#now I'm gonna read tons of lore and fanfics

[meridiageek]

Beat Elden Ring for the first time and wanna post some screenshots from playthrough

[aliquistis]

On Mystra and Gale

Okay I gotta say it.

tl;dr: Gale is too old to have been groomed by Mystra (unless you headcanon him as 30 or younger), bc she was dead until 1479 (game year is 1492). I am not defending Mystra. Mystra is a mess. Her (FR) writing is a mess. But for this at least, the timeline doesn't add up.

Disclaimer: there is absolutely nothing wrong with people disregarding/tweaking lore for fan works/fanfic. God knows I do it all the time when I GM. That's your story now and you can do whatever you want with it, including exploring problematic relationships like what if Gale was groomed by Mystra? This is just a post for general information. Write what you want. Explore those dark recesses of the human heart. Fly free, you beautiful butterfly.

Too long but still gonna read explanation under the cut.

Let me preface this again: This is not a post in defense of Mystra. I have, in fact, been very loudly complaining about Mystra since long before Baldur's Gate 3 was even hinted. This is simply pointing out timeline discrepancies that it seems many newcomers to Forgotten Realms aren't aware of (totally understandable! You should not need to ingest 30 years of lore to enjoy a game and I'm not saying you do.) Additionally, FR literally kills Mystra every new edition and it gets dumber every time.

Anyways. It is highly unlikely that Gale was groomed by Mystra. This is not a statement of morality, it's a statement of timeline. Mystra died in 1385. She was in pieces (like bits of her magic were still in artifacts/her Chosen, such as Elminster in lore that I absolutely despise) and that, as far as I can tell, is how magic subsisted until 1479, when she was reconstituted by Elminster (in lore that I absolutely despise) This is a gross oversimplification of an event called the Spellplague. I am open to correction on how magic worked here because I moved to Pathfinder during the 4e era and you could not make me read those Elminster books if you put a gun to my head.

Regardless, from 1385-1479, Mystra was dead/missing/asleep. BG3 takes place in 1492. If Gale is 40 years old, he was born in 1452. This means, if Gale is 40, the youngest he could have been was 27 when Mystra contacted him. This lowers, obviously, if you think Gale is 35 or even 30. If he's 30 then Mystra could have contacted him at 17. Yes, a 17 year-old is a child and this could have led to grooming, but Mystra wasn't at full strength when she first returned and she most likely wasn't seeking new Chosen until the next year, 1480. Regardless, this is the reason I put grooming as Highly Unlikely instead of Impossible. I personally believe Gale is older than 30 (I say this as a person in their 30s), I believe he was written with the intention of being a man older than 30, and I cannot see him being in his 20s. (more power to you if that's your headcanon, he's an archmage, he could be 600 for all we know, fly free, etc)

OKAY THAT SAID. Would she have groomed him? Fucking probably! Mystra is a mess. I have been playing in Forgotten Realms in tabletop and video game settings for going on 25 years now and let me tell you. Mystra is a mess. I could make a whole long ass other post on all the many problems I've had with her writing over the years. Even without the "Mystra banged a minor" angle here, there is a serious power imbalance and very obvious manipulation on her part. And I'm here to tell you Gale isn't even the first wizard she has done this to! She's done much worse! Mystra has a ton of flaws (I could write a BOOK on Mystra's flaws) but it remains highly unlikely that grooming Gale in particular is one of them.

If you'd like more FR lore this person has some amazing lore write-ups that I really enjoyed reading during EA. And here is Mystra's forgotten realms wiki page, already linked to her death and return.

(my friend told me to post this after I kept bitching to them about Lore on discord and They Know Who They Are)

[polyhexian]

hellloooo!!! i was a big fan of your fics from i think over a year ago (?) now and then my life got busy and i couldnt keep up w your newer fics :( i just wanted to say reading mh and eventually with sooo many consecutive chapters has been an absolute delight, not only is it a brilliant read with such fantastic ideas (you bet ive caught up on as much jasper lore as i can find under the tags) but youre such a consistent writer i was shocked to see the times between the chapters postings!! how do you do it? my writing style changes per MINUTE im very impressed!!!! this is so cool!!!

ps. i was wondering if you ever plan to write more oneshots about hunter in the canon universe (ish, ykwim!!), or if youve moved on now to your own aus?? no complaints either way i LOVEEE all your toh work, but your vee & hunter fics DO hold a special place in my toh-based heart and i was wondering if there'd ever be more?

