#sylas: *is pretty nice*

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Hi! I just read my order now (lord Odda's daughter) I liked it a lot but could you make one with a happy ending ?? And also a leap into the future with Lord Odda defending his Danish grandchildren from the evil comments of the Saxons

Warnings: mention of domestic abuse and sexually suggestive.

Pairing: Sihtric x you (f)

Summary: Sihtric had eternal regret for letting you go and he was more than hurt when he found out you were happy without him (follow up to this request)

Word count: 3,9k

Note: after so many requests for a second part….. It's finally here! I hope you all like it! :)

Taglist: @clairacassidy @finanmoghra @uunotheangel @hb8301  @bathedinheat  @neonhairspray  @anaeve  @bubblyabs  @travelingmypassion  @sylas-the-grim  @heimtathurs  @bubbles-for-all-of-us @valeskafics  @andakth

'Probably not as good as me.'

*****************

A year had passed since Sihtric had told you to forget about him… and you had. It took you a few months and a lot of bitterness (and ale), but you got over him eventually. In fact, you had found yourself a nice Saxon man, his name was Edvin. Your father, Lord Odda, was pleased with the young man in your life and was hoping to witness a marriage soon.

You hadn't thought about Sihtric for months, nor about the entire disaster that had occurred between the two of you, so you were startled, to say the least, as you were having a drink in the alehouse one evening, with Edvin, when suddenly Uhtred and his pretty boys walked in. Which naturally included Sihtric. You almost dropped your jug of ale at the sight of him. He was still as handsome as when he had broken your heart in two. He still had that same haircut you loved so much, the same armour you thought he looked really good in, and overall, he was still as muscular as you remembered him to be. And God, how you had loved those muscles. It reminded you, with flustered cheeks nonetheless, how Sihtric had flipped you over with ease that last night you spent together. But it also reminded you how he shoved you away with an equal amount of ease when you had tried to kiss him the day after. And you felt all the bitterness and resentment settle in your bones again.

It didn't take long for Sihtric found you, heart beating out of his chest once he laid eyes on you. He had never regretted anything more than the way he had left you, even if it was for your own wellbeing and safety, it had broken something in him. And when he locked eyes with you, and you gave him a shy smile, he felt his breath hitch and his mouth went dry. He was still as in love with you as he was when he had, regretfully, left you.

You had locked eyes with Sihtric and you feigned a shy smile. He didn't know you were by far not the same girl anymore he had left behind because she was "too young". No, you were a confident woman now, with a handsome man by your side. And when you looked away from Sihtric, you wrapped your arms around your lover and kissed his cheek.

Sihtric returned a shy smile to you and watched you with awe for a whole second, before you broke eye contact and he saw how you suddenly wrapped your arms around the man next to you, and you pressed your lips to his cheek as if you were in love. He felt his stomach turn and his hands trembled with a burning itch to unleash violence onto the man who had your attention. But he knew it would cause trouble, so as quick as he had entered the alehouse, he stormed out just as fast, cursing and spitting as he did.

You looked up at your lover and gave him a sweet smile, which Edvin returned before he brought his attention back to his friends. You wanted to see Sihtric's reaction, so you looked back into his direction. But to your surprise, he was nowhere to be found. You shrugged and ordered another jug of ale before you'd stumble home, alone, as Edvin didn't want to leave yet.

*****************

'I see you found yourself a Saxon man,' Sihtric suddenly said. You didn't even have to turn around to know it was him. You weren't nearly drunk enough, as Alfred always made sure the ale was not too strong, and you'd simply recognize the tone of his voice and his accent anywhere.

'I have,' you said and turned to face him with a sincere smile. The street was dark and empty, which would have been exactly what you had wanted if this interaction had taken place one year earlier. When you wanted to be alone with him, it seemed impossible, and now when you had no desire of being alone with him, it just happened out of the blue.

'Guess I treated you that badly,' Sihtric scoffed lightly, 'that you went to find a Saxon.'

Sihtric tried to keep his voice neutral, but you heard his mocking and insulting tone clearly.

'Not everything is about you,' you rolled your eyes, 'I just happened to meet him. And he treats me well. He's more than good.'

Sihtric scoffed. 'Probably not as good as me,' he said cockily.

'You're right,' you chuckled, 'he's not as good as you,' you paused and smiled at Sihtric, 'he's better than you. He didn't leave me after he humped me once to just have a good time.'

Sihtric clicked his tongue and sighed, allowing an awkward silence to linger in the air.

'Do you love him?' Sihtric asked, not being able to hide the jealousy in his voice.

'I do.'

Sihtric clenched his jaw and looked at his feet. It seemed he was muttering something to himself, but you weren't sure. 

'Good,' he eventually said as he looked back up at you, and she smiled. The fakest smile you had ever seen.

'Good,' you repeated him, returning the smile, 'good night, Sihtric.'

You turned and continued your way home. Sihtric waited til he couldn't see you anymore, hoping you'd glance back at him, letting him know he still had a chance with you. But you never looked back, Sihtric was simply in your past. And you looked ahead of you as you walked home, to your future.

*****************

'He looks like a weasel,' Sihtric muttered under his breath, looking at Edvin who sat a few tables away. Sihtric had been staring at the Saxon for hours already while he kept anxiously tapping his fingers on the table. The thought of you with that man had kept Sihtric up the previous night and he was in a mood today.

'Aye, he does,' Finan chuckled, 'but if ya don't stop that tapping,' he grabbed Sihtric's hand and forced him to stop, 'I will cut off ya fingers.'

'I should fight him,' Sihtric hissed.

'Sihtric, you're drunk, go home.'

'I'm not drunk,' Sihtric scoffed, anxiously tapping again, 'the ale is not strong enough.'

'That is a fact,' Finan sighed, 'but let it go, mate. She's happy now with that,' Finan gestured at Edvin, 'whatever that is.'

'She says he's better than me,' Sihtric snarled.

'Aye, I get ya frustration, I do, but ya had your chance and ya ruined it.'

'She was too young to go with us!'

'I know ya keep telling yourself that. But we all know that was not the reason, Sihtric.'

'She wanted to give up everything for me,' Sihtric said and clenched his jaw, 'I couldn't let her do that.'

'Aye, and it was a choice ya made and have to live with now,' Finan said and patted Sihtric on his back, 'let her go.'

'I can't.'

'Yes, ya can. Go to the whorehouse, find a whore, whore it out and ya shall be good as new by morning.'

'I won't.'

'Sweet Jesus. I pray for ya to stop talking,' Finan groaned, rubbing his eyes.

'No one is like her, Finan, no one,' Sihtric said and took a sip of his ale. He slammed the cup on the table and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, 'and that poor excuse of a man will not have her if I can't. I mean look!' Sihtric pointed to Edvin, who pressed his lips against the forehead of a lady who had covered her face with the hood of her cloak, 'he's not even loyal to her! The piece of weasel shit-'

'Sihtric!' Finan hissed, pulling the warrior down after he made an attempt to stand up, 'think, mate, think! If ya fight him, she will never have ya.'

'I know, but he won't have her either if I kill him,' Sihtric slapped Finan's hand off his arm, 'and I can live with that,' he sniffed, spat on the floor and made way to Edvin. 

'No, No! Ahh, shite!' Finan jumped up and sprinted after Sihtric, trying to stop his friend from a rash decision.

*****************

'Hey, darling,' you said to Edvin and kissed his cheek. You had just set foot in the alehouse and surprised him, by sneaking your arms around him from behind as you had hidden your face under the hood of your cloak.

'Hey,' he smiled and kissed your forehead, 'you startled me. I didn't expect you yet.'

'But here I am,' you smiled. 

After your quick greeting you made your way to the bar to order a drink. You waited patiently as you heard some stools and cups clatter behind you but you didn't pay much attention to it, it was the alehouse afterall, you'd be more concerned if you didn't hear the sound of a fight breaking out at all times. So you just minded your own business until you suddenly heard an all too familiar voice.

'Then fight me, Edvin of Weaselshit!' Sihtric shouted, 'make the square!'

You frowned and turned around, only to see your ex lover holding your current lover at knifepoint. 'By the gods,' you sighed and you wanted to walk over but were blocked by the crowd who quickly surrounded the escalating argument.

'I don't even know who you are, filthy Dane,' Edvin hissed, 'why would I fight you. And for what!'

You had never told Edvin about your short, but steamy, relationship with Sihtric. You saw no reason as it was so brief, it seemed a minor event in your past. And you were simply scared to tell him you had humped a Dane, and that it was still the best hump you ever had.

'Fight me for your woman!' Sihtric said. Finan tried to stop him but Sihtric had already said the words, so Finan just placed his hands on his hips and shook his head.

'My woman?' Edvin frowned, 'w-why? Why would you want my woman?'

'Fight me! If I win, I win the lady.'

'Sihtric!' you shouted, finally having made your way through the sweaty crowd, 'what has gotten into that empty head of yours!'

'Lady,' Sihtric smiled, clearly a little more drunk than he claimed he was, 'I shall have you.'

'What? No!'

'I shall!'

'You shall not!' Edvin said, still feeling Sihtric's knife against his throat.

'Sihtric!' you snarled, 'put that knife down before I put you down!'

'But he is not loyal to you!'

'What do you possibly know of him?'

'I just saw it! He kissed another lady! She was covered, hiding in her cloak!'

'Sihtric,' you rolled your eyes and you pulled your hood over your head, 'that was me, you turd!'

Sihtric looked confused for a moment, as if he was trying to solve the world's greatest maths question.

'I- I,' Sihtric stammered, putting the events together, 'I still wish to fight him!'

'There will be no fighting!' You grabbed Sihtric's knife out of his hand and threw it to the floor. You took Edvin by the hand and stormed out of the alehouse. Leaving the crowd upset because there wouldn't be a fight, and Sihtric upset because he wasn't the one you left with.

'Nice one,' Finan said to Sihtric, heated, and he walked back to his jug of ale to continue where he left off while Sihtric stormed out.

*******************

'I'm sorry,' you said quietly after you had pulled Edvin outside and had walked to a quiet corner.

'Who was that!' Edvin shouted at you, making you flinch.

'He's nobody, I promise-'

'Oh, no,' the Saxon spat, 'he clearly knows you. Who is he? Did you sleep with him?'

'Edvin, it's nothin-'

'Did you sleep with the Dane, I asked!' he shouted even louder, embarrassing you in front of the few people that heard the argument.

'Only once!'

'I knew it.' 

Edvin paced back and forth, furious that a Dane had touched the woman he bedded before he had done so. 

'When?' he snapped.

'Over a year or so,' you said quietly.

'You have been defiled by a Dane. By a pagan!' he spat and shook his head, 'you… you whore!' Edvin snarled and slapped your face with his flat hand. 

