#like i think they Get Better Eventually but especially if you're an elf and have literally forever and don't Need affection like humans do

[shinraelectricpowercom]

on god one of these days i am GOING to write that dismissive-avoidant-attachment-style!elrond fic that the world Needs

[delicious-in-imagines]

Holm x Elf!reader PLEASE!!! You're one of the only people I've found that writes for him :DDDD

Not to be a total simp for this man, but he's getting bumped to the top of the queue! (I love him so much, it's a shame he doesn't get as much love sob)

Also,,, I may have gotten carried away :)

Holm Kranom

It's going to be a rough start that's for certain. Some actions, though they may be rather inane or unrelated, he'll make jabs at you being an elf. "Unsurprising, for an elf." Might be a rather familiar comment that he makes, especially if you make a comment who might be construed as 'high and mighty'.

However, this will only last for the first little bit, as he starts to grow on you - or rather the other way around. As he starts to get a better feel for you, these comments will start to fall away, and eventually he'll even approach you to apologize for the scathing comments, realizing that his initial expectation and view of you was wrong.

After this, the two of you start to bond even further - especially if he sees you being kind to Marcillier. Feeding her some of your mana, or harvesting monster blood after a battle to give to her. It's a kindness that he doesn't fully expect from anyone in the group - and yet here you are, cooing and laughing at the way the undine moves around you, bumping against you and nudging you after feeding her. It warms his heart to see his 'little droplet' begin to grow close to you, and it earns you some solid brownie points in his book.

He's probably going to be aware of his feelings from the start, though he'll try to wait them out, to see if you potentially are as quick on the draw, feeling out your feelings for him and whether or not the attraction is mutual. Eventually, if you don't step up, and he's at least pretty sure that you feel the same, he'll pull the trigger, so to speak.

After being in the relationship, a cute little detail is that while traveling, if you surprise him with a cute peck on the cheek, he'll freeze up just like he does when things get a little hectic. His brain will have to do a full reset, much to the delight of the rest of the party. His brain will finally catch up, and he'll readjust his hat with a little blush dusting across his cheeks.

Though! Don't think he will let that slide! The next time you're unawares, doing some mundane task, he'll swoop in to give you a smooch. It stokes his ego a little to see how you get flustered and fumble, though he's also going to be flushed from the exchange.

If you're magically minded, the pair of could share and talk about magic, potentially helping both of you to get a better understanding of one another. Gnome magic is less intensive on mana, and elven magic is usually a little stronger because of that, so there's the potentially for both of you to come away from the exchange learning new skills or spells!

Because he stays away from meat during meals, I think that he usually stows away some snacks for when he gets peckish, or needs a pick-me-up for his mana, and I would imagine that if you ever get a little hungry in the mean time between meals, he eagerly shares with you! And he'll even start to make sure he packs some of your favorites along with his own.

[agaypanic]

hii im sorry if you're getting so many requests, but may I request Bernard and an afab he/they human reader? The reader is close friends with Charlie and once loved and adored Christmas but after their mom died they stopped believing altogether, so Charlie takes them to (i thinks its Christmas town??) and Bernard takes up the job personally to reignite the readers belief in Christmas. I hope this makes sense, I'm sorry if it doesn't!

Little Secret (Bernard the Elf X TransMasc!Reader)

Masterlist

Request Something!

Summary: After losing your mom, Charlie notices that you’ve lost all Christmas spirit. Being the son of Santa Claus, he decides to bring you to the North Pole, where you meet the Head Elf.

A/N: could be read as platonic or romantic i think. mentions of death and grief

***

“Charlie, I really don’t want to intrude.” You protested as your best friend and college roommate helped you pack your suitcase. “I’m fine with staying here, I promise.”

“Y/n, there’s no way I’m letting you stay here. You’ll be miserable!” He looked at you, putting a hand on your shoulder. “Besides, no one should be alone during Christmas.”

“It’s just Christmas.” You muttered a bit bitterly. Charlie sighed, pursing his lips at you, but he said nothing.

This was the first Christmas you’d be celebrating without your mother, whom you lost earlier in the year. Christmas had been your favorite time of year, but with her gone, it felt like there was no point in celebrating anymore. You couldn’t wait for the holiday to pass so you could stop dreading it.

Charlie felt inclined to help you change your view on the holiday. He was your friend, and he hated seeing you so miserable, especially during such a happy time of year. But there, of course, was another reason he was so adamant about helping you get through the holiday.

You arrived at Charlie’s mom’s house late that night. She and Neil welcomed you with open arms like they always did, which made you feel a bit better than you had when you left campus. The four of you had dinner together before settling in the living room. Eventually, Laura and Neil went to bed. Feeling tired yourself, you wanted to do the same. But you didn’t want to leave Charlie or be alone in your shared room, so you stayed put, slowly falling asleep on the couch as some movie played in the background.

***

As you slowly woke up, you felt colder than you did when you fell asleep. It felt like someone had put a high-speed fan in front of your face, the cold biting at you no matter how you tried to shield yourself from it.

“Dad, I think they’re waking up.” You heard Charlie’s voice as you slowly opened your eyes. Suddenly, Charlie appeared above you, a dark night sky behind his head. This confused you even more, because you don’t remember falling asleep outside. “Have a good nap, Y/n?”

“Where are we?” You asked groggily, slowly sitting up. The sight of your surroundings almost made you faint. “Charlie, where are we?!”

You were thousands of feet in the air, flying over sea and ice. That explained why you were so cold. But what you didn’t understand was why the man flying whatever you were sitting in was dressed in red and white like he was Santa Claus.

“The North Pole!” Charlie replied with a bright grin.

“What?!”

Suddenly, you slowed down, reaching a vast land covered in snow. You were too scared to look down, but whatever you were sitting in, you were starting to guess it was a sleigh, lowered to the ground and then deep below it. The lower the sleigh went, the warmer you became, which you were thankful for.

As you went further underground, the man driving the sleigh turned to look at you. This must have been some insane, elaborate prank because he truly looked like Santa Claus.

“Hey, Y/n!” He said, and you recognized the voice as Charlie’s father.

“Mr. Calvin?” You said hesitantly, eyes flitting to Charlie, who nodded in confirmation.

“Come on, kid. I told you, you can call me Scott.”

“Or Santa,” Charlie added with a laugh.

The three of you jolted slightly as the sleigh finally touched the ground. As you looked around, you debated whether to jump out of the sleigh and start running, or to curl up in a ball and hope that this was just a dream. Seeing a crowd of kids around the sleigh talking loudly and staring at you made you lean towards the latter.

You were about to ask a million questions, but someone came up to sleigh, looking at Scott.

“Santa, finally, you’re back.” He said, staring at him sternly. He didn’t seem to be much older than you or Charlie. “You’ve only checked the naughty and nice list once; you’re supposed to do it twice. Christmas is in six days.”

“Bernard, Bernard, Bernard.” Scott patted the man’s shoulder. “You worry too much. I can check a list with two billion names on it before Christmas.”

“You brought guests,” Bernard said suddenly, giving a polite nod to Charlie before staring at you. It was clear that you were the odd man out in the sleigh. 

“Yes! Bernard, this is Y/n, Charlie’s roommate.”

Bernard gasped in horror, making you flinch. You wonder what Charlie and his father have been telling these strange people about you to warrant such a reaction.

“You brought a…” Bernard looked around at the rest of the kids in the room. They had started to disperse, but it was clear that some were still listening. He leaned in to whisper something to Scott before pulling back. “Here?!”

“Yes, yes, I did. But don’t worry, because you’re gonna help fix that!”

Incredibly confused by the conversation happening in front of you, you leaned over to Charlie.

“What the hell are they talking about?” You asked. “And what did that guy call me?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Charlie patted your back before getting his dad’s attention. “Dad, I’m gonna show Y/n around the workshop.”

“The what?” Your questioning was ignored as Charlie dragged you out of the sleigh. You quickly glanced back at Scott and Bernard, who was staring at you with a mixed expression, before being yanked out of the room.

***

It took a few hours to wrap your head around what was happening. Apparently, Charlie’s dad was Santa Claus. The Santa Claus, and had been since Charlie was a little kid. All the kids that had flocked around the sleigh when you landed in the North Pole were actually elves, all older than anyone you’ve known by at least five times. And Bernard, who was in charge of the workshop, was the oldest of them all.

You were still half convinced this was some weird dream.

But when you woke up to a knock on the door and realized you were still in the festive bedroom that Charlie had taken you to after the tour he gave you, it was clear that this wasn’t a dream. Weird? Yes. Dream? No.

Groggily, you stumbled out of bed and went to the door. You had no idea what time it was, but you were mentally cursing this mystery person for waking you up.

“Hi.” Bernard was standing in front of you, looking a tad bit impatient.

“Hi…?” You replied, wondering what he was doing at your door at… well, whatever time it was. “I didn’t order a wake-up call.” You tried to joke, rubbing some of the sleep out of your eyes.

Surprisingly, Bernard let out a little laugh. Well, it wasn’t much of a laugh. He just made a small sound as he exhaled through his nose, but you decided to count it.

“No, Santa did.” It was your turn to do a small laugh that didn’t seem much like a laugh. Already, this conversation seemed absolutely ridiculous. “He charged me with looking after you, showing you around, that kind of thing.”

“Looking after me?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. “No offense, but I’m a big boy; I think I can manage.” 

To be perfectly honest, you were planning to spend however long your stay was locked in your room. Wandering around a place filled with holiday spirit and festive decor didn’t feel very appealing to you.

“I bet you can, but I’m afraid he insisted. Charlie, too.”

You sighed. You didn’t really know what your friend was up to, but you knew you would have a few words with him when you got back to school.

Bernard seemed like he wasn’t going to budge on the matter, so you nodded.

“Fine. Lemme just…” You looked down at your clothes, deeming your loose pajamas a bit unfitting for the below-freezing temperatures of the North Pole. “I gotta change first.”

Without waiting for a response, you shut the door on Bernard. You made quick work of changing your clothes, making sure to layer up as much as you could without restricting your mobility. When you slipped your shoes on and opened the door again, Bernard perked up and smiled.

“So, what do you wanna do?” He asked you as you walked down a long hallway.

“I dunno; what is there to do around here?”

***

Turns out, there was a lot to do at the North Pole. You almost felt bad for the elves because they had to work until Christmas, but they somehow didn’t seem to mind.

