#the ones i kind of know about are dragon age and dark souls but i know there's several dragon ages and not sure if you have to play in orde

[flintbian]

Hey does anyone have any recommendations for video games? Specifically ones you can play on PC bc I don't have any devises. I've just finished my first big game (Baldur's Gate 3) and I loved it! I'd love recs for similar, but I don't know where to start 👀

[hritika13-tamboli]

Jeon Jungkook Fic Recs List 2...

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Series :

Day by day || dilf!jungkook x best friend!reader (f) | single dad au || @hansolmates

Summary : a series of drabbles about two best friends raising a child together

Aim for the heart || hitman!jk x female reader | hitman au || @writemywaytoyourheart

Summary : Jeon Jungkook is an infamous hitman, known for his inability to fail at whatever job is thrown his way. At least, up until now. Y/n, a kind-hearted and full of life teacher, is his newest target. Jeon isn’t sure who would put a hit on this seemingly innocent girl, but fortunately, that isn’t his problem. All he has to do is pull the trigger.

Bedeviled || demon!jungkook x female reader | demon au || @writemywaytoyourheart

Summary : Money. Fame. Power. Love. Health. Courage. Strength. Humans will trade their souls for anything, unaware of how their selfish desires will fade away as they do; growing feeble and pathetic, until there's nothing left but the ghost of their youth, cowering in a corner until old age disposes of it.  Convincing yourself to go to the Underworld? Easy... Walking through to get something that you've waited many years for, accompanied by a demon that will stop at nothing to make sure your soul belongs to him? Maybe not so much. Making deals with the devil is a tricky business; one you might not have realized could end in something much more painful than death itself if you make a single mistake.

Animal : Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 || Boxer Jungkook x Reader | boxer au || @cutaepatootie

Summary : The girl looked at the man who was in his 60s , lying on the hospital bed fighting for his life, he was trying to talk with her “I don’t want to go without telling something.” The girl frown looking at the old man “What do you mean, Mr. Jeon?” “I don’t want to die without telling someone about her,” he says, his voice softening when he says ‘her’. “I don’t want to disappear without the world knowing about her and what she did for me.” “About her?” the girl frowns. Maybe his daughter? His sister? The man turns his head and faces the girl, a soft, distant smile plastered on his lips. The gesture is nostalgic, sad, almost loving. “Y/N,” he murmurs, the name rolling off his lips softly, just as softly as the waves of the sea roll over the sand. “Her name was Y/N.”

Into the woods || goblin jungkook x reader | goblin au || @junqkook

Summary : getting hurt and stumbling upon a goblin in the forest leaves you completely at his mercy, though you aren’t sure if that’s necessarily a bad thing.

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One-shot :

The habits of the broken heart || Jungkook x reader | soulmate au || @softykooky

Summary : jungkook and you are soulmates. so says the matching crescent moons on both your wrists. however, things are never as easy as they seem, and you are quick to learn that falling in love with someone who does not believe in love is a one-way ticket to heartbreak.  alternatively, “You still are, you know. Worth it.” You release a shaky breath. “But I was stupid to think that I am too.”

Something in the heir || knight!jungkook x palace woman!reader | non-royalty palace au || @hisunshiine

Summary : The king of your empire will be leaving soon to head off to fight against Soiros, a foreign enemy, and his seven knights of the order of Bangtania will lead the way. One of the seven, Jeon Jungkook, with his dark eyes and easy smile, is someone you long for. Children believe he has slain dragons, and adults think he’s killed over one thousand Soirian soldiers. Everyone thinks he is a heartbreaker, making his way through every unwed wench in the land...but all he wants is you.

Miracle of the season || Angel Jungkook x Fallen Angel F! reader | angel au | soulmate au || @cybrsan

Summary : Cast out of Heaven after a painful betrayal, you find yourself having to navigate the intricacies of human life without any guidance from the Creator or the family you have always known. Things only get worse as the holiday season reaches its peak, with reminders of the life you left behind everywhere you look. When a familiar face pops up, you aren’t sure whether to consider it a blessing or a curse.

Amortentia || Jungkook x reader | hogwarts au || @jungkxook

Summary : jungkook loves everything strawberry but the simple pleasure is always kept hidden, stowed away as if some hideous secret to protect the rumours that had built up around him — until a love potion outs him.

Black magic   || human!jk x witch!reader (f) | magic uni! au || @hansolmates

Summary : a witch with an ambition for learning, you stumble across a crushing spell in the middle of the forbidden section. of course you have to try it out! what happens when the crushing spell not only has jeon jungkook crushing on you, but you crushing on him?

(Un)crushed    || human!jk x witch!reader (f) | magic uni! au || @hansolmates

Summary : you’ve liked jungkook for the longest time, but you believe it’s time to cut the cord—literally 

What's wrong?  || Jungkook x reader | slice of life!au || @oddinary4bts

Summary : Reader overhears Jungkook talk to his friends and mention how she’s always clinging on to him and doesn’t let him breathe sometimes and that she’s annoying because she’s too loud and energetic. When he comes back home she acts the complete opposite and tries to avoid him without letting him know what’s going on, until he realises that he actually prefers her clingy and loud🥺

High demand || Dealer! Jungkook x Reader || @bunnyhugs77

Summary : modern day Romeo and Juliet

Coin toss ||Jungkook x reader detective | agency au || @yoondoze

Summary : you and jeongguk go way back, even before you were the menacing duo many knew you to be, even before he brought you into the mafia and left you there to join the city’s detective agency. a call for cooperation comes out of a common enemy, requiring the two of you to reconcile for one last mission.

[brittle-doughie]

Hey howdy hello again! Wrote the one thing with reader cookie stabbing Burning Spice with a dagger despite having their leg broken off. I’m back about the beast ancients au I was talking about in the first part of that ask, since you didn’t say anything about it, I just assumed you didn’t want to hear about it. No worries, I don’t mind!

Anyways I’ve had a hell of a time hammering out the specifics of what’s going on, as it turns out planning a war is a huge pain in the ass. But I’ll just toss you the more interesting bits and get out of your hair.

For context, the main cookie this all revolves around, Star Heart Cookie, created a barrier to protect her/their kingdom. The caveat to it being that so long as you genuinely don’t want to kill the cookies within the barrier, you can walk in and out whenever you want

(For the sake of this ask, Star Heart is the reader insert and is thus getting they/them pronouns, there’s a different set of cookies meant to be the reader inserts but I haven’t gotten there yet so :p)

So, where to start I suppose.. probably Vanilla. True Vanilla Cookie specifically

Yeah bro is trying to pacifist ending Shadow Milk, and SM is just kind of offended? Bc Vanilla ascended to become the Beast of Totality, and is essentially trying to become the holder of Knowledge without getting the other soul jam. This has, predictably, really messed him up. But he still makes it a point to go on weekly picnics to see Star Heart. (The fact that he doesn’t know whats weakened them so much is driving him insane)

One of the other beasts who can pass through the barrier, Mythril Lily Cookie, also shows up to ensure that Star Hearts barrier holds. Though she is a little very concerned about the fact that no matter what, Star Heart never seems to be getting any better. When she isn’t having picnics or trying to dodge True Vanilla’s game of 20,000 questions, she’s usually coordinating an attack on one of the beasts. Usually whichever one happens to be closest to wherever Dark Enchantress is or is planning to use at the time.

Frostbite Cacao is currently trying to plunge all of earthbead into an ice age so that his friends will gain the same resolve that he has. Well, it’s more like so he can usurp their kingdoms bc he thinks they don’t run them very well, but who’s asking? Side note; he’d also actually be allowed through the barrier if it weren’t for the fact that Dark Choco lives within Star Hearts kingdom. He’s also mega paranoid about the fact that Mystic Flour isn’t attacking him anymore. (We’ll get to her don’t worry)

Toxiberry (still not sure about the name) is having a depression due to lore reasons. But due to the power of being a raging alcoholic, you can’t even tell :DDDD Nah but seriously, she and her army are constantly on the move since she knows Lily is looking for her. She’s also hoping that it lures Pitaya Dragon back so she can try and get them to on her side to hopefully gain the upper hand on Eternal Sugar, who has even more beef with her then usual, again, due to lore reasons (I wasn’t actually kidding about the depression thing btw, that’s definitely there)

Gilded Cheese (has very upsetting reasons why she’s called that) is currently trying to revitalize the desert with her new waterbending abilities :)))) you do not want to know what happened to give her that power, I promise. On the bright side, she can also electrocute things now, so that’s neat. She’s generally the closest to her normal self here if I’m honest. Though she’s spending most of her time bringing water to the desert (very suspicious water) and trying to weedwhack the hell out of Vanilla’s creepy orchids that keep spreading. She would also be allowed through the barrier, but only by technicality, since she’s only trying to kidnap Star Heart to use their power to enhance the soulcheese. (And Smoked Cheese is hoping to use them to usurp Gilded but yk shhh)

Onto the og beasts, none of which are allowed through the barrier, for obvious reasons.

Shadow Milk is very busy pretending like he’s not bothered with what’s going on. He’s free now! Why should he care what the others are up to? (He cares immensely) He’s honestly very concerned with how far True Vanilla is getting with his plans, and is pivoting to something else since he knows his usual tactics won’t work. Which ends up in him sending party after party of warriors to ascend the vines up to the Vanilla kingdom in order to break Vanillas focus to stall for time as Shadow figures out a more permanent solution. At least he’s found a new way to infuriate him, by simply saying nothing at all.

