#she didn't choose any of this!!!! and she didn't recruit them. they decided they wanted to join. goddamn forkle i hate him

[the-way-astray]

can i please kill him

[scurvgirl]

Learning about my Rook through banter. Just a little self-indulgent writing.

-

Bellara: So...you're Dalish, right?

Rook: Yep.

Bellara: But...you don't have Vallaslin.

Rook: I don't.

Bellara: Did you leave before you could get it?

Rook: No. My father isn't Dalish, and I was born in a city - I joined my mother's clan later. Didn't feel like the Vallaslin would suit me at the time.

Bellara: Oh.

-

Lucanis: Rook, what foods would you like prepared?

Rook: Anything really. Dalish, Free Marches, Tevinter, any kind of sea food.

Lucanis: Good to know.

-

Rook: You know, Taash, you don't have to choose to be Qunari or Rivaini.

Taash: What, you think I don't know that?

Rook: Hold your dragons. I'm saying - I'm Dalish and from a city. I respect the Vhenadahl and the halla. I sang prayers to Andraste and to the creators...before, you know, we knew shit.

Taash: Okay.

Rook: It's all important, and...you're all of it, put together into a unique experience of yourself.

Taash: I'll think about it.

-

Neve: Alright, your accent is not Tevinter, Antivan, Fereldan, or Orlesian. You're a Marcher.

Rook: She's found me out!

Neve: Now to figure out where.

Rook: Do you want me to tell you or is it more fun for you to put the clues together?

Neve: Don't tell me.

-

Rook: Fucking Venatori!

Harding: You really hate them.

Rook: Assholes kill people and use my gods as a fucking excuse.

Harding: You made that one explode.

Rook: Yeah, well, sometimes we deal with personal shit by exploding an evil shithead.

-

Neve: I've got it.

Rook: Oh do tell!

Neve: Kirkwall - Varric recruited you, told you to keep where you're from a secret.

Rook: Good thought but nope. Not from Kirkwall, and thank goodness for that.

Neve: Dammit.

-

Lucanis: You're quite good with that blade Rook. Who taught you?

Rook: My mother. She's a very skilled swordswoman. All of her kids are mages but she insisted we all learn how to defend ourselves with weaponry against Templars.

Lucanis: Smart woman. You have siblings?

Rook: Yeah, two older brothers.

Lucanis: Why am I not surprised you're the baby?

Rook: Because I am baby.

-

Bellara: I don't understand. Why not get the Vallaslin?

Rook: My clan was informed of its true meaning. My keeper started offering everyone a choice.

Bellara: True meaning?

Rook: Slave markings, apparently. Makes sense now with what we know of the gods.

Bellara: That's horrible!

Rook: My brother decided to get his despite that. He said "Whatever they were, they are now how we find each other. How we take pride in who we are." I didn't feel ready. I don't know if I will ever feel ready.

Bellara: That...makes a lot of sense, actually. Thank you.

-

Davrin: You saw the Inquisitor, right?

Rook: Yeah. For someone who has been fighting for so long, she looked great.

Davrin: She's like you - Dalish but no Vallaslin.

Rook: There's a few of us out there.

Davrin: I wonder how she got rid of it.

Rook: Ah. Don't like Ghilan'nain's design upon you?

Davrin: Most days it doesn't bother me, but some days...it makes my skin crawl.

Rook: I'll try to ask her next time I see her.

-

Neve: Alright. You don't have Vallaslin because your clan found out information about them from ancient times. You showed an odd familiarity with the inquisitor. You said you are both Dalish and from a city. You hate the Venatori. You're from Wycome.

Rook: Huzzah! You discovered it!

Neve: You were there when the Venatori tried to take over.

Rook: They poisoned our wells. Blamed the elves in the alienage. They killed so many.

Neve: That means your mother was from clan Lavellan - the same clan the Inquisitor was from.

Rook: That would be my clan.

Neve: No wonder Varric gave you a code name and made it so hard to find anything out about you.

Rook: I was twelve when Miriel, I mean, the Inquisitor, left the clan. We were so proud of her, and so worried for her. When she came back...without her Vallaslin...there was a lot of heartbreak that day.

-

Solas: You knew the Inquisitor.

Rook: I did. And you broke her heart.

Solas: I didn't have a choice.

Rook: From what she's said - you did. You just chose wrong.

[mitraoki]

daze. (chuuya x reader)

note; @akutagawasbitch love u thank u for giving me inspo to write for bsd again TEEHEE🥺🤍 was obsessed with the idea of jealous chuuya so hopefully this fic did him justice AAAAAA-

cw; not really proofread, reader is a little more feminine (they wear a dress), reader is also not in any of the organizations, suggestive, drunk chuuya!!!

masterlist.

when they said it was supposed to be a party like always, chuuya definitely didn't expect to be met with hundreds of other faces he'd never seen.

he certainly did not expect for you to want to tag along, too. it wasn't like you haven't already - sometimes curiosity gets the best of you, and you couldn't resist your ravishing looking man in one of his best suits.

a suit that you'd picked out for him during one of your dates. wine red - just the way he likes it - traces amongst the silky black fabric. it was tough choosing between a bowtie or just a tie, but he preferred the tie; tucked underneath the vest that hugged his build perfectly. buttons glimmering gold under the chandeliers and a rose that he'd picked to match the one clipped on your hairdo.

you seemed to give chuuya motivation to go when he saw your outfit for the night. a dress that complimented his color palette, with the set of jewelry he'd bought for you one fine day. you felt really proud of how well you dressed (just for him, mostly.), so there you were, strutting down the steps of your shared home, an elegant twirl in the end to show him your completed look.

if you looked closely, you could've caught him drooling. he walked towards you, gloved hand loosely wrapped around your waist.

"i'm so in love with you."

"oh, you. i cannot take my eyes off of you either."

it felt so surreal that his boss decided to have a party out of nowhere, but you soon learnt the sole purpose being gaining new intel from a neighboring organization. this was just his way of thanking them. quite extravagant, but thrilling nonetheless.

"old man has so much time on his hands," chuuya grumbled, his arm entwined with yours. "or maybe it's because he wants us members to make up with 'em."

"hey," you slapped his shoulder playfully. "you gotta let it loose once in a while. i bet he even prepared your favorite drink tonight."

"for real?"

"mhm."

he sighed. "i'm only doing this because i love you. oh - and i also wanted you to see me wear this," he raised his head, adjusting his fedora triumphantly.

***

it didn't take long for chuuya to be dragged away by one of his colleagues. the so called ice-breaking session was currently underway and he promised to be back with you the moment he was done. you giggled as you heard him curse under his breath, followed by a toothy smile when he was greeted by a new face.

you found a seat nearby to wait when you met higuchi, a familiar face you've come across every time you tagged along for small matters (at this point he might as well recruit you here, but you'll leave that decision to him).

"higuchi, right? gorgeous as ever. where's um...," you wiggled your finger around, trying to remember the pale-skinned man you always saw her with.

"y/n! you look lovely yourself," you watched her rosy cheeks turn red within seconds as she fanned them off before continuing. "you mean akutagawa senpai? i was told to wait for him here. he seemed to be in an okay mood tonight, so i didn't want to be the first to ruin it," she concluded, straightening the fabric of her dress.

the two of you continued chatting. you followed her around, being introduced to other members of the port mafia. many of them were familiar faces, so it was nice to call them acquaintances now.

it wasn't until you noticed the back of the hall serving a variety of drinks. your ears picked up that it was first come first served, so why would you miss the chance?

though, there's always one thing you always forgot when you attended parties.

the watchful eyes around you.

you and higuchi lost each other in the slowly growing crowd in the drinks corner, so your first mistake was to assume she was the one snaking an arm around your waist.

your second mistake was thinking that it was chuuya trying to pull you away from the crowd.

chills ran down your spine as you peeled yourself away from the foreign arm around you, eyes glaring up at the bigger figure.

"do i know you?"

his words were only drowning along with the background noise, which only infuriated you more.

how long has it been since i last saw chuuya, by the way? you thought to yourself. he promised he would be back soon-

you watched as a gloved fist landed its first hit on the man's face.

did it all happen in a flash? was it in slow motion? you didn't know, you couldn't tell - he continued jabbing more punches around his face, adding a few more to his chin, his jaw.

you finally realized it was your boyfriend when a wine bottle flew past your face. it was gravity he was manipulating - it was nakahara chuuya.

"chuuya! stop it!"

he froze. his once droopy eyes darted towards the now broken wine bottle, back to you, and the man now laying on the floor.

he let out a frustrated grunt, tossing the bottle to the side.

"hear that? yeah. 's my name she's calling," he drawled, squatting to get a better look at the man. with the position he was in, it was like he wasn't ready to show himself till chuuya left his sight.

"touch her again and you would see your grave next."

restless, you grabbed a hold of his arm, hoisting him up only to end up stumbling from his weight.

he's either going to regret this, or brag about it to me, you thought, you inner self shaking their head in defeat.

"we'll get this mess cleaned up; he's drunk. why don't you bring him home, my dear?"

***

you walked in, with him abruptly freeing himself from your hold.

"honey, you're gonna fall. come on."

being drunk was no biggie for chuuya's strength. despite the different world he was in, he seemed to have heard you loud and clear.

it didn't even take five seconds and he had you pinned against the wall, arms slamming against each side of the hard surface.

"what are you-,"

"i'm sorry."

"wha-,"

"i'm sorry, baby," he finally looked into your eyes, the same droopy look you saw in the event earlier. only this time, it was mixed with rage, confusion and regret.

"okay," you whispered, placing a hand on his cheek. "chuuya, let's see if you're hurt anywhere, okay? then we'll talk-,"

he practically crash landed into your lips, causing his fedora to slip off of his hair, landing with a soft thud against the floorboard. you didn't realize until this very moment that it had been quite a while since you felt this sensation with him.

he forcefully pulled himself away from you, worried you might do so first.

"i.... i just... i need to kiss you."

his words were firm. his eyes flickered down to your lips before looking back into your eyes once more, and you could tell they were pleading, begging for you to say yes.

you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling his figure in close to yours. doing the honors, you closed the final bit of gap between the two of you, earning a satisfied grunt from his throat.

he pushed you back further against the wall, keeping you trapped within his embrace. his hands now gripped each side of your waist, fingers digging themselves into your fabric like they were trying to find your skin. he tasted like wine - you figured he actually found his favorite on display. his teeth was sinking into your bottom lip. it didn't hurt, but you could tell he was tugging at them.

chuuya let go but left long, luscious pecks on your lips, allowing you to catch your breaths in every interval. his breath was now hot and heavy, his tongue successfully finding its way through, and exploring your mouth like he had been craving for it all night.

that's how he'd always kissed you. he craved for them. and if it were a meal, he would take his time with it, relish it even.

but he also does this when he's jealous. obviously you could tell what he was feeling right now.

you could feel him smirking through the kiss as he heard a soft moan escape you. with that, he moved you away from the wall, gracefully landing you with a plop! onto the sofa.

"you're drunk," you whined breathlessly, finally pulling away. all he did was silently chuckle in response, removing the first two layers of his clothing. the tie made a loud whip sound when he loosened it, as if reminding you to get a grip of what he was about to do to you.

rolling your eyes in amusement, you helped him remove each button of his shirt, sitting up a little to help him slide it off of his body.

he wasn't done with you though. he leaned in closer to you, causing you to lay back down. his lips continued their journey towards your exposed collarbones, reaching at one of the straps of your delicate dress as he pushed it further down your shoulder.

"....i'm sorry i wasn't there when he touched you."

"god, chuuya. i don't think he's gonna dream of it after this," you giggled, fingers tracing his exposed skin. he breathed in sharply as he held your wrist tenderly, kissing it.

"i'm sorry for being so rough with you."

"you did not hurt me at all, chuuya. i promise."

you reached for the back of your dress, but your action was soon cut off by his hands once again.

"let me take care of you, baby. please."

all created content belongs to mitraoki. reposts/remakes are not allowed.

