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sagehaleyofficial · 5 years ago

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HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (3.18-3.24.20):

NEW MUSIC:

After its live debut at Slam Dunk Festival last year, All Time Low released the third single off of their upcoming album Wake Up, Sunshine, “Getaway Green,” as well as a live music video. They are also planning online events as a result of the delay on the album’s release.

Machine Gun Kelly dropped a corresponding music video for his new track, “Bullets With Names.” The musician later performed a live stream on social media, where he also performed a new track.

Alkaline Trio surprised fans with a new three-track EP, simply titled E.P. The unexpected release features the songs “Minds Like Minefields,” “Radio Violence” and “Smokestack,” with the artwork being a snapshot of lead singer Matt Skiba’s neighbor’s house.

On Wednesday night, Hayley Williams teased that a collab would be arriving soon with a studio pic featuring boygenius, composed of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. The new song is titled “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris.”

Waterparks collaborated with production duo MC4D for a remix of their hit song “Dream Boy.” The new track is now available for streaming on Spotify, following a previous remix of the same song by JVNA.

Ville Valo, frontman for acclaimed goth-metal outfit HIM, has dropped a new EP. Gothica Fennica Vol. 1 was released last Friday under the name “VV,” featuring the songs “Salute the Sanguine,” “Run Away From the Sun” and “Saturnine Saturnalia.”

Mod Sun further teased a new collab with Machine Gun Kelly and Goody Grace, after first teasing the track back in December. On March 20th, the artist took to Instagram to post a video of him in a face mask.

Poppy returned with another music video for her track “Sit / Stay.” The unsettling video features her as a nude, bald figure trapped in a cushioned room interlaced with shots of her regular self.

During their isolation, Bring Me the Horizon announced they want to take fans inside the creation process of their new album. The band is planning to capture the process in a new project they are titling BMTH8.

Broadside announced that the band has signed with SharpTone Records, as well as released a new single “Foolish Believer.” Prior to departing their former label Victory Records, the band issued a two-song single, “King of Nothing” and “Empty.”

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard is spending his time working on new material and shared a new track. Taking a break from his “Live From Home” series, the new acoustic song is a tribute to Seattle, “Life in Quarantine.”

Fall Out Boy fans can now easily check out some of the band’s earliest material as a number of their demos from 2001 have surfaced on YouTube. Three songs from their self-titled demo, ripped from a cassette version of the release, have popped up.

Highly Suspect’s new video for their track “These Days” shows a family dinner from hell. The video also features the everyman hero, played by Tony Cavalero from the HBO show The Righteous Gemstones.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

We Came as Romans kicked off their To Plant a Seed 10-Year Anniversary Tour in Chicago on March 5th with support from the Devil Wears Prada, Gideon and Dayseeker. Less than a week in, they have now postponed the remaining dates.

After postponing their 20th-anniversary tour due to coronavirus, Silverstein have announced newly rescheduled dates, which will take place this summer. They will be performing three sets: the album Discovering the Waterfall in full, some greatest hits and an acoustic set.

On March 18th, Glastonbury Festival announced it would be cancelling this year’s event, which would’ve been its 50th anniversary. The festival was originally set to take place from June 24th-28th.

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has been officially rescheduled due to coronavirus. Originally planned to take place on June 11th-14th, it will now take place on September 24th-27th.

The 1975’s North American tour, which was set to take place near the end of April and continue through June, has been postponed. The band stated that they are currently working to reschedule the dates as we speak and will provide as many updates as possible.

The first Mexican man passed away due to coronavirus, which he believed to have contracted while attending a Ghost concert earlier this month. Not only was it their only scheduled show of 2020, but it also saw Cardinal Copia anointed to Papa Emeritus IV.

Ice Nine Kills, along with I Prevail, Papa Roach and Five Finger Death Punch, are rescheduling their North American tour dates after the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The new tour dates will kick off this fall at the end of September in Florida.

Slam Dunk Festival has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Festival organizers have announced that the rescheduled dates will now be Saturday, September 5th and Sunday, September 6th

OTHER NEWS:

The Recording Academy and MusiCares announced a relief fund to assist everyone working in the music industry currently being affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 relief fund is aiming at providing financial assistance to those in the industry.

Dark Horse is giving My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way a special hardcover for the comic The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, inspired by the band’s hit album. The comic will be released in Dark Horse’s hardcover library edition format, subtitled “California.”

Bandcamp is helping out musicians affected by the coronavirus by waiving their cut of sales since last Friday. The news comes in conjunction with a number of labels, who will similarly be giving all proceeds to artists, and so far have raised $4.3 million for artists.

In response to the coronavirus, Ice Nine Kills released a special t-shirt in support of Sweet Relief and Music Cares. A portion of the profits goes toward organizations that are supporting musicians during this outbreak.

Avenged Sevenfold announced on Twitter that they will be offering free band merchandise to select fans. All that is required is to pledge to stay at home, self-quarantined, for a week and post a selfie with a “phrase of the day” as proof.

Hope for the Day checked in on people’s mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic through a livestreaming chat about mental health and stigmas along with Neck Deep’s Ben Barlow. The chat took place on Sunday morning over YouTube.

Jeffree Star announced he is giving away cash to people feeling the economic pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. The beauty guru took to Twitter over the weekend letting fans know he was giving away money to fans in need.

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Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

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itsjustascarecrow · 5 years ago

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Hap Birf to Arvokas Valo!! born on Melona 19th, 25 BBY!

the oldest Valo sibling, but only by sheer technicality b/c he’s not actually of Valo blood. the son of Darthustra and Aberrant, but he was unaware of his mother’s name, as she abandoned him almost as soon as he was born and after she killed his father. however, he was saved by another member of his father’s Nightbrother tribe, a man by the name of Pious, who raised him as his own and eventually as an older brother to his other/younger adoptive son.

but, as it turns out, the other child Pious saved and aimed to raise was Jumalan’s only son Taivas. And after Darthustra’s death, Jumalan was able to make his way to the Nightbrothers’ village seeking refuge, where he was reunited w/ his son and given the means to return home. Arvo, finding this out, decided he didn’t want to part w/ his baby brother nor did he want anything to do w/ Dathomirian cultural as it currently stood, so he asked Jumalan if he could go to Bespin w/ him. Jumalan readily agreed, and upon arrival (and after explaining the situation to everyone else), Aamun gave him the new name Arvokas (which has the complete opposite meaning as his deadname) and he was considered part of the family, tho not necessarily officially adopted.

it took many years before it was finally revealed that he did in fact share blood w/ both Taivas and Tähtien; in fact, it was Tähtien’s arrival that finally brought everything to light (no pun intended). years prior, when Jumalan had nonchalantly asked him for more details on his background/parentage, he’d put two and two together about Arvo’s mother. but due to the sheer amount of trauma he was still dealing w/ over that whole situation, he kept the realization to himself. fast forward to when Tähtien returned home, took one look at Arvo, saw the resemblance between him and Taivas, and finally Jumalan figured he couldn’t hide the truth anymore.

one other thing about him is that during the years prior to Tähtien’s return, he spent a lot of time w/ the new head of Málmur Ætt after catching their eye during a festival/ceremony one night. Myrkur, being one of few Force-sensitive members of Jah Karai, saw that sensitivity in Arvo as well. and given that they were still new to not only being head of their family but technically head of the whole tribe as well, part of them shirking their responsibilities was spending time training Arvo in the ways of the Force. that, and they could tell he was having trouble adjusting but didn’t quite feel comfortable bring all that up w/ his new family, so Myrkur was a welcomed mentor at that point in time.

~one year later...

need to readjust some stuff here to align his story w/ the most recent update to Taivas’ story; since i decided it made no sense for Jumalan and Darthustra to have another kid together, nor did it also not make sense for him to just leave a baby out in the wild w/ nothing but a prayer that someone would find said kid, i’ve switched it to these two half-brothers being raised together since birth. Arvo is still the other brother by five years, and they’ve known from the start they share a mother instead of it being a mystery. it was also a joint decision for them wanting to leave Dathomir together when Jumalan showed up looking for safe passage back to Bespin; they both just simply wanted out of that culture, tho still grateful to Pious for being their foster father.

so obviously this connection is why he has the closest relationship to Taivas out of all his siblings; as i’ve mentioned, it’s difficult for him to open up to others. i think early on he might’ve been worried that he was gonna lose said connection some time after Minun and Auri were born (which could’ve been another reason why he felt Myrkur was the only person he could talk to); if anything, the culture shock likely affected him more and longer than he initially realized. it was an extensive adjustment period, but he eventually figured out that he was by no means losing a brother. also once the Force sensitivity started manifesting in all the Valo siblings, his training w/ Myrkur was a way for him to settle in a bit better.