I think one of my strengths is that I'm good at changing styles, both at writing and art! It's obviously a lot more noticeable in art, so I've gotten lots of comments from people who are used to seeing one style from me really surprised to see me do stuff that looks totally differently. I think I'm pretty good at it in writing, too! I've got lots of fics written totally differently and I hope they're all good. I think my second person work is my best though, teehee.

I've been jasperbrained for awhile but I DO actually have a ton of ideas I've scribbled in my notes for non jasper fanfics in my notes, even if I haven't written them. AND I've actually got a vee and hunter fic I've got outlined that I've been rotating in my head recently that I just need to sit down and DO but I totally do intend to. I think it's gonna be a really good one. It's about like, how and why vee is able and willing to forgive him even though he killed one of the other basilisks, how she could not only forgive him but live and trust him as a beloved brother. Cuz it's something I have a lot of feelings about, like, vee, who she is, how she thinks, her reasoning and her feelings. And I really wanna share them!!!!

I don't know if I'm really gonna post lots of non au toh fics again like I was... I have a tendency to go through cycles. ADHD brain. So like six months, a year, I will do One Thing and absolutely nothing else. Like I will be writing fanfic obsessively or I'll be animating 12 hours a day and nothing else or I will do nothing but original content or nothing but a fandom. And unfortunately I do not control the brain fjejfjfn rip. So I cannot predict if my brain will decide I'm allowed to again or not! But whatever the brain says I can do I hope is good and will be enjoyed by someone, but also I totally understand when it's like "welp. That is definitely not something I'm here for" lol. I am always swinging around between stuff.

[soaps-mohawk]

I just went through most of your lore masterlist and basically skimmed through everything, hope you didn't mind the spam if you did I'M SORRY I COULDN'T RESIST

Your fanfic is probably the first omegaverse fic that I've ever read, and honestly? You did such a good job! I love how much you care about world building and how you portray 141. The dynamics are top tier and I LOVE THEM ALL

Read though fic on ao3 simply for convince, but holy fuck you're so talented I might do that again here

Kinda want to read more omegaverse centric stuff but I'm scared I'll destroy a goof thing for myself 😭

This was amazing read, I'll definitely come back to it at some point, I looooove your writing style and can't wait for more! Hope inspiration will stay with you, hands won't cramp, headaches will avoid you and you have the comfiest bed ever

(this is so chaotic, I'm sorry, I'm actively avoid uni work and, well, brain is shutting of just at the prospect of it lol)

Can't wait for more from you! Gonna go now check out your other blogs to see if something catches my attention, have a good one! 💕💕

Hi!!! Aww thank you so much for your lovely comments 🥹 I don't mind spam at all!! It makes me happy to see people enjoying my thoughts and words and creations. That's why I share them 😊

Noo don't be scared of omegaverse, there's tons of talented omegaverse writers out there 😊

Thank you, again 💚 This was really lovely to read, and definitely needed today.

[burntblueberrywaffles]

My 2023 recap (but it's through all my favorites posts I've made this year)

I started this in december and intented the post it a bit earlier but life got crazy busy;; anyway finally posting part 1! there will be a part 2 because this got a bit more out of hand than expected, and tumblr has a 30 images cap per post RIP

post are under the cut, they've all been dated and linked ❤️

Jan 22nd

Me: please send me asks! I want to get them! I’ll answer them for sure!