Mystic Flour is in the middle of her own plan, which is to use Cacao’s paranoia against him. So currently she’s waiting at the top of her mountain pagoda for him to inevitably break and go after her. She’s also sent Cloud Haetae Cookie to scout out a new meditation spot closer to the Dark Cacao kingdom to better keep watch on it. And definitely not because Star Hearts kingdom is literally right next door, not that at all, nope, not even a little.

Eternal Sugar is completely incensed and is personally hunting down Holly to the ends of earthbread for the sheer audacity of… the lore reasons (I promise it’ll at least be interesting) Or at least she would be, but most of the time Eternal Sugar looses them (literally how it’s an entire army?) and decides to fall asleep until she senses her other piece nearby again, and then she’s off like a bat out of hell.

Burning Spice, is behaving irrationally, even for his standards, which is saying something. Specifically speaking, he’s… well he’s waiting on the barrier, hasn’t really moved since the Beast War ended. The only thing that does get him to move away is whenever Gilded Cheese is anywhere nearby. He knows she’s gonna keep trying to get in, so he just waits. What he’s waiting for? Star Heart, and their very special ability that they use every single time cookies attempt to go for the barrier. From within the barrier, Star Heart can actually see him waiting for them since their tower is the highest point in the kingdom. That, and that point in the roof is the only clear spot in the barrier, everything else is stained red due to the permanent spice storm that surrounds the place.

And Silent Salt, who isn’t actually on the continent right now. During the Beast War, he spotted something leaving and decided to follow it on the hunch that if he didn’t, things would get a lot worse. Unfortunately, as the one he was following ended up being Longan Dragon, he isn’t going to be able to prevent him from starting shit.

Alrighty then, that’s that, thank you for your time and all of the lovely writing

-ephemeralcryptid

Now that was quite the read.

[arclundarchivist]

[Spoilers C3E104] Likely Timeline of Events.

I think I have a general run down of events that lead up to modern exandria, at least how it has truly been hinted to exist as Brennan, Matt and Aabria have shaped it.

Origin: The Luxon Finds and becomes a part of Exandria.

Before Tengari Arrival: The Luxon's presence spawns the first life on Exandria, the Elementals and a Primordial Form of Life separate from that that we know, including the Eidolons(And possibly Proto-Fey). It is chaos, with no intention, other than to exist. The Titans are present, but have no ideation of what they are or what they could want.

The Luxon Divests Itself: Now this one is more tenuous, as there are two different depictions. Either, it sought commonality with its children the Titans, and was rebuffed, as unlike it they were near mindless and violent, fighting each other and attempting to attack it, so it divested itself in an attempt to better understand itself and them, *AND* notably grant a form of reincarnation to the life on the planet so they would not be lost to the "darkness beyond" as the Titans were. Which, considering what Matt mentioned of the Eidolons and Hearthdell's history... seems kind of fitting.

There is another version of that story, but that needs to wait for...

The Tengari Arrival: Tengar dies, seemingly to Predathos, and the few dozen that remain of that place are drawn to Exandria (perhaps by the nascent Luxon), they arrive, giving physical forms to their conceptual ones, and as Brennan put it in one of the After Shows, granting conceptual ideation just be arriving to the purely physical Titans. Brief conflict between the Titans and Tengari occurs, and seems to calm, and may not have been as cut and dry as it seems.

The Founding: The first form of modern Exandria is formed by the Tengari. Mortals are either created wholesale, or shaped from those Primordial things hidden in the pockets of primal nature with the Eidolons. Here the second story of the divestment occurs (likely not the true one), claiming the Luxon grew curious regarding what the Tengari were doing and wanted to become a part of their cycle and learn of itself through interaction with mortal souls. At some point Mortals are givin divine magic, unsure if that means Clerics solely. The "First" Dragons are also created, possibly from Elementals that were drawn to the Tengari, raises questions about the origins of Bahamut and Tiamat. The first celestials(Seemingly not creations of the Tengari) and Demons are drawn to Exandria by the presence of mortals. The Gods begin being put in certain perspectives and positions due to the beliefs of their creations. Not all are happy with this change.

Falling Star: Predathos arrives at an as of yet unamed island on Exandria, possibly having chased the Tengari from their previous home. Ethedok and Vordo are consumed. The Gods refusing to give up their new home, make a compact with the Titans to imprison Predathos within the island and jettison it, yet somehow either by Predathos's will or something else it remains with Exandrias orbit as Ruidus. Precursor of the Divine Gate is seeded in the Lawbearer's mind. The Rudians possibly origin, already corrupted by the presence of Predathos within their home, or afterwards as they are trapped with it.

The Schism: The Primordials angered by the presence of Divine Magic begin attacking mortals. The Tengari split into factions, those that want to wipe the slate free, some noting a deal/promise they made to the Titans, the Primes seek to protect the mortals, some citing different promise and oaths. Corellon steals the Arcane from Lolth, possibly causing her fall, and gives it to Mortals to help them fight the forces of the Betrayers and Primordials. The former are trapped, most of the latter are slain, excluding Rau'shan and Ka'Mort, who notably seemed most present at the making of Ruidus. The Primes are victorious, and continue to walk Exandria into a "golden age". Notably, the Eidolons are left as they are, raising questions about their existence, and how they connected to the Tengari and Titans. Vasselheim is founded.

Age of Arcanum: Many Exandrians begin believing they can rise to the power of, or no longer need pay heed to the Gods thanks to the gift Corellon gave them. Vast flying cities soar above Exandria. A clear division between the Mages of those Cities and the Worshippers and even Druids of the surface begin to form. The first possible case of a Ruidusborn is accounted for: The Matron of Ravens. The Matron then Ascends to Godhood, seemingly slaying and erasing all memory of the previous God of Death, even from the minds of the Tengari.

Fall of Avalir: Following the erroneous attempt by Vespin Chloras to become the new Lord of the Hells, Asmodeus manipulates matters to lead to the destruction of the Tree of Names, a guardian against presences that should not be on Exandria. The tree is destroyed by a mage of Avalir, her name largely lost to time, in pursuit of her own goals. The Betrayers are fully freed to walk across Exandria once more, founding Ghor Dranus, and setting about wrecking havoc across the world, while the forgotten heroes of Avalir stop the Titan Monarchs from being released, slaying them and leaving but a shard of their power behind. All it costs is Domunus, now forever known as the Shattered Teeth.

The Calamity: Two-Thirds of Exandria dies in the divine war that follows. Vasselheim and Nirdol'Poc are the only cities known to survive the devastation from before the Calamity. Marquet burns, defended from total destruction by the second-oldest known Ruidusborn: Alyxian, thrice-blessed by different Prime Divinities, raising a number of interesting questions. Tharizdun arrives, at some point, but when is uncertain. I personally believe that it is after the fall of Aeor that it fully pokes in, but it may have been waiting in the wings for longer than that. The first vestiges are created to help mortal champions fight against the forces of the Betrayers. The Luxon is discovered by Leylas Krynn and her followers.

The Fall of Aeor: Aeorian Mages craft a weapon that can slay the gods, thought factions work against each other when it comes to how it will actually be applied. The Gods agree to a pact to stop the weapon. They chose to do so by becoming mortal. Some of the Primes seek to simply destroy the weapon, others seek the fall of the city. Some Betrayers show regrets for how they now exist in the world. The end through tragedy, manipulation and desperation, Aeor falls not just at the hands of the Gods but partially born by mortal action as well. Damned twofold, all by the conniving hand of Asmodeus seeking to end his Prime siblings and mortals, consumed by his rage. Something defends some of the citizenry of Aeor from destruction. Two individuals are saved by the Primes. A Young Ludinus watches the Fall. The Primes begin talking about the construction of the Divine Gate, though not all are in agreement. Cognouzas flight from Aeor sends them crashing *into* Tharizdun briefly, horrifically warping both the bodies and minds of the citizenry.

The Divergence: The Primes defeat the Betrayers once more and lock them away once more within their prisons. This includes Tharizdun, who nearly kills Ioun, and is stated to not be actually part of the Pantheon, and is an alien influence, not so dissimilar from Predathos. The Rites of Prime Banishment are written and worked for the first time to get rid of it, and several powerful divine shackles are created to keep it chained. They then leave Exandria, forming a protective net around it that will keep them out and protect Exandria from the full might of divinity for ever... or so it is said. This magical lattice work becomes known as the Divine Gate. Some servants of the Gods remain on Exandria, some attempting to become new Gods all their own, while some are kept in different prisons scattered across Exandria, others working to heal the devastation wrote by their creators or continue to revel in the chaos. Those would be divinties are imprisoned by mortal mages or cast down by their now distant creators, to eventually form a compact in the far future. The influences of the gods are still felt, but not demandingly and this distance becomes familiar and comforting to many. Many more Drow enter the light of the Luxon, abandoning the Spider Queen.

511 PD(Post-Divergence): Trist Drassig, son of the tyrant and other possibly Ruidusborn Warren Drassig causes the first mass extraplanar incursion on Exandria since before the Divergence, summoning a number of demons and a Demon Prince to Exandria to slay the rebels under Zan Tal'Dorei.

585 PD The Fall of Molaesmyr/The Crush: Ludinus contacts Predathos for the first time using Aeorian Tech and a magical font beneath the city. It goes catastrophically wrong on both sides of the link. Molaesmyr is consumed by a wave of corruptive energy that warps the landscape, the people, the animals and the forest beyond, spreading further and further with each year from that epicenter. The survivors, including Ludinus flee to Bysaes Tyl and Uthodurn. On Ruidus, a series of devastating earthquakes shakes the moon, devastating the Collective, the previous ruling body of the Rudian peoples, that was much more egalitarian and say the rise of the Weavemind and Kreviris Imperium to supplant them. The Weavemind destroys centuries of Rudian history and culture and begins manipulating their people and the other peoples of Ruidus through global indoctrination and eugenics programs. Ludinus's plots against the Gods and peoples of Exandria likely hit their stride, at some point following or before this point he begins consuming the essence of divine and fey being to empower himself and considerably lengthen his lifespan, making him into... something other than mortal. A noted obsession with the Matron also begins somewhere around this time.