#including a bit of art b/c it's just so hard to get these dollmakers to do what i want #due to being dropped on his head after birth (in his mother's attempt to kill him) the horns on that side of his head never grew in #as for the hair style showing that off tho that's more of a personal choice #i'm still trying to figure tho if/how that may manifest in other ways (like mental stuff; be it trauma related or something else)#otherwise he's just generally the quietest among the valo siblings; he can be friendly and caring but it's kinda hard to get him to open up #sw oc tag #star wars #random bullshit #drawins #arvokas valo #valo ætt

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lumi-klovstad-games · 5 years ago

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I have entirely too many OCs and I won’t ever stop

So, I will list all my OCs here, active or not. I couldn’t just keep reblogging my earlier masterlist with updates because, well, wall of text much?

I try to make sure I have at least 1 character representing each race. Not all of them are canonically Dragonborn, but I’ve marked those who are with (DK) after their name, short for Dovahkiin.

And yes, this is just my Skyrim OCs. Mostly because I play it the most (hi, endless supply of easily installed mods!), and because if I added my ESO, Oblivion, Morrowind, Daggerfall, and Arena OCs, this list would almost literally never stop.

Feel free, nay, ENCOURAGED, to drop asks about these characters because I live to blab about them to anyone in earshot (why else do you run a TES blog?).

First, the actives.

Dunmer: Radene Valos. Great-granddaughter of Queen Barenziah. Nords call her “The Red Wolf” because of how ferociously she fights, usually out of a fearful and begrudging respect. Staunch revolutionary; real Magneto/Lenin red-ragger type. She’s out to improve the lot of the Dunmer in Skyrim by any means necessary and woe betide any who stands in her way or fails to help. Member of the Morag Tong and champion of Azura, Mephala, and Boethiah. Worming her way through the Stormcloaks so she can engineer a situation where all the rotten eggs of the Stormcloaks are in one basket and then blow up the basket. Also steadily poisoning most of the Black-Briar family in slow motion.

Altmer: Tarwen Verenandes (DK), a former Thalmor battlemage during the Great War. Disgusted by the violence on full display during the conflict, she resigned after the war and became a priestess of Auri-El. Her devout piety led to her being chosen by Auri-El/Akatosh to be the Last Dragonborn, and she was also gifted with being able to use Auri-El’s divine light as the basis of her spells.

Khajit: Sonn-Ja Sableclaw, an expert martial artist and assassin. Works for the Dark Brotherhood and is utterly loyal to Astrid. Prefers fisticlaws to weapons, and is absolutely lethal with them. Keeps a massive collection of knives and daggers anyway. Chose to be best friends with Arnbjorn purely for the irony. Worships Rajhin and Baan Dar.

Argonian: Murders-For-Cash, who is exactly what it says on the tin. Also Dark Brotherhood, and a Shadowscale like Veezara, who he treats like a brother. Willing to supervise children and surprisingly good at it but charges exorbitant rates for it. Worships Sithis.

Nord: Lady Gwendolyn Triggs (DK), a knight and thane in the service of Elisif the Fair and also her companion and lover. Noted for her bravery, loyalty, strength, skill in battle, and being steadfastly impossible to kill. Not part of the Imperial Legion any longer, but assists them in their operations during the Civil War anyway to both safeguard Elisif’s claim as High Queen and further her own political standing so that marriage can be an option for them. Worships the 8 post-Concordat Divines, but gives special devotion to Stendarr.

Redguard: Akivasha, an ancient Yokudan vampire Witch Queen who has awakened in the modern era. Practically a physical God. Hangs with the Dark Brotherhood because it’s the only group that has Gabriella in it. Far and away my most overpowered OC and in no way does it make her less fun. Worships Mephala and Boethiah, and begrudgingly acknowledges Molag Bal as the forefather of all vampires.

Imperial: Yezka of Vabonne, an OC who began as just a Rule 63 Geralt of Rivia. She’s a Witcher*. Like Gwendolyn, she’s easily picked out of a crowd due to her pronounced Warrior’s physique and tapestry of battle scars (I have a type). She dislikes political games, roundabout language, beating around the bush, social injustice, marginalization of the vulnerable, and has come to have a steady slow-burning hatred for humans as a general category because of the way she’s been treated over her six decades of monster hunting (she’s 93, but Witchers age super gracefully no matter the timeline). She fits in far better among Orcs, Elves, and the Beast Races who have also been so often mistrusted and ill-treated and has a lot of contacts in those communities. Oddly enough, she has a friends-with-benefits thing going with the vampires Hern and Hert at Half-Moon Mill in Falkreath because they only prey on humans and she’s never been hired to kill them. Worships Reyman Ebonarm, The Divine Black Knight.

?????: The Marked Cinder (DK), a mysterious figure completely shrouded from head to toe in rusty mail and plate that totally obscures his appearance, hiding the fact that he is essentially a charred and withered husk given new life by The Nine Divines. Doesn’t know it, but is no stranger to saving the world as the previous life of that body came to be known as The Eternal Champion during the events of Elder Scrolls Arena. Doesn’t really like or dislike anything, essentially serving as a walking meat grinder with a hunger for the forces of evil. Is closest to Arkay and Akatosh, but tends to regard the gods with equal authority and reverence.

* In my headcanon, Witchers were a kind of Spartan-II-esque initiative by the Vigilants of Stendarr to create “Super Vigilants” that could basically handle anything and everything. Thanks to the systematic alterations done to their physiology, the Witchers proved too difficult to control and due to the body count that arose whenever one went rogue it was a short-lived initiative. Yezka is among those that stayed loyal to the mission, if not to the Vigilants themselves. She’s easily my tallest character, towering over most fellow humans and slightly edging out a fully grown female Altmer due to the mutations she underwent.

Rest in Pepperonis: Inactive Characters I ran out of story for

Bosmer: Vynna the Magpie, a highly talented thief and general renegade with a fiercely vengeful streak towards the Thalmor, and Elenwyn in particular, thanks to their purge of Vynna’s family and village. Married to vengeance, will sleep with everyone else. Best archer of her era. Despite her gruff and macabre bearing and demeanor, plays the organized crime game well enough to be called the Queen-In-Shadows. Worships Y'ffre and Hircine.

Dunmer: Ineria Resvalyn, a Telvanni-descended blood mage and necromancer (her magic is big on total recycling) hailing from House Sadras. Scholar and surgeon first, adventurer second. Eccentric and catastrophically bad at dealing with normal people but makes up for it by having an indispensable skillset. Probably Asperger’s. Can Dunmer even have that? Big on Azura worship.

Breton: Fynnic Ironverse, privateer and bard by trade, full-time Casanova and pain the the ass insufferable know it all by nature. As quick with a blade as he is with his wit. Known far and wide for being the Troubadour who brought the Chicken Dance to Skyrim, for better or worse. His major at the Bard’s College was probably leaning against lampposts at night while taking long drags from his cigarette. Atheist, but his lifestyle aligns neatly with Sanguine’s domain.

Imperial: Alessia Laguardia (DK), former centurion in the Imperial Legion. now a top-tier monster Hunter. Big muscles, bigger scars, even bigger prey. Lives a largely solitary existence except for her dog, Flavia. Fond of impossibly gigantic swords and bows. Largely averse to what most would call decent clothing. Worships Kynareth.

Orc: Khauma Relaadri (DK), winner of Skyrim’s Unluckiest Parentage Award. Half Orc, Half Dunmer. Spat upon by both. Found acceptance in the Imperial Legion, and fights for the unified Empire she feels it represents. Her greatest goal is to be a hero, as it would both please Malacath and serve as a positive role model and example to other put-upon people throughout Tamriel that they can rise, no matter their circumstances. Worships Malacath.

There’s a ton of other characters that I’ve played as over the last 8 years, but above you’ll find the characters I was attached to enough to actually care to remember or keep playing.

