”

Today marked one year since Gale successfully cast the Wish Spell. 

The oak doors burst open to reveal the faces of everyone you hold dear, all of them shouting, “Surprise!” in unison. Wyll and Euphemia are laughing with delight as the four of you enter the room. Astarion is obviously shocked and overwhelmed as he takes the scene in, but a toothy smile is plastered across his face nonetheless. The elf could not believe that the significance of the date had slipped his mind, nor could he believe that you all went through such great lengths to plan a spectacle on his behalf. 

Everyone showered your husband with a plethora of well-wishes and congratulations. The food was heavenly, and the silver-haired elf dined to his heart’s content. Just as Astarion loved to watch you both in the mirror, you adored seeing him eat and savor real food. You’d pursued cooking as a new hobby in the past few months, just to watch the delight on his face as he tasted any number of delectable things you placed in front of him.

“Have you thought of any names for the baby?” Karlach asks through a mouthful of food as she continues to tear into the lamb shank in front of her.

You smile knowingly. This topic has piqued everyone’s interest and they all turn their gazes in your direction, “Yes, actually… Astarion picked it out. It works well for a boy or a girl, and I think it’s an excellent choice.”

The elf smiles shyly, that subtle flush of his cheeks and ears crawling across his face as you turn your gaze to him and urge him on, “Go on, my love, and tell them the gorgeous name you picked.”

“I… I decided we should name the baby Gale.” Astarion reveals, his hand immediately moving to graze against your swollen stomach as he meets the flabbergasted expression of the wizard sitting across the table with a round-eyed, nervous gaze, “If… that’s okay by you.”

Gale coughs in surprise, nearly choking on the wine he’d just sipped from a goblet. For a moment, you watch as he blinks away tears. You are beginning to truly believe he might leap across the table and tackle your husband in a hug when he rapidly nods instead.

The wizard’s voice cracks with emotion as he speaks, “Y-yes. Thank you, Astarion. That is such an honor.”

Ten years of friendship between two men that once seemed entirely at odds with one another, honored by a namesake given to a precious babe. Fate was a truly remarkable thing.

“It’s an honor you are quite deserving of, Gale.” You respond, reaching your hand across the table to give the wizard���s hand an affectionate squeeze. “May our child have just as much heart, wit, and skill as their namesake. We will be truly blessed.”

A cake with candles is brought about at the end of the meal and placed in front of Astarion as everyone sings an off-key birthday tune. While your husband always seemed to thrive on being held at the center of attention, you noticed with a bit of amusement that his ears and cheeks were flushed pink as everyone focused their eyes upon him. 

While the others continue to sing, you lean closer to your husband and whisper, “I know we will never surpass the wish you made last time, my Star. But go on and make one anyway.”

Astarion’s gaze roams around the room, taking in all the friends he collected this past decade. Then he turns to you and grins, pausing to etch every bit of this moment into his memory before closing his eyes and blowing the candles out to a cacophony of inebriated cheers and whoops.

The elf wished for the only thing he could: a healthy child and a long life with his little love. Fate had already gifted him with more than he could have imagined for himself back in those dark, dank dungeons he once called home. Astarion found himself in want of nothing but the health and happiness of the woman beside him and the safety of their offspring. 

Though he knew it was another selfish ask, and he’d been blessed far more than he had ever expected, Astarion prayed to the gods that he once never thought would answer to grant him this last wish. And just in case they did not hear him the first time, he would be sure to make the same wish every year, until his very last. 

[wileys-russo]

Alessia playing a rough match & insisting she’s fine (despite being on the ground more than not).

“I know every inch of your body Alessia and I know for a fact that bruise is new”

+proceeding to take care of her and kiss all her better

I love your writing btw

bruises II a.russo

"they're really going in on her today." you mumbled to your soon to be brother in law, bouncing your knee anxiously as not even twenty minutes into the game and your fiance had already been the collateral damage of three fouls and a yellow card.

"she's a big girl and it's a contact sport, she'll be fine." gio waved off your worries, patting your back without looking away from the pitch as you sighed.

"she'll be alright darling, she's done this for years she knows what to do." carol murmured much more empathetically, squeezing your knee and sending you a reassuring look as you nodded.

however by half time your worries had only doubled ten fold, your fiance seemingly spending more time on the ground than on her own two feet.

alessia had always been clumsy by nature and normally her consistent stumbles and slips had you smiling with amusement but now every time her body hit the ground your breath caught in your throat.

"go on. ease the nerves a bit!" gio nudged past you and dropped back into his seat, handing you a drink as you forced a smile and took a sip. normally you'd not drink at your fiances games but today you'd do anything to try and fight the anxiety which clawed desperately at your throat.

"oh thats a joke, how is that not a card?" you protested, wincing as you watched alessia's body thud to the ground once again, her legs completely sweeped out from underneath her. "beats me. come on ref!" gio yelled, joining the horde of angry arsenal fans also shouting for at least a yellow.

"she's limping." your brought your bottom lip between your teeth, chewing on it nervously as your fiance waved off the medics, hobbling back to her position and resetting herself for a moment. rolling her shoulders and neck she bent back down, joining the huddle of her team mates as they bunched in for a corner.

"six more minutes of stoppage time love, she's going to be just fine." carol assured, you only nodding wordlessly as your gaze locked onto alessia, knee once again bouncing as you flinched every time she came near to the ball.

"again? they've got to be taking the piss." you scoffed as the same defender from before sweeped her legs out from beneath her, though this time your fiance wasn't quite so quick to her feet. you huffed as finally a card was rewarded, the spurs player headed off the pitch as it was her second yellow of the match.

"she's not getting up." you mumbled, jaw clenching as your knee bounced even faster, not even your future mother in laws hand squeezing it reassuringly helping with anything. your stomach dropped as you watched your fiance gesture frantically toward her knee, the pain clear on her face with every passing second.

"you don't think-" you started, not even finishing your sentence out of gut wrenching terror for the next few words which died in your mouth.

"no, we don't even think about that." gio remanded firmly though not unkindly as he draped an arm around your shoulders, a sigh of relief left you as finally alessia was up being helped off the pitch as stina was subbed on in her place.

"see? she knows how to take a knock and a push, she's nearly twice the size of that pesky defender anyway." gio chuckled, doing his best to reassure you as play resumed.

"the bigger they are the harder they fall." you sighed, much less optimistic as you caught leah's eye from the bench, the girl raising an eyebrow and nodding her head toward the tunnel.

"go darling." carol watched the blonde gesture for you to come to her, nudging you up as you hurried out of your seat and out of the stand, leah meeting you as you did.

"she's all good, just a bit sore." the older girl assured, pulling you into her side in a hug as she walked the two of you toward the medic room where alessia had been taken to.

you heard cheering as the final whistle blew, the gunners winning 4-1 but you couldn't share their excitement, your only focus now the blonde you were only seconds away from seeing.

"go kiss it better." leah winked, pinching your cheek playfully and giving you a gentle push into the med room.

the physio gave you a smile, also assuring there wasn't any major damage just a mild sprain but alessia would need to take it carefully and train separately for the week until it could be reassessed.

you thanked him grateful for the update as he left the room and shut the door afterward, giving you and your fiance some more privacy.

"hi beautiful." the blonde smiled affectionately, sat on the medical bench still in her kit as you moved to stand between her dangling legs. "ah! babe." she whined in surprise as you suddenly smacked her thigh with a loud slap and an unimpressed scowl.

"do not scare me like that again, pointing to your knee when its an ankle problem." you warned with a huff, frowning up at her as your fiance only smiled, infuriatingly attractive as she did so.

"i just knew it was something in my leg and your head mentally always goes to the worst possible scenario. i didn't mean to worry you baby i'm sorry." she apologized sincerely, your hands moving either side of her body as you leaned up to kiss her, another apology mumbled against your lips as her hands squeezed your sides.

~

"you're limping lessi. just let me help you!" you groaned frustratedly, your fiance refusing, batting away your arms which reached out to help her out of the car. "for the one millionth time i am fine!" she huffed, hauling herself up and swallowing her pain, walking as normally as she could to the front door.

