#once i read the event story i might actually die

[star3synth]

[MIZUKI 5 EVENT STORY SPOILERS AHEAD]

(consider this your warning i’m being serious guys)

this event is making me lose my mind even though i haven’t read the full event story yet. wanna know why?

because APPARENTLY WHAT HAPPENED IN THE EVENT STORY IS SO BAD THAT MIZUKI LOSES THE LIGHT FROM HER EYES AND ISOLATES HERSELF IN THE SEKAI.

excuse me while i go explode in the corner guys

[utilitycaster]

The thing that gets me abt the framework of downfall and the way Ludinus(and some ppl in the tags who seemingly are trying really hard to roleplay Ludinus) read it is that they're like "look at how the gods meddled and laid low to destroy this bastion of human achievement, they had no right and should have let themselves be systematically exterminated/have the world burn instead" when. Setting aside the revelation that the gods who struck down Aeor made themselves mortal to do it-- as in, they were on the exact playing fields of humans when they made their move and it wasn't some huge peacocking of power against upstart humans to strike them out of the sky-- the Divergence is going to happen. We KNOW the Divergence is going to happen. The gods are going to create the divine gate and remove any chance that they can ever do something like this again. "Blaugh, look at them meddle and plot-" and? Whatever they do, we know that the sun will shine once more. Melora, as brutal as she is as the starved Asha, will plant a tree of hope in the most destroyed wastes of Wildemount. And they will ensure that the suffering they wrought in the calamity, in Aeor, can never ever repeat the same way they had done it. Which is a HELL of a lot more than can be said for Ludinus who is actively reviving every cycle he can

first off "some ppl in the tags who seemingly are trying really hard to roleplay Ludinus" took me OUT so thank you for that.

I just reblogged a post with a quote from Cooldown that I think is really relevant in understanding the whole story of the gods and how we got to this point but like, just to summarize (and debunk a few things, hopefully) from the beginning of the episode to the end re: the life of the gods:

Gods (possibly aspects of the Luxon?) crash-landed on Exandria BECAUSE of what is all but outright said to be Predathos.

As far as I can tell, no deals were made between the gods and the Titans. The only person who has said this from what I can tell is Asmodeus, who I would not consider a reliable source of truth. Or rather: one might have been made but there's no corroboration that I know of.

They created the people of Exandria and sealed away Predathos both prior to the Schism

The Schism occurred when the Titans decided to attack the people (which to be clear - the people had been there for long enough to build that weird ruin on Ruidus with a portal, like, I would love to know what prompted the fight of the Schism since it had pretty clearly been millennia of coexistence).

The Betrayers decided the move was to leave and start over, and the Primes felt that was a dereliction of duty to the people. That's what the quote is about - it's about the fact that Erathis's motivation for being a Prime Deity isn't "mortals are my blorbos!" it's "we have an obligation to our creations" and more generally that the Prime Deities are invested in their domains for the overall good of Exandria but not necessarily the specific good of Aeor. (Taliesin follows it up with (as Melora) "You'd have to tear me from this fucking planet" w/r/t the idea that you cannot, in fact, destroy your bad first draft simply because it would be more convenient to you.)

Betrayers get sealed, unsealed, events of EXU Calamity occur (notably: the titans are all dead. you can fight about whether this was just or right later but they're gone and killing other people won't bring them back; the titans are largely used as a pearl-clutching prop by people with no arguments that are perhaps actually relevant to the current situation), and perhaps 50 or 60 years into the conflict the gods call a truce re: Aeor's Obtenebrator and commit to decades of living as mortals (and therefore limiting themselves considerably)

And so here we are

And I think this really gets to the point. Because ultimately, the argument in favor of leaving Aeor be is "when someone points a gun at you, lay down and die" and the argument in favor of the Betrayers is "when someone tells you to abandon your (living) obligations for them, do so." The former is despairing and nihilistic and the latter selfish and, well, a betrayal.

There is something profoundly nihilistic about Ludinus, for all he talks about freeing people and a better world. He's destroyed a city of innocents. He's indoctrinated hundreds if not thousands of people and many of them have died in his service; he's the architect of an empire and many wars in its name and is actively working with a second one. He's been killing fey and he's even physically given himself over to the cause. There is no crime or sin people attribute to the gods that he has not done himself in measures beyond nearly every other mortal. Like, I really think he's at a point where he just is unwilling to "lose" even though he has a friendless life and a legacy of violence and has destabilized the entire world and the weave of magic itself. I think he has to believe there's something on this Occultus Thalamus for him because if there isn't, he, like the Prime Deities, probably can't just pick up and start over. All he has left is to give in to just letting the world burn in the hopes that at least he gets the satisfaction of what he hates burning with him.

Basically, sounds like a rough time to try to roleplay him in the tags.

Something else you (and others) bring up is that amid all the "history is written by the victors" the story of Aeor and of the gods has actually painted them as far harsher. The story doesn't say that they were first chased to Exandria unwillingly and did not come in conquest; the story, as this post notes, evokes vast divine might striking down a city from the heavens and not like, living in fragile mortal forms during one of the most dangerous times in history and arguing amongst each other over how they can save both themselves and Aeor and if that's even possible. Like, even if you see the gods as the victors of this story rather than simply the survivors, the "unedited" version of the story makes them far more sympathetic.

You also mention the Divine Gate and that's a really interesting thing to me because the existing status quo of Exandria is actually remarkably nascent if you think about it. The Founding had gods, titans, and mortals. Post Schism had the Prime deities and mortals (and it is worth noting this is when the people of Exandria became the most technologically advanced; you want to talk about the Titans and Betrayers, you need to cover that the price of the wonders of the Age of Arcanum was that they were not present). Calamity had all the gods and mortals again, and the current era is the first where the gods are behind the gate. It's kind of a compromise between all the things that have tried to destroy one another - Betrayers and Primes are separated but all are free within their realms and can indirectly contact mortals; technically, so can Predathos. None can directly be on Exandria. Is it ideal? No. It's a compromise, and the sealed can become unsealed (which, consistently, goes very badly) but it's the option that doesn't involve the total annihilation of anyone. Ludinus seeks, by setting off this horrible cycle again, to undo that fragile imperfect compromise with a goal of wholesale slaughter. He provides no option for the gods other than "die by my hand" when even some of the gods were desperately trying to find other options for Aeor as of a day prior to its destruction. He's simply wallowed in his trauma for centuries, becoming colder and more unfeeling and less empathetic and more arrogant than the gods he accuses of the same flaws.

[flowerandblood]

The Fall from the Heavens (6)

[ canon • Aemond x Strong • niece female ]

[ warnings: angst, arranged engagement, beheading, violence, swearing, humiliation, chauvinism ]

[ description: A cool distance turns into friendship and more when two children see that they can find refuge and understanding in each other. However, naïve dreams collide with the reality in which every event has consequences and what once could have been love becomes a dark, newly painful obsession. Angst, sexual tension, obsession, violence, madness, very dark Aemond. ]

The story in this series is an alternate reality from the oneshot Stay and love, leave and die, in which Aemond reads the letters his niece has sent to him over the years. They are the same characters and it shows what would have happened between them − I have changed the background story from their childhood slightly for the sake of the plot.

Characters & Series Moodboard Lady Strong Moodboard Aemond & Lady Strong Moodboard Aemond & Lady Strong Childhood

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Next chapters: Masterlist

_____

She knew what awaited her after what she had done. Her servant informed her that her mother wanted to see her before she managed to get out of bed, tired after a sleepless night.

She herself didn't know what she was feeling anymore, her anger at him and his reaction quickly passed, leaving her with an emptiness.

She thought he had acted so violently because he had been frightened, because he had allowed himself to be weak in front of her and feared that she would use it against him, that this was all her mother's plan.

It terrified her how much they didn't trust each other.

She felt a tightness in her throat at the memory of their fingers touching in the air in the firelight, his wonderful, familiar scent, her cheek snuggled against his bare chest as he stroked her hair.

In that one moment, it was as it had once been.

She stepped into her mother's old chamber as if to an execution, knowing what awaited her, and make no mistake. Her mother stood in front of her, gesturing impatiently, and she stared at her slightly rounded abdomen, Daemon sat in a chair a few steps away, looking at his fingers, bored.

"Why were you in the Prince's chamber in the middle of the night? If he harmed you, tell me." She added, as if she had suddenly realised that what had taken place there might not have happened with her consent.

She didn't know what she should say; she could feel her hands trembling with shame, everything that was pressing against her lips seemed pathetic and worthless.

She herself no longer knew why she had actually gone there.

To feel him again, she thought with pain.

Her mother snorted, impatient, slapping her hands against her thighs in a gesture of helplessness.

"Daemon. Say something." She demanded and he sighed heavily, lowering his hand to his armrest, finally looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"Leave us alone, ābrazȳrys. I need to speak with her in private." He said sternly, with a kind of disappointment and mockery from which she felt discomfort in her stomach.

It would be better to have her heart ripped out.

She humiliated herself.

Her mother protested, however, seeing that her daughter would not say anything to her she gave in, sighed in disbelief and left, closing the door behind her.

She was sure she would hear harsh words of contempt from him, however, he just looked at her vigilantly, tapping his pointing finger on the wood where his hand lay.

"What happened there. Speak." He said impatiently, and she swallowed hard, feeling shame, feeling pain, feeling boundless sadness and grief.

"I wanted to know if he had read my letters, if…"

"That's not what I was asking. I asked what happened there." He interrupted her matter-of-factly, completely uninterested in her weighty tale full of longing. She pressed her lips together and lowered her gaze, unable to bear his intense stare.

"We had an argument. Then we… reconciled. And then we argued again. Then I left." She muttered, not knowing how to describe it so as not to humiliate herself further.

Daemon snorted, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Have you reconciled with each other intensely enough that you should drink moon tea?" He asked rubbing the fingers of his hand against each other, raising his eyebrows, clearly expecting an unequivocal answer.

"No." She replied quietly, and he sighed heavily, tilting his head back, closing his eyes.

"He didn't do anything against your will?"

"No."

He ran his hand over his face, tightening his fingers on the base of his nose, as if this conversation was making him very tired.

"Do you still want to marry him?"

She looked at him in disbelief, feeling that she had run out of words – her lips opened but nothing came out of them, she shook her head as if she didn't understand his question. She could see impatience in his eyes, he held his hand out in front of him in a gesture waiting for an answer.

"Yes or no?"

"I don't know. He's aggressive and violent, I don't recognise him." She muttered, lowering her gaze to her trembling hands entwined on her stomach.

"I warned you."

"I know." She said softly and swallowed loudly. "Do you…do you think the Queen will report to Lord Arryn about what I did?"

She heard his laughter full of pity as he massaged his temple, closing his eyes as if he felt nauseous from the very thought of Alicent.

"That sanctimonious whore would admit that her son was hosting his niece in his bed? Lord Baratheon would not be pleased." He said with a sneer, and she felt a kind of relief and disappointment at the same time that her future marriage was in no danger.

"You still haven't answered my question." He said impatiently, looking away; she could see by his posture that the frustration caused by her indecision was growing in him.

She felt her heart pounding hard, a cold sweat on the back of her neck.

Did she want this or not?

She had experienced with him the pleasure she had never given herself with her own hand, his scent, his arms, his voice, his face, his hands, she wanted it all more than ever.

And then she remembered his fingers clenched on her cheeks so painfully tight she felt like crying, his cold, enraged voice, his wide-open eye in which madness lurked.

"He doesn't love me." She muttered, pressing her lips together, trying to hold back the tears of regret, humiliation and disappointment that were rising under her eyelids.

"Of course he doesn't love you. If either of you loves anything, it's your memories of each other, but not who you are now. You are wandering blindly like children in a fog, destroying everything around you." He said getting up from his chair and walked towards her, towering over her, folding his hands in front of him.

"If you tell me you still want to marry him, I will help you. I'd rather you be his wife than lead you and him into a scandal that could destroy your mother. Your betrothal has never been called off, the King will easily prove that no other plans for you can be in force against his decision. But if you decide not to, I will personally see to it that you never see him again and that no letter of yours leaves Dragonstone. Make a manly, mature decision with all its consequences, and stop wallowing over yourself."

She looked at him in disbelief, breathing loudly through her mouth, feeling that she was torn internally, that she herself had no idea what was right and what was wrong.

Daemon kept their conversation to himself, informing her mother only that there was no reason to worry about her possible premature motherhood.

This did not reassure Rhaenyra; she asked her how she could be so unreasonable, that they must stick together, that she must stand by her and her brothers' side when the time came.

Her words made her feel discomfort, fear and disappointment in herself again, she was no longer sure whether her mother would gain or lose through this marriage.

She felt guilty, she felt regret that even though she knew she should have been true to her mother, to her family, she had been unable to tear herself away from this now strange, frightening man.

She thought about this as she stood in the throne room, and although she should be thinking about what Otto Hightower was saying, that the fate of her brother's legacy was at stake, she could not focus on it.

"Fucking cunt." She heard Daemon mutter beside her and smiled involuntarily, knowing that he could never keep his frustrations to himself – he threw them out at once, keeping his inner peace that way.