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siracmyk · 3 years ago

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may 8, 2022

just got home from watching multiverse and dinner with fam. not really sure why im journaling right now since uneventful rin naman life ko lately. i don't leave the house as much except when errands lang or kasama pinsan ko. i also don't like meeting people from my past. di ko na rin alam direction ko sa life lately kasi parang wala naman ako gusto? one thing i know is di na fulfilling yung work ko so i know na i have to do something about it pero sobrang wala akong motivation mag update ng resume and start looking for a new job. i also miss my bestfriends. we don't see each other often since busy sa kanya kanyang life but we update naman each other sa groupchat. and bff ko pa rin naman sila no matter what. ayun lang. gusto ko lang sabihin na sobrang burnout ko na and di ko alam kailan matatapos. i know naman na i put too much pressure on myself so maybe things are not as bad as i make them out to be. baka mali mali na rin english ko right now kasi pagod na ako hahaha! oo nga pala, nakalaro ko ulit siya sa valorant kasi ininvite ako ng friends nya. wala naman ako naramdaman na ng time na yon and to be honest naturn off talaga ako nung inunfriend niya ako sa fb and valo. like wala naman ako nagawang masama sa kanya? and sanay kasi ako na ako yung nang uunfriend kapag nasaktan. but i wanted to change kaya hindi ko siya inunfriend kahit ako talaga yung sinaktan hahaha. so i guess i felt relieved nung ginawa niya yon and nabawasan yung sakit. and narealise ko na mas ok talaga kung tropa lang. right now i am talking to this guy na matagal ko na rin naman kilala. he is very nice pero hindi ko alam anong intentions nya? although i think he likes me pero hindi naman kasi siya nagmamake ng move. for now wala rin ako balak mag boyfriend kasi i dont feel really good overall hahaha. in other words, i am down bad :( alam ko naman na lilipas din to once may nangyari ulit na maganda sa life ko na mej major ganon. ewan maybe hormones lang to or baka dahil nga dun sa nangyari sa previous na naka date ko. right now i should just focus on fixing my mental health kasi kung titingnan mo naman ako on the outside i look fine naman but im actually dying inside LOL. i hate my brain :( di ko rin alam sa sarili ko pero kanina before ako magjournal natripan kong magbasa ng old entries ko dito. naluha ako sa iba kong nabasa hahaha parang sobrang innocent ko way back 2018. and sobrang minahal ko talaga yung ex ko judging on how pati mga dates namin kinkwento ko pa dito. siguro gusto ko lang masaktan tonight kaya ako nagreminisce. but past is past and naka move on na rin naman ako kahit may mga times na maaalala mo. time may not erase the memories but it blurs the pain. i know kasi i don't hurt as much na as before. good night.

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scurvgirl · 7 years ago

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What’s Normal Anyways?

More Wall AU!

Melarue belongs to @justanartsysideblog

They end up closing on the “modest” chateau quickly, and Melarue is quick to bring in contractors to get the work done in the house. The kitchen needs updating and a powder-bathroom needs to be added to the first floor as well as other general fixes around the house. The initial quote involved a six-week timeline that Melarue was not happy about. There were discussions that Kass was not a part of but the time has been halved and they will be moving in in three weeks. In the meantime, they live in the swanky apartment in the heart of Old Val Chevin.

There was a very polite argument on who should have the actual bedroom. Melarue won the argument and now Kass begrudgingly wakes up feeling ridiculously pampered in a gorgeous room bathed by warm morning sunlight. It’s not right, it’s their apartment, their money, they should be waking up in the gorgeous room bathed in warm sunlight, not lounging in the office that doesn’t even have a window.

They dedicate the rest of the house hunting day to procuring furniture and things to live by until they can move into the house. Among the things Melarue purchases are a TV, a large couch that she’s pretty sure they only purchased because she mentioned how nice it cushioned her back, and two thousand dollars’ worth of knives because “one should never skimp on proper cutlery.” By the end of the shopping trip, Kass felt sick – sticker sickness, she’s decided to call it, because it’s just…so much. Halfway through, they just started concealing price tags from her and always sent her on errands while they paid so she wouldn’t see how much they were spending.

It’s just another slap in the face of how ridiculously wealthy they are and how there is no way she is ever going to repay them. She locks herself in the bathroom that night and cries as quietly as she can, entirely too overwhelmed. It’s not that she isn’t grateful, or that she wants to leave them, just…she wants to know what it’s like to be completely free, to not be tied down by someone holding a chain or by guilt through a checkbook. And she knows that it isn’t going to fix itself immediately, that she needs to work and incur as few costs as possible, pay rent, her share of the utilities, buy her own food…but right now she feels like she can cry about it a bit. Also, she’s pregnant, she gets some leeway there she thinks.

To their credit, they don’t confront her about the crying and let her go to sleep without fuss. When she wakes up, she finds they’ve set the TV up. They smile at her and show her how to work the thing and together they find a movie they both like. They curl up on the large couch together and end up watching movies for the rest of the day, eating sandwiches for lunch and ordering cheap pizza for dinner. And by the end, she feels calmer, less shocked and more comfortable. They are wealthy, but not lofty, and they hold no ideas of keeping her captive or indebted.

The Monday after they arrive and settle on a house, Melarue’s job begins. They are bustling through the house, gathering their things, and eying her as they move from room to room. Kass sips her tea, curled up on the couch, trying not to chuckle.

“The first day is always the scariest, imekari. You’ll do fine,” she chides playfully. She sees them rolls their eyes as they pull out a pad and begin to write on it.

“I have a class from 10:30 to 11:30 then a class from 1:00 to 2:45, then I have office hours and meetings until six. Feel free to order any food you want, if you need me, you have my number, and my office is in Ameridan Hall, third floor, room 316.”

“I’ll be fine, Melarue,” she says, trying to ease some of the tension in them. She doubts they are nervous about their work which means they are nervous about her. For what? She is used to being left at home to her own devices. They went grocery shopping the other day, there is food and with the phones they just bought, she can order anything so…everything will be fine.

She has things to do, like job research and potentially looking into learning Orlesian. Still, Melarue pauses at the door.

“Have a good day, I know how to reach you if I need you. Go, mold the young minds of tomorrow!” She encourages them. Their lips twitch upwards.

“Alright. Do call if you need.” They turn and leave, taking a significant presence with them.

The apartment feels very, very large suddenly. The ceilings are impossibly high, the fireplace is too fine, and when she sneaks a peak at the street below from a window, she’s reminded very much of how she’s in Val Chevin. Adjustment is going to take an annoying amount of time.

Kass retreats from the window to the computer resting on the dining table and begins her search. She runs into the problem of not knowing Orlesian much more than she was expecting. Also, qualifications…she basically doesn’t have any. When she initially moved south with Qal, she worked at a sandwich shop. Then she got pregnant and Qal got a promotion at the same time, so…he wanted her to stop working.

Former Tamassrans don’t work in sandwich shops.

But now she needs work, but she doesn’t know the language, she doesn’t have a bank account, she doesn’t have really anything. Is she even here legally? She doesn’t know.

Panic tries to well up in her, but she squashes it quickly. Not the time, not the place. Instead, she pokes around until she finds the Qunari, Tal-Vashoth, and Vashoth Cultural Community Center of Val Chevin. It’s a mouthful, but everything on the website has Common and Qunlat translations available and they advertise aid in job finding, language courses, and even counseling.

Her day is decided then. Kass showers and dresses, then heads out with the directions to the community center written on a page from the notepad. Google told her that walking would only take twenty minutes, so she goes on foot, heading towards the university campus. The center is located across the street from the main library. It’s a beautiful area, with old roads and trimmed trees that are beginning to change in color with the season. There are students milling about, some are splayed out in the grassy areas with books surrounding them.

The center itself is slightly underwhelming. It’s a small white building with a modest sign out front declaring its name. She heads inside, a bell clinks announcing her presence and a cheery looking person pops up behind the welcome desk.

“Hello!” They say in accented Qunlat, “welcome to the together center!” They’re clearly vashoth, Kass thinks, with their accent and using the wrong word for ‘community’. That is a common mistake though, qunlat has roughly twenty different words surrounding the concept of community.

“Hi,” Kass replies and their eyes widen a bit.

“My name is Kassaran,” she says in Common. Qunlat, or at least the Qunlat she knows, doesn’t have phrases for names.

“A pleasure to meet you, Kassaran. I am Kalit, are you new to Val Chevin?”

Kass nods and her hand lands on her stomach, “I am. I um…it’s a bit of a complicated story…I was really just hoping to get some help with a few things?”

“Of course! What are you looking for?” Kalit shuffles over and sits expectantly at a computer.