You and Bernard started by walking around the town square, where he pointed out every shop and activity, hoping that something would pique your interest. The two of you went through various stores that sold candies, snowglobes, and loads of other Christmas-themed objects. Eventually, you got tired of walking around and were getting a bit chilly, so Bernard took you to what he deemed to be the best hot chocolate shop in all of the North Pole.

“Where are we going?” You asked, holding your giant mug close to your chest as Bernard took you out of the shop, heading out of Christmas town and close to a bundle of trees.

“I know a place.” He answered, sparing you a small glance and smile. “And being Head Elf, it gets to be my little secret.”

After a few minutes of trudging through snow, you found yourself at a small clearing. It was absolutely beautiful. Although you hated the chill of the heavy snow, it made the place look enchanting. Near you, at the edge of the trees, was a bench with an awning, so it was the only thing not covered in white. You could see a good-sized patch of ice on the other side of the clearing. It was probably a pond or small lake that never melted because of the constant below-freezing temperatures.

“I can see why you’d keep a place like this to yourself.” You say to Bernard as the two of you settle on the bench. You stirred your cocoa with the candy cane that came with your drink, sighing in contentment after taking a sip. 

“Yeah, I rarely ever come though.”

“Why?” You asked, glancing at him only to find that he was already looking at you.

“Too busy.” He shrugged. “Sure, December’s always the busiest, but it’s not like the workshop just stops working for the rest of the year.”

You nodded, and you fell into a bit of silence. Just drinking hot cocoa and watching snow fall.

When your mugs were empty and the sky started getting a bit darker, you decided it was time to head back into town.

“Thanks for showing me this place; it’s really nice.” You say as you try to step in the footprints you made on the way in. Something annoying about the winter snow was the way it clung to your shoes, and you’d have to kick against the doorframe to get it all off. “I promise not to tell anyone about your little secret.”

“I think it’s safe to say that it’s our little secret now,” Bernard said, patting your shoulder.

***

The next few days were better than you thought they’d be. You spent a lot of time with Bernard and Charlie, either in the workshop, having hot cocoa and cookies, or going to the clearing in the woods. Somehow, despite being surrounded by elves and Christmas decorations and such, you sort of forgot that Christmas was just around the corner.

Until you woke up on Christmas Eve.

Charlie was the one to wake you up, because Bernard had to do a final checklist on everything before Scott (you refused to call him Santa) took off for the night. You wished his holiday spirit could rub off on you a bit, because you were worried about bringing the mood down with your constant thoughts of loss. But with the elves’ franticness and Charlie’s sunny disposition, it seemed no one really noticed.

Before Scott had to go to the sleigh, you and Charlie said goodbye to him and wished him luck. Then, when Charlie asked you what you wanted to do, you told him you wanted to go for a walk alone. Knowing your feelings regarding the holidays, he nodded and said he’d see you later. Although he brought you to the North Pole to try to help you regain some of the Christmas spirit you had once lost, the last thing he wanted to do was force you into reliving memories that now felt tainted.

You found yourself at the clearing. Your and Bernard’s little secret. You bundled yourself up in a blanket you had grabbed from your room, watching the snowfall.

You were glad that Bernard showed you this place, grateful even. It was the one place here that didn’t make you feel too miserable. The memories attached to this place were filled with Bernard, hot chocolate, and laughs.

“Thought I’d find you here.” You were startled out of your thoughts by Bernard, who walked over to you holding two large steaming cups with candy canes. It had become your usual drink for the last couple of days. 

“I thought you were looking after the workshop.” You said, giving a quick nod of thanks as Bernard handed you your drink and settled beside you. “You know, having to get everything ready for… him and stuff.”

“He just left.” You noticed that Bernard had started trying to refrain from saying ‘Santa’ around you. Maybe because he knew how ridiculous the whole thing felt to you. Or perhaps he knew about your view on the holiday itself. Either way, you were a bit grateful for it. “Thought I’d try to find you.”

“Well, here I am.” You clinked your mug against Bernard’s, and the two of you drank. The hot liquid warmed you from the inside, and you closed your eyes, leaning your head back.

There was a beat of silence before Bernard decided to speak.

“I’m sorry about your mom.” It was quiet, but the last word made your eyes shoot open. You looked at him for a moment.

“Did Charlie tell you?” It was the only reason you could think of. Either him or Scott. Despite all the time you’ve spent with Bernard recently, you had never brought up your mother.

“Kind of.” Bernard tapped the side of his cup, leaning back in his seat and looking at you. “Being Head Elf and all, I check the naughty and nice list before it gets to the big guy. And… I saw what you wanted for Christmas.” You nodded in understanding. 

“I’m a bit surprised I was on the list at all.” You said. “I don’t think I’ve really believed in Christmas or magic or anything since she died. No offense.”

“Everyone’s on the list, no matter what.” Bernard gave you a tightlipped smile. “And none taken. I’ll admit I was a bit... hesitant about you being here at first. I wasn’t sure what a non-believer in the North Pole would do to the magic.” You nodded, now understanding why he acted the way he did when he first met you at the sleigh. “I got you something.”

“What?” You looked at him in surprise.

“I don’t really know where you stand on the holiday right now, but I figured you should at least still have a present.” 

Bernard dug into his pocket and held his hand out, covering the small object with his hand. When you grabbed it, he lifted his hand to reveal a snow globe. The inside was a tiny replica of the clearing you were sitting in now.

“It’s enchanted.” He said, looking at you looking at the globe. “If you shake it, it’ll show you a memory of your mom that you want to see.”

You looked at him suspiciously, but he looked serious. You figured you might as well give it a try. After all, you’ve seen flying reindeer and creatures that were a few hundred years old. You were starting to become a bit more open-minded.

Giving the snow globe a quick shake, you watched as the little white flecks swirled around. When they dispersed, you saw that Bernard had been telling the truth. You remembered this moment; it was one of your favorite memories with your mom. She was making frosting for Christmas cookies, and a younger you sat on the kitchen counter, swinging your legs. You talked about anything you could, and she did nothing but listen. Like she always did. The only times she tried to shut you up was so you could taste the frosting she made.

When the little snowflakes swirled back around and fell to the bottom, the memory had disappeared. You looked up at Bernard, only realizing a few tears cascaded down your cheeks when he lifted his hand to wipe them away.

“I know it’s not exactly what you had wanted, but I hope you like it.”

“I love it.” You insisted, setting your mug and globe next to you on the bench so you could wrap your arms around Bernard. He put down his mug and patted your back comfortingly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” When you separated, you smiled at each other, and you opened your tightly wrapped blanket to put part of it around his shoulders. The two of you huddled together for some more warmth. “So, do you think you’ll come back to the North Pole next year?”

You glanced at the snow globe before leaning your head on Bernard’s shoulder. In turn, he rested his head on yours.

“I’d like that.”

***

Bernard the Elf Taglist: @katerinaval

[yanderes-galore]

Oof, I'm here now! Better later than never, so first request is concept/HCS for Solas from Dragon Age Inquisition, please -🐈

I'm really hoping I don't mess up this character because he's so damn important. But if I do... I apologize as my knowledge on the topic is still not the best. I appreciate feedback since this character is so complex.

Adding "V1" to this since this was written when I'm very new to Dragon Age... also DA4 isn't out, so that may change things.

Spoilers for Dragon Age: Inquisition/Trespasser

Yandere! Solas Concept V1

Pairing: Platonic/Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Deception, Overprotective/Possessive, Isolation, Kidnapping, Solas thinks he's doing the right thing, Somewhat lucid yandere, OOC Solas most likely, Dubious companionship/relationship.

I personally feel, due to his origins, his obsession is more likely to lean platonic.

He is capable of feeling love but he may feel more like a mentor towards his obsession.

After all, he's really an ancient elf that's lived for thousands of years.

He is a man who wants to do whatever he can to help, just like he wanted to do for his people.

Yet his efforts probably isn't always the right thing.

He is a wise being who would first concern himself with watching over you.

Especially if you are an Inquisitor.

Solas does care about his obsession despite what he does, just like in his romance.

He's surprisingly honest, sometimes admitting things you don't quite understand.

His obsession makes him falter in his goals.

At first he isn't sure what to think of that.

His goal is to take down The Veil to restore Ancient Elves to their former glory.

Solas is loyal to his people and would sacrifice anything to achieve his goal.

But he begins to hesitate when he thinks of you.

Maybe he really does just see your bond as mentor and student.

That or he catches himself having genuine feelings for you.

Either way, the obsess he has over you makes him wish he could ignore it.

He cares about you... he knows his goal may end up hurting you in the end.

By the point he really starts to focus in his goal you've both known each other for a few years.

Which is why his decisions hurt him more.

I feel most of Solas' feelings and obsession are bittersweet.

It feels like yet another tragedy between him and his obsession.

He's torn between his goals that he's been focusing on, and you.

He feels you're both victims of fate in this situation.

He's always cared about you... even if things aren't meant to be.

Solas found the missions you did together enjoyable, your chats being a welcome form of entertainment for him.

He feels horrible that he's deceiving you and soon going to betray you in the end.

But when that eventually happens and you two cross paths... he'll find a way to compromise.

I imagine until his plan is fulfilled... Solas does not plan on letting his obsession go.

He's a powerful ancient elf mage who is extremely intelligent.

Solas may outsmart his obsession, he's seen a lot as an ancient elf.

Once you meet him again, years after the events of Inquisition, he has a plan.

He hopes you will forgive him when he constructs a trap for you.

By the time of Trespasser Solas has proven to be very strong with his magic.

The moment he gets you close enough, he embarks on his plan.

You'll stay beside him while he prepares to collapse The Veil...

Somehow he plans to safe you while sacrificing all the rest.

He never liked others around you while in the Inquisition.

He felt in a way they were unworthy, since the start Solas has felt a connection with you.

So... who cares what happens to the rest when he collapses The Veil?

He just cares about you... even though he hates to admit it, he wants you.

If he has to trap you beside him with a spell, so be it.

You may look at him with such betrayal in your eyes... but he tries to soothe you.

He says he's sorry... yet this is how things are meant to be.

He'll keep you beside him for as long as he can.

Even if he fails to save you... he'll never forget you.

Solas is a very tragic yandere... one who seems like he's your friend and companion...

Only to betray you in the end in many ways.

He wants to soothe the pain you feel... all while he keeps you trapped by his side, away from all you know.

You may be a friends... you may be lovers...

Regardless of what you are... you're his... and that's all that matters to him right now.

[sorcerous-caress]

Oooh I made a human Durge priestess of lolth in one of my playthrough ( unhinged I know). Could u do companions reactions to that

I don’t know what why but human priest / priestess of lolth who actually received blessings / favor from her sounds funny as hell

— RED Anon

That concept is so wild anon, bless your Durge.