Also me when I actually receive an ask:

Jan 28th

Fev 1st

Fev 7th

Me every time I hear a song that slightly reminds me of my ship:

Fev 7th

I love when my mutuals talk about themselves in the tags, like oh, new bit of lore just dropped

Fév 19th

Me when I see Game Changer clips but I don’t have dropout:

Mar 27th

Apr 2nd

Apr 5th

Apr 7th

My problem is that whenever I enter a new fandom, I binge read a ton of incomplete fanfics, subscribe to all of them, and then when I get a chapter update for one of them I just

Apr 9th

Me listening to drinking song for the socially anxious:

Apr 10th

Apr 13th

may 12th

Netflix stop cancelling my favorite shows after 1 season challenge

June 6th

June 7th

Me seeing porn bots following my account again:

June 7th

Watching spiderverse 2 like

June 20th

I'm not gonna add a video to this post cause it's too much of a hassle, but this is the Hyde stick figure edit, that you can find here :3

June 21st

Me before: I don’t know if I should tell people that I’m autistic, what if they judge me

Me when I meet new people now:

June 22nd

The delicate balance between protecting your peace and being a nosy bitch

June 24th

June 26th

How am I supposed to touch grass in these conditions

July 2nd

Whoopsie! Your anxiety manifested itself as distrust and now everyone hates you

July 2nd

Someone: Um actually if you look at the books/comics/other tv shows it’s canon that-

Me:

July 2nd

guess what i did today

July 5th

July 8th

July 10th

July 14th

What they don’t tell you about the autism diagnosis is that soon enough you’ll constantly be looking at characters of tv shows and movies like

July 17th

Some very specific memes about my comic con weekend

July 19th

Me every day of my life

July 27th

when you see one of your mutuals reblog something from another one of your mutuals, when they had no previously known relation

[texasdreamer01]

Fic ask!!

3, 21, 27 and 30!

3.) favorite line/scene you wrote this year

I've written an astonishing amount this year, published or not, so I've actually got to comb over what I've published so far. I think, though, it would have to be from the first fic I've published this year, a Bagginshield work in the Hobbit fandom, ešretū of a burglar:

He beat his other hand on his thigh, struggling for composure in a place that held only him and history.

21.) most memorable comment/review

There's been a few of them, I'm happy to say! There's three that I'm fond of the most from this year, actually, two of which are from ešretū of a burglar and one a bookmark comment from another Hobbit fic, this time Barduil, Build a door and then open it:

"Your arkenstone lore is the best around"

"oh this is so fascinating! i love how you expand on dwarvish religion; it makes so much sense that there would be places of worship dedicated to mahal within the mountain, but the thought had never even crossed my mind til now. easily the best way bilbo could have handled the arkenstone debacle, i think."

"Nicee. Thranduil is finally a good balance between book and movie canon"

27.) favorite fanfic author of the year

stares at bookmarks I think I've gone through three different fandoms this year, that's gonna be a tough sell, uhhh. I have no idea how to sort by author on AO3, or even how to figure out who I've bookmarked the most (I've definitely mowed through entire author's works in a given fandom as a habit, and SGA has been no different).

I lied, it's been two fandoms, once I've checked.

… Also I can't figure out how to get sorting by author to work, so this will presumably remain a mystery until then.

30.) favorite fandom to read fic from this year

I've read tons and tons of Barduil (Bard/Thranduil) fic from the Hobbit this year, because of participating in the Barduil month by @bi-widower-dads, but I had re-watched Stargate Atlantis and… well, we can see where that went I have a 60k WIP hahaha oh no.

[jemwritesstuff]

Joey; the Legion x reader

I actually read lore for this lmao also this was supposed to be a soulmate thingy but i forgot abt it halfway thru writing and it just,,,,got left off

another notable thing is that this has literally been sitting in my drafts for better half of a year with me writing maybe a sentence a week so it’s really jumbled and probably makes no sense mostly but i decided i've already spent too much time worrying if it's “good enough” so i'm just gonna post it as is and edit later if i feel like it

content warnings: canon typical violence, swearing, reader is a smoker, alcohol, something akin to an anxiety attack described, I can’t write dialogue to save my life, again a surprise father figure, what’s a POV, I’m a part of a Julie needs rights in fanfic gang btw

word count: 3738 oops

***

Julie invited you to a party. You’d missed the last one (you’d slept through it but that would be a secret you’d take to your grave) so she insisted you come and meet the guy she’d been getting it on with. 

You’d heard about him - someone out of town who had come here to stir up chaos in his steps. Everyone seemed impressed by him but it was easy here in Ormond - new blood did always get the attention. 