“I need a job, but I don’t know Orlesian, and I don’t even know…” she purses her lips and wonders what she can and should not say. Her pause is long enough that Kalit stands up and comes around from the desk. They’re very short for a qunari, and they have exceptionally round features, she wonders if one of their parents is a dwarf.

They gently take her hands and smile up at her.

“You’re Tal-Vashoth, right?”

Kass nods.

“We don’t get many who have actually left the Qun, mostly we get vashoth students trying to find a place in a university that largely still doesn’t get it. But we can help, Shokrakar is in her office, who is really the best when it comes to counseling people on this.” Kalit releases one of Kass’s hands but holds the other as they lead her down the hall to a room with the door propped open.

“Dr. Valo?” Kalit says, pushing the door open.

“Yes, Kalit?”

“There is someone who could use your counseling services. This is Kassaran, she’s Tal-Vashoth.” Kalit guides Kass into the room. It’s a nice room, painted a soft blue decorated with black and white photos of various happy qunari people. Behind the large white desk sits an impressively tall qunari woman. Kass guesses her to be from Seheron, rather than Par Vollen with her black hair and dark eyes, the low-riding horns.

She looks up from her computer and smiles immediately Kass before rising.

“Hello, Kassaran. I’m Doctor Shokrakar Valo, please call me Shokrakar.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kass replies, shaking her hand. The doctor gestures for Kass to take a seat, thanks Kalit who leaves, shutting the door behind them.

“So, Kassaran, what can I help you with today?”

Kass swallows and fidgets with the hem of her shirt, “I really just need a job but I’m finding that to be unrealistic?”

Shokrakar nods, “Yes, unfortunately in Orlais, ninety-five percent of jobs require you speak Orlesian. But there are a few that don’t require it. I have a checklist of things I like to give people when looking for work – things like a bank account, payment plans for any debts, financial planning, those sorts of things that I have found many Tal-Vashoth specifically have a harder time with.”

“Yes, I…don’t really understand any of it. You know, under the Qun, everything is taken care of – you have your role, your monthly stipend dependent on your role that is attached to your citizen ID number, and that’s it.”

“Right, but it isn’t as different here as you think it is.”

For the next thirty minutes, Shokrakar explains as much as she can about the financial system in Orlais in how it will relate to Kass, even with the baby. There are apparently things like tax breaks for having children, and even programs for single parents to help support them – all dependent if she is here legally of course. Kass still doesn’t know, and she explains as best she can that this all happened in a way that she still doesn’t fully understand. The thirty minutes after that, Kass finds herself telling Shokrakar about how she left the Qun with Qal, to start a life happy and free from the toxicity plaguing their souls in the Qun.

“It wasn’t even a week ago that I was with my husband, locked in our apartment, and now I’m here and it’s great, but it’s just…”

“Overwhelming. You went from the Qun to Qal, that must have been…”

“Difficult, yes.” Kass rubs her stomach where the baby presses against.

“But I’m here now, and my…” what exactly is Melarue to her? Her friend? Rescuer? Roommate? None of the words seem right. Friend and roommate feel small for what Melarue is, and rescuer makes them seem like a superhero. Which…maybe they are, they have the aloofness of one, and the potential required tragic backstory – why else would they have their passenger? But friend…friend is closest.

“My friend, Melarue, they are very kind and are helping me.”

“So, you have a place to stay? Food? What about doctor appointments?”

Kass nods to the first two but pauses on the last. Doctor appointments, right. She shifts around and Shokrakar clicks around on her computer.

“I have doctor recommendations for you – when was your last appointment?”

Kass bites her lip. About that.

“Um. Qal said that women have been having babies since the beginning of time without doctors so…after we got the confirmation, he just said to keep indoors and eat well and I would be fine.”

Shokrakar blinks then nods very slowly, “…Alright. Well. That dathrasi can’t hurt you or your baby anymore. This is the information of a very trusted OB/GYN in the community. I will tell her to expect your call, she works at a clinic on the other side of campus that offers affordable care.” Kass takes the note, reading the name of the doctor carefully. Her brow furrows and while it seems like such an odd thing to be able to pick out….

“Forgive me, and you don’t have to answer, but…were you trained as a priestess?” She asks softly. Priestesses always had very specific looking handwriting, it was supposed to mirror that of Koslun’s.

Shokrakar pauses for a moment then smiles the sort of smile that Kass knows too well.

“Yes. But I loved science and the Qun and the priesthood…you know. I left to pursue science. I got a doctorate in sociology and now here I am, guiding people like a priestess would.” Her face is sad for a moment before she shakes it off.

“I think that’s good. The rest of us…we still need guidance, and while you aren’t serving the Qun, you’re still serving, you’re being true to yourself, and no matter what the Qun says – that’s good. You make the community strong.” It is a favored saying in qunlat to describe one who is valued and good. While it’s a remnant of the qun, she can see it light Shokrakar’s face up.

“Thank you, tama,” she replies. Kass’s face flushes, not in embarrassment but in acknowledgement of what she was. She knows that certain habits die hard, and some ways of being never change.

The rest of their talk goes well, she gets some information on how to enroll in Orlesian classes and some places that will hire her. Shokrakar tells her about a support group she has for specifically Tal-Vashoth persons. There is a qunari women’s support group as well, though it isn’t specifically Tal-Vashoth.

After their talk, Shokrakar decides to take her out for lunch. Because she has a class after lunch, they head to a café attached to the library where Kass orders a large spinach salad.

By the end of lunch, Kass feels like she’s made a friend and promises to keep in touch. Shokrakar suggests that perhaps Kass and Melarue come over for dinner some time. Shokrakar’s wife, Aada, would be more than happy to have them.

“It’s been great meeting you, Kassaran, feel free to call or text or email me any time – Tal-Vashoth have to stick together right?” Shokrakar jokes and Kass nods.

“Definitely. Thank you for everything!” Kass replies. They part ways, Shokrakar heading to her class and Kass heading back to the apartment. It is a beautiful day, the sky is filled with soft white puffy clouds, barely concealing any of the sun’s light. There is a gentle breeze rolling through the streets, ruffling Kass’s hair.

Today’s already been a good day, and it still has hours left! Speaking with Shokrakar has made her nostalgic for the better parts of the qun. Like the food. Kass believes that everyone is preferential to the food native where they grew up, there’s emotions and flavors there that other cuisines don’t have. And while the qun didn’t work out for her adult life, it wasn’t bad for her childhood. Like most children under the Qun, she enjoyed the feeling of having many children her age to play with, all under the care of the same Tamassrans.

When Kass arrives back at the apartment, she sets to work to creating a dish that takes hours upon hours to make. Not all the ingredients can be found at Orlesian grocery stores, she found, but she makes do with what was available.

She turns on some music and dances along as she cooks, feeling light and bright and happy. The apartment is filled with music and the smell of spices by the time Melarue arrives home. She hears them stop and pauses her singing before leaning over the kitchen island to wave at them.

“Welcome home! I hope you don’t mind, I went to the Qunari, Tal-Vashoth, and Vashoth Cultural Community Center today and it made me miss traditional foods so much. I hope you like spice!” She declares happily, dancing back to the large pot on the stove. She stirs the pot then tosses in the chicken that had been previously pan-frying. She covers the pot, checks on the rice, then sets to heating up some bread to go along with it all.

She turns to see Melarue’s wandered into the kitchen, sniffing the air with a smile.

“That smells delicious,” they say and she beams in return.

“Good! I hope you like it, if you don’t that’s fine though! Qunari foods tend to be polarizing for non-qunari,” she babbles, reaching up into the cabinets, pulling out several dishes for them to use.

“Normally there are several other spices, but I understand that Par Vollen doesn’t quite like letting them go. If you leave the qun you shouldn’t have any of its comforts – as if the qun owns the plants on the island as well,” she continues, bitterness lacing her tone. She blinks then shakes her head.

“It still has fifteen more minutes, if you would like to get changed into something more comfortable.”

“I can help, if you need. I was not expecting you to cook dinner,” they tell her, rolling up their sleeves, revealing long elegant hands.

“Um,” she hums, trying to think of things for them to do. She ends up handing over the warming of the bread which is busy work at this point. She apologizes though, it’s just that this last part is really nothing – the chicken just needs to simmer in the pot with the sauce for a bit. They seem understanding enough about it though, which is reassuring.

They do end up changing before dinner and by the time they’re back, she’s making their plate. They take a bite and hum in happiness.