"so fucking stubborn." you grumbled, slamming the door after her and shaking your head, your fiance letting herself into your shared home. "my love please at least sit down, put your ankle up on a pillow and rest it, please!" you begged with a sigh, the striker still standing with her head engrossed in her phone.

"honestly are you going to be this dramatic all week? because you are already getting on my last nerve its just a sprain i am absolutely fine!" alessia spat, rolling her eyes and limping off into the bedroom as you dragged your hands down your face with a silent groan of irritation before following after her.

"stop! i'll do it." you dropped down to your knees, helping her take off her trainers, extra careful with her injured ankle. alessia only groaned, flopping down onto her back on the bed making you roll your eyes.

"right i have had it with this denial and the stroppy attitude. hoodie off, joggers off." you stood back up and ordered firmly, crossing your arms sternly. "don't be cute, i'm serious." you warned as alessia smiled suggestively, though it dropped from her lips at your tone.

with a roll of her eyes she shuffled back up the bed, resting on her elbows as she tugged at her hoodie.

"i don't see why i have to-"

"stop." you moved to push away her hands, helping her to take her hoodie off and moving her training top up so it pooled at her neck, giving her a firm look as she opened her mouth to continue complaining.

without another word you ducked your head, placing a tender kiss to each and every bruise which littered her rib cage, your eyes locked with alessia's own as you did so.

you broke her stare as you moved backwards and dropped again to your knees, sliding her joggers off and giving the bruises adoring her legs the same loving treatment, your fiance tangling a hand in your hair, short nails affectionately scratching your scalp as she exhaled slowly.

tugging her top back down you carefully swung your leg over her hips, settling yourself on top of her as her hands instinctively moved to caress your thighs.

"alessia i know your body like the back of my hand. i've been head over heels in love with you for five years and your best friend for far longer than that. so there is not a single freckle, scar, birth mark, mole, nothing that i do not know like a map." you started, her hands coming to rest on your thighs.

"so these, all of these, are new." you frowned, shuffling down her body a little bit, gesturing to the freshly inflicted bruises scattering her body.

"so please don't tell me you're fine and everything is fine and nothing hurts. i know you better than that and i'd hope you know me better than that to think i'd believe anything otherwise." you finished softly, your hands moving to gently clasp her face, thumbs tracing the curvature of her jaw.

"i love you very very much less and i've always supported you in every single way i can, and i will always continue to do so. but please let me take care of you when you need it, even when you don't think you do." you requested, eyebrows knitted into a concerned frown.

"m'sorry baby, i love you very much and i didn't mean to be snappy or difficult." your fiance sighed apologetically as you shook your head.

"i've always known you were difficult love, i wouldn't have said yes to marrying you if i didn't know how to handle that." you smiled in amusement, shutting up her response with a kiss so filled with love it sent her head spinning.

"well then mrs russo i promise to always let you take care of me if you promise to always let me take care of you. i might be difficult but you are one of the most stubborn women i've ever met my pretty girl." your fiance grinned knowingly, squeezing your legs and leaning up slightly to place a gentle kiss to your nose.

holding out her pinky toward you expectantly making you laugh you linked your own with hers, the two of you kissing your interlocked fingers.

"i promise."

[acourtofladydeath]

I'll Give It All

When Brennan and Naolin lined up to fight in the Battle of Aretia, neither expected what was to come, or that only one of them would leave the battlefield alive.

It's here y'all - baby's first Brennaolin fic! Start reading below or read the full fic on AO3.

Standing on the edge of the cliffs, I felt my heart beat against my ribs. Wind whipped into my back from the roiling waters far below and heavy mist kissed my heated neck. There was no escaping the onslaught that faced us. Knowing I had moments before he had to mount Tairn, the giant dragon’s morningstartail flicking with agitation through the electricity-laden air, I looked to my left.  He stood there, as he always did, hands flexing at his sides. Tairn chuffed, viciously calculating the battle ahead with focused anticipation, but I only had eyes for one man. Naolin stood tall, eyes forward to stare intently at the oncoming forces. The wind blew his hair forward, and it caressed his cheek the way my hand had the night before. I could still feel his skin beneath my touch, hot and wanting. Still feel him above me. But now was not the time for such thoughts.  Running my thumb along my chin to dissipate the nervous energy I turned to stare forward again. My body ached to turn back, but I knew it was not smart. Without me having to ask, Naolin stepped closer, his fingers closing around mine in a death grip loaded with promise. Just that simple touch opened my lungs and I took my first deep breath in who knew how long.  “Whatever it takes,” Naolin said softly beside me, determination resounding in his words. Unable to resist, I glanced sideways and saw the same resolution set in his brow, in the way his head angled forward with a slight tilt. It was the same look he’d worn when he’d first met me, and when he claimed me as his soon after. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to remember that moment, just for a second.  It’d been halfway through my second year, the first time I was sent out to man an outpost because the war had come too close. They’d chosen me because of my mending abilities, knowing the casualty list would be high, but before then I’d only mended classmates. War games came close, but nothing could ever compare to the real thing. The first thing I remembered when we arrived that afternoon were the screams. Three riders lay out on the stones before me, all mortally wounded. I had to pick who to try and mend first, and I just froze. Marbh coaxed me on, pushing his power into my relic. It burned, but still, I couldn’t choose.  A rider stepped forward then. I remembered that his eyes were kind, understanding. That was an uncommon feature in a rider. Just a glimpse of that look had me jumping into action. I couldn’t explain why, or how. I saved two of them, losing the third before I could reach them. Three became ten became too many to count. A soft pulse of energy joined that of Marbh’s power flowing through my signet. Light had dawned on the next day before I began to mend the wound that kind-eyed rider had been hiding, slicing him from shoulder to just below his pant line. I’d been exhausted, nearly burnt out by then. 

Finish the fic on AO3.

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[hockeyboysimagines]

hi!! Can you do romance prompt for Arber #9 “However many years we have left, I want to spend them all with you.”

you write him so sweet🥹thanks in advance I can’t wait to read it!

Thanks for this anon! Enjoy🤍

“Hey babe? What do you want for your birthday this year?” Arber asked from behind the laptop. You would be turning 20 next month, thankfully on a weekend free of games and practices. It gave him a free and open 4 days to cram everything celebratory he could think of for his favorite girl. You deserved it and now that he knew how unserious you thought of your birthday, he wasn’t going to let you get away easy. He’s gasped and nearly had a hissy when he found out you didn’t celebrate and hadn’t for a long time, scoffing at the suggestion that you continue with that theme. “Uh. No.” He said holding up a hand to silence you “We’re celebrating your birthday.”

“Nothing.”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head “Come on. Don’t be like that. I can’t take you out at midnight, so you have to let me get you something or throw a party.”

You leaned around the doorframe from where you were folding laundry to smile mischievously “Even if I was old enough, you would take me out where? You barely make it past 8pm every night.”

You weren’t wrong.

It wasn’t uncommon for Arber to suggest watching a movie only for him to asleep within the first ten minutes of it. He still glared at you either way. You were always giving him shit for the gap between your ages, though it wasn’t huge. Arber however felt most days like he was 80 years old, and being held together with screws and tape. So while he was only 4 years older, the constant beating his body took made the gap seem wider.

“What are you saying?” He turned completely around.

“I’m saying there’s no way you’d be able to party till all hours. Midnight is way past your bedtime.”

His mouth fell open “What did you just say to me?”

“You heard me. Old man.”

You immediately regretted it because the ‘Old Man’ in question was out of his chair and across the room before you even had time to scream. In one swoop he had you airborne and then on the bed with a squeal with an “OOF.” As you landed and bounced.

“Take it back.” He said fingers digging in to your sides.

You screeched and started to kick“Never.”

An all out wrestling war had started and you were losing until you heard a loud crack.

He shot straight up eyes squeezing shut “Oh Jesus!” He yelled, chuckling as he held his lower back.

“Careful grandpa.” You gasped out as you started laughing “You don’t wanna slip a disk.”

“You-“ but you had already slid out from under him and made to run before he caught you again and pulled you down on top of him.

“Okay okay you win. You win. Oh god, I think I threw my back out.”