Like not only they abandoned their father, a whole god of murder, and went to worship Lolth instead. But also them being a human who just subscribed to Lolth's agenda and she found it so hilarious that she granted them a priestess blessings, A PRIESTESS OF LOLTH.

Drow noble women start whole fights just to get this position.

Companions reaction would be something like:

"...why? Just why?" // Gale, Wyll.

They're mostly confused. You were supposed to be a human team and all of that. Gale is especially a hypocrite by mansplaining how Lolth wants humans as slaves for drows as if you're a naive baby who doesn't know better. Wyll is hoping it's a phase, and you'll see the light eventually.

Doesn't care much, you do you // Laezel, Karlach.

Laezel doesn't concern herself with the mythology of Faerun. The only queen she cares about is vlaakith. Karlach has seen much worse in hell, so Lolth seems like a lesser evil in comparison. She knows to judge you on your actions and not who your boss is.

Suspicious of you // Jaheira, Halsin.

They have a very terrible past with Lolth worshippers. Both of them will keep an eye on you and all of that. Maybe even get jumpy or look at you weirdly whenever you're too nice to them. Most elf groves have a strick "kill drow on sight" policy because of the surface raids.

Although since you're a human, they'll mostly think you're just in need of guidance and your misdeeds will be easily forgiven and overlooked because they think you don't know better.

That is so fucking funny but also stay away // Astarion

You know he always thought he'd make such an amazing drow, besides the whole matriarchy and using men as slaves thing. If he looks past it, he really is fascinated by them. Also it's hilarious that you were such a traitor to both your god father and your own race, Ha.

But also don't bite his head off, he knows that Lolth demands high elves as sacrifices for her so don't even think about coming his way.

Fuck you, your goddess is shit // Shadowheart

While Lolth and Shar don't have much beef between each other, their followers definitely do. Their domians overlap a lot, so followers will occasionally migrate from one goddess to the other. Viconia herself used to follow Lolth before and now despises her after Lolth retracted her blessing from Viconia's house and made them fall as a noble house. That's when she found Shar.

I believe she will teach that hatred into Shadowheart.

Minthara

It's complicated. She abandoned Lolth but she is still a paladin who swore and oath to her. And Lolth doesn't seem to have abandoned her just yet.

Lolth sees drows as her property, her toys. She doesn't care for what they personally think or feel. She plays with them and wagers their lives like it's nothing.

Minthara knows the only reason Lolth still grants her power is because she finds it amusing, she is toying with her. Lolth adores chaos and Minthara is a great tool to cause it.

When she meets you, she will think you're another one of Lolth's toys. Either sent to entice her back into the spider queen's embrace and seduce her. Or you're also a victim of her cruelty.

Yet she is curious, you're not a drow, you're a human. That is unheard of. So you fully chose Lolth by your own free will? She honestly doesn't know what to think. She both is annoyed and fascinated by you.

You represent the past life she escaped from, but you also represent the new beginning you granted her by saving her. Deep down she thinks if you stealing her heart is just Lolth stringing you like a puppet.

Also, Lolth can possess any of her priestesses at will, so she can simply come down to have a chat with Minthara through you if she felt like it. And that does put Minthara on edge.

[shadowshrike]

Early morning thoughts because I can't sleep (apologies if they're a mess):

Setting aside the obvious boost that comes from being a classically attractive wicked vampire elf with a beautiful voice, tragic backstory that is executed in a very real way, and entertaining manner of speech, I believe one of the reasons Astarion's stories get such a strong reaction from so many people is because his narrative has several distinct threads beyond the obvious. Each possible path presents different problems and perks with satisfying but contradictory conclusions - a brilliant trick of CYOA writing - and that dissonance is part of what causes so much fandom fighting. We each value different things based on our life experiences or just what we enjoy in a story. It inspires visceral reactions from the player.

Value honesty in your friends, your own safety, and consent above all else? He's probably not going to spend long in your camp without a stake in him.

Value bodily autonomy, absolute freedom of choice, and the ability to speak freely without fear of repercussion? Ascension might make the most sense for you.

Value the emotional healing process, the hope of becoming a better person, and learning to accept and move on from a crappy life rather than doing 'whatever it takes' to get what you deserve? Him staying a spawn is likely the most satisfying choice.

Of course, we all exist on a sliding scale of values, especially when playing with fiction. People who value honesty or consent highly may let him stick around because they hope he can learn to be better. Someone who values absolute bodily autonomy and confident speech may choose to have him remain a spawn because they believe with time and some DnD magic to cure vampirism, he can reclaim those things eventually a healthier way. People who believe in the emotional healing process and becoming a better person might even go for ascension because they believe his ability to walk in the sun and speak his mind bluntly are essential for him to heal rather than be dependent on others in the long run.

This sliding scale is also part of why people fight. Throwing him out or killing him for attacking or biting you is seen as an overreaction from someone who has a higher tolerance for boundary pushing. Ascending him is equated with irrevocably dooming him for those who want to change his view of the world (and himself) for the better and believe ascension will inevitably lead to abuse of his paramour and whatever spawn he creates. And keeping him as a spawn can feel to some like you're like taking away his freedom so completely by refusing what he wants and forcing him back into shadow that you've trapped him in a new, 'nicer' but similarly insidious cycle of abuse with a "savior" figure that he isn't emotionally mature enough to recognize as controlling his life.

It's all very relative, and that's what makes it fun. Players reacting to Astarion's approvals/disapprovals, following a romance vs non-romance narrative, knowledge of 5e lore, and having a strong versus weak relationship with him can all drastically change the experience of his story. And with open endings, it's easy to tidy up any values that might be important to us but underrepresented in Astarion's fate. I think that's actually a huge strength to his story: we don't know if he gets better or worse when he survives to the end and you make that Good or Evil choice. We can guess based on contextual clues, our biases, and in-game lore. But ultimately, you get to choose for yourself whatever future you like best, even if that's him leaving the party.

So for those who can stomach all the paths and enjoy a bit of literary exploration of competing narratives, I highly recommend you try all the different options for Astarion (and the other companions, but especially him) rather than sticking with one. You'll need unique playthroughs for context, but it's so worth it. The writing and acting have phenomenal breadth with tons of subtle shifts that can happen depending on what you choose.

Just please don't harass your fellow players or Larian employees about whatever preferences you have in the end, okay?

[self-loving-vampire]

Been playing a little bit of Guild Wars 2 with the girlfriend (husband joining us shortly as well).

To no one's surprise I am playing a necromancer.

I have a few thoughts about the game but also feel like I haven't seen that much of it yet despite already being level 50. Still haven't done any dungeons or anything.

You level up truly insanely fast in this for some reason. One time I even went from level 41 to 45 all in one single XP drop and I still don't even know what I did to get that.

Some positives:

1- You don't actually have that many buttons to press. In some other MMOs like this (FFXIV being the one I played most recently) you have a whole lot of cooldowns, three-part combos, mobility skills, and just stuff you're supposed to press in a specific order in order to contribute optimally. Here it's pretty simplified to just 10 buttons, half of which come from your equipped weapons and the rest having limited predefined roles.

Consequently, the buttons you do press end up feeling a lot more substantial and distinct. There isn't really an action I have seen so far that feels like strictly filler.

2- You get to make some choices about your character's backstory and motivation during character creation, and these choices seem to come up in quests as well. This is not entirely unusual in single-player RPGs but the other MMOs I have played tend to avoid that sort of thing entirely. Another rare thing is that some of the story quests also have some branching paths.

3- I really like that it's not a subscription-based game, and even seems to have a very solid free to play version. I still think the lack of a mount during that is rather evil but still way better than subscriptions.

4- You seem to have a decent amount of options for customizing your playstyle, with multiple talent lines to pursue, different weapon types giving you very different skills rather than just having different stats, and eventually also things like specializations.

This is especially nice relative to FFXIV's complete lack of anything remotely similar, with all characters of a class always having all of the abilities for said class (as long as they did their quests). According to a friend the logic there was that people would become toxic over other players having sub-optimal builds and mandating them to use only the most effective skills, which is 100% something that happens but this is still a trade-off I don't really like.

5- I like how a few of the zones are in active war, with NPC armies invading towns and attempting to capture them while players gather together to defend them.

6- My flesh golem turns into a fucked up zombie shark when I go underwater.

The negatives:

1- The game's presentation and world so far seem pretty much just "okay" in my opinion. It's not generic (haven't even seen an elf or anything yet), but it's also not particularly inspiring to me so far. Maybe when we get to see those elder dragons things are going to pick up? Zhaitan definitely looks like an awesome villain for a game to have but simply hasn't arrived yet.

2- Similarly, a lot of the zones are large enough and include so many different sub-zones that so far they haven't quite managed to have the most coherent central identity the way zones in games like WoW or OSRS do. This isn't all that bad but still affects the way I think about them. Maybe this also gets better once I get further away from the "green hills and forests"-type starting areas (although I feel like I have seen like three or four areas with that aesthetic already).

3- The materials gathering for crafting seems to be somewhat unbalanced. You level up so fast and get sent to new zones so quickly that you soon begin stockpiling crafting materials that you don't have the skill to use because the first tier of them seems to last all the way to maybe rank 75? It's as if the game used to have a slower pace that was more in line with that but now you just zoom past the stage where you're collecting tier 1 materials before you gather enough to move up to start using tier 2 materials.

That would also explain why I haven't crafted anything worth using so far. I'm getting significantly better stuff just from questing as I level.

[tealfling]

1) Amaranth Purpleheart (she/her), (currently) Tiefling (born: Half/Elf), Cleric of the Raven Queen, Chaotic Good

Background: Amaranth has a Noble background by birth. She was born to a human father and an Elven mother that ran a huge merchant empire outside the Gate. As her father's first child, she was the apple of his eye, her mother had 3 older adult children from previous relationships, and was pregnant at the time of Amaranth's disappearance and presumed death. It's Amaranth's father that couldn't handle the death of his child and squandered his human life looking for a way to bring her back. He eventually found someone capable of Reincarnation and had a lock of her hair, and thus Amaranth the tiefling came to be. She's deeply bothered by the parallels between her death and Isobel's and is hugely thankful her father wasn't a dick like Ketheric.

2) Amaranth was in Rivington working in the service of a family that was preparing for the death of their father when she was taken by the Nautiloid. She worried about them constantly until she got to the city to explain things, she feels horrible for abandoning them, and like she's failed them, but is so thankful the kept her stuff. She can't wait to show the group her bag of Memento Mori. A vampire boyfriend and a necromancy book wrapped in human skin is not even on the list of strangest undead things in her collection.