"Just look at them. They're standing like they're waiting for a fucking beheading. Always so cheerful. Gods, give me patience." He sighed, and she chuckled involuntarily, thinking in her spirit that he was the only person besides Aemond when they were still children who could make her laugh.

Her smile disappeared from her face, however, when the King walked into the room – she felt a squeeze in her heart when she saw his agonised state, the way he moved step by step with great effort towards the throne, towards her mother.

His beloved child.

She glanced involuntarily at her uncle standing in the distance, and even though so many years had passed she could easily recognise the grief and disappointment painted on his stony face.

She knew that whatever he did he never felt noticed by him, appreciated by him, loved by him, so after their betrothal it was in her that he sought comfort and words of appreciation.

He cherished the time she would sneak up to his chamber at night; he would then snuggle up to her still flat chest hidden under her nightgown, listening to her heartbeat, telling her of his achievements, of the praise from the maester who had educated him or from Ser Criston.

She would then stroke his hair telling him that he was brave, courageous, wise, that nothing pleased her more than that he was reading and practising so much, that he would be a great warrior with great knowledge, that she felt proud that her husband would have so many talents.

She felt with every word she spoke how his hands clenched tighter and tighter on the material of her chemise, it even seemed to her sometimes that he was silently crying from happiness and sorrow, that he was drawing on her words as if they were the only source of cold water when his whole body was hot with disappointment and sadness.

She let him fall asleep in the embrace of her arms and her reassurances that she wanted only him, that he was a role model for her, that she wanted to be like him. She also read a lot, studied carefully and presented him with the results of her efforts in the form of a new embroidery or a short melody she had learned to play on the mandolin.

Although he did not understand her girlish world, he was able to tell if he liked or disliked something he saw or heard, always grinning proudly at her, saying that, indeed, his future wife was a woman of many talents.

Were they so happy as children because they had no idea of what was happening around them?

That they didn't know their family had long been divided into two factions, didn't notice the wall that had begun to rise between them?

She shuddered when his gaze turned to her, sharp and thirsty; she saw his lips part slightly and lowered her eyes quickly, feeling her heart pounding hard, trying not to think about how wonderful it felt to feel his tongue deep inside her, what delight he was able to give her just with his kisses between her thighs.

It seemed to her that everything that happened next, Vaemond's humiliating words and his head dropping to the floor after a sure cut from Daemon's sword was just a dream.

That in a moment her eyes would open and she would be back in her bed in Dragonstone.

During supper, Daemon had pushed back the chair next to himself for her, making it clear to her that she was not to try anything and not even go near her uncle. She sat there, staring dully into her plate, feeling discomfort and sadness at the thought that in a few hours they would be leaving the Red Keep.

That they would part again in anger.

They all raised their eyes to the Queen, who, after a short prayer, rose from her seat, holding her cup in her hand.

"I would like to raise my cup for Jace and Baela and Luke and Rhaena, hoping that their marriages will be prosperous and blessed. I would also like to raise my cup to my son, Aemond, who will soon marry one of Lord Baratheon's daughters." She said softly, forcing herself to sound warm and calm.

She felt a strong sting in her heart and discomfort in her stomach at her words, as if she were about to suddenly vomit, her throat tightening all over.

I would also like to raise my cup to my son, Aemond, who will soon marry one of Lord Baratheon's daughters.

Maybe it's for the best, she thought.

"I do not recall my brother's decision to marry Prince Aemond to my daughter ever being called into question." She heard clearly a familiar voice beside her and lifted her gaze to her stepfather in disbelief.

Good gods.

She looked quickly at her uncle feeling her heart pounding like crazy, his healthy eye wide open, fixed on her, his body as if frozen in shock.

She heard everyone around her twist nervously in their seats, looking at each other, her mother asked him quietly what he was doing, she heard the Queen laugh in disbelief.

"We've made a mutual decision that it's not worth stinging an old wound, haven't we, my love?" She directed her words to the King, clearly wanting him to confirm her words and end the subject once and for all, however her husband remained silent.

She watched, breathing hard through her mouth, feeling droplets of cold sweat on her bare shoulders as the King turned his gaze on his son – she was not sure what she saw in her uncle's healthy eye.

Regret, pleading, pain, agony.

"You have made it, Alicent. I never had a say in the matter. But the House of the Dragon will not remain strong unless it is finally united." He said in a hoarse, weak, determined voice, slamming his lean, blue fist on the table, several people popped up, looking at him in disbelief.

"I do not want my decisions to lead to another misfortune. I am allowing our children to decide." He muttered wearily, and she lowered her gaze, feeling her whole body tremble, heard Aegon's laughter, her mother's voice as she stood up saying that she had already promised her hand to someone else, in her mind only chaos, only despair, only emptiness.

She lifted her terrified gaze to her uncle − he was staring at her with clenched lips, as if all that he held inside was about to finally explode.

"Aemond." She heard his mother's pleading voice; he looked at her as if she had woken him from his lethargy.

She thought that, as always, he would not defy her.

He looked at her again, this time his gaze cool and distant.

She thought with pain that he had already made up his mind.

"My niece is disgusted with me, is she not? Tell us what you think of me, my Lady Strong." He said mockingly, as if he wanted to throw what was happening at her, to hear what he hoped she would say.

That she didn't want him.

She realised, however, that she had waited years to say to his face what was now pressing against her lips.

Against everything and everyone.

Against all that was right.

"My place is with you, uncle. It always has been."

She saw something change in his gaze − he froze in disbelief, his pupil dilated, his nostrils quivered in an anxious breath. She saw him swallow loudly as he grabbed the cup and lifted it to his lips, watching her intently as if to determine that she was lying.

He was silent for a long moment, like the rest of the table shocked by her confession and took another deep sip of wine from his cup before finally responding to her confession.

"So it is decided, father. We will marry."

She heard Jace's voice of defiance as he stood up from his seat saying he would never agree to this, she froze in horror as Aemond stood up too, looking at him with pity.

She was sure he wanted to say something about the night they had spent together to bring him out of balance.

"Sit down. Both of you. The only opinion that counts in this chamber is that of the King." Said Daemon, Rhaenyra rose from the table, furious, saying that they had completely lost their minds.

"I stand by my decision. We will finally end the schism that is destroying this family from within. The nuptials are to take place as soon as possible. Oh −" He sighed, clutching at his heart, his face contorted in pain, it seemed to her that he was about to fall apart before their eyes.

"My love? Guards, the King must rest!" The Queen called out, and after a moment the King was carried out to his chamber.

"How could you do this? Make a decision behind my back?" Her mother hissed to her husband, Daemon, however, did not look as if he was particularly concerned about her rage.

"I have stated the facts. The King can speak for himself. He doesn't need his Hand, wife or daughter to pronounce his will." He said impatiently; her mother pressed her lips together at his words, shaking her head, massaging her slightly rounded abdomen with a nervous gesture.

"We're returning to Dragonstone." She ordered in a low voice and moved towards her sons, wanting to let them know they were leaving.

She was the first to leave, feeling that she needed air, not giving her future husband even a single glance along the way, still unable to forgive him for his aggressive behavior the day before.

She shuddered as she heard the familiar, impatient footsteps behind her − she stopped in the corridor and turned to face him, staring at his silhouette in the torchlight.

Her uncle stood before her, all tense and flushed with wine; she saw him lick his lips and look away, himself no longer knowing what to make of what had happened.

It was all so unreal, so chaotic, so uncertain.

"Your mother will return to the Red Keep in a few days at my mother's request. To discuss our nuptials." He said dispassionately, as if he was just giving her some worthless, unimportant piece of information.

She nodded, wanting to move ahead, but his voice stopped her.

"She stole you away from me then, but I won't let it happen this time. You are to stay. You'll return to Dragonstone in a few days, with her." He growled out with a fury in his eye from which her throat tightened, a desperation in his voice that surprised her. She looked at him, pausing in her half-step, his eye wide open, his lips parted in an uneven breath.

She felt ashamed at the thought that, despite her pleas, her mother had not allowed her to speak with him then, when he lost his eye.

She lied that she would allow her to visit him later, but this did not happen until a few days afterwards, when the door to his chamber closed for her once and for all.

That's when she realised it.

On the worst, most difficult, most frightening night of his life, she had not been by his side.

Her arms didn't embrace his body, her lips didn't whisper that she still loved him, that she still wanted him, that she was proud that the rider of the largest dragon living in the world will become her husband, that his loss of an eye changed nothing.

She lowered her gaze at the memory of him and herself, of how their mothers separating them had led to a state where two people who loved each other so dearly had become complete strangers.

She lifted her eyes to him, thinking that perhaps if she behaved now as she should, she could make things right.

"I will stay, but only until my mother returns. Then I will travel back to Dragonstone with her and stay there until our nuptials." She said softly and heard him sigh, as if he was greatly relieved, as if he expected her to disappoint him again, to hurt him again.

"Yes. It will be appropriate." He muttered, swallowing loudly; she looked at him and noticed that his gaze was no longer so aggressive, his face softened slightly, as if she had given him exactly what he needed to calm down.

She informed her mother that she wished to remain still in the Red Keep under the care of her grandfather and the Queen, and to return with her to Dragonstone in a few days' time, when she would again appear in King's Landing.

"My heart belonged and will belong to him, mother. You yourself know that destiny cannot be cheated. You and Daemon are the best proof of that." She said quietly, not daring to look into her eyes after all that had happened.

She burst out crying as her mother hugged her, stroking her head like a small child, her familiar scent filling her lungs.

"My only daughter." She whispered and kissed her forehead, sighing heavily, smiling finally, as if accepting her decision, as if acknowledging that perhaps it would be better this way, still hoping in the back of her mind for some kind of reconciliation between her and the Queen.

"If anything happens, return at once, my love." She said calmly, and she nodded, sighing quietly, thinking that perhaps something good had in fact happened, that their marriage would strengthen what was falling to pieces.

Little did she know that she wouldn't see her mother for many months to come.

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @randomdragonfires @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes @darylandbethfanforever9 @fudge13 @snh96

[yuriskies]

A fun element to Otherside Picnic vol 8 (spoilers ahead after the break, if you're still planning to read it) is an easter egg about the location of Toriko's apartment. Actually, "easter egg" might be underselling it a bit; it has a huge amount of thematic relevance to Toriko's character. So here's the easter egg: if you follow Sorawo's description of her path to Toriko's apartment, you can actually find the building on Google Maps.

The train arrived in Nippori. Pushed by the rush of people, I got off, went down the stairs, and out the gate. I climbed the hill, out of breath, in the unrelenting rain. The wall of a graveyard continued along the left-hand side. Turning onto a side street at the top of the hill, I could see Toriko’s apartment in the middle of a residential area ...the building uses an autolock system... Getting off on the fourth floor, I headed into the hallway. The town I could see over the chest-high wall was misty in the rain.

The fun thing about this is that Sorawo's narration is just specific enough to follow along. In a way, it's an invitation to the reader to imitate Sorawo. Prior to the events of the series, she spent time tracking down the sites of ghost stories from the minor details that leaked into their narration. Tracking down where the weirdness happened placed it in context; stories from the edge of reality seem more reliable when the reality can be charted.

So, let's do it. Sorawo mentions a graveyard wall - this can only be Yanaka Graveyard, located on the west side of Nippori Station. Yanaka is located on the former grounds of the Tenno-ji Buddhist temple, and is one of Tokyo's largest cemetaries by area. It is the resting site of the final Tokugawa Shogun, as well as a who's who of Meiji-era academics, literati, and government officials.

The road along the north edge of Yanaka Graveyard goes up a steep hill, and where it reaches the top, a side road splits off on the left to go into a residential area. Going into street view shows that all of the buildings along this road are only two or three stories tall, except for a building at the very back. It's four stories tall. The building has an auto lock system at the front door, and chest high walls along the hallways to the apartments. Bingo.

The fun part of this is the name of the apartment complex: 山口マンション (Yamaguchi [Mountain Gate] Mansion).

The first part of the thematic relevance here is its relationship to Satsuki's monologue about being brought into the Otherside.

"What happens to the people who don't return?" "Who knows? They probably die, right?" "Life and death aren't the issue. Once you get to that point, that is." My brow furrowed. "What do you think mountains are made of?" Satsuki asked, smiling. "Trees and stuff?" I said without putting much thought into it. When I thought of mountains, the image that came to mind for me was the mountains of my home prefecture, Akita, covered in green. "If trees were sapient, they wouldn't think of themselves as a mountain. Only as a single tree. It's the same concept. People who go into the mountains, regardless of their mental state, are still people. But the wind that blows through the trees. The rocks. The birds. Every speck of rock covering the bedrock. The beasts, hiding in their dens. The ancient mollusks, sleeping in a geologic fold. The morning dew in a spider's web. The bacteria and microorganisms in the soil, breaking down the body. None of these individual constituting elements is the mountain on its own, yet the mountain is made up of them. So it is for those called by the mountain. Living or dead." She raised her hand, pointing all five fingers at herself. "That is how it is for me." Uncurling her fingers, she pointed at me. "That is how it is for you."