[princeescaluswords]

Conditioning

So, I encountered a take where Allison is described as being 'not the brightest,' 'gullible,' and 'stupid.' Apparently, this is because she was 'conditioned' to believe anything her parents told her, which is why she was manipulated by Kate and then by Gerard.

And I have to say I have so, so, SO many problems with that take, but in the end it's only another encounter with fandom misogyny. It won't be my first, and it won't be my last.

Were Chris and Victoria domineering? Yes. Did they intrude upon her privacy, both before and after the discovery of the supernatural? Absolutely. Did they surreptitiously train her with gymnastics and archery? There is no doubt. However misguided their attempt to ready Allison for a life as a hunter while concealing that reality from her, they gave her the opportunity explore the life of any normal teenage girl. They didn't tell her to give up photography or painting or poetry. They didn't force her to continue archery or gymnastics. She only had to hide her social life for them after she decided to date a werewolf, which she had enough strength of will and agency to choose to do. (Coming from a extraordinarily strict household myself, I am fully aware of the strength of personality required to defy oppressive parents like this.)

But she was supposedly 'not the brightest' because her parents were able to conceal the supernatural from her. She realized that her entire family was hiding things from her from one incident where they told conflicting stories. She had developed enough agency to choose to get to the bottom of things. Scott never told her a single thing about the supernatural (which is why she was so angry at him later); she went to him with her concerns.

But she was supposedly 'gullible' because Kate tortured the captured Derek in front of her and Allison didn't do anything. This isn't true. Even though she and Kate were 'more like sisters,' Allison didn't accept everything that Kate told her without any reason. She had read the whole founding history of her family: the Beast and Maid of Gevaudan. She did indeed have a breakdown in her car, but then she remembered that Derek had approached her at the party in Wolf Moon (1x01), when he must have known who she was. She was in a car with a werewolf whom her family was hunting. This was the same werewolf who was either the monster who chased her in Night School (1x07) or was working with the monster who chased her.

She wasn't 'conditioned' enough to just do what Kate told her in Code Breaker (1x12), refusing to kill Scott and Derek even though they werewolves. She refused her aunt's mindset and her father's fear to kiss Scott -- a werewolf! -- right in front of him.

And then, in Season 2, she decided that killing Isaac was wrong and executed a plan to prevent it. Chris didn't kidnap her because he decided that she needed to start her training; he started her training because she had decided to get involved. She perceived that Derek's biting teenagers was him building up his forces for a war. When her mother tried to bully her into behaving the way her family wanted, she found ways to get around her parents.

And then, there is her being 'stupid' by being manipulated by Gerard into going after Derek and his pack. It's not like she hadn't watched Derek murder his uncle for the alpha power. It's not like Derek hadn't recruited her schoolmates as soldiers for his pack. It's not like Derek hadn't spent the entire season trying to kill Lydia and Jackson with that same pack. It's not like those schoolmates hadn't attacked her twice. It's not like they hadn't attacked her boyfriend twice. This was all before she tried to kill them. They had killed her aunt; they had killed her mother, and they had tried to kill her.

The hypocrisy in this fandom is gargantuan, and it's solely because Allison had the nerve to be a girl who wouldn't do as she was told by the appropriate white men.

Because if Allison was not the brightest, gullible, and stupid, then what the hell was Derek Hale? How many times in this show did Uncle Peter the Serial Killer play him like the world's dumbest violin? People warned Derek not to trust him -- Deaton came out and explained exactly how Peter would manipulate Derek -- and Derek hur-dur-dured when it came to listening to Peter until Derek left the show. Derek watched him violate Scott, sit out important battles, murder people in police custody right in front of him, convince him to give up his own alpha abilities, mysteriously regain powers Peter had lost during his resurrection, and then suddenly become Scott's #1 fan and did NOTHING.

The only defense that fans of Derek could make (and that I actually make) is that Peter was family. If he let Peter get away with things, it was because the risk was worth it for that reason. But wasn't Kate Allison's family? Wasn't Victoria? Wasn't Gerard?

And family is important isn't it? Scott is pilloried and scorned and literally hated because he chose to believe a 'complete stranger' over automatically assuming that Stiles -- his best friend, his brother! -- was innocent? (Which he did, but the evidence was pretty strong in the end). But Allison is 'stupid and gullible' because she didn't believe Derek Hale, a 'complete stranger,' over her own family? No one sees the contradiction there?

They see it, but it doesn't matter because Allison was a stupid girl.

BUT IT'S NOT MISOGYNY.

[violentvaleska]

𝑨𝒃𝒚𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔

ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ʳᵉᵃˡⁱᵗʸ

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ x ғᴇᴍ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: ᴛʀᴀɪɴɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴀɪɴ ɪs ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʙᴜᴛ ᴘᴀɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴜᴍɪʟɪᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ɪᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀʀᴅ ᴡᴀʏ.

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ: ᴠɪᴏʟᴇɴᴄᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs: ↫ ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜs ɴᴇxᴛ ↬

ғᴀɴғɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴏɴ ᴀᴏ3

ᴛᴀɢɢɪɴɢ: @xiernia @ajmiila02

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴜʏs ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇʟʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛs, ᴋᴜᴅᴏs, ʟɪᴋᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇʙʟᴏɢs ᴏɴ ᴀᴏ3 ᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴜᴍʙʟʀ! ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ɪᴛ sᴏ ғᴀʀ, ʟᴇᴛ ᴍᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴅᴇᴀs <3

"Thank you for agreeing to this, Faye." Erwin Smith's voice has a sinister undertone to it, making you swallow as he and his Section Commander stare at you with intensity. You liked the name at first, thought it was pretty even, but somehow after a month you got tired of it. It doesn't really feel like it belongs to you, and the frustration of not remembering anything still haunts you. While your dreams continued with vivid images of your past, none of it was of any use to the Survey Corps.

After your recovery, still with no memories or anything else, Commander Smith decided it would be best to discuss your future plans. You knew it would come to this, they would never have let you just stay with them. You sit in his office, fingers fidgeting nervously as you give him a small smile, not in the mood to talk to him any further. You've felt shy and insecure around him lately, doubting yourself for most of your stay here. Of all the other soldiers you've met, Section Commander Mike has been the nicest to you. His weird habit of sniffing you hadn't stopped yet, but you got used to it and found it a bit funny. His subordinate Nanaba, on a good day, would show you around and tell you all about the Titans she knows. Hange Zoe, another Section Commander, was nothing but a little creepy lately. They wanted to examine you after hearing from the Captain that the Titans hadn't attacked you. You like their attitude towards the cold man, though. Speaking of which, Captain Levi avoids any form of contact with you, for which you are grateful.

"We have discussed your matter. Not only in the Survey Corps, but we also spoke to General Zackly." You have heard that name before, he surely must be in a leading position. "He thinks it would be a good idea to recruit you. We can't condemn you for something we're not even sure you've done. You have no home to return to, and so far you are in good shape." His words hit you hard, pulling you into a reality you wish you didn't have to face. You do not want to be a soldier, a puppet in the hands of these men. Erwin seems to connect the dots, furrowing his brow at your obviously desperate reaction.

"Of course we can't force you. But where are you going, Faye?" You bite your lower lip and let your eyes wander through the higher-ups. Mike gives you a thumbs up, probably to reassure you of your decision, while Hange seems giddy at the thought of you joining the regiment. Captain Levi doesn't spare you a glance, his eyes fixed on the window, a cup of tea in his hand. You notice the odd way he holds it, fingers around the rim instead of the handle. You shake your head and meet Erwin Smith's eyes again.

"I don't know." The silence is uncomfortable, you feel ashamed to be so clueless, but can they blame you? "You can always change your mind and leave the cadet corps. Your recruitment lasts three years, after which you choose a regiment". He explains casually, making you wonder what the other regiment might be like. You nod your head and straighten your posture to appear at least a little more confident. "I'm going to join the cadet corps." There is a certain edge to your voice, an uncertainty that makes Levi's gaze shoot daggers at you. The truth is, he still believes you left the safety of the walls of your own accord. How you managed to get past the guards and survive out there for so long is still a mystery to him. Sure, he can see why four-eyes is so infatuated with you, or why Mike likes to look at you for longer than necessary. You're an attractive young woman who seems to have outsmarted the titans. Having you as a soldier could be of immense benefit, which is why Erwin so desperately wants you to be his obedient subordinate. Levi observes you closely, the way you behave and carry yourself. He notices how your freshly washed hair makes you look healthier, your skin still pale from lack of sunlight. You are truly beautiful, and you draw your comrades under your mysterious spell. Male and female alike. Erwin's next words quickly snap him out of his thoughts, causing him to tear his eyes from your form.

"Levi and Mike will train you. It may take another week to clear things up with Commander Shadis. You have a lot to learn." While Section Commander Mike approves the idea with a quick smile, Levi slams his favourite china onto the table, almost breaking it in half. His tea spills over the edge and burns his fingers, but he could care less.

"There's no way I'll be in charge of her training! I've got enough to teach my own troops." The small Captain complains, anger burning in his belly. You look at him and scratch awkwardly at the back of your head. Sure, you don't want him to be your teacher either, but you wouldn't dare complain about it so openly.

"Levi, it's only for a few days. Why don't you let them train with your new cadet, Miss Hansen? I'm sure they'll get along fine." Erwin encourages, not noticing the black-haired, grumpy man rolling his eyes at him. You think it's the first time you've seen them interact like this. Captain Levi's lips form a thin line, obviously fighting with himself to control his next insults.

"Whatever." He spits, his teeth clenched as he crosses his arms in annoyance.

"Well, now that that's settled, we'll get you a place in the women's barracks and a uniform." He promises, a confident smile on his lips, while his deep eyes gaze at you with what looks like adoration for you. Shuddering at the thought, you look elsewhere, realising that this was probably all he wanted from the start; you to stay close. Your case is special after all.

━━━━━━━༺ - ༻━━━━━━━

A week later, you are bruised and beaten, your skin covered in blue marks from where the Captain struck you. You've spent most of your time training with his squad, and only had the chance to learn from Mike three times in the last few days. He is a busy man, always at the Commander's side. Captain Levi's squad is not too bad, they are good individuals and you get on best with a girl called Emma Hansen. She's seventeen, graduated from the cadet corps only a month ago, and has been under Levi's command ever since. The other members are Eld, his second in command, the twins Lars and Luca and a woman called Vanessa. She's not very talkative and stares at you like Levi. Training with them wasn't so bad if it wasn't for their Captain. He has been on your back for the past few days, putting you through a hard and unforgiving process.

You find the ODM manageable and learn that you seem to be good at it. Fighting, running and riding aren't for you. The faster your stallion, Sonne, gets, the more fear you feel. Sonne may be a sweetheart and seems to enjoy the way you stroke her head, but her speed is something you can't quite grasp yet. Running wasn't a problem at first but combined with countless rounds of parkour and chasing your new comrades, you'll soon be tired out. You hate combat. Wrestling with Emma isn't a bad thing, she's thoughtful and restrained, giving you tips on how to improve. Your other sparring partner, Luca, is a little harsher with his moves, but he would always help you up after your failures and motivate you to keep going. And then there is your Captain. It feels strange to call him that, to feel the pressure to show him respect. After being officially accepted into the military two days ago, thanks to Commander Erwin's connections, you've had to tone down your insults towards the dwarf. At first, you used to curse him whenever he tried to pin you down or make you run another lab. But now? You've heard that he likes to punish those who disobey and disrespect him, and you're certainly not going to play with his temper like that... or so you thought. Today is your last day of training with the scouts, something you've been looking forward to.