3) She romanced Astarion. It's all fun and games until the player gets played. Especially when they're both too stupid to see it. She immediately saw through his lines, however she mental gymnastics their train of "got to get the other person to trust me" until they were getting a green gown. She also really likes his sense of humor and thinks his bratty side is kind of cute. She doesn't drink tea, but they both spill it, server it hot and fresh as they gossip about everyone. The both like to read, and sew. At first, of course he hated how she had to stop and help every gods forsaken soul that asked for it and she didn't like his selfish overly violent ways. The arguing gave way to bantering, and clap backs and eventfully turned into the "you want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid game." And considering how all the others kept propositioning her at camp, Astarion was the safer choice, right? He didn't actually have feelings for her, so there was no risk in breaking his heart like there was with the others. She liked him enough, so it'd be better to break one heart instead of two, right?

4) Camp bestie? Karlach. Hands down. We're talking instant friends. No relationship building here. Immediate Ride or Die. If Amaranth isn't with Astarion, she's with Karlach. Probably causing trouble. Oh, yeah they're workshopping a nickname: Chaos Tieflings, Tiefling Trouble, Demonic Duo, Fiendships. For someone so eager to name things, they can't seem to get Wyll on board with this one. (That's why he's not invited). The only hiccup in their relationship was the night Karlach thought she wanted something more. Amaranth hadn't been expecting that, and it flustered her in a way Lae'zel's proposition hadn't. Amaranth came really close to saying yes, like really close just to make Karlach happy, she deserved to have something go her way for once, but Amaranth just couldn't lead Karlach on like that, when she wasn't sure. Not when Karlach's heart was already so broken. Amaranth almost died of embarrassment later when Astarion popped in for their previously agreed upon feeding she had completely forgotten about, and admitted he saw what happened. Speaking of hearts, Amaranth takes every opportunity to get Karlach to Dammon's forge.

Amaranth: "Kar~lach, let's go flirt with Dammon. Let's go flirt with Dammon. Come on, he's so dreamy. And almost as hot as you. Com'on. He want's to fix you're heart, that's so fucking romantic, please, let's go flirt with Dammon. My gold is burning a hole in my pocket faster than your heart is your chest. Please." Karlach: ugh, I don't know solider, he probably doesn't see me that way. Astarion make her stop. Astarion: Oh, no Darling. I'm completely on board. Let's go flirt with Dammon.

5) Admittedly I haven't finished a playthrough (I'm so close too), but so far everyone has lived (The Doctor would be proud).

6) She plans on continuing to Adventure, hopefully staying with Astarion, because her goal is to cure his vampirism, which she'll be able to do when she can cast True Res. In the mean time, she'll hunt down something that allows him to walk in the sunlight, even if she has to hunt down her mother to do it.

7) Amaranth's father's human life, though longer than it should have been, ended long ago. Though technically, she knows her elven mother and siblings still live, she doesn't consider them family in a close sense since her mother didn't want anything to do with her after her resurrection as a tiefling.

8) [whispering so Astarion doesn't hear] Destroy Undead.

[adleryoung]

"This here plan is gettin too dang convoluted!" Burnside protested, brandishing her machete. "Just send me out to stab somebody. It'll be simple. I can just go out, gut everyone who gets in my way, save the dumb baker femme that you ain't never even laid eyes on nor spoken to so it's a wonder you care about her at all, an drag Didelphis back here for judgement. I'll get it all done in one night. There ain't a lowfolk born that can get the drop on me. The Ixies can bet on it."

"I don't like it," I objected.

"If you're so doggone worried about bein' Seelie, just remember it ain't Unseelie to stab somebody if he deserves it."

"No stabbing!" I insisted.

"Fine, I can slash instead."

"That's a bad idea," I persisted, "for the same reason that nailing headless torsos to trees is a bad idea. It may inspire fear but it also draws attention and will cause mass outrage that will spread and bring all the lowfolk on this island right to these woods, with torches and pitchforks. If it turns out this situation requires assassination, and I really hope it doesn't, it would have to be done cleanly, precisely, and secretly so it cannot be traced back to me or my coven. I do not want my organization associated with sloppy and wasteful mass murder!"

"You sounded almost like Ash for a second there," Burnside grinned as she lowered her machete. "All right, I can wait."

I scowled at Burnside for a moment, then directed my attention to the witches.

"All right, all right," I called. "If everyone could please focus and answer my question: Is Didelphis worth saving?"

"Um, no way," Gretchen declared. "She's trying to get us all killed. She's proven herself to be a mean and selfish old hag that doesn't care about any of us. Throw her under the ant-coach, I say."

"She was a pretty crappy coven leader," Petunia added. "She promised us dark power beyond our wildest dreams, but every meeting we would spend a few minutes looking at the same grimoire, and the rest of the night listening to her rant about baking and how much she hated Oonagh. Letting her get burned by an angry mob is probably karma or something. Nothing of value would be lost."

"I don't really like the idea of anyone being killed," Chloe shrugged, "but saving her would only give her another chance to betray us again."

"I'm disappointed with all of you," Rebecca scowled. "Didelphis must be saved."

"What? Why?" the other witches asked in chorus.

"Didelphis represents what all of us could end up being," Rebecca explained. "Especially me. She was a social outcast who spent so much time wallowing in her darker aspects that she eventually believed that was all there was to her. Think about it! She's actually proud of the fact that she's a hideous, mad crone. If I hadn't met Lord Randall, that's exactly what I would have become. I was on that path, but now I'm on a different one and I can hardly wait to share with you what I've learned. If we all get a chance at a happier life, then Didelphis should too. I volunteer to pose as Didelphis like our lord said. I know her better than the rest of you, because I always arrived for coven meetings early, and stayed late to help her around the house and maybe get more pointers on being a witch. I think I can imitate her mannerisms convincingly enough."

That wasn't good. I didn't want to risk my organization's most valuable member (next to Vernier of course) but it would be a mistake to blurt that out in front of the other witches. Plus, I was 99 percent sure Rebecca was an elf, so telling untruths would be a problem for her. It could damage her emerging magickal ability.

I was just about to say something, when an Ixie buzzed up to me and gave a salute.

"Sire, I have more information. There is in fact a ring-leader whipping the rabbit mob into a frenzy. They call him Parson. As best we can tell, he careth not if Didelphis's story is true. He seemeth to be doing this merely to strengthen his influence in the rabbit village. We have also learned that there will be a jury for the trial. Oonagh is popular enough in the town, they were willing to give her that much. If the rest of the coven cannot be found in two days time, then the trial commenceth without them."

Pretty suspenseful, eh? This seems like a good place to pause. I need to take a short break to moisten my throat. In the meantime, why not be like the Ixies and place bets on the coming sequence of events. How do you think I handled this situation? Did Didelphis survive? Did Oonagh?

Discuss among yourselves while I hunt down a decent bottle of wine.

[novelmonger]

imaginary brother idea

This is a story idea I'd love to turn into a visual novel someday, and I hope to work in collaboration with my sister to make that happen eventually (she would do the programming and artwork, I would do the writing and maybe help with finding music/sound effects).

I don't have a solid grasp of the plot yet, just a basic premise. The main character is a ten-year-old boy named David who lives with his mom, who has to work long hours to support them. David is something of a loner and doesn't really have any friends, but he does have an older brother named Jonathan, who is fourteen and David's best friend. Jonathan is basically the ideal older brother - he's smart, fun, cool, always seems to know what to do or what to say, and never complains about having to spend time with his kid brother. He genuinely likes hanging out with David, and David looks up to him so much.

There's just one catch: Jonathan is imaginary.

Excerpt below the cut (from a thing I wrote in a burst of inspiration before we got the idea to make this a visual novel).

“What are you talking about?” Jonathan got to his feet and headed for the door. “You have to have supper.”

“No. I'm fat enough already.”

Complete silence fell over the room. Jonathan stood frozen, his hand on the doorknob. Slowly, he turned back to face David. His expression was inscrutable in the dim light. “What did you say?”

David felt tears welling up, burning at the backs of his eyes, and he quickly rolled over to face the wall again. “You heard me,” he whispered.

“Who told you that?” Jonathan's voice was hard. “David, who said that to you?”

David shrugged. “Nobody has to say. Isn't it obvious already? I'm just a...a fat...l-lazy...pathetic....”

The mattress sagged with Jonathan's weight again. This time, he sat right next to the pillow, and David wondered if he could see the tears beginning to leak out again. He wondered if he was going to give him another hug, or rub his back like Mom probably would in such a situation.

To his surprise, Jonathan did neither. Instead, he grabbed David's chin and turned his head a little roughly to face him. “Hey—listen to me, dude. Don't let anybody get away with talking to you like that. Especially not yourself. Hear me?”

David wrenched out of Jonathan's grip, turning his head away again in shame. “Easy for you to say,” he muttered. “You're strong...fast...good at everything.... You don't get picked on every day. You don't...prove how...how uncool you are...every d-day....”

Jonathan snorted. “So just because I don't have to try as hard, that means I'm better than you? Sheesh, you've got a lot to learn about this life if you think that's how it works.”

David peeked over his shoulder at Jonathan, too confused for the moment to continue feeling sorry for himself.

Jonathan was nothing but a silhouette against the orange light streaming in through the window. “So you wanna be cool, huh? Well, why the heck are you listening to those bozos who talk to you like that, then? Why do you want their approval anyway? Sounds to me like all they do is put people down to make themselves feel better. That doesn't sound like a cool person to me. Just sounds like a loser.”

Slowly, David rolled over to a more comfortable position to watch Jonathan's silhouette. “You think so?”

“Hey, I can prove they don't know what they're talking about. Remember Lord of the Rings?”

David nodded. Jonathan had read it to him last year, and then they'd borrowed the movies from the library. He'd watched them over and over until they had to go back. Maybe they should check them out again....

“Okay. Then think about Samwise Gamgee. He's a chubby little Hobbit. A gardener. Not a graceful Elf like Legolas, not a cool sword-wielding warrior like Aragorn. He doesn't have magic like Gandalf. But you know what? If it wasn't for him, the Ring would never have made it to Mordor. Some people say he's the true hero of the story. And did he ever stop to say, 'Oh well, I'm fat, guess I'll give up now'?”

Despite himself, David giggled at the thought. Already, his heart felt lighter. Somehow, Jonathan always seemed able to make anything bearable. He swiped his hand across his eyes again. “So...are you saying that...I'm not fat?”

