#she was a lot of fun to write for too

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Get Souped!

[momomallowart]

I finally watched Arcane and realized they're just the same character so I swapped their clothes ʕ⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ

[abaroo]

I realised I had to refine Ceroba for my au…

In the cowboy swap au, Ceroba is actually the Sheriff and leader of the Feisty Five. Clover is still the Deputy and goes by “Lucky Star”. He loves hanging around town with his Mama ☺️. I haven’t come up with a cool cowboy name for Ceroba yet, although she probably wouldn’t use one :/

Cowboy Swap Masterpost

[bisexuallsokka]

“You know, if you ever need more canvas space for your chalk art, my driveway is always open to you,” Sokka says to Izumi, glancing at Zuko, which— wow. He had almost forgotten how gorgeous Sokka’s eyes are. That, plus he is being sweet to his daughter? Zuko quickly covers up whatever cheesy expression is certainly on his face. Izumi’s smile widens a little bit and she nods. Zuko manages to wish Sokka a good day at work and Sokka’s gaze on him lingers for a second before he thanks him and gets in his car. So no, he doesn’t need Iroh’s help in setting him up with anyone. Because he has spent the last few months fantasizing about Sokka, and he is not ready to give that up nor to cue Iroh in and risk any interference. (or, Zuko and Sokka are neighbors, Izumi is a sidewalk chalk enthusiast, and Iroh and Azula love pestering Zuko about his love life)

my contribution to @zukkabigbang2024!!

a thousand thanks to my amazing artist @purplew for creating this masterpiece to go with this fic!! <3

[mstormcloud]

I think applying tropes commonly found in Sonadow fics to other sonic ships is very funny

Like today I saw the cute posts by Blu-ish about how hedgehogs circle and headbutt eachother when courting and how Sonic and Shadow would do that and I agree.

However I think the implication that mobian hedgehogs do this is HILARIOUS when applied to ships that only involve one hedgehog.

Like Silver starts circling around Espio one day and lightly shoving him with his hip or his shoulder and Espio is like: ???? What are you doing??

Or even Blazamy like- Amy keeps circling Blaze and the less Blaze reciprocates Amy does it more to try to get Blaze to react. Blaze eventually just tries to politely tell Amy to stop cause it’s hard to hold conversation while she’s moving all around.

But later Blaze talks to Silver and is like: “I have no idea what she is trying to do…perhaps she is finding a weakness in my stance? Should I fear her hunting me for sport???”

And Silver is like: uh. Well. I think she’s hitting on you? It’s a hedgehog thing.

And Blaze just freaks out because WHAT DO YOU MEAN AMY WAS FLIRTING WITH HER

[trappedinafantasy37]

I couldn't stop thinking about Minthara planting night orchids in her garden as she genuinely thinks that they are poisonous. So, I wrote a little snippet of her learning that they are not poisonous.

------------------------------

Minthara sits at the desk in her study, reviewing some of the letters written by the patriars of the city. She takes a drink from the wine glass in her hand, laughing with amusement as she reads the letters. They are all begging her to release the funds she has secured in the Counting House that she still holds in lock down. Who knew how easily she could manipulate the city legislature by simply denying its sitting members their fifth vacation to Waterdeep in six months.

She sets aside one letter after having completed it and pulls out another one, ready for more comedy. She has no intentions to release the gold and she wants the patriars to squirm. Let them know that they are under her thumb.

As she reads, she hears the muffled sounds of laughing and barking outside. She smiles to herself as she pictures her beloved outside playing with the dog. She stands up from her desk and walks to the window. Peeling back the curtain and squinting her eyes, Minthara watches as Scratch runs back towards the half-elf with a slimy ball in his jaws.

Shadowheart crouches down and pets the dog behind his ears, rubbing her forehead against the top of his head. She takes the ball from Scratch's mouth and walks back towards the cottage. She opens the back gate and continues through the garden. Shadowheart stops for a brief moment and looks at the night orchids that Minthara has been growing for the past few months. Minthara's heart drops into her stomach as Shadowheart kneels to the ground and begins to touch its poisonous petals.

The drow whips open the curtains, ignoring the burning pain as the sun shoots light beams directly into her eyes. She furiously taps on the window to get the half-elf's attention. "Are you mad? That is poisonous."

Shadowheart looks at the window and cocks her head, "Wha..." she says, but the word is muffled from the thick window between the two elves.

"Stop touching the damn flower! It is poisonous. It will kill you, you fool." Minthara says louder at the window, panic rising in her chest as the half-elf won't remove her hands from the flower pedals.