You promised to go, though, and there was no backing out of it now.

It was just how you’d expected from a party Julie threw. The music was loud and based on the stench, someone had already thrown up in the bushes. You beelined to the kitchen to get yourself a drink hoping it would help you handle the rowdiest kids.

Meanwhile in the living room Frank was in the middle of telling a little story about his fucked up little life. Julie was enamored, and so were most of the other kids at the party, too. Joey, however, had a hard time focusing on his words. Bouncing his leg up and down in frustration, he ended up just observing the front door.

His eyes found you, hands in your jacket’s pockets and a visible scowl on your face. He was a little taken back. Mostly people came to Julie’s parties to either get shitfaced or laid but you only looked extremely annoyed to be here. Now that he thought about it, that’s just what you always looked like, especially in class. He’d seen you around tons of times and knew you as one of Julie’s oldest friends. Maybe you just didn’t like groups of people that much, otherwise for sure Julie would have forced you to take part in her parties and hangouts a lot more often.

That must’ve been it, he thought, since you had no trouble emerging from the kitchen just to plant yourself on the sofa right next to Julie. Joey was intrigued by your ways but he would never admit that to you and even less to Julie.

He awoke from his thoughts to Susie elbowing him to the ribs. 

“Hey”, you started, “I’m partly forced to do this-”

Julie interrupted you by snorting.

“-but since you people mean so much to Miss Asshole here, I don’t mind.” You told the lot your name and a little of how you’d come to know Julie, as your parents have been friends for a lifetime already. You were surely gonna tell an embarrassing story about Julie before she slapped a hand in front of your mouth. Laughs erupted all around.

“I’m Joey, nice to meet ya, officially”, Joey raised his beer bottle towards you.

“Yeah, I see you ‘round a lot. World history, right?” You questioned, a little pout on your lips.

“That and French”, he confirmed.

“Oh yeah, although I always sleep through French”, you nodded and chuckled. If common sense hadn’t gotten the best of Joey, he might’ve thought your laugh sounded nice.

“I know”, he grinned. Oh, if he’d paid attention to Julie’s intrigued expression rather than your smile.

You stuck around the group for the party. It was easy for Joey to smile. It was obvious how happy you made Julie by getting on easily with her group, and that was enough to make him happy too. He was certainly glad Julie decided to force you there that day. 

“I’ll go for a quick smoke”, you rose up from your seat, hands fishing your pockets for a lighter. Julie gave you a pat on the back and moved her legs to reserve you a seat. 

Before the gears in Joey’s head had turned all the way, he had already stood up and agreed to join you. He returned the nod you gave and followed you out the back door, leaving the deafening music behind.

He can no longer remember where the conversation started. All he knew was that he enjoyed talking about everything under the sun with you. He got to share his deepest thoughts without feeling like a burden or worrying about seeming unstable. You weren’t afraid to knock him off his pedestal either. It didn't take long for those smoke break conversations to become a custom. 

***

Joey liked his new job at the hardware store. It was easy enough, even with the owner’s ridiculous snow globe collecting. The rest of the Legion teased him about it, especially after they found out a certain someone also worked there.

You shared quite a lot of classes with him in school and whenever the rest of the Legion was unavailable, Joey hovered with you. You’d introduced yourself at one of Julie’s parties and after that wherever Joey looked, you seemed to be there. He didn’t know if he’d just never really noticed you before or if it was “destiny” or some other bullshit his older sister went on and on about.

Whatever it was, Joey didn’t mind. You were good company and didn’t give a shit about his bad habits and more than alarming pastime activities. You had a knack for creating havoc as well, maybe not as crude as setting theaters on fire, but no old woman downtown looked at you and thought to themself; “what a delightful young person” and that’s all that mattered to him.

The day everything changed was quite ordinary in its core. Joey left the building right when you were preparing for your shift. He came across you outside the employee’s entry, a cigarette in between your fingers.

“Lucky you”, you offered him a smoke, “I’m stuck here for the rest of the evening.”

His fingers brushed against the sleeve of your hoodie you had wrapped around yours so as to not freeze them off. “He fired me.”