This "mountain gate" connection also ties back to Sorawo's previous visit to Toriko's apartment in File 4, where she opened the door to the apartment and encountered the ultrablue void of the Otherside. Thematically, this places Toriko's apartment at the interface between the surface world and the Otherside. The back of the building also abuts Yanaka Graveyard, and so thematically, also forms an interface between life and death.

Sorawo touches on this latter theme in the back half of File 26, when Toriko forces herself on Sorawo in her parents' bedroom. Sorawo becomes profoundly uncomfortable - equally, if not more disturbed by her surroundings than Toriko's behavior. After relocating to Toriko's bedroom, Sorawo realizes the following:

This home was a grave, and Toriko the crypt keeper—that's the image that I was getting. The sudden feeling of resistance I'd felt when we were in the bedroom might have come from that mental association. Even if it weren't the place where her parents had once slept, it was almost like flirting in front of a Buddhist altar. After entering Toriko's room, I finally got it. This room has color. It's the room of a living person.

Toriko's bedroom forms a small bubble of life in an otherwise dead house. The interface between life and death isn't simply close to Toriko's living space, it is actively defined by it. This ties in closely to Toriko's character, given that she's admitted her pushiness to do relationship things in the Otherside is driven by a fear of loss. Her mothers suddenly died, and Satsuki suddenly vanished. All she has left of them is her cherished memories, and she wants to form those memories with Sorawo, just in case.

Another element in play here is Sorawo's relationship to the Otherside. At multiple points in the series, the Otherside seems to suddenly draw closer when Sorawo gets stressed out with her thoughts about her relationship with Toriko. The most obvious example is in the hot springs when the mannequins appear immediately after Sorawo feels backed into a corner with Toriko's "cute boobs" comment, but those fears are also linked to Hasshaku-sama (both times the entity appears as Sorawo contemplates jealousy and the possibility that Toriko will be taken from her), Satsuki's surface world appearance (Kozakura implying Sorawo is manifesting Satsuki through her jealous fixation), the the love hotel girls' party (the lion dancers appear as Sorawo is trying to avoid a romantic bath with Toriko), and Satsuki's appearance in vol 7 (when Sorawo is considering where she would be without Toriko). In a sense, the terrifying aspects of the Otherside to Sorawo are closely related to the terrifying aspects of a defined relationship with Toriko.

One puzzle piece in play is a conversation from vol 7, as Sorawo, Kozakura, and Toriko are figuring out their approach to exorcize Satsuki. They discuss the concept of "atmosphere" and its ability to transmit emotions, particularly fear, and explore ways to change that atmosphere. Toriko mentions that she's mostly heard ghost stories where sex changes the atmosphere. Sorawo then elaborates to a doubtful Kozakura with the following:

No, it's true. There's stories where they were in a real bad situation, but then they started saying all sorts of lewd things and they survived. I don't tend to say that ghosts are this way or that, but sex is the source of life, so that makes it the polar opposite of ghosts, which belong to the world of the dead... At least, there's that sort of reasoning. It's an idea that's been around since ancient times.

Sorawo also goes on to mention that in some situations, the atmosphere can be overwritten, but in others, these attempts only reinforce it more strongly.

The thing about ghost stories is that for all its other indiscretions, it's an elegant genre in strange ways. There's not a lot of bawdy stories in it. Maybe that's because if you're trying to scare someone, and then sexual elements get involved, it hurts the atmosphere. Anyway, I only brought up the sex stuff as an example of how the atmosphere can get changed. It's too weak to be her weakness. There's some real nasty ghost stories with sexual elements, and there are people who've had scary experiences at love hotels.

All of these concepts start to interweave with one another when the two relocate to Toriko's bedroom. Sorawo immediately notices a change in Toriko's demeanor.

Her expression looked uneasy, without composure. She wanted me, but also feared rejection. Despite the way she'd been breathing heavily through her nose as she led me here by the hand, now Toriko was just standing there awkwardly. As if once she'd dragged me into her room she didn't know what to do anymore. Maybe as we entered what remained of the domain of the living inside this house of the dead, Toriko had come back to life.

This scene firmly links Toriko's fear of the Otherside (death) to Sorawo's fear of the Otherside (relationships). In her moms' bedroom, Toriko had been demanding, frustrated, and angry - the malicious emotional states traditionally occupied by spirits in ghost stories! However, she settles down when she enters her own bedroom. For Sorawo, passing through this interface changes Toriko from an unknowable force who inspires fear into a very human entity with whom she can sit down and discuss the uncomfortable topic of sex. In turn, this allows Toriko to an explore an aspect of their relationship that she views as fundamentally life-affirming. After this scene their Othersides are no longer totally different, or inspire mind-numbing terror, but are now operating on a common logic.

The concept of an atmosphere comes up again just after their first try at sex. Toriko has finally found a turn-on for Sorawo, and Sorawo describes the feeling in the same analytical voice she uses for ghost stories.

Until mere moments ago, our nakedness had been no more than that. Just another awkward state of undress, like when we got in the bath. Not anymore. My nudity, and Toriko's, took on entirely new meaning. One little switch inside of me got flipped, and it caused a startlingly dramatic change in my perception. It was mystifying how, as that change occurred, it swallowed up the entire atmosphere of the scene, including Toriko. Stuff like this can happen... I thought in a daze. The room was dominated by my lust which had suddenly materialized. As it overlapped with Toriko's desire, the atmosphere inside the room became something kind of extraordinary.

Prior to their second go at sex, Sorawo and Toriko take a moment to talk over their last remaining fears about sex - using their Otherside-altered body parts on one another. They come to the mutual realization that they have both been afraid of harming one another, but not of being harmed by the other. This last discussion is important, because it totally diffuses their fears around sexuality prior to indulging it. So as they travel into the deepest reaches of the Otherside, they have total trust and intimacy with one another - and an absolute lack of fear relating to what the Otherside represents to them.

The color of the calm world was blue. As we whorled together, intertwining, the ultrablue abyss spread out endlessly beneath us. We didn't fear it. Because this was our place. No one was watching us. No one knew we were here. We were the only ones watching, and the only ones who knew. So the only things Toriko and I have to fear are each other.

"Was it just me who wasn't that scared?" "Nah, it was the same for me. Everything around us was blue, but it wasn't scary." "I wonder why?" "I dunno, maybe because we were on the side that scared people?" Toriko got a mystified look on her face when I said that. "The side that scared people? You mean the Otherside's side?" "We weren't human anymore, were we, Toriko? When we were there." "...Yeah." Toriko suddenly moved closer to me and chomped down on my ear.

So to bring this full circle, this is why I love this particular easter egg, and Otherside Picnic in general. The setting is treated as an important aspect of the story, and it is carefully chosen for its emotional content and thematic relevance. Toriko's apartment isn't just some random place in an upscale neighborhood of Tokyo. It's a fundamental part of who Toriko is as a person. It's a location that lends a huge amount of thematic subtext to Otherside Picnic as a relationship story, and to the reader's interpretation of the Otherside.

Is it a metaphor for death? For queerness? For our ability to truly bridge the gap in understanding between self and non-self? The reader is invited to imitate Sorawo, and in doing so, finds a treasure trove of understanding. The little rush of discovery shows us what keeps Sorawo interested in exploring a totally alien world and trying to understand its workings.

Miyazawa's writing actively rewards readers for engaging with every little bit of the story, and it really tickles the analytical part of my brain.

[panic-in-the-multiverse]

Venom

Pairings: father Miguel O’Hara x gn!teen!venom!reader, Venom x teen!reader

Imagine: what it would be like to be Miguel’s son and a spider-man along with venom, spider-venom? Idk guys

Warnings: mention of death, mention of parent death, mention of injuries, father Miguel O’Hara, idk what else, not proofread

A/N keep in mind the first part of this is before Gabriella died. Second I am aware that Miguel has a son somewhere out there in the comics, third don’t mind me referencing Moon Knight in some parts, lastly this is actually based on one of my ocs, but I made this fic x reader instead :)

Side note: I did imagine reader to be male (like my oc is) but I made it gn!reader so that everyone can read it

You lived on earth-TRN1042 (is that the name, it was when I searched it up, might be wrong tho), with you father Miguel O’Hara and your sister Gabriella O’Hara

Your canon event as tragic as it is was to watch as your father died — which would eventually lead you to become Spider-Man

You’d been bitten a few days prior and was still adjusting to the whole power thing

But we are getting ahead of ourselves, Here’s the thing Miguel (earth-928) lost his family on his earth and when he found out a way to go into other earths he found your earth. The one where he still had a happy family

His original plan was to just watch from afar, but when your father died, Miguel made the rash decision to take your fathers place, which didn’t go as smoothly as he thought, after all you had watched your father die

At first you thought you were going crazy when you first saw Miguel, apparently he’d been with your sister all day. You didn’t trust him one but, you knew for a fact your father was dead so when you saw him playing with Gabriella and her dolls you were in shock, you’d told Gabriella to go to her room, once she did the interrogation started, you’d felt your father take his last breath so you sure as hell would find out who this imposter was.

“Who are you?”

“I’m your father”

“No, no, no, no, I watched my father die, who are you?”

Miguel knew you wouldn’t stop your interrogation until you knew what was going on, this led to him giving you a long explanation about different earths, his family and everything in between, how he got his powers and literally his whole life story, only to ensure that you would let him stay, he wouldn’t stay against your wishes

You let him stay, not only because you knew what loss felt like, but you hadn’t told Gabriella yet and you didn’t know how you could tell her that her actual father was dead, and it would prove to be good to have an adult raise your little sister with you, so you let Miguel stay, eventually you saw him as your father too, Gabrielle being none the wiser when it came to her fathers true identity.

The first time you called Miguel “dad” or something alike, he was overjoyed

Miguel didn’t really enjoy you going out to beat bad guys up but he never told you not to, he knew why you did it so he never stopped you, and he used to do it so it would be kinda hypocritical of him to force you to stop, instead he’d be at home, and every time you snuck in through your window you could find Miguel in the living room ready to patch you up, telling you of every time for being reckless and getting hurt so many times

Don’t be offended when he calls you an “reckless idiot” (he’d probably say it in Spanish though) when you get home nearly half dead (Miguel might of overreacted a bit)

It was around this time when you started to get memory gaps from time to time, some fights you didn’t even remember how you defeated the enemy, and some days you woke up in an alleyway, (kinda like Steven in episode one of moon knight)

Before it all went to shit I’d like to think that Miguel gave up on the spider-man part of him and was just a single dad with his two kids working a boring job — not at Alcehmax, he won’t do that mistake again

You all lived rather peacefully for the most part, you’d help Gabriella get better at football/soccer, going to an ice cream shop every time after one of Gabriella’s matches, loss or win didn’t matter there was always ice cream after a match.

And then in a single day it all got taken away from you, in just a couple of minutes all you had ever known was gone

Your whole earth started to disappear along with the people in it, you’d been out on your daily spider-man patrols when it happened, you saw your father/Miguel running with Gabriella and so instead of trying to stop whatever was happening — or more like knowing you couldn’t stop it as you had no clue what it was — you went into the direction of your family.

And when your sister disappeared you didn’t know what to do anymore, Miguel at least able to think somewhat took your hand and soon enough you were on earth-928, and from a screen you watched as your dimension disappeared into nothingness

This left many questions and problems but the question you were mostly focused on was the fact that you hadn’t disappeared

Turns out the spider that bit you had bonded (idk if this works but it does now) with a symbiote — Venom — who was from another earth, and when the spider bit you, you’d not only gained spider-powers but Venom transferred over to you and the two of you bonded, this changed your DNA and caused you to be able to coexist on your own earth along with the earth that Venom was from (does this make sense ain’t got a single clue)

Turns out Venom hadn’t made an appearance (to your knowledge and Miguel’s) because he protected you whenever you couldn’t yourself, and all those memory gaps that you had was the times that Venom had taken over (you know kinda like Jake with Steven and Marc in Moon Knight)

Fast forward a bit and you’d joined the spider-society

You had learned to coexist with Venom, it took some time but it worked out in the end, at first people would think you were crazy as you yelled at nothing (except for you you were talking to Venom who was speaking inside your mind), a lot of spider-people stayed away from you not wanting to be near Venom as he is supposed to be a villain, but when they realized you were one of the good guys they stopped avoiding you and Venom

Venom would deny it to his grave but he is extremely protective over you, if anyone hurt you he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt/kill/eat them

Miguel also became way more protective, after he lost Gabriella he only had you left and he would only send you out on the easy missions — that is until you snuck out on one of their worsts missions and got hurt because no one else new you were there — cue Miguel letting you go on dangerous missions so that you wouldn’t sneak out again and possibly die, at leas if he knew where you were he could make sure you didn’t die.