You need proper training, and while you've learned a lot from the Scouts, Captain Levi's way of teaching is simply unorthodox and mostly humiliating. In the cadet corps, you would at least be able to learn with other beginners. Erwin Smith made sure that you got a place in the southern trainee programme, exactly where Eren Yeager is supposed to be enlisted. The thought of meeting him makes you nervous, wondering if he might be the key to your lost memories. You have also seen him a few times in your dreams; a boy with brown hair and the greenest eyes you have ever seen. "Is this freedom?" He would ask no one in particular, spreading his arms with a broad smile on his innocent face. Perhaps Eren is your little brother? Or maybe a family friend. You'll find out sooner or later, you can be sure of that. While sparring with Emma, you notice someone appearing behind you, clutching your hips tightly. You instantly stop your movements, stiffening at the unfamiliar touch. Just as you're about to turn to find out who's burst your bubble, the man begins to speak, causing your cheeks to blush. Section Commander Mike towers over you, a small smile on his lips, and you look up at him in amazement.

"You're moving your hips too much. Keep them steady, it will give you an advantage." He explains, his hands guiding you into his preferred position. "Don't lean your body backwards, your opponent could easily take your balance away." With that, he moves his hands to push your back a little further forward, his touch never leaving you. This catches Levi's attention, a frown creasing his pale face.

"Oi. Stop touching her like a bitch in heat. Fucking disgusting." The captain complains and leaves Eld, his poor sparring partner, to come over to you, Mike and Emma. You glare at him, roll your eyes and mutter a "you're one to talk" under your breath. Unfortunately, the little man heard you and shoots daggers at you with his cold, stone-like orbs. Mike holds his hands up in defense, a look of annoyance on his usually calm face.

"I was just trying to teach her." He shrugs and crosses his gangly arms over his chest. "Besides, it's my duty to train her too, you know?" The Section Commander argues, but Levi is quicker to point out that he was "too busy" and had to do everything himself.

"Pf. Whatever." The blonde brushes the Captain off and turns his attention back to you. "Faye, I came to tell you that I will accompany you on your way to the southern division tomorrow." Your face instantly lights up, for you believed that the Captain would accompany you. That makes the journey seem a lot less torturous.

"Thank you, Section Commander, I really appreciate it." The way you smile warms his heart a little and he hums in appreciation. Levi scoffs at the sight, glaring at both of you before clearing his throat. "Mike, don't you have a section to lead, or something?" The taller one turns his attention back to Levi, raising his eyebrows at the man. "You want to get rid of me that fast, hugh?" He jokes, grinning at the Captain. "You interrupted our training. With all due respect, get lost." Rudely, Levi turns his attention from the Section Commander back to you and his subordinate, who has been watching their discussion with parted lips and rosy cheeks. Emma feels slightly out of place. "Of course, shorty." Mike insults, turning his attention to you and placing his big hand on your shoulder. "I'll catch up with you at dinner," he promises, leaving you alone with the Captain. Your eyes follow him for a while, confused by his kindness. Of all the people you have had to deal with, he, Nanaba and Emma have been nothing but subtle with you.

"Tch, silly girl. Stop drooling." Levi pulls you slightly out of your trance, cold eyes nagging at you, frustrating you. "I wasn't drooling. I was lost in thought." You bite back, imitating his sour expression. The way Levi treats his comrades is what you dislike most about him. Harsh, unforgiving and disciplinarian. Whenever you disrespect him, punishment follows. Cleaning, extra training or public humiliation is his way of "teaching" his subordinates. "Lost in thought? Got a death wish, idiot? If you daydream outside the walls, you are not only a danger to yourself, but to your squad as well". Feeling your hands clench at his words, your features darken. “Who said I was going outside the walls?” You ask in a provocative manner, noticing how his squad falls into silence at your question. "There are other divisions, and as a cadet I can choose my preferred division, can't I?" You feel Emma stiffen at your side as Levi approaches, stopping just in front of you. His heavy breath hits your skin and you can see that dangerous glint in his eyes, the one he has before he attacks. You know what's coming before it happens, but you're still not quick enough to move away from his outstretched hand. A yelp escapes you as he grabs your collar, pulling you closer to face him.

"Sometimes, Faye, we don't get to choose. Do you think the Commander would accept you joining the garrison, or better still the fucking MPs? You are here because you fucked up, now you have to make up for it." Spit hits your face as he hisses at you and you feel a rush of panic as he pushes you back, causing you to stumble and land on the ground, mud soaking your white trousers. "Not that you're good enough to join the military police anyway." He comments, looking down at you with disgust. Most of the other troops have stopped their training just to look at what has happened, and you are instantly ashamed. Hot, angry tears fill your eyes as you brush them away and stand up as quickly as you can. "Pathetic. Stop crying, soldier, and be a man." He turns and motions for his troops to follow him. You start to walk behind Emma when the Captain stops and looks over his shoulder, directly at you.

"Tch. Not you, brat. Get cleaned up, I can't stand looking at your filthy ass anymore."

Dinner is less strenuous. You've been starving for hours and are grateful for the steamed potatoes and fresh bread. Nothing special, but the food regulations make you feel lucky to get something at all. You decide to sit in your usual corner; away from the others and to yourself. You've been avoiding Levi since noon and don't feel like sitting with his troop. It would only lead to more humiliation for you, that's for sure. When Mike suddenly sits down on the bench opposite you, a shiver runs down your spine and you jump a little. You didn't expect him to be here so soon, he hasn't even eaten yet.

"Hey. I heard the Captain gave you a bit of a hard time. Don't take it personally, he's like that with literally everyone." He tries to reassure you, but you just cringe at the memory.

"He pushed me. Nothing big." You play it down, looking up from your plate to meet his eyes.

"So, about tomorrow. When and where should I meet you?" You ask, trying to change the subject so that Mike doesn't intrude any more. "Right. At the stables at 6 am. We should arrive around noon." He stops to take a sip from his cup of water and swallows a heavy gulp. "Make sure you pack all your things. Erwin also wants you to continue your dream journal. You should send him monthly reports." You groan and roll your eyes, not really understanding the whole dream journal thing.

"But they are useless." You remind him and cut into your potato, hoping to convince him that they are of no real help. "They are amusing, though. I can't believe you dreamt of Levi in a wheelchair. That's hilarious." He laughs a little and takes a bite of his bread, smiling at the thought of mankind's strongest being unable to walk. If that happens, they can forget about humanity. You, on the other hand, don't laugh as you swallow at the thought of this dream.

"It felt so real, though." You whisper, shaking your head in frustration, wondering what it could have meant.

"Don't worry your pretty head about it. Trust me." You smile a little, blushing as he winks at you. Mike is a flirt, attractive too. But somehow it feels like getting close to him would only bring you pain. And you were right.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Have you noted how when it comes to Mai & Ty Lee, Azula has no qualms letting them know that in the long run, their voice doesn't matter. She think she knows what's better for them. However when it's Zuko, she also does think she knows what's better for him, that she knows what he wants deep inside, but it matters to her that this choice is not foisted upon him. She wants him to have freedom of choice, she wants the loyalty of the prince of the FN on its side/her brother on her side GENUINELY, not compulsorily. So like, does that mean Azula is classist towards her own friends because they're not royalty? Does she, in a way, have more respect for Zuko than she has for her friends?

While Zuko out-ranking both Mai and Ty Lee in Azula's mind because, instead of just being a noble like them, he is a royal like her, is indeed one of the reasons why she allowed him to choose, but it's not the only one (and even then we have moments like Azula not punishing Mai for explicitly disobeying her in The Drill, something very few people would get away with, nobility/royalty or not).

For starters, while at first Mai and Ty Lee didn't want to fully cut Azula out of their lives, they wanted to be able to decide how close she could get to them, how much influence she'd have over their lives - they wanted her as their friend, not as the princess they MUST obey. Mai and Ty Lee wanted to be able to leave, even if not permanently. Meanwhile, Zuko wanted to come back. Even after all the horrible things their family put him through, he still wanted to be part of it.

Of course Azula, the control-freak with severe abandonment issues, is going to offer a choice to the person that actively wants to return to their toxic cycle, not to the ones that are trying to break it. Of course she'll be more leanient with the person that is trying to be in her life and more hostile to the ones that are, in her eyes, pushing her away. And we see in the last few episodes that, when Zuko regreted his choice, any sympathy, compassion and respect she ever had for him was suppressed and she went for the "I'm going to celebrate becoming an only child" approach because Azula can't handle rejection.

There's also her loyalty to the Fire Nation, and more importantly to Ozai, to take into account as well. When she's reunited with Mai and Ty Lee in book 2, she's not demanding them to simply keep her company, she's recruiting them for a mission because she genuinely believes they're far more competent for the job than anyone else, and she's right. Ozai is canonically the person Azula loves the most in the whole world, and she takes her role as princess, and possible future Fire Lord, VERY seriously. She might care about her friends in her own way, but they're gonna have to understand that what they want is simply not as as important to her as what Ozai wants and what Azula believes is best for the Fire Nation - and if they want to turn their backs on her when she's doing right their country and Fire Lord, then they are forgetting their place and need to be reminded of it, and in fact should be thankful that is "allowing them to correct their behavior" instead of going labelling them as traitors right away.

And then there's Zuko. The banished prince that is likely never going to be allowed home again. The one that went against Azula for the Avatar - but not to help the Avatar. His intention is not to harm the Fire Nation, but to prove his loyalty to it. Sure, he's doing it by stealing a big opportunity from his sister and princess, but I think we all know Azula would do the same. By doing this he is also showing that he is no longer the "weak" child that cowered before a fight, because let's face it, Azula might understand what the pain of desperately trying to live up to impossible standards feels like, but she is yet to realize that Ozai is in the wrong for imposing said standards on them.

Zuko is not a disobedient ally/subordinate, he's an enemy that is showing he can be VERY useful, provided he is given what he wants. He also cannot and will not be intimidated - literally everytime Azula is posing any kind of threat to him during the entirity of book 2, Zuko ALWAYS goes straight into fight mode. That boy has, through sheer stubborness instead of cunning, put himself in a position in which Azula won't achieve anything by threatening him, and would actually have more to gain by working with him instead of against him.

Not to mention: making a mutually benefitial deal with an enemy and thus bringing them over to your side is a smart move and thus something to be proud of. Offering your enemy deal, having them reject it, and then you crush them like you would have done if the deal had never been offered is still pretty badass and means that, while you didn't win anything new, you didn't lose something you already had either. But failing to control your subordinates? That's humiliating because it proves you're not as scary/powerful as you thought.

And, at last, we have a fact that the lead writer, Aaron Ehasz, made explicit when he was talking about a possible Azula redemption if Avatar had gotten a fourth season: Zuko would have been the one guiding Azula through it because he's the person she loves the most after Ozai.

OF COURSE he gets perks Mai and Ty Lee didn't get. They matter to her, but not as much as Zuko. They're her friends, but he's her family. Considering the seeds for that redemption arc (that we unfortunatelly never got to see be even properly planned in detail), it makes sense that the people she had a more unequal relationship with would be the ones to turn away from her for their own sake, leading to her hitting rock bottom, while the one that was more on her level would eventually be the one that would have stood by her side after it all - giving her a second chance in book 4 in a direct parallel to second chance she gave him in book 2.

[g8dess]

alright 👁 the entire ask game for your ouran s/i? if you're feeling up to it hdshkgddhkh

Oh god for my Ouran S/I, I gotta choose which one then because I have too many S/I’s for that series xD

I think I’m just going to do my See Me S/I, Yani, who has known the twins for as long as she can remember, but only starting middle school is starting her path to befriending them.

F*ck that, have other self inserts too 🤜🤜

Also doing some asks for Yoshiko, my reinzu and me self insert, who finally requests a host after her best friend comes with her to the host club, and Kaiga, my blooming oc self-insert who's part of the host club as the dependent type.

⏰ - When/How would our S/Is meet? How were the first impressions?

Considering my self insert is very closed off and only has one close friend, we’d probably bump into each other in the hallways, and after some short apologies we’d be off on our own ways again. It’d take a third party to introduce us to each other later down the line, which in this case would be the host club members, considering he’s part of the host club himself.