You glanced up at him. He was pouting and the corner of his eye twitched just a little to tell you how annoyed he really was. Not even the bitter smoke leaving his nostrils seemed to calm him.

“I’m sorry ‘bout that”, you shook your head. You knew he’d stolen some things with Julie and the others but you’d always turned a blind eye. You never liked the owner anyway but you needed the money. 

He passed the cig back to you and zipped his jacket up. You could guess what he was thinking, which gave you an idea. “Y’know, Joey, I might be tired when I’m leaving work today. Might forget to lock the back door.” 

Joey found it hard to mask his surprise. The raised eyebrow solicited a smirk from you.

“Would be a real shame if that happened, you know there’s a lot of fuckers wanting to thrash that place up”, he said.

You winked at him through the puff of smoke.

***

You’d just exited the building when you saw Joey’s truck pulling up at the front, right outside the cameras’ view. It was dark out and you didn’t see the faces but it was safe to assume that along with Joey, there was Julie, Susie and Frank also in the car. 

You pulled your hood up to get even a little protection from the howling wind. They got up from the car, breaths crystallizing in the cold air. You approached them, trying to keep the fire from your lighter alive long enough to get the cigarette between your lips lit. 

When that didn’t work out, you just huffed and stuck both items back in your pockets along with your freezing hands. 

“Can you guys believe some inconsiderate fool stuck a safety pin in the back door’s lock so I couldn’t close it properly?” You faked an annoyed voice and barely succeeded in hiding your grin.

“Now that’s too bad”, Julie smirked and pulled you into her side for a half-assed embrace. “It’s good to see you.” 

“You too. Now y’all have fun in there but just don’t touch my locker. You wouldn’t wanna find out what exactly is in there.”

“Don’t worry. knowing you, it can be anything from rotten guts to a five year stash of chocolate and I wouldn’t wanna be tangled in your wrath in either of those scenarios”, Joey chuckled and patted your shoulder. 

Frank gave you a nod of recognition and Susie smiled and waved at you before they all started moving towards the building, hoods up and faces hidden with eerie masks. Deciding not to question it, you waved at their backs and started making your way back home.

Once the building was out of your field of view, a terrible chill ran up your spine. Everything seemed the exact same but the feeling persisted. Unlike the familiar one of being watched, was it accurate or not, this one was more… sinister. Malicious, even. Despite the horrible wind, a thick fog was closing in on you.

You kept walking - you knew the way home after all - but it was no use. You were dead certain everything around you was disappearing, the park bench was not there anymore and you couldn’t even locate the lamp posts. 

The fog was thick enough to cause you to lose your heading and make your head heavy. All you saw was gray, anyway, but this gray was purely unsettling.

In the end, the Fog consumed you, leaving no other way to go than forwards.

***

The Fog was indeed sinister and malicious.

At the start, everything was so confusing to you. Jeff - who you’d chatted with in school or seen at the music store - was there too, which by itself would’ve been a relief if he hadn’t aged over twenty years in a single night. He and the others - mainly Bill, whose company you’d joined at first just for the seemingly unlimited supply of cigarettes, helped you get a hold of “things”;  handling the pain, sticking your fingers into an endless array of machines, patching yourself and others up and distracting the killer long enough for your teammates to get stuff done.

Easy enough, you thought, I’ll just have to keep performing, how hard can that really be?

The answer: really fucking hard.

Especially after Jeff told you about the other people you’d known in your life, and how they coincidentally were on the other side of this fucked up endless game of cat and mouse.

You called him out on his bullshit - you had never encountered them yourself yet and there was no way that out of all the possibilities this motherfucking lovecraftian being had, it would take six people that knew eachother just to fuck with them some. 

Only when you fought for your life back in the familiar winter breeze of Ormond did you start doubting your own mind.

You had spent time at the lodge before and there was no mistaking it. As gray as ever, you thought, no power in the world would bring this shithole color.

It was hard for you to concentrate on anything that trial. Jake was obviously fed up with you fumbling the wires and sent you off to “roll in the snow or something”. Hell, with nothing better to do, you did lay in the snow. The illusion of cold was all around you but the snow felt like nothing. It had the texture, sure, but it didn’t melt in your fingers nor did the falling snowflakes actually touch you - they went right through you - probably didn’t even stay on the ground, just disintegrated and fell again time after time. 