You gasped and took a step back, eyes filled with tears as your skin slowly started to heat up where you had been hit. It wasn't the first time he had hit you, but he had never done it in public before, and never in your face either. When Edvin was angry, he'd hit you strategically, so no one would see it. And as you knew that Lady Aethelflaed had also been hit by her husband, you, and many other women, deemed it normal and part of the relationship.

*******************

Sihtric tried to calm his rage in the night's cool air after he had dunked his head into a barrel of cold water to sober up. He had been a fool. Not just now, but also one year ago. He had let you slip and now you had found love and happiness with someone that wasn't him. He kicked at a lonesome flower on the side of the street and watched the tiny petals break and scatter around in the moonlight. Broken, he thought, just like me. 

He looked up at the starry night sky for a moment before he suddenly heard commotion around the corner.

'When?' a voice shouted.

Sihtric looked up and slowly walked over to see what was going on.

'You whore!' Sihtric heard as he stepped around the corner and saw how a man slapped a woman in the face. It took him a second to process before he rushed to the man as the woman stepped back, and Sihtric pushed the man harshly away from the lady. 

'Hitting a woman?' Sihtric snarled and gave him another shove, causing the man to fall on his back, 'how pathetic are you?' he asked, and that's when he saw it was Edvin.

'You?' Sihtric questioned with disgust. Then his face dropped as he understood who the Saxon must have slapped, and he quickly turned to face the woman. He found you, on the verge of tears, rubbing your cheek with your hand.

'No, 'Sihtric whispered before he ran over to you, 'my love,' Sihtric said without thinking and he pulled you in his arms, 'are you okay? Are you hurt?' he asked, panicked, and his eyes darted all over you to see the damage.

'It's fine,' you sniffled, 'I deserved it.'

'What?" Sihtric scoffed. 

But before Sihtric could question you further, he heard how Edvin had gotten back up on his feet and came running towards him, fist in the air, ready to punch. But Sihtric half expected it already and dodged the fist as he pulled you with him and shoved you behind his back. Sihtric took a step forward as Edvin turned around, ready to swing again, but Sihtric was quick to plant his fist in between Edvin's eyes, who fell to the ground with a heavy thump after he had seen Sihtric's rings up close before the light got knocked out of his eyes.

You gasped and jumped a step back, trembling with fear and anger.

'Lady,' Sihtric said as he rushed back to you, taking your hands in his, 'come. Now.'

'No, no, I can't!' you cried, 'I can't leave him!'

'Yes, you can. Now,' Sihtric said curtly, making haste to pull you away from the scene.

And without another word he dragged you with him, back to the alehouse, up to the room he stayed in.

****************

Sihtric clicked his tongue and sighed, visibly upset, as he cleaned your face while sitting right across from you on the bed. Edvin had hit you hard enough that it had caused a small cut and blood had trickled down without your knowledge.

'Why did he hit you?'

'He found out about you,' you spoke softly, Sihtric wouldn't be able to hear you if he wasn't sitting so close to you.

'I do not understand,' Sihtric said just as quietly when he leaned in closer, intertwining his fingers with yours. He was so close you felt his dark curls tickle softly against your forehead.

'He- he didn't know about you. About… us. That night. Before you left. I had never told him. Or anyone.'

Sihtric hummed softly as he looked down at your entangled hands.

'You know how Christian men are,' you continued softly, 'so when he just found out, because he kept asking, he said you had… you had,' you swallowed hard, 'defiled me.'

Sihtric huffed but you quickly continued before he could speak.

'And so he called me a whore, and then he hit me.'

Sihtric took a few deep breaths to try and keep calm. He clenched his jaw and cracked his neck quickly before he spoke.

'You said you deserved it?'

'Yes,' you said, 'it… it's not the first time he has hit me. But,' you scoffed lightly, 'every man hits their woman, Sihtric, why would I be any different?'

'No!' Sihtric raised his voice suddenly, 'they do not,' he huffed and lowered his voice again, 'we do not. I would never hit you. Never,' he said firmly and cupped your unharmed cheek, 'you are too beautiful, too precious, too special. I could never lay a finger on you.'

'Sihtric,' you sighed and shook your head.

'I would never hurt you, my love,' he whispered and leaned his forehead against yours.

'But you already did,' you said weakly, 'when you left. Saying I was too young.'

'And I was a fool,' Sihtric was quick to say, 'I shouldn't have done that and I regret it. Every day. I said you were too young, but the truth is I just couldn't let you give up everything for me.'

You smacked your lips and sighed, angry and hurt.

'Whatever,' you whispered, wiping a tear away, 'your plan worked out anyway. Edvin doesn't want me anymore so,' you shrugged defeatedly, 'you won.'

'This is not what I wanted to happen, you know that.'

'But it did. Yet again, you leave me heartbroken.'

'Did you really love him?'

'I did,' you said, and then paused for a while, 'I think.'

'You think? How-'

'I always compared him to you, okay,' you shook your head, 'and he never came close. Not even a little. No one did. I- I want to go home, wherever that may be now.' 

You stood up and made haste to the door, but before you could fully open it, Sihtric slammed it shut while standing behind you, leaning against you as his hand kept the door in place.

'Stay,' he sighed in your ear as his other arm slid around your waist, 'stay with me, my love. Let me make you feel good tonight.'

You sighed heavily at his words and felt dizzy, causing you to lean your whole body back against his.

'I will love you like no one else can,' Sihtric whispered as his breathing became heavier and faster, 'I will treat you good, I promise, I will be so good to you,' his breath hitched, 'let me be yours. I want to be your only one. Even if it's just for the night, darling, I need you.'

'Sihtric,' you sighed and closed your eyes, letting your head fall back against his shoulder as you felt both arms around you before he moved one hand down to your thigh.

'Remember how good I made you feel?' his lips brushed against your ear with each letter he spoke, and his rapid breathing made its path to your cheek as he pulled you closer against his body.

'I do,' you sighed, bringing your hand up to brush through his soft curls as he kept your back pressed to his chest, 'I just don't want you to hurt me again, please.'

'I won't,' Sihtric whispered, and he closed his eyes to your touch while he unclasped your cloak and let it fall down to the floor, 'I will be yours if you give me another chance. I will not leave you again the way I did, I swear it,' he spun you around and pushed you gently back against the door, 'I want you, my love, I have wanted you every day since that night. I will love you,' he said and kissed your forehead, 'and honour you,' he kissed your cheek, 'and respect you, always,' he kissed your bruised cheek gently and a little longer, 'and I will protect you with my life,' he whispered before he kissed your lips. 

And that kiss was all it took for you to allow back all the feelings you've always had for him. And you jumped in his arms, pulling his curls while your nails dug into the shaved side of his head. Biting, kissing, sucking and licking his lips as you kissed each other passionately, both with anger and lust. Because you were still upset about the way he had made that decision for you last year, but you had longed for him ever since too.

'Sihtric,' you moaned, after he had ripped your clothes off and got you in bed, underneath him, just like that first night, 'I love you, always.'

'I love you too,' Sihtric said out of breath, 'always.'

And you welcomed his lips back on yours as your hands never left each other, which led to the most angry yet passionate make up sex anyone could have.

***************

4 years later.

'Half bloods,' a Saxon whispered.

'Filthy Danes,' another said.

'Heathen scum,' a lady spat.

'Enough!' Odda snarled, looking angrily around at the people who muttered insults to his grandchildren while at the market, 'if you have something to say, you better say it to me!'

'Have another drink, Lord,' one man shouted which made everyone laugh.

'Oh, I will,' Odda said, 'I will have another drink. And I will drink to the fact that I am not as miserable and pathetic as you all are,' he hissed, pulling his two grandchildren close, 'it must be a very sad and lonely life when you can't accept two people with different religions and upbringings to be together. This,' Odda yelled while looking at the two young boys he held close, 'is the future! This is our only hope for a united England!'

Someone threw a rotten apple towards Odda, which one of the young boys caught, and as little as the boy was, he threw it right back at the Saxon who had aimed at them, and he hit the man right between the eyes. The rotten apple splattered over his face and knocked the light out of the man's eyes, just like the boy's father had done to that same man 4 years ago, except his father had hit him in that exact spot with his fist, after he had hit the boy's mother. And not only had his father knocked that same man out, he had also stolen his woman, and humped her that very same night. And a few weeks later he had married her, because that night she got pregnant with that very same young boy who just threw the apple back. 

Only the boy didn't know about all that yet. But his grandfather, Odda, would proudly tell him the whole story when he was old enough, much to your disgrace, but your husband, Sihtric, would watch your father with a grin as he recalled that very night. 

The night he had fought for you and won you back. The night he had made hard, passionate, angry and lustful love to you. The night he knew he would never let you go again, and he never did.

[wellthebardsdead]

And now, what my dragonborns smell like, just because~

———

Marigold: Honey, chamomile, lotus & orange blossom. He smells like a warm sleepy cup of floral tea and can be just as sweet or scalding depending on how much he likes you~ fittingly to his name he likes the more floral scents and finds them relaxing, though he doesn’t mind earthier scents too like fresh pine. Kaidan likes it from a distance but up close he normally has a sneezing fit, he quickly gets used to it.

———

Henwen: tundra cotton, blue mountain flower and very powdery fine soap, something akin to English fern or talc powder. He loves the comfy smelling scents but lavender is too overpowering for him, it kicks up terrible hay fever. He’s just a soft boi and wants to smell soft too. Kaidan loves it too but it rocks him to sleep too easily laying beside him when he wants to stay up reading to him.

———

Naria: sea salt, sage & jasmin. As a maormer he’s incapable of actually sweating or producing any unpleasant smells so he has no real need for perfumes or fragrance but he enjoys using them regardless. He prefers earthy and milder smells but keeps the scent of the sea with him no matter how far in land he goes. A hug from him will probably leave you feeling very sleepy like you’ve spent a long day at the beach, it certainly does for Kaidan & Cary.

———

Flynt: Lemon grass and sandalwood. He was a soldier for a long time and got pretty used to the smell of gross sweaty armour, then following his loss of eye sight and ability to speak he was left homeless and begging on the streets and dealt with all the unpleasant smells there. So when Taliesin enters his life and spends hours helping him pick out soaps and fragrances he found himself drawn to the sweet and woodsy. He thinks it matches Taliesins honey and vanilla milk scent nicely.

———

Bass: sandalwood, burning hot metal & rosemary. He’s an old dwemer used to working with his hands, so long as he’s clean at the start and end of the day and he doesn’t stink during he’s content. He’s frequently welding or building something and has that pleasant electric scent lingering around him, but also keeps a sandalwood stick burning and a sprig of Rosemary in his scarf to remind him of his wife.

———

Evalien: sweet musk or cotton candy. She’s from our world and likes the familiarity the scents have. And they’re overpowering enough she doesn’t have to smell the rest of team dragonborn when they’re 3 days between inns and the nearest bath. No she will not sleep with Kaidan unless he has one.