“This is delicious, Kassaran, thank you.”

A small flicker of pride and happiness flares up in her chest, as well as some surprise. Qal had always expected dinner when he came home. But Melarue seems surprised and to be genuinely enjoying what she’s made.

Worry and tension eases from her shoulders as she digs into her own food.

“What did you do at the Community Center?” They ask.

“I talked with a Dr. Valo? She’s a sociology professor at the university. I wanted to see if they could help me find a job. Um, I…don’t think it is going to be simple? A lot of jobs require proficiency in Orlesian, which I am going to learn. Dr. Valo said she could get me enrolled in language classes at the university, so…hopefully I’ll be able to get a job and start maybe paying you back for everything you’ve done and that’s a lot and I am so thankful for everything really and I want to pay you back but it’s probably going to take some time and I am really rambling, I’m sorry!”

Melarue blinks then wipes at their mouth a napkin, “Kassaran, you don’t need to feel indebted to me. If you acquire a job and find means to leave and that is what you want, I will not stop you. I will not hold any debt over you. But thank you, you are very kind to want to pay me back.”

“I want to pay rent,” she blurts.

They pause then nod, “That is fine, as long as it is proportional to your income and does not impair you.” That is more than fair and she bows her head in thanks.

“I-I also need to go see the doctor.”

Their attention snaps to a point at that, “Is something wrong? We can go now.”

“No, no, everything is fine right now, I just…haven’t been able to go since getting the pregnancy confirmed…” The concern in their face does not wane, if anything they look even more concerned. After a moment, they release a long breath.

“Did Dr. Valo give you any recommendations?” Their voice is even but there is a sharpness to it and Kass wonders if their passenger is responsible for it. But there aren’t any cloying shadows or anything and their nails a normal length, so…maybe not?

“She did. A Dr. Merev – she works at the clinic on the south end of campus?”

“Alright. Do you know if you’ll need payment for it?”

“Probably, Shokrakar, uh Dr. Valo, said that she is affordable but probably still needs money, I’m sorry.”

Melarue waves her off, “It is no trouble, you and the baby need care, I’m more than happy to help.”

“Do…do you want to go with me then? Since it’ll be your payment information. I-I wouldn’t feel comfortable just using it myself,” she says, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

“I can go depending on the time.”

“What time would work for you?”

“I have nothing on Friday after three.”

“I will shoot for something after three on Friday, then.” Kass smiles and they both return to their food. After a few minutes, the silence draws on for what feels like a damning amount of time.

“How was your first day?” She asks.

Melarue shrugs, “It was good. I’m excited to be teaching again, even if some of the professors are…well let’s just say not all of them are aware of their history as they should be.”

“Oh dear.”

“It’s nothing dire, more annoying than anything. I’m afraid I frightened some of my human students off already,” they chuckle in a way that say that they are not in fact afraid about anything, or annoyed, but delighted at their current state of affairs.

“Well it sounds you are where you’re supposed to be. Those kids are lucky to have you,” as am I, she thinks.

“What classes did you have today?”

“Introduction to Elven History and a seminar course – The Dales: An Elven Perspective. The introduction course is the one where I am sure some of the human students are less than pleased, but then if they want their human-centric and friendly history they can take that oaf Dr. Renaudin’s class.”

Kass chuckles, they are so passionate about it!

“They would be fools to miss out on your class. But then, oafs do tend to attract fellow fools.” She tears her bread and begins to sop up the sauce, spooning some chicken along with it.

“What makes him oafish?”

They finish chewing and sigh, “Where do I start?”

As it turns out, there are many things that make Marcel Renaudin an oaf – an ignorant, racist oaf at that. Kass is by no means an expert on history, particularly elven history, but she knows that marginalized populations often get their history…reworked to fit in with the oppressors’ history. It happens in the Qun, even, mostly erasing the legitimacy of rebellions lead by Tal-Vashoth and Saare – mages.

This Marcel Renaudin is the sort of historian to endorse such…revisionist history as far as Kass can tell. Sure, Melarue is biased but Melarue is also sharp and Kass suspects they have lived through a lot of the history they’re talking about. So…she’s going to take their word over his.

Their conversation lasts past dinner, and they help her clean up. They’re rather insistent about it since she cooked. She “needs to get off her feet”. It is…a very different change of pace. She’s used to cleaning up. Qal would sit in the living room, winding down from the day, watching TV, and then she’d slip into the bedroom to read.

But Qal isn’t here and Melarue is kind. Kass sits down on the couch and clicks on the TV. There is…a ridiculous number of channels. How does she even choose? She settles eventually on the Home and Gardening channel. There is a show featuring a couple searching for a home in Denerim, Ferelden.

After Melarue finishes with the dishes, they take a seat next to her with a stack of papers.

“You already have things to grade?” She asks incredulously.

“No, I took a survey in the classes on some of the common misconceptions about elven history. I’m going through them, taking notes to see what I need to focus on.”

“That’s clever,” she says. They smile and they fall into a companionable silence as Kass watches her show and Melarue works through their papers. Every so often she looks over at them, sometimes their face is relaxed and simply reading, nodding along and making marks on a little notepad, others their brows are drawn and their lips are pursed. Sometimes they look to be incredulous, pen hovering indecisively over the notepad.

Their eyes flick up to hers behind their glasses, and she blushes. She quickly turns back to her show – the couple picks the second house, which seems silly to Kass since it was so out of budget.

The night continues quietly like that until Kass decides to head to bed. Melarue smiles at her and tells her to sleep well. For the first time in forever, Kass sleeps diagonally on a bed and it is glorious. She wakes up with a smile, stretching her body out over the bed. It is her domain! Her little kingdom of sheets and blankets and pillows – and she is the queen of all things soft and happy…for all of five minutes before her bladder screams in protest.

She relieves herself, showers, then heads into the kitchen for breakfast and her morning tea. Melarue’s nose wrinkles at her tea and she cocks her head.

“Do you not like tea?”

“No, it is odorous leaf water.”

She laughs at that, “It can be stinky, this is true. This blend is supposed to help the baby though, so, down it goes.”

“Well, of course if it’s for the baby,” they reply, reaching for their travel mug of not-tea.

“Did you eat breakfast? I’m going to scramble up some eggs if you’d like some,” she offers.

“Not this morning, I have early class, but I will be home earlier.”

“Alright, I was thinking maybe pasta for dinner?”

“Sounds delicious.” They grab their bag and wave bye to her as they leave, much easier today than yesterday she notes. Good, she doesn’t want them to worry.

The rest of the week follows in a similar pattern – she wakes up in time to tell Melarue to have a good day, she has breakfast, then leaves to go explore the city. She finds she really likes the university campus and a small square that’s a five-minute walk from campus. She enjoys getting all the fresh air and she spends a fair amount of time of walking through the university’s gardens. The house has such potential for a truly lovely garden, she needs ideas of what grows well down here.

She brings up the gardening ideas with Melarue who seems very eager to begin their garden. Wonderful! It’ll be a good weekend activity, and if she stays with them, the baby will have a gorgeous garden to grow up in and hopefully tend to themselves.

Kass makes dinner each night and Melarue cleans up. She begins to explore more of the channels and finds some programs she likes. It is amazing to her that there is a section dedicated to being ‘on demand’, full of shows and movies that she can just say ‘I want to watch this’ and boom – she can.

She discovers the amazing terrible-ness of Lifetime movies and honestly? She’s hooked.

The only day that ends up being a bit odd is Friday when she heads to the clinic with Melarue for her 3:30 appointment.

She wasn’t nervous before about it, partially because she hasn’t felt bad because of the pregnancy. She had some morning sickness at the beginning, but everything she read said that was normal. But now she keeps fidgeting with her sleeves, her purse, nibbling on her lip. The baby moves, seeming to know that their mama is nervous.

They take a seat in the waiting room and Melarue sets to filling out financial information.

She’s called back at 3:45. She stands up but Melarue does not, she looks at them quizzically.

“Do…would you rather not come back?” She asks. She knows that it is a bit…out of the ordinary to ask a friend to come back with her, but, well…she could use the support. But only if they don’t mind!

“I can come back if you’d like,” they offer carefully and she bites her lip before nodding wordlessly. Asking for help is difficult, particularly after everything else. But Melarue doesn’t hesitate – they grab their things and step up next to her. They follow a nurse back into a room where various measurements are taken. Blood pressure, height, weight, oral medical history (that is difficult to give since she has to translate everything from qunlat and medical terminology is always weird with that).