Not only did Miguel become more grumpy and strict with all the rules, you also become a lot more grumpy as you grieved your sister, and friends

And then all the shit with Miles happened but that’s for part 2,3 (part 2 siding with Miles, part 3 siding with Miguel idk which will come out first)

[moondal514]

hi! do you have any fic recs for the aftg fandom? ideally AUs but where the characters aren’t ooc

Anon you have no idea what kind of blank check you’ve given me with this ask 😂. For the sake of my own sanity I have limited myself to only listing 10 fic recs but please know that there are literally 100s of fics I could rec within these parameters 😂.

the opposite of hunger by constelationprize/ @constelationprize

One would think that, being a necromancer, Kevin Day would be more excited at the prospect of immortality. And maybe he was, once, before he had actually sat foot inside Canaan House.

...

Based on prompt #1, or: "the locked tomb au where kevin and riko are necromancers and jean is their cavalier. they are invited to canaan house by the emperor to achieve lyctorhood, but kevin refuses to perform the lyctoral theorem on jean. riko, on the other hand, has no qualms about it. "

The Locked Tomb au. This fic is just insanely good and highlights how well Perfect Court dynamics work for the Third House and it just blows my mind honestly

if i die young by animediac, dayurno/ @jaywalkers, @dayurno

Kevin Day is sixteen with eyes too human, a gift no one should ever have, and blood Andrew thinks would spill out black over the snow outside. He is standing in the school hallway with a dead boy at his feet, and he is going to die by Andrew Minyard’s hands.

He must. He will.

Kevin Day, singer of bodies. Harbringer of death.

Teen Wolf au. A collaboration between 2 amazing writers in this fandom and responsible for converting me to Kandreil

vengeance and death by cthulu_sun

legend says you have wax-dipped wings and golden fingernails and knives made of the blood you have spilled. legend says you are not merciful.

-

in which renee is a tired guardian angel, finds the foxes, and falls in love.

Guardian angel au. This is one of my favorite Renison fics because it’s such a cool universe written in a beautiful and unique style and I just think it’s one of the most underrated fics in the fandom

Hush, Don't Say a Word by waterwings/ @amywaterwings

Excerpt from local newspaper, January 10, 2016

A Killer Is on the Loose at Palmetto State. Are You Safe?

For a detailed re-telling of the gruesome events that gripped the Palmetto State campus over the past eight months, please see the pages below. But I beg you, dear reader, tread lightly. You don’t know what’s waiting for you, out there in the dark.

~Katelyn Golightly, Student Journalist

Murder mystery au. One of my favorite fics of all time ever across any fandom because the writing is visceral and gut-wrenching, the kind that has you holding your breath and on the edge of your seat as you read it, and by the end of the fic it’s broken your brain in the best way possible

We Can Live Forever by mostly_maudlin/ @mostlymaudlin

PALMETTO HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC FUNDRAISER

WINTER SERENADES - $5 EACH

On sale Dec. 15-17 during lunch blocks. Support our teams, and let them show your friends how much you care through choreographed song and dance!

-

Participation in the fundraiser is mandatory for all student-athletes. Maybe none of this would have happened if they weren't pushed out of their comfort zones. (But honestly, maybe it was always going to end this way.)

A story about the joys of competition, the people in your corner, and, of course, the misfortune of being a teenager in love with your best friend.

High school au. My favorite high school au in the fandom because it just makes me so so so happy and I always read it when I need a pick me up

The Real Folk Blues by moonix/ @annawrites

Captain David Wymack and the bounty hunter crew of the Bebop spaceship might be a little out of their depths chasing down the infamous hacker and notorious runaway Neil Wesninski, whose bounty exceeds even Kevin's wildest dreams. Worst of all, Andrew might actually enjoy it.

Cowboy Bebop au. Super fun au featuring the Foxes as space cowboys and copious amounts of weird Andreil flirting

Under A Sea of Mist by puddlejumper99/ @writingpuddle

For a thousand years the Lord Ruler has reigned over the Final Empire. Ash falls from the sky and strange mists shroud the night. The skaa labour in the fields and the nobility dance in their Keeps, their glittering lights blinding them to the cruelty in their hearts.

The skaa rebellion is a fantasy and Neil knows it. The Lord Ruler is immortal; there's no overthrowing him. It's as much a surprise to him as anyone else when he gets recruited. But as he gets drawn deeper into the plot, he starts to discover things that will change their understanding of magic forever.

There's always another secret.

Mistborn au. A fic whose existence still feels incredibly self-indulgent to me because it’s a mashup of 2 series I really love and an au plucked from my wildest dreams

The Sphynx and the Hare by darkbluebox/ @darkblueboxs

Neil knows he should burn Wymack's contract and run until his legs can no longer carry him. His daemon, the mouthpiece to his soul, says otherwise. He's ignored her for far too long; it's time to follow his heart, be it to dream or damnation.

Daemon au. Theeee daemon au of all time, I’ve yet to see any other daemon au in this fandom where I agreed with the choices of animals for daemons this hard

the bittersweet between my teeth by alaynes/ @nicolos

In which Neil Josten is a Time Jumper, and everywhere he goes he keeps seeing one man.

-

Neil's throat dried; the sound of keys rang in his ears, but so did his voice.

Andrew Minyard stared back at him, expression inscrutable.

Time travel/reincarnation au. Time travel au’s are always tragic on some level but this one really takes it to the next level with the way it explores Andreil existing outside of time the way they do; my go-to fic when I need to experience an Emotion™️

The Last Warm Hand To Hold You by sambutwithbooks

When Kevin Day warns him that the Moriyamas will send a monster to collect their star investment, Andrew expects something beastly.

-

Five Times Andrew Asks Neil To Bite Him and One Time He Finally Does

Vampire au. This is to me the vampire fic of all time; idk something about it is ridiculously romantic in a way I can’t help but love

-

Hope you enjoy these anon!

[vind3miat0r]

Project Meridian Theories

brought to you my yours truly

(putting it under the cut once again)

ALRIGHT. SO.

using information from the new audio, i think we might be able to rule out time loop?? its still a possibility, but ive looked it over and i feel like other things are more likely

so far we have:

— a simulation loop/stuck in a simulation

— taking it at face value and Asset actually having gotten sucked into an alternate universe

— yknow how the brain relives moments before it dies n stuff? same thing applies. could be Asset literally about to die and theyre remembering the events leading up to their death

— past/future time travel fuckery

a lot of the evidence can still support the simulation theory, but some of the new evidence points to other directions. i think the "alternate universe" thing holds some weight, but considering that we were quite literally thrown into that ending, i think we should take it with a grain of salt. we have NO idea who this new James is, so even if the alternate universe theory is true, he still could be lying to us about his motives (you do NOT start a conversation with "im gonna save your life"). still, we can reuse the evidence from the time/simulation loop theory and slap "alternate universe" on it, and it can still make sense

the "Asset is dead and reliving their last moments" theory is quite literally a crack theory i came up with. it could be that the entirety of both SW and SR are Asset remembering the events leading up to their death, or it could only be SR. not a lot of evidence to support it, but something to keep in mind

if im being honest, im kinda iffy with the time travel theory. we know that holding people in time is a thing (Avior being trapped in the Meridian for two years from his perspective, but it actually only having been less than thirty minutes in real life), but thats about as far as our knowledge with it comes to timey wimey stuff and the Meridian. not to mention, we STILL dont know when Project Meridian takes place. im assuming its at least after Sovereign State, since "two emissaries from the Meridian" were mentioned in an audio before this whole ordeal 

i saw some people pointing out that alternate!James (as ill be calling him) sounded a lot like the James in the recent patreon teaser audio. i had read that audio as being set in the past, before James and his Spouse were married and were much younger. but, it is an interesting connection nonetheless

reusing the evidence from the time/simulation loop theory, the time travel theory can be made plausible. all the weird instances (the phone calls, the PA system, etc) could be interference from either the past or the future. again, since we a) dont know how exactly time travel would work using redactedverse logic and b) dont know when PM takes place, its not exactly a solid theory, but it does hold some weight to it

some of James' behavior could also support the time travel theory. as said by my wonderful friend Galaxy: "What if it's past James but he's from the future. Like he did the experiment, it failed, by some miracle James managed to time travel back, essentially surviving. And the past James and Spouse audio, with him freaking out, it's because he knows something bad is going to happen, but he obviously can't say that because that's crazy. Maybe that's why he's stressed out in the audio"

not to mention James seemingly brushing off Asset essentially getting bitchslapped out of the Meridian and the massive amount of new data they acquired. hes already seen it all before, so he has nothing to worry about

in the end, it think the most plausible and likely theory on this list is the alternate universe one, as that seems to be where the story is going with this. then again, we dont have all of the details, and Erik does love a good plot twist

uhh thank you for coming to my ted talk :3

[bettydice]

I have finished Veilguard. A bunch of thoughts under the cut!

The Companions: Loved all of them and all the banter and their interactions. I thought the companion quests were fantastic and there was a lot of content there and I enjoyed it all. Voice acting was fantastic and some line deliveries made me tear up. And while it was honestly nice to have everyone get along well and be respectful with each other, I did miss some... bite and conflict. Like you get all those delicious conversations with Solas and questioning of motives and I wanted more of that sort of thing. Also I'd die for Assan and Manfred. The Environments: This is definitely one of the strongest parts of the game for me. Everything is gorgeous and I loved just walking around, exploring. I thought they found a great balance of streamlined and exploration! Puzzles were at a difficulty that I can still enjoy (thus very simple, I'm sure other people are annoyed by that) and it made exploring satisfying and relaxing instead of a chore. And I loved seeing changes in the environments after certain events or NPCs moving into places that I'd cleared. I rarely fast travelled because I loved walking through the Crossroads so much.

Rook: Overall, I enjoyed Rook. I chose Erika Ishii's voice for my first playthrough and thought it was fantastic. Also loved every Mourn Watch dialogue option. However... Rook has a loooot of auto dialogue and the dialogue options feel quite limited, so I'm worried about replays and being able to make different Rooks actually feel different. Also hate to say this, but Rook could smile a little less in cutscenes... I also don't think you can play a Rook that antagonizes any companions or is just plain shit at conflict resolution.

Combat: Even though I never felt like I fully mastered it, I enjoyed it. And especially after recently replaying all the other games - the dragon fights were so much cooler (though as a mage, they were also 80% running around screaming). I didn't miss being able to control my companions, except for taking screenshots. Romance: I romanced Bellara and I love her, she is my beautiful wife. I do wish there'd been more romance specific content, especially because you get to see soo much of your companions getting together and being together and you're just there like... what about me? Spare romance banter for Rook pls? I didn't even get a romance specific greeting! Though ultimately, I'm really happy with the romance and the ending added some welcome drama, because Bellara was the one that got abducted by the blight/Elgarnan and yesss! The drama! The fade statues guilt trip! She's so smart and fierce when she returns! And the last scene was super sweet. <3

Story: Overall I'd say... Yay? Loved all the Lore drops and actual answers. Thought the side quests were well done and interesting. Another shout out to the companion quests! All in all, I'm satisfied with the ending, I think. HOWEVER! You can feel the Things We Didn't Import all over the game. There were so many moments where I was like, okay they COULD have mentioned xyz here easily, but no, they have to go out of their way to be vague or not let you talk to this character much. I don't need actual cameos (Isabela you deserve better) but there's so many missed opportunities for simple mentions or codex entries and it's such a shame. Because this IS the culmination of the story and why can't we see that reflected in little moments, so that we can truly feel the depth of the story once more? But I do love the Codex! There's so much good stuff in there! I might even go back and read all the Codex entries I haven't yet. Oh, why do we see no Elves working for Solas? Did he manage to get his entire spy network killed before the game? Classic Solas. Music: Soundtrack was fine, better than I expected tbh though a few scenes had some really awkward whimsical music that made me go ?????????? The Varric thing is dumb. The 'twist' only works because I guess nobody ever mentioned his death ever again. I hate sacrificing character development or People Behaving Normally for twists.

Why is the Inquisitor still wearing FUCKING PYJAMAS. Really wish there was an option to dye armour. The decision between Minrathous and Treviso is a cool concept and loved (though hated) seeing the fallout but what.... Rook and their two buddies are the only thing standing between a city and complete ruin???? I do not think so.

That's all for now.

[discoduck492]

𝐹𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝓎 𝐻𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃. ⚖️💎

If you are coming across this post & you are not aware, in 2017 the former best friend of pop artist; 'Melanie Martinez' came out with her story, claiming that Melanie had assaulted her during a sleepover. This was big news at the time and left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. It all eventually got swept under the carpet with the help of a plethora of false information to create a situation where the public simply didn't know who or what to believe.

Honestly, I'm not a huge 'Crybaby' (as Melanie's fans are often referred to) at all, although I enjoyed some of Melanie Martinez's earlier songs. In fact, I'm not even overly interested in pop culture- but this situation really struck a chord with me. I guess I see myself in Timothy a bit as a survivor of similar circumstances. I've seen a lot of misinformation floating around, and I thought I'd make a lil master-post to clear things up. It appears that a lot of the people who are recycling misinformation & rooting stubbornly for Melanie's innocence are very young and just want to protect the image they hold of their idol, which I empathise with.