First impressions are good on my part, Yani can see how protective he is of the host club and doesn’t immediately register his faux mean tone, so she admires him slightly. She adores his chiller attitude compared to the hyperactiveness of her best friend, so she sometimes goes to him if she wants to wind down for the day. 

While they probably see each other in the halls a lot, considering they are in the same year, officially they met in the host club during Yoshiko’s little host hopping period to get to know everyone a bit.

At the beginning, Yoshiko didn’t really like Ryomen, the mean guy facade rubbed her the wrong way, and Ryomen doesn’t really care about that. It's only after she asks if he can drop the facade with her, that the mean guy facade gets put aside for a bit, it is still there but less so, and Yoshiko really appreciates that but there is an underlying tension between the two.

Kaiga and Ryomen met when they were recruited by the host club. At first conversations were sparse and awkward, they didn't seem to have much in common. As time goes on though, Kaiga does seem to depend more on Ryomen than he does with the other hosts.

👥 - Would they be friends/enemies? How well do they trust each other? How do you think the dynamic would be?

I think they’d more be considered friendly acquaintances, bordering on friends. Yani doesn’t easily let others in, so she doesn’t want to use a label that Ryomen himself doesn’t use first. There’s a lot of uncertainty about whether they are friends or not, but they aren’t hostile towards each other.

Yani does trust him a lot, considering she knows he’s protective of what he loves and that means a lot to her. But she won’t share secrets with him just yet.

I think they’d be very silent when with each other, occasionally breaking it to ask the other a question, mostly about the food they might be eating or the activities for the day. But it’d be a comforting silence, no need to act around the other.

I don't think they’d get along that great, Ryomen being protective over the host club wouldn't fully trust Yoshiko. 

Ryomen would hear the tales of how me and a friend are with the twins and completely throw them off, and he would decide then and there that he can't leave us alone together in fear we'll ruin their routine again. Yoshiko would feel bad and avoid Ryomen most of the time.

They’d be considered friends, as all host club members are friends. Ryomen and Kaiga are both protective of their club, Ryomen a slight bit more so, so they'd do quite a lot for one another. 

I wanna believe they'd both trust each other quite a bit. I know Kaiga trusts Ryomen a lot, maybe a bit too much. Any secret he has, he'll share with him.

Ryomen has that protective big brother energy and Kaiga has that meek younger brother energy, so they work perfectly upon one another. XD. Ryomen is a reminder to Kaiga to stand up for himself and others, while Kaiga is a reminder to Ryomen to be a bit more honest and slow down.

🌼 - What does your S/I like about mine?

I said it before and I’ll say it again, the fact he’s protective of the host club and Haruhi. Yani is an only child so she only has her best friend being protective of her, but the feeling of having an older brother figure like Ryomen around puts her at ease a bit more. And she herself is protective of what she loves, so seeing somebody else have the same quality is nice to her.

She also likes their shared love for books, as for the rest this isn’t something she can discuss with anyone outside of her club activities.

His silly antics. Yoshiko loves that about everyone in the host club, how dramatic they can all get. It's entertaining to watch.

His “I don't care” attitude. Kaiga grew up caring too much about what other people think of him, so it's something he really likes and admires about Ryomen. 

🌹 - Your S/I and mine are double-dating with our F/Os! How do you think that would go?

Awkward if we do a group activity during high school, but only slightly. Kaoru and Yani would have secret touches and blushes on their faces, while I imagine Ryomen and Kyoya to have lasting gazes. But none of them would be willing to admit to anything romantic, and they are all no-nonsense people so we’d just focus on our activity most of the time.

After high school, when the relationships are established enough, it’d be quite a classy date.

I think it’d be quite tense as Ryomen doesn't fully trust her and would be too vigilant about whether or not she's a good match for Kaoru. So neither party can fully relax to enjoy their time together. 

I think everyone would dote a little on Kaiga, Haruhi and Ryomen are his biggest supporters, so they have difficulty letting go of the doting tendencies. Kyoya is just the mother of the group, looking out for everyone. Overall they’d have a good and chill time. 

👀 - What does your S/I think about my F/O? Does it affect the relationship between your S/I and mine?

How Yani thinks about Kyoya doesn’t affect her relationship with Ryomen at all. She doesn’t think much about Kyoya, just that he’s a decent person who knows what he’s doing. And I imagine Ryomen doesn't really care about her opinion regarding crushes anyway. XD

Yoshiko has a difficult time grasping Kyoya's character, so she's often scared of him. It also means she's scared of Ryomen whenever Kyoya becomes a topic of their conversation as she feels that her negative opinion is met with resistance. 

Kaiga has been in the same class as Kyoya for an eternity it seems to him, so he knows how cold he truly can be. It scares Kaiga a little bit, but Ryomen's opinion of Kyoya, and the fact they ended up in the host club together, drastically changed Kaiga's opinion. So nowadays he's chill with Kyoya.

Ryomen's opinion on Haruhi really affects Kaiga though, he's afraid to overstep boundaries or take initiative when it comes to his feelings as he doesn't want to trigger Ryomen's protective feelings over Haruhi.

😏 - Would your S/I tease mine about their F/O? Do you think it’d be easy for my S/I to tease your S/I about their F/O?

Yani wouldn’t tease so much as just simply ask about him. Anything Ryomen wants to share he can, but she won’t press the matter any further.

However it’d be very easy to tease Yani about her crush, even if she won’t show it much outwardly it does fluster her when she’s asked about her crush.

Yoshiko would try to tease him a little bit, but it takes only one glance from Ryomen to shut her up. Meanwhile Ryomen can tease her about her crush and she'll just stammer and fluster super hard, with no retaliation. 

Kaiga isn't the type to tease others, and in return doesn't like to be teased either. It's a bit difficult to fluster him since he's quite honest, but he will blush and avert his eyes, trying to divert the attention elsewhere. 

✈ - What would be an ideal hangout between the two S/Is? Any particular activities the two would enjoy together?

The two of them can be seen just enjoying each other's presence by reading and writing around one another. Enjoying some good tea and coffee and pastries. With Ryomen occasionally asking Yani to check over his work, or Yani commenting on something about the book she’s reading.

Yoshiko loves writing as well, so this is something they could bond over, if they were to open up about their writings. I can see them, mostly Yoshiko, very excitedly and passionately explaining all the lore of their characters.

🔍 - If the two were trapped somewhere/stuck in a dire situation, how would the two be able to resolve it?

Yani is a person that panics easily but keeps that panic under check, so not much is noticeable from it. I think the added presence of Ryomen would calm her down more easily too. So the two would probably put their heads together to get out of the situation, after some silence as neither wants to take the lead. Ryomen would take the lead a bit more than Yani, considering Yani is super bad at being the brains behind operations.

She would silently cry as they both figure out what's going on. Yoshiko explicitly asked him to ignore the tears, so they actually get some things done for their rescue.

Kaiga would freak out, it'd take Ryomen all his power to calm him down, so they wouldn't be able to do much more than wait until help arrives.

✏ - Share/Make up a shared favorite memory of the two!

When the host club got wind of Kaoru and her affection toward one another, they gave her trials to overcome to see if she was a worthy match. Each host hosted a trial, and the one Ryomen gave was by far one of the toughest of all. Mostly because he was one of the only hosts to take it seriously.

His intense stalking made her a bit paranoid, and she wanted to confront him about it. One way or another they both ended up soaked in the schoolyard pond, but talking it out they realized how silly they both looked.

📸 - Send a meme your S/I would send to my S/I!

🎁 - What’s your S/I most likely to give my S/I as a present?

Yani is most likely to gift yet another notebook to Ryomen, sometimes a book to spice things up a bit if she knows it’s one he would enjoy or have use for.

Yoshiko would probably just order a grand bouquet as a gift, not really knowing what else to give him.

Kaiga gets all kinds of small gifts, a book here, a new notepad there, some rocks and pebbles, a flower or some cute keychains. Anything that makes him think of Ryomen he will get for him.

‼ - Share anything else you think about our S/Is together !

Out of all the people she has asked to come visit her club, Ryomen is one of the few that actually came over to check it out. It became a small hiding spot for him.

Yoshiko and her friend were very quick to pick up that Kyoya was important to him, but couldn't pinpoint that it were romantic feelings, so for a while she encouraged her friend to persue him instead. After they noticed, aka were told, that Kyoya wasn't interested they were quick to change course and encourage Ryomen instead.

Kaiga has a soft spot for Ryomen, he crushed on him for a little while before and right after Haruhi joined.

[fantasyinvader]

I've seen people try to defend Tiffany Fox in the Telltale Batman games, saying that she's supposed to be a foil to John Doe/The Joker. That while the Joker can't really become a hero through Bruce's support, Tiffany can.

But, is that really the case?

A late game reveal is that Tiffany was the one who murdered the Riddler as revenge for her father. The Riddler was in custody, his threat had been dealt with, and Tiffany just kills him. But not only that, she does so while framing John Doe for it. Her actions set off the main conflict of the second season, which snowball. It's because of her that Bruce has to manipulate John to get close to the Pact, dealing with Waller, and as a result ultimately fighting John when he becomes the Joker whether Joker tries to go vigilante or become a villain. It's the events of the game that ultimately result in Alfred threatening to leave Bruce if he doesn't quit being Batman.

80% of players decide to take Tiffany as a sidekick when they confront her about this at the end of the game. But the thing is, Tiffany makes it clear she doesn't feel any regret. After all, Riddler killed her father. She only feels regret because she wants to be Batman's sidekick but now her actions have complicated that. She'll talk about how hard things were for her family, but if you choose to try and arrest her she'll instantly become a criminal because you treated her like one. She's ready to make that jump if she doesn't get what she wants.

Giving her what she wants is Batman saying that she'll work for him, keeping an eye on her but that just feels wrong. Part of the reason Batman doesn't kill is because it would mean he's being judge, jury and executioner. He'll hand criminals over to the police again and again, yet the courts will continue to throw them into institutions they can break out of like Arkham. People use this against Batman, but it's more the system is failing to properly deal with those individuals. But here, Batman is deciding to play judge and jury, he's the one deciding how she will serve her punishment, which involves her getting her way.

Meanwhile, the Vigilante Joker path is the result of Batman looking the other way when the evidence says that Joker didn't kill Waller's agents in purely self-defense including one being shot in the back. You definitely see that parallel, and there's also the falling out between Batman and Joker when Joker calls out the non-lethal violence Batman uses as ineffective.

Tiffany, if brought in, wants Bruce to carry a gun as Batman after she has already killed a criminal who, again, was dealt with and in custody.

The game has Batman fight the Joker in the Vigilante route, while he faces him as Bruce Wayne in the villain. The game does this to indicate which side you neglected. In the Vigilante, you neglected the mission as Batman by turning the other way, whereas in Villain you weren't enough of a friend as Bruce Wayne. If we're drawing parallels here, that would mean recruiting Tiffany means that Bruce sacrifices his mission as Batman whereas the Batman option makes her instantly jump to villainy. It's saying that Batman wouldn't let Tiffany be his Robin/Batgirl, meaning she becomes a bad guy.

Yet, I feel that doing the opposite wouldn't make things better. Tiffany doesn't have the same restraint when it comes to lethal force, again drawing a parallel to the Joker, and it's not just a matter of her becoming a villain if she doesn't get what she wants. If you treat her bad, she is rude in return.

If anything, it feels more like Tiffany becoming a villain is simply a matter of time. That she'll fight against Bruce whenever she doesn't get what she wants, most likely involving the use of lethal force, and eventually will break off from him. The fact that Bruce let her in on his secret and develop his tech is going to bite him in the ass, just like when she disables his tech when she does go villain. Even in her more neutral endings, it's still a possibility.

It's the same as John all over again, except John can actually be a friend to Bruce in the end. Go vigilante and then choose to say that you were friends in the end. Joker goes back to Arkham, but he's delighted when Bruce comes to visit because he's happy to see his friend. That friendship might be the one thing that keeps Joker in-line.