812 PD: The Arch-Necromancer Vecna, another relict of the Age of Arcanum succeeds in ascending to Godhood, but is then successfully cast out of Exandria into his own prison plan as with the Betrayer Gods, joining him to their Pantheon, and technically making him another of the Tengari in essence if not origin.

835-836 PD: Tharizdun manipulates several powerful entities across Exandria in an attempt to free itself, causing a number of semi-diving figures to get free. Ludinus manipulates the factions of Wildmount, causing a war and allowing him to finally get his hands on a Beacon. The first of the Triad of Would-Be Gods, Uk-Otoa comes close to being released. Cognouza a "nascent-plane" is nearly released to prey upon Exandria. It is hinted that regardless of its defeat, a change is coming to Exandria, hinting at the Apogee Solstice.

And now here we are in the Era of the Red Solstice, new weapons being forged, great changes echoing across the world, evils new and old throwing off their shackles, and who knows what new dawn will be facing Exandria when all of this is said and done. But... it does seem like we are setting up for a whole new era of history. What do you think it will look like?

[thievinghippo]

So I promised a postmortem and it’s finally time! Here’s the TL:DR. I loved it. I can already tell I’ll probably have more played hours in this game than Inquisition, and I fucking loved Inquisition! Good, bad, and ugly beneath the cut and there will be heavy spoilers for the entire game, so read at your own risk. (This is also long, because I have a lot to say!)

THE GOOD

Rook. Once I let go of my preconceived notion of how Rook was (mid-40s and serious but kind) and accepted Rook for the young, sarcastic character they are, I fell in love. Edda is going to be an A possibly even S tier OC for me

The dwarves. We were fed so well, y’all. So much lore and dialogue choices. There was even a Grey Warden dwarf specific dialogue choice. I love the confirmation of what we all suspected with the Titans. I just wish that a dwarf Rook had the opportunity to confront Solas. He apparently apologizes to Harding. But what about a dwarf Rook?

Exploration. I’m an idiot when it comes to figuring out in-game puzzles and such. I’ve read some complaints that everything was far too easy, but for one of the first times I remember, I could do a vast majority of puzzles and finding treasures without consulting a game guide. And I was actually proud when I figured things out. When I play Edda again, I’m going to 100% the world and I cannot wait

The Companions. Bonus points for Emmrich Volkarin. I ended up loving all of them. Even the ones I was very ‘meh’ on before playing the game. Like Bellara. She was on my list to romance second to last. And she has moved up to third, after Emmrich and Davrin. 

Emmrich Volkarin. Yes, he gets his own special mention. I love him so much that I created a second Rook to romance him. That way I have one Emmrich that is not a lich (Edda’s choices) and one Emmrich that is a lich (Sonnet’s choice). I love his compassion, his kindness, his reverence of the dead. I adore his romance and how clear it is that Rook has bewitched him, body and soul. The fact that they lean into the age gap and it becomes entwined with his own fears of death. He has my favorite personal quest. I loved the music, the atmosphere. How it pertains to his own journey, facing his mortality (plus Johanna Hezenkoss can get it). Plus it has the banger line of ‘Show them what a real necromancer can do!’ I even can’t wait not to romance him and see what the friendship is like and encourage him to hook up with Strife

The backgrounds. Granted, I’ve only played through the game 1.5 times, but there have been so many background mentions. Especially for the Grey Wardens. Mourn Watch has some great ones too. I mean, there was Grey Warden romance banter during a fight. In a side quest! I can’t wait to discover more

The character creator. I love how inclusive it is, especially when you compare it to previous Dragon Age games. The hair is beautiful (but where is my braid crown! my kingdom for a braid crown!) and I have overweight OCs, which make me very happy. Varric's shaving mirror is also amazing, and because I want EA to know that people are using these options, Sonnet is a trans woman who will save Thedas

THE BAD

Weird tonal switches. Emmrich and Harding are going to Ferelden so she can show him around but the South is being razed by darkspawn. Harding’s mom sends her back with pie and gives great hugs. How in the world are they getting to Ferelden? Rook was amazed to see the Inquisitor in the North so why would the members of the Veilguard be able to go to the South? Some of the codex entries are so dark and yet everyone is happy in the Lighthouse 

Give Rook a problem, please! I kept waiting for Rook’s LI to go up to her and ask if there’s anything distracting her. If there’s any problem they could solve together. But that never came and Rook is apparently the only person on the team that can’t be distracted by their own problems. How amazing would it have been if Rook had some sort of personal quest. Maybe based on lineage. Or background. Something that shows that she matters as much to her companions and they mean to her

The Act One Choice. Still mad about it. Are you telling me that two extra people would have saved Minrathous? That a city full of the most powerful mages in the known world couldn’t take down a fucking dragon? It didn’t feel earned and it did annoy me a great deal

Let. Rook. Mourn. While I appreciate that Rook was able to mourn Varric and Davrin (in my playthrough) privately, the fact that it immediately jumps to a sex scene sort of bothered me. Especially Emmrich’s taking them to the Necropolis so they can bang in a coffin. This was not the time to leave the Lighthouse, Emmrich! The rest of the team got to mourn Davrin and worry about Neve together. I wish Rook could have been a part of that too. 

Let’s talk Varric’s death. I didn’t see it coming. I actually ranted to a friend before I knew what happened that they should have killed him in the prologue if this was how they were going to use him. Oops. I hate how callous the truth about his death makes Rook look. I hate that Harding and Neve didn’t even really seem to mourn. Hate how the Inquisitor or Dorian or Isabela don’t mention him at all. I hate how obvious his death is in my second playthrough. I will have to fix this all in fanfic

THE UGLY

Assuming there is another DA game, where do we go from here? I really dislike the concept of the Executors in the secret ending. One thing I’m optimistic about is that by basically wiping the south off the map, we might be able to have more games there. Because everything will have been reset, so to speak. How does the South deal with the mages when they’ve all been fighting darkspawn for their lives? Put them back into Circles? I think not

I’m also not sure about what choices would move forward into a new DA game. Not talking companion choices, but choices that actually affect the world. No matter what we do, the Blight is over and the Veil is safe. If BioWare couldn’t be bothered to have the Well of Sorrows choice matter, I can’t imagine they’ll care how Solas was bound to the Veil, whether it be by choice, trickery, or force. Minrathous or Treviso is the only other non-companion choice I can think of that might possibly matter

But honestly, it doesn’t matter, because who knows if we’ll ever get another Dragon Age game? I know I would love one, but I have this sinking feeling there won’t be (please let me be wrong!)

So there you have it. I really love this game, good, bad, and ugly. And I found so much more to love than to dislike. I have a feeling I will be yelling about this game (and Emmrich!) for a long, long time

[mrs-gauche]

So, on the new teaser published on DA Day this year, while I won't even try to go as in-depth as the amazing @felassan already did, compiling everything of note in this excellent post, like the sleep deprived German with limited vocabulary that I am, I'm just gonna add my little two cents to it, hopefully not repeating too much of what has already been mentioned. 😁

So why not start with the caption here!

This honestly made me snort out loud. 😂 I mean, it's like BioWare is not even trying anymore to be subtle about the fact that Thedas has we know it is 100% doomed. lol And yes, I know we all joke about Thedas constantly being in Apocalypse mode, but this time it really feels like some massive change is approaching.

But to be specific, I am pretty confident in that this is referring to both the destruction of the Veil, as well as the freed Evanuris dooming the world through some kind of mega Blight.

When I first read the word "revelation", it immediately made me think of Solas' Tower tarot card. The Tower literally represents sudden, disruptive revelation and potentially destructive change. While "damnation" is the concept of a divine punishment, to be "doomed to suffer in hell forever".

And as felassan theorized, if the last person in the teaser speaking is Elgar'nan, and if he is in fact connected to the Old God Lusacan, who is the God of Night, bringing about the "eternal night" and darkness…

“Lusacan, the Dragon of Night, calls to you. He lives where it is darkest and waits for the day he will rise. Drink of his blood and know the power in darkness: either fear the Night or wield it." "The darkspawn yearn to awaken and corrupt Lusacan to start a new age of darkness." “A night that will never end”

...Whereas the "revelation"/Solas tearing down the Veil, to me at least, always seemed to be associated with light or "purification" (for lack of a better word), with how it was described in Sandal’s prophecy and the way the destruction of the Veil was portrayed in the 2022 cinematic, almost blindlingly bright. (Also, "Solas" literally means "light" in Irish. lol)

„One day the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just as they were. The shadows will part. And the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see.“

So I think, like this "revelation" contrasts the "damnation", like Light and Darkness, at least in terms of visual language, there could be a hint of a figurative, as well as a literal "clashing" of two opposing forces? Like, both are destructive, but like The Tower represents destruction in order to rebuild/to enforce new growth/for the soul to evolve, while the damnation is nothing but irreparable corruption?

Anyway! So generally speaking, the teaser highlights yet again three of the factions/places we've seen in all the 2020 teaser/concept art/books/comics. It looked absolutely gorgeous and the voice over gave me goosebumps, as well as the amazing score again (that may or may not be composed by Hans Zimmer and/or Lorne Balfe lol I wonder) and the sound design! <3333 Though what’s curious to me, is that neither the Shadow Dragons of Tevinter or the Veil Jumpers from the Arlathan Forest were mentioned this time around…

So, I think this time the teaser might be more about the main plot beats/quests in the game than about the protagonist's potential origins, like how in DAO and DAI, you travelled to various places gathering allies and completed their respective narratives first before facing the main threat. Each of the places shown is coupled with a voice over from what is most likely gonna be an important character in each of these plot beats.