You started laughing and took a deep breath attempting to untangle yourself and sit upright to straddle him “So when you kick it are you gonna leave me all your stuff?”

He made a face and closed his eyes “You say the sweetest things to me.”

You gave a little giggle and reached a hand forward to rub his shoulders. He closed his eyes and groaned head falling to the side “Oh my gosh that feels fucking phenomenal.”

“Your pretty beat up here.” You said tracing a finger over the scar from his shoulder operation and the scattered bruises from the game yesterday “How many good years do you think you have left?” He smiled and let out a low chuckle, eyes still closed and rested a hand on either side of your hips.

“However many years I have left, I want to spend them all with you.” A bunch of tiny butterflies started flitting around in your stomach and you smiled very slowly as he peeked at you out of one eye “Pretty smooth eh?”

“For a guy who’s almost halfway to 50 it wasn’t bad.”

He gave your hips a squeeze “Just promise me one thing. If there’s ever a time when I can’t get it up put me out of my misery.”

You gave him a smack and then a kiss.

“Deal.”

[knight-of-flowerss]

she-bear : chapter two

navigation | warnings : sexism, talk of battle | a/n : I did this at like half nine to half ten at night while being sick so sorry if it's bad😭 | wattpad | tags : @thethreeeyed-raven , @fangsp1der-2099 , @lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom , @thelirofnorthlands , @naaladareia , @not-that-syndrigast

When I was young grandmother would tell my siblings and I about a castle somewhere in Norway. It's walls are tall and wide, drum towers on all four corners, stone bricks mossy and decayed, a lavish courtyard and a great hall that would be filled with mouth watering courses.

It took over thirteen years until it was fully built. They started when I was five, thirteen years later I'm eighteen, still patiently waiting to go to this palace of wonders.

And the time finally came.

It was Greta's tenth birthday, festivities at a high with young children running around playing games, their mothers and grandmothers talking in the corners of the hall while keeping an eye on their curious children and the fathers and the grandfathers all in the study, drinking fine wine and talking about business.

All of a sudden all of the fathers are back in the hall and the mothers are rounding up their unruly cattle, trying to get them to sit still as everyone sits at the long tables and face the long Godfrey family table that sits higher than everyone else's.

My mother and father walk to their seats as my siblings and I take our seats, trying to keep the birthday girl still. After everyone is seated my father stands up with a cup of wine in his hands, "Today I want to celebrate my lovely daughter, Greta, she is ten years old today and she is nearly a young woman. With that I would like to gift my family with a large present. As you know, Greta has always wanted to live in a castle, Elsa lost her husband a few months back and times have just been harsh and stressful with the battle between our prideful Duetschland!," [Germany].

People cheered at the comment on our great nation, spilling wine as they cheered, "And the sly, cunning Poland, the route of all our problems. They think that they can beat us? Win this war? They are crazy like a woman who thinks she can be as powerful as a king!"

Men laughed at the comment on women and Poland, the many Ladies sat with uncomfortable smiles on their faces. "As soon as we win this battle and burn the traitors of Germany, my family and I will be leaving our motherland."

A few gasps left the mouths of the guests as shocked faces flooded the hall, including me and my siblings faces. Greta squealed with joy and jumped out of her seat, running to our father, running into him giving him a big hug. "Oh thank you father! Thank you!," she pauses and looks up, "But father where are we going? England? The Netherlands? France? Denma-" Greta was cut off as my father put his large hand over my sisters mouth with a small chuckle as she just looks up at him.

"Now, now dear pearl," He looks up and smiles at the guests in the hall, "What have I said about interrupting me when I'm giving a speech?", "not to... sorry father..", "It is alright pearl, anyways, as I was saying, we will be moving away from our great country for the sake of my children and parents. We will be going to a place that my father holds dearly in his heart and wants to spend the rest of his numbered days there, as most of you have noticed, my mother and father are not present, that is because they are currently settling into our castle that has been getting built for the last thirteen years."

Mine and my siblings heads shoot up, looking at my father. Could he be talking about the castle in Norway? The one we used to play princesses and knights dreaming about? We waited in anticipation as he gave a smile to the crowd.

"We will be moving to Norway, on the outskirts of Kattegat, a major trade city with the infamous Ragnar Lothbrok being their old king but leaving due to his failed attempt in Paris, we will be living near a peaceful trade centre which will provide fresh food and remedies for my frail father as he battles his illness."

My siblings and I sat in shock as the tales from our childhood were coming true. A smile etched its was onto my face as a I dreamt of a new beginning in a place that is known worldwide for its story of how the small fishing town became one of the most famous trading cities in the world.

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 7 Minagoroshi pt. 9

I'm sure they went with calling the chapters chapters because it sounds better than episodes. Or at least that's what I'll be convincing myself is the case, but it is somewhat annoying to me that they also call the chapters within the chapters chapters. It makes more sense to call them that instead of sections or parts or whatever word you might choose, but it just is silly to me. I admit that maybe I'm the only one this bugs, but I don't really care. I'm allowed my petty annoyances.

During their lesson about learning the cheating method in mahjong an unexpected character makes their return.

In this chapter's version of the timeline this version of Akasaka made it back to Tokyo in time to stop his wife from dying by falling down the stairs. Him and the missus are on a vacation near Hinamizawa, and Akasaka mentions that he'll be in town on the day of Watanagashi, and that he'll be there to help Rika come hell or high water. In case she needs it. Akasaka then promptly leaves the story and hasn't been seen or mentioned again since his reintroduction here in chapter four. Not to reveal too much info, but I'm near the end of chapter ten (I presume it's near the end anyway, Watanagashi is just about to happen) and Akasaka basically just amounted to an extremely brief cameo. Also I can't really justify why, but he just looks a little weird in the console art. This is going to sound like a really weird pull, but have you ever seen the screenshots of that one gacha game where the girl falls in love with the horse? He reminds me of that anime horse boy.

The remake and original arts for comparisons sake.

Despite his extremely brief appearance Rika takes Akasaka's appearance in this timeline as an extremely good sign that things are indeed turning around for her. It's all coming up Rika, ain't nothing gonna break this good luck streak of hers!

I'm sure this is nothing. Looks like things aren't turning up well for Rina however. Her scheme to fleece Rena's dad out of his fortune up in smoke she seems to have got herself caught up in some very bad circumstances.

This all sounds extremely familiar.

Realizing instantly something bad has happened to Satoko, Rika swings by Satoko's house which has stood abandoned for the last year after Satoshi hypothetically killed their aunt. There he finds Teppei's come back and has taken Satoko to live with him.

Given how the rest of the chapter up until this point had more or less been speedrunning the previous chapters I thought it was going to do the same things with the new version of events from Tatarigoroshi. I was very much mistaken. What I thought was going to be a relatively brief compression of events winds up taking five chapters and nearly fourteen hours worth of time. It becomes the majority of the chapters running time and I feel it just grinds the overall story to a halt.

Rika, finding that Teppei Houjou has come back, she decides to go to Irie and Takano in an effort to have them help her deal with the Teppei situation.

And so Rika Furude uses her doctor and military contacts to enact a plan to assassinate Teppei Houjou. It is, in my opinion a pretty funny turn of events that this small child was able to brow beat two grown adults into swift action.

Funny thing about this brief discussion of Satoko's medication is that it actually gets forgotten and becomes an important plot point after a while. A short while later Takano comes back to inform Irie and Rika what her and Okonogi discussed. Before moving on I just have to wonder briefly if this Okonogi is the same Okonogi who shows up in the future timeline of Ange Ushiromiya in Umineko. I know that this guy was mentioned briefly in Tsumihoroboshi, or at least there was a "lawn maintenance" company with that name before Rena took the school hostage. So it makes me wonder if there actually was something to Rena's extreme paranoia about her getting followed during that chapter.

What kind of military hit squad is this that it takes more than half a year to kill just some random dork ass? Earlier statements from Irie claimed that these guys were basically the best at what they do, but they still need six months to a year to just put two in some random yakuza thugs skull?