Yui ran right past you - the ghost girl fresh on her tail - neither paying you any mind.

You’d been there for, what, a week at most, and you were already beyond fed up with all the antics of the controlling shithead you’d come to know as the Entity.

With nothing but hatred on your mind, you flung a handful of snow in the air and cursed. The crows flew away and the banging in your chest got louder.

With the conclusion of “nothing matters so might as well have fun dying” you decided to harass the Spirit off Yui to get something actually meaningful to do.

As expected, you didn’t make it but it was worth it seeing the rest of your team skedaddle out. 

***

Jeff had heard all about your heroic deed last trial but his mood changed once he heard Yui mention the Ormond. You hadn’t come back to the campfire after, so he decided to go find you. Seeing familiar places and faces had been a shock to him, too, and he’d hoped he’d had someone to help him through it. 

He found you at the edge of the forest staring straight ahead, deep into the ever changing woods. He sat next to you on the cold ground.

“I should’ve known it would be you.”

Jeff huffed and smiled at you warmly, only you didn’t look anywhere near him. “I know what it’s like. There’s not many of us that know their killer like we do.”

“Y’know, it’s not just that I know them”, you took a long breath. “Hell, I’ve been friends with Julie since we were in diapers. She- all of them became my family-” You managed to choke out before your voice gave out. It was getting harder for you to breathe and Jeff noticed it. You sat together in silence, him patiently waiting for you to calm down.

You cursed loudly, not paying any attention to the tear that had made its way down your cheek. 

Jeff patted your back and you didn’t have the energy to shy away from it.

You were still far from calm, muttering curses under your breath and smothering your face in your already damp sleeves. So, he decided to start talking.

“Y’know, after the night you five disappeared, news ran wild in school the next day. Most were sure that you’d just ran away together.”

He kept a small break.

“It was your closing and opening shift, right?” At your meek nod, he continued, “Yeah, no one found the body until after school was over. The next day was pure chaos. You were all suspects, you, especially. I hardly believed it. Arson is one thing, but I couldn’t believe that anyone but Frank could do something like that. Now, it’s clear what happened but when I was still young and naive, I kept thinking ‘no way, these are the people I’ve known for years, this can’t be happening’. And it’s not like I was good friends with any of you, really.”

At that, you gave a small laugh.

“I mean that’s the truth!” He smiled, too, “You all came by the shop a lot, and I did the mural at the resort but at school, all of us had better friends to hang out with. I never even went to one of Julie’s parties. That’s kinda why I moved away after high school; I couldn’t keep living in the town where my speaking acquaintances had been ruled down as murderers.”  

The silence was comfortable now. 

“Thanks, Jeff”, you sniffled and wiped the last of your tears away.

“Anytime, kid-” Before he even had the chance to finish, you had smacked him in the arm.

“We’re the same age, old man.”

***

That trial started out as any. You greeted Dwight and stuck your fingers into the gears with him. It didn’t take long for your heart to start beating faster.

When you finally caught sight of the killer through the corn, you could barely believe your own eyes.

You would’ve recognized that black jacket anywhere.

Motherfucker. 

You scattered away from the generator as fast as possible, going the opposite way from Dwight.

Yui had talked you through about the logistics of going against “The Legion”, ‘stay separated, keep running and don’t bother healing each other up unless you really have to’, but, fuck, was it hard to be productive when you knew who was behind the mask.

He’d gone after Dwight, and it wasn’t long until you heard him yell. Your heartbeat picked up speed again.

“Keep running, huh?” You questioned as you watched him come after you. “No, I don’t think I will.”

Honestly, it was probably the dumbest decision you’d be making. 

Would he even know it was you?

Would he care?

Stopping dead in your tracks, your heart felt like it was going to give up any second.

He stopped, too. You were going to stare him down.

You recognized the knife. Fuck, you’d given him the knife. For his birthday, like what, three months ago? 

He was as stiff as you. The only sound you could hear was your own heartbeat and your combined, erratic breathing. The knife was lowered but it never left his grip.