She's not a kid who needs a parent figure, she's an adult. She's sane, and was cognitive enough to cover her tracks while framing a mentally ill person for her actions. And she doesn't regret what she's done, she's just upset she might not get what she wants and if Bruce tries to bring her to justice she'll just go villain. That's not Robin material for so many reasons, and why she's possibly the worst possible member of the Batfam ever in my opinion.

[secondsonaym]

same anon that was searching for the swap au thingie this morning. Yep, that's the one. Thanks!

...Although, now my curiosity is showing. What would a swap au between Deckard and Star look like?

WHEEZES this is such a good question honestly and it really got me thinking.

So I'm a bit of a nitpicky person for swaps and like to think on the full scope of their swapped status, meaning for these two, they would be swapped right from the beginning, down to determining which lamb is the Lamb of Prophecy as influenced by Shamura, which will cause events to spiral out drastically different in terms of the game's story due to just how different in personality these two are.

So basically, Deckard (or, well, they'd probably go by Azazel in this) as the Lamb of Prophecy, defeating and then choosing to oppose Narinder, while Star is off in the wilderness on her own.

Azazel is basically the inverse of Star in terms of the cult--They run it very well and genuinely care/interact with the followers, and even spend more time with them, while they're terrible with fighting, and end up falling in battle a LOT.

They're also still very meek and under the impression Star is dead, so when the bishop demand them to kneel--well, they do, much to Narinder's fury. They want to be spared, they don't want to do all of this, but what other choice do they have now?

However, as they finally make their way to Silk Cradle, their home, they find somebody they didn't expect to: Star

Turns out she's been off in the wild this whole time, having survived and killed anyone that went after her for the culling. She's also turned to cannibalism as a survival measure, to keep that thread consistent.

However, she doesn't want Azazel to succeed in their mission. She's convinced Narinder doesn't want any good for the world, and if he's returned to power, there won't be life for ANYONE. She wants Azazel to stop their crusade, to submit to the bishops, so the pair of them can at least LIVE, because if things keep going the way they are, then neither of them will survive.

But she also isn't going to fight them over it, so if they decide otherwise, then they should just leave her alone.

Azazel wishes they could comply, happy to know their sister is alive, but Narinder pushes them along, demanding Azazel either kill her then and there or just ignore her and move on.

So Azazel leaves their sister behind.

Then, on the last miniboss fight before Shamura, Azazel is met with a surprise: Rather than a follower turned demon, Star is waiting for them.

As it turns out, Shamura found her not long after the culling, and rather than kill her outright, decided to recruit her. At first, Star just tried to convince Azazel to stop, but now that they are so close to their goal, she has no choice but to fight them, and has been granted power by Shamura.

She transforms, and then the siblings fight, resulting in Star's defeat.

Before she dies, she comments about Azazel's convictions and wonders just how much of their own actions are their own. She admits she didn't truly want to fight them, that Shamura forced her hand, and believes Azazel's situation to be similar.

"Perhaps... Perhaps you can do what I could not, and break your own chains."

----

So when Azazel is to face down Narinder, and manage to defeat him, they don't spare him. They kill him, and then use their new power to bring back Star.

The world may be different from then on, but at least they still have each other.

[illithussy]

tav q's! 1, 3, 4, 5, and 14!

thank you for asking!! i'm gonna do this for nedwyss since she's the one i'm playing as rn

1. Tell us about your Tav! Name, class and subclass, race, pronouns. Do you have a headcanon for where they're from? Their family? Are they a Dark Urge? Or did you choose an Origin Character? Was it an easy decision?

nedwyss is a cleric of lathander, light domain. she's a seldarine drow and goes by she/her. she was raised in the underdark, as most drow, but later left to join the clergy. i think her family were the stereotypical drow™, praising cruelty, ambition and competition. nedwyss was decent at playing pretend for that role for a while, but eventually decided she couldn't go on, and that's why she became a cleric of the morninglord. she's not a dark urge because i wanted to save that storyline for someone who wasn't made with the goal of being a tentacle enjoyer. nothing wrong with enjoying some tentacles, but y'know.

3. Has your Character been using their illithid powers?

in lore/headcanon? yes, she starts using them because she believes it's a way to go good. the source of the powers may suck, but she has them regardless, might as well use them to protect innocents. but i haven't really been using them in-game, mostly bc i haven't unlocked any truly fun ones yet.

4. Do you remember in which order you recruited your companions? Which companion introduction would have felt the most familiar / like home to your Tav / Character?

i don't recall the exact order, but it was probably something like shadowheart, gale, astarion, lae'zel, wyll, karlach. wyll is probably the companion she feels is most like her, they share the kindness and the desire to protect innocents, but lae'zel (and perhaps later shadowheart) reminded her of her childhood, the cruel and unforgiving society she was raised in. so wyll was "home" in a way that home is where your heart is, but lae'zel was home in a way her literal home was like.

5. Do you remember the first humanoid enemy your Character killed? Was it the first person they've ever killed, in your opinion? Would they have been bothered by it?

the forgotten realms wiki says goblins are humanoid, so the first one she killed was the bunch that attacked the grove when you first visit it. i don't think it was her first kill, but she definitely doesn't have a high count of souls she took at that point. killing that particular bunch didn't really upset her -- they attacked first, after all -- but she was bothered by having to slaughter the goblin camp, including the children. in nedwyss' mind, there is a difference between defending innocents from an attacker and going into someone's territory and becoming the attacker herself. so for her, it was no different from what the goblins attacking the grove did, and she felt awful, no matter how illogical that was.

14. Do you have another NPC you loved from a faction not mentioned above? What about your Character?

i mean we both know the answer don't we. of course it's the emperor/guardian. brainrot maximized. he's so friend shaped. i loved him because on my first playthrough i was playing as a clone of my character from another game and made the guardian look like her LI from that game. brainrot carryover y'know. he is incredibly fun on his own too, but i think it's that blorbo familiarity that led to me loving the guardian (and afterwards the emperor) so much. as for nedwyss, she shares my adoration because she was literally tailor made for empy romance shenanigans because the first time she saw the guardian was just after clearing out the goblin camp, and as i said, having to do that really upset her. his presence was comforting, reassuring, he was protecting her from turning into a mind flayer and generally was a kind, supportive person, he was exactly what she needed in that moment of distress. so she had a silly little crush that is going to turn into a corruption arc <3 i haven't decided yet whether i'll make a happy ending (or something as close to it as possible, considering the fucked upness of it all) for these two, partially because i'm not sure if that's a pussy move, partially because i actually don't know what happens in the "control the netherbrain, become the absolute" ending. we'll see.

[burrowkit]

Random Writing Thoughts

Randomly trying to get this scene out of my head. In theory, this is chapter 1, where there's a prologue... nothing but what's in this post will be written, and likely nothing will ever be done with this.

It's kind of Elite / Supernatural Academy / ZA kind of themed I guess? But also sort-of related to the random dream (nightmare) I had the other week.

There are 2 mcs, and I hope I make it pretty obvious who the other mc (and the owner of the prologue chapter) belongs to.

Anyways, feel free to read or ignore :)

I watch as they parade the Potentials through the school's gates. There's about a dozen of them in total. A large amount for this current generation, but small compared to the previous generation.

Still, I hate them.

Generations ago, the number of supernaturals in the world were declining. Our rulers decided that we needed to bolster our numbers. So, they offered money up for any family that managed to help increase our numbers.

That resulted in those with 'contagious' supernatural natures to 'infect' humans.

It resulted in science experiments to see if new supernaturals could be created. Both from existing types, and unheard of ones.

Well, it worked.

Too well.

Arguably, having 1 school dedicated for training the young supernaturals, and having about 1 class worth of supernaturals per year is small.

But supernaturals have long lives. About 30 "young'uns" are each year is more than enough.

I narrow my eyes, watching as the blindfolds are torn off.

The Potentials... those humans left over from the experiments. From various accidents. From various origin stories.

I feel my fangs descend, the idea of sinking my fangs into their throats...

I shove the thought away. I don't need their blood. No, but most of them are just that, Potentials. They have the right genetic markers, and have shown an aptitude to a supernatural kind.

That's what has them kidnapped, brought here to learn how to harness their potential abilities.

Most won't survive it.

Some will survive and choose to return to their human lives.

Even less will make it through, graduate, and end up in the supernatural community.

We are a bunch of vicious creatures, best forgotten by the human world.

I drop from the top of the highest school tower, barely making a noise as I land. I march across the field, the one that many students play various sports between classes. A means to expel excess energy.

"Phe," their guide greets me, pronounced Fi, her eyes are narrowed at me. Although she's in a more human guise, I can see the horse-shaped ears that marks her unicorn status. "You aren't supposed to be here."

It's a warning.

My family is well-known for its interference with the Potentials. My family was one of the more successful at the New Supernaturals. They started by using their own genetic make-up. Using our own 'infectious' natures, and, unfortunately, procreation by more natural means. Consensually, surprisingly. Any human mothers were paid handsomely for carrying and raising a supernatural child. They were handed handbooks and resources. Those that didn't want to continue raising the child, happily handed the child off to my family.

Human fathers were handed some money, and were allowed in the child's life as much as they chose to, their options similar to that of the human mother's.

"Clover," I smile at her, baring my teeth, exposing no fangs. "I just wanted to meet the new recruits," I turn to face them.

"I know why you're here, Phe. You aren't welcome, here," she reminds me, grabbing my forearm, preventing me from moving further. From getting closer to the mostly humans.

I turn to face her, my smile widening.

My family's gotten a bit... touchy about the experiments. Mostly, in due to the fact that because the whole experimentation was so successful, my family grew to owning a large fortune. One that's passed around and earns more than we can spend. Then became the problem of training all these new supernaturals.

It was declared that my family, being the most successful, will pay for the tuition of each and every Potential.

Therefore, since that decision, it's been a passed on role in my family to chase off as many Potentials as we can. Never outright killing them, but... well... accidents happen. Who could predict that a heavily diluted werewolf would have the instincts on how to turn into a wolf, but not the ones that tell him he can't jump off a mountain?

"I can help identify which one is which," I offer, meeting Clover's eyes. An offer. My family, as a consequence of all the experiments, have a unique knack for identifying supernaturals.

Which, consequently, makes it that much easier to pair up any new Potentials with a proper mentor, helping to prevent further mishaps. And truly, no one really wants more deaths.

Deaths just cause more suspicions onto my family.

Clover hesitates, her hair is jet black and long. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of brown, not that far off from my own brown eyes.

If I hadn't seen her in her true form, I wouldn't understand why her name is Clover. There's this marking with her coat that makes a clover. Coincidentally, she also enjoys eating clovers, although it's hard to tell if that's a trained and learned behaviour, or one she was naturally born with.

"It won't take long, and you can follow me, even holding my arm. Although you probably want to mark down who is who, for the head of the school," I suggest, trying to ply her to my demands.

"Okay," Clover agrees. "But I'll be right by your side."

I grin, moving closer to the Potentials. "Welcome," I greet, waving at them with my free hand. "I'm Ophelia, but most people call me Phe," I look at Clover briefly, nodding at her, before turning back to the others. "I'm going to quickly identify which supernatural you've got tells for. Then I'll probably see you in class."

A few look around with concern on their face, but one of them continues to glare at me, as if I'm the reason for her being here.

Chances are, through a roundabout way, I am. Still, we'll see.

All of our are in our adult years, most about 20 years old. That's about when the genetics truly kick in, slowing down our aging bodies. And, when our various supernatural powers tend to begin to work. One by one, as we learn how to become stronger.

I approach the first Potential. I give him a quick sniff, frowning at him. I can see Clover smirking at me in the corner of my eye. "Siren," I sigh. I don't bother mentioning the little genetic marker, marking him as part of my family's experiments.

I move 3 more Potentials with the first, more sirens. 2 more are of my family's experiments.

I then turn around, finding a pair of twins. "A succubus and an incubus," I comment, a tad surprised to find such beings here. Although, twins are more likely to be paired in a supernatural bond of sorts. They don't have my family's tell tale sign, but I recognize the one for the top -cubus family. I do share that knowledge with Clover.