The fact that they changed the word "hero" in the plot blurb on the official DA website to "leader" is also.. interesting. It kinda reminds me of when Mark Darrah mentioned that the "vision statement" for Joplin was gonna be "We would be heroes, but the records are sealed". 👀 Or maybe the new protagonist might not be so heroic after all and more on the morally grey spectrum, which is always nice to explore. lol Makes me also yet again wonder about the "They call me the Dread Wolf. What will they call you when this is over?" line, meaning that, no matter how heroic our actions might be, in the end history might still remember us as the villain.

Antiva

This looks phenomenal and if they actually manage to realize a city as big as what this suggests AND fill it with meaningful content and people (side-eyeing you, Val Royeaux lol), it will blow my mind! lol Like felassan said, I'm very curious if we're gonna do some Assassin's Creed style "parkour" here, like what was kinda described in the short story "As We Fly" from last year! The Crows as the only real military defense of Antiva, particularly in Treviso, seem to be in deep trouble now, having been invaded by the Antaam and if you look closely, you can actually see the banner of the Qunari being displayed in the city!

"We fight for everyone. And we always will. The Crows rule Antiva."

My first thought hearing the voice here was actually Caterina Dellamorte. The lines express authority or leadership and it's also a more elderly sounding voice (to me at least), so Caterina as the First Talon would make a lot of sense to me! There have also been lots of speculation about her grandson, Lucanis, being a potential companion as well.

Rivain

(Oh no, all of Rivain got eaten by a squid. lol)

I've been hoping to go there ever since I first saw concept art of Rivain, and this is still giving me huge Pirates of the Caribbean (but with magic) vibes. 😂 As someone who thoroughly enjoyed playing AC Black Flag like ten years ago, this looks VERY promising! Though please, if we're getting any kind of underwater combat (like with the Vinsomer mentioned in the codex entry from last year), just don't make me fight dragons underwater, I'm still traumatized by the Lagiacrus in Monster Hunter Tri. 💀

"Glory to the risen gods. They come to deliver this world."

As to who is saying this, honestly, no idea. 😂 The blurb on the website mentions dragons in this place acting up for some reason, and the line sounds very cultist. lol But I'm definitely with felassan here, too, that this has to be connected to the Evanuris as well, given this GIANT squid thing on the map and all of the horrifying ocean related stuff linked to Ghilan'nain and her monstrosities, my money is also on her being one of these "risen gods".

And honestly… If I was a simple sailor or pirate and then one day I would see this emerge from the ocean…

….I'd probably start believing in these "gods", too. lmao

Anderfels

Next up, we're going to the Anderfels and Weisshaupt and I don't really have anything to add to what has already been said, other than "Shit is definitely Going Down Here". lol Lorewise, it would be crazy to go there and learn more about the very beginnings of the Wardens at their headquarters, so.. given the lines, the ominous sound of battle in the background here and some *things* from those reddit leaks earlier this year (felassan made a great post about this too, but spoiler warning of course!).. I just hope there will be enough left of Weisshaupt to explore after all this. lol

"Grey Wardens don't hide in our castle. I won't ask good soldiers to turn tail and run."

My first guess was the First Warden as well, but felassan actually made a few very good points here that make me question it… 🤔

I was also wondering what these "pillar ring" things are and while I first thought some kind of magical defense mechanism, I saw a reddit user suggesting that these rings could be part of a griffon training flight path?? Hell YEAH. #BringBackGriffonsInDA4

"Tremors have been creating disturbances of late. Their cause is unknown. Upon the distant horizon, a storm of ominous intent brews and darkens the skies."

That is a very interesting description, given that the sky in *this* concept art (which is definitely also showing Weisshaupt), is quite clearly the opposite of "dark". lol

(*looking suspiciously at the things I mentioned at the beginning here about "Light and Darkness" clashing* 👀👀👀 Maybe Solas came to visit here, too, because he just loves the Wardens, right? lol)

You know, if I read the words "tremors" and "Grey Wardens", my natural conclusion is "Something something Old Gods Underground + Grey Wardens Trying to Kill Them Before They Awake = Nothing Good" (and let's not forget about the eleven(!!) mountains/Ghilan'nain's ancient pools underground mentioned in Tevinter Nights as well), keeping in mind that Solas gets furious about the Wardens deliberately searching them out and slaying them (because he obviously knows what's gonna happen if all of them are slayed(!)), and in DAI there was already something ominous going on at Weisshaupt...

And all of this coupled with the new vinyl artwork and all the promotional stuff for DA4 so far, makes me feel like the Wardens will be busier than ever before...

Seven semi-circles with two of them still "lit" and the "tambourine"/Veil looking more broken with each new update....

Seven Old Gods/Evanuris that were banished when Solas created the Veil.....

Seven mirrors shattering....

Seven gates of the Black City, which Kordillus Drakon prophesied will someday shatter and cover both the mortal and spirit realms in darkness....

And speaking of "DARKNESS COVERING BOTH REALMS".....

Tevinter

One word: TENDRILS. lmao

So the last shot shows a big part of Tevinter on the map, most of it covered in purple clouds and tendrils...

Followed by a voice that had me like

"All the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign."

First off, that voice actor sounds SO familiar, omg, who IS that?? Someone suggested Joseph Capp, the voice of the Shadow Prince from Divinity 2 and that fits perfectly (DOS2 has quite a few VAs from DA actually and funnily enough, the Shadow Prince is part of Sebille's main quest, who's voiced by Alix Wilton Regan lol) Whoever it is, they're doing a great job at sending a shiver down my spine. lol Like, you can just TELL, he's the Real Deal. "Peace and Comfort" never sounded more menacing. 👀

Alright, so I'll make this short, and say that I'm also very very confident that this is Elgar'nan speaking.

People have suggested the Archon, the Black Divine, some Venatori or Qunari leader, but honestly guys, none of these make much sense to me when looking at the bigger picture here (aside from the visual hints I've talked about earlier). Like, this teaser is obviously trying to set this person up as a serious threat to *the whole world*, and the only way I can see this work would be if this person held just as much or more power than Solas, because if they don't, they would just end up being a secondary concern, like another Corypheus…

You just don't market a game by suddenly introducing a new smaller threat to *"AAALL THE WORLD"* less powerful than the one we already have, you know. 😂 And imo, the only one "outmatching" Solas in terms of power, at this point, would be Elgar'nan or any of the elven gods. Or literally the Blight itself/the Titans.

And then there's this

"Hundreds of years in the making."

We know who has been directing the course of history for ages behind the curtains… I mean, the entire series has been building towards Mythal getting her vengeance.. and what better way to finally get to that point than to bring her husband into the narrative, the one who was potentially the main instigator of the Evanuris's betrayal and Mythal's murder. 👀

(There's one thing I need to say though, and I know this is the silliest of nitpicks, but.. if that guy really does turn out to be Elgar'nan, am I the only one who thinks it's really funny how he's just… talking British English/the common tongue like that? 😂 I mean, I 100% get why they cannot make the actors talk in ancient elven with subtitles for the whole game (something I personally really appreciated when they did it for some of the ancient elves and spirits in DAI), like Corypheus wasn't talking in the old tongue either, and I feel like there are multiple reasons for why this just wouldn't work. And if we're looking for a lore reason, I guess even the imprisoned Evanuris had somehow enough access to people's dreams over the course of thousand years to learn the languages of present Thedas as much as Solas or any other ancient elf like Abelas or Felassan did, but it's still funny to me nonetheless. lol)

Anyway, the teaser ends with a dragon's growling sound and then another wolf howling in the back, which I interpreted as Solas giving Elgar'nan a fair warning here that he's indeed still the title-giving DAD character. lol If we get to see these guys battling it out for real, like Giant Demon Wolf vs Black City Sized Blighted Dragon, it's already the best game in my book. lol

You just know someone at BioWare is having a blast at coming up with as many references to Solas' Trespasser dialogue to put in these blog posts as possible. 😂 I just hope they can keep this promise, cuz I have a LOT of questions (and I need Solas to answer ALL of them lol).

Hmmm... You "hope so", yes? Well, after *this* teaser I sure *hope* that the sentiment of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" still holds true in this particular situation, because I'd rather still be on Team Solas if I have to choose between "revelation" and "damnation". 👀

I guess we'll see next summer... 😁

[melissathettpdmember]

My Winx Club Headcanons about My Favorite Characters and Worldbuilding

Now might I remind you that my favorite characters either only appear in comics or you guys hate for not doing shit.

There are 4 roles (or jobs idk) for the male population:

- If you're born with magic, you can be a wizard. Wizards, after their graduation, usually pick another role or spend their life researching magic for others to use.

- If you're not born with magic, you're a human. Humans can get 3 roles or just live to be ordinary people:

Smiths: Smiths make weapons. But not ordinary weapons, they're either very high tech or element infused. High tech weapons are used by specialists, more suitable for smaller missions. Elemental weapons are used by paladins, better for battles and wars. Since smiths know how to use all of the weapons they create, they tend to be a lot more advantageous in fights. Except they don't usually fight.

Specialists: Specialists can start their education at 16 years old and this role is selected by most of the people. Specialists go on small missions to train. Smaller battles. They don't usually train for any upcoming wars, they're usually more on the offensive side. Specialists can ride dragons and use high tech weapons. Most of the time, they don't usually take things seriously. That's why there aren't many specialists on ranked charts.