“I should’ve known it would be you”, the voice is a bit muffled - courtesy of the mask - but undoubtedly the exact same voice you remembered.

“We heard of a newbie, stirring up trouble and always being half a step ahead”, he continued. You made no move, just looking where his eyes should’ve been. “I should’ve known it’d be you.”

He raised his empty hand towards you. For a moment, you forgot how to breathe. The silence was broken by a generator firing to life and he retracted his gloved hand back to his side. He quickly glanced that way before turning his head back towards you. You never would’ve thought you’d end up in this position. Staring straight into the eyes of a killer, your friend, and being guilty of the fear bubbling up inside of you.

“You should get to work.” It was a wonder your own voice didn’t waver. You just wished your eyes didn’t betray your inner thoughts.

He took another moment to think before answering.

“Come to Ormond when you get out.”

With that, he turned around, leaving to find your other friends, your teammates, no doubt murder on his mind. ‘When’, he’d said, you noticed. He never had an intention to hurt you - he’d had all the chances in the world.

You spent the trial in a haze barely getting anything done. As ridiculous as it was, it felt comforting to know he had the same problem. There was only a few hooks the entire trial and he didn’t dare look in your direction, even when you got caught in the open field, he just went the other way.

Back at the campfire, Ace took on the job of retelling the trial, of how he’d kept the “unruly teenager”, on his trail long enough for three generators to get completed. You decided to let him brag this time and wandered off into the surrounding woods. 

At the edge of the premises, you started doubting yourself. He was a killer after all, hell, they were all killers. You had no idea what to expect.

Joey had asked you to come there but would the others want to have anything to do with you? Worst case scenario, Frank would want to kill you. How’d Susie even get wrapped up in this, you wondered, she’d always been the warmest person in the room. You could hardly imagine her hurting anyone. And Julie; you’d always been there for each other but now, after being thrusted on different sides of a wicked game, would that change?

Before you had the chance to spiral further, footsteps woke you up from your thoughts.

He looked far more relaxed now, shoulders down and no bloodlust coating his veins. Still, expressions hidden away by the mask, knife tucked away somewhere.

You had no idea what to think. 

Neither of you wanted to make the first move.

“I heard it disfigures killers when they disobey or perform badly”, you started. A neutral statement but worry evident when reading in between the lines. The trial hadn’t been a good performance from him.

Before you could really even close your mouth, he had acted. In a fleeting moment, the mask was gone from his face. 

He was the exact same as you remembered him. You didn’t know how to feel. Would the other possibility have felt better? 

“Did you talk to Jeff yet?” He asked. You couldn’t read him anymore. Had you really been apart that long? You used to be able to tell what he was thinking from the little twitches in the corners of his eyes.

“Yeah, I…” Everything about the situation was wrong. Knowing what they had done, what they had been doing in this wretched place - your body was screaming at you to run but your heart disagreed.

“He told you everything, didn’t he?” He frowned, only slightly, but it was enough to tell you just how much he hated the thought. At least you could read that off of his face.

You nodded. “Are the others here?” You were glad your voice didn’t waver. Your hands were sweaty and trembling, so you stuck them in your pockets – hoping he didn’t notice. You wanted to see the lot again so bad but you were deathly afraid of how they’d treat you now that nothing was the same anymore.

He nodded. You stared at the resort in silence.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you, you know. I–” He started, before seemingly shutting himself up. His face said nothing but you knew it was bothering him, not being able to say it out loud.

You turned away from him and the resort. Your brain was scrambled and fried, heart beating like it was going to give up any moment, legs barely carrying your weight.

“I shouldn’t be here, Joey, I don’t- I don’t belong here anymore”, you managed to choke out.You didn’t hear his response, the ringing in your ears was sure to make you deaf. Your chest was tightening with every breath.

Warm hands guided you to sit on a rock. They were a nice contrast to the chilling tremor going up your spine. 

After a moment of calming yourself and evening out your breath, you opened your eyes – when had you closed them? – only to gaze straight into Joey’s soul. You knew what he was going to say before interrupting himself, what he was feeling, just from the little twitches around his eyes. 

The corner of his mouth lifted up.