She changes into the typical paper gown for gynecological visits.

“Why are these offices always cold for these visits? Like they know we’re going to be pretty much naked, why is it cold?” She bemoans, pulling the robe closer to her body in a vain attempt to feel warmer.

“Like they expect me to expose myself not just their prying eyes but also to the cold air? They are asking too much,” yes she is whining, and no she doesn’t care. She’s cold, she’s pregnant, and she’s freaked out. She can whine.

“It is oddly chilly in here,” Melarue murmurs, looking up. They cock their head and their eyes flutter shut. After a moment, Kass hears something shift in the ceiling. Melarue opens their eyes and warmer air begins to flow out from a vent in the ceiling.

“OH!” She turns to them, “you’re too sweet! Thank you…and thank you for coming back, I know it’s weird but…we’re not exactly normal.”

“I do not mind, Kassaran. I’m…glad you feel comfortable having me here.”

There is a nervousness to them that has been present all week. As concerned as she has been about them letting her stay, she’s beginning to think they’ve been equally concerned on her leaving or somehow rejecting them over their condition. And her insistence on getting independent can’t be helping that.

“I really appreciate it, everything. You’re a wonderful friend.”

The doctor of course decides to come in before they can reply.

“Hello! I’m Dr. Merev.” The doctor billows in, quickly shaking Melarue and Kassaran’s hand. She looks down at Kass’s belly and glances at Melarue.

“Is the baby –

“Not theirs! Um, I mean…I have, had, a husband and he’s qunari so the baby is on a total qunari baby track. Ten months.”

“I’m a friend,” Melarue clarifies and the doctor nods, going along with it while she pulls on some gloves.

“That’s fine, I was just checking because elven-qunari children usually have different gestation than a qunari-qunari baby. Normally shorter with more heartburn for some reason, but that’s not the case. So, how far along are you?”

“Twenty-one weeks and…six days,” Kass answers. Dr. Merev goes through several more questions and it doesn’t take long before Kass has to explain that no, she hasn’t had doctor appointments because of Qal. Like Shokrakar and Melarue, Dr. Merev pauses for a moment and Kass shifts around awkwardly.

“Alright, you’re here now and we’re going to make sure you and the baby are healthy.” Dr. Merev goes through what feels like pages of questions, everything from diet to lifestyle to how easily Kass conceived, if she’s noticed anything unusual, as well as any pre-existing conditions she’s aware of.

Then comes the joy of having cold goo being squirted onto her abdomen.

“Since you haven’t had any doctor appointments, I’m guessing you haven’t heard your baby’s heartbeat.” Kass shakes her head. She knows that it’s normal to have heard the heartbeat months before now but then again, ‘normal’ doesn’t include Qal, she guesses. Dr. Merev moves the wand thing over Kass’s abdomen and then –

Wub wub wub wub wub wub.

“Oh,” she breathes. She’s not sure if the reaction is the same since she’s felt her little baby moving and kicking around already, so this isn’t the first real confirmation of life in her but it is…something else. That’s her baby’s heartbeat, a strong, happy heartbeat. She stares at the screen, watching her little one’s head and body and oh! There’s a little hand!

“Good news, everything looks good – ten fingers, ten toes, the skull looks good for proper future horn development. Your child is not going to be hornless,” Dr. Merev says, which Kass was expecting. Hornless children are rare for qunari, hence the stance that hornless children are ‘special’. She likes the horns anyways.

“A very normal looking baby, congratulations. Now, for some news you may not like – because of the lack of prenatal care, and because of the high stress environment you have been in, it has greatly increased the risk of this pregnancy. Your blood pressure is high, which is a risk factor for preeclampsia. Qunari pregnancies outside of the Qun are already higher risk pregnancies that human, elven, and dwarven pregnancies. So, you need to be in low stress environments. Not bed rest, but no strenuous work, low sodium diet, make sure you take your prenatal vitamins.”

Kass nods, she will make sure to take the vitamins, but the low stress environment…

“We just moved here and I don’t have a job, I wanted to get one, help pay rent, utilities, can I still do that?”

“I would strongly advise against it. If you need it to live, then do what you need to do.”

She leans back against the examination table and takes a deep breath. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

You can’t work while pregnant! Qal had yelled at her, demanding she turn in her notice at the sandwich shop. In some sick way, he was right – but because of what he has done. She knows that. It’s not…he’s…. Just dammit. Dammit it all.

She can just see her debt to Melarue, whether they recognize it or not, rising and rising. She’s not a small woman, she eats, and she’s growing a person, so she’s probably eating more than normal. She incurs a cost of utilities, shit they even bought a house because of her and she can’t even work to help them.

“Kassaran, there is no issue with this. Your and the baby’s health come first, I am happy to share my home with you,” Melarue tells her softly. She covers her face and works on breathing so she doesn’t cry.

“I know, and I am so, so thankful. I just…I’m this lump. I don’t want to be this burden that just weighs you down when you want to do things.” She sniffles and tries to hold the deluge back. It’s just not fair to them to have her laying around the apartment or the house doing nothing. Sure, she can cook and clean for them but she hardly sees that as enough.

“No, no, you are not a burden, Kass. The farthest thing from it. Even when we had that wall between us, you made every day better. I am more than happy to help you.” She feels their hand gently rest on her left horn, slowly running their hand back in a reassuring gesture. She leans into their touch for a moment before moving her hands from her face.

“…Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

They haven’t given her any reason to doubt them. From just taking her all the way here to buying the house to…every day, spending time with her.

She exhales a long breath and turns to the doctor.

“Alright, but I am going to take Orlesian classes, I might as well with all this down time for the next five months.”

“That is an excellent plan,” Dr. Merev says and proceeds to clean Kass up and revert the room back to normalcy. Kass is given a prescription for her prenatal vitamins and sets up her next appointments before leaving with a cute little sonogram of her baby.

She can’t work but…she’ll make it work. She’ll cook, clean, keep the house, and it’s just because it seems fair. If Melarue is going to be working and bringing home the bacon, so to speak, then she can keep a nice home for them.

#my writing #kassaran #melarue #caserole #domestic slow burn here we gooooo #wall au #shokrakar

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sky-scribbles · 7 years ago

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The Adaar Backstory - Part 3

The final installment of Talan and Meraad’s story, covering the years after the latter’s rescue from the Qun, their character development through Inquisition, and of course, their love interests. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get round to doing this!

Part One // Part Two

Part Three, in which things lighten up.

The years following Meraad’s escape were not easy.

Getting out of Seheron and fleeing to the Free Marches wasn’t even the hard part. The hard part was Meraad’s recovery. To begin with, she was convinced that she was putting Talan and everyone around them in danger, and that she had to go back to the Qun, or be put into a Circle. Talan tried very hard to convince her that she wasn’t dangerous, but after the emotional suffering she’d endured, there was only so much he could do.

For some time, they drifted from place to place, Talan taking mercenary work wherever he could get it to keep them alive. Eventually he was contracted to kill a bunch of apostates who’d escaped the Starkhaven Circle... except instead of doing so, Talan contacted them peacefully and asked if they’d be willing to help shelter Meraad. (Incidentally, this group had been helped to escape Kirkwall by Dalton Hawke, who would later become the city’s Champion - their leader, Terrie, was one of the few to evade recapture and would later receive help from Dalton through the mage underground quests. Small wonder Talan and Dalton get along so well in Inquisition.)

With Meraad in the care of fellow mages, Talan felt secure enough to leave Meraad alone to take work further afield - and eventually, this led to him joining the Valo-Kas. He visited Meraad as much as possible, but knew she wouldn’t be able to cope with the mercenary lifestyle, since she was terrified by the concept of using her magic to fight anyone. Slowly, Meraad’s mental state healed somewhat, though she was still scared of her abilities - but a huge help came along some years later in the form of The Tale of the Champion. Reading about Dalton Hawke - an apostate mage who was unquestionably a hero, had freed fellow mages and even tried to free a Saarebas - was a big step towards Meraad feeling like having magic didn’t make her a monster.

Eventually, of course, Talan ended up at the Conclave and stumbled out of the Fade with a weird mark on his hand. Once the gang were all settled at Skyhold, and he was sure it was a safe place, he wrote to Terrie’s group and invited them to join the mages he’d recruited to the Inquisition - and invited Meraad to come and live in Skyhold with him. Here, with help from Cole and tutelage from her hero Hawke during his stay there, Meraad finally came to embrace her magic.