I wonder if this is part of some ploy on Takano's part? We only have her word for it that she talked to this Okonogi guy and they determined they could only do it around Christmas time ("Merry Christmas Satoko! Here's your present, a freshly assassinated uncle Teppei!" "Yaaaaayyy!"). I don't know what possible reason she could have to screw over Rika and Satoko like this, but I can't help but feel that might be what's going on here. That for whatever reason Takano is unwilling to actually use the Mountain Dogs for this job. Maybe it's a subtle foreshadowing that despite ostensibly being in charge of Takano, the Mountain Dogs, the whole thing, Irie is actually being undermined and slowly disregarded. Again, for what reason I don't know, maybe Takano is somehow, someway plotting to kill Irie and take over his research?

Rika takes the news poorly.

[the-haunted-office]

⏳ for Doom. (You idiots are going to piss her off someday)

For every “⏳” I receive, my muse will openly talk about a bit of their backstory.

"You want another part of my villain origin story, eh? Backstory, I mean backstory. Ehehehe. Well, you know, it wasn't all bad, and I've probably made it all out to be. I mean, there were a few glimmering moments of joy, so I probably ought to share one of those every now and then, otherwise I might come across as some utterly miserable piece of shit with no sense of joy in her life."

"There was a good stretch of time in my childhood when I was... I don't know, maybe... nine, ten, eleven years old, something like... Anyway, a good stretch of time around that age where I remember things being mostly good. Things weren't perfect, of course, you know, I remember my parents fighting, yelling at each other in the other room, my dad throwing and breaking things, like, I remember one time he threw this jar of spaghetti sauce and it went everywhere, there were sauce stains on the apartment walls for- I guess until we moved out."

"But anyway, things weren't perfect, my mom was working a lot, my dad was working a lot, my grandparents babysat me and my brothers a lot after school, took us to the community pool a lot in the summer and that was fun. My best friend growing up, Carrie, we used to play together all the time. We'd stay up all night playing video games, especially Sonic the Hedgehog, and we'd play with our Pound Purries and make little kitty condos for them and everything. You know, the 90s were a different. But also the best time."

"That was also- back then, that was also when my brothers and I actually sort of got along. I mean, we also beat the absolute shit out of each, but we did also stick up for one another. It's one of those sibling things, you know? Only we were allowed to beat up each other, but if someone else tried to start shit, then they'd be in trouble, ehehehe. There were some real little assholes around our neighborhood too, and they liked to pick on my little brother. I can't really remember why, though, I guess because he was a little... I'm not sure how to describe it, I guess looking back I think he might have been on the spectrum and none of us knew it. It wasn't a thing that was much known about then."

"You know I could go about all this for hours, there was a lot of shit going on back then-"

And what do you know, that's just what Doom does. Goes on for hours, smiling and laughing and then also rolling her eyes and scoffing and getting angry sometimes, because these are all things she'd nearly forgotten about until she was asked.

[phoenixcatch7]

Totk end game/post credit spoilers

Me during the final blow and final cutscenes:

^ Link finally getting to beat up the guy that (caused the last century of problems, nearly killed hyrule, wiped out his friends and family, poisoned his friends homes,) took zelda.

^ me. The final dungeon (?) and battle was so so so good and I got to plunge my sword into ganons human body which I will admit I have missed. He tried to flurry rush me!! Failed but still. Rude. I styled on his soon-to-be corpse to show how it was done.

^ girls when the credits roll

^ girls when the credits finish and they see their favourite sage dying after showing her successors her favourite view and passing on the torch to the next generation ten thousand years late but assured a bright future free of suffering, oblivious to the curse of demise trapping hyrule in an eternal loop and link having to stand there and know better and then it cuts to the collapsed construct outside the temple.

^ girls internally when the door knocks and they've got to act normal about it for two minutes.

Notes about the fights:

The gloom shroud/Phantom ganon waiting outside was a pussy as always. Dropped his bow which I appreciated. The white moblin on the other side got shoved off onto his remains. Good build up to the main event.

The demon army was straight out of skyward sword, less satisfying given the lack of physical progress and implied time limit but it was still a fun treat. Didn't get to use any of my fun things though, and the sages made up for their lack of tactical usefulness and REFUSING TO LET ME USE THEIR ABILITIES and BLOCKING MY VIEW and INTERRUPTING MY ATTACKS by their sheer damage output, they deal with several monsters while I was busy. Then they immediately got pulled away by the temple bosses, which kind of dampened the mood. Bye, I guess.

Ganon was literally sitting in a malice hot tub. Straight up marinating in that hot tub like he was a washed up celebrity taking a fake candid photo at a blow out party he hosted at his oversized Beverly hills mansion months before he had to sell it.

Getting to fight rehydrated ganon was so cool! I will admit the way he built up the fight did something for me, the animators did a phenomenal job giving him a weight and power. I wanted to smash his smug face in so bad.

He was strong! Every hit from him knocked link over! But with his shield up it didn't do any damage, so I drew first blood! I always find that very important when fighting bosses XD. I actually had the biggest trouble with his sword, that thing was almost hilariously small on him and blended into the... Everything around link. When he switched to his club it went from worryingly hard to hilariously easy, I flurried literally every attack and didn't get a scratch! I was wary when he got his spear out but I'd gotten into a rhythm and took him out!

The demon king transformation was incredible! When that health bar just kept going I was so excited XD!! It's a fantastic trope/gimmick, love it every time! And the sages came back! And were somehow EVEN MORE HINDERING. He duplicated and everyone split up to fight one, which meant they were running all over the place. Unlike their vows these guys are fully opaque, and when three out of five are many times bigger than link it blocked out a significant portion of the battlefield, when I needed maximum vision to see and dodge the many shadowy ganons flitting in and out of view. I had a plan, I should have been able to pull it off beautifully - yunobo was closest so ram him into the nearest ganon to create distance to reach sidon and water blast through the forming line of ganons, climb mineru for a bullet time and fill everything with explosives.

What did not happen was all of that. I ended up taking the most damage by far in that portion of the fight. Instead of being a cool fight, a useful set of abilities or even an annoying but ignorable gimmick, the sages were active hindrances that blocked me at every turn, side rammed me with attacks aimed at the enemy, hid attacks aimed at me, and escaped my every attempt to reach them like their au was trained for that instead. The only success was reaching mineru to bullet time back flip from her, and by that point I was frustrated enough to use a significant portion of my ancient arrows. If I'd been using the vows I would have deactivated them barely a minute in and taken my chances with the phantoms! It was ridiculous! It was a relief when they got blasted away and it shouldn't have been!

But OH that TRANSFORMATION. I'd heard rumours of the dragon ganon, my own lack of blocking the totk spoiler tag being entirely my own fault, but it was still a shock to see him do what zelda had done, this time laughing manically, gladly willing to throw away even his mind and soul in pursuit of an ever foggy idea of power. (I can only assume he'd never actually seen a dragon before, and had only heard the myths surrounding then, because those guys are NOT designed for combat lol.) The fact that he went laughing as zelda went in pain and tears really cemented how far both were willing to go but how differently they saw it.

That evil dragon aesthetic was IMPECCABLE. 10/10 off the charts. The horns!! The eyes! The explosion! Forcing his way up through the castle with link trapped helplessly in a tooth! The giant claw emerging! The messed up dragon theme!!

And then ZELDA, my beautiful darling!!! I love her so much, even blind and empty, even gone and sleeping her dragon knew what to do against the thing she had been turned into to fight against. Oh she was BEAUTIFUL and so gentle with link, catching him on her fluffy head, she was so small in comparison! And link was absolutely tiny!!! Tiny boy!! She might not have known what to do herself, but she was pressed as close as she could get the whole time, darting about like a minnow in a pond compared to ganons barracuda thrashing. The sunset in the sky just made the whole thing look phenomenal.

The use of like like - esque stones instead of the calamitys eyes was inspired! The eyes would have been too much the same, and the introduction of likes trained us instinctively to hit the rock orb things as weak points. Unfortunately being that high up in the air and being so small comparatively meant judging distance was very hard, I wasted a lot of ancient and bomb arrows trying to hit them. It was only until the stone opened up (sir... Why did you put that BACK on your head?! Hide it in your body like the rest of the sane dragons!) that I realised you could land on him. In my defence he looked entirely comprised of gloom, which has spent the past month sucking my life out on contact so...