———

Sylas: Mint & lemon grass. at first he was content smelling like moss, mildew and the lingering stench of death from living in abandoned crypts and staining his white hair black with soot or charcoal so he could keep a low profile. Then he met Taliesin. And while the grumpy elf resisted his makeover he had to admit he loved the clean, sweet and fresh scents his new lifestyle allowed him… plus Taliesin won’t let him touch him if he hasn’t freshened up.

———

Shamat: Sweet musk & sandalwood. He likes the sweet and warm mix the scent brings him, it feels oddly very familiar to him but he can never place it, at least until he’s kidnapped by nerevar. The first thing he does when he buys his first house burn them as incense. It makes him feel like he’s home. Kaidan does think it’s a little overpowering but he loves seeing how happy it makes him so he copes.

———

Aurorwren: orange blossom & nirnroot. He’s a fan of the sweet citrus scents but also the fresh grassy fragrances the nirnroot oil leaves on his feathers. But given he doesn’t produce an odour he prefers to go without sometimes. Kaidan often says he smells like a chicken to tease him when he does.

———

Poppy: Pure opium. He’ll give you fair warning that he’s going to release a cloud of gas from the pressure locks on his automated parts so you can get out of the way. His blood was replaced with the extract. How’s he still alive? Simple he’s not. Remove the dynamo core and he drops dead. Why opium? Because when he was first rebuilt he kept screaming in pain despite the fact he shouldn’t feel anything. He’s a walking bio hazard but despite that the group always manage to find themselves within range of a valve release knockout at least once.

[cosmicgardencreative]

Vindictus - F2P Action MMORPG & Why We Love It

Hi all, it's been a minute since Ismaire and I got to let our hair down, so I'm just gonna take a sec to share my love of Vindictus. 

I don't always talk about how a game is underrated, but man, I will stand by Nexon/DevCat's first free-to-play action MMORPG. I've heard many people put it down for how "unoptimized" this game is. I'm not a PC gamer, but I feel that with today's technology, you can definitely play this game on today's graphics standards. 

Obviously this isn't a comparison to the new Vindi in development, but I'm just impressed to see how far this MMO has come.

PaikMyungJin (left, Evie/Choi) and Ismer (right, Lann/Ismaire) make a comeback to Vindictus in 2024.

The game can overall feel pretty simple and low-graphics to some, but frankly, I just see that as the dev team being smart with their resources. The only hang-up I can think is if you have a slow internet connection, it might be a difficult game to play with others, but it's pretty solo-friendly for the first 2-3 seasons. 

Kinkoku (left, Sou/Ismaire) wondering what Biseuri (Sylas/Haegi/Choi) is thinking about.

I'll have to do a separate post that goes into the game's history. There's so much that could be said when the game first rolled out on October 13, 2010 for the US release. Izzy and I dating coincided with us finally having a game we could play together, since a lot of console games weren't prioritizing couch co-op as much (except for Resident Evil 5-6). [[On a separate side note, I just realized where our points of influences could be traced back to about here. All the more reason why we just love some of our old fandoms...]]

The nice thing about Vindictus is that you can play it solely with a keyboard (our preferred controls), a mouse + keyboard, or a gamepad. The game is pretty versatile for people with preferences. Most of the characters respond pretty well to the keyboard controls. The few that I noticed were difficult to maneuver in combat was Kai with his bow and crossgun, and Hurk with his teide (sword + shotgun combo), more for precision reasons than anything. Ultimately, do what's comfortable for you!

Alts, alts, and more alts!

Yes, this game will make you play so many alts. And it's worth it. I find this comparable to FFXIV's multi-job branches that your WoL can unlock, but instead of it all stockpiled to one character, you have multiple MCs with various backstories and even special connections to one another! This game being so lore-heavy actually deserves to have multiple characters for the player to explore with. You'll find over time that you'll catch some things you didn't think about from your first playthrough, and it'll just hit you differently... 😭 

Kiena (Fiona/Choi) slicing through enemies.

BradieHU (bg left, Charon/Izzy) and Lycapollos (fg right, Achel/Choi), hecking over a Kobold commander.

PaikMyungJin firing her lasers at a laser cannon/golem.

Ismer slipdashing past the lasers for the finishing kill.

Can't guarantee great screenshots 100% of the time, but the more you play, the better the chances :) 

______________________________________________________________

Final thoughts:

Being a casual player, I personally can't give a testimony on how the overall MMO culture is like in Vindictus nowadays. We did have a generally good experience since we weren't the types to go ham about stat comparisons and just genuinely want to have fun. You'll likely run into cool people as long as you're a nice and polite gamer. But of course, we weren't exempt from being driven away by guild dramas, which then later caused us to have an on-and-off hiatus from the game since 2014...  (wow it's a decade already...) Just be prepared that you may get inundated with a lot of female characters in very... curvy skins. Some of the costume/outfitters come with special enhancements, and Vindictus really doesn't hide the fact that it's a rated-M game 😳🪭 Personally it does shock me, but at the same time, props to people who aren't afraid to flaunt it 😂

Moonglitter (Eira/Izzy) not afraid to flaunt her "All Curves Revealing Off Shoulder Set". 

Because there's so much content to push through, DevCat did their due diligence in balancing the first 3 seasons of content with gear that rewarded for progressing. If you do appreciate a little bit of a challenge, though, I recommend keeping on the lowbie gear till you know you need the damage boost. And if you ever find yourself not liking the aesthetics, the game is usually good about giving you aesthetic coupons for you to "rent" through events and the AP shop. 

As far as solo/duo-ing experiences go, Izzy and I were able to catch up to Season 3 on our own. We found that we're not able to go through Redeemers currently, but I'm curious to see how well we might be able to duo the battles soon as we're properly geared from endgame :) I'm only hesitant to pug with others because we're not sure if our internet connection could handle a crowd of 2+ external connections. But then again we're working adults who pay for good speed so maybe? lol 

By the way, you get to choose two paths of either a Dark Knight or a Paladin:

Scaley Edgelord

Shiny Sparkle Knight

Thanks for taking the time to read my little appreciation post for Vindictus. If you're another Vindi-fan, feel free to comment on your experience here! Vindictus/Mabinogi Heroes is such a niche fandom, so I'd be happy to chat with others who love the gameplay and lore ^_^ I'm very inclined to share some Vindictus fanart in the near future, so let's have fun!

[thessalian]

Thess vs Cosplayers

The one thing I didn't talk about when I was talking about MCM Comic Con was the cosplayers. I generally enjoy watching the cosplayers for a number of reasons. I mean, obviously it's just generally fun to see how into things people get, but also it's a good way to gauge general trends in terms of characters etc. So I look out for the stuff I know and go from there.

Critical Role was obviously very heavily represented, cosplayers spreading their efforts over all three campaigns. However, I think Vox Machina got the most overall coverage, and there were a lot of instances where you could tell when someone was doing the TLoVM versions and when they were doing the original campaign version. I think Keyleth and Scanlan got the most overall coverage from the Vox Machina campaign, with Vex, Vax, and Percy not far behind. I saw a couple of good Pikes and exactly one Grog. Also one Arkhan, one Delilah, one Sylas (not a pairing) and a Raven Queen. Oh, and two Trinkets, leaving aside the Vexes who were carrying Trinket plushes (or in one case, had a specially made Trinket-shaped wheelchair rest). For the Mighty Nein, Jester was entirely the front-runner, followed not-very-closely by Yasha, Caleb, and Mollymauk. There were more Veths than Notts, if you see what I mean, and one of the Veths was with her partner, who was dressed as Yeza. I saw a couple of Fjords, a couple of Beaus, and one Caduceus. For NPCs, apart from the aforementioned Yeza, there were a few Esseks and an awful lot of Avantikas. Also one Professor Thaddeus. Then there were Bell's Hells, and Laudna was the clear leader on that particular scoreboard, with Imogen a relatively close second. A fair few Ashtons, some with exceptionally good headpieces and even better hammers. A few really nicely done Fearnes. One Orym, one Chetney, and while I didn't see anyone specifically cosplaying FCG, there were a couple of people who made puppet-FCGs. Thinking about it, I even saw a couple of Bertrands. And, while not directly CR cosplay, one Deadpool cosplayer who had a Gilmore's Glorious Goods bathrobe on over their costume for the CR group photos.

Of course, with the popularity of Baldur's Gate 3 and the entire cast being present at MCM Comic Con, there were a lot of Baldur's Gate 3 cosplays. In terms of which characters got the most attention, Astarion won by a country mile. Marion actually expressed a bit of surprise at Astarion's popularity just because she'd been given to understand that he was a bit of a shit, and then I had to explain the concept of a "poor little meow-meow" and that Astarion was basically Zevran Aranai but amplified ... and then I had to explain Zevran and I finally just gave up and stuck with "Sometimes they like the shitheels and also his cosplay is one of the easiest to do". Anyway, there were some really impressive Astarions. Runner-up was Shadowheart, and Karlach was a distant third. I saw a couple of Gales, one Halsin, a really impressive Lae'zel, and I think a Minthara. Also a few people I'm pretty sure were cosplaying their own Tavs, and the most impressive fucking illithid costume I could have imagined. Wyll and Jaheira were not represented anywhere that I saw, which is a shame. I did see an Isobel, though. And I would have loved to see what some of those cosplayers did with Dame Aylin, but not that I saw this year.

Going more into the generalities! On the subject of video games, there were a few Links and Zeldas, a lot of Princess Peaches and a fairly impressive number of Marios and Luigis. (There was a steampunk Mario and Luigi pairing that was really cool.) There was the Classic Horror Quartet - a group consisting of Freddy Kreuger, Ghostface, Jason, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre person. I was really gratified to see an Aloy. There's this one elderly couple who has been at MCM Comic Con every year I've been there, and they do the most impressive Warhammer 40K cosplay - the "We put their picture in our advertising for the convention" kind of impressive. (And those two have to be in their sixties at minimum so anyone who says this shit is only for kids needs to get a clue.) These were not the only WH40K cosplayers, but the most impressive - though there was someone in White Templar cosplay that did give them a bit of a run for their money. Obviously a lot of One Piece, given the live action series coming out. A few Disney princesses (and one Snow White's Wicked Stepmother circa 1937). A lot of Spider-men, obviously, of varying iterations - a couple of Spider-Punks, a gratifying number of Spider-Gwens, and so many different iterations of Spider-Man from Across the Spider-Verse.

Side note: between that and the penis-bearers who cosplayed Deadpool in body-stocking instead of crafted body armour, I desperately wanted to hold a sign recommending that those people look into the concept of a dance belt. So many dick-prints. A few avoided it by doing like Miles Morales in the earlier parts of Into the Spider-Verse and wearing shorts over their tights, but the rest ... yeah. So many dick-prints.