Jonathan shrugged. “I'm saying, who cares if you're fat or not? Some lame guys at school think you're fat? So what? That's like the oldest insult in the book. Just goes to show you've got more creativity in your little toe than they could ever hope to have.” He could hear a wry smile in Jonathan's voice. “Of all people, I should know that.”

Smiling, David sat up. “Okay. Pot roast?”

With a laugh, Jonathan ruffled his hair. “Sure, pal. Pot roast.”

David beamed. He loved it when Jonathan called him pal. More than anything else Jonathan had said, that was what convinced him: He was cool. He was cool to Jonathan, and that was the only opinion that truly mattered in the end.

WIP ask game

[matan4il]

I'm re-watching 911 for the first time ever in prep 6. I just don't usually do that. So I'm laughing because I just finished the S2 finale and I never realized how annoying Ally was in that scene when they are looking at the loft. And the realtor mistakes them for living together.

But then it brilliantly cut to the influencer with the maggot in her face and everyone on the internet shipping Buddie.

All these seasons later I hope that was on purpose for the show runners. Like don't worry we got you. Especially because they knew by the Christmas episode we were all here and gave us the elf!!

Hi lovely Nonnie!

Awww, congrats on your first rewatch! Be forewarned, it might be the first out of many. XD TBH, I was never into Ali, but considering all of Buck's other romantic partners to date, she's the... I guess the least of all evils? Evils feels like a bit of a strong word. But Abby never respected Buck, starting with the way she violated his right to privacy to get his phone number, Taylor was not a particularly good person and she was incapable of placing Buck (or anyone else for that matter) above her work, so in comparison, Ali ends up looking like the best one.

But the truth is, their start was kind of murky with the whole aspect of her being rescued by him (I wrote a little about that in my Buck & consent meta), then she was mostly absent (kinda had that in common with Taylor, who was also partly absent even while they were practically living together), you're right about her being annoying during that scene with the realtor acting like Buck's loft was more for her than for him ("Let's talk closet space") and of course, I do think the way she wanted to break up exactly while he needed support more than ever wasn't great. Though at least it was honest (*cough* Abby *cough*).

Oh, the influencer was for sure intentional. IDK if they ever meant to follow through on it back then. I do think they very much wanted the Buddie shippers, which is why we got that scene as well as the Elf Lady scene in 210. But at the end of the day, sometimes that's how storytelling works. You throw in something small for fun (or to build up the fan base), and you end up realizing it works better than you thought, and eventually your story takes a turn in that direction. So even if they didn't mean to have Buddie go canon back then, if they will go canon, it will def be because of that as well, because so many of us saw those online comments and knew that 911 hit the nail on the head. So if Buddie do go canon? That moment will have been a part of the build up, even if it's the kind of build up that grew gradually along the way.

Thank you so much for your ask! I hope you're having a great day, hon! xoxox

(If you’re looking for my ask replies, here is my ask tag! xoxox)

[a-lonely-dunedain]

Will you tell me about Ethedis and Corunir? Like when they first met/early parts of their acquaintance? Several people have some AUs where their PCs help him cross the Rammas Deluon to meet up with other Rangers, do you have anything like that? Any thoughts on what they do together post-canon?

my blorbos! of course I will :3

I think I touched briefly on this in another ask, but they meet in pretty much the same way it takes place in the epic line. only difference being that in the initial quests where you're investigating the watching stones Corunir goes with Ethedis on those errands instead of just staying back in Aughaire. he's had enough of waiting around and wants to help in any way he can, even if he can't get close to the lesser stones (and as capable as this elf seems in matters of lore, her survival instinct clearly leaves a lot to be desired. by a ranger's standard, at least). besides, even if he didn't want to go Ethedis probably would have dragged him along anyway lol (insisting he stay further away than necessary from the lesser stones of course). I mean, clearly her new friend is Not Doing So Great emotionally, so what better way to cheer him up than a buddy road trip across Fasach-larran? literally anything else? shhh she's trying her best ok

anyhow, so they fight some Duvárdain and wargs, have some bonding moments, Ethedis' infectious smile achieves the impressive feat of actually improving Corunir's mood somewhat, the start of a beautiful friendship, ect ect...

so as far as getting Corunir across Rammas Deluon goes, I always figured Ethedis would damage the stone heart of one of the Watching Stones allowing Corunir a path through.

y'know the light of the rising dawn skill LMs get? that's kinda like a concentrated laser beam of pure sunlight? I betcha firing a big one of those would damage the dark stone heart alright! of course firing a massive sun laser like that was extremely taxing on Ethedis, and not something she had ever really tried to do at that scale before. she learned the hard way she probably shouldn't try to do it again, lest she burn up from the inside out Fëanor Style™. (ok her spirit isn't *that* powerful or anything, it's just that her body isn't strong enough to channel that much power at once or something. Idk how I want to say LM skills work exactly. am I making any sense? probably not! I just can't have Ethedis firing off laser beams all willy-nilly like she does in game so I gotta put some heavy limitations on it. having it almost kill her seems reasonable! I'm so nice to my character 😊)

Ethedis is still standing but shakier than she expected to be, doing that left her physically hurt in some invisible way, as if it burned her on the inside. she's hiding it well enough for the moment however. it's still not going to be easy to pass Rammas Deluon, for Corunir especially, between the lingering malice of the now lifeless stone and his dark memories of this place the bones of his kinsmen lying before him it still takes all the strength he has left not to bolt in terror. honestly he didn't even expect to make it this far, but he's not alone this time. Ethedis keeps her hand on Corunir's shoulder as they walk through, partially to reassure him, partially to keep herself from falling over.

Now the thing about the watching stones is that it could very well be possible to repair them by simply replacing the damaged heart, and once the Iron Crown realizes that one of the stones has been rendered useless and there's a gap in their most effective line of defense, they're not going to waste any time in filling it back in. Corunir realized this as soon as Ethedis proposed her crazy plan to him, and when she murmurs something along the lines of "I will not I'll be able to do that again..." after blasting the stone heart, he realizes that passing the Rammas will probably be a one-way trip for him (it won't be of course, he'll eventually gain the strength to challenge the stones himself, but at this moment he doesn't see that as a possibility). you'd think that knowledge would make crossing the valley that much harder for him, but surprisingly it's the least of his worries right now. after all, when he agreed to come to Angmar in the first place he knew there was a high chance he wouldn't make it back, they all knew and accepted it. there was a reason no one ever came looking for them. no no, what he was worried about was trying to keep his eyes up and focusing on the horizon. something in the back of his mind was screaming that if he looks anywhere else, to where the bones lay still, he too will join them that's where you belong, isn't it? where you abandoned them? a squeeze of Ethedis' hand on his shoulder breaks him out of his dark reverie, as if she could sense his spirit beginning to falter.

hey wait I was just trying to write a summary here! how'd this turn into an actual attempt at writing? since when do I do that?? false advertising.

anyway yes, they do make it to the other side! exhausted and not unscathed, but they make it. Ethedis finally collapses from the physical strain of the aforementioned laser blast, giving Corunir quite a fright, as for a moment he thinks the stones somehow Got Her. luckily she's still conscious and can assure him that she's ok(-ish) and that destroying the stone heart just took a greater toll on her than she expected. once Corunir carries her a safer distance away from the valley and uses some of his fancy Loremaster Healing Skills™ to help her recover (did I mention I headcannon Corunir as a guardian/loremaster multiclass? lore-guardian? guard-master? idk) they're able to make it the rest of the way to Gabilshathûr and continue the epic line from there.

oh gosh, as for post cannon I haven't really thought all that much about it mostly because thinking too far into Ethedis' future includes Corunir's eventual death. GOSH DANG IT WHY DID I HAVE TO MAKE HER AN ELF ;-; however I did toy around with the idea that they would spend a not-insignificant amount of time in the rebuilt Annuminas (mostly because Evendim was always my favorite region in the game). but even then I don't really see them settling down anywhere. I mean, you know how rangers are, they don't like to stay in one place for too long and Corunir has had enough waiting around to last him a lifetime. and Ethedis is, well, Ethedis. a young elf filled with wanderlust. and with the end of the War of the Ring and the world finally becoming safer, her desire to see ALL of it has increased tenfold. so I'd imagine they're going to spend a long time just traveling around, revisiting old places they didn't get the chance to properly explore (Ethedis is absolutely going to take him on a tour of Rohan. it was so cool and he hardly got to see any of it!). oh yeah and routing out any pockets of Sauron's old lackeys they happen across. that's also important.

ok I got super ramble-y here but I'm hoping that's what you were asking for lol. if even half the things I wrote here made sense I will consider this a victory

[xpao-bearx]

Part 1 HERE

NOTE: OMG I really wasn't expecting for the previous first part of Heavenly Sins to blow up as it did, but I just wanted to give a huuuge THANK YOU to all of you amazing folks!! 🥰🥰🥰 Your support truly means so fooken much to trashy ol' meh and y'all are the reason I am writing this story series in the first place :')

I do have my ideas, but I still don't know much yet of what to do or even how long (or short) this story will get. So, if you would continue to give me your mindblowing support, it would seriously mean the W O R L D.

I do, however, very much enjoy writing Negan in particular so far. He's one of my absolute fave characters ever and JEFFREY DEAN FUCKIN' MORGAN NEED I SAY MOAR?!? 🥵💕💕

But this second part will be focusing a bit more on our beloved sheriff Ricky boi! Of course, Daryl will also get some much deserved love and attention tho I think he will appear in the story a lil later on.

Also, if you ever feel compelled, you are more than welcome to take some inspo from this story and make your own imagines and such! I'd love to see 'em, so please tag me 😁

P.S. There won't always be long ass notes like this, only if I wanna say something or bring up whatever is important. Also, if you wanna be tagged on any new/future story parts, then just tell moi and I will dedicate the latest one to the people who wanted to be tagged!

DEDICATED TO: The wonderful @buttercandy16 💖

"Heavenly Sins"

Part 2

After your little spiel, you haven't spoken to Negan since then. But on the way home after church, you passed by his house and found him tinkering away on his motorcycle (which you previously learned he interestingly named Lucille) in the garage. Not being able to help yourself, you paused in your tracks and just curiously watched him for a while.

His leather jacket was off, revealing a plain white t-shirt. The shirt was quite tight, and you noted how it perfectly hugged the taut muscles of his chest. Your eyes then slowly trailed to his toned arms, adorned by tattoos you wished you had a better look at. He stopped briefly, placing his tools down before grabbing the hem of his shirt and wiping the sweat on his forehead.