I was SO lucky to have my hero outfit on, ie the dyed travellers tunic and cap of the wild, it made every cutscene so cinematic! Sure felt like a zelda game! I took so many screenshots XD.

The final cutscenes though... I've been so worried about getting zelda back to human since I got the master sword glyph in eldin. I've been so, so determined to get her back. I would have done so side quests to do so - since she was a separate quest to defeating ganon I thought impa would give me the instructions! I was fully prepared to have to put in another ten hours or so and then fight ganon again to get the true ending!

And then Sonia and Rauru showed up again like 'that's our DAUGHTER' and gave link the power to rewind time over ten THOUSAND YEARS and turn her dragon soul back to a human ToT. And then they took links arm!! I was so mad! Give him his arm back?! Where did the flesh one even come from it got turned into a blackened lump on a pg screen! They can't even show blood! That arm was fully gone! You said yourself it was beyond - ohhhh they reversed time on his arm too. What is with Rauru and non consensual arm replacement?? I was a part zonai hybrid! The last piece of an extinct species! I could levitate and reverse time! Give me!! my arm back!!!

But Sonia finally got to meet link like she'd wanted and they got their closure after millenia and they said goodbye ToT.

And then link CAUGHT zelda. They landed in the pond he had all that time ago at the beginning, and he swam them to shore, and zelda woke UP and came HOME and SURVIVED after she'd lost all hope for herself and she got to come HOME 😭 (see pictures above for reference). And they SHOULD HAVE HUGGED NINTENDO, THEY SHOULD HAVE HUGGED.

I was crying so hard I literally couldn't see the screen ToT. I had to keep blinking and sniffling and I just SOBBED when the credits rolled. Wailing into the tissues. And then mineru and the sages! Dangit, not my favourite sage! Dangit, let me keep ONE zonai thing?? Thankfully I didn't burst into tears again but it got CLOSE.

All in all? 10/10 incredible showstopping unbelievable never been done before perfect amazing. Everything down to the camera angles were perfection made physical (or virtual). Just NEVER make me have to fight with the sages again.

[kimberriez]

ToS OVA Thoughts

It took me over ten years, but I finally finished the ToS OVA. I couldn’t handle the changes then, not even just to watch it.

Quick Thoughts:

Noishe was done dirty.

The Kvar scene was.... not as meaningful as the game or in the manga. Kratos and Lloyd killing him together is just so *chef’s kiss*

All the exsphere changes really makes the story less meaningful, in a way. I get why they did it, but man.

Taking away Lloyd’s mistakes (Iselia and Palmacosta) kind of cheapens his character growth.

It’s about learning from your mistakes. You guys. That’s the point. That’s what Kratos was trying to teach him, really.  Captain Mistakes wanted to make sure his son was better than him.

The animation is really well done and pretty.

Wow, I really don’t care about Regal.

Presea, you’re cool though.

The sword fight choreography is really cool.

Kratos, that’s your son, please stop beating him up.

Yuan. Calm. Down.

Yuan’s hair flip. OH MY GOD

Wow, Nana Mizuki’s voice is gorgeous singing Tenkuu No Canaria

They changed so much it’s almost hard to follow, and I’ve beaten the game seven times.

The Colloyd emphasis is super cute!!

The changes to to the Mithos/Yggy reveal were disappointing. 

Kratos’ hair color is changing every “season”.

Moving the Origin duel was a bad choice. Almost dead Kratos (and everyone, really) standing up for Lloyd to Origin was such a nice thing that got totally axed.

Not nearly enough unhinged Mithos. I missed “Son of Kratos!!” especially.

Lloyd’s wings were also done dirty. Loved that whole scene in the game.

THE HUG. GUYS. THE HUG.

NO LOCKET THO. Show the boy what his mom looked like!!!

Botta???? BOTTA????

Mostly I pine for what it could’ve been if they made a whole show instead of an OVA. The manga did a good job shortening the story without taking out too much.

[squirrelkiln-art]

Unearthed Revision - Chapter 1 Notes

If you haven’t read Chapter 1 of the Unearthed Revision, read it here! This post is gonna have some behind the scenes details and minor spoilers for the chapter it’s about.

Since this is the first chapter behind-the-scenes post, I’ll explain the premise. These posts will have a link to the chapter/s they’re talking about, a quick note by me, and after a ‘read more’ will have my thoughts on things. (I usually have more to say than I feel appropriate putting in AO3 notes so I’m using this.) Later chapters will have more visuals in the way of art and concept work. The first few, however, will be all or majorly text. Anyway, onto the post.

Oh boy, the start of the adventure! I’ve read this chapter so many times it actually bores me, in both the old version and the revision. Still, I like how I revised it from the original. For now, here’s some notes I took or remembered while doing this. They’re pretty rambly, but if you’ve read Unearthed you’ll be used to me doing that anyway! I’m aware I’m more excited about these notes than others but it’s nice putting them out there.

Minor spoilers ahead!

This chapter was stuck in my drafts upon its initial writing years ago because I struggle so much with titles I couldn’t even think of the proper name for Unearthed. And to think I wanna give them chapter names now. Ha! We’ll see.

For some reason the talk of the stakeout business at the start of the chapter really messed with my sense of timing in this fic. It still does, actually, and I have a written timeline because of it.) I’ll probably share that in a future post once I neaten it up a bit.) Though the entirety of Unearthed takes place over the course of only a few days, I like making timelines for multi-chapter fics.

Ben's stimming when he’s anxious (clawing at his arms, pulling his hair and clothes) is a reference to what I do, or rather did, when I was majorly struggling with my health. It's not stated in the fic itself but my version of Ben is often based on myself via projecting, including my autism and ADHD. I’m the author I say what disorders my protagonist has! (/lh)

Even in the first chapter, Rook’s improvement between versions is practically tangible.  In the Old fic, he brushed Ben off because he was impatient and didn't really take Ben seriously. Here, he does acknowledge and validate Ben’s concerns, but only denies them because he believes that they're still unlikely. As a result, he insists Ben gets sleep for his own wellbeing and not to get rid of him.

“The human curled around his spare pillow and clutched it for some sort of comfort, a life raft in the raging black ocean of his furiously beating heart." Theatre/musical kids might recognize some of this line. It’s a reference to the song Lifeboat from the Heather’s musical (TW for that song) thanks to my working on that musical in school, around the time I wrote this fic. This song got stuck in my head SO much during revisions lol.

"...And, fortunately, he didn’t find himself trying to hero in his sleep again…" This is a simple callback to an OS episode, Midnight Madness!

"...His eyes scanned the various squares of paper from top to bottom–dancing groups, physical therapy, an advert for a lost Galvan Organization table, a single card from a trading card game..." This line about the trading card is a small, admittedly silly reference to the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX abridged series by ShadyVox. These abridged YGO series shaped my sense of humor growing up more than I’d like to admit.

"He could recognize it as something he had unfortunately felt nearly every day since he was ten years old. It was fear." This line was more for the emotional impact overall, but is a sight reference to the game OFF. The line it’s referencing goes, “He has your eyes... They are full of fear.”

For the first couple chapters I plan on posting their BTS Notes today and editing the AO3 chapters themselves to include a link to their respective Tumblr post. Anyways, thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far. I hope you can enjoy the rest of the Unearthed Revision as well as the notes I leave behind.

[chim3ras]

I first want to thank you MaRo for reaching out like this, I understand you can’t read all the responses and probably won’t read mine but it feels nice to have a direction to politely speak my mind.

I first started playing magic seven years ago when my friend got some cards and started playing with kids on the playground at recess. (We were ten). The following weekend., I went and got a bulk box from my lgs and built my first ever deck, it sucked. But we all sucked, we didn’t even know the rules. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I view Universes Beyond from three lenses. As a commander player, as a regular drafter, and as a kid who loves his kitchen table dinosaur deck that none of my friends could ever beat.