To those young fans- if you truly believe Melanie is innocent, there is absolutely no need to create fake screenshots, attack Timothy or anything of that nature. She doesn't need fans to embellish the story to protect her. Her innocence would speak for itself, & honestly it would help Melanie more if her fans portrayed themselves as levelheaded rather than brutish bullies, taking sides like it is a sports game. This situation is delicate, and has everything to do with nuance and sensitivity.

Let's get into it..

1. 'Timothy admitted to lying in 2017 !!?'

This was one of the many rumours spread by die-hard fans. There was a photoshopped Instagram story screenshot spread around online where there is a- horribly written might I add- 'confession' from Timothy. As rumours do- especially when para-social, blindly passionate fans are involved- these false screenshots spread like wildfire.

Note the incorrect formatting of the time of posting in the false screenshot. Instagram has always formatted story post times as eg. '9m' or '9h'. Never 9min. Beyond that, the writing/grammar etc reads very childish, when Timothy typically demonstrates a more eloquent writing ability. Not sure how these kinds of things were believed at the time; but my best guess is because a lot of the fanbase was very young at the time (12-18 mostly).

2. 'didn't Timothy accuse multiple other celebrities of the same thing!?'

No. This was another persistent rumour circulating at the time that was, similarly to the former rumour, entirely fabricated. I doubt Timothy Heller even has connections to Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift or any of the other names that have been floating around. There is absolutely no evidence of Timothy ever making these claims, it's just young impressionable fans parroting one another.

This one is incredibly strange- there isn't even any kind of evidence of Timothy saying this, let alone false evidence. It seems that somehow, obsessive Melanie fans saw the following Timothy tweets and spun a completely ridiculous lie using the names she mentioned. Timothy never once claimed to be assaulted by anyone other than Melanie.

These tweets are actually quite protective and sweet in nature, she is speaking her mind noticing how Billie Eilish who was only 16 at the time was very unprotected in the industry; surrounding herself with grown men, etc. and it was incredibly overlooked due to her celebrity status.

3. 'Timothy messed up the date! Aha! Proof she lied!'

Timothy did indeed fumble the date back in 2017. She explains in her recent video that the reason for this was that she was going off of a photo she remembered taking the day after the event, and unfortunately the photo appeared twice in her camera roll thus confusing the date (it's possible she took a screenshot of the photo later on or something along that vein).

Fans noticed that on the date Timothy gave mistakenly; Melanie was on tour in a different state & fans naively ran with this as proof of a lie.

The truth is, Timothy messing up the date is completely irrelevant. It would be a point of suspicion if Melanie had entirely denied they were ever together, but this isn't the case. It was confirmed by Melanie that this sleepover & the night in question did happen. It was also confirmed by Melanie, that on this night they did have sexual interactions. The date is totally unimportant.

I find it very strange how in image 1- Melanie admits that the night in question happened ie. the infamous 'she never said no to what we chose to do together'. This line of course sounds... convoluted at best, fairly sinister at worst.

However in image 2, Melanie states she 'thanks her 'fans who took the time to research the timeline, analyze past instagram photos, and question the story being told, which reveal her false statements'. This is incredibly strange, as she is implying that fans pointing out the date mix up proves her innocence; yet simultaneously admits that the event happened. Very inconsistent.

4. 'Why doesn't she take it to court rather than TikTok? Clearly she is after fame.'

In the midst of the aftermath of Timothy Heller's recent TikTok video where she resurfaces and speaks on her story again; a lot of people are questioning why she has not taken this to court. For some this is a way of saying 'this is a personal, delicate issue that is bound to get messy and explosive online & not the public's issue' which is an understandable perspective; but for others what they mean is 'she didn't take it to court, that must mean she's not serious about this therefore it is a lie'.

Unfortunately, legal justice is incredibly unlikely with a case like this, and I'm sure Timothy is aware of that.

There is (thankfully for Timothy's sake) no video evidence, no audio recordings- even if some sort of physical test of touch, fluid, etc. was performed, this only proves sex- not assault; and Melanie doesn't deny that they had sex. It also happened years ago, and as time goes on these things become harder and harder to prove.

Timothy likely feels that the best she can do is attempt to speak out and attain some form of social justice. Not only is the legal system feeble and tricky- it's also that Melanie has a disproportionate amount of money to work with. For Timothy, taking this to court would likely be a financially poor & fruitless decision.

Timothy also has stated in the past in this livestream @ 4:11 'I don't want to go to the police because I don't want Melanie to go to jail.'

So, there is also this understandable element where she still cares for Melanie on some level. She has no desire to punish Melanie herself, her coming out had more to do with owning her OWN story and liberating herself with the truth.

5. 'Isn't it suspicious that Timothy only seems to come out with this when Melanie is at a high in her career?'

A common point fans bring up is that Timothy seems to come out with her story at 'peaks' in Melanie's career. I don't have much to flesh out about this one since honestly this point is more of a personal opinion type of thing. Yes, Melanie is on her worldwide 'Trilogies' tour, but her album; 'Portals' came out a year ago.

I honestly feel like people would be throwing out this stale argument no matter when Timothy resurfaced. Whether it was during the anticipation of Portals, when Portals released, in the months after release- hell, during the K-12 era even. I just think this point is very.. empty.

That being said, if you would consider right now a high in her career, this honestly makes a lot of sense. Timothy was driven off of the internet by pure malice the first time she came out with this information- it makes sense that now that Melanie is bigger, she wants to reinforce, 'hey, don't forget about me, don't forget about my story & what I went through'.

6. 'She remained friends with Melanie, dressed up as Melanie, agreed to play a fun sex game with Melanie'

None of these things point to her lying, and in fact are very plainly consistent with Timothy's story from the get go. Timothy always maintained the fact that for some time after the event occurred, it was hard to admit to herself that what happened was assault. Having that realisation took time, reflection & concerned reactions from friends when she would jokingly explain what happened. Therefore she stayed friends with Melanie & in her inner circle. As for the sex game... irrelevant. You can play a fun 'goofy' sex game with a friend but not intend to actually have sex with them.

7. 'Timothy Heller is Jealous & only wants Melanie's Fame & to Further Her own Music Career!'

This one is possibly the strangest of them all, yet seemingly the most prevalent take from hardcore fans.

First of all- being famous for being assaulted by a famous person, does not translate to personal fame in other endeavours outside of a minority of people who have eyes on the situation idly clicking on things out of sheer curiosity. 'Oh, this is 'the girl who was assaulted by Melanie Martinez's' music!'.

It is known that often, speaking up hinders people's careers which is why many in the industry & in life in general stay silent. This is exactly what happened to Timothy Heller- she was bullied, doxxed, threatened, stalked and harassed into hiding; not only doing wonders I'm sure for her mental health; but also putting her potential music career to a complete halt for some time.

Timothy has absolutely nothing to gain from coming out. Truly nothing. Not money, not fame in her personal endeavours, nothing but the possibility of justice on a social level; combined with the risk of further social ridicule & threat to her physical safety. She is putting herself on the line to double down on her story. After all she went through after coming forward the first time, she is completely willing to die on this hill so to speak. That shocked me...

In 2017, though even my younger self was appalled by the way fans were handling the situation and treating Timothy; it really did feel more like a 'he said, she said' situation. However, now after the fact of her making that video, the emotion in her voice, her never straying form the initial story; Melanie's inconsistencies...

I believe her.

& if you don't... touché; it's true that none of us were there. Though I feel that picture is quite clear when all of the misinformation is cleared away; which was the intention of this post.

8. Note that Melanie's tendency to be sexually coercive has been Reiterated by people other than Timothy

Melanie's former stylist, Madeleine Carina came out on Twitter not long after Timothy with the following statement:

“Something similar (not r*pe) happened w/ me and Mel. She begged me over and over again to sleep with her n I finally gave in. She wore me down. I said yes. But it was not the same with Timothy. I will support @timothyheller till the end.”

While Madeleine herself clarifies that she didn't consider her situation assault as she did eventually say yes; it does shed light on this kind of behaviour being a pattern for Melanie.

//

Some closing thoughts: reviewing all of this information, I think there's a strong chance that Melanie herself genuinely doesn't believe that she crossed a line & has a sort of cognitive dissonance about it. There is room for all sorts of shades of grey when it comes to understanding human emotions & intentions, but this wouldn't negate the way this occurrence affected Timothy either way. I read somewhere 'If Timothy wasn't a victim before, she definitely is now considering the way she's been treated all these years'.

Thankyou for reading, & I hope this shed some light on things ✌🏼🤍🤍

[atamascolily]

Building off my earlier analysis of Kyouko Sakura's original Magia Record transformation, here's her "Doppel Version":

For those who are unfamiliar with Magia Record, Doppels are a game mechanic allowing magical girls to temporarily manifest their witch forms. A later story expands on this by introducing the awkwardly-named "Doppel Version" for Kyouko, allowing her to become fused with her Doppel (as opposed to having it attached like a conjoined twin to a certain part of her body, like typical Doppels) and this is reflected in the transformation.

Kyouko stares into a flame floating in midair, which ultimately manifests into a figure covered in flames (compare with her original MR transformation, where this is a temporary intermediate state between ordinary girl and magical girl forms). Note that Kyouko is already in her magical girl form here; we are basically picking up where her original MR transformation ended.

Surprised to recognize the figure in the flames (it's herself, of course; it's always been herself), Kyouko reaches out to it, wincing at the heat of it. I appreciate the animators' dedication to her little fang, though.

When their hands meet, there is an explosion, and Kyouko is once again surrounded by flames burning away her old identity and reforging a new one. Her spear descends and she reaches to catch it, throwing herself at the camera; when the flames die down, she is dressed in the outfit worn by her Doppel, but still manifestly herself.

From an animation standpoint, this is far from the flashiest or most polished transformation sequence. It's the symbolism, simple as it is, that captures my attention. Magical girl transformations frequently feature doubles (compare Madoka's transformation in the opening credits of the orginal series) and the word 'Doppel' is German for 'Double', so that part isn't surprising--what's new is the merger of the two, and the acceptance of it.

I've written a ridiculously long essay about how this, or something very much like it, where magical girls accept and merge with their witches in some capacity, is both a logical extension of the original premise as well as its ultimate end game and here we see that actually playing out in Magia Record, even if it was only a blip in the grand scheme of things.

For various reasons, I have not watched the entire "Homecoming ~ Three Days of Kyoko Sakura" event in full, so while my knowledge is far from comprehensive, I still want to make a few notes.

First, some words about Kyouko's Doppel. It is based on her witch Ophelia, who does not appear in the original series, only in the PSP game. The name parallels Sayaka's witch Oktavia, as does her elemental affinity--if Sayaka is the Little Mermaid, Kyouko is the Little Match Girl, and her witch is literally a candle flame dressed as a wǔdàn, a character archetype of a warrior maiden from Chinese opera.

In keeping with PMMM's emphasis on performance, her labyrinth is a stage (compare also the labyrinth-like animation, complete with candle flames, when Kyouko narrates her backstory to Sayaka in the original anime). It also is yet another parallel with Oktavia, whose labyrinth is a music hall in which an orchestra plays.

Witch (left) vs. Doppel (right). Note that the body of the witch is replaced by Kyouko, although the two are still represented as distinct entities, with the magical girl "controlling" the witch part.

Also, yes, that is her sister Momo's head attached to the Doppel.

As you might expect from all of the imagery, Kyouko merging with her Doppel goes hand in hand with her accepting her painful past, as the two are inextricably linked. This is vividly apparent in one of the event CGs, which also features mirrored Kyoukos:

This image was also used in one of the event's Memoria cards, the text which reads (translation from the Puella Magi Wiki), which adds some additional context:

I was trying to leave everything in my past behind and become something else. Because if I didn't, I wouldn't have survived tomorrow. ...But I couldn't throw it away. I couldn't just pretend that my past self didn't exist.

Kyouko's past literally catches up with her in the form of herself, who kicks her ass and knocks her to the ground. Seems fitting, doesn't it?

This, as I've said before, is the ultimate "good end" for magical girls--to be able to accept the past that led them to make a contract while consciously drawing on the powers and abilities that they gained from it instead of being consumed by it. To be a psychologically whole person, rather than stuck forever in the magical girl-witch dichotomy. This is is everything I want to see in the PMMM franchise!!

And then, having done this extraordinary thing.... Magia Record steps back from it and, as far as I can tell, completely sweeps it under the rug. Kyouko is the only character to have this experience and there's a lot of shrugging of, "huh, wonder what that's about" in-universe as it's a completely new thing that nobody knows anything about... and doesn't seem interested in exploring.

I mean, I can tell you why on a meta, Doylist level--it's because Doppels are a game mechanic and Magia Record, like all of these kinds of games, requires a certain level of stasis and stability. It's fine for a one-time limited event as a novelty, but changing Doppels would require changing the fundamental structure of the game, which is just not happening. So instead, the plot goes back to reinforcing the status quo in Kamihama, instead of following this new and intriguing development.