You didn't even think twice as your eyes dropped, hyperfocused on his abs. He wasn't the buffest guy out there, but he was lean and fit and--to put it bluntly--hot. A part of you screamed bloody murder to get a grip on yourself, to just turn your stiff body around and proceed on home. But another part completely squashed down those protests without even a fight; as if your pathetic excuse of a resolve wasn't even meant in the first place.

"Take a goddamn picture, darlin'. It'll last longer."

Your head snapped up, meeting the tantalizing hazel stare of Negan. His lips were curled in a smug smirk, and nevermore in your entire life have you wanted to both slap and kiss someone so badly.

But you only clicked your tongue, shooting him a sharp glare before (at last!) turning and walking away as you hid your blush. In the distance, his amused chuckle begrudgingly sounded like the sweetest fucking music to your ears.

♡♡♡

You woke up at 7:05 a.m. like you typically did the next morning, Monday. It was the dawn of a new week, and while most people dreaded it you actually didn't mind it so much. You had your job to thank for that.

Sure, it wasn't always easy, but it was worth it in the end. You loved teaching and spending time with the children, and you were even more ecstatic since you knew Judith was going to be at the daycare.

As you finished eating breakfast and preparing for the day, you grabbed your bag then went out the door. You opted to walk again today, the weather far too beautiful to miss plus the daycare really wasn't that far away.

Eventually arriving at your destination, you approached the daycare building's doors with a little spring in your step. Once inside, a young woman with her blonde hair high in a ponytail smiled and waved.

"Hi, Y/N! Goodmorning!" Beth Greene greeted energetically.

"Morning, Beth." You chuckled, the girl's radiant smile infectious. You've known Beth for some time now, especially since the Greenes were one of the oldest families in Alexandria and they were well respected. But you got along best with Beth, you thought she was the friendliest and she was also the latest hire of the daycare.

Stashing your bag away in your personal locker, you fixed yourself up a bit before getting your nametag and sticking it on your top. Looking up at the wall clock, you read that it was 7:50 a.m. Perfect, just in time for the kids' drop-offs.

You waited outside with Beth and the rest of the daycare workers, until finally the parents started rolling in. It was the usual; some of the children were wailing, snot snivelling down their nose as their embarrassed parents tried to tug them away from clinging onto their legs. You could only offer a sympathetic smile as you tried to help, while other children were much more relaxed and didn't even spare a second glance at their parents as they were dropped off.

"Well, that's about all of them." Beth piped up.

"Wait, we're still waiting for Judith." You said, searching for the toddler. "Rick said she'd be here."

Beth checked her watch, her brows creasing a little in worry. "That's odd. Sheriff Grimes is never late when he's dropping Judith off."

Just as she said that, there was a honk that disrupted the peace. You and Beth both spotted a crying Judith being held by Lori, the woman appearing utterly exhausted before her eyes locked with yours and didn't waste another second dashing towards you.

"Please don't run when you're holding Judith. Also, no honking is allowed on the premises." It was hard for you to keep the malice out of your voice, but you mentally gave yourself a pat on the back since you miraculously managed to not make it sound the worst it could get.

Lori raised a brow at you, but only handed Judith over to you. Judith immediately quieted down when she saw it was you, you cooing gently at her as she giggled and snuggled up comfortably against your chest.

"Rick will be picking her up later." Was all Lori said, pressing a quick peck on Judith's curly little head before parting ways. As Lori rushed back to the car, you saw Shane in the driver's seat shamelessly attack her neck with fervent kisses and you couldn't restrain an eyeroll.

"Fucking bitch..." You grumbled.

"Uh-oh. Bad!" Judith giggled again, clapping her hands gleefully.

"Right, right. Bad. Don't copy me, okay?" You laughed, completely forgetting about your aggravation as you rubbed your nose with Judith's and went inside.

♡♡♡

The rest of the day rolled along splendidly. No one threw a tantrum and for the most part, all the kids properly shared the wide assortment of toys and even did their activities orderly and on time. So, you decided to indulge them with a small yet much sought after reward.

Painting.

When it comes down to children, painting can be utter chaos. But you figured since they were being so good, you'd allow it. At the daycare you worked in, painting was quite a rare occurrence and that only solidified how much the kids adored it.

Once the materials were set out, it was a dizzying flurry of excited hands grabbing anything it could latch on to. As the kids went about doing their creative business, you found Judith all alone sitting in the corner playing around with some blocks.

"Whatcha doin' there, Judi?" You asked, sweetly calling out her nickname. "You don't wanna paint?"

"I wanna, but not with papers." She replied, shaking her head.

"Oh? Then where do you wanna paint?"

"I wanna paint on faces, but no one wants me to!"

"If that's the case, then I'd be more than happy to let you paint my face." You smiled.

"Really?!" Judith's whole face lit up, jumping up and wrapping her tiny arms around you as tightly as she could. "Thank youuu!"

You chuckled, ruffling her hair and watching as she happily gathered some paint and brushes.

♡♡♡

It was finally the end of a long day, and your face felt a bit itchy from the paint Judith put on you. But it didn't matter; as long as the little girl was happy, it was the best damn day ever.

You were holding Judith's hand as you waited outside for Rick to pick her up, and once he came up with his car Judith beamed.

"Daddy!"

"Hello, sweetheart. Did you have a nice day?" His face looked tired, his greying beard making him appear slightly older than he really was, but his smile was genuine as he carried Judith in his strong arms.

"The bestest! Y/N lemme paint her face!"

"She did, huh? What did you pai--oh my god."

You bursted into laughter at his reaction, flashing him a toothy grin. "In the words of Judi: You're a pretty tiger! Grr!"

"Now that you mention it, I can see it." Rick joined in your laughter, nodding his head. "Looks like we've got a talented lil artist in our hands!"

"Daddy, I wanna paint your face next! You can be daddy tiger and Y/N can be mommy!" Judith proclaimed.

You and Rick flushed pink at the same exact time, but Rick was quick to clear his throat and change the topic. "A-Anyways, Y/N, how 'bout me and the kids give you a ride? Thank you for today, by the way."

"No problem, and sure! Thanks so much."

As you settled in the passenger's seat, two hands covered your eyes from behind. "Guess who~?"

"Hmm..." You hummed, making a show of thinking. "Are you an elf?"

"No!" The hands were removed, Carl popping his head out from the backseat to look at you as he laughed. "It's me!"

"Oh, sorry! You're just so short, I thought you were an elf." You teased good naturedly.

Carl huffed, sticking his tongue out at you. "Y'know, in a few years, I'll be way taller than you!"

Once Rick was done buckling Judith into her carseat, he took his place in the driver's seat and drove out of the premises. You just talked about anything that came to mind: work, the weather, Alexandria's local shops, etc. To anyone else, maybe it seemed like regular boring conversation. But speaking with Rick was truly one of the highlights of any of your days. He was extremely easy to talk to, and he never failed to cheer you up. And it was obvious Rick was the same. He was allowed to simply be himself around you; to loosen up, momentarily forget about the stress and sometimes even the woes that came along with being the town's upstanding sheriff.

As you were nearing your home, Carl decided to cut in.

"Y/N, can we stay at your house? It's been a while since we had a sleepover." Carl asked, his baby blue eyes identical to Rick's alight with hope.

It wouldn't be the first time Rick and the kids would be staying over. You were very close to the Grimes family, sometimes even almost considering them as your own. You didn't mind it. Since you lived alone, it can get pretty lonely. And having people around surely brightened up the house and made you keep your sanity.

"I don't mind, but you gotta ask your dad." You chuckled.

Carl turned to Rick, pouting and giving his best puppy dog eyes. Rick rolled his eyes, but couldn't suppress an inkling of a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. But let me drop you and Judith off with Y/N first. I'll be back, I just need to get some extra clothes and essentials."

"YAY!" Carl cheered, Judith following suit as they both raised their arms and hollered.

"You're so whipped for them." You laughed, shaking your head as you looked at Rick.

"I ain't denying that." He sighed dramatically, grinning.

[yourcreepyneighborhoodelftwink]

As the Hero fell upwards through the sands of time, the days rewinding like the gears of a clock, he landed calmly on the cobblestones of Clock Town Square, at the dawn of the first day. He had been through this many times before, and had grown accustomed to reliving the same 3 days, helping the same people with the same schedules, slowly making more and more progress each time. At least he didn't feel an enormous time crunch, even with the threat of the moon hanging above him, he was always able to rewind the days, and could take days to rest, to sleep or ride Epona or play with the inhabitants.

He rarely did, but it was nice that the option was there.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Tatl getting his attention with a soft tinkling sound, looking over at the stand near the Deku flower, and the note pinned to it.

"That's certainly new…" she said cautiously as they approached, Tatl reading aloud to Link.

The pair exchanged a confused and frightened look. It wasn't signed, but they knew exactly who left the note for them.

BEN sat on the edge of the field, their boots hanging over the barrier where the grass turned into sand, looking out at the canyon leading to the beach. It had been so long since they had entered their game, only playing it from the outside. Perhaps they had been showing too much love to Breath of the Wild lately and not enough to the dark masterpiece of their former prison, or perhaps it was the only world they could enter that felt truly real, where the sun was warm and the wind blew. They HAD become a bit spoiled, learning that adding weather effects and random wind blowing did wonders to immersion when they entered a game.

They closed their eyes, speaking up before looking behind them.

"You didn't have to rush over here. "as possible" doesn't mean "instantly", you know…" BEN said gently, lowering their ears with a guilty smile.

Link frowned softly, keeping his distance from the elf. He couldn't draw his sword AND sign, after all, so he would have to make due. "You didn't specify. I've learned better than to provoke you."

BEN couldn't exactly blame his caution. It's why they were here, after all. "My bad. I'll be more specific next time. But I suppose it's neither here nor there now…"

"...is there something you want, BEN? " Link asked, clearly a bit anxious by being asked to meet.

"...a few things. I won't lie and say there isn't a favor I'd like to ask the both of you-"

"Like you have any right to ask Link for anything, at this point!" Tatl quickly interjected, turning red in anger. "You've terrorized us for no good reason, revealed truths we didn't need to know, and then just left us alone one day!"

"-BUT," BEN continued, "that isn't my main reason for being here. First and foremost... You're long overdue for an apology from me."

Link and Tatl looked at each other in confusion. "...pardon? " Link questioned.

"...I've been doing a lot of thinking and self reflecting lately. Especially because I finally have reason to want to improve myself. And I think I've gotten pretty far in trying to right the wrongs of my past, and try to change as a person. But I still never gave the both of you a proper apology, or even an explanation for how I treated you…" BEN sheepishly said.