When it comes to commander, Universes Beyond is one of the greatest things to happen, so far. I have an obsessive love for D&D and have never touched any other UB property outside of magic. My second favourite commander of all time is the sixth doctor and I’ve got multiple brews of him and other companions despite never hearing about doctor who before it was announced for UB. While I’m not fond of the secret layer cards, mostly because I prefer the standard card frame I most cases, I’ve loved playing against them because my opponents are having fun. I’m a little sceptical of how in place spider-man would look on a card, I’m holding my judgement and can’t wait to see the mechanics you guys make.

From a drafters lens, I’m a fair bit less enthusiastic. I find the release time between sets is to small to get my fill. I missed most of bloomburow because I had one month of summer stuff to do. I just want to play more games with each set as they’re all so cool. I’m also worried about the price of UB sets for draft sizes. The topic of price is an unfortunate thing that comes up with UB as apart from it, my lgs would have been able to run 3-4 weeks of Lord of the rings draft instead of the two as players couldn’t afford to pay the extra tax for more then a week or two. I fear that if players find they can’t afford to pay a marked up cost, especially with two UB sets back to back, drafts would be smaller and potentially unable to run if we can’t get four to six players. Furthermore LGS’s would have to consider running other sets, but which ones, the in universe set that came before or a different one every week. One gets too stale, the other too confusing. Lord of the Rings is a fun draft environment but it can’t hold up a draft season if players can’t afford it.

Lastly as the kid with the dinosaurs. I’ve only ever gone to one sixty card event seven years ago. It was kids only at the LGS. I think the format was modern but I’m not sure. I had my deck checked as I didn’t know anything about format legality and went to the basement and for the next hour or so, I got beat hard. I played against a guy with Eldrazi, which I had never heard of and they were bigger than my dinosaurs. He ramped faster than me and dropped an Emrakul to take my turn and run my board into his. The other set I remember playing was some elves/infect that killed me before I played a dinosaur. I got a dinosaur down game two but still lost. I left that event confused (I didn’t realize my friends were, like me, beginners who sucked) but enamoured with the idea that the best deck I could make still folded easily to other players my own age. With weird mechanics and a type of creature I’d never even fathomed before. There is a reason Naya is my favourite colour combo and why I nearly cried when I saw that we were getting another Ixalan. What I found in magic was magic, it didn’t need anything else, it stood unparalleled on its own. I know it doesn’t make much sense but I will always remember those games. The dark mysterious look of that infect elf. The horror of turning around this guys card and seeing that this Emrakul nightmare creature literally took over my turn, controlled me as a player. The drive, when I got home to find new cards to make these dinosaurs even more fearsome. I was in magic, not anywhere else.

Look maybe it’s nostalgia or the eyes of a child but that day is what kept me here all this time but I don’t think, if my brain had seen a cool character from some other game or book and looked that up when it got home, I would be typing this right now.

My friends from back then haven’t played since the pandemic. I’ve met new friends and have be gotten one interested when he saw the Dogmeat commander deck. I’ve taught all kinds of kids to play magic while working at a summer camp. As I am now I think Universes Beyond is great for Magic but I’m scared that the over abundance of UB coming down the pipeline will hide away more and more of the creativity and beauty in this world.

I remember a saying along the lines of, “if you have a jar of wine and dump a cup of sewage into it, you have a jar of sewage.” In no way is UB sewage but more like a flavour add on. A little bit enhances, a lot changes and a split is absurd.

Thank you to anyone for reading this and for being a part of this game and community, that has kept me company for what is closing in on half of my life.

I’ve always felt the core role of this blog has been one of information. We make a lot of choices in design, and I try to use my various communications, including Blogatog, to walk the players through what we were thinking when we made key decisions.

The challenge with this approach is that it’s very logic-focused. It uses intellectual justifications to explain actions. But the problems I’m often responding to are emotional in origin. I have a good friend who’s a psychologist. He refers to this (using the words of author Robyn Gobbel) as an owl brain solution to a watchdog brain problem.

When someone is hurting, hearing about why the thing that is causing them pain is the result of intellectual decisions falls flat. That’s what has been causing some tension lately here on Blogatog.

It’s clear that for some Question Marks changes over the last few years represent the loss of something key to what makes Magic special to them. To them, the game is losing its heart.

While I can’t necessarily do anything about that, I want to better understand what you’re going through. So I’m using this post to ask players who are concerned with the recent changes to help me understand their feelings. Let me hear your stories about how your lives have been affected by these changes.

[gaspdotcom]

c'mon now!

GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED!    

Manchester United have been so bad the whole season, we barely scraped through to the fa cup final butttt we managed to win this whole thing. The worst Manchester United team in history and we still win a trophy. Insane. Obviously it would be too classy of me to say I knew we would win after we did in fact win but honestly guys, I just had a feeling we would. I nearly shat myself after Doku scored.

Kobbie Mainoo really is the guy isn't he, just class all through. such an outstanding young man. Hope he has good people around him and is able to keep developing and becoming an even better player. Garnacho as well, we have such a promising future ahead of us. My skipper! I love Bruno so much, I love how he loves the club and honestly I just might go to war for him. He is such an amazing leader and I hope he is able to have the most successful career with the club he has given so much, although he earns millions in return. That is actually insane to think about, maybe that should be used to motivate some of these lazy players into showing more heart on the Pitch. (award for the most obvious groundbreaking idea)

Imagine how lucky you are as a footballer to get to play a game for a living, you competed all through your academy and manage to be chosen out of the lot, you progress through the ranks and end up playing for THE Manchester United and you want to be lazy and earn 100k a week?? what a greedy criminal. There are literally grown men on love island still calling themselves footballers just holding on to a dream that never took off and you lot are being funny, Let's be serious guys, 4% of your salary could change my life. Honestly, it could. hmu.

Anyway, I was wayy too happy, we beat City. Manchester is red, the FA Cup is red. Next season were coming for everyone. I said it here first. Also, big up Ten Hag. Listen for all our worries he has delivered trophies. Last year we cried top 4 and went out in the Group stages, I was honestly glad we were not in Europe but I will take the Europa League.

[casspurrjoybell-27]

In a Heartbeat - Chapter 1 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

Simon

I was standing outside my childhood home, a home I hadn't been near in nearly a decade.

My entire family and top pack Betas standing around me.

To my right, as expected, stood the Alpha, my mate, glaring at my family and myself.

My heart ached, I was having that dream again, more like a nightmare, really.

It was like no matter how hard I tried to scream and fight to wake myself up, the events that happened would replay vividly.

It always felt so real, as if I had been sucked back to my siteenth year, watching the murder and rejection happen all over again.

Except for this time, the events would happen slower, as if in slow motion, as I was hopeless to watch agonizingly as I couldn't do anything to change anything.

It was a memory, a terrible memory that couldn't be erased, no matter how much I tried.

The Alpha, Vince, stood in all his glory, as I had remembered.

He was twenty at the time but had already taken over his father's position, not even a year before.

He was cocky, arrogant and most people disliked his attitude but who could really blame him.

His father, the respected Alpha had perished during a routine morning run exercise and his mother was mourning the loss of her mate.

Vince had barely been eighteen when he took over, barely old enough to comprehend any of his father's duties.

He stood alongside his brother, Xavier and his childhood friends, Lucas, Craig and his cousin Dwaine, all of whom were training to be Betas.

All of them were intimidating, they had to be as future leaders of the pack.

They looked as frightening as ever, glaring at me with a hatred I've never seen before and I looked at my family.

All of them standing in our front yard, a mixture of confusion and fear on each of their faces.

Time seemed to slow almost to a stop, as I looked at every single person.

To Marcus, who recently turned fourteen, who loved to argue with me about silly little things.

He was still wearing his PJs and his hair was a mess, as he loved to sleep in and play video games on Saturday.

Mom had hated how lazy he was but he always made sure to include Austin in any video game.

To Austin, at ten, was pretty mature for his age.

He'd often help me watch the younger siblings, offering to fold laundry and take out the trash because he wanted to be as strong as our dad.

He and Marcus were like two peas in a pod, following each other around.

Out of the two of them, Austin was easily smarter, a bookworm by heart but didn't mind attempting to beat Marcus at his games and then there was Paige, the middle child between Marcus and Austin.