It's completely understandable--and yet at the same time, it's infuriating because it's the most interesting thing to happen in the game since Doppels were first introduced--they were literally right there and didn't do anything with it beyond this one event!! And I'd be very surprised if Exedra developed it, for similar reasons--what little we've seen of the game makes it seem like it will be rehashing pre-existing storylines as opposed to completely new ones (at least at first) and if it does, it will likely go in very different directions.

As you can tell, I have a lot of strong feelings about this, as it's both fundamental to my personal interpretation of the show, and a topic I've been exploring in my fanworks for several years now. Suffice to say, I'm very happy that this exists, limited as it is, and I hope they'll do more with this sort of thing in future installments.

[classichorrorblog]

Have you played or are you a fan of any type of horror themed board games?

Yes. A lot of them are really fun. Some of my favorites have been the various Horrified games, particularly The Universal Monsters verison.

Betrayal At House On The Hill is a lot of fun if you can get enough people. And a spin off from that is a game called Betrayal Legacy which is a lot of fun with creating a history for your setting and characters and continuing throughout the story.

Arkham Horror The Card Game is a good experience once you know what you're doing. I've only ever played it solo, but I really like the lore that already comes with the game and the characters. I think I have two full expansions of that? But even if you don't like games, I would recommend reading up on the story and characters, they have novels and they even put the events all throughout other types of games. Many of which I haven't played.

I have a few different Zombicide games. I've never actually played them though. I mostly buy them because I find painting the miniatures to be kind of calming. It looks good though.

Cthulhu: Death May Die is another one that I have where I enjoy painting the miniatures. I only have the base box, but I ordered the last Kickstarter so I plan on actually playing that when it arrives.

And I also really like to play Final Girl, especially if you have multiple "films". Its fun to mix up the final girls with the different killers and locations. Even though most of the films and final girls are generic versions of the famous ones you love, I like how each killer and location has their own different rules that make it more unique. I would recommend watching videos on this one, because it can be really enjoyable. And another plus for it is that you can use their website to create your own final girl card. You can add their images and what you think their health and special skill might be. I've made a few like Laurie Strode and Sidney Prescott. But also, I did one with Ash from The Evil Dead movies as well as Jade Daniels from The Indian Lake Trilogy, specifically My Heart Is A Chainsaw.

[nalyra-dreaming]

hi! i’m not sure if you saw today’s discourse on twitter but people are speculating on the alice, armand and daniel getup. what are your thoughts on this? some people think alice and armand are the same person but others think they are separate people and daniel was married to alice while still being with armand at some point. you’re one of the few people in the fandom whose opinions i actually do trust so i’m interested in reading your take on this lol

Hey!

I... just went and just scrolled over the timeline and I think I saw some of it...

So errr - thank you for your trust, I hope I can live up to it^^ - here's my two cents on this:

I do think Daniel's daughters are real, we only hear of them, but there's the helmets and I do think that the mind-wipe that obviously happened at some point happened a few years after the initial interview. I think that has likely to do with the daughters (the leaked music titles/hints would fit here) and when exactly the first pregnancy occurred.

So in my opinion this leaves us with two distinct possibilities:

Alice is Daniel's first wife. He gets his "shit" together for her, because she got pregnant. He also might confuse some of his memories of her with some of Armand's characteristics (the eyebrow standing in for the contact lenses), or events he experienced with Armand, like that dessert in Paris, because that's how brains work - they try to make sense of "what's there". It's where deja-vus come from, too. Daniel's mind has a lot of things buried it tries to make sense of, so that is nothing too surprising, imho.

Armand is Alice, the name replaced in Daniel's mind, and his daughters are actually by his second wife. That would mean that a lot of Daniel's memories and thoughts are confused though, and I'm not so sure I would lean into that, because I think it is contradicted by his career.

There's also the third possibility that Daniel's daughters (and Alice) actually never existed, and that the few items of them were planted, but that... I think that would be too far out, because Daniel would then have lived an illusory life, with repeated spell-binding and mind-wipes to keep him in it, to write his books as he did, and so on. I don't think that's likely.

Now, personally I think the show will take the route of 1).

If you know the Devil's Minion, Armand hunts Daniel all over the world after Louis attacked him (and in the show after Armand saved his life). In growing consternation and fascination, and an also quite fatal love.

We know that at some point something happens which leads in turn to someone wiping Daniel's mind. We know they kept tabs on him (the tapes turn up in his post box without postage^^), we know they are up to date on his medical issues. Louis refers to Daniel as "our boy" more than once, and Armand looks shocked when Louis quips offers Daniel the Dark Gift.

In the book, Armand only turns Daniel when he is about to die, and I don't think that will change here. If that will mean a combination of TtotBT, or QotD? We'll see. There's a lot of ways they could go.

But back to Daniel and his daughters.

We know these daughters are all grown up (and don't talk to him anymore). We know he is divorced, twice, and has had his ups and downs. These can be traced, the books exist, his career exists. His wife is mentioned in those books.

So there are decades of his life that he lived outside the "hunt" with Armand (and likely, in parts at least, Louis). Decades of his life that exist away from the vampires - and there has to be a reason for that.

For Armand to step back from his fixation on Daniel there had to be a very valid, very deep reason.

Obviously Daniel getting "Alice" pregnant would fit that bill.

Armand had wanted to keep Daniel human, had tried not to turn him. (In vain, ultimately.) Daniel becoming a father... now that would bring in a "reason" outside Armand's own reasoning that he could latch onto.

And, who knows where we are in the story wrt the reconciliation with Marius, maybe it was he who wiped Daniel's mind. But of course Armand is just as capable here.

So I think the hunts, and maybe years of relationship with Armand happened.

And then... something else happened. Maybe the frustration of being denied the blood led to Daniel leaving Armand for periods of time. Maybe he found solace with Alice. Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it was an attempt at normalcy. We'll see.

As a note though, because for me it kinda implied there - Armand... wouldn't mind Daniel being (having sex) with someone else, even if he were there. In the books the famous "cuck chair" is very much real, Armand gets Daniel a lot of people to have sex with.

I do not think they will go the route of Daniel being married while Armand is still "there".

I do however think that Armand is always somewhere close, has maybe interfered in Daniel's life in some aspects, too. Has kept tabs.

So that's my two cents on this :) Hope it made sense - let me know what you think?^^

>> Btw, if you are interested in a fanfiction take that is very well written, and likely very close to what we might see? I can recommend "The Forgotten Years", by @faerywhimsy and @cbrownjc - they did a fantastic job hooking into what we know already and what the books provide and merge it together. I'm reading it now, and I have a blast seeing it all fit^^.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

The first idea for a Worm fanfic that I had, before I even started reading Worm (remember, my entry into Worm was reading about Worm and the controversy about Amy in Ward and yada yada), but while I was reading Worm Fanfic, was an Amy Dallon Peggy Sue fic, but one a bit different from the small handful that I'd found and that hadn't lasted long.

Namely, I wanted one where after the end of Worm (i.e. after restoring Vicky's body and mind, or at least as much as she could, unwretching her, etc) Amy actually does leave Vicky alone, apart from a handful of times where they might accidentally end up in the same space during hero crises in the years after Gold Morning, etc. Eventually Amy moves extra far away from Vicky to reduce those chances.

The actual story opens with Amy on the eve of her 30th birthday. She's had a metric ton of Therapy, though she's hardly some perfectly functional person. She heals for a living, but to satisfy Shaper she has a whole greenhouse of modified plants and she only heals like 2-3 hours a day, barring emergencies. (Also, it's easier to do a task you hate - like healing - if you're getting paid a substantive wage for it, lbr). Anyway, Amy knows Vicky has ever right to not forgive her, given the mind influence and the rape (remember, hadn't read Worm at this point when the idea formed in my mind) and the wretching and stuff, but she can't help but want for her and Vicky to be able to be sisters again. She just doesn't act on that.

And then like, she opens an envelope as she walks into her home and it's an old picture from an old newspaper of Vicky and Amy as Glory Girl and Panacea from some publicity thing and she expresses some wish about if she could do it all again...

And then the next day, wakes up in her younger body, in her room at the Dallon house, back in 2011... the day after the Bank (i.e. the day the Undersiders face Bakuda at the storage place). Obviously at first it's a dream or a nightmare to her, etc etc, she's conflicted when she realizes it's real because now she can be sisters with Vicky again and make sure she never hurts her like she did but she still carries around all the guilt about what she did and feels like she believes she doesn't deserve to have that relationship with past Vicky (I have this whole vision of an early scene from Vicky's POV where she hears Amy going 'no, no, no, no' in her room - which is Amy realizing this isn't a dream and she's freaking out - and then Vicky, worried for Amy bursts in, breaking the door, Aura going wild and Amy feels fear (because the few times she and Vicky interacted after she dewretched her had Amy feeling fear from Vicky's aura) and Vicky realizes Amy is afraid of her, which of course makes Vicky wonder wtf is going on.

Anyway, cue Amy having to try and help save the world and prevent some of the shit that happens to Brockton Bay while only knowing some of what happened, so her ability to make things go better is limited. And wanting to maybe not have as many people die when they beat Scion this time and also maybe Taylor doesn't die, etc. Of course once she starts changing stuff unintended consequences, etc, etc.

And like, key to this fic would be all the guilt Amy carries around about raping Vicky.

And while I knew that the 'Amy raped Vicky' reading of the story was controversial and seen as a retcon by some, I wanted to work with it for this specific fic because it seemed like it would allow some really cool pathos and angst and dramatic reveals and stuff.

But having read 15.x now, I sit here and like - I cannot for the life of me see how to construct a chronicle of events using what we know of what happened where Amy's rape of Vicky actually works and makes sense and feels like something the character actually does.

15.x just... no. There's nothing there to work with.

Which kind of kills the entire idea as I conceived of it, since a key scene I had in mind did involve Amy trying to explain what happened to past Vicky - not giving excuses at all, just laying out what happened to get from point A (OG Amy as of the start of Worm) to point B (The girl who raped her sister)

(I have this vision in mind where Vicky is interrogating Amy trying to figure out what is going on with her [including an accusation of Amy being a stranger], eventually Amy mentions the 'I'm from the future' but Vicky's like 'why are you afraid of me and won't let me hug you and stuff' and Amy's like 'future you hates me for good reason' Vicky demands to know why, Amy, in a fit of high emotion and guilt and so forth screams 'I RAPED YOU!' and after bluescreening for a moment Vicky goes 'wait, so future me hates you because some sick, twisted Master controlled you and forced you to-' because of course Vicky of that point in time can't conceive of Amy ever doing that to her of her own free will and Amy is like 'No, no, you don't get to do that, I did that to myself too much in the past, but it's not true, as much as I might wish it was' or something)

But like, having read 15.x I try to imagine that scene now, Amy explaining the train of events from Bonesaw to Wretching and... I just can't quite figure out how it works.

I mean, if I ever write this and get that far, I can probably try to construct something (if I do write this, it won't be the first Wormfic I write) but like, when the idea first came to me, I knew that there was enough ambiguity in the text that large swaths of the readership genuinely didn't walk away from Worm thinking an actual physical sexual rape happened, but I figured there was something to work with, and there just really isn't.

[waterfire1848]

I just read about your au where Sokka and Azula are the only ones that realize their world has become a musical, I found it very interesting!

I shared this AU with stardust before, but I loved to imagine a scenario where the gaang travels FOWARD in time ( like their 2024) and decide to watch a theater production about themselves(lower expectations due to ember Island players)

But it turns out to be a musical presented in the style of Hamilton, maybe focused on Sokka and his eventual political contributions after the war, or just aang's journey in general

How do you think they might react to ir?

Hello, anon!!!

Thanks to a spirit attack, the Gaang find themselves in modern New York time. Sadly, they're in the middle of the road when they land and run to the side of the road. They've never been in an area like this and there are so many people and nothing around them looks like home, so, of course, they're terrified and run into the closest building they can find for some kind of safety. They manage to make it into a theater, which is the only building name they recognize, and take a seat to rest for a minute, trying to collect themselves and figure out what is going on. (Aang: Look. Katara: Is that a poster with us on it? Sokka: Come on, not again. Zuko, reading the poster: Avatar: The Last Airbender. A story of war and hope. Sokka, groaning: It's happening again.) They decide to sneak in to watch the show because they don't know anything about this modern world and, in their minds, they think that this would be a good way to see what all has changed or how they're viewed in this world. Is it more like the Fire Nation where they're about to die at any second or is it like the South Pole where people like them?

Firstly, the play is incredibly well done (from an effects standpoint I mean) which shocks the Gaang because they were expecting something more along the lines of what they saw on Ember Island. (Theater can evolve a lot after a couple hundred years or so). The second thing is that they are shocked with how well they’re portrayed. (Aang: They got a boy playing me!!!! Zuko: Really? Nothing about how they’re actually showing our struggles and not just playing us as idiots or crying or just angry? Sokka: I’m saying good meat jokes!🤩 Katara: And I’m not crying every second. Suki: We had a very low bar of expectations.) The first part of the play is fairly similar to what actually happened, with the events now portrayed much better and more seriously. The only difference? People sing. There’s a solo song when Aang breaks out of the iceberg, a solo for Zuko about his honor, a mini solo song for Katara when she gets the waterbending scroll, and a song with everyone when they meet Suki, a song between Aang and Zuko———“I can sing that good?” “No. No, you can’t. Please don’t sing.”———and a song with everyone at the North Pole. Once the final song is over, the light dim and everyone leaves and the Gaang takes it as their sign to go. (Suki: What’s got Sokka all upset? Kaatra: He’s mad he didn’t get a solo song.)