These two I can at least pawn off their financial responsibility to another family.

Three werewolves, two of them from my family's efforts.

And three vampires.

The last vampire, the 12th one, I stare at.

I move closer, breaking free of Clover's grip. I reach out, touching my right index finger just under her chin. I tap at it, moving her head to look slightly up.

"Cousin," I exhale in surprise.

"I'm not your cousin," the Potential pulls away, glaring at me.

Her eyes are a beautiful hazel green. Her hair though, is the same shade of mine. Where I keep my short, almost appearing constantly wind-swept, hers is longer. Mid back in length.

"I bet you've been left with a desire to bite things, hm?" I ask her, staring down her eyes. "I bet you love to run, but never bothered joining anything in high school."

I think it over, knowing exactly one way to prove she's of my family. I swipe one of my nails down my forearm. A risky move, especially considering the two other vampire Potentials are actually vampires.

Not to mention the werewolves, equally inclined to hunt. The sirens, too. Hm...

Still, I see her eyes flash red. I react, gripping her jaw with my right hand. She tries to pull away, but I don't need to open her mouth. She's still a mere Potential.

Still.

"Cousin, indeed," Clover comments, writing it down.

I turn the Potential's head back and forth, carefully examining her. She looks about ready to bite me. I almost wish she would.

"You might just make it," I smile at her, releasing my hold on her jaw.

She glares at me, crossing her arms over her chest.

I grin, giving her a wink. "See you when you wake up."

Then, I plunge a small knife into her heart.

She gasps, reaching for the wound, but I pull the knife out. She tries feebly to put pressure on the wound as she falls.

"You weren't supposed to do that!" Clover seethes at me.

I look at her, giving her a wink and a smile. "Tonight's big task is to try and unlock their Potential."

"No," Clover argues. "Tonight, we're supposed to give them a tour! Show them to their rooms! Match them with their mentors!" She yells at me.

I clench my jaw to not wince at her loud voice. "If that's what they told you, then whoops, someone left out a glaringly large hole. All that's supposed to happen, yes, but ideally, throwing a bunch of human Potentials with a bunch of supernaturals never works out well. They'll be dead by the end of the week."

"Because you'll kill them!" Clover shouts back.

"Psht," I scoff. "I wouldn't have to touch them. "Humans don't make it here. And if, by some miracle, they do, then they return home haunted after the torment they face here. I did her a favour."

Clover looks about ready to expose her true form and stab me in the heart with her horn.

I look around, noting that the vampires look especially horrified. Yes, everyone else is horrified about watching someone die. But the vampires... Oh yeah, they're so untrained, the blood spilling out is driving up their hunger.

"You may want to get the vamps food first," I offer up to Clover. "They look about ready to drain her dry."

"You just killed her!" Clover shouts at me, reiterating the events.

I shrug, taking a couple steps backwards. "Yes, but I can also smell the vampire blood in her. She'll be back, stronger than ever. Besides, she's not really dead. But, if these guys steal her blood, she will be."

"You're taking her to the infirmary!" Clover yells at me, placing her hands on her hips.

"Fine," I shrug, moving towards the cousin and easily picking her up in my arms. "Anything else, milady?" I ask her.

Clover just glares at me.

I grin, turning towards the infirmary. It doesn't take long, to drop her off.

I inform the doctors there what happened, hey, my blade is still covered in her blood. They'll ensure she has to proper nutrients to fully revive.

And I head for a quiet corner, pulling out my phone and calling my father's number.

"Four sirens, three are ours," I report, not bothering to exchange pleasantries. "A succubus and incubus, not ours. 3 werewolves, 2 are ours. 3 vampires, 1 is ours and one is a cousin..." I trail off on the last one, preparing for a loud shouting.

My brothers have all been tasked with this same task. None of us, since my grandfather's time here, have run into a cousin.

"A cousin? You're sure?" My father asks, his voice terrifying as it always is.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I answer quietly. "Her eyes turned red at the sight of blood."

Most vampires will just have their fangs drop. Usually, their eyes will change colour ever so slightly. A more vibrant or darker shade of their nature eye colour.

But my family? They bred us to turn red. It's something we can control once we get a hang of it, to change appear like others. Most, as we live among supernaturals, choose not to.

Besides, I'm the only child that turned vampire and not werewolf. Another little leftover trick from my family.

They weren't above experimenting on themselves before taking it to the humans, too.

"You'll have to be her mentor," my father informs me, already typing away to look up the school's information.

I don't bother answering.

Usually, the Potentials are handed out randomly to other supernaturals in the school. They do try to match supernatural types. But, without confirmation, it can be tricky.

"I'll call you before the night is up," he adds, hanging up on the line.

I sigh, lowering the phone and sliding it into my pocket.

To change who mentors who, is usually a steep cost.

That cousin, whoever she is, can't be left in the hands with anyone else.

I know what's expected of me. Ensure she survive. Ensure she makes it to the supernatural world. Ensure she knows where she belongs in society.

Still, a part of me is terrified. How am I supposed to train a Potential properly and figure out how to chase off the others?

It's a useless question.

The answer is I'll figure it out.

Immediately, the group chat chimes. I pull out my phone, surprised it's just the one between my brothers and myself.

Each of us are pretty much 4 years apart. A necessity to help safeguard new Potentials in the world.

Felix: Heard about the cousin. Dad's pissed. Need some help?

Kerrin: Phe's gonna handle this. She doesn't need our help.

William: We didn't need help with our Potentials, she doesn't need our help.

That about sums things up with my family.

There are more brothers than that, but the four of us are the closest in age, the 4 youngest.

William acts like the oldest brother, but he's also so ready to write us off.

Kerrin, oh, he loves to say I'm spoiled. The only daughter in the family. Loves to call me Daddy's Little Girl, even when our father's angry.

And Felix. The closest in age. He was forced to start school a year earlier, just so there wouldn't be a gap. He brought me into the school for multiple weekends. Just so I could become familiar with all the family trade secrets.

My first year here, and I'm already sure I'll fail. Not exactly the hopeful feeling I felt yesterday when I arrived.

Still, I know how to handle myself.

I know the families, the supernatural types. Felix always let me read his textbooks, allowing me to catch up to his grade level in knowledge.

Which really didn't help Kerrin's view, since I frequently came home with the highest test marks.

Only Felix knows that I spent every second of my free time learning everything I could.

I start to head towards the cafeteria, determined to get a hold of some food. Sure, just cause I need blood, doesn't mean I won't eat French Fries. Just means I'll drink blood when I do eat them.

Another chime on my phone indicates I received an email.

I read it.

Ophelia Martin, you have been assigned to Sarah Marvin.

I click it open, and opening the file on one Sarah Marvin.

There, I see the picture of the cousin.

I sigh with relief.

At least there's one less thing for me to worry about.

[msommers]

4, 21, 44, 89 for riya, jorina and maeve! (i know theyre not all dnd kiddos but i thought they would be fun!!)

i give you keeses xxx // warm up questions

What relationship does your character have with their parents and siblings?

RIYA — i could make entire wiki pages about riya's relationships with all of her family members lmao i'll dumb them down tho to avoid a monster of a post. mommy priscilla: her and priscilla aren't super close due to her mother's intense focus on business and politics (and mama's disapproval of certain choices from her), but the love is still very much there and they know it. even if riya can kinda forget it sometimes. daddy loren: surprising nobody, riya's a daddy's girl. he's adored and spoiled her since birth, that's his only baby girl right there and she's never done anything wrong in her life. ever. he'll fireball anybody who says otherwise. brothers: she's closest to the eldest (regulus, dad of stowaway bellamy) because he always encouraged her and shared incredible dragonhunting stories; loves but isn't super interested in the middle two brothers (magnus and daimon, the mortalitasi and the family business heir) because they're honestly boring af 90% of the time, stop talking about work at the dinner table losers; and she has a somewhat tense relationship with the youngest brother (sebastian, only a few years older than her) because of his pivot into chantry zealotry :// they were a bit close before he was pulled into that life, actually.

JORINA — have also spoken a lot about this for her. mama wenna: a very good relationship that was sometimes tested by an introverted child's frustration at an extroverted mother trying to rope her into things, any negative aspects were forgotten after she died because jorina missed her so gd much. papa renehn: two peas in a pod until mom died, he withdrew into severe depression and it forced jorina into growing up to provide for the family. their relationship only starts getting some work done once da:i ends, after they've both done great deals of growing with the absence of jorina in the home. idk they probably get to a real good spot if thedas doesn't blow up from the veil or w/e lol. siblings: doted on them when mom was around, turned into a mom figure once she was gone and it formed a sizable rift between them all because of how jorina chose to “parent” them (she was trying her best under all of the stress but they didn't want to learn or be bossed around), and then they came to the conclusion she was the coolest person ever after reading the letters she would send them with [carefully chosen] details on her work for the inquisition. she loves them to the thedas double moons and back even if they have annoying teen attitudes

MAEVE — everybody knows she has a horrible relationship with her parents. no contact level of dreadful. they were terrible to her as she grew up, sold her off to The Worst Guy without thinking about it, then never sent so much as a letter to check on her. i imagine she may see them once or twice during her travels but she would never choose to engage with them, especially seeing that they’d chosen to start a whole new life in another location with a second child. never decided much on what happens after that. i don’t imagine she thinks of them as she’s grown so much and they’re essentially strangers. her parents Might have the audacity to try writing her now that she’s rich and influential, but that letter’s thrown into a fireplace straight away (by her or literally any partner of hers, they know she’d never want to read it lmfao).

Does your character have any noticeable scars? If so, what are their stories?

RIYA — none. she'd never seen serious combat before being recruited, and if there Had been any injuries that could result in scarring then priscilla would have undoubtedly had the top healers of the city making certain her daughter was healed right back to perfect, tip-top shape. i just know riya's gonna have a whole fit when she gets her first scar i just know it god

JORINA — probably a bunch, yeah. i think she'd have one on her side from years ago after taking a tumble in denerim and being unable to get a find to heal it properly. she took that as a pretty hard lesson in staying focused and careful while traversing heights that day lmao. i don't have a number but she certainly has many from her time with the inquisition due to scouting and fighting, some she'd have detailed stories on and others would just blend into the numerous memories of danger-filled scenarios.

MAEVE — a small one on the neck so kindly given to her by carden when he thought he was being a real big man holding a blade to her. another along the underside of her left(?? can’t remember) arm, this one from a burn she suffered trying to rescue her first writings from the flames after carden tossed them into a fireplace. a few earned during her adventures with witchers, she can’t avoid being in the thick of danger every time y’know, but i don’t have any stories crafted up for those. she literally died one time, you’d think i remembered exactly how so i could determine if she got one there, but my brain won’t find that memory so oh well.

Does your character think more with their heart or their brain?

RIYA — unfortunately she's going off of vibes, which would count more as her heart i suppose. not to say that she doesn't use her brains from time to time when the light bulb moments hit, but by default she's going off her feelings.

JORINA — definitely her brain, and i personally want to shake her into checking in with the heart more often. it only wins out on rare occasions smh

MAEVE — she’s all heart, baby. on special occasions as a treat she’ll resort to WWDD (what would dietrich do) and rely on logic instead, but that heart of hers is arguably her biggest strength and she prefers using it more often.

What is your character’s relationship with magic? Are they scared of it, wish to know more about it, indifferent to it?

RIYA — this question is So Much for her that i don’t know where to start or end. magic is a big part of riya, and it’s the one that she’s most proud of. to her, magic will always be inherently awe-inspiring, even as her views on everything surrounding it are forced to change as she sees more of the world outside of cumberland. it makes her feel powerful and capable, as well as incredibly attractive but like that’s not the main point, and she’s excited by the idea that she’ll only grow stronger the more she works at it. absolutely cannot stand 5 minutes of magical theory but could watch mages casting for hours on end, she thinks it’s so sickening (in the fun, sexy way). how can she ever have a negative view on it when all her life she's been surrounded by such positive, excellent uses of it, and has witnessed even more wondrous uses since her adventuring began—talking of course more on cian's healing, and not the nasty villain acts. user error kind of thing, there's always going to be somebody who abuses what can (and should) be used for good.