Link looked down at the seated person, absolutely dumbfounded. All the times he had been attacked by BEN came instantly into his mind, only to not even be able to so much as scratch them in return, even the might of a Goron doing nothing to them. All the times he had been followed and told he was insignificant, worthless, a joke of a hero, told he was nothing more than a bland, boring conduit for the player of a game in a world far grander than his own. Only for BEN to just... Disappear one day. Gone. Vanish into thin air, and only return occasionally, seemingly at their leisure. Something... Didn't add up to him, and he wasn't sure what on Earth made them suddenly stop tormenting him, and now want to make things right.

"...I'll hear you out, at least," Link finally said, stepping forward to sit next to him. If nothing else, were he going to harm Link, BEN would have done it by now.

"Not that it makes us all hunky-dory yet," Tatl offered, settling on Link's shoulder.

BEN smiled softly, letting out a relieved breath. They stayed quiet for a moment, deciding their words carefully. "I'm not... Sure where to start. So much has happened to me. I guess I should start when we first met. When I first entered this game. It was my favorite game, and with me when I died," they started.

Tatl interrupted, jingling softly. "...when you died?"

BEN nodded softly. "When I died. I was just about your age, Link, about 12. More specifically, when I was murdered. Father simply... Got tired of me, I suppose. He tricked my religion's leader- we refer to him as The Father- into thinking it was my time to Ascend when it wasn't. The whole explanation of my belief system isn't important in this, just that I was robbed of something very important and sacred to me because of it."

"That sounds horrible," Link signed.

"It was... And I was only 12, and not the greatest at understanding or expressing my emotions... I was so angry, absolutely furious at losing that chance, as what had been done to me. I've always had a strong sense of justice, if you can believe it. I don't easily stand for people wronging me. But when I died, my spirit was trapped in this game. All that rage bottled up, with nowhere to release it... Until I started releasing it on you. Very unfairly."

"I'll say," Tatl said, though there wasn't much bite behind her words.

"Eventually, someone played the game, and I was able to break free, find someone else to torment. And after that, start lashing out at everyone who had hurt me, making them

PĄŸ,"

BEN continued, their voice glitching out just a bit at the final word.

"...i moved on to more innocent people after that. I was out of control. To the point where my goddess, Luna, intervened. She stopped me herself, gave me a new body, made me into a young adult so I wouldn't be trapped as a child forever, and I carry the souls of everyone I hurt in my blind sadism, until I join her again one day. And I've worked hard to be a better person now. I've found so much to make my life wonderful, and to make the most of my second chance…" BEN trailed off.

"...but you still want to make amends to everyone you've hurt," Link finished for them.

"...I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't think I can be forgiven. But I really AM sorry for how I treated you. Both of you. Of everyone I've lashed out at, you're the least deserving of it. No matter WHAT'S happened to me, it's NO excuse for how much I've hurt you. And even if you never forgive me, I would love the opportunity to make it up to you…" they finished softly.

"...would you excuse us for a moment?" Tatl asked, flying a slight distance away. Link glanced over at BEN before rising to his feet to follow, and speak with the fairy alone. BEN politely stayed looking forward, allowing them the privacy.

"...do you believe them?" Tatl asked.

"...yeah. They seem genuine," Link admitted.

Tatl nodded softly. "I do, too. There's much simpler ways to trick us or convince us if that was their intention. Even if they said they wanted a favor, this is a lot of lengths to go to for just that…"

"I wonder what they want," the hero mused, glancing over at BEN.

"...maybe ask? Perhaps you can also ask a favor of him, test his sincerity," she said.

"What would that be? " he asked.

"Well, you've said you're curious about his world, whatever it is that our entire world is only a game in, a small part of. Maybe you can ask to explore his world. It'd give you the opportunity to spend more time with him and let him earn your trust, anyway," she offered.

Link nodded softly, then whistled to get BEN's attention. "Alright, BEN, we've talked it over. First, I want to know what favor it is you want…"

"Actually, it's a favor specifically from Tatl," they explained.

"Wait, me?" she questioned.

"...my daughter has watched me play this game a lot. And she's absolutely fallen in LOVE with you, she ADORES seeing you on screen. Her first birthday is in a few months, and there's... Circumstances about my life, and now hers, that will make her very different from other children, with so many secrets to keep. She could really use having a companion by her side, a friend to offer wisdom and company and help when she needs it. A copy of you, like how I copied Epona, to watch over her and make her feel less alone…" BEN said.

"...you have a daughter?" Link asked.

"And a boyfriend. Soon to be husband," BEN explained, holding up their hand to show off their ring.

Tatl let out a soft chime at this. "Well... I'm certainly flattered you think I'd make a good companion to her…"

BEN smiled softly. "I don't expect an answer today, don't worry. There's still a few months before her birthday. And I understand if it's not something you're comfortable with…"

"...we have a proposal for you, in that case," Link began. "You want to make amends to us. We're admittedly curious about this world outside of our own. So, let us explore. Show us your life, and what lies outside this "game", and earn our trust. Then we'll consider it."

BEN thought this over. They'd have to be careful, but this wasn't impossible… "...I can't completely remove you from the game. I'd have to copy you, then merge the copy and your true self after. It's basically the same thing, though, you'd keep the memories and everything. And you'd have to do EXACTLY as I say, I... REALLY can't have attention drawn to myself or the people I live with. If there's something that catches your attention, you can't gawk, just stay calm and ask me. And there's going to be a LOT, the real world is nothing like this one. Hylian sign doesn't match up with any sign language in my world, so you'll at least be able to speak freely. But if you can do that, and trust that I'm keeping us both safe when I tell you to do something... I'll happily show you around."

Link considers this, then nods. He holds out his hand to BEN, who shakes it.

"Then we have a deal."

[forged-through-trials]

Mach-Na was, indeed, tapped for gossip... and for patience. So Ruin and I tried a few other places, eventually bringing us to Borba gra-Uzgash's shop. We asked her about any juicy tips. Borba: "Adventurers love to investigate Daedric Shrines, and there just happens to be a shrine to Azura that lies in the Jerall Mountains, far to the north, toward the Skyrim border." Trials: "Oh, we'd heard about that one. I'm still uncertain about investigating that, but Ruin and I are planning a trip up there in the next few days." Borba: "How about the Shrine of Boethia? That one is high in the Valus Mountains Southeast of Cheydinhal. Any plans to investigate there." Trials: "That one I haven't heard of. So, what's the cult that worships there like?" Borba: "I don't know too much about the actual cultists. I can tell you about Boethia, however; the god of deceit, conspiracy, treachery, and sedition." Trials: Sardonically. "He sounds like such a charmer." Borba: "They're also the god of overthrowing the ruling class." Trials: "..." My eyes lit up. "Why didn't you just lead with that?" Well, that certainly piqued my interest. When Ruin and I head out to the Azura Shrine, we might pay the Boethia one a visit, too.

But it was time at last to chat with Burz gro-Khash, head of the local Fighters Guild chapter. To think, I used to whine and moan about doing jobs for this guild, risking my neck for my coin and such. Then I got an honest job and discovered honest work pays crap, and is boring as all heck, to boot. So, here I am, doing the dangerous work again in spite of all my griping. ...not that a plan to stop griping, especially when I see something utterly stupid. Burz: "You here looking for work, meat?" Trials: I furrowed my brow at him. "How dare you! I am not a hunk of beef! You are singling me out for harassment, sir!" Burz: "...pretty sure that everyone in the world is made of meat, meat." Trials: "Oh. Well, as long as you're not just picking on me." Burz: "Ugh, lemmie get you a job and out of my face before you get Fighters Guild HR on my green ass. "We need a weapons shipment delivered to Desolate Mine. That's your job." Trials: "Do I look like a delivery-girl??" Burz: "Yes! I saw you deliver a package a few days ago!" Trials: "Oh... well, very astute of you." Burz: He sighed and rolled his good eye. "Just pick up the weapons and get out of my face, meat!"

It was a long hike north of Cheydinhal before Ruin and I arrived at Desolate Mine. Just outside the entrance, a pair of ornery scorpions blocked the way. Kind of irresponsible of the Fighters Guild operatives to leave these scorpions here. No wonder they had problems receiving deliveries here; remote location and nasty neighbors. Once inside the cave, we found the three FG agents standing around a campfire. It looked like the Redguard woman was in charge here, so I approached her with my clipboard. Trials: "Got a weapons shipment here for a 'Rienna'. Sign and initial." Rienna: She tool my clipboard and checked off all the dotted lines she had to sign. "Great. And you'll be sticking around to back us up, right?" Trials: "Sure, but Burz better be ready to pay extra for not telling me I would be backing you up. "By the way, you know you guys left two scorpions outside guarding the entrance? Doesn't exactly make me feel welcome that I had to wade through that to get in here." Rienna: "You were bringing our weapons. What were we supposed to slay them with? Our good looks?" Trials: "How did you get past them, then?" Rienna: "We told them bad jokes until they turned away in disgust, then snuck past them." Elidor: "How is your wife?" Brag gro-Bharg: "She's in bed with laryngitis." Elidor: "Oh, is that Argonian bastard back in town again?" They stood with their arms out, raising Jazz-Hands. Trials: "Huh... yeah, I can see how that would work." Rienna: She plucked the bow and arrows from the weapons package. "I'll take these. Pass the other two to my cohorts." Trials: "Alright, who wants what?" Elidor: "I long to sink a blade into some goblin flesh." Trials: "Eww, you say that like you should be on some kind watch-list." Brag gro-Bharg: "I'm looking forward to bashing some skulls in." Trials: "...hmm, you sound like you belong on a different watch-list."