Paladins: Now, paladins don't do any small missions. These people start their education at 18 or higher due to it being a more mature role. Paladins are like soldiers of Earth, they're basically an army that is getting ready for huge wars. Do they go on missions? If they want to. They usually don't. As a paladin, if you don't take your training or job seriously you're getting blacklisted. Paladins train for 10 hours every day on average, however, the ones that we know of train for more than 15 hours on average (by will). They tend to rank higher on charts due to being more skilled.

A lot of people prefer artists on Earth rather than the ones in the Magical Universe.

There are only 2 people alive that can manipulate the element of Light. Guess.

The only reason that Sky is a dog person is that Thoren is allergic to dogs.

There are 3 ways and 3 ages that you can be selected as a Nymph (or Goddess because they literally have their own Churches)

If you're directly chosen by the Great Dragon (impossible now that he's kinda... dead), you are selected at the age of 5. (Shocking. Also this is literally what happened to Daphne, Tetis and Politea.)

If you're chosen by another Nymph to replace them, then directly approved by the Great Dragon (you can still kind of do that), you're selected at the age of 13-14.

If you're only selected by another Nymph to replace them, you're getting selected at the age of 16. You're also put in a trial with other candidates. (The plot of the Comic Issue 149)

Daphne and Bloom have the age difference of 7.

Sky and Thoren have the age difference of 5 (Thoren is obviously older).

Bloom and Sky have the age difference of 2. (SHOCKING, I KNOW. This is only because I personally want to make Daphne and Thoren the same age.)

Most of the people living in the Magical Universe are born as spirits, in this world, spirits are 2 souls: one of them is your soul (good side) and the other is another soul sent by Upperclouds (Afterlife, in this context, HELL.) as punishment, which the soul acts as your devil on the shoulder. Like Bloom and Dark Bloom.

After they chose younger people to be in the Lightrock Council (around the age of 25-40, 2 gods and their friends iykyk), they changed the law. Right now; rape, sexual harassment etc. are the biggest crimes you can commit, arson is kind of legal and killing your rapist is completely legal; judged by the Lightrock Council.

Tetis (Tetis Astral, a Nymph that was introduced in comic issue 143.), as in charge of criminals in the Lightrock Monastery, introduced executions to Magix. Now she executes many criminals every day, using the help of her sacred spear.

Daphne does not give a shit about any injuries Thoren has or might have after wars or training. He's usually in the hospital once every 2 weeks anyway. She says that he's built like the Mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell).

Linphea has the least executions out of any planet, not because there are less criminals but because they offer free therapy and rehabilitation. Criminals get handled by the Linphea council and their Goddess, Lady Politea.

Daphne is blind in one eye after an explosion in the Potionology class back when she was still a student. She manages to hide it with the help of lenses.

Thoren has a prosthetic leg after he dropped the Earthquake hammer on his foot back when he was 19 (first week of his first year). The Earthquake Hammer cannot be used on any human being as it will completely shatter the entire bone that it hit.

Bloom's all time favorite movie is Frozen. She says that it reminds her of her family. That's not a good sign.

Daphne wanted to have the Beast of the Depths as support when she was about to begin her Sirenix quest with Politea. She couldn't control it. They hid in a random cave for about 4 hours under the frozen water of Domino.

Miss Faragonda does not know that you're allowed to be homosexual or transgender. Therefore we have no idea if she would be a straight ally or straight up homophobic.

Daphne somehow gained her Enchantix during the fall of Domino (WHEN SHE WAS 8-9?????) but she didn't learn that fact until she was 19. She never transformed before she was 19 so she hasn't seen her own Magic Winx or Charmix form.

Riven has mommy issues. (Probably canon)

Timmy has a huge family and everyone lives very close to each other.

Nex is afraid of rats.

Brandon keeps making Ken jokes. ("I'm Kenough", "Mojo Dojo Casa House", "It was Kenchanting to meet you" etc)

Daphne and all of her friends have performed in at least 2 different musicals before. They all have performed Heathers the Musical before. Therefore they all have a musical ear.

Alfea hosts parties, festivals and concerts every now and then. Everyone and anyone who chooses to can perform.

The Keeper of the Dragon Flame can control their body heat. They can go out wearing tank tops and shorts without getting cold in winter and vice versa.

Daphne and Thoren got engaged on their 12th dating anniversary and 20th meeting anniversary, when they were 28.

Tecna has been, is and will be socially awkward. Just like you.

They (the s6 cast) meet up to go to escape rooms. They ALL get terrified.

The Dragon Flame isn't the strongest power in the Magical Universe.

There are TV shows just like SNL, The Tonight Show etc.

Transformations beyond Enchantix can only be used during specific occasions. Even though Sirenix is the most powerful transformation (due to the strength of people who have it), it's not very useful to fight normally with it. The same goes for the other transformations.

There is an app like Twitter.

It has been normalized to not worship the Great Dragon but the Nymphs instead. It's like worshipping one of the prophets instead of God himself.

You have a public profile that anyone can reach. It also contains your suicide attempt count.

Speaking about suicides, there is a suicide forest where a device scans your mind and if you have a really fucked up life it lets you in. You have about 70+ ways to die there. Yes it's fucked up but yeah.

If you have a very strong power (or if you have mastered many elements), you have to take medicine due to the power being too much to handle for your body and mind. If you don't, you'll slowly lose your sanity.

Tecna has had lasik surgery.

Almost every character that you meet in the franchise has trauma. Like literally, even the ones you hate.

[sunnyrosewritesstuff]

Customer Service: Where Character A works Customer Service at a restaurant/business and Character B and their child are customers. Character A first notices a really cute kid only to notice that, hey, the parent is actually very beautiful too. What the hell?

So this is actually my first Dungeon Meshi fic and the fact that it's a modern AU is a nice little callback to my first Bagginshield fic being a modern AU oneshot. So I hope you guys enjoy and I did these characters justice.

Cooking is Better with Company

Ship: Pots n' Picks (Chilchuck/Senshi)

Rating: G

Warning(s): N/A

Words: 2534

Senshi’s dream had always been to own his own restaurant. Nothing too fancy. Just a small place full of comfort food for families to come and gather. It had taken a long time. Lots of clawing and fighting in his youth to get here, but finally The Golem’s Garden Bistro came to be. Senshi had a few hired hands to wait on the customer, but as for making the food? That pleasure belonged solely to him. Because of it, there wasn’t often a chance to go out and greet a customer personally. So when one found him, he was more than a little caught off-guard. 

“Whatcha doing?”

Senshi turned around, eyebrows jumping high on his head at the sight of the adorable little blonde girl with a wide grin.

“Making bread.” He answered. 

Somehow her grin grew even wider. “Can I help?”

Senshi hesitated. Clearly she belonged to someone in the dining room, and he would imagine they were looking everywhere for her. However, it has always been hard to resist a sweet little one. 

“Okay, but then you need to go back to your family. Alright?”

��Kay!” She squealed before running over to where Senshi stood.

Senshi looked around for something for her to stand on before finding a footstool Falin had to use sometimes to reach the top shelf in the storage room. She still stood a bit shorter than the countertop, but at least she was able to peer over it to see what Senshi was doing. They made sure to wash her hands clean, as all good cooks do, he explained. Then he would pull off bits of dough to have her squish into a ball and put in the pan. They continued on in this way, finding their own little rhythm as Senshi put the rolls in the oven to cook.

“Now while we wait, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?”

She took a deep breath before launching into the longest spew of words in the shortest amount of time that Senshi had ever heard. Apparently her name was Puckpatti, and she had a mom, a dad, and two sisters. Her favorite color was purple, and her favorite animal was dragons. Senshi smiled and hummed or agreed in the appropriate place as he took the rolls out of the oven, and listened to her tell him about her favorite class at school and why. That’s when the kitchen door opened once more. Senshi looked over expecting to see Laios or Marcille back for their orders, but instead it was another little girl with red braids staring back at them before turning and shouting into the dining room.

“I FOUND HER, PAPA! SHE’S COOKING IN THE KITCHEN!”

It wasn’t seconds later that the door banged open again and a small red headed man came running in. Senshi blinked in surprise. He had one of those boyish faces that belied his age if the strands of gray in his hair was anything to go off. His eyes were dark and soul-sucking, even caught in a panic like he was now. Senshi didn’t know if he had ever seen a more beautiful man in his life.

“Patti! Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” He cried, gripping the young girl by her arms.

“But Papa, I was making rolls with Mr. Senshi.” She cooed.

“And you!” The man turned towards Senshi. “What do you think you’re doing? I’ve been half scared out of my mind and you’re back here keeping my daughter from me!”

“But I…” Senshi began before he was cut off.

“No!” The man snapped, holding his hand out in front of him. “Don’t even bother making excuses. If this is the kind of business you’re running, you’ve seen the last of us! Come on Patti.”

“But Papa, you haven’t tried one of our rolls.” Patti pouted.

The man hesitated at seeing her hurt expression before grabbing one of the finished rolls off the counter. He took a large angry bite only to melt a moment later in bliss. Senshi felt himself blush having never gotten to experience someone’s reaction to his food firsthand. The man finished off the roll, licking the butter off his fingers, when he realized Senshi was watching him. His face turned a delightful shade of red before he grabbed both his daughters by their hands.

“Say goodbye, Patti.” He grumbled.

Not the least bit put out by her father’s mood, the little blonde turned back to Senshi with a wide grin.

“Bye, Mr. Senshi! See you next time!”