Paige adored our mom and loved to bake cookies and cakes with her.

Despite barely reaching the kitchen counter, she would be able to memorize recipes faster than her multiplication table.

She always hated being the middle child, wanting to grow up and catch up with the rest of her older siblings.

I looked to Monica who was clutching onto my older sister, Nicole's pants.

She was five, wearing her favorite dress Nicole had bought her last year.

She held onto her teddy bear to her chest, hiding her face in Nicole's pants.

She didn't like how scary the Betas were glaring at them.

I wanted to reach down and hug her.

Tell her everything was going to be okay, even though I knew it wasn't.

It was sad to see her like this.

She was confident, proud, even eager to attend her first day at school in a few months.

Here, she was petrified, unsure of what was going on.

I looked at my parents.

Huddled together, with the youngest in their arms, Stephen.

My mother was sobbing, her whole body shaking in fear as she clutched Stephen to her chest.

My father trying unsuccessfully to calm her nerves as he rubbed her back.  

He was glaring at Vince in confusion.

My father had been a loyal Delta, a runner for the hunting party.

The same guilt feeling pooled in my heart.

My father hadn't known.

He thought Vince was targeting our family because of him, not because of me.

Only Nicole and my mother had known about Vince being my mate.

None of my siblings had known.

They had no part in this.

The same question my father had was screaming at me too.

'Why.'

From confusion to anger, my father shouted at Vince and the Betas.

He was openly questioning their authority.

It was an offense but understandable.

They were threatening his family, his wife and kids were at stake but as my sister and mother warned, Vince saw no mercy.

Once his father died, he was angry, out for blood and vengeance.

His mother was dying from the loss of her mate, it was only fair Vince was angry but no one had expected this.

Instead of a simple rejection, Vince was out for blood and I had caused it and instead of painting him as an Alpha with a male mate, he pinned the murder of his father on my father.

'Treason,' he had called it and his solution, 'death' and like clockwork, the tears fell like waterfalls.

I looked at my sister, Nicole.

The first person I confided in about Vince.

The first person I could trust with my life.

We had kept it a secret for months, avoiding Vince.

She had her own secret mate as well, a Beta, who was a few days from being sixteen.

We had kept each other's secrets, hoping that her mate would accept her first before we even attempted to approach Vince.

She was looking at me, trying to reassure me, despite what was going to happen.

'It's okay, Simon,' she had mind linked me. 

'It's not your fault.'

My hands had clenched, knuckles turning white.

I wanted nothing more to say the things I couldn't say, to do the things I couldn't do.

Anything to prevent this from happening.

To wipe the look of hurt, confusion and fear from their faces.

Looking at all my siblings like this hurt.

I couldn't watch this again.

Whatever memory or nightmare this was, I couldn't watch this again.

I stared at my hands, now unclenched.

Staring at it long enough, I could see blood.

Smeared on my hands, coating my arms, clothes, everything.

Their blood, staining my hands.

I closed my eyes, flashes of their bodies on the ground.

Blood staining the grass of our front lawn.

The awful glow of Vince and the Beta's eyes as their bloodlust took over.

The shouts and cries for help flooding my ears.

I stared at my hands again, blood-free.

Clean, unmarred, as if their blood was never there.

'Of course, it's my fault,' I wanted to scream. 

'I had killed them.'

I wanted to punch something, fight something, anything to wipe that look of Vince and the Betas when they attacked them.

I wanted blood.

I wanted my vengeance too.

For each and every one of my siblings, my parents.

They didn't deserve to be murdered.

If anything, it should've been me.

My claws elongated as I stared at my blood-free arms.

I want blood and before I could talk myself out of it, my claws pierced my arms, blood coating them.

My dream had flickered and I no longer was I on the front lawn of my childhood home but inside the bathroom tub of the motel, I had been staying in.

Blood had dripped in rivulets, joining the pink water filling the tub.

No matter how much deeper my claws dug, I couldn't feel a thing.

Despite the heaviness and pain in my heart, it wasn't painful.

It was frustrating really.

All I wanted was to take away their pain, erase the suffering they endured but nothing I did, all the blood hadn't done a thing.

Only made me sleepy, which didn't make any sense, I was already asleep but the drowsiness soon consumed me, so I rested my head on the side of the tub, letting the soothing sound of running water lull me back into unconsciousness.

[futuresconnected]

January 1st, 2024: Kiryu Quest Continues

Happy new year everybody! Hope you all enjoyed your Holiday Week!

I had the week off from work, and set a goal for myself to beat Yakuza Kiwami 2. It took me most of the week, even though my final playtime only came in around 32 hours, it somehow felt much longer. Big thoughts up top is that that game is an absolute blast, easily my fave of the series that I've played so far, and I think it does a lot of interesting things with its position as "remake sequel to a remake sequel to a prequel". I want to dig into that a little bit more, so bear with me here.

Now that I've played all three, its interesting to look at how Yakuza 0, Kiwami, and Kiwami 2 essentially form a trilogy that let RGG Studios look back at the story and characters that they built over the years and give the whole thing a new foundation. For me, I think that the clearest way that they accomplish this is with Majima. Goro Majima is a side character and recurring boss from the first couple of games in the series that grew a solid fanbase over time because who doesn't love a fucked up Joker man (I know I do), becoming popular enough to warrant RGG making him one of the protagonists and playable characters in 0. Here the players get a chance to meet Majima before he goes completely Joker-mode and get a better understanding of what kind of person he is beyond his later obsession with Kiryu and general mob boss-ness. His relationship with Makoto, a woman that the whole plot of 0 essentially hinges on, was something that I felt was really compelling, and his internal conflict between getting back into the Yakuza (killing Makoto) and helping this woman escape her situation and find a good life was something that had me holding my breath the whole time.

I bring this aspect up specifically, because the fact that RGG took the prequel story they made and built a ton of new connections to that into their remade first and second game stories is something pretty unique in the world of video games. Kiwami 2 is full of payoffs for this, from the very fun reprise of the cabaret club management game in Sotenbori and appearances from old Majima substory characters, to my personal favorite scene in the game where Majima reconnects with Makoto and both of them are able to get some closure on the mess they went through 20 years prior. These games usually don't get me too bad, but I was crying that whole time!

All that being said, this game was also intensely silly in ways that I loved, so here's a collection of good screenshots from times where Kiryu voice acted in a Yaoi game, runs into an impostor, and struggles to put together coherent sentences when various hot girls are on screen:

That's the Yakuza Update, I have also installed Yakuza 3 and played a couple hours of that, seeing Kiryu in full tropical dad mode is lovely, though I know that sadly will not last. Another exciting thing that happened this week is that I got the opportunity to help a friend of mine learn how to play Path of Exile!

For those who don't know, Path of Exile is a Diablo-style isometric loot-based RPG that was made for absolute freaks when it comes to character progression, player economy simulation, and pure visual clutter and chaos. It's by all accounts an insane game that you need to be a little insane to enjoy. I also have nearly 1000 hours of game time over the ten years its been out. When my friend Wes told me that he was going to play through at least the first five acts due to some end-of-year fantasy draft obligations, I offered my services as a guide and with a couple hours of instructive gameplay and conversation we managed to get his character build up and running, much to his delight. PoE is a game that is incredible easy to bounce off of if you don't know how the game is "supposed" to be played, or how to make a character that works, but I think at this point I've got him on the hook for at least a full Act 1-10 playthrough, and maybe a touch beyond that. I've never had the chance to play this game with a friend before, its been a lot of fun so far! And seeing someone experience the pure dopamine joys of filling the screen with bullshit that kills hordes of monster while zipping around at high speed has been a true joy.

That's all for me, I'll probably take a brief break from Yakuza Quest so as not to burn myself out, hopefully I'll get to play a good chunk more of Path of Exile, and the end of this month begins the 8 week Gamepocalypse of Yakuza 8, Persona 3 Reload, FF7 Reunion, and a bunch of other stuff I'm certainly forgetting. See you later!

[jackalopesao3]

when you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy! then, send to your last ten people in your notifs (anonymously). you never know who might benefit from spending positivity :)

Oh gosh, thank you!