I offered the sword to the High-Elf, Elidor, and the hammer to the Orc, Brag gro-Bharg. Now that they were all armed, I spoke to Rienna. Trials: "Alright, what's our game-plan going in?" Rienna: "Well, these goblins have been giving the workers a lot of trouble in the past." Trials: "Is this place important, or can we just skip this job?" Rienna: "Well, the gold from this mine supplies all of Nibenay. Chapel healers need it to have more Magicka." Trials: I rolled my eyes. "By the Hist... okay, here's what we'll do; I'll run in first, and wave my big, legendary sword around, and that should scare the goblins and scatter them, so we don't have to fight a bunch at once. "They'll get over that eventually, so then Ruin, you'll run in and wave your big Daedric sword around, and that should scatter them again. That'll keep the heat off of us, but we'll have to take 'em down quick before they regroup." Ruin: "I appreciate your planning, my friend. Doubly so because it's a plan that doesn't require skooma. What do you think, Rienna?" Rienna: "I crunched the numbers and calculated at least a thirty-three-point-three percent chance of success." Trials: "..." I furrowed my brow. "That's... actually really bad. I prefer plans where I don't have more than half a chance of dying." Ruin: "Again, skooma." Trials: "Oh, hush-up, you!" Rienna: "Trust me, it's better than we usually do." Trials: "Alright, then I--" Brag gro-Bharg: "Time's up! Enough talk! LET'S EFFIN' DO THIS!" Elidor: "HOO-HA!" The two run in ahead. Trials: I blinked several times. "Are they always like this?" Ruin, I, and Rienna gave chase after them, our weapons drawn, ready to back the team up. Goblins came at us as we rushed down into the tunnels, but between the five us, none of them were a match. A flurry of blades, hammers, and arrows, and the goblins were cleaved without much trouble. No, the trouble came when we were near the end of the tunnels, when I spied a trap tripwire strewn across the floor. Trials: "Hold up, lemmie just disarm this--" Brag gro-Bharg: "LET'S EFFIN' DO THIS!" Elidor: "HOO-HA!" The duo rush in, and were immediately buried in a dozen or so falling logs tripped by the tripwire. Brag gro-Bharg: "Aaaaahh! Medic!" Elidor: "I need a rez!" Trials: "Gods dammit...!" Brag gro-Bharg: "'Least I have sweet rolls!"

Aside from that minor mishap, the Desolate Mine job went off without a hitch. The goblins were slain and the mine cleared for work to resume. The working class miner need not fear a hazardous workplace as long as Forged-Through-Trials is on the case! Ruin and I schlepped it back to Cheydinhal and reported back in to Burz gro-Khash. Trials: "Jobs done, boss." Burz: "You got the weapons there, and cleared the mine with no casualties?" Trials: "Aside from some goofs stubbing their toes on some logs, everything went fine." Burz: "Better than I expected from you." Trials: I blinked. "I...!" I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Just take the compliment." Burz: "And the gold!" He offered me a sack of coins for my trouble. "And a promotion! Due to your performance, I name you Journeyman of the Fighters Guild." Trials: "Weren't you just whinging about how I'm only 'good enough'?" Burz: "I do that a lot. I'm a hard-ass; it's my whole personality." Trials: "Jeez, get a hobby." Burz: "Anyway, head over to Chorrol next. The Guild Master, Vilena Donton, has a job for you." Well, Donton will have to wait. I don't plan on going to Chorrol anytime soon. I have some work left in Cheydinhal, and my next stop after that's done will probably be the Imperial City.

[sweetteaanddragons]

If you're still taking prompts, could you please do I don’t want an apology, I want you to tell me how you pulled it off, Feanor and Fingolfin, surprise me

Two quick warnings for this one:

One, it contains a darker version of the Valar than I actually think canon points to.

Two, it contains references to suicide and a brief discussion of exactly what qualifies.

That said, here you are!

. . .

There was nothing but silence in the darkness, and Fingolfin wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, he was, as of yet, the only elf to commit this crime, at least according to Mandos, and in this it was Mandos’s vote that counted.

Mandos said it was suicide, and Fingolfin didn’t know how to argue with him. He had, after all, in a fit of despair taken action he knew was likely to lead to his death.

If that was truly all it took, though, he was a bit surprised to find himself truly alone. Surely he was not the first elf who despaired of victory that had chosen to charge into battle anyway.

You’re not here because you charged Morgoth, a doubtful part of himself that sounded suspiciously like Feanor said scornfully. You’re here because you came so close to succeeding. You stabbed a Vala seven times. Did you really think they could stand for that? 

Fingolfin pushed that thought aside. He didn’t believe that. That was just the darkness talking.

And the silence.

And the cold.

. . .

It wasn’t the first time his thoughts had sounded a bit too much like Feanor, but usually he did it on purpose: On the Ice, he’d had whole imaginary conversations that mostly consisted of him shouting at Feanor and receiving wholly unsatisfactory replies.

What did you expect, Finwenolofinwe? That I would take you along? You, who longed to be king?

Or, I’m not sorry.

Or - when the cold bit too deep and exhaustion loomed like death waiting to fall and he needed one warm thought to cling onto - I never thought you would do this, Nolo. I thought you would go home. I wanted you to go home.

It was the kindest he could make his brother sound. He’d tried to make his half-brother apologize, but even in his imagination, the words always felt weak and pale. Feanor wouldn’t apologize. Not to him. Not about this. Not without cold irony ringing through every word.

He’d kept talking to him even after - After he learned what had happened. Especially then. He’d needed closure, and Feanor, of course, had refused to give it to him.

The day after his coronation, he’d tried to imagine what Feanor would have said to him.

So you finally got what you wanted, Nolo. It was the kindest thing he could make himself believe, and the words still echoed bitterly in his mind.

He wondered if Feanor would have believed him if he had turned to his half-brother and said that, in that moment, he’d realized too late he didn’t want it after all.

Not if it meant the Ice claiming so many of his wearied people. Not if it meant his nephew scarred, bloodied, and telling him, as they talked things over, that he didn’t dare trust himself.

Not if it meant his brother turned to ash before the gates that he did not yet dare charge.

. . .

He talked to Feanor more now, even though he still had to imagine the answers.

He talked to lots of people. His voice was the only sound in this place, and he had to think of something to keep from going mad.

He talked to Fingon, imagining a hundred different scenarios his son might be facing now that he was king and advising him how to face them. He talked to Turgon and tried to convince him to leave wherever he was and go help his brother. He talked to Idril and told her how much she’d grown. 

He wondered if she had. He hoped she had.

He tried to talk to Maeglin, but he’d never met his grandson, and so his imagination failed.

But talking to the living was painful because it stirred up all the restless fears he couldn’t soothe. Were they still alive? Were they free? Were they hurt?

Just what had he abandoned them to?

The dead were easier, mostly, but he couldn’t talk to Aredhel without every word turning into, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect you, I’m so sorry, or Elenwe without wondering, Do you hate me now? Do you wish your husband had been any other man’s son?

He couldn’t imagine talking to his father at all.

Feanor, though - Feanor was easy. He had lots of things he’d never gotten to say to Feanor’s face, and he didn’t have to worry about biting back the worst of it the way he did when he tried to think about talking to his father. He and Feanor had never shied away from shouting terrible things at each other.

And whatever conversation he had, he could always run it through at least three times without getting bored with it because he had to keep editing Feanor’s responses. He had known his brother well, but he’d never gotten any better at predicting him, so he had to stop and think a long time about what would have been likely to come out of Feanor’s mouth next.

When he tried to talk about his mother, Feanor insulted her so badly that Fingolfin refused to speak to him for a week.

When it finally occurred to him just how ridiculous that was, he laughed until it hurt, and he realized that his whole body was shaking with sobs.

Possibly this wasn’t working nearly as well as he’d hoped to keep himself sane.

It’s less boring than the alternative, Feanor said, and for once, Fingolfin couldn’t argue with him.

. . .

He saw things in the darkness sometimes. Glints of color, flashes of light. Just his mind playing tricks on him, he knew, but he appreciated those tricks. Anything was better than the dark.

This faint glow of flames was new, though. They had the warm look of embers, and it made him think of Feanor, who had always burned so fiercely, and whose spirit had burned so strong it had scorched the earth behind it when he died.

“Hello, Feanor,” he said cheerfully, because he might as well address his remarks to this particular trick of his mind for as long as it lasted. 

“Hello,” Feanor answered a bit warily. “You’re happier to see me then I expected.”

Feanor’s voice sounded different than usual, and Fingolfin frowned over it for a moment before pushing it aside.

If he was forgetting what his brother sounded like, it was better not to think of it.

“Is that what we’re talking about today? Why I’m angry at you? I thought we’d worn through all the possibilities on that.”

“There are a few things we never got the chance to talk about,” Feanor’s voice said, and it sounded closer this time, and still so strange. The lights had moved closer with it, perfectly paced. “This, for instance. I never meant to lead you to this, Nolo,” and his voice sounded so -

Fingolfin flinched away from it. No, that wasn’t realistic at all. Feanor reserved that depth of pain in his voice for when he talked about the death of their father. The line might work, but the tone was all wrong.

A hand touched his shoulder.

Fingolfin froze.

The hand pulled back the instant it felt his stiffness. “My apologies,” Feanor said, voice retreating to formality -

Fingolfin lunged forward towards the light and grabbed onto it. Arm, shoulders, back, real, all real, and he clung to the form as tightly as he could. Real or a new depth to imagining, he didn’t care.

He felt warm. For the first time since the darkness, he felt warm.

“Feanor,” he choked out. “You’re real.”

Hesitant arms wrapped around him. “I hadn’t realized the matter was up for debate.”

“You weren’t here before,” he said, and that shouldn’t have really explained anything, but maybe it did, because Feanor held onto him a bit tighter.

“I wasn’t,” he confirmed, but he said it like he meant something else, like he was sorry, well and truly sorry in a way Fingolfin had never heard before.

“Don’t - “ he shook his head, but he didn’t let go. He couldn’t. Not yet. “It doesn’t matter. Not when - How are you here?”

He held on even tighter as he said that as if the action could prevent his mind from realizing it was just another trick and making everything melt away.

“I was in the Halls at first,” Feanor said. “They had to wait and see if I would be forsworn or not.”

“And you were?”

He could feel Feanor shrug. “It’s not settled yet. I made a bit too much of a nuisance of myself,” and there was a story there, something Feanor wasn’t telling him, but he hardly cared at the moment, “so they sent me here. Naturally, I set out to explore the place - “

“Naturally,” Fingolfin echoed.

“And I heard you talking. After everything that’s happened, it seemed a bit petty to avoid you.”

Fingolfin was pretty sure his grip had turned painful, but he didn’t much care. “If you leave me alone in here, I will hunt you down and kill you a second time,” he said, voice steady.

“I’m supposed to be the kinslayer. You’re supposed to be the good son,” Feanor said, and Fingolfin wasn’t even going to try to untangle that below surface level.

“No, that’s Finarfin,” he said.

Feanor actually laughed. “You’ll have to tell him you said that.”

“How?” Fingolfin asked wryly as he finally managed to loosen his grip, just a bit.

“No idea,” Feanor said cheerfully. “But I’ll figure out something eventually, and you might as well come along for the ride.”

“Much obliged,” he said dryly.

He still didn’t let go.