She came to spend a lot of time in the stables, where she used her blossoming powers of Spirit and Creation magic to heal any injured horses, and where she felt most safe - it was a more isolated part of Skyhold, so she wasn’t around the crowds and noise (which made her even more jumpy and shrinking-violet-y than normal). Dennet and Blackwall, the stables’ only other regular occupants, were both good company - the former was fond of her, thanks to her skill with he horses, and the latter even more so, since her brother was his best friend, and both gave her friendly encouragement and all the space she needed. Often, the two Adaars and Blackwall could be found in three different corners of the stable - one brewing a potion or sewing a tunic, one tending to a horse, one engaged in woodwork, and all three of them enjoying the company of the others in comfortable silence.

Now, of course, for romance!

Talan was taken with Cassandra pretty much from the moment he saw her, but his admiring crush on the tough-as-hell Seeker quickly became more. She had the romantic dreaming streak that had made him fall for Aisha, and the battle-ferocity and utter faith in her cause that had attracted him to Hasa. And she covered his back in battle, stood at his side as he tried to prove that a Vashoth mercenary could save the world as well as anyone. It did take him some time to overcome his insecurities that Cassandra could really care for a Qunari - sure, Aisha had, but she hadn’t been anywhere near so strongly Andrastian as Cass - but of course, everything worked out all right in the end.

As for Meraad... it wasn’t long before she started shooting shy looks at her brother’s best friend. Blackwall treated her kindly and like a lady, respected her personal space, and seemed to her like a solid, noble hero-figure whom she could always feel safe around. After Revelations, however, Meraad’s feelings for Blackwall changed, becoming something rather more mature. Seeing how depressed he was post-reveal, she took it upon herself to comfort him and encourage him, assuring him that she knew exactly what it was like to consider oneself a monster. And Blackwall, in turn, started looking at her with new eyes...

Talan’s instinctive reaction on realising their growing feelings for each other was alarm - this was his precious little sister, after all, and while he’d forgiven Blackwall completely, he had lied - but he quickly realised that Meraad had grown up into a strong woman, and that this was her choice to make. Besides, he trusted no one more with his sister’s happiness than his best friend, and no one more with his best friend’s happiness than his sister.

I haven’t played Talan through Trespasser yet, so I’m not sure what choice he’ll make regarding the Inquisition or how his future with Cass might play out. I do know that Meraad will take the same role that a Blackwall-mancing Quizzie does, joining him as they travel to bring hope to those with none. And then, of course, there’s this gal to consider...

Naara Adaar is Talan and Cassandra’s daughter, probably born a few years after Trespasser. I haven’t worked out much about her yet, other than that while mostly human in appearance, she has slightly pointed ears and is very tall indeed. She grows up not sure whether she wants to take on her mother’s sword-and-board fighting style or her dad’s twin-dagger style... in the end she finds herself wielding a sword in each hand, because she’s that awesome.

Perhaps I’ll update this after I finish Trespasser with Talan. For now, I think that’s everything - this long and unnecessary summary of the Adaar family backstory is complete!

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #inquisitor adaar #qunari #oc backstory #inquisitor x cassandra #cassandra x adaar #blackwall x adaar #otp: finding truth #oc: talan adaar #oc: meraad adaar #oc: naara adaar

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caspinn · 7 years ago

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Repeating Apologies - Chapter 8

Summary: The Winchesters have found the next Indigo in Greece. They try to find out what kind of Indigo this one is, but get in deep trouble before figuring it out. Will this Indigo be Dean’s soulmate? Will she be able to cure him from the Mark Of Cain?

Warnings: Violence

Note: Sorry it took this long to post the next chapter. I had a major setback as my new laptop got stolen and after that I got another setback as I noticed OneDrive accidentally erased a few chapters... So, yeah, that’s life I guess :)

When Eryn wanted to answer, Sam suddenly felt his phone buzz in the pocket of his pants. He jumped up and walked away, mumbling his apologies. Once he read the name on his phone, he quickly answered it.

“Hello, Charlie?”

“Hi, Sam! How are you guys doing?” her cheery voice asked. Sam smiled and scratched his head.

“Well, we already found two Indigos,” he revealed, but he wasn’t really sure if the second one wanted to leave her creepy Vampire-family-clan to help Dean.

“That’s great news!” Charlie called out.

“Yeah, so, did you just call for an update? Or…I mean you sure have the right to call, you can always call and-“

“Yeah, yeah Sam, I kinda called because of the loneliness and the silence in this ginormous bunker. Oh, and I decoded some stuff from The Book Of The Damned by using some of Rowena’s notes.” She said it like she had done the dishes, as if decoding that stuff wasn’t hard at all.

“Wow, okay…what did you find?” Sam could hear Charlie ruffle trough some pages.

“Sooo…It’s not much, but I found out that the soulmate should be able to take the Mark over from him with some kind of complicated spell.” Crap.

“Okay, but then the Soulmate has the Mark and we still don’t get permanently rid of it,” Sam stated, remembering how Dean had explained that Cain had simply passed it on, as well.

Suddenly Charlie sounded dead serious. “Hmm, well, I can almost assure you that getting rid of that thing permanently will carry some kind of dark consequence. I didn’t fully translate that part yet so I don’t know how we'll be able to do that, but there’s only one word that I managed to translate already and it seems to be important because I see it coming back in almost all of the sentences.”

“What word is that?” Sam had a bad feeling about it.

“Dark,” Charlie revealed. The hunter sighed and rubbed in his eyes while trying to shake that bad feeling off. When he finished the conversation, he turned around to walk back to the others and saw Eryn, standing in the grass, a bit further from Dean, Cas and Valo, talking to Echo and two, Sam guessed, other Vampires. The three guys were sitting on the gravel, keeping an eye on Eryn.

“What happened? Did she tell what kind of Indigo she is?” Cas shook his head.

“No, at the same moment as you started calling, Echo walked in with her two companions. They needed Eryn to discuss something,” the Angel explained.

“News from Charlie?” Dean asked, getting straight to business. Sam nodded and without hesitation he started explaining everything that Charlie had told him.

When Eryn walked back to the guys, they could hear her yell: “Don’t forget anyone. You have their addresses and missions!”

“What’s happening?” Valo asked curiously.

“I’m having a meeting, I assigned Echo to come to me because you guys didn’t seem like a threat, so she didn’t have to guard me anymore.” Sam hadn’t even noticed that someone was guarding Eryn…Echo must have had a great hiding place.

“What kind of meeting?” Castiel asked, curiously but also cautiously.

“Well, Castiel, this situation needs to be discussed with my family, right? I can’t just leave them!”

Dean scratched his chin. “But are you planning on helping us?” he asked roughly.

“I am, but I need to be sure that my family can survive without me,” Eryn revealed. Dean nodded and Sam could see in his brother’s eyes that he wasn’t looking forward to be part of a big meeting with a whole clan of Vampires, even if their diet is human-free. Sam knew that he needed to keep an eye on Dean when the clan was coming together, so his eyes made contact with Cas’. The Angel nodded, so he understood that he needed to guard Dean too.

One hour and a half later the piece of stadium beyond the tunnel, where the guys met Eryn, was filled with about thirty Vampires. They showed up from all dark corners of the dawn. Dean acted as if he was relaxed, but even Valo noticed the Winchester’s nervousness.

“Calm down,” he whispered to Dean. Sam’s elder brother looked at Valo, he hadn't even noticed his own tense behavior, and tried to act better as if he was calm.

Eryn started talking and while she was speaking, she looked like the most relaxed and playful person ever. At the same time, she still sounded like a leader. With her straight back, loud voice and confident movements, she proved she had everything under control. Did Sam dream that the woman only a few hours ago said that she’d deserve to die?

“Dear friends and family! You must be asking yourself why I organized such a big meeting? Well, yesterday we, and with we I mean our dear Echo, discovered American hunters in Greece and she followed them and lead them to me. You know who these hunters were? Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you: THE WINCHESTERS!” She laughed loudly while she made big hand gestures to the two brothers. The Vampires held their breath.

Sam noticed that they didn't really share Eryn's cheer, after all, they were still monsters in the same room with hunters.

“Now, these four pretty faces asked me to join them on a mission. A mission that would stop a whole lot of killings!” She took Dean’s hand and pulled him more to the front. Dean was smart and calm enough to follow her.