1. My pets

2. My loved ones (fam and friends)

3. Helping others (I know that sounds cliche but it’s literally a big part of my career and I spend a lot of my free time doing it too.)

4. Gaming!

5. How far I’ve come!

I overcame severe depression, anxiety, and CPTSD with extreme paranoia. It was bad. I’ve had a lot of trauma in my life and it changed who I was. Things were dark and nearly hopeless at times but I finally clawed my way out of rock bottom.

I have been symptom free for well over a year now, maybe two or three? It took a very, very long time and I had to learn to love myself. But I just feel so happy and proud I beat over twenty years of struggling. (I still have ADHD but that’s with me for life and that’s okay it makes me who I am and I wouldn’t change that!)

I went from going to sleep hoping I wouldn’t wake up to looking forward to everyday. Any day is a good day as long as the people I care about and yours truly are here!

Didn’t mean for this to turn into my life story but I wanted to get this out there for anyone struggling. You are not alone. You will get through this. Keep going. I’m here if you ever need to talk.

I’m a huge mental health advocate and am very open about my own struggles! By doing so, I hope to reduce the stigma around mental illness and being neurodivergent.

Sending you all love and good vibes!

[cassothepoet]

Father of child

When I was four, my father had brought my immediate family over to America. We were staying at the house of my grandparents that really wasn’t my grandparents, while we looked for a place to stay. I had been attacked and mauled by a stray dog that nearly tore my left ear off, and chewed up the left side of my face. My bottom left lip was ripped and split apart, stretching almost to my hanging ear, making me look like I was half of joker. I was rushed to the hospital covered in blood with no medical and my mother came in crying with my favorite foods and snacks in efforts to cheer me up, yet she couldn’t bring herself to a smile. To this day I still have the scar on my lower lip that never did heal correctly.

When I was five, my father would take me everywhere. He would often scold me for leaning on the glass in jewelry shops, or jumping in puddles. We would go to many vendors and stores, and he’d always bargain for the cheaper prices.

When I was seven, my father bought me a pair of white sketchers that light up because I begged him for it. I wore them to school the next day and got them dirty, and out of fear from his anger I rushed home before he did. I took a brush and some soap and proceeded to wash them the same way I watched my mother hand wash everything, and as an extra step I soaked the shoes in water. Of course I could only do the best, my tiny little hands could do. My father came home to my shoes hanging with a puddle underneath it, and stormed into the room and beat my older brother for his irresponsibility of being my keeper. My brother resented me for years because of that, but that made him more attentive to my well-being . That day, the lights had died out.

When I was ten, my father found me lying on my bed ten minutes after school had started. I lied to him and told him I was sick, because all I wanted to do was stay home and play games on my PlayStation all day. He didn’t come and sit on my bedside to feel my forehead for a fever, nor did he ask for symptoms. It was almost like as if he didn’t know what to do, but he just took my word for it and left. I overheard him talking to my mother on the phone telling her that I was sick, and asking what he should do. From his responses it sounded like my mother just gave up and let me get away with my blatant lie. when she came home from work my mother had an obvious frustration towards me because I was miraculously feeling much better. she was holding a grocery bag with ingredients to my favorite dinner, but for some reason she didn’t use using any of them at all that night.

When I was fifteen, I had overdosed on psychedelics and found myself handcuffed to the frames of my hospital bed, a neck brace, and bruises on my chest from the male nurses trying to hold me down as I fought back in my psychotic state. When I was finally sober, my father walked into my hospital room. He didn’t come and sit on my bedside to check if I was okay, despite having chairs available. Instead he just stood there, close enough to hear him talk softly. He didn’t raise his voice, in fact he didn’t say much at all. He simply examined me for a bit before making eye contact, and out from his mouth he uttered, “I am disappointed.” Then he left. I overheard my father trying to pull words of comfort to my mother as I could hear her uncontrollably sobbing. She had no snacks, no grocery bag, and she couldn’t even bring herself to walk in and see me. Judging from what I hear, i don’t think she had a smile on her either. At that moment I had lost it. I was internally screaming, yelling for my father. “Dad, please come back. can’t you just beat me, I’d rather have you break my arms and legs instead of hearing that from you. Can you just beat me, please.”to this day, I still have the scar on my bottom right lip where my canine tooth had pierced.

A week later of not speaking with my father, he bought me a new phone to replace my broken one because I asked. My father took me everywhere, and had asked me which of the watches looked best in the glass of the jewelry shop. We went to many vendors and stores, and I jumped over the puddles to keep my brand new shoes clean.

A month later I came home to my mother cooking my favorite dinner, we ate and laughed and talked about things and I even asked my dad to buy me a car when I get my license. He agreed. That night, the house felt like a home.

Then a year later my father left. He didn’t explain why, but he said something about being called to his homeland.

I may have been a teenager with a lot more understanding of why things happen, or why they were the way they were, but I was angry at my father and I didn’t know why. The home that I just recently got back had started to fall apart once again, and I could feel the separation between us brothers. We did everything in secret and never really spoke to each other at the house, we never talked about how our day was, or have said good morning or goodnight. I was forced to have no father figure in the house and left to figure things out on my own, but it wasn’t like I ever went to my father for anything anyway.

He was never the type of parent to give me advice before my first date, but be the one who would give me a ride there. He would never speak about how he felt and his emotions, but would often cry at night. He never helped me with my school work, but made sure I was tucked in and sound asleep before school, and he never would tell me how to deal with things, but would show me how to. All I wanted was a father who would raise me like how they did in the movies, with a treehouse and the front lawn covered with the cool toys they’d bought me like a bike and a RC helicopter. Singing songs together during car rides, and having movie nights or going on a family vacation. I didn’t have any of that. Instead I got a family that hardly spoke to each other, and never really ate at the dinner table.

When other kids would ask about my father I’d reply saying that my Dad practically didn’t raise me. Well, at least that’s what I believed.

One day I wanted something to accompany my wrist, a watch. I walked into the jewelry shop, went over to the watch section, and I looked at the ones in display. I found one that caught my eye and I leaned forward to get a closer view, and right before my hand touched the glass, everything in me screamed to whip my hand away, and so I did, Why did I do that? Nobody ever told me that it was a bad thing to touch the glass? And that’s when it hit me, It was my father who showed me. I remembered having my first ever job interview, and the best step in preparation for it wasn’t to get my resume in check, It was to make sure I get a good nights rest. Why did I do that? My father showed me. Whenever I was going through things I’d go through them alone, and I’d always try my best to hide my true emotions because I didn’t want others worrying about me. Why did I do that? My father showed me. When I would go on first dates I didn’t worry much about what I should say or talk about, or where to take her, Instead I made sure that I was there on time. Why did I do that? My father showed me. I often would give people the benefit of the doubt and would even give multiple second chances, but when they’ve let me down, I’d never raise my voice in anger but instead, just simply tell them how I felt. Or when I need to fix something broken, sometimes the best way to repair it is to buy a brand new one. Or when someone of the friend group is going through things and making mistakes left and right, I wouldn’t be upset at that person, instead I’d be angry at everybody else for their lack of comradery. Why did I do all of that? It was because my father had shown me. In times of emergencies, even if you don’t have the time, nor money, nor effort, you must spend what you have and then sacrifice some more because it is your duty to tend to them. Why do I believe that? Because my father had shown me.

For a long time I believed that my Dad wasn’t the one who raised me, I thought he was selfish for never telling me anything but instead he wanted to show that he was strong and dependable. I thought he wasn’t kind because he turned his face away from me in my lowest, but instead he waited for me to draw strength to face him and in return he fixed the things that were broken. I thought he was foolish for believing my lies of being sick, but instead he had that much trust in me and I broke it. I thought my dad never raised me, but he did, with his motions. The day I bought my new watch, I looked at myself in the mirror. I chose the watch I chose because my dad wouldve picked the same thing, and I even got it for the price he would’ve bargained for. As I looked at myself I couldn’t help but notice that I started to resemble him. Not only in physical appearance, but in character as well. Who knew that my dad was trying his best at being the perfect role model, oh you, father, of child.