“You’re always gonna belong here”, your name sounded far too familiar coming from his lips, “We’re not gonna abandon you, I’m– Listen, I’m not going to abandon you. Okay?”

You nodded. You knew he wasn’t lying.

***

[meili-sheep]

I'm just now gonna tag my asks with Leyline!Anon to Amir things easier

Anyways, a pet of this shall be Leyline Diluc and a part another new au bc my Diluc au brainrot knows no bounds

Leyline Diluc doesn't sleep a lot, like, 3 hours of sleep at most.

This is not only because of his time away from mond for 3-4 years, it's also bc of the Leylines constantly flowing info thru him

And i would like to think Diluc was a very creative child and the Leylines had a hand in nurturing that

but even then i think that he would think about things from the info being given to him and only fall asleep once his mind gets tired enough

and during his 3-4 years away, i think his paranoia was slightly soothed and accelerated by the leylines

both being that the benefit is also the detriment, he can know when someone/s are in his vicinity but can only know when he's awake, overall wrecking his sleep schedule for a while until he learned just to deal with it

There's also Dainsleif and the new info form the latest archon quest saying that the portals abyss heralds open can be controlled by the opener to lead them to the desired location but lead someone who fell in into a random location.

And as I think the dialogue hinted at the portals working like teleport waypoints except as vague as genshin's ending in terms of location, maybe Leyline Diluc can use them? after all, the waypoints are also connected to the Leylines, and if the portals work similarly to then then who's to assume the portals aren't connected to the leylines as well?

And here's a new au ig, I haven't put too many thoughts into it yet like I'd did with Leyline Diluc but I'll just put the ideas i got of it, if you wanna hear more Abt this 2nd one please tell!

I remember reading a fanfic(I think it was called "Poison by hollowhalo") in which Diluc has white hair and blue eyes like his mother and that she and Crepus didn't have a good relationship and that ultimately ended in Kaeya being the favorite and Diluc running away due to his father's neglect(He never blamed Kaeya, only his dad) and accidentally falling into the abyss.

So That detail of Diluc having white hair and blue eyes kinda threw me in for a new au idea as who else has blue eyes and white hair and is in the Hoyoverse multiverse? Kiana Kaslana also known as K-423 also known to be the Herrscher of the Void.

And who looks like the Herrscher of the Void??? The Unknown God

So going by this ridiculous idea I've created an au where Diluc is the son of the sustainer somehow, can change only his hair and eye color between redh/rede and whiteh and bluee

And thats where this idea diverged

Idea 1: Diluc gets primarily raised in Celestia and somehow escapes to Mond and lives there with Crepus and Basically in future events Celestia finally hunts down for him once of for all, they jsut didn't B4 because of the sustainer's grief(I think there's a similar situation happening to the sustainer like Kiana and the Herrscher of void)

Idea 2: Diluc somehow kills the sustainer and becomes the new and pretty young leader of Celestia bc he found out all the bad shit they did in the past and wanted to atleast do something about it and reinstated a new order, future events for this one is that

1st event: After crowning: Diluc Somehow Time travels to months B4 Khaenri'ah's destruction and befriended Kaeya and somehow kept visiting and when it happened he brought back Kaeya with him to the future(Yeah idk how to explain this one) and

2nd Event: Kaeya Takes Diluc's side which is also Celestia's side in the final battle which is vague for now

Hey I know that fic! And that author!

Also, I don't know a ton about 3rd Impact, but I know there is a bit of overlapping.

As for the portals, I think there is a slight difference between the Abyss and the teleports used in-game. Lore about the teleports is a little inconsistent. But considering they can be corrupted, I see them as links to the ley lines or maybe the Celestial or the Light realm. I've always thought that the Abyss's teleporting was like weaving between the leylines and through all three realms. Just fill in the cracks. So Maybe Diluc's teleporting might be more like he's not controlling the path, he's just following the path that's already thereby moving through the leylines.

Also, that new idea is fascinating. Like I said, I don't know much about the 3rd Impact. But Diluc being the son of The Unknown God, there is a lot of playgrounds right there.

I mean, I personally like having him as a son of the Falcon of the West, so I like seeing the ties to Celestia