Star Wars, obviously. A couple of Leias, a few Reys, and SO MANY MANDOS. Mostly Din Djarin, obviously, but the occasional Boba Fett, Bo Katan and Sabine Wren. A few Anakins, like maybe two Obi-Wans, a couple of Heras, one really impressive Kanan, one equally impressive Ahsoka, one Dagobah-training-montage!Luke with a Yoda backpack puppet, and like two Revans. Also a lot of Darths, but not necessarily all the ones most people know about. I mean, sure, a fair few Vaders and a couple of Mauls, but also Darth Malgus and one really impressive Darth Nihilus. There were also several members of Imperial military, including a Moff Gideon complete with Darksaber and an Assistant Director Krennick. There were a couple of more generic Star Wars aliens too - a Duros bounty hunter and a couple of impressive Twi'leks.

The one thing that felt almost conspicuous in its absence? No Dragon Age. No Mass Effect. I mean, we had a couple of Homestuck characters and we didn't get one Morrigan or Zevran or Varric? Maybe all the cosplayers are waiting for DA4. Good luck to them; Bioware seems to be having another of those Development Hell moments.

Anyway, there was way too much great cosplay to list it all, and I probably missed some good ones along the way, but those were the highlights for me - well, the recognisable highlights, since there were a lot of really impressive cosplays but since I'm not huge into most anime I have no idea what they were cosplaying that was so impressive. And no, there are no pictures. I thought about it, but honestly, trying to balance cane and camera felt like a lost cause and they probably would have come out badly anyway.

[dregbourne]

headcanon : comparing sylas to irelia.

i think sylas' voice lines in game really remind me of my first impression of irelia, the raw anger of it all. they're both rightfully angry at the people who have wronged them, and they both use violence in order to get their way. sylas' time spent working for the mageseekers and then in prison has absolutely irrevocably changed him. considering his life, his radicalized way of thinking is honestly understandable.

his hatred for the ruling class for failing not only him but all other mages in demacia, for the mageseekers who imprison and torture innocent men and women... not to mention the children; it's so startlingly similar to how irelia hates every noxian for what they've done to her personally as well as her homeland. when facing a noxian in battle, the calm and composed leader is completely replaced by a wrathful woman who's bringing down the wrath of the gods upon her enemies. to her, in every noxian she sees an invader, a savage and war-hungry soldier who'd happily kill children and burn down every ionian household to fuel their bloodlust.

beyond their anger, there's also how both of them are hated by their own countrymen. sylas on a much larger scale of course, but irelia was once a part of the navori brotherhood; who chose to turn her back on them after they became millitant towards fellow countrymen who didn't believe in their vision for ionia — he's feared and hated by demacians ( rightfully so for the destruction he did cause ) but sylas is far too grown and tired to really even care about that.

anyways, this has been a pretty rambly post but please don't dismiss sylas as just an angry and evil guy because as much as he is morally grey. i don't intend to compromise on that in my writing, and i'd like to explore his character and all the different aspects of it. he is angry because of the horrors he's seen and at the unfair system that has crushed so many mages like himself underfoot. he's loud and violent because if he isn't... nothing will change. a systemic issue like the one that faces mages within demacia, it won't go away because of a few ' nice mages ' becoming trusted, because he's seen what happens to them first hand. also, i'll put some voice line comparison under the cut because this post is getting long enough.

bold : sylas italics : irelia

" see the remnants of my bondage, and know you can be free! " " cast off your shackles! "

" swine and sheep. that's all they are. " " i've never killed a person… just a lot of noxians. "

" conflict brings truth... eventually. " " peace must sometimes be bought with blood. "

" they can't hang us all! " " they didn't kill us all. "

" do not allow them peace! " " give them no foothold! "

" whatever they bring, i'll match it. " " careful — i hit back. "

" rise up, brothers and sisters! " " keep your form! move as one! "

" no more kings! no more queens! no more mageseekers! it all ends now! " " take out their necks! the heads will follow. "

[dervampireprince]

Dear Prince, I must commend you on your voice work for Viktor & Sylas Briarwood. Sylas has that silkiness and death wrapped in a velvet glove. While Viktor has that old soul and kindness with the Eastern European accent that's not over the top. Your Viktor shorts they have sparked a short story that I wish to write and put on AO3 with your permission. If you wish to read the outline or WIP I will send it to you, I'll read it if you want but I'm not a voice actress. Thank you for your time. Joyce

aw omg yeah sure you can make things inspired by my audios, if it's clear they're very inspired by the content in my audios then it would be nice of you to credit myself or any specific audios (some of my viktor audios are on ao3 so you could tag them as works that inspired yours) as something that you based your writing off. but yeah thank you so much and have fun writing!

i'm so glad you liked the sylas voice, that's the deepest voice i've tried to do and was pretty insecure about it

[tealbeats-archived]

@apostisms | con't.

He knows that Sylas isn't very big on holidays, but the guy seemed to humour him in that department and at least tried to be supportive, as Ezreal was always the polar opposite. Holidays were fun and exciting to him; partially filling an emptiness he felt within him, and now that Sylas was around, and he didn't feel so alone in his little celebrations. friends were one thing, too. a relationship was another. He was grateful for the other's patience; they had come a long way from being at each others throats...that felt like forever ago to him now.

He grins from the awkward return of his embrace; mischief in citrine gaze as if he did this awkwardly on purpose; shrugging softly as the other finally broke away from his grasp. "Dude, as if I'd forget to remind you. I'm a stickler for holidays, remember?" He snorts, nestling his hands into the front pocket of his purple sweater, idly bouncing in place, looking at his phone briefly and scrolling as Sylas went to remove his jacket, a soft 'huh?' leaving him as he felt a hand at his waist, body being pulled forward and brought into the kiss which caused his body to relax instantaneously, one hand pressed upon the others broad chest as Ezreal pressed into it himself. A hand pats Sylas' chest as the other pulls back and walks off, Ezreal having half the mind to follow after him though remaining where he was instead, cheeks tinted pink as he moved back to scrolling on his phone.

It was weird for him to spend this day with someone, though, Sylas had already been with him longer then most have. The guy had to have been insane, or....no, insane was a good descriptor. Atleast Ezreal thought so, but regardless, the smaller was happy that he had stuck around. Now that he thought about it, this was the happiest he had ever been in a long time.

Huh.

He perks up when Sylas reemerged, completely unaware that the older had plans already made. Ezreal had half the mind to give him what he had gotten him, but, it wasn't super crazy or anything--it could wait after dinner, he thought. "I almost thought about draggin' you outta there myself, dude. I'm starving! You know how long I was waiting for you to get home? All day!" It was...more like a few hours. But over dramatics for Ezreal wasn't too uncommon. Arm is offered to the smaller and he doesn't hesitate to hook his arm through, lips pulled back into a grin once more, though cocking his head to the side lightly. He already had a place in mind? Well, it saved Ezreal from making a few searches for something good, at least.

"So you gonna tell me where we're going or is it just gonna be some big elaborate surprise where you tell the world how much you love me?" He's joking, mostly; not immune to a lighthearted jab when he saw an opening. A hum leaves him as they make their way to and down the elevator, staying as close to the taller as possible, head resting against his arm before the doors open and they towards his bike, the smaller now greeted by the gift presented to him.

"Whoa, hey! You didn't gotta...do this." He blinks at the helmet given to him; colour returns to his face. He can't help but turn it in his hand to see all of the green and filigree that decorated it. "You know me pretty well, huh?" A smile twitches at the corners of his lips, but little time is wasted, helmet placed quickly over his head as he grabs his lovers hand, staring at him for a moment before shaking his head and hopping on, arms wrapped tightly around Sylas' waist as they took off.

Ezreal's head rests against the back of Sylas' back, watching the scenery pass by; quiet as they drove and thoughts danced in his mind. This was...Nice. This thing they had going on; this relationship. Ezreal could feel his heart swell in his chest. He could stay like this forever, if he could, he thought. Nothing ever seemed to feel negative when he was around Sylas most of the time; he was given the chance to just be who he was without fear of judgment. loved, for who he was.

His arms tighten around the other in a squeeze before he feels the bike stop, hopping off quickly, following suit to secure helmets to it before following the other to the restaurant. "Oh hey! I like this place. I was thinkin' about it the other day, actually--" Thinking with his stomach; a normality for the younger.

Sylas opens the door for him and as Ezreal passes, he can't help but reach up and affectionately pat Sylas' cheek. "Thanks, big guy." Gaze glances to the arm behind his back and he raises a brow, a small attempt to try and see what he could have been hiding before he gives up his attempt thanks to the reminder of his growling stomach, making a bee line for the nearest booth and sliding into it, elbows propped on top of the table and cheeks resting in his hands.

"Y'know, I'm starting to think you might've had this planned all along, Sylas. You gettin' all romantic on me? Huuuuuh?"

[simssub]

i know we’re all wondering about what happened with Vivek, and Sylas the vampire, but before that, an update on the pets!

Ducky got trained up nice and quick (mostly by Sylas bless him) and we adopted him out

then we had Beryl the cat (pictured in the post about Vivek and Julianna’s new relationship update). she got trained so quick I forgot to take a picture of just her, but she is in this family portrait being held by our boy Ronan

and now that she’s been adopted out, the Yamamotos have got new cat Truman in their lives. he’s pretty lazy, so training is going slow, but steady (Sylas took this pic for Simstagram and I guess crawled under the bed to do it)

this will only keep going (thanks, just for fun roll!) so expect more updates on new pets

[mistwraiths]

3 stars

I feel like I read a different book than everyone else. There are so many glowing reviews about this book, which is fine, I'm glad people are enjoying it because this book did not hit any marks for me. I'm just surprised because this honestly felt like a step down from her first series, All The Stars and Teeth. I read AtSaT and while I labeled it generic, it was very vividly descriptive and the pacing was good. While I didn't care enough to read its sequel, I looked forward to Belladonna because growth of writing, a character who sees spirits and Death itself, and a murder mystery.

Needless to say, I'm kind of disappointed.

The book starts off pretty well and I liked it up until Signa gets picked up to go to Thorn Grove manor. After that, it gets pretty boring and the pacing drags a lot. It yo-yos between Signa thirsting for every available man in her vicinity except those she's related to, trying to piece together a whodunit/who is still poisoning Blythe, her social debut and trying to be a lady, and Death and her apparent powers. It would be FINE if we could actually focus on bits for longer sections than a chapter here or there. Don't worry, Signa's thirsting takes the majority role.

The story is also entirely boring because it's incredibly easy to figure out several plot twists, within the first 15% of the book. I picked two suspects on the whodunit and I guessed correctly on the individual involved. There's no tension or worrying because by the time it starts getting serious you've either figured it out, and Signa's got the trump card of Death literally doing anything she asks including saving someone from dying.

There were also parts of the book that just felt... that just felt like I was being treated like I'm stupid? I don't know how else to explain it. When someone asks if Signa had been shown about the tunnels and like, she got there yesterday late in the day at a party who would have shown her?? When Signa was like "who could be up in the living quarters when there's a party around??" when she knows damn well there's a sick cousin. When she asks to find the grave of Lillian to Sylas.... after she was in the garden where the grave of Lillian was, and it's stated where she's buried plainly, and that's when they decide to solve Lillian's murder. There's other parts like that, and I don't know how to describe it but it's just like when you want to bash your head against something.