JORINA — neutral for a long time, i guess. it wasn't in her life until she joined the inquisition and then it was suddenly everywhere, more often than not lending her aid or healing her wounds. which would lead to her having a more positive outlook on it, especially because she wasn't influenced by any beliefs/opinions on it growing up.

MAEVE — i never really thought about this, which is insane to say at this point. magic has numerous forms and has affected so many parts of her life, in both positive and negative aspects, that i think she'd be largely curious about it. not to the level of a dnd wizard studying so hard they learn a few cantrips, but she'd enjoy talking to magic wielders about it and putting in research on occasion to better understand. she's frightened of curses because they're so powerful and difficult to break, and that was before learning of the one placed on her soul lmfao

[arainaizevran]

here's my Gamer Review (no story spoilers)

the combat sucks and is sometimes unbalanced even in the beginners difficulty. FUCK mirror image all my homies hate mirror image. and the way some bosses have ridiculously high AC just to make it difficult when really all it does is make the fight tedious

another thing: the spell book system is so unintuitive, it took me until act 5 to finally look up how to prepare nenio's spells and understand how spell slots work 😭 (or i may just be stupid)

i love the camping mechanic and evening banter

i love that you can take 5 companions with you <3 they're varied in such a way that i can rotate the companions in the party with one or two mainstays. and it's not a total headache to swap companions in the party *cough* bg3 *cough*

SHARED INVENTORY MY BELOVED

there aren't any good legendary bow weapons if im gonna be honest. not much good legendary rapier weapons too. you get so much loot but most of them aren't even really good

the level/dungeon design teeters between fun and confusing

the puzzles require you to use your brain which is great, but i fear I've been spoiled by bg3 with how it gives you different ways to solve a puzzle. so i may or may not have been playing with a walkthrough

i love that some companion quest endings hinge on many actions the player says or does throughout the game and not just the One Decision you make in their final quest. this way it feels more like your actions have consequences. the downside of this is that if you don't get the ending you want for a character it can be frustrating since the decision that affected it is way back in act 2 or 3 lol

speaking of decisions, there were many points in the game where i really had trouble deciding what to do or say. that's a good thing for me (even tho id just open a walkthrough and see if the choice i want to make doesn't have dire consequences LMFAO)

act 4 is actually pretty good. im glad it's a short one and while it's super jarring to transition to this location with the slightly weird game mechanics, i got used to it pretty fast and finished the act in like. 10 hours lol. there's so many good companion quest in this act too, which counteracts the awful location. at the same time the amount of quests doesn't feel overwhelming at all?

crusade management is fun but some aspects of it is unintuitive, like the whole outpost->bastion->fortress upgrade thing. also if your general has scorching ray and fireball and firestorm it makes the crusade fights really easy which is kinda funny

the final battle is... okay. i had it on a custom very easy difficulty so the fights were VERY quick. but i like that all the people you helped in the game showed up instead of you having to call them one by one each turn lmfao

AND i like that the companions you left outside the threshold also gets to join the battle by defending the entrance. something like this happens in dao where the party has to split and it's nice bc all the companions get to be a part of the final battle yayyy

there are certain things you could miss out if you don't do That One Errand Quest, but doing it is so cool. you get to find out about the real motivation of the antagonist

why does nocticula look like that when all the other demon lords have really cool and huge model designs (i get that noct is a succubus demon lord but c'mon man)

also im sad I have to choose between lann and wenduag :( i was happy to know i could also recruit wendu but she bugged out for me and her bloody corpse was right next to lann in drezen. rip

i also love how much the companions/NPC just straight up lie to the player character 😭 i got fooled so many times bc there's no wayyy im gonna get betrayed and lied to again right? right?

the player character becoming the appointed commander doesn't at all feel... railroaded? like yes you're pretty much forced into the role but it didn't make me feel the same way as inquisition did (might be because there's an actual prologue in wotr)

part of that ^ might also be because of the mythic paths which really help you carve out the character you want

all in all, it was fun, i enjoyed it very much!

i stayed up till 2 last night and finished wotr... amazing

[worriedvision]

A nasty break up - Childe (part 2)

Pantalone shows up in this part, gender neutral reader and I'll link the first part when I get on my computer.

--

Your parents consoled you, rubbing your back and getting you to sit while you simmer in the upset that had been Childe breaking up with you.

"It's better late than never, dear." Your mother reassured you. "That man was no good for you. He's a high ranking member of the Fatui, an evil corporation." She begins to talk, your dad nudging her to stop talking.

Before he can tell her off, however, you hear the door being battered on. Opening it, you're met by a Fatui agent you don't know. You could tell he wasn't any harbinger, but he had some sort of responsibility.

"How can I help you?" You start, your parents hiding behind the wall and peering around the corner.

"You need to come with me. Tsaritsas orders." He gruffs out, your mother gasping.

"But why?" She runs out, trying to hold you back. "My child is not joining-"

"Your application, it meets standards." The Fatui agent huffs out. "Come, we don't have time to waste."

Your mother and father fall silent, and you knew without turning around they were disgusted by you. After a moment, your mother let's out a wail.

"No child of mine would willingly join you!" She tries to protest, you deciding to walk with the agent. Your mother gasps, running in an attempt to stop you. "How could you? This was that man's doing, wasn't it? He coerced you, didn't he? That can't be legal, that's unethical!"

You nudge the agent to stop him, giving him a look of apology before turning to face your mother for what you knew would be the last.

"I applied myself. He didn't coerce me at all." You calmly explain, seeing your mother grow disgusted.

After she processed your information, she clenches her fists shut.

"You are no longer my child." Your mother utters, your eyes widening out of shock.

"Mom, I'm still-"

Before you could finish your sentence, your mother walks back to her house, your father shaking his head disapprovingly at you before consoling his wife.

"Let's go." You turn, the agent nodding before walking away.

--

Childe had to induct the new batch of recruits a few days after they received their uniform. He didn't know the names of any of them, but he knew that you most likely would be joining soon due to their way of processing applicants.

Part of him wanted to apologise to you, to tell you he didn't mean any of it and that he loved you dearly. But the other part of him knew that there was no way you would willingly choose to talk to him.

So, he took his precious time to finish this paperwork for once instead of letting it pile up.

--

Meanwhile, Pantalone had spotted you in passing, looking good in your uniform. Knowing that you were going to get the induction from a harbinger, he decided to test the waters by covering for the harbinger who was supposed to be doing the speech. He knew nobody actually enjoyed having to do a speech, but for once he wanted to do the job.

So, he takes the stage, everyone standing to attention when they hear his boots clacking.

--

"Good morning, everyone." He starts, clasping his hands together.

You hear someone mumble something about your ex. Apparently, Childe was supposed to be the one doing the speech. While you were glad it wasn't your ex, you felt intimidated by how he seemed to fixate his gaze on you every now and then.

You don't exactly process much of the information either, but you knew from your ex what the speech entailed. After all, he always practiced his speeches with you.

Pantalone had been much more relaxed, and you could tell he was of higher rank than Tartaglia. He conducted himself in a way that he could relax If he wanted to, but chose not to for his own reasons rather than purely for the Tsaritsa.

You walk away with a recruit you had made friends with, and she looks over her shoulder.

"Did you do something to him?" She asks. "I could have sworn he was staring at you."

You go to open your mouth, only to see Pantalone walk past you, and you felt like he gave you some sort of side glance.

While you were glad he did the speech instead of Childe, you also felt some sort of attractive fear seeing him. Like you shouldn't associate with him.

But you found yourself tempted.

--

Childe walked out of the office, deciding to get the speech over with. He spots Pantalone stopping him with an open hand, and he reluctantly does so.

"I decided to cover the speech for you, Tartaglia." He states. He notices Childe visibly relax, and he almost fails to hold back his smirk before he continues his chat. "By the way... _, was it?" He smiles earnestly when Childe straightens up his posture. "They're single, aren't they?" He chuckled to himself, walking away before Childe could get defensive.

[folkwhorerain]

Jealousy, Jealousy (Wanda Maximoff x fem reader)

pairing: Wanda Maximoff x fem reader

Summary: reader is a shy and insecure Avenger whit a crush on Wanda, but she never made the first move on the sokovian. What if, during a party, finally something happens between the two of them?

Warnings: angst, reader being insecure, language (I think?), alcohol and sexual tension (feel free to tell me if I should add more).

English is not my first language, so bare with my grammar please, lol. This is my first fanfiction ever so forgive me if it's not anything special or it is lame.

I got inspired by "Jealousy, Jealousy" by Olivia Rodrigo, so I suggest you listen to it while reading, if you want.♥️

You hated them. You hated Tony's parties.

Don't get me wrong, you enjoyed the Avengers company, but parties were definitely not your thing. You always felt... out of place.

You were fine with chatting with the team during this day when you spent some time together, but when parties where that huge like tonight's one, all you wanted to do was staying in your room.

The fact is that you can't help but compare yourself to the others. You never felt enough and you were intimated by Tony's friends and the other heroes. You were just... You. No one special with no cool superpowers, you were good at hand to hand combat and you were really smart, but that was it; you always thought that was lame. Like that wasn't enough, you were the newest recruit in the team. The Avengers all welcomed you well and you grew attached to all of them, especially Natasha, but still, you didn't feel like that was enough for you to be considered "the cool Avenger", and you were still private about your feelings and emotions; when something was wrong the only answer that you had when they asked you what bothered you was "it's nothing". But it wasn't nothing. You felt an outsider in the team, you felt like you weren't enough for them and the worst part is that you knew it was all in your head, but you couldn't help it.

The first person that always comes to your mind when you think of someone cool is Wanda. Her powers affascinates you and you loved her determination. You can't say you two are close, but she always treated you well and she respected your boundaries, that's why now you have a crush on her and that's part of the reason you didn't want to go to the party. Seeing her well dressed while smiling to people who weren't you and while Vision was trying to get her attention would only make it worse.

You considered staying in your room while scrolling your social media, not having any strength to get up and get ready, especially when you were still in your bathrobe and your thoughts were only about a certain witch. However you knew Natasha would've dragged you out of the room if you wouldn't come so, after a few curses and annoyed groans, you threw your phone on the pillow and started to get dressed.

You didn't want to get the attention to you, people would start a conversation and tonight you weren't into it at all, so you opted for a green skirt and a black, cropped sweater and a little bit of makeup. Nothing more.

I'm already so sick of this bullshit, you thought to yourself, then you took a deep breath and went downstairs.

–

As you expected, the biggest room of the Stark Tower was filled with people you didn't know, but you were sure they were mostly Tony's friends.

They were all so confident with their drinks in hands, perfect combed hair and fancy dresses worth millions of dollars.

You weren't nothing like these people: you didn't get why people would spend millions for pieces of cloth. It was a waste of money, but how you wished you saw it differently, maybe you would be one of these apparently happy people with a lot of friends, and not the weirdo of the group with a lack of confidence so evident you couldn't even enjoy a relaxing event.

A few tears tried to escape your eyes, but you wouldn't let them. Steve was watching you and, from the look he was giving you, he already sensed something was off with you; so you did what was best and faked a smile, which he returned gladly before he went back to his conversation with Bucky.

You felt like a creep standing in the corner of the room doing nothing, so you started looking around searching for Nat. After a few second you saw her talking, or better, flirting with Bruce at the bar while she had a Martini on her hand.

You frowned sympathetically. Cute. He really likes her a lot, you thought seeing Bruce embarrassed and intimidated by the widow.

Suddenly a waiter asked you if you wanted a glass of wine and you accepted, maybe a little alcohol would help you get through this more easily. You took a sip and enjoyed the feeling of the wine in your throat.