With that the door closed behind the family, and for a moment Senshi just stood there utterly bewildered by the whirlwind that he experienced. It was a shame he never caught the man’s name, but he figured he was probably never going to see him again anyways. No use lamenting over something he would never get to have anyways. Senshi finished up the bread and moved on to making potstickers. For the first time, he found himself actually aware of the silence closing in around him. Perhaps it would be good for him to interact more with the customers. He didn’t realize how starved he was for chatter until Patti burst into his life. Resolved to make more of an effort to get out of the kitchen every once in a while, Senshi went back to pouring his all into his food. 

***

The next day came and went, and Senshi never left the kitchen. Nor the day after that, nor the day after that. Turns out it was hard to break the habit now that he had it, and the temporary loneliness he had felt had now passed. It had been nice getting to know Patti, but he was fine. Everything about his life was fine. It was almost exactly one week later as Senshi was frying up some tempura when he was greeted by another little voice.

“Hello, Mr. Senshi! Can I help?”

He turned, expecting to see Patti, but this was a different little girl with dark hair and a soft, shy smile. Senshi had learned his lesson though. 

“Why don’t you run back to your parents?” He offered instead.

Suddenly, her smile turned into a pout with puffed out cheeks.

“Patti got to cook with you!” The little girl complained.

Senshi blinked. “You’re Patti’s sister?” 

“Yeah! My name’s Flertom.” She introduced, her smile returning for only a moment before she looked up at him with big pleading eyes. “Please, Mr. Senshi. I just want to help for a little bit.”

Senshi really should say no. There was no way he would let the little girl around the fryer anyways. Besides that, he didn’t want to give her father any more reason to come back here, puffed up and irritated…Of course, now that he thought about it, it would be a great way to see him again. Senshi finally relented, catching Laios to have him give the ‘small red headed man’ a message that his daughter was back here. 

Senshi knew that would buy him at least twenty minutes as Laios could get very distracted, so he had Flertom help him dip the tempura in its batter, and then he carefully put it in the fryer for her. Her eyes grew big when they came out all nice and golden brown, and he praised her work on making sure the coating was even. Sure enough they had just finished when the door flew open.

“Flertom! What are you doing?! You said you were just going to the bathroom.” The man demanded.

“I did.” She explained, hopping off her stool. “And then I came in to help Mr. Senshi. Try a bite, Papa! It’s so good.”

Senshi held out a section of the tempura to the man who’s dark eyes seemed to be trying to glare holes into him. Finally, he snatched the piece and popped it into his mouth. His expression all but melted as he turned his head away from Senshi.

“It’s very good.” He grumbled.

“I’m glad you like it!” He stated happily. “And I’m glad you came back.”

The man turned and opened his mouth like he was going to say something, before shaking his head and grabbing Flertom’s hand. She waved goodbye to him all the way until the door shut behind them. Senshi let out a small laugh. He was starting to get used to these little visits. He wondered what the man’s favorite dish was? Maybe he could have it ready for him next time. 

***

Senshi waited the next week for some adorable little girl to poke her head in his kitchen, only to be disappointed. He even poked his head out into the dining room a couple of times, but couldn’t catch sight of the family. Maybe he really did scare him off for good that time. Senshi tried to find his rhythm again around his disappointment, but he was reminded again of the loneliness of his situation. Even Marcille was asking after him to make sure everything was okay. Senshi’s food still was amazing, he would never sink so low to serve a subpar meal, but he started to realize he didn’t have a life outside of this restaurant. Perhaps he should take Laios up on his offer to play tabletop with them at some point?

In any case, Senshi didn’t have much hope for the next week until he turned to see three beaming faces staring up at him.

“Hello, Mr. Senshi!” The girls greeted in unison.

Senshi chuckled in relief. “Welcome back! Does your father know where you are?”

“He is aware.” A voice sighed.

Senshi turned to see the red haired man enter the kitchen, rubbing the back of his head as he refused to make eye contact. 

“Don’t suppose you could use some helping hands? They were rather insistent.”

Senshi beamed brightly before assuring him he would love to have the company. Senshi and the other man helped the girls wash their hands before Senshi set them up with making rolls, asking Patti if she remembered how. She assured him she did, and Senshi watched for a little bit before feeling confident that the girls would be able to shape the rolls with no problem. He handed over his knife to the father.

“How handy are you at chopping vegetables?”

“Less than I care to admit, but yeah. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

Senshi watched him for a moment before coming up behind him and moving his hand into a more optimal position. The man tensed t before allowing Senshi to manipulate his movements. 

“You won’t wear yourself out this way.” Senshi explained, moving away.

“Yeah, thanks.” The man stated, his cheeks reddened.

Strange. Senshi didn’t think it was that warm in here. Of course, he’s certainly gotten used to it over the years. 

“I’m Senshi, by the way.” He introduced as he molded the dumplings.

“Chilchuck.” The man responded.

Chilchuck. It suited him. 

“You weren’t here last week.” Senshi remarked as casually as he could.

“Yeah, their mother wanted to take them on a trip last weekend so we switched around my weeks with them.”

Senshi blinked as he zoned in on the placement of his words. Their mother. Switched weeks. He had a better idea as to Chilchuck’s relationship status at least. Something that certainly settled nicely within him.

“And you come here every time you have the girls?” Senshi asked in genuine awe.

Chilchuck seemed to take it as more of a criticism as his hand tightened around the knife in his hand.

“It’s good food in decent quantities at an affordable price.” He snapped. “It’s not like I take them out for fast food all the time.”

Senshi tried to repress a shudder and failed. Oh no, he certainly couldn’t do that. Nutrition was important for the little ones, and it was something Senshi always prided himself in his food. Good tasting and good for you. Senshi spared a glance towards Chilchuck who still seemed to be bitter over the conversation. He felt a small smile grace his lips. He was clearly a good father, he just didn’t seem to know how to ask for help.

“I could teach you.” Senshi offered.

“Teach me?” Chilchuck repeated, his brows furrowed.

“To cook.” 

Chilchuck smirked. “You mean my superb chopping skills haven’t wowed you yet.”

Senshi kindly pushed him aside as he took the knife out of his hand and had the vegetables chopped within seconds. The smaller man blinked in surprise as Senshi dumped the ingredients into his stir fry without spilling a single onion. 

“You’re getting there.” He encouraged.

The corner of Chilchuck’s mouth curled. “Show-off.” He accused.

“Mr. Senshi! Mr. Senshi!” The girls cheered. “We finished!”

Senshi put the slightly protesting Chilchuck in charge of the stir-fry despite his exclamations of it being hot as he checked on the girls’ work. He held his thumb up. 

“Well done! Now it just needs a brush of butter and to go into the oven.”

They cheered and giggled and promised to watch the oven closely and let him know the minute the rolls developed a nice brown top. Senshi slid in beside Chilchuck, gently extracting the pan and spoon from him as he tossed everything into the air and caught it again before plating it up. He called out for Laios, Fallin, and Marcille to take the dishes out to the customers, which they did only after giving the family in Senshi’s kitchen an odd look.

“I noticed you’re not open on Mondays.”

Senshi spun around to see Chilchuck had his hands crossed behind the back of his head, his eyes staring off into the distance. 

“Got to go home at some point.” Senshi responded.

Chilchuck smirked at him before he averted his gaze again. “I was thinking…it might be a good time to take you up on your offer.”

“What offer?” Senshi replied automatically as he began steaming the dumplings he made.

He could feel the annoyance rolling off Chilchuck’s tongue without even turning around to look. 

“The offer to help me learn how to cook.”

Senshi blinked in surprise, his movements stilling. Oh. 

“I would like to be able to make something for when the girls aren’t around and it would probably be easier on my wallet in the long run.” 

Senshi spun around catching sight of the fetching pink spreading out across Chilchuck’s cheeks. He grinned happily as that feeling of loneliness evaporated completely.

“I would truly enjoy that.”

Chilchuck smiled for a small moment, his eyes bright and shining, when the girls declared the bread to be done. Senshi rushed over to take it out of the oven, and as the smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air, he found himself with four identical gazes of near-drooling reverence. Considering orders had slowed down, Senshi set them up a little spot out of the way where they were able to enjoy the bread and dumplings they helped make. As the family made little pleased noises with every bite, Senshi vowed to determine what their favorite foods were and make it for them as long as he was able. 

[lloydfrontera]

what do you think llojavi's child will be? I love reading your hc.

mmhhh i never really stopped to think about it tbh! kid fics aren't really my go-to and i'm terrified of having children myself so it's not something i tend to explore with my ships

but if i had to have a hc for them... i think they'd have a lot of children. all of them adopted.

it just makes sense for them as characters imo! they are both deeply compassionate individuals who know what it's like to lose both parents and know how much it means to be brought in to a loving family. they know.

they wouldn't be able to come across a child who needs what they received at one point and look away.

that plus lloyd is an only child, he always wanted a little sibling and was absolutely delighted to get julian, i think once he gets over the instinctual fear of "oh god what the fuck am i doing i don't know how to be a father" and is more comfortable in his role as parent he wouldn't be able to resist the idea of having a bunch of kids running around their home. i'm thinking maybe four. probably six. no more than eight.

but. i do think the first kid would be javier's fault.

in one of those rare occasions he's not glued to lloyd's side, he'd go out to run some errands or something and then come back with a semi-terrified look on his face and a far-too-small-for-their-age kid in his arms.

lloyd just,,, stares at them for a little bit before taking the kid and charge of the situation. he's never really had any experience with kids but they're just,,, people. in tiny. he knows people, he can work with that. his friendly and straightforward demeanor immediately wins over the child, making him relax and open up in a way that javier's warm but stilted demeanor weren't quite able to.

i'm thinking a four or five year old, just to really hammer down the parallels between javier and him. very tiny. with dark hair and dark eyes. the kind of features that don't really stand out in a crowd.