I didn't like Signa. I found her mostly annoying but I think that was just myself annoyed for a whole day. I do think she had way too many eye rolls for a MC for me to like her any. But mostly, I didn't like any of the characters. I found them mostly to be rude half the time. The only character I started to like was Blythe because she was really going through it. Charlotte was like the only nice character at all times but she was so bland at the same time.

How did Signa get her powers? How did she become something that doesn't die? We aren't told and that isn't even something that really gets touched on. These powers that she has? She has these "lessons" with Death to teach her and like... they don't actually DO anything???? The first lesson he literally just helps her get to her room and let her feel the power she's capable of. The second lesson is like Death touching her and making out???? Near the end, she eats a bunch of poisonous berries to get her close to the Veil and then she suddenly can use these powers that we do not get to see her practice on.

Let's talk about the biggest problem though. Death. Death and Signa. This is clearly supposed to be a romance between them two, an enemies to lovers but they were really never enemies she just hated him. But Death was obsessed with her since she was a BABY at two months old. 😭 He pretty much stalked her/watched her her whole life. Like um???? Also, it just FEELS like grooming in some parts. There's just some stuff he says that sounds so much like grooming that it ICKS me out.

Also, Death is very much "you can't play God, you can't decide who lives or dies" but he hints at doing the most to get her away from people AND he literally kills someone else to save someone from dying because Signa wants that. And also kills for her. Anyway, when Signa does that choice, Death eventually tells her he chose some 80 year old man instead who would have lived to 90 but he would have ached. Like UGH, give us actual damn consequences? She should have had to take the life maybe. It should have been someone young or someone she knew to know that that choice shouldn't be EASY. Also, she let's Death kill Percy to give Blythe his time, which okay I'm fine but like... doesn't that go against what Death has been preaching?

The ending goes on for too long. I get that she kind of wants to let you know there's another book. After we get the explanations of the murders and why people are acting certain ways and doing certain hurtful things and why SPOILER (men) will do the absolute bonkers shit/treat people terribly instead of talking normally about emotions lol which is the most accurate thing about this.

Again, the book isn't bad, per se but it isn't for me.

[varibean]

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Warnings: angst, mention of blood, horror, fright, clowns, drugs(all rather light). but also a lot of fluff!!

Pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f)

Summary: Your friends Uhtred and Gisela invited you to join them, and their friends, to a Halloween fair as they had a spare ticket after one of their friends, Sihtric, got divorced since last October.

Word count: 5,3k

Note: what? It's almost October...

taglist: @clairacassidy @finanmoghra @uunotheangel @hb8301 @bathedinheat  @neonhairspray @anaeve @bubblyabs @travelingmypassion @sylas-the-grim @heimtathurs @bubbles-for-all-of-us @andakth @chompchompluke

'Sihtric! Don't leave me here!'

Uhtred: hey, you said you wanted to go to the Halloween fair, right? You: hey! Yes I did, but it sold out so fast I couldn't get a ticket :(  Uhtred: well listen Uhtred: we have a spare ticket, if you want to you can join us? You: who is us? Uhtred: myself, Gisela, Finan with his wife Ingrith and our buddy Sihtric You: oh I remember Finan and Ingrith, they were nice! Have I met Sihtric before? Uhtred: I don't think so… but he's nice. And single ;) You: are you setting me up? Uhtred: could be Gisela's idea…. You: …………. is he cute??? Uhtred: Gisela says yes Uhtred: but joking aside, we kinda need an even number so…. Join us? :)  You: yes, of course! Count me in!

'Hell yes!' you shouted after Uhtred had sent you all the details you needed. You've been meaning to go to the Halloween fair for years now, but it's sold out within minutes every year and you never had anyone who wanted to join you. Until you met Uhtred last year when you moved into your new apartment. He and his wife Gisela were your neighbours for a couple of months, but due to their family expanding they sold their apartment and bought a lovely house. They stayed in touch with you and you became good friends. You remember meeting Finan, the Irish man, and his wife at Uhtred's housewarming and you had hit it off with them right away too. 

It was a rather short notice, as the fair was tomorrow night, and you had no idea who Sihtric was, but honestly, you didn't care who you had to tag along with, you just wanted to go to that fair.

You greeted both Uhtred and Gisela with a firm hug as you met them at the fair's parking lot early in the evening. They looked handsome as ever and had more or less made an attempt to dress up as Gomez and Morticia, yet a little more modern and subtle, and they simply looked to die for. Finan and Ingrith arrived shortly after. Finan was dressed in all black while wearing an Insidious shirt and Ingrith wore a long, crimson dress, which looked stunning and matched with the coloured letters on Finan's shirt. You waved at Finan to greet him, but he said it's a night for hugs and pulled you in, and you gave Ingrith a hug too. 

And then you laid eyes upon the terrifyingly handsome man who had walked up alongside Finan and Ingrith. The man was wearing black jeans and a black Halloween '78 sweater, which was half hidden under his unbuttoned, orange and black flannel which, unintentionally, matched with your pumpkin coloured beanie and all black clothes. The pretty boy had dark curls on his half shaved head, a well kept goatee and a tattoo on his neck as well as little lines tattooed on his fingers. He'd later tell you the lines represent his kill count, a memory, like the scars on his face, from the time he had worked alongside Uhtred and Finan as black ops.

'This is Sihtric,' Uhtred smiled as he introduced you to the stunning man.

'H-hi,' you smiled, feeling shy suddenly and not knowing if you should hug him or not.

'Hey,' Sihtric smiled, 'we're all hugging tonight, right?' he said and pulled you gently in for a firm hug.

'I guess we are,' you chuckled as you felt his impressive muscular arms around you. 

He looked good and even smelled nice too. And his voice? Low and soft while he spoke with an accent. You thought he could not get any sexier, but then you saw his duo coloured eyes as you pulled away from him, and officially declared him to be criminally good looking.

'Okay, let's get this fright night started!' Finan cheered and wrapped his arm around Ingrith as he made way to the fair. Gisela reached for Uhtred's hand as they followed, leaving you and Sihtric behind looking at each other as you both chuckled.

'Oh,' Sihtric said, 'I guess we're the awkward duo amongst the couples tonight.'

'It looks like it,' you snorted.

'Well, shall we then, lady?' Sihtric grinned and held his arm out to you, an invitation to link your elbow with his.

'We shall,' you smiled, and felt yourself blush as you followed the others, arm-in-arm. 

'You've been here before?' you asked after a moment.

'For sure,' Sihtric said, 'I go every year with them,' he nodded at the two couples.

'So who couldn't make it today then? As I'm here now?'

'Uhtred didn't tell you?'

'Tell what?'

'I, eh,' Sihtric sighed with a nervous chuckle, 'I divorced last year. My ex-wife used to join me, not that she really wanted it, but it was the only thing I asked of her.'

'Oh, god,' you said, 'I am so sorry, I had no idea.'

'Oh, no, it's all good,' Sihtric smiled and looked at you, 'I'm happier than ever to be here now, alongside someone who seems as excited as I am about this stuff.'

'Oh, I'm excited,' you chuckled.

'Good,' Sihtric smiled, 'so am I,' he softly bumped his shoulder into yours as you walked onto the fair.

'Okay,' Uhtred turned around to face everyone as he walked backwards, 'me and Gisela want to go see that freak show, finally. Who's with us?'

'Oh, not me,' you grimaced.

'Oh, oh! We are, right, love?' Finan exclaimed as he nudged Ingrith, who nodded hesitantly.

'Sihtric?' Uhtred asked.

'I think I should keep the lady company,' Sihtric said, politely declining to be exposed to whatever horror happens inside that freak show tent.

'Ah, ya wuss!' Finan joked as he ran towards the tent, dragging Ingrith along.

'It's like forty five minutes, you guys don't mind waiting?' Gisela asked.

'No, please, do your thing,' you smiled, 'we'll be fine, we can…' you turned to look at Sihtric, but he had disappeared suddenly, 'oh.'

'He found the bar already,' Uhtred laughed as he watched Sihtric hop back with two drinks, 'hey, we should go,' he said to Gisela, 'we'll call you guys when we're outside again, okay?'

'Yeah, no problem. Have fun,' you grimaced again, to which Gisela giggled as Uhtred pulled her with him.

'Hey, I- oh,' Sihtric said as he looked up at you from his cups, surprised to see you on your own, 'they sure are keen to go to that show.'

'They sure are. You really didn't want to go? I'll be fine on my own.'

'Oh, no, lady,' he shook his head, 'I've seen enough freak shows for a lifetime,' he hinted at his previous job as he handed you a cup, 'I got you a drink.'

'Oh,' you smiled, 'thank you.'

Sihtric noticed you looked down at your cup, hesitantly, while he sipped from his own drink.

'Oh, I- I'm sorry,' Sihtric said, gently taking your cup and taking a sip from it before he handed it back, 'I forgot for a moment how weird it is for a stranger to hand you a drink like this.'

'No, I'm sorry,' you shook your head, 'there's just a lot of weird stories lately of people being drugged, it always crosses my mind when I'm at big gatherings.'

'I'm sorry you have to think of that.'

'Well, it happens to men too,' you said sadly, 'everyone needs to be careful really.'

'That is also true,' Sihtric smiled softly, 'but I just deemed your drink safe,' he winked.

'Thank you,' you smiled shyly and enjoyed your drink before Sihtric asked what you wanted to do while waiting for the others.

'Oh, god, I don't know. I've never been here before. Maybe just walk around?'

'Sure,' he smiled, and he linked his elbow with yours again.

You enjoyed the sights of dressed up people, spooky decorations and lit torches all around. The smell of cotton candy and popcorn made you instantly nostalgic and your mind drifted to your childhood for a moment before you got a jumpscare from some asshole who, dressed as a horror clown, had snuck up behind you to breathe down your neck. You let out a shriek and clung onto your hunky, muscular companion, who couldn't help but laugh at your reaction.

'I fucking hate jumpscares,' you huffed, feeling embarrassed as Sihtric still had his arms around you.

'Oh, you're going to love this place then,' he chuckled and gave you a quick squeeze.

'And I hate clowns too!'

'Lady,' Sihtric laughed, 'you're going to have a horrible night.'

'I am afraid so,' you chuckled and took a step back from him, his arms lingering around you as you did.

'Just remember they're all actors and they're not allowed to touch you,' Sihtric said as he held your hands sweetly, 'they'll only scare you, nothing more.'

'I know,' you sighed but shivered when you saw the horror clown pointing at you.

'Come on,' Sihtric chuckled, wrapping his arm around your neck as he saw your terrified stare towards the pointing clown, 'let's move.'