“This is ridiculous.” you whispered.

“What is ridiculous?” you heard someone ask you.

You turned to see who it was and that's when you saw her: Wanda was smiling at you with a curious expression on her face.

You blinked a few times, amazed by the girl in front of you: she was wearing a short, black dress, and her ginger hair was loose on her shoulders. She decided to put on a little bit of makeup and a red lipstick. Not like her typical style, but you liked her anyway. She was always so beautiful.

You shook your head, realizing she was waiting for an answer. "Uhm, parties, I guess.” She nodded. “I mean, Tony's events are always too exaggerated.” you added before biting your lips, clearly embarrassed.

“I know how you feel.” Wanda agreed. “I always have to try so hard to fit in during things like these.” She chuckled while looking around the room.

“Well, at least you're trying.” You said before giving her a dry laugh, looking down at your glass.

The ginger tilted her head sympathetically. “Well, maybe that's the problem.”

You frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean... trying too hard is the problem.” She explained. “If you feel like you have to try so hard it becomes unbearable, maybe that means that the thing you're doing is not good for you.” She added before biting the inside of her cheek.

You simply hummed in agreement and took another sip of wine, too intimated by her beauty.

Don't think something awkward. She can read minds. Don't think how beautiful she is- shit. Stop thinking.

“If you'll excuse me, Vision is looking for me.” She said with a smirk on her face before leaving you alone again.

You watched her walk away, analizing her every move. God, how you wanted her to be yours. She was not, of course. Why would she be with someone like you? She could have Vision and every other man in this room, so why would she choose a girl like you? Speaking of the devil, Vision approached her with a few guys and she gave him her brightest smile.

You watched all the interaction, still in the corner of the room.

He was so confident with his perfect posture and his good manners. He would be the best for her. He's the kind of man, or synthezoid, or whatever, that could always reassure her and find the perfect words to make her feel better. He would try and cheer her up and find the better jokes to tell, just like he's probably doing right now. In fact the sokovian was laughing at something he said and her beautiful laugh echoed through the room.

You felt jealousy rush through your veins.

“I wanna be him so bad!”

All the people in the room turned to look at you with puzzled expression.

Your eyes went wide when you realized you practically yelled what you wanted was just a thought so, without a second thought, you rushed out of the party and went straight to your room.

You slammed the door and let the tears escape. You took off your make up and headed straight to bed, overthinking what just happened, screaming in your pillow.

I always ruin everything!

You didn't expect you would've said that out loud and right now you didn't expect to hear someone to knock on your door. You didn't answer, though, you kept your head buried in the pillow. It was probably Natasha who wanted to talk about what happened and you definitely weren't going to say a word.

The door opened anyway and you groaned in annoyance.

“Listen, Nat-” You started to say but stopped immediately when you saw it wasn't the russian spy, but Wanda.

“Hi.” She greeted you with a shy smile. “May I sit?” She asked pointing the bed.

You composed yourself and nodded shyly. “Yeah.”

Wanda gave you a swift smile and sat next to you, crossing her legs on the bed. Your breath itched when you felt your knees touching. You two have never been this close and the situation was making you nervous, thing that didn't go unnoticed by Wanda considering the fact that you were playing with the ring on your index finger.

You never noticed but Wanda knows you very well. She knows your moves, the way you play with your hands when you're nervous, the way your eyes shine when you talk about your interests or the way you are quieter than usual when you're sad.

The truth is that Wanda liked you very much and she knew you liked her too. She didn't want to tell you 'cause she wanted you to take courage and say it first and, to be fully honest, she was scared. What if your crush was temporary and you would eventually get bored? What if she loses you just like she lost her parents and Pietro? She would never, ever accept it.

“So... Why did you run away?” She asked like it wasn't obvious you just yelled in front of everyone.

“Are you seriously asking, Wanda?” You snapped before you could stop yourself.

She looked at you with sad eyes before looking down at her hands. “Sorry…”

“No, no... Don't apologize.” You whispered. “You have nothing to apologize for. I shouldn't have… God, I'm pathetic.”

You threw your head in your hands and sighed. I'm so sick of myself!

“Why are you sick of yourself?” The sokovian asked you before placing a hand on your knee.

You looked at the hand and then at her.

“Sorry, I shouldn't have read your mind, but sometimes your thoughts are really loud.” she chuckled, starting to rub her thumb on your knee. You were speechless, all this interaction was making you crazy. You craved more of her touch and now, more than ever, you wanted to kiss her. However you pushed those feelings aways and started to open up to avoid thinking about something inappropriate. “I'm just… me. I mean, I'm not special.”

“Why do you think that?” She asked raising an eyebrow, her hand never leaving your skin.

You took a deep breath. “Wanda, come on! Tony's friends are so cool, he's loved by everyone, Natasha is a badass russian spy, you have these amazing superpower. Thor is literally a God, for fuck's sake!”

“You compare yourself to the others too much. It's not healthy, Y/N.” She sweetly stated wiping away a tear from you cheek.

You closed your eyes for a second, enjoying her touch, but then you came back to reality. “I know, but I can't help it. The others seem to be so confident and happy, and all the girls at the party... Fuck, they're so pretty-”

"Beauty is not your lack.” She interrupted you smirking, her hand still on your cheek.

“I- I just wish I was them... I wish I had the courage Vision has.” You admitted, looking down.

“Why him?” The ginger asked placing two fingers under your chin, forcing you to look at her in those piercing green eyes.

“Because I'm so jealous he gets all your attentions and I don't just because I'm too insecure.” You said it in a whisper, almost inaudible, but Wanda heard you and you knew judging by the smile on her face.

“You want my attentions?” She asked leaning in.

Her face was so close to yours that it was hard to breathe. You could smell her perfume and that alone was making you want her more. You had the urge to kiss her and touch her and taste her, but right now Wanda was waiting for a response so you simply nodded, not trusting your voice.

“You already have them.” She admitted, making you frown in confusion. “There might be a hundred people in the room, but I would always notice you and only you, Y/n.” You were speechless, partly because of her confession, partly because she was so damn close to your face it made your heart race fast, and before you could realise, she kissed you.

Her lips were so soft against yours and her hands were in the right places. However, after a few moments, you realized you froze and didn't reproached the kiss. Wanda broke the kiss, a disappointed look on her face.

“I'm sorry, I thought you liked me t-”

Before she could finish her sentence, you kissed her. You kissed her with so much confidence it surprised both you and Wanda.

Your right hand was on her neck and the other was on her waist, pulling her close.

You felt her smirk on the kiss and the hand that before was on your knee now was up your thigh.

“God, this skirt was making me crazy the whole night.” She breathed out, making the hand go higher and higher where you needed it the most.

Before you could realize you still had your party outfit on, Wanda started caressing slowly your inner thigh, making you gasp. Hearing the affect she had on you, the ginger bite your lobe before whispering something that made you shiver.

“Let me show you all the attentions I have for you, babygirl.”

alright, that was it. I know it's not good, but I had this idea the other night and I just had to write it.

Feedback is appreciated. <3

[ladyhindsight]

I was thinking about it again today. I think maybe it would work if nephilim have some serving age - time period you have to serve in war. Maybe 15 years since 18, it would mean they would retire at age of 33 and then pursue other career or decide to stay in active forces. Then we would have people to do all the crafts needed for running Alicante. Older members of society pursuing traditional family crafts or careers they choose for themselves. Hereditary occupation was common in history and the children of smith were smiths too. Today it's probably more free choice of individual. I'm curious how they learn their job after they finish service. They would probably need to study at University at some point to learn more complicated things like architecture. Whixh bring us back to Shadowhunter Academy and not very sufficient curriculum.

It would make sense why some families raise children in Alicante and some in institutes, despite the increased dangers. Nephilim are paid for fighting demons. If they don't want to fight while not disabled or ending their duration of service, they aren't paid and they must pay high taxes. Poor families are forced to raise children in institutes, because they don't have money to live in Alicante.

It would explain why were Hodge's family poor. Maybe he was child of single parent and the parent had some mental issue. Which wasn't recognized by Clave as disability and therefore they were forced to live from old money they had and it wasn't much. It would add interesting layer to Hodge's character. It's suitably grim to fit realisticaly into the theme of the world.

I didn't know Clare removed it from later editions! I thought it was interesting for women not to fight and it was a way to explain how the society may work. I prefer the version where women in history learn to fight, some women are very talented and they are active fighters, but most women were craftsman, maintain city, raise children and were their main educators. It create interesting historical duality. Men as fighters, politicians and healers. Women as scholars, teachers and craftsmen. It bring interesting light on Charlotte and Henry. She's in traditionally male role and he's in traditionally female role. Beginning of gender and sexual revolution which happened in later years.

I think their society was sexist, because they still wasn't completelly separated from mundane world and they marry mundanes much more often. Maybe they were even encouraged to marry mundanes to increase the genetical diversity. They didn't pay much attention to wellbeing of recruits and probably just said you weren't worthy of Raziel blood if you died during ascension. Look how deeply rooted is sexism in society today. Hard to uproot sexism from society.

She didn't invest any thougth into other races. What we know about vampire and werewolf politics? All the races are rather unimaginative. Clare would probably say nephilim don't pay much attention to lowly races. Which is completely unrealistic, if they want to live in peace with them, they have to pay attention to political situation and relationship between different clans.

I really love the idea of Praetor Lupus, because it's at least logical organization. What I don't understand it doesn't have any ties to Shadowhunters? No support in history, when they should want to support it - better control over unruly downworlders, less dangers, less conflict and it would improve their public image. They should at least support them with finances and monitor their work and progress. It's supposed to be FIRST organization among downworlders. It was created in 19th century. What did everybody do before? I can't believe this is the first organization dedicated to helping downworlders in history.

I agree killing Julian and Emma would be harsh considering the genre. Therefore I would let them kill Livvy in their true nephilim form. I don't see a point in killing Livvy other than raising stakes and the problem of too many characters. If Emma and Julian killed her when she tried to stop them, it would have serious impact.

Thank you for all your praise, I'll start blushing. 😊

Oh, you’ve earned it. These are all details that would make the Nephilim culture more alive.

I don’t know the exact time the change was made but I noticed it in the 2015 edition of the book. It was probably because the idea of Shadowhunter women not fighting until relatively recently wouldn’t have aligned with The Dark Artifices, mainly Charlotte and Jessamine. Major part of Jessamine’s character was how she resented her having to fight and kill demons just because she was born a Nephilim. Or maybe Clare in retrospect no longer liked the idea of the Nephilim culture being that sexist. Or both.

It’s just weird because this wasn’t the only change made in later editions of the books and none of them were really ever addressed, at least to my knowledge, which is just being sneaky. And oh yes, Clare gave no shits about vampires or werewolves. A little bit more about the faeries it seems though. I expressed this somewhere along the way when I was going through City of Glass, but the whole idea that Raphael (in absence of Camille, of course) would be the spokesperson for all vampires about the Council seat or anything ever. There must be clans that don’t give a damn about some Daylighter and what some Raphael Santiago from New York thinks. It’s just isn’t realistic that they all supposedly agree or that only the New York vampires are running the whole show for everyone.

I feel like Praetor Lupus has completely disappeared from the series. It comes up in the latter half of TMI and in TID because of Woolsey Scott. But it definitely didn’t leave a lasting impression to me. I feel like it was still left someone vague, the whole concept of it.

Ohh, but if they had killed Livvy, the angst would never end! Though it would’ve been a serious impact indeed. It definitely would’ve been something they could not just come back from, but of course that also means Emma and Julian could not have their happy ever after. I’d have to give a longer thought so that I might actually come up with something, but right now off the bat I don’t think Emma’s character really has anything going for her that she could really lose that would impact the story or the character similarly as Clary losing Simon or Tessa losing Jem forever. Everything I can come up with would just end up (realistically) her and Julian’s being ostracized. And of course that just can’t happen.

Sorry for taking a bit to answer, being busy with work and things again. :')