i think the two of them would think it's just something temporary, just until they find someone more suitable to raise a kid, a good family that could take him in.

neither of them really mentions the idea of keeping the child, at first because it's not even a possibility but then as the weeks pass by because they're just too wary of disrupting the routine they unconscionably created and actually having to take a decision about it.

but then one morning javier looks over during breakfast and there's lloyd pilling all sorts of food into the kid's plate, chatting him up the entire time, playfully teasing him into eating everything he can, the two of them very solemnly haggling and bargaining over just how many vegetables he has to eat in every meal and a wave of pure love and affection rushes through him and he realizes that. oh. he wants this to last forever.

he doesn't mention it tho. he knows lloyd has always talked about having an easy, relaxed life, free of any concerns and burdens. and raising a child is not an easy responsibility. spending the rest of his life at lloyd's side already feels like more than he deserves, he won't selfishly asks for more than lloyd is willing to give.

he will just enjoy however long this lasts and hope the separation won't hurt as much as he's bracing himself for.

meanwhile lloyd caught javier with the kid on top of him napping on a sunbeam like two weeks ago, both of them completely sprawled out and dead to the world, except when they unconsciously moved to chase the moving sunlight and then he immediately decided he was gonna keep this. them. all of it.

he already reached his limit on how many times he can lose his family. he's no longer letting anything else keep him from hoarding his loved ones like a dragon with their treasure.

and he's terrified to admit it but the pipsqueak has already burrowed his way into his heart and now heaven help the soul that tries to take him away from lloyd. he's not above biting.

that's precisely why he doesn't bring it up with javier because,,, he really doesn't know what would happen if javier isn't on board with the plan. he's not selfish enough to make a decision like this for the both of them but he really doesn't think he can give the kid up anymore.

so he just. doesn't say anything. he continues with the routine they've made and hopes time will be enough to make javier fall for the child the same way lloyd did already.

and then this goes on for a couple weeks because these two are terrible and i love them for it. but this is like. not great. it actually kind of really sucks for them but also for the child

it all comes crashing down when the poor kid breaks down on them at some point because someone told him they were giving him away and, hey, turns out, not telling a child who's been left on the streets to survive by himself what's the plan for them because you're too busy worrying your partner won't be on board with keeping him is not a great idea! because he's gonna be lowkey fretting about what will happen to him and ultimately freak out at the slightest suggestion that he's being abandoned again! who would've thought!

they both immediately try to comfort him but they can't get to the bottom of his fears and actually give him reassurance because they don't know if they can promise him anything because they don't know what the other is thinking.

that is until they make eye contact in the middle of comforting him and it's one of those perfect moments where they're in total sync and can have entire conversations with just one look. and they realize how stupid they've been. because of course the other also wanted the same thing. of course they would want to give this child the very same thing they've received from their loved ones. how could've they ever doubted that.

after that is just really a matter of convincing the kid that of course they're not giving him away, he's staying right there with them, they can be his family now if that's what he wants. which isn't really hard because apart from this one communication issue they have actually been pretty good improvised parents to the squirt. and now that they know for sure they will be his parents forever, they try even harder to be better.

so that's how they adopt their first child.

i could go into detail about the rest of the kids are adopted but. that would make for an even longer post and this is already way more than i wanted to write askjhdkss

this is,,, really not what you asked for but it's what came out when i sat down to answer this ask, so like. i hope you still like it nonnie and i'm really sorry 〒▽〒

[ninja-muse]

I need to start walking past used bookstores instead of into them…

Anyway, June was an all right reading month. I read some really good books, and some kind of poor ones, which is fairly normal, but I also didn't read as much as usual. This is a combination of having a few slow reads (Steampunk, Navola) and writing up a storm, neither of which is a bad thing. I am so glad to have written as much as I have this month. The end of the latest WIP is in sight!

Navola, by the way, is really good and if I'd been organized enough to take a photo of the ARC before I unhauled it, it would have gotten a dedicated review here. Think Renaissance Italy, low magic, ruthless politics, a boy coming of age, an unwanted destiny he has no choice but to accept, the trapped soul of a dragon… It's complex and twisted and detailed and layered, the sort of book you have to pay attention to and which will surprise you anyway. Highly recommended if you like George R.R. Martin or Robin Hobb or grimdark that's less about blood and battles and more about everyone being flawed and kind of awful.

This was also a month of ebooks for me, accidentally. I had a few library holds come in (and delayed one until next month because time), and I received not one but two e-ARCs, the second of which I'm working on right now. I also had one of those moments mid-month where I had no idea what to read so went for something radically different—a thriller about a forensic artist, mostly because it had been on my TBR for a bit and was available on Libby the day I needed a book.

And I reread Drums Along the Congo! Which I last read over 25 years ago so it was basically a new book to me. There's a lot of stuff I either missed or forgot the first time, but I was a kid who was reading it for the living dinosaurs rather than an adult reading for the journey and historical moment. I can't imagine the details about Congo in the 1980s would've made much of an impression. If you're into travel writing, it's one I'd recommend.

The third book off my TBR, A Bouquet From France, is that pretty marbled cover. (I nabbed it off my dad's unhaul pile mostly for that.) More interesting than the poems are some of the 1920s-era translation choices and the fact that the book has actual handcut deckle edges, like you can see where the knife went in off-center to cut the signatures open. Also Victor Hugo is introduced as one of France's best poets, with no mention that he might have also written some major novels.

In terms of my book haul for the month: one out-of-print comic book my work got on sale; one memoir a coworker was unhauling; two travel books that the "I've adulted so now I get a treat" used bookstore had in stock. One is the sequel/follow-up to one I hauled last month, so it's nice to have both. The other is excerpted letters by an English diplomat's wife from Constantinople in the early 1700s.* I successfully delayed a trip to the other tempting used bookstore until next month, so stayed tuned for that.

*Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Awesome woman. Look her up.

And that's about it for this time around. I didn't do exciting cultural events or anything, just read and wrote a lot. How was your June?

Click through to see everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying - Django Wexler

Dani’s stuck in a time loop in a fantasy world. She’s supposed to be the Chosen One but that clearly not working. Time to switch sides for funsies…

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (bi woman), protagonist of colour

borrowed from work

Navola - Paolo Bacigalupi

Davico has always been aware of Navola’s politics and his banking family’s role in them, but also knows he’s unsuited to inherit that power. Unfortunately, in a city that breathes intrigue bowing out isn’t exactly an option. Out in July.

8.5/10

warning: violence, graphic injury, pseudo-incest

reading copy

A Bouquet From France - Wilfred Thorley, translator

A collection of French poetry from the 1100s to the 1920s.

7/10

off my TBR shelves

Steampunk - Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, editors

A collection of steampunk stories, old and new.

7/10

warning: misogyny, racism, eugenicists

off my TBR shelves

Running Close to the Wind - Alexandra Rowland

Avra, rubbish spy, finds himself on his ex’s pirate ship in possession of a deadly trade secret. Unfortunately, selling it to the highest bidder means working with a very sexy monk, and all manner of shenanigans.

7.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 main character (multisexual), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (ungendered, achillean), major character with prosthetic eye, largely brown-skinned cast, 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: frequent discussions of sex, cursing, animal death

library ebook

Every Time We Say Goodbye - Natalie Jenner

Vivien moves to Rome in the 1950s to work as a script doctor and possibly learn the true fate of her soldier fiancé.

6.5/10

Black American secondary characters, 🇨🇦

library ebook

The Face of Deception - Iris Johansen

Eve Duncan, world-class forensic artist, is drawn into a dangerous web when she takes a commission from a tech billionaire.

6.5/10

warning: animal death, murder

library ebook

The Black Bird of Chernobyl - Ann McMan

Lilah’s happily misanthropic life preparing bodies at her funeral home is upset when her father hires perky Sparkle for community outreach. Then Lilah goes viral… Out in July.

6.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 main character (lesbian), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian, sapphic), Black secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: death, grief

digital reading copy/won

Reread:

Drums Along the Congo - Rory Nugent

A naturalist travels deep into the African jungle in search of a legendary living dinosaur—or tries to. A lovely portrait of a time and place.

7.5/10

predominantly (Black) African cast

warning: animal death, brief mentions of Congo’s colonial brutalities

off my TBR shelves

Currently reading

The Dishonest Miss Take - Faye Murphy

Desperate to clear her name after a murder she didn't commit, a superpowered former villain stumbles onto a mystery—and a curious assassin. Out in September.

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (sapphic), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (sapphic)

digital reading copy/won

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin

A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts. The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

Victorian detective stories.

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 8 + 1 Yearly total: 59 Queer books: 3 Authors of colour: 0 Books by women: 3 Authors outside the binary: 1 Canadian authors: 1 Classics: 1 Off the TBR shelves: 3 Books hauled: 4 ARCs acquired: 3 ARCs unhauled: 2 DNFs: 0

January February March April May

[lovra974]

Another Barbarian Bakugo [part 2]

Prince Barbarian Bakugo x Dragon Royal Reader ; Dragonshifter Kirishima ; fluff ; implicit smut ; angst ; death of character ; sad ending. It's the last part. Hope you like it !

A lot of mysteries surrounded the L/N Realm.

The tropical forest beated by tempests, the tall mountains screaming in the wind... And the dragon-borns flying in the sky.

Your Realm was a peculiar one. Not so long ago, dragon-borns lived hidden and enslaved. Their scales and horns were tore out to be sold. A tribe was using magic to lock them up, forbiding them to fly.

You were the one who freed them. You were at war with the tribe, they blocked the few commercials road your people used. When you discovered dragon-borns were locked in their caves, you used it.