'Yeah,' you said, still looking at the clown who waved at you as Sihtric pulled you away. You stuck your middle finger up to the clown, who returned it quickly, making Sihtric laugh out loud at the entire unfold of events.

'That'll teach him,' Sihtric encouraged jokingly, tightening his arm around your neck for a second as he leaned his temple against yours briefly.

'Right? He'll never scare me again,' you feigned confidence and pride before you laughed too.

'Oh, is that the maze?' you asked with big eyes after you had strolled around for at least 20 minutes.

The maze was one of the best things to do at the fair. It was a huge, haystack maze in which all kinds of creatures of the night roamed. You had to reach the middle, surviving numerous jumpscares on your way, and once in the middle you'd find a cornfield with multiple red barns. The barns were basically lowkey escape rooms, Texas Chainsaw style. In each barn there was a map hidden, if you could find it, you could make your way out of the maze. If you couldn't get the map within 30 minutes, you had to call it in and you'd "lose". 

You were lucky to be there early in the evening, so it wasn't that busy and there was no line yet. 

'Yeah, this is the one,' Sihtric smiled. For a moment you both discussed how the other two couples would be done with that freak show soon, but you both quickly agreed you didn't really care, they could wait for the two of you now instead, as it would never take longer than 30 minutes.

'So you wanna go?'

'Yes!'

'But… there's probably clowns in there, lady. I mean, they do change the theme each year, but there's always a clown somewhere.'

'Oh,' you pouted quickly and even hesitated, which Sihtric noticed.

'But I got you,' Sihtric chuckled and took your hand, pulling you towards the maze.

'I apologise in advance for my violent shrieks,' you smiled sheepishly.

Sihtric laughed and put his arm around your neck again while keeping his fingers laced with yours, 'you're cute,' he chuckled softly. You mumbled an awkward thanks and looked down at your feet, to which Sihtric smiled.

The first few metres of the maze went fine. You were pumped up with adrenaline as you held onto Sihtric's hand, who guided the way through the haystacks, and you felt a little confident, until another horror clown jumped up behind you. You nearly jumped in Sihtric's arms, who just laughed as he pulled you away from the clown. Two corners later you made a wrong turn and walked into that creepy Saw doll on his stupid little bike. You screamed at the sight and ran away like a headless chicken, making Sihtric chase after you until he got a hold of you, just before another horror clown jumped out in front of you, to which you once again screamed and hid your face in Sihtric's chest. But never once was Sihtric complaining about how you kept holding onto him.

The maze had a few hidden green zones, which meant at that spot you could catch your breath without being scared shitless. Sihtric was quick to find one, it was a dead end hidden away behind 3 corners of hay. Once there, you leaned back against the haystack wall, trying to get over your recent scares with a nervous chuckle and teary eyes. Sihtric made sure he found an actual green zone by quickly hopping around the corner, away from you, to check.

'No, no!' you hissed, frightened, 'Sihtric! Don't leave me here!'

'I'm not, lady,' he laughed quietly as he quickly made his way back to you.

'Oh, thank god,' you said when he reappeared. Sihtric took your hands, pulling you towards him, and without thinking you snuck your arms under his flannel, around his waist.

'I was just making sure nothing would jump out here,' Sihtric said softly and rested his chin on top of your beanie as he held you.

'Thank you,' you chuckled, enjoying the feeling of his muscular body against you.

'Do you wish to continue or stop? We can just call it and leave, I don't mind.'

'No, I want to continue. I just need a moment.'

'Are you sure?' Sihtric asked as he pulled back to meet your eyes.

'Yeah. I mean, I'm scared but it's a weird kind of pleasant adrenaline.'

Sihtric said he understood and looked at you for a moment, taking in your appearance while you calmed yourself down. He chuckled softly and bit down on his lip when you looked up at him. He leaned in slightly and pulled you closer.

'I can't believe Uhtred didn't tell me his lady friend was this cute.'

'What?' you snorted, 'well… he did tell me that you were cute.'

'Uhtred said I was cute?' he frowned.

'Well, Uhtred said that Gisela said you were cute.'

'Ah, that makes more sense,' he snorted, 'but they didn't tell me anything about you. Was this a set up then?'

'Maybe?' 

You both laughed and Sihtric leaned in even closer.

'Well, I have no complaints,' he said softly with a half smile, lifting your chin up slightly with his index finger and thumb.

'Neither do I,' you gave him another shy smile and felt a rush of butterflies in your stomach when he brushed his lips lightly over yours.

'No?' his voice was suddenly husky, 'you like what you see?' he smiled cheekily.

'I do,' you smiled, nudging your nose softly against his, 'do you?'

'Hm,' Sihtric hummed and licked his lips, quickly darting his eyes over you, 'like? I love what I see, lady,' he smiled with a hint of mischief and brought his face closer to yours.

You pulled away with a smile, teasing the man who had laughed at your earlier frights, and you saw Sihtric's eyes had darkened when you looked at him. You gently leaned back into him, to which Sihtric now pulled away with a grin after he was quick to peck your lips just once. You giggled and pushed yourself up on your tiptoes, trying to match his height as his hands had settled on your lower back. He smiled, brushing his lips over yours again before he flicked his tongue against your upper lip, only to then softly bite your lower lip, giving you a playful tug with his teeth, before he chuckled and ran his tongue over your lower lip to tease once more. Then he finally parted his lips and locked them with yours, drawing you into a sweet but sexy kiss, your tongues exploring each other more as the kiss deepened.

You were suddenly interrupted when your phone rang. You reluctantly broke the kiss and took a step back, to which Sihtric smiled at you with narrowed eyes and clicked his tongue. You answered the phone as his hands pulled you closer again while he looked you up and down, biting down on his lip as he did so.

'Gisela?' you said as you picked up, allowing Sihtric to pull you in again, 'no we aren't at the bar anymore. We're at the-,' you hissed and inhaled sharply when Sihtric suddenly kissed your jaw, dragging his teeth across your skin before gently biting your ear, hearing his devilish chuckle in your ear as he did.

'No, I-I'm okay,' you said, tensed up, much to Sihtric's pleasure, 'we're at the maze,' you sighed when he kissed your neck, teasing you with his tongue on your skin in between soft kisses.

'Yes, okay, ohh- okay,' you struggled to keep your breath steady, 'I have to go!' you said and broke the connection with Gisela abruptly, your arms wrapping immediately around Sihtric's neck as he already pulled you in for a kiss before you had hung up. You melted in his embrace and slowly kissed him back, sucking his lower lip for a second as he pulled away.

'Damn, baby,' Sihtric spoke soft and raspy, smiling against your lips before he bit your lower lip again, 'this is definitely the most fun I ever had in this maze.'

You giggled and kissed his lips once more, 'the others are looking for us.'

'Let them look,' he grinned and pecked your lips, 'no one will find us in here.'

'Wait, shit,' you suddenly pushed Sihtric away slightly, 'how much longer do we have here?'

You glanced at your phone and did some quick maths.

'We have fifteen minutes to find that map or we lose.'

'No. I never lose, lady,' Sihtric said, determined, and he grabbed your hand, pulling you with him through the endless hay walls of the maze.

You got a few minor scares as you followed him, but your head was still so far up in the clouds after his kiss that you didn't even notice most of the jumpscares that were thrown at you.

'There!' you exclaimed, pointing at the barns through the cornfield.

You both ran, hand in hand, as fast as you could while you already heard the sound of a chainsaw and another couple screaming their lungs out in the distance. You both laughed as you screamed at the sound before you ran inside one of the pitch black barns. Sihtric closed the door behind him and tried to find a lightswitch. You heard the lights switch on and you both squinted your eyes as the room lit up. After a few seconds Sihtric quickly pulled you against his chest. 

'Shit,' he hissed softly as he looked around the barn.

Out of all the barns in the field, you had run into the one that seemed to have a horror clown theme. Sihtric wasn't afraid of some stupid clown, but even he felt unsettled by the sight of the room. Blood decorated the walls, as well as an endless row of old school lockers. Balloons didn't cheer the horrific place up, it only made it more unsettling, clown masks were stapled to the faces of bloody corpses on the floor, all while a haunting circus tune played from god knows where.

'Oh my god,' you whispered and clung onto Sihtric.

'We better do this quick,' he grimaced.

His eyes darted over the room, looking for clues to find the map.

'Oh, no,' you whispered, 'it's probably in there.' 

You pointed to a large, wooden chest in the corner of the barn, which you did not wish to open. Sihtric stared at the wooden chest and swallowed hard. He knew something would happen as soon as that chest would be opened, and he was worried about the scare you would get.

'Should I look?' he asked, still holding you against his chest.

'We don't have much time,' you nodded fast and turned in his arms to look up at him, 'I'll go with you.'

Sihtric looked down at you and smiled, 'to protect me?'

'Yes,' you grinned and pecked his cheek. 

Sihtric took your hand and slowly made way to the corner, eyeing the chest to see if it would trigger something, while you, completely oblivious, followed him closely. He kneeled down in front of the chest and inspected it quickly, all while he still held your hand as you towered over him, looking around the room for any possible scares.

Sihtric placed his free hand on one of the clasp locks and clenched his jaw. He licked his lips before he looked up at you and said, 'Look… I fear something will happen once I open this.'

You agreed with a nod and shuffled closer to him.

'Are you scared?'

'No,' you said, deadpan, 'I am fine.'

Sihtric chuckled but couldn't deny he felt a little uneasy. He did not want to open that chest and be responsible for your possible death.

'Okay,' he sighed and let go of your hand, 'stand back, babe,' he said, fully expecting something, or worse, someone, to jump out of that chest as soon as he opened it.

You took a step back and held onto a piece of Sihtric's flannel, as if that would protect you from whatever was inside that chest. The haunting circus theme was still playing in the background when Sihtric placed his other hand on the second lock. He looked back up at you, as if for your approval. You gave him a firm nod, which he returned to you before he looked back at the chest, his thumbs tracing the locks before he unclasped them.

You jumped at the sound and you both held your breath as you waited for a jumpscare. But nothing happened. Nothing. Sihtric looked up at you and shrugged, to which you threw your hands up. The haunting circus tune kept playing as if nothing had happened, and then Sihtric slowly opened the chest. You shuffled backwards as he opened it, still holding on to his flannel while he carefully pushed the lid fully open. Sihtric looked inside the chest and frowned, you leaned over him to peek inside and it left you equally confused. There was no map, just an old circus clown's coat. Suddenly the haunting theme slowed down, as if it ran out of batteries and you both held your breath again.

You screamed when suddenly the old coat moved and a circus clown appeared from underneath. You startled Sihtric, who jumped up to your scream and shoved you behind him when the clown turned its head towards the two of you. Sihtric stared at the clown, battle-calm, while you held onto his arm and buried your face in his back.

'What is it doing?' you whispered, eyes closed, clinging onto his arm for dear life.

'Nothing,' Sihtric whispered, 'it's just staring at us.'