As I said, the play really does show things in a more serious light, so when they get to the second part and Azula, Mai and Ty Lee come up not only do Mai and Ty Lee get a song about how nervous and scared they are because they don’t know what’ll happen if they say no but there’s also another half of the song dedicated to how excited they are to fight the Avatar and bring honor to their nation. (Katara: I have to ask, is honor a Fire Nation thing or a you thing? Zuko: Fire Nation thing. Sokka: Don’t give me the mental image of Azula with one of those horrible ponytails screaming honor all the time). They’re about halfway through the second part when Azula gets a solo song———“Seriously!? She gets a solo?!” “Let it go, Sokka”———, dedicated to her talking about how she’ll captured the Avatar but there’s also a moment in the song when she gets a spotlight moment and sings about how she’s scared of her father and failing him. The song is one that the Gaang gets caught up on because they never imagined Azula to have these fears of not being enough and failing Ozai. It makes the Ba Sing Se final fight and song that much more interesting.

The play ends with the correct way that the comet actually played out. In the third act there’s a song for Katara with bloodbending, a duet of Aang and Zuko that mirrors the one they sang during the first act, a song for everyone during the DOBS, a song between Mai, Ty Lee and Azula when they betray her and a song for the final battle———“My eyes! My eyes!” “Zuko, it’s okay! Calm down!” “My father is singing! He’s singing!”. All in all, the play wraps up much better than the one the Ember Island Players put on. (They still don’t know how to get out of this time but at least the theater has gotten much better). The Gaang decides to slip in backstage when the musical is done so that they can talk to the actors and actresses about the play.

When they get backstage (first of all sneaking backstage at a play is a lot harder in this time period. There is a lot more security now and everyone thought they were 'crazy fans'), everyone runs off to talk to whoever played them and the actors really have no idea who these people are, because why would they? (Katara: You played the parts so well! Aang: And your singing is amazing! Sokka: Why didn't Sokka get a solo song? Actress!Katara, in a whisper: Did someone call security yet?) The kids are kicked out by security but they don't really care. That play was 10x better than whatever the Ember Island Players did and the singing was really good, if kind of weird at some points. (None of them will be able to get over hearing Ozai and Zhao sing. That traumatized them more than the war).

[nightingale-ghost-writer]

By the Grace Of [Sorcerer Rogier x Fem!Tarnished] - Epilogue

Summary: Now that they’ve finally found each other, our swordswoman and her sorcerer have some things to tidy up- people to see, places to go, cursemarks to find. And after all that, some alone time wouldn’t go amiss…

Author’s Notes: 3.8K words, and… we’re finally done. This was originally meant to be a character study featuring a fix-it plot, but it turned into more of a fix-it plot with moments of character study. And man, did it get away from me. I hope y’all enjoy reading as much as I’ve enjoyed writing. This has been an absolute labor of love and, though I’ll admit that I’m relieved to be done, I think I’m going to miss obsessing over this at all hours of the day and night. Who knows, maybe I’ll write snippets of R & D’s adventures as the mood strikes me. 😉 Thank you to everyone who came along for this great journey with me. 💙

As for actual chapter notes, I did change a character description (of sorts). The most reasonable explanation I can find for what happened can be explained away by changing one spell detail, which I’ve done to make this fit, and because the consensus seems to be that the devs errored.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or events from Elden Ring

Warnings: Character deaths (yes, multiple), mild language, canon-typical violence, SUPER suggestive content (borderline smut? Like YA level), abstract horror? I think? Unedited (basically)

It was a long night of soft kisses and whispered words.

“I thought I was going to die.”

“I was terrified that you would. You should have fought back.”

“I could never strike you.”

“It wasn’t really me.”

“And what was it, really?”

Rogier had flooded with shame. “A mistake,” he’d whispered. But Delia hadn’t been upset. She’d told him of the echoes she’d seen of the spirit with the katana. 

“Who knows. If it had gone on long enough, I might have ended up fighting myself, too. If not for Devin, I…”

They had shared deep grief over both D twins- the tragedy and heroism and needlessness of both. Delia wept as she told him how she’d found Darian. Rogier held her closely while he spoke of Darian’s stories of his brother, of their time spent traveling together.

“You loved him, once. Didn’t you?”

Rogier hadn’t answered. Delia had curled into his side, tucking herself beneath his chin.

“He loved you, too.”

Now she lay, exhausted, draped against his chest between his raised knees. There would be an awful kink between his shoulders when they moved, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He hadn’t woken her for the midnight watch either, too content to have her in his arms and listen to the steady rhythm of her breath. Besides, he was filled with a giddy energy for the first time. There was nothing nostalgic about this feeling; he couldn’t be absolutely certain, but he was quite sure that he’d never felt it before death or since.

As sunrise broke over the horizon, he committed every detail of her face to memory; every line, every freckle, every scar. She had washed off the blood and dirt in a nearby pool and, though he teased her mercilessly about cleaning her with his tongue instead, Rogier had kept a diligent watch while she did. 

She’d come out from the lake dripping, clad only in the loose shirt she wore beneath her armor, and Rogier had to fight the flood of his baser instincts. The wet fabric clung to every curve, transparent enough in some spots to showcase scars he hadn’t yet had an opportunity to catalogue. She was on him in an instant, kissing him feverishly and pushing him back until he hit a tree trunk and she pressed herself against him. They’d moaned into each others mouths, hands roaming, with Rogier’s on the bare skin of her hips beneath her shirt and Delia unlacing his jerkin for a delicious moment that ended far too soon for his liking.

“It’s too dangerous here, we have to be watchful.”

So they’d murmured to each other until Delia dozed off, and Rogier had taken the time to take her in in all her restful glory. She stirred as pale sunlight streaked her hair, scrunching her nose in the most adorable expression Rogier had ever seen. When she opened her eyes, they glowed up at him.

“You didn’t wake me,” she rasped. Rogier only shook his head, tipping her chin up to kiss her softly.

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

“Oh, my.” Roderika’s soft voice shook, hands alternately fluttering at her sides and before her mouth.

“Oh, Delia!” She ran toward them, throwing her slight weight full into Delia’s waiting arms. “Oh, I was so frightened that I’d never see you again!” She turned to Rogier, smiling a watery smile. “I’m so glad you found her.”

“So am I,” Rogier answered, smiling.

“Delia, you must tell me everything. Where have you been? What have you been doing? Did Rogier gallantly sweep you off your feet?”

Delia and Rogier snorted in unison, sharing an amused glance.

“Actually, I think he- Rogier!” She cut off with a shriek and a peal of laughter as he lifted her over his shoulder, spinning to face Roderika.

“Indeed I did, just like this.” He spun in a circle, earning Delia’s fists on his back and Roderika’s delighted giggling.

“He most certainly did not, I was half-dead when he found me!” Roderika’s laughter abruptly died, eyes going wide. Rogier sighed. He lowered Delia, spinning her to face her friend with a gentle shove forward.

“Really, darling, you shouldn’t say such things.”

“Oh, Roda. I’m sorry.” Delia rushed forward, taking the young girl’s hands. She glanced back at Rogier, who waved a hand and turned from the chamber to give them privacy.

The Hold was quiet and empty, save for the ringing of Hewg’s hammer. Rogier searched the halls for any signs of life, but found none until he reached Gideon’s study. The old man stood hunched over old texts, absorbed in his reading. Rogier hesitated, considered going in, and decided against it. Instead, he found himself back at the balcony he had occupied for so long. He sat, running his hands over the worn wood of the bench, and leaned back against the wall.

To think, so many things had happened since he’d sat here last. He rubbed absent-mindedly at his chest. He’d never felt truly at home here, or anywhere else for that matter, but he’d returned here time and again. It had been safe, and D had been here.

D. 

He’d been content in his travels with D; at ease in his company, secure enough in his care and with D in his. There had been a trust there, and even love, as Delia had said, before they’d parted ways. 

But he’d still been restless, and their differences could not be compromised. And now D was gone.

He stood abruptly, walking briskly past Delia and Roderika and Hewg to stand in the recess before Delia’s door.

To anyone else, the space would look unchanged. But Rogier imagined he could see the faintest stain of rust there, on the stones.

He shouldered his way into Delia’s room, pacing the length of it. He tossed his hat aside, yanking at the strings on his jerkin to loosen it, suddenly feeling suffocated under the weight of his regrets. He crouched, ran his hands over his face, and breathed in.

D was gone, and he’d never know if they’d truly parted as friends. Delia seemed to think so, though, which brought him some measure of comfort.

He took in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, D.” He felt a wave of guilt, about all of it; the things he’d said, the things he hadn’t; letting D walk away, and letting himself fall in love with Delia when D had gone on alone.

“We buried him, you know.”

Delia had startled him with that.

“What?”

“Darian. In Caelid, in a coffin in Gurranq’s Sanctum. I thought… I thought he should be near a friend. Someone who could protect him in death, until he finds his way back to us.”

He took another deep breath.

Not quite alone.

He stood to gather himself. 

“We… I said the Litany of Proper Death. I know that without the magic, it’s only words. But it felt right.”

He resolved to study.

He would learn the Litany, would learn the incantations of the Golden Order; would sanctify the ground of the sanctum and seal Darian’s tomb. Then with Delia’s help, he could return to the path to set death right again, with the tools to put to rest the restless souls along the way.

Nothing could have kept them together- one too set on a new Order, one too set on the old- but he could bend to accommodate this. He nodded to himself, finally at peace with his aim decided. He would see their mission through.

He tied his jerkin and collected his hat. As he picked it up, his gaze fell onto the crate Delia had left behind. He picked up the pamphlet he’d made her, toying with the glintstone he’d tied into it with a wry, self-deprecating smile. Then his eyes slid to the statuette, lying on its side amongst the wrapped ingredients. He picked it up, weighing it in his hand. He tucked both items into his satchel and took one last, long look around the room.

He did not think either of them would be returning soon.

As he stepped back into the passage, he could hear Hewg’s gravelly voice. Delia came into view, chatting with him with a pile of materials on the workbench in front of her, while Roderika tinkered with bells on her rug.

“The girl has come a long way. As ever, time and technique have made her stronger. ‘Tis good to see. An imprisoned monster does not deserve an apprentice, or a daughter. But at times, that's precisely what she feels like to me.” Hewg’s gaze had drifted up, resting on Roderika with a pride and affection that paused Rogier’s steps. The smith looked down sharply. “I've gone soft. And it isn't easy.”

Delia looked over her shoulder, eyes falling on Rogier. She smiled gently.

“No. But it’s worth every doubt and every worry.” She glanced at Roderika, smile widening. “Besides, she idolizes you. Now fix my sword, and maybe I’ll see why.”

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙ 

Torrent was a sprightly little mount, but Rogier would be lying if he said the beast didn’t scare him half to death. It was painfully obvious that Delia felt no such fear. 

Where Rogier’s hands were gripping her waist, probably too hard, hers flitted between Torrent’s mane and the damp Liurnia air. She laughed as Torrent leapt from a particularly high rock. It made his stomach drop.

But he was close to her, practically wrapped around her warm body, and the sun shone down on both of them despite the chill breeze. They had just quit the Hold, heading north to Jarburg on their way to the Academy.

Rogier leaned forward as a high tower came into view. He pointed at it before speaking into Delia’s ear.

“Is that the tower?”

She nodded. “Are you ready?”

He was.

The path looped, leading them down through stands of trees until a doorway came into view. Delia took the statuette, but paused in the doorway. She looked up at him.

“Would you wait here?”

He started. “Wait here?”

“Please,” she said. She raised herself on tip toe to kiss him gently. “I don’t want to put your ‘immortality’ to the test. Would you let me go?”

With a huff of irritation and a few more kisses, he did. He paced the entire time, muttering and swearing to himself.

He counted his steps; he counted the clouds; he tracked the shadow of the tower along the cliffside.

She’d been gone for too long.

He was going in.

He stepped through the doorway and promptly stumbled over the… top? Of a doorway? He muttered and swore some more, picking his way forward to peer down at the… bottom… of a chandelier.

“Looking for me?”

He whipped around to see Delia standing behind him, smiling smugly. She raised her hand, and there, in all its glory, was the cursemark he’d been searching for for so long. For a long while, he’d nearly forgotten it, too overcome with the fear of losing her. To see it in her hand now, while she smiled broadly at him? It was everything he’d ever wanted, right in front of him. With a whoop, he ran forward, lifting her by the backs of her thighs to spin her around before pinning her to the wall and kissing her breathless.

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙ 

The trees and rocks flew by on the ride back up the hill. It was peaceful for a time. Then Delia leaned back against him as Torrent navigated his way down a dizzying cliffside using tombstones stuck in the walls. She laughed as his grip on her tightened.

“You… you just let him…?”

Delia laughed again. “Believe me, Torrent knows his way better than I do.” She reached over her shoulder, sliding her hand behind his neck. “Relax.”

He tried.

Once they landed at the town outskirts, he clambered down with Delia’s laughter pealing against the cliff walls.

“Not one for horses?” she teased, sliding to the ground gracefully.

“I prefer my own two feet, thank you very much.” 

She giggled again, turning toward the little town. Her posture stiffened, hand falling to rest on her greatsword’s hilt. Rogier reached for his rapier and staff, waiting on a sign from Delia.

“Something’s wrong,” she murmured. “It’s too quiet.” She stalked forward, drawing her hood up. Rogier followed for several paces before she put her hand back in warning. “Stay here.”

He moved to crouch behind a small boulder, eyes glued to Delia’s back. She moved carefully, pausing every few steps to look this way and that. Rogier was just beginning to grow anxious when she stood straight up, dropped her sword, and sprinted forward with a cry.

Rogier rushed down the hill after her, slowing only when he saw Delia cradling a familiar set of armor. As his face came into view, Rogier’s heart sank.

“D-Did I defend them?”

Delia was nodding fiercely, but Rogier could see the shattered jars scattered around them. “You defended them.”

“Then all is well... This fool proved his worth, in the end…”

With a rattling breath, he shuddered and went still. Delia let out a soft sob. She rocked back and forth, clutching Diallos’ head to her chest. Rogier put his hands on his head, at an utter loss.

A tremulous voice came from behind them. “O-oh! Coz! I'm glad you came.”

Rogier reached for his weapon, but Delia only looked up mournfully. A tiny jar stood nearby, wringing its hands and shifting its weight back and forth. Delia reached up an arm.

The jar hesitated before stepping slowly toward her.

“I won't cry though... I'm a warrior jar. A warrior.”

“I know you are,” whispered Delia. The little jar made its decision, kneeling and tucking itself beneath her arm. It reached out a tiny hand to stroke Diallos’ limp one.

"’The tale of House Hoslow is told in blood.’ That's the kind of warrior I want to be one day, coz. Even if I'm scared, I'll still fight to protect everyone.”

Rogier knelt on Delia’s other side as she began to weep anew, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and wishing he could put a stop to the endless stream of suffering that plagued her. 

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

The ride northwest was blessedly uneventful. Rogier’s arms ached from the grave they’d dug in Jarburg, and Delia’s worries for her friend’s body and soul gnawed at Rogier’s mind. They’d seen no deathroot, none of Those Who Live in Death or any sign of them; nothing to indicate any threat to Diallos’ final resting place. 

Delia still worried. But without the proper incantations and rites, there was nothing more they could do. So they’d buried him, with Rogier promising to return to sanctify the ground once he’d learned, and the little jar bairn had planted each of the village’s rare flowers over the mound of dirt with care. 

“D’you think he’d like that, coz?”

“I think he’d love it.”

The Academy towers loomed in the distance, and Rogier found his excitement rising as they drew nearer. Delia had been practically silent since they left Jarburg, and he was worried for her. 

She pulled back on Torrent’s reins now, slowing their progess. 

“I…” Her fingers clenched the reins, and Rogier could feel her muscles tense beneath his hands. “I need to see someone,” she said. 

“Alright,” he said cautiously. “Then let’s go see them.”

She turned in the saddle to look more fully at him. “You don’t want me to leave you at the Academy?”

“No.” The swiftness of his answer surprised even him. “I want to go with you.”

She crooked a half smile. “Not dying to study the cursemark, then? Now that you’ve finally gotten your hands on it?”

He was, they both knew it. He wanted to be near her more, though.

“There’ll be time for that later.”

She smiled, and kissed him softly, and then clicked her tongue at Torrent. The steed loped off to the west, toward a crumbling ruin that could hardly be seen for the surrounding mist. It was a short, silent ride, and not long until Rogier understood that things had, once again, gone wrong. 

“Oh, Iji,” Delia breathed. 

She slid from Torrent’s back, padding to the corpse of a troll, wreathed in wicked red and black flames. She laid a hand on one of its massive arms, looking up sorrowfully. Whatever she murmured, Rogier did not hear. She stood silent for several long moments while he and Torrent waited, giving her space. Then she turned back and mounted up. 

“They’ll pay,” she said. 

“Who?”

“All of them. The Outer Will, the Two Fingers, the Black Knives. Everyone responsible for Iji, for Blaidd. For Ranni’s suffering. For theirs. For mine.”

Her voice was flat and cold, and Rogier felt a tinge of anxiety along with shared sorrow. He laid a gentle hand on her leg, wrapping the other around her waist. 

“I’m sorry.” It was an empty platitude, and they both knew it, but Delia seemed to take some comfort from it anyway. 

“Thank you,” she said. 

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

“Ta-da!” sang Delia, spinning with her arms raised over her head. She smiled wide. “What do you think?”

Rogier raised an eyebrow, barely able to surprise a smirk. “Of?”

Delia smacked him lightly on the arm. “Of the library, you dolt.”

He looked up and around. “I think it’s the most incredible library I’ve ever seen.” He smiled down at her. “And I think I saw it before, when I was searching far and wide for you.”

Delia stared at him blankly. “I suppose I never did ask how you found me.”

Rogier stepped forward, reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. Her mood had brightened considerably upon their arrival, and he was loathe to let her slip back into heartache. “I don’t know how, but I think I felt that I was following in your footsteps.”

Her face screwed up. “That’s what it’s like for me, following sites of grace.”

He smiled. “One might say that you are my saving grace. After all, it’s by your grace that I’m still here.”

Delia snickered, turning to walk away, but Rogier grabbed her arm. Her expression was puzzled for a moment until he pulled her closer by her waist, tilting her head up. He was suddenly overcome with desire, reignited now that they were in relative safety. “Thank you, he whispered. He brought his mouth down over hers, swallowing her gasp of delight. He kissed across her cheek to her ear, nuzzling just behind it. 

“When do we need to leave?”

Delia shivered. “We?” She gasped. He kissed the tender flesh under her jaw, letting his teeth drag across her skin down her neck. He slipped his fingers beneath the hood of her cloak, pulling the material away so he could nip lightly at her throat. Delia’s breath came raggedly.

“Yes, we.” He could feel her heartbeat speeding beneath his arm, her hands fluttering at the laces of his jerkin. “You didn’t think I planned on letting you go ever again, did you?” He let both hands slide around her body to the cunning clasps beneath her cloak. He deftly unhooked the first two, with Delia’s shallow breaths like music in his ears.

“You don’t-” she gasped again, then continued with difficulty. “You don’t want to stay and study the- by Marika- the cursemark?” He’d backed her slowly up to a bookshelf, pressing his body against hers. There would be no hiding what he wanted now.

“I think,” he murmured against her throat, “That I’d rather study you.” He’d made his way under her chestplate now, fingers sliding over soft skin as he pressed harder against her. Delia’s hands were wrapped firmly around his shoulders, dragging them closer together as she keened softly, arching against him. “And besides, there’ll be time for that later,” he repeated.

“I have… there’s a den that I thought… Rogier,” she breathed as he reached for her backside, pulling her up his body. 

“Lead on,” he whispered. She nodded over his shoulder, pointing to a doorway close by. He strode purposefully toward it, toeing open the heavy door she indicated as she unlaced his jerkin. By the time he got the door shut behind them, she’d swept off his hat and hood and had his shirt halfway up his waist, lips attached to his pulse point. It made him dizzy. 

He turned, searching for any surface that would fit their purposes, and saw a heavy oaken desk in the corner. He unceremoniously deposited her on it, sweeping the neatly stacked papers back in one motion. He yanked his shirt up and over his head, tossing it aside, and preened a bit under her hungry gaze. She reached for him, dragging him closer by his waistband. He dipped down to capture her lips again, sliding his tongue into her mouth and breathing in the taste of her. He made quick work of her armor, dragging her greaves down long, lean legs and yanking them off along with her boots.

Delia’s hands shook as she tried to unlace his trousers, giving him pause for the first time in the heated exchange. He took her hands in his. 

“Delia, we don’t have to-”

“I want to,” she breathed, leaning up to kiss him again. He sighed before forcing himself back. 

“We can wait, if you’re not ready.”

She’d gotten her hands into his trousers now, making his head swim as she ran them lightly over him. She pulled down the offending garment, leaving him to toe off his boots while she kissed him feverishly. “We’ve waited long enough,” she panted, peppering kisses over his face. “Don’t you think?”

She grasped him and all conscious thought fled. He nodded dumbly, leaning forward to kiss her deeply. Her legs came up around him as he pressed forward. His hands cradled her face while hers pulled lightly at his hair. They were a moaning, fumbling mess; all breathless whispers and sloppy kisses with Delia’s teeth marking his shoulder and his lips marking her throat. It was too much and not enough, unbearably close and unattainably far away, the heat of lust tempered by the cool comfort of devotion; and when she came undone, moaning his name in his ear, it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard or seen, and her grip pulled him after her in an all-consuming flash of white.

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

He did study her, after- first with his hands and tongue, and after she’d fallen asleep, with his eyes. She was the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen.

And she loved him.

They lay on the floor on a pile of their clothes, still wrapped around each other. Rogier had never felt so at peace- with the world, with himself, with his lot in life. He closed his eyes, pulling Delia ever so slightly closer. In her sleep, she curled into him, leg sliding between his and hand gripping his side. He reveled in this moment, in finally having her in more than his dreams.

He cracked his eyes open, searching for some sign as to the time of day. He found none. He considered for a long moment. There was so much to do, for both of them- a mountain of spells to learn, a throne to claim, a crooked world to set right.

He closed his eyes, turning to nuzzle Delia’s hair. He kissed her head lightly.

All of that could wait another day.

[depression-c0re]

current!sami yaffa x Michael Monroe’s daughter headcannons also nsfw and big age gap

(I’m sick of waiting for someone to read my other post and write this for me so ima do it even though I suck at writing also I’m writing headcannons bc it’s easier and less work)(also a few details reader is a girl obviously also in the story reader is about 23 just to let y’all know)

warnings⚠️⚠️:age gap, mentions of pedophilia, mentions of pregnancy (I think), smut, maybe some cursing

if I missed any warnings please tell me

-ok starting off you and Sami obviously have a very big age gap around a 37 years actually

-when y’all started dating and you told Michael he obviously freaked out (bc he’s our fav Barbie drama queen)

-also because it’s his daughter is dating one of his best friends who also helped raise her

-it took awhile but sooner or later he came around to it seeing how much Sami loved you and how happy he made you☺️

-now onto y’all’s relationship dynamic

-Sami’s love language is definitely physical touch I see him being to shy for words of affirmation but he’ll do it every once in a while I also feel like he loves gift giving

-he absolutely loves when you hold him and baby him it doesn’t matter how big y’all’s age gap is he still loves being babied by you(no one can change my mind on that)

-speaking of babies if y’all had a kid he would love them so much it’s not even funny

-I have a feeling he’s extremely good with kids idk why

-also he would have the best fashion advice for you like he would always help pick out outfits for you when you don’t know what to wear

-while he helps pick out what you where he also helps you out of it at the end of the night(iykyk)

-you can not tell me this man is not a sucker for tits and thighs bro

-will absolutely suck on your tits and leave hickeys on your tits and thighs

-absolutely loves being bottom his fav position is cowgirl because you can control him or he can control you

-absolutely will not force you to do anything you don’t wanna do and respects you boundaries

-but also will do anything you wanna do kink wise

-like he does not care he will literally try whatever you wanna do with him

-absolutely loves you

-has written many songs about you

-and yes sometimes they get published and Michael has to sing them💀

-when it got revealed to the public y’all were dating every one freaked out some people outa happiness and some in anger

-most people loved y’all’s relationship and their were so many cute post from y’all’s supportive fans saying how cute you and Sami are

-then there were the people posting about y’all’s age gap and how it was pedophilia and shit because he helped raise you but you didn’t care honestly you had Sami and your dad and that’s all you needed

-seeing as you grew up around Sami he knew everything you liked and how you liked it

-he could name your coffee order by heart if you asked him to

-if you had tattoos he would absolutely love them kissing touching and tracing them every time you are together

-always has an arm around you ESPECIALLY at social events that the band is at

-he is definitely overprotective of you not in like a controlling way but in a concerned trying to make sure you don’t get hurt/uncomfortable kind of way

-will absolutely let you sit on his lap(but also his face in the bedroom)

-ALWAYS and I mean always gives you a kiss before and after a concert

-adores when you wear his clothes

-you wanna know a way you can instantly turn him on wear his shirt with just panties on nothing else just his shirt and panties

-he will literally die of hornyness on the spot

-lives for when you braid his hair randomly

-braiding his hair is literally the best way to calm him down if he’s mad upset or stressed about something

ok that’s all for now I might write more later but I have no more ideas if you have any ideas tell me also, I’m sorry for any spelling mistakes. I suck at spelling.