They are peculiar creatures. The years confined weaken them. You used old magic to help them. Kirishima was the first to follow you. He proposed you something, his dragon being the bigger was the harder to control. By using a link called sibling, you could help him to tame his dragon. You fought together, strengthen by magic and the new link between you two.

You won against the tribe and freed all the dragon-borns, they weren't a lot.

You proposed them citizenship, promising protection and equality with other people. They all agree, but were quite suspicious. They have been locked for years after all.

But through time you won their trust.

Kirishima was your closest friend and one of the representative of his kind in your council. Your people prospered. Your culture and the dragon-born's culture mixed up.

However a problem appeared. The number of dragon-born rised up, while your food reserve didn't evolve. Feeding everybody was becoming quite difficult.

So, when Queen Mitsuki send a letter where she proposed an alliance and the hand of her only son in marriage for your help, you jumped on it. It was the solution.

You heard about the Bakugo’s tribe. Traders talked about the Prince's prodigious swordplay, his boldness in war, his lack of fear. His land was prosperous and fertile contrary to yours. You could feed your people with this mariage.

You asked more information and the traders talked about his spiked blond hair, how he kept his posture against King Enji who has three time his age and experience. Then, a trader talked about his red eyes.

Red eyes were the mark of dragon-borns in your country. You questioned the trader to know if he saw him shift.

"I don't know if he is a dragon, Heir L/N, but he sure fight like one."

You fantasized the man, without knowing it. Some of the oldest called him an ancient dragon soul. And Kirishima called you a lovesick fan, always with a stupid grin. "Come on Eijiro, I'm doing it for the food, you know me." You would say.

You would whispered it when you barged in Todoroki's castle, or when you found the Phoenix' crown. You burned down the castle after making sure everybody was dead. Apparently, King Enji ran away when he learned about the destruction of his fleet but left his children and wife. "Coward" growled Kirishima.

You sent your best trackers at his pursuit and flew to the Bakugo's, the crown safe in an orned box.

Bakugo, from his side, fought his parents. Asking when did they thought they had the right to forced his hand like that, without telling him before.

"Listen at you brat, throwing a tantrum like a spoiled child ! And you thought I would tell you? Knowing how you would react? I am your Queen, Katsuki. And you better remember it. We need this alliance with the dragon riders, you will give it to your people and that's the last time I'll explain it to you!"

The only person to ease his feelings was his father, who like the king he is, guides his steps. He talked to him about you, how you beat him and how trapped he felt.

"They doesn't sound so bad," he murmured. "But you should learn more about them and their culture. Don't let the darkness of ignorance guide you, flames are always better. Even if it burns. It's good their court is arriving tomorrow."

He followed his advice and learning he did. The first thing he did was training with your men. You won't beat him again, he would learn your tricks, your style, how your body glide. Then he learned more about dragon-borns, how you freed them, how you trusted them, how you rode them. He learned about your people who carved mountains and forests, children who trained for the Storm's Rite, dragon-borns who opened to the world and trusted humans with the sibling link.

And maybe, you weren't so bad.

When you came back, a week before the marriage, you bowed down to his parents and yours. He felt strange. A weird sense of giddiness. When you came to training, his own men would blank, they heard so much about you and the "stupid arranged marriage" their leader was forced into. "You know boss, if it's for the country's good, I volunteer to take your place for marriage." said Kaminari. Sero seconded, in case something happened to Kaminari.

Bakugo beated their ass that day, rage in his blood. He didn't know if it was because he felt mocked or because you were watching. But you didn't talk to him.

He didn't go to you either but he expected you to. Even more after he showed off your people's tricks he learned while you were away. But you didn't say anything.

Not until the ceremony, you got the Phoenix crown out of a box and put it on his head.

"How does it feel, to be the first emperor of the continent ?" You pecked his lips. The touch soft, your warmth dicipated as quickly as it came.

The first night, you stayed in your quarter after telling something about the lack of storms.

He learned the next day he was living with you for the Mishae plains. He saw your homeland, you took his hand and ran with him. He hunted with you, cooked with you, flew with you on Kirishima and cuddled with you in front of dragon's flames. You taught him everything, how to care, how to sooth and how to love. He never felt behind with you, always an equal.

He taught you songs his soldiers sang before battle, he taught you how to dress for winter in the Eastern lands, he taught you how to imitate animals to lure them and he taught you how warm he was.

Kirishima was always with him if not with you. The dragon-born trained and laughed with him. Your brother became his brother too.

It isn't until his first storm in your home, that you led him to your bedroom. You kissed him ferocely, touching and molding your bodies. The rain covered your breaths, thunder roaring like you both. It felt intense, like the weather. Rain pouring, wind screaming, clouds lightening. Bakugo finally understood what Kirishima told him : "You have bells during marriage, we don't have those. We only have thunder, it's him who tell us to... Dance." The smirk from the red-head should have led him to this ancient tradition.

You both flew back when your parents told you Enji was coming from the West. He paid mercenaries to take his castle back.

You both flew to the North with soldiers. The mercenaries were from a witch's clan. Their magic was dangerous to dragon-borns, making the fight more difficult. You ran to King Enji, if there was no king, there was no war. While you fought with the Phoenix you didn't see the archer pointing at you.

Bakugo saw it before you. He screamed you name with all his might, alerting Kirishima. You turned uround.

They saw the scene perfectly. The arrow flying, your eyes widening and the silver head piercing your chest. And just to be sure you wouldn't survive, Enji hit you with his sword, your blood poured everywhere.

Red. Red. Red. Everything was red. The earth where you lied. Katsuki vision while he saw life leave your face. He couldn't believe he didn't tell you he love you. And Kirishima flames when he felt the sibling link broke, crushing his dragon soul.

Enji perished in the flames, swallowed by them. How ironic for a Phoenix. But Kirishima was mad, he couldn't control himself.

Bakugo screamed. He poured his broken heart to stop the dragon. He climbed on it, hugging his scales while the dragon tore itself. He murmured, "I know, I know, I know... I need you to come back Eijiro!"

Crying, he used the spell like you taught him. Kirishima clinged on it. They were both hurting, desesperate. When the spell ended, the link was form.

They were sibling.

They left the North to take you back to Mishae. Bakugo and Kirishima swore no witch would ever hurt a dragon, no dragon-born would die of hunger. The empire formed by the South, the East and North would forever remember you like their creator and fierce protector.

He was now Emperor Bakugo, King of the Barbarians and the Dragons. He couldn't have imagine this destiny, and it was all thanked to you.

Tag list : @nnubee ; @phoenix666stuff

Please tell me if the link worked!

[chaotickasugaicrows]

I (Smol) has been unbelievably busy but I wrote this little thing (a bit rough) I'd like to share. It's for the Avatar AU.

Here's the Fire Nation lore. (just in case)

First, a little note. In Mugen Train, there is a young man with Tuberculosis that is meant to crush Tanjirō’s spiritual core. However, he is shocked by the kindness shown to him by the little sun spirits, the gentleness within Tanjirō’s soul. I’ve named him Yuzuru which depending on the kanji used (if my research wasn’t wrong) can mean modesty/humility or knot/bind and string/chord. I think that fits.

Yuzuru is a soldier in the fire nation, stationed at an important camp in another nation. He’s just a guard, has some talent in using a bow but no bending to speak of. His main job is to guard tents of important high ranking people. It’s boring but it isn’t all that dangerous so his mother is happy. Honestly, he didn’t care to be on the front lines or anything, unlike one of his frequent partner guards who’s just itching to fight but too respectful to complain. Yuzuru doesn’t understand her. The pay isn’t good enough to die and then if he’s dead what good does the money do (unless there’s a family or someone to support but he knows she doesn’t have that.)

So, he stands outside tents or gets watch duty on the tower. Ugh, the tower sucks. It’s cold and dark and way too easy to hallucinate things in the silence. Still, his job isn’t really eventful. Sometimes he catches bits and pieces of the meetings in the tents. Generals and commanders and strategists discussing the state of the troops, where the front lines are, timelines, and all that. He doesn’t ask questions and keeps silent about anything he hears. One man stands out to him. They call him General Kokushibo. That's not his actual name but no one addresses him as General Tsugukuni. Yuzuru doesn't know how he got the second name but it doesn’t matter. If the Fire Lord is represented by the Sun, then his right hand general is the Moon. Just because you can’t see him doesn’t mean he isn’t already after you. The Dragon of the West is another moniker. He’s terrifying because he earned his power and reputation honestly. No one would dare say he wasn’t a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield and there was extra respect among the soldiers because he didn’t shy away from the front lines. Lately, however, he’d been taking more breaks. Traveling back to the capital more often. Not many knew why but there were rumors. Of course there were rumors. So imagine Yuzuru’s surprise when he’s put on guard duty for a tent as usual and General Kokushibu walks out followed by a twelve year old boy. That’s right. A fucking child with red hair in a ponytail not dissimilar to the General. The kid is wearing a smaller version of a standard uniform. He didn’t know they made them in that size. This is the first time Yuzuru has serious questions and doesn't know if he’ll be able to restrain himself. But it’s not over. Almost as soon as the kid passes him, another kid emerges from the tent. An 11 year old girl in the same downsized uniform and with her black hair in a ponytail. He isn’t allowed to ask questions. Yuzuru repeats that mantra in his head and does his best to keep his mouth shut and ears open. Yuzuru sees them a few more times over the next week. Neither of them seem happy to be there but they’re professional. The serious looks on their face don’t belong to kids their age. He hears all sorts of rumors (people tend to forget he’s standing there.) How the General takes them to strategy meetings where they act as silent shadows. How the girl took on a soldier in a spar and won. How the boy’s flames had a hint of blue. How they both