You carefully peeked over his shoulder, and just when you did, the clown jumped up and held his bloody hand out towards you both. You let out another shriek, hid behind Sihtric, who took a step back to make sure you were safely behind him as he bared his teeth to the murderous clown, almost snarling like a wolf. His eyes darted between the clown's face and his blooded hand in which, Sihtric then noticed, the clown held the map.

Sihtric slowly stepped towards the clown, knowing it was never allowed to harm them, but he was still prepared and ready to punch the clown between the eyes if it tried something. But as expected, nothing happened when Sihtric tore the map out of the clown's hands.

He slowly stepped back, keeping you behind him while he kept his eyes on the clown, guiding you back towards the entrance door. You were almost at the door when suddenly you heard a thump. You tensed up and clung onto Sihtric, who held his breath for a split second, knowing the thump did not come from the clown he had kept his eyes on.

'Wh-where did that come from?' you asked, eyes darting around the room.

'I don't know,' Sihtric whispered. 

His eyes were wide and still fixed on that one clown, when suddenly the door of one of the old school lockers flung open. The sound of a revving chainsaw howled through the barn as another horror clown jumped out of the locker across the room and charged at you both with full speed. You screamed and stumbled backwards. Sihtric was quick to turn around and kept you from falling by wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you with him as he kicked open the barn door with his black boot.

'Go,' Sihtric said, 'go!'

'Wh-what?'

'Run, babe!' he hissed, shoving you through the door while the rattling chainsaw closed in, 'now! Run!'

You ran as fast as you could, but kept glancing back at Sihtric, who was quick to follow after he had closed the barn door behind him, hoping to stall the chainsaw clown for a few seconds as you both ran. Because if that clown would catch up with you, it meant you "lost". And Sihtric didn't lose. Or better said; Sihtric did not like to lose and would make it everyone's problem if he did.

'Sihtric!' you yelled as he neared you.

'I'm here, go, go,' he said as he grabbed your hand, pulling you with him while he tried to study the map to find a way out.

'We're running out of time!' you said out of breath.

'I know!'

Suddenly Sihtric stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes darted over the map and then he looked quickly around him. He seemed awfully calm while there was a clown with a chainsaw closing in again.

'Sihtric!' you screamed and pulled his arm.

'Shit,' he sighed, 'we're running to the wrong side.' 

He grabbed your arm and pulled you to the opposite side of the field, barely escaping the chainsaw clown and you both ran as fast as you could through the remainder of the maze. Here and there some zombies, vampires and devils jumped out around corners, causing you to shriek and yelp, but nothing spooked you as much as the sound of that revving chainsaw still chasing you.

'We're almost there,' Sihtric was panting as he looked at the map again.

'I'm about to throw up,' you said out of breath. 

Clearly Sihtric was way more used to running than you. You never worked out really so you were surprised you had managed to keep up this long, you guessed it was the adrenaline keeping you going.

'Please don't,' Sihtric laughed, 'look! There!'

'Oh, thank god!' 

You felt like crying when you saw the exit to the maze. Sihtric pulled you through the last haystack wall, moments before the clown had caught up with you, and you both ran a little further until you were sure that clown was not following you anymore. You turned around, both out of breath and stared at the clown, who kept revving the chainsaw as he stood in the last metre of the hay walls, watching you both catch your breath. You stuck your middle finger up to the clown, like you had done earlier that night, and Sihtric laughed before he did the same.

'We made it,' Sihtric laughed, almost a maniacal laugh at this point and he brushed his hand through his hair, 'we made it, babe,' he said out of breath and pulled you towards him.

'Fucking hell,' you laughed, you weren't sure if it was a happy laugh or a terrified laugh, but you laughed. Sihtric wrapped his arms around your waist and you were quick to wrap yours around his neck.

'Gods, are you okay?' he said, the joy and adrenaline had abruptly left his voice when he felt you trembling in his arms.

'Yeah,' you said, still catching your breath, 'just the adrenaline and being scared to death,' you laughed.

'You sure?' Sihtric cupped your cheeks and studied you for a moment.

'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine,' you chuckled.

'Yeah?' Sihtric smiled softly, 'Good?'

'I'm good,' you reassured him.

Sihtric nodded and smiled, then he wrapped his arms around you tightly again and you both had a giggle fit after the crazy chase. Sihtric tried to kiss you again but you stepped on his foot while leaning into him, making him lose his balance, and he stumbled backwards onto a pile of hay, which surrounded the maze, with you in his arms and you landed with a soft thump. Straws of hay and dust flew up and then twirled down around you. You both laughed at what happened as you laid on top of him, in his arms.

And then without a warning, Sihtric suddenly rolled you over onto your back, which made you giggle while your hands seemed to find his hair without hesitation, pulling him closer and wasting no time to kiss his lips for a short moment before he pulled back. He looked at you and smiled, the way you were decorated with hay was adorable to him, and he slid one hand down to your waist as he placed his other hand onto your neck. He leaned in and nuzzled your nose softly before he pulled you in for another sweet, hot kiss, like the one in the maze. He wasn't shy of using his tongue while kissing you or trailing his hand down to your thigh and up to your waist in a sensual way. You made out in that pile of hay for a few minutes. Your hands in his hair, his hand squeezing your thigh, your fingers grabbing his sweater to pull him closer, his fingers tracing over your neck, your hands slipping under his sweater, feeling his abs and muscular chest while he bucked his hips against yours a few times too many, making you both moan softly until you suddenly heard that chainsaw again in the distance, reminding you that you were in public. 

You both broke the kiss reluctantly at the same time and chuckled at the poor self control you both seemed to have. But you both blamed it on the adrenaline rush. Sihtric got up, once he had calmed himself down after a short moment, and helped you up. Just as you had gotten up, and Sihtric tried to rid you of the hay that was sticking to your clothes, you looked up and saw Uhtred, Gisela, Finan and Ingrith closing in on you.

'Sihtric,' you said nervously.

'Yes?' he said, still busy cleaning you up while his own clothes were still dusty with hay.

Before you could speak, Uhtred had cleared his throat, to which Sihtric looked a little startled and he turned around to face the others.

'What happened to the two of ya?' Finan snorted, knowing they all saw how Sihtric had pulled you up from that haystack.

'I… there was a clown,' you said.

'We were chased,' Sihtric helped you out.

'I am afraid of clowns…' you said.

'She is,' Sihtric confirmed.

'And so ya fell into a haystack?'

'Yes,' you said.

'On top of each other?' Uhtred grinned.

You looked down at your feet and Sihtric sniffed as he looked everywhere but at their faces and tried to shake the leftover hay off his clothes.

'Okay, enough,' Gisela smiled, 'I need a drink after that freak show.'

She ordered the men to stop staring at Sihtric and shoved them towards him, making both men pat Sihtric's shoulder before they each wrapped an arm around their friend, walking him towards the bar.

Gisela and Ingrith waited until the men were a few paces away and then both linked an elbow with you, giggling as they made you tell what had happened in the maze. 

And the night was only just getting started.

[wellthebardsdead]

Sylas: *pulling his hood up and covering his face with his shawl so only his eyes can be seen* right. Let’s get to whiterun and tell this Jarl that this stupid village needs protection. *huffs and keeps walking*

Taliesin: not to be rude but are you always so short tempered?

Sylas: yes. All I want is to be left alone but humans just can’t help themselves and always find a way to ruin my life. *holds out his hand shooting ice shards through a deer killing it instantly*

Taliesin: good shot. I take it you were alive during the whole Ysgramor ordeal then?

Sylas: no. But my parents were. I was born in a sanctuary to auriel a few hundred years ago… The betrayed falmer found us and slaughtered everyone in sight. I only escaped because a knight Paladin threw me from the cave entrance before sealing it off… I was left on my own. *sighs* I wandered for a while before encountering a human, I thought he was nice… he introduced me to his friends and… the next thing I knew I was in a cage in some wealthy nobles house. Just a pretty little ornament for him to show off to his guests… so I gutted him alive and made his wife and children watch… after I escaped I kept trying to find places to hide and to live, but each time humans just had to come along and ruin it for me. I got lucky though, hiding in barrows, I could pretend to be a draugr, my skin is the same colour as theirs, all I’d need to do is hold still and hide my face and wait for anyone to pass… so I could spring them and rob them blind.

Taliesin: … *gently pats his shoulder immediately pulling away seeing the falmer tense up from his touch* the alarming coldness of discussing murder aside- I understand you were hurt but… hiding away like that is no way to live… and that hatred towards humans, it won’t get you far…

Sylas: It’s kept me alive for nearly 400 years. I think I’ll stick to it thanks… *huffs and starts skinning the deer* do you want the antlers for anything?…

[multi-fandom-imagine]

|| Part three of The Legend Of Vox Machina Quotes ||

A/n: I woke up very late since I haven’t slept good abs then I went up to Maine and got back late, thankfully I can actually stay up late but I wanted to post a few things before I get some drabbles out.

Sylas: [to Y/n] You just keep your pretty little mouth shut and everything will be Punky Brewster.

Y/n:….

Y/n: what?!

•••

Vex: [weakly] ...blood for oil...

Y/n: Uh. Sounds like someone needs their after dinner walk. Vax, help me put your sister in the pit of no return.

•••

Percy: If I had died in that crash today, who would have remembered me?

Y/n: I would.

Percy: That's right, nobody!

•••

Scanlan: I was not helping Y/n with a leg cramp. I was not giving her a lying down hug. I was not helping her look for her contact. I was plowing, Pike

Pike: [quietly] Oh, my goodness

•••

Y/n: You're really gonna kill five people over $20?

Sylas: Are you really asking that to the guy who, just last week, killed six people over $19?

Y/n: Oh, yeah

•••

Vex: who’s turn is it to give the pep talk?

Pike: it’s y/n’s.

y/n: fuck shit up out there, but don’t die.

•••

Vax: how come you’ve been abnormally nice to me lately?

y/n: what do you mean?

Vax: you just seem nicer than usual.

y/n: i can punch you in the face if you want.

•••

Keyleth: so… you’re in love?

Percy: no.

y/n: *enters the room*

Keyleth: are you smiling?

Percy: no.

•••

Sylas: I could kill you if I wanted.

Y/N: Yeah? So could any other human being. So could a dog. So could a dedicated duck. You aren't special.

•••

Y/N: I feel like doing something stupid.

Grog: I’m stupid, do me.

•••

Keyleth: Truth or dare?

Y/n: Truth

Keyleth: How many hours have you slept this week?

Y/n: Dare

Keyleth: Go to sleep

Y/n: I don’t like this game

•••

Y/N: Dont worry I've got a few knifes up my sleeve

Percy: I think you mean cards

Vex: they did not

Y/N, pulling out knifes: I did not

•••

Vex: [showing some pictures she has of her childhood]

Y/N: [picking up a picture] Aw look at baby Vex twirling in a sparkly dress and heels.

Vax: [taking a closer look at the picture]

Vax: That would be me

•••

Vex: Did you really have to stab him?