“Now,” she said while stroking Dean’s jawline, Sam just kept watching with his mouth a bit open from surprise. “What do you guys think?” she asked her clan without pulling her hand away from Dean. Dean glared at her dangerously, but that only made her smile wider. It somehow gave Sam the feeling that this woman could be extremely powered and fearless.

Someone took a step forward to talk. It was a bald man with a muscular body. “Will you return?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”Eryn answered honestly. When the next person, a woman, took a step forward, Dean tried to go a bit backwards with anyone noticing it. The woman asked her question.

“Who will lead us?” when Eryn took Dean’s hand, quick and silent, no clan-member noticed.

“I’ll announce that as soon as we are sure of my departure. Who thinks this mission isn’t strong enough for me to leave?” While some hands were raising and the Vampires were whispering to each other to discuss the subject, Eryn turned to Dean and whispered in his ear. When she was done, Dean looked a bit grumpy and nodded. Eryn let his hand go and Dean stayed by her side the rest of the meeting. Sam was curious what she told him…

“I count…thirteen votes for me to stay. This is the minority, so I’m sorry, my dear family, but I’ll be going with the Winchesters. I honestly think you made the right decision.” She scraped her throat. “I decided to make two next leaders, being my own blood and the eldest Vampire. My nephew, who, we all know, is like a brother to me and the Vampire who looks like a teenager, but is hundreds years older than the most of us. Alec and Echo, come to me!”

Sam looked shockingly at Echo. She was hundreds years old?! How was that even possible? But then again, he had learned by now not to ask too many questions.

When Alec came closer, Sam noticed that he was a Vampire too. It made the Winchester think about what could’ve happened to Eryn’s family…but as far as he knew, they could still be living… or not… . Eryn gave a little speech and took goodbye of the clan she cared for, for many years.

“I know, for sure, that these two people will be as good leaders as I was. Alec and Echo, do you guys promise to only do what is right and correct and to do no unnecessary harm, to make sure the whole family stays bound by this rule?”

Alec nodded and spoke softly: “Promise.” Echo yelled loud and clear: “I promise!”

“Please, never hesitate to call me when in need. I hope this isn’t farewell, so I say goodbye!” Eryn kissed the cheeks of Echo and Alec, to say goodbye. The other Vampires walked to the front, towards Eryn, to say goodbye, hug her and kiss her cheeks.

This time, Eryn let Dean escape to Sam, Cas and Valo. Castiel immediately asked Dean what Eryn had whispered in his ear.

“She said that I was the mascot of the whole meeting,” he mumbled bitterly.

“Why?” Sam asked curiously. How did she manage to let Dean stay like a well-trained dog?

“She told me that even vegetarian Vampires like to stare at a good looking piece of meat. She needed me to look pretty and to be adored. Vampires apparently happen to be extremely sexually active.” For a second, Sam just stared at his brother, then he started laughing. Dean looked with a sour face at the guy making fun of him.

“That sounds like a nice compliment,” Castiel said innocently. Valo grinned widely, but his grin suddenly faded when he felt Eryn pulling his arm this time. She pulled him to the clan of Vampires. It was his turn to look pretty and this time, the Vampires were a whole lot closer than they were with Dean.

‘Save me’ Valo mouthed. This time Dean laughed his ass off, as if Valo was his friend. Maybe they’ll get to be friends, after some time, Sam thought. Valo was someone who was able to stay calm, well, calmer than Dean. Like me, Sam thought. Maybe that was exactly what Dean needed in a soulmate.

Or maybe Valo wasn’t Deans soulmate at all.

“Let’s leave now, while the clan isn’t noticing it,” Eryn said a few hours later when she walked back to the guys to release Valo. The Vampires were drinking and talking to each other. Sam understood her, she doesn’t want a too dramatic goodbye.

“I’ll go home to pack my stuff. When do you think the next plane flies to Belgium?”

“Well, Greece and Belgium are pretty close to each other, so probably tomorrow. I’ll check it and I'll let you kn-“

Suddenly Sam heard gunshots from everywhere. Everything suddenly went to slow motion. Sam looked behind him and saw the Vampires falling down and blood flying around. He saw a lot of fire and smelled the stink of burning flesh. Sam’s brain managed to muffle the screams to the background.

Sam felt someone pulling his arm, it was Dean to get Sam out of his trance. Dean signed to Valo and Valo started running, followed by Castiel, who made sure the Indigo wouldn’t get shot. When Sam tried to make Eryn move, she just kept staring at the bloodbath in front of her, so he just lifted her from the ground and threw her over his shoulder and sprinted.

Eryn wrestled herself loose again and when she looked at Sam, he could see her left eye was bright blue and her right eye was unnatural black, like Valo’s eyes were when he had argued with Dean next to the Parthenon. Sam knew that he mustn’t stare at her eyes for too long. When Eryn turned and ran to the fight, Sam yelled at her, but she didn’t look back. Sam turned his head and saw the others disappear through the tunnel.

Sam couldn’t leave Eryn to die so he ran into the smoke too. He tried to stay low and searched for the Indigo.

“Oh, you must be Eryn,” Sam heard someone say with a strong British accent on his voice. He tried to figure out which way he had to go and found, after tumbling over some bodies, Eryn standing in front of a man in some sort of suit?! From somewhere under the skirt, she grabbed a pretty long knife (witch was kind of impressive to hide under a skirt). Hadn’t Dean said that he saw someone get killed by a knife in one of the visions he had during his reading with the psychic-grannies?

Sam didn’t get the time to think about it. The British guy in the suit was talking to the phone, totally not impressed by Eryn.

“We found one Indigo, mister Davies,” He put the phone away and looked at the Indigo. Then he took his gun and said:“Please put the knife away, miss.”

When she started sprinting towards him, he shot at her hand, seemingly missing on purpose so she would drop her knife. Sam stayed down and searched his pockets. Shit, he didn’t have a gun with him! Eryn smirked and stared at the man. The man apparently got some sort of memo because he didn’t look her in the eyes.

She kept staring at him. Would her eyes make him feel emotionally empty too, or? Suddenly Eryn noticed Sam, she blinked a few times and went back to staring at the man.

Sam had a plan. It was the least waterproof plan ever, but he had one.

He silently crawled to the back of the man. He heard the sound of a helicopter coming closer. The man laughed.

“The British Men of Letters wants to thank you for your cooperation, miss Eryn,” the guy said, and as the words were spoken Sam jumped on his back. He knocked the guy to his knees and held his face towards Eryn, but before she had the chance to come closer and look him in the eyes, he quickly turned back to Sam, fought through the Winchester’s grip. Then, Sam heard a bang and suddenly felt a deep pain in his shoulder. There was a wound pounding while he was quickly loosing blood. His eyesight went blurry while he was struggling with this British Man of Letters.

Out of the blue, another pair of hands held the British guy too. Sam blinked and tried to see who was helping him. The British man got pounded in the face by someone strong and extremely angry. Sam looked at the face of his helper; Dean. The Brit lost his gun and because of Dean’s strength, he looked Eryn right in her eyes.

Her blue eye started to glow more and more until the light was too bright, while her black eye started crying black tears. She came closer, the man started to scream as if she was torturing him. He tried to close his eyes, but he was stuck, he couldn’t let go of her eyes anymore. The Brit kept screaming and even started to gargle and made weird noises out of pain. He tried to scratch Deans arms to break free, but Dean didn’t even loosen his grip when he started to bleed.

When the man stopped moving, Dean let go of him. For a second, Sam wasn't sure if Dean would keep on using his fists against the lifeless body in blind rage because of the Mark. It almost seemed like Dean was going to do that. Until he blinked and shook his head.

Then he ran to Eryn, grabbed her hand and hurried to Sam. Dean grabbed his brother’s side to help him balance and started running. When Sam was going to fall or go unconscious, Dean dragged Sam further while mumbling to Sam to hold on and to not give up.

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder and louder when they finally ran through the tunnel and to the car where Valo and Cas were stressfully waiting. Dean helped his brother to sit down in the car, the elder Winchester was shaking, but tried to look calm for his hurt little brother.

Sam quickly glanced at Eryn’s eyes and saw they were back to normal.

So Eryn didn’t make shields with her powers.

No.

She could torture people by just looking at them.

Then everything went black.

#dean winchester #winchester #Sam Winchester #winchester sister #greece #olympic stadium #olympia #vampire #indigo children #castiel #charlie #oc #sister

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