"What do yo... ...ower is not... ...sonous..." Shadowheart's voice is still muffled and Minthara is unable to discern her words. In a panicked frenzy, the drow runs through the cottage and outside into the garden.

"The flowers are poisonous, Shadowheart. What kind of madness would compel you to touch a plant you know is deadly?" Minthara says gently grabbing the half-elf's wrist and pulling her away from the night orchids. All Shadowheart does is giggle as the drow drags her up to the porch. "You will not be in such a jesting mood when you lie on the ground, croaking out like a frog as the poison does its work and thickens your blood like spoiled milk." Minthara slams open the door back into the cottage and drags the cleric into the kitchen. Her panic begins to mix with annoyance as Shadowheart continues to laugh as Minthara frantically gathers her antidotes.

"Minthara... You don't..." Shadowheart struggles to speak through her laughter, "You don't actually think that night orchids are poisonous do you?" she asks, wiping away a tear.

"Of course I do, you told me as much yourself. Drink this. Quickly." the drow hands an open antidote vial to the cleric. "We only have a short time to counter the effects of the toxins. When you finish, we will need to scrub your hands of any residue."

Shadowheart grabs the vial and walks to the counter with a smile on her face, returning the cork back into the top. "Minthara, love, I was joking when I said they were poisonous. Do you not remember that?"

"If you were joking, you failed to clarify that." Minthara sets her hand on the counter, trying to simmer her anger.

"Was it that I failed to clarify, or did you just stop paying attention after I said it was poisonous?"

Minthara taps her fingers against the counter. She recalls that day in the shadow lands, following behind the half-elf as Scratch sniffed out the flower. It was growing out of the side of a tree that hung over a rock cliff. "You refused to touch the flower. I had asked you why you did not want to pluck your favorite flower off that fallen log. You said that it was, and I quote, 'deadly poisonous'."

"And then I did this..." Shadowheart slumps over and points her fingers at the drow, "and said, 'Joking!'" she recites in a sing-song tone.

Minthara furrows her brow and pinches the corner of her lips. Shadowheart did no such thing! Did she?

"All of the poisons that I have been crafting these past months. All of them... useless... worthless..." the drow grumbles to herself.

"Wait, you've been using the night orchid in your poisons?"

"Yes. Because I had been led to believe that they were poisonous. Why do you think I was growing them in the garden?" Minthara sighs and shakes her head.

"I thought you were growing them because I liked them..." Shadowheart's voice trails off.

"Partially. I figured that if I was to microdose you with poison, that it would be more palatable to mix it with something you were familiar with."

"And if you knew from the beginning that they weren't poisonous, would you still have planted them?"

"Yes." Minthara looks to the half-elf as if the answer should be obvious. "Most of the fungi I have out there are not poisonous. I nurture them because I like them. They remind me of my home. And I would have done the same for you as the orchid does hold a place in your heart. Although they would not take up half the real estate in my damn garden as they do now." Minthara holds her hands before her and starts to shape them. "They would take up a little corner, or perhaps line the edges of the garden. Now I have to find a way to replace them. Make room for actually poisonous plants."

Shadowheart giggles and steps closer to the drow, wrapping one arm around Minthara's neck. "Why did you grow so many?"

"Some were to be harvested for the poisons. Others were to remain untouched, just for you to view every morning when we take the dog for a walk."

"I knew you were a romantic." Shadowheart leans forward and weaves her lips with her paladin. Minthara grabs onto Shadowheart's waist and pulls their bodies closer together, letting the frustration of the misunderstanding wash away.

------------------------------

Her knees scrape against small pebbles as she kneels to the ground, fingers clawing into the dirt. Frustration bubbles in her chest as she digs around the plant before her.

"Hmph." Minthara scoffs to herself. "Useless plant. Of course, she reveals to me after I fill half the garden with them that she was merely 'jesting'." The drow lifts her fingers out in the air and makes air quotes around the word, still not believing the half-elf's claim of making such a joke. She shakes her head as she returns to her work in digging up the orchid.

Once enough of its stem is exposed that she should be able to pull it out of the ground. But the stem itself is very thin and can easily break with too much pressure. She digs just a little more around it until its roots are exposed. She grabs onto the stem as gently as she can and slowly pulls it out of the ground. The orchid is not willing to release itself as its roots are properly intertwined with the earth.

Even though it is not poisonous as she had believed it to be, she does still admire the flower. It is, after all, one of the only natural things to survive the shadow curse on its own. Even with all the odds against it, where the air and the land beneath it had been poisoned by Shar, it managed to prevail where all else failed.

She doesn't fight the smile the tugs at the corner of her lips as she places the flower into the vase she brought with her. It is a resilient flower that has defied the very gods themselves and refused to be corrupted by the darker influences that threatened to swallow it whole. Much like a cleric that is close to her heart.

Minthara continues along the edge of the garden, digging up more of the orchids and placing them into the vase she brought with her. Once she has a nice set of flowers in the vase, she stands up and walks up to the porch. She sets it on the table and she grabs a mini shovel and digs into a bag of soil she has resting on the table. She gently pours it into the vase and packs it into the base so that it may serve as some nourishment for the flowers. Satisfied that the vase has been properly prepared, she sets the mini shovel on top of the bag of soil and removes her gardening gloves.

With the vase in hand, she walks through the cottage and into the living room. Shadowheart lays sprawled out against the couch with a blanket draped over her lower body, a book in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. A warm fire cackles in the fire place, proving some light in the room. Shadowheart lifts her eyes from the book and watches as Minthara sets the vase on the table in the center of the room. The drow taps her fingers ever so gently against the petals, attempting to fluff them up so that they look more presentable.

"It's a shame you have to rip up the flowers." The half-elf says as the drow walks over to the couch.

"Why would I rip up the flowers? That would just be a waste." Minthara asks as she lifts up Shadowheart's legs and sits on the couch. She sets the half-elf's legs in her lap as she makes herself comfortable on the furniture.

"Because they're not poisonous like you thought they were."

"No, they are not poisonous. But that is hardly a reason to rip them up from the garden, at least not all at once and I will slowly rotate some of them out. They still have some usage." Minthara waves her hand to the vase, "Now we have a lovely decoration."

Shadowheart lifts an eyebrow to Minthara. "And here I thought you were going to burn them all. You were rather upset about it earlier."

Minthara sighs and rubs her hand along Shadowheart's leg, "I was not upset to discover that the orchids were not poisonous. I was upset to discover that you and I are not inoculated against poison like I had thought we were. I worry now that if someone attempts to poison you, you may struggle to fight it on your own."

Minthara looks into her lap as her mind grows heavy to the thought of someone attempting to assassinate her beloved in the worst way she can imagine. She already lost one lover to poison, she cannot lose another in the same way. Shadowheart sits up and places her book and wine glass on the table. She scooches closer to the drow and places a hand on her cheek, turning Minthara's head so that their eyes may meet.

"You forget, love, that I do have spells that can help me fight poison and heal injuries. You do not need to stress yourself about it so much."

Minthara shakes her head and squeezes on the half-elf's leg, "I can use a sword to strike down and protect you from marauders, assassins, cultists, even the gods themselves. But no sword will ever be able to strike down poison, and most certainly not one that has found its way in your blood stream. I speak with direct experience, your clerical magic will only help you against so much. The only reliable weapon you have is your own immune system, and it is the only weapon I can give you against a threat that is unseen and silent."

Shadowheart giggles, "Thank you for being concerned with my health. But I will be alright. You still have your mushrooms. You have a formula for those don't you?"

"Yes." Minthara throws her head to the back of the couch, calculating new recipes in her mind and rebalancing the ratios.

I have my fungi from the Underdark, as well as a few surface mushrooms. But the recipe I have been using accounted for the night orchid making up a decent percentage of the ratio. Perhaps, things are not as bad as I initially perceived them to be as the previous concoctions with the orchid were still at least mostly poisonous. They were just not as poisonous as they could have been. Eh heh, no wonder why our enemies did not fall as fast as I had expected when I would coat my blades with the toxin. Like flowers and plants, poisons themselves come in various strains. Perhaps I can look around and find a new mushroom or a new plant to fill in the space of the night orchid so that the new creations can still account for as many strains as possible. Of course I cannot expect to realistically create just one little potion that will protect against every single poison out there... ... can't I? I will need to speak with a few herbalists, gather as much knowledge and information as possible of surface plants. If I cannot make one, I can make multiple different toxins and -

"Hey, stop that." Shadowheart playfully taps her hand against the drow's cheek to pull back her attention. "You shutting off your ears and going into your head about dangerous things is how we got in this mess to begin with. I do appreciate the effort you put to keep us safe. But we will be fine. Your potions weren't completely useless so my magic should help me. I don't think someone is going to try to poison me any time soon. You have time to figure it out."

Minthara widens her eyes and looks at Shadowheart, "Oh, darling. There is no time." Minthara swings her arm to the back of the couch and pushes herself above the half-elf. She leans over into Shadowheart's personal space. "Someone will try to poison you, and they will do it soon."

Shadowheart places a hand on her chest, opening her mouth with a overly dramatic gasp. She leans backwards on the couch as the drow gets closer to her. "And who have I angered so much that they would dare to poison me?"

"Me!" Minthara growls, pouncing on her lover and pushing the half-elf completely against the couch. Shadowheart giggles as the drow kisses the side of her neck, hands pressing into her belly and tickling her. "You have made a grievous error in fooling me into thinking those damn flowers were toxic. I will show you real poison, one that would make even the Spider Queen quiver."

"Oh, please do show me..." Shadowheart mumbles as the two elves melt together with a kiss that may or may not be poisonous.

[necrotic-nephilim]

there is not enough femslash in batcest circles. the girls deserve to be just as weird about each other as the boys are. if BruDick gets to be weird father/son/brothers/lovers/friends/rivals/soulmates then it is only fair that Babs/Cass get to be mother/daughter/sisters/lovers too. Something about that deep intrinsic but undefinable love that is born out of trauma, especially if you consider Cass not knowing what healthy love looks like in the first place. i think it's fun and deserves just as much fandom content.

besides that, you can get even more niche with rarepairs like Helena/Steph. Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma is already a fantastic comic and even though it's their only real canon interaction it has so much potential. very comparable to TimJay in how Helena tries to get Steph to understand her morals and the corruption you could play with it.

batman: huntress/spoiler: blunt trauma (1998)

that comic also highlights on how both Steph and Helena are outcasts of the Batfamily and don't have the approval of Bruce to be doing what they do in "his city". I think there's so much Potential in Helena taking Steph under her wing because Bruce won't let her in and it becomes a weird codependent toxic sapphic mess. I think the protectiveness Helena feels over Steph from the get-go is so clear and the way she wants to look out for Steph, wants to make sure Steph understands the real world? I love them. Helena should be allowed to steal Steph, actually. I think it'd be fun.

there are a lot of other possibilities too like Babs/Steph or even getting weird with Helena Bertinelli/Helena Wayne and the existential question of "is it selfcest or not." But these two specifically live in my head rent-free, especially Helena/Steph and one day I'll convince everyone else to ship it too.

[alongtidesoflight]

so here's my honest thoughts on dragon age: the veilguard, after ~40 hours of playing. i finished the main quest after having finished all companion quests and major faction quests. just to clear up what content i saw, i played as an elven transmasc rook who is a member of the lords of fortune. he romanced lucanis (although after finishing the game i'm now leaning towards taash). i don't know what's happening in playthroughs that have a different race, gender identity, romance or faction going on.

full spoilers ahead, i mean it. don't read further if you want to avoid them. i don't want complaining about it in my asks.

oh and also, if you're worried because of a few negative reviews online i can comfort you by saying don't give a fuck about a certain big name youtuber who is very much tied to bethesda franchises giving this a negative review. i'll explain why.

i'm starting off with the things i liked

the game looks really pretty. i was worried it wouldn't feel like thedas anymore (with them trying to "focus on northern thedas only" i thought they'd make a clear cut in environmental design. they do and they don't. it's complicated. i'll elaborate on it when talking about the negative stuff). anyway it does. minrathous feels like kirkwall. treviso enchanted me like the winter palace did. the hossberg wetlands reminded me of the hinterlands and a couple other inquisition maps. arlathan looked like... arlathan. the crossroads were different, but familiar. overall i like the way it looks and feels. it's thedas, with a twist. it's a good one, and gives everything a solid but unique feel.

combat is top tier. if you're a hardcore dragon age player you WILL miss the tactical aspect of it for a bit, but i promise you, once you're used to the way the combat works, you will be lapping that shit up. and once you get to ability combos you'll mourn the control you used to have over your companions in battle a bit less

the MAIN quest and its story. i expected worse, way worse. and for a while the game even had me tricked (harr harr you'll get it in a second) it is Really That Much Worse. but holy shit was it good. i walked away satisfied ngl.

your choices have SOLID weight. there's consequences, good AND bad. i got minrathous blighted, ruled over by venatori, and the leader of the shadow dragons ultimately died because of my decisions. i made those at the beginning and throughout the game. he died at the end. DAVRIN died because i didn't expect what i was saying to have that much weight. i thought i was in the clear. he had hero status. well turns out, your choices can still get your companions killed even if you do everything right. i fucking love him. he shouldn't have made that sacrifice just because i told him to do everything it takes once.

the inquisitor, morrigan and dorian being there, surprisingly. there's also negatives to this though, see below.

speaking of companions dying and the inquisitor playing a bigger role: the final quest feels like me2's suicide mission. i was blown away by it and the fact that i got to see the results of all my efforts playing out in front of me.

bioware are NOT trying to redeem solas. they love him as a character yes, but i wasn't forced to see any good in him. he betrays you. he fucked my rook over twice. he fucked him over right back, for good this time (the veil wasn't torn down, i anchored it by binding him to it, he's doomed to uphold it). but solas really lives up to his name as the trickster elven god. rip to all the people who grew really attached to him over the years.

varric died. if you like him that's probably as hard reading it as it was watching it. varric died and the game lies about it until the very end. when the realisation hits, it hurts. but in the very best way.

the amount of care they put into gender expression and trans identities this time around. (i'll add onto this with negative points as well too).

rook feels very much ingrained in the world of thedas. he doesn't ask questions that expose the player to lore through dialogue as if he's stepped foot into thedas for the first time. those conversations feel very solid and good. i hope other faction players got as much joy out of this as i did.

and the things i didn't like and boy there's a lot unfortunately

the music. let's just get that out of the way holy shit. it doesn't feel like it belongs in this universe. it gets so incredibly sci-fi-y at times you'd think it's taken straight from mass effect andromeda. there's not a single song unique to veilguard that i really enjoyed. it broke my immersion, real bad. hearing a busker play the tavern songs from inquisition on a lute right after i killed some venatori with wobbly bass songs playing in the background is just odd. weird tonal shift. don't like it. it's made for people who like flashy light-weight cinema.

tevinter nights is required reading. the podcasts are required listening exercises. the game is so fast paced, especially at the start, that there's no time to introduce you to characters and how much weight their names carry in-game. i would not have known who half these people are if i hadn't skimmed over tevinter nights. i'd care even less about them than i already did. there is no time to get properly attached to them. people will act as if you're talking to a legend personified and you'll be thinking man goddamn which chapter of tevinter night were they in again and what did they do???

there's a weird mismatch with the animations. you'll have beautifully fluid ones, like emmrich casting spells. and then you'll have rook's face animating in the most unnatural manner that's sorta reminiscent of mass effect andromeda's "my face is tired" addison, when their emotions SHOULD be landing with the player rn instead.

i'm not vibing with the art style. sometimes it works. most of the time it doesn't. at points i felt like i was watching tangled.

that also brings me to some of the dialogue. same issue. i am watching frozen. i am watching tangled. someone on the writer's team really likes the adorkable trope. bellara is its victim.

for all the talk about identity, bioware sure doesn't like theirs. the grey warden armor got a redesign again and it just makes them look like a generic army. i hate it lol

in general, i don't like the armor design. the wardrobe/appearances system is fine, but it's just not helping if all the armors are just... kinda bland or downight bad looking? and don't get me started on the lords of fortune armor. that is orientalism personified.

the world states should have been carried over, full stop. i know they said they didn't because they want to separate what happens in the north from what happens in the south, which... i could have lived with that. but the inquisitor sends you letters that keep you up to date on... the south of thedas. you learn that there's a blight again, that people are standing strong but it's difficult, denerim's fallen, the rulers are taking care of it, orlais is fighting and they're successful for a while, etc etc. what's good bioware. i thought we don't care about the south this time around. why are you feeding me so much boring generic information. if you're not gonna show any of it and just write letters, then carrying the world state over should not have been an issue. i have a game dev background. those few lines of code would not have broken your budget or pushed your engine's limits. fuck right off.

this gripe of mine carries over to all the cameos. as a lord of fortune you have to deal with isabela a lot. it's fun. i missed her. you get to go drinking with her and taash and bellara! also my hawke romanced her. she's not mentioned once. they had the opportunity to put a sentence or two about her in there with not a lot of effort, trust me.

when varric dies, all she has is a single line about it. for gold, for fortune, for varric. she only says it if you interact with her on your way to the final push. that's not mandatory.

morrigan is there. kieran isn't. the old god soul that mythal and then solas absorbed? who cares at this point, the gods are dead now and solas is locked away for eternity. i suppose? why is morrigan there. she feels unneeded. i wish they'd just left her down south, at least that way i wouldn't have had to witness her god awful redesign.

dorian at least feels as if he belongs in this story. the shadow dragons are a crucial part to protecting minrathous. he's also weirdly underutilised. isabela and morrigan had more lines than him in my playthrough.

on the topic of romance: bro that was underwhelming. no, genuinely. you know when romance picked up a bit? after the point of no return. i heard maybe two lines of companion banter about it before that. maybe i missed something which i honestly doubt, but romance did not play much of a role in lucanis's storyline. i saved his grandmother as he wished me to (and if you read tevinter nights you know she was rather abusive and their relationship not the healthiest) and told him to focus on his family. a reunified family my rook wasn't even introduced to as a partner at the end of all that.

really, do not buy this game if you're only in it for the romances. others might be better, lucanis's basically gave me nothing. except for an outing (the second coffee date i had with him, it was getting repetitive) all of it played out once i committed to the final quest. the sex scene was a fade to black. annoyingly right after davrin died. if you're looking for well paced and good spice, pick up something else. the sweet talk and the final goodbye were nice though.

for all the good the ever-presence of gender identity does, it is brought up in such a disruptive manner too. it doesn't even play out naturally if you CHOOSE the lines that are meant to be said. hearing the words trans and non-binary in this setting doesn't feel right, and i'm saying this as a trans guy. i think it could have been handled more gracefully. the amount of times my rook went "i'm a MAN" as if he's about to start drumming on his chest and roaring any second now got super nerve-grating. "i'm so glad you're into me... the me who is trans. remember?" just. tell me one trans person who'd talk like that to a person they've grown close with and are trying to romance. this game doesn't handle sexuality well, so all this hey my body might not look like the way you're expecting it to look talk amounts to nothing anyway. i feel about this the way i feel about krem: this is partial exposition to trans experiences... packaged up for cis consumption. the ONLY exception to that is interacting with taash. holy shit was all of that heartwarming and bro did it feel good and natural to talk to them about theirs and rook's gender.

rivain and nevarra are new locations added by veilguard. they're also incredibly underwhelming, small and constricted maps. rivain is a coastline with a few ruins. the hall of valor is a partial ruin nestled into a cave on a beach, with a fighting pit. isabela is there in her skimpy outfit commentating your pit fights. that's it. i'm sorry if you were looking for a bustling pirate cove or whatever. you're not gonna get it. the nevarran crypts btw are a long ass dungeon crawl. that's it.

speaking of maps. i thought people were being dramatic when they said you're gonna be fighting the same enemies on them again and again. i thought they were figure of speeching it. they're not. you WILL fight the same amount of enemies. in the same spot. every time you reload the map. best to stay on a map and clear out the enemies and do as much questing on that map as you can before leaving, because you WILL have to do it all over again once you return.

the three choices i made for my inquisitor didn't matter lol she didn't have to face solas and therefore couldn't stop him at any cost as she had sworn (maybe because my rook tricked solas into binding himself to the veil, there was also an option to fight him. would she have stepped in? who knows). blackwall wasn't mentioned. and either her using a small amount of her forces in the final fight was the reason the civilians of minrathous fared so well..... or it just didn't matter. ultimately i think she had very little impact on anything

[starrysharks]

"may god have mercy on your wretched soul! ...that is what i should say when i kill them, is it not?"

vivica, one of the key supporting characters of reassassination. a scythe-wielding overachiever, her primary goal is to defeat octavia under the orders of the clear crucifix organisation.

[hulloitsdani]

@moe-broey THANK YOU!!! AND IM GLAD THE RUFFLES ARE APPRECIATED!!!🎉🎉🎉

But seriously this is the highest compliment, because this is actively what I’m trying to do when it comes to how I draw Kiran! I really want to convey how unabashedly charming this silly little tactician is. It helps explain how they keep the order intact on a social level and also why this keeps happening:

In retrospect, Alfonse never really stood a chance, did he?

Anyway I won’t lie, I did all this for the Loki bit. Please imagine that she’s just off screen for all these outfits hitting that exact pose.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

fast-paced fantasy novella about an undead assassin - with no memory of her life or why she signed up to be resurrected after death

when she’s given a new contract - that she is bound to carry out - she finds an unexpected mark who she doesn’t want to kill

facing connections to a past she’s not supposed to remember, they have to find a way around the contract in one night, facing other assassins, necromancers, gods, and wealthy patriarchs

[hailsatanacab]

@the-ghost-trader - ooooh, i love this! it has the potential to be so incredibly sad, too, like poor Damian just trying to carve out something normal for himself only for it blow up in his face

BUT, shockingly, i'm not about the angst today! not yet anyway 😇

---

“So, how was your day?”

Despite his answering groan, Damian likes this. This. This whole… thing he has with Danielle. With Ellie. 

And, yeah, he’s not exactly told any of the others yet, but can you blame him? For wanting to keep something, anything, to himself. Wanting to keep this small little slice of goodness he’s managed to carve out, untouched and unmarred by his family, by their other lives, by the rogues, the vigilantes, the assassins, everyone.

“That bad, huh?”

Being with Ellie is freeing. That’s the best way to describe it.

She knows. Damian surprised even himself when he told her—not about the others, mind, but he supposes it’s not hard to put two and two together and Dani has always been smarter than most—but it’s the best decision he’s ever made, and no matter what the niggling little voice in the back of his head says (the one that sounds suspiciously like Father), he can’t bring himself to regret it.

He won’t. Because having Ellie know gives him freedom.

She’s a safe place, a hand to hold, a warm, welcoming presence when things inevitably turn ugly. It’s the freedom to just be normal when everything else in his life spirals into stranger and more stressful missions.

“Richard is being insufferable again. I do not understand his incessant need to know everything about my life.”

“Oh? What’s he done now?” 

“I was subjected to an hour long interrogation about my love life, like it’s any of his business. It’s infuriating!”

“Ugh, tell me about it. I get the same thing from Jazz, constantly. It can be suffocating.” Ellie says as she curls herself tighter into his side. “But it’s just how they show they care.”

“Yes, well, sometimes I wish he wouldn’t—”

“Hey!” Ellie pushes herself up to glare at him, punctuating her shout with a soft whack to his arm for good measure. “What have I said about using that word?”

“Yes, yes,” he placates with a roll of his eyes, “‘Be careful what you wish for.’ I apologise, it won't happen again.”

“Damn straight it won't.”

She maintains eye contact with him for a second longer before tucking herself back into his side, squirming around with a long, contented hum that Damian can feel rumble through him. He smiles and doesn’t complain even when he has to shift to give her more room after a particularly strong elbow jabs him in the ribs. It means leaving the warm patch on the couch, but he’s rewarded with another long, happy moan as she settles and Damian can’t bring himself to mind.

Ellie constantly makes noises. Little mews and hums and laughs and songs known only to her. It reminds him of a cat, sometimes. He likes it. It calms him down; it means she’s happy, so he's happy.

They settle back into the cushions and Damian lets the subject drop, not wanting to spoil the moment. Outside, the wind changes direction and from where he’s laying he can watch as the snow starts to come down thick and heavy. Hopefully it’ll mean a quiet night's patrol.

“Is that why you haven’t introduced me yet?”

“What?” He can't help it, he stiffens at the thought of losing his secret, of the scrutiny he'll be inviting if he lets anyone know.

“Are you worried I’ll embarrass you?”

Damian’s eyes snap down quick to reassure her, only to see her light, teasing grin. He lets out a breath of relief. It figures she wouldn't worry about that.

“Of course not, don’t be absurd. You could never embarrass me.”

“I don’t know,” she muses, her voice taking on a dangerous lilt, “that sounds like a challenge.”

“Believe me, having been subjected to Father’s Brucie persona at every gala I’ve been to, it would take a lot to embarrass me.”

“Alright, bet. I’ll get you, just you wait.”

“You’ve already got me.”

She flicks him on the nose. “You’re such a sap.”

He hums his agreement, enjoying the tinkling sound of her laughter. And then, before he can think otherwise, he asks, “Is that why you haven’t introduced me?”

“That’s different,” she scowls. “You know how hard it is to get there, there’s no signal, and Danny only gets a break like—oh, Ancients!”

Damian gets another elbow to the ribs as she bolts upright, a manic grin on her face that has him laughing.

“What is it?”

“It’s the holidays! It’s nearly Truce Day! You know I said I had a family thing around Christmas?”

“Yes?” 

“Well, do you want to come to it? I can introduce you then! I mean, it’s going to be a bit formal and you’ll have to meet everyone, not just family. There’s going to be some banquets, you’ll have to sit through some long speeches and you have to be on your best behaviour at all times, okay? Absolutely no fighting, it’s called Truce Day for a reason!”

“What?”

“Yeah, it’ll be perfect! I think Jazz is going in a couple days earlier to help with the preparations, so I’ll get her to let Danny know—and fair warning, he will try to give you the shovel talk, but this is great! It’s Truce Day, so he can’t actually do anything about it!”

“I’m sorry, but you're going to have to explain a bit.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s a bit much—but that’s family, right? Danny can get pretty protective over me, which is why going on Truce Day is the best time to do it! He can’t even command the Fright Knight to stab you! It’s genius!”

“Ellie, what?”

“Like, yeah, sure, he’s the king, but even he has to obey the rules of Truce Day—and then once you’ve spent all day with him, he’ll see that you’re a fantastic, wonderful, kind, brilliant, smart, strong, capable person and he’ll get over himself and everything will be good!"

Damian collapses down onto the couch, the wind knocked out of him. This is… He had not expected anything like this at all. For all that Ellie talked about her family, she had never mentioned this.

“Did you… did you say your brother is a king?”

“Yeah! High King Phantom, have I…” The manic grin slips off her face as she turns round and notices Damian. “Have I not mentioned that before?”

“No. No, you have not.”

“Ah. Sorry. Probably should clarify that I’m also a princess.”

“Right. Yes, that follows.”

“And I’m not really his sister, I’m his clone.”

“What?”

Damian blinks and tries to say more, but he has no idea what he’s meant to do with… any of this information. 

Normal. He thought she was meant to be his normal. Nothing could have prepared him for this.

Not that it changed anything, of course, of that he was certain. It’s just… a lot to take in. Overwhelming. But it's okay! He takes a deep breath, and another, and a sense of calm washes over him. Ellie makes one of her little hums as she cocks her head to the side to consider him and he can't help but relax at the normalcy of the sound. It'll be okay, he's dealt with stranger and he can deal with this.

“I’ve, uh… I’ve told you that we’re half ghosts, though, right?”

“What?”

[arolesbianism]

Trembles like a small dog. Places down my loopified euphrasie design before skittering away

[thebirdandhersong]

also: not only is June Hur's writing full of research on medieval Korea, shot through with Christian values, bristling with mystery and neo-Confucian philosophy of the time period, and embroidered here and there with the occasional romance....... she's also FUN. She makes Pinterest boards and playlists for her books. She regularly posts on instagram about obscure historical things she finds cool in her research. She wrote a oneshot recently, in which all the couples in her books (...which would make 2 couples, because she tends to focus more on family and friendship) are reincarnations of the same two people. This woman wrote fanfiction of her own work.

[evelili]

stared at the wall for 5 minutes after finishing The Twilight Affect like HOLLYYYYYY SHITTTTT IT FELT LIKE AN ACTUAL BOOK

the fanarts really add to the reading experience, I don’t usually request fanarts but can you draw Pinkie Pie? I really love your Pinkie design!!!

thank you so much for reading! im honoured that you say it felt like an actual book, it truly means a lot :D please accept this pinkie doodle as thanks, im very happy that you liked her design for tte!

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2025: ADRIFT IN CURRENTS CLEAN AND CLEAR by Seanan McGuire.

Ah, yes, my favorite January tradition: heartbreak in tiny series installment form :)

This one is about a turtle-obsessed disabled Russian girl who gets adopted by an American family and fitted for a prosthetic she doesn't ask for, want, or need, and then she splashes through her Door.

I love Russian language and culture things (shout out to accidentally double minoring in college), so I was excited for a Russian protag and a Russian-coded Door world! Excellent enrichment in my enclosure. Neat cultural expansion on the Wayward Children universe (multiverse? cosmos?? insert appropriately scaled setting word here).

I also liked the aquatic nature of Belyyreka--terrifying giant frogs and delightful giant turtles and delightful talking foxes on the riverbanks were all lovely, and the worldbuilding about different weights of water was neat! Very mind-bendy kind of setting, I dig it.

This installment felt very slim (146 pages in my copy), and Our World Heavy--the first 46 pages were in Colorado, and the last 100 were in Belyyreka, but it felt like we did More Frequent and Larger Time Skips in Belyyreka compared to Earth? Kind of speedrun mode, sans Quests, really (this one was a lot more oriented toward Finding/Building Your Family, which was signposted pretty clearly upon our arrival in Belyyreka). Mostly a quieter installment up until the, y'know, Typical Impending Tragedy of Return at the end. (Did I almost put it down at 1AM last night with 30 pages left so everyone could Be Happy? perHAPS,)

Overall: I had a good time! But, ow, my heart (once again and forever).