Y/n: You weren't there, you didn't hear what he said to me.

Vex: And what did he say?

Y/n: "What are you gonna do? Stab me?"

Percy, nodding: That's fair.

Vex: NO!

•••

Keyleth: Name something you could hurt yourself riding on.

Y/n: *side eyeing Vax*

Y/n: ......a horse.

•••

Y/n: Woah..... look! Look how pretty the moon is tonight! So bright. So good.

Vex, frantically pressing down on Reader’s stab wound: Y-Y/N, that’s a streetlamp-

•••

Y/n: ah yes, the five love languages...

Y/n, pointing at Scanlan: ‘touch starved’

Y/n, pointing at Scanlan: ‘my parents never told me they loved me’

Y/n, pointing at Grog: ‘I love to do stupid things’

Y/n, pointing at Percy: ‘I’m so fucking tired, let me rest for five freaking minutes!’

Y/n, pointing at Keyleth: ‘my parents didn’t give me enough attention’

Percy:…

Keyleth:…

Grog:…

Scanlan:….

Scanlan: Hey!why did I get two?

•••

Y/n: Sure we’re best friends, but I would fuck you if you asked.

Percy: What?

Y/n: What?

Scanlan: [Eating chips in the backgroud] They said they would fuck you if you asked.

Y/n and Percy: …

[sparring-spirals]

yadda yadaa TLOVM S1 e9 liveblog GIVE ME THE ZOMBIES

oh, or briarwoods flashbacks, that’s okay too I guess

cannot stop thinking about the posts re: the briarwoods choosing to revamp their style after the vampire-ing and evil-ing. Like they look good here too (even with Sylas half dead), but wow they really did go all in on the aesthetic after huh. i respect that.

So like, if being a vampire stops you from aging, does that mean Sylas’s silver streaks were... manually put in. Did Sylas go “i want to be a silver fox and no “lack of aging” is going to stop me", and then sit in his bathtub to dye his hair? This is great, I love this so much. Hell yeah.

also: nice, love villains getting fleshed out :)

Sylas, at any given point in time: oh there goes my wife :) look at her she’s so great :) what is she doing? no idea. who knows. maybe summoning an undead army. maybe doing occult rituals with a prisoner in the basement. :) isn’t she lovely :) 

laud-

*scanlan, somehow finding the breath to complain AND shriek in terror about the undead* cass, already having had one near death experience today, flipping a zombie: god someone please kill me this gnome

“percy how many undead are there in your city???” love the implication that this is just a whitestone issue. fucking whitestone, full of stuffy nobles and also the ZOMBIES, also terrible nightlife! only nightDEAD am i right haha

Grog is RIGHT! Zombies DO come from under the ground! normally! listen to the man!!

Well... at least Keyleth and Vax are not flirting with long gazes mid battle. genuinely glad for that. Look at these two awkward beans.

CHRIST Vex. “well, that was kind of hot, but-” ksdlfkjaafhlajfhljzh sjfh i mean mood, Scanlan vex is really, truly, terrible, at expressing softer feelings for people isn’t she. I would say “other than Vax” but no, she really is just. Absolute trainwreck at it.

The zombies DO seem to love Scanlan, i guess they do know he’s delectable.

“Could be worse.” “HOW?” “Could be my arm.” See previous bullet about Vex. Vex you are a menace. (Affectionate.....?) Inside of Vex’s brain, probably: *thumbs up* successful comforting of friend acquaintance we are begrudgingly fond of this FUCKING gnome

*watches them climb out of the roof hatch* I’ve seen this TWDG episode! ... it was pretty upsetting if I recall correctly.

Percy, with VM: can’t believe I’m the only adult in the room.  🙄 Percy, in whitestone: can’t believe I’m the only adult in the room?? 😧😠🥺 (PERCY... you are NOT the adult in the room.....:( )

“i need this arm! for.. stuff!”

I was gonna say “I would be keyleth in an apocalypse situation” but you know, i only wish i could be a keyleth.

STOP! MAKING! DRAMATIC! EYE! CONTACT! MID! BATTLE! BANNED! oh he lived. but now he’s talking... very dramatically.... archie... stop that.....

oh god dammit

(man, he got ANIME bisected :( ) aw hell, percy

KEYLETH!!! KEYLETH!!!! :DDDDDDDDDDD

“yes yes, she’s the tits, we still have to go” an excellent scene but ESPECIALLY for that line

percy!!! being the adult in the room! i mean he’s still baby but he’s doing his fucking best and its real good

i also like vex’s softer expression being a little- thoughtless. not even sure she knew she was doing it. :)

damn vax, timing-

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA OH GOD THIS IS MAYBE MY FAVORITE LINE IN THE SHOW NOW. Vaxleth is adorable and i am cheering for them but listen: that reaction to a mid battle confession scene is just. yes. fantastic. keyleth you’re so incredibly valid.

PIKE REALLY KNOWS HOW TO MAKE AN ENTRANCE.

ah the ~character implications~ embedded in the “marry me” “okay, lets go. right now” “What? really?” top notch voice acting from ashley and sam.

okay no jk this convo between grog and pike is my new favorite lines oh god their friendship is so good i love them so much “you’re glowing.. and buzzing.. are you DEAD?”

no hubby ilu we cant endanger u for our evil plans uwu ;*

character details in this fight are SO good. ive refrained from listing all of them but i cant resist saying: vex/vax “give me a lift” and then vax/grog competition.... :D

Y’all wha tNO dont FREE her she is VERY CLEARLY NOt- oh nice see Vax is using the wrench AND the pick again. Seriously how terrible was Krieg’s door. This is going to haunt me for this whole show isnt it.

oh. oh okay that works too.

AW THIS IS A REALLY NICE PIKE SONG. :D

overall:

- fuck, i really do like the combat with VM in this show. i think the tendency to have... everyone other than them brutally murdered makes me more leery of everyone else in combat, but seeing the VM in combat is always so good. so many character details. so nice to watch.

- i am trying very hard not to harp on about this but- *deep deep sigh* romance is. a tricky thing to communicate in shows. i get that. limited runtime, you gotta be a bit more heavyhanded with how you distribute Meaningful Interactions and dialogue space. but. buuuuuuuut. i do wish i could tweak the conversation ratios just a little. just a tiiiny bit. that said, i do understand why they’re paired the way they are.

- Pike is SO good holy shit I adore her. Fuck. Wow. Her arc, the blend of aggression and optimism and touch of crassness, her interactions- oh wow. Adore her, honestly.

-- Addendum to this- I really like the throughline of the two characters with some level of anxiety about their magic working + their worthiness of it/ability to wield it just being. Fucking incredibly powerful when things line up. (Keyleth and Pike specifically).

- <3 friendships within the VM my beloved.

[dregbourne]

once you've seen the truth... you can't keep living the lie.

a somewhat canon compliant sylas, the unshackled of league of legends; based primarily in his portrayal in ' the mageseeker: a league of legends story ' so if you plan on playing that for yourself, there will be spoilers abound. follows from @fervonian. extremely private; i pretty much made this blog for a friend on a whim so don't expect any sort of consistent activity .

affiliated with: @prismalit, @diveyne.

rules from my main blog apply here, with a small addendum that i'm not comfortable with sy/lux. power to you if that is your cup of tea, but i ask that you refrain from following me. other than that, this shouldn't really need to be said but sylas is not a good man, and i will be writing him first and foremost as a villainous figure - or at least a morally grey one - on this blog. thanks for reading and enjoy your stay.

quick depiction notes.

name: sylas, alternate spelling of silas which is a derivative of silvanus, meaning woods or forest. age: generally in his early thirties. date of birth: the equivalent of march 30th. gender: cisgender male, he / him. sexuality: grey aro - ace.

heacanon links.

comparing sylas to irelia. she is my main muse and as i was getting to know his character more, this was a nice way for me to get a grasp on his emotions and motivations.

[thessalian]

Thess vs TLoVM Ep 2

Here we go again...

Of course they go for the obvious creepy dude. Nice to know we’re still living the stereotype. (No, seriously, that particular trope has its place. But if they did the tiniest bit of research on what kind of intelligence blue dragons have, they might rethink that. But that’s audience talking and they don’t have access to the Monster Manual. Given the attempts at appeasement suggested, I totally get why they went there. Which is better than it being just because he looks creepy.)

Gilmore is allowed to be glorious with a paunch! THANK YOU!

Oh, the innuendo! I am living for it.

“It’s just a damn door!” Yeah - liked it when it was a preview snippet, still like it now. Most parties have that problem, Vex; learn to live with it.

I guess no one’s figured out that Favoured Prey means you sense the actual prey, not people working for the prey.

Not sure what I’m more amused about - the Tiamat carpet, or the painting of a red tiefling woman who’s almost certainly the Ruby of the Sea. I mean, at least “Tiamat worshipper” is a possibility for Krieg now but I still want to know how they think Vex is sensing ‘some dragon’s flunky’. Still, I guess they don’t have the PHB.

“Did he just say ‘we’?” THANK YOU, PERCY.

That is a pretty good transformation sequence, gotta say.

“A tickle. Let me return the favour.” YES. THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. DAVID TENNANT YOU MAD GLORIOUS BASTARD.

Nice lead-up to the dragon’s weak spot! And kudos to the animators for making that particular weak spot something we saw from the very beginning!

Also, for those who complain about the animation “not being that great”? (Because, unbelievably, I have seen a few.) Dudes, have you seen basically any anime? Or, hell, most cartoons of the 80s and 90s? Animation is a lot of work and this took way fewer (or at least way less obvious) shortcuts than the animation of my day. Yeah, fine, I’m old, but you know what that means? That means I actually appreciate this kind of thing. Just go actually sit down and watch an original episode of Transformers or GI Joe or something; look at what I grew up with. Then tell me they didn’t work hard enough. Also, if they’d drawn every single frame from scratch, we wouldn’t see this series until 2030. STOP ASSUMING THAT ART IS EASY AND FAST. IT IS NEITHER.

They actually kept “I would like to rage!!!”? In character?!? AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah. Yeah, that was a D&D combat. No question.

Hi Matt. I know a lot of people were holding out for Matt voicing Gilmore, but a) it’s nice to have a POC voicing a POC (hell, it’s nice to have POC voicing white people for a change, when it’s so often the other way around) and b) ...honestly, no one but Matt could do Sylas Briarwood justice.

I ... almost want to wait for Episode 3. Just because this feels like a better pause point between the ‘session zero’ episodes and the Briarwood arc. I mean, I get why they released it this way - cliffhangers are a thing, and there are a lot of people, some who’ve even watched Critical Role but missed Campaign 1 for some reason, who have no idea what’s coming - but for me, who actually knows what’s up? I think I’ll wait. Unless I don’t. Honestly, I just need a comfier chair. Or, like, the sofa. I should probably invest in a Kindle TV stick or something so I can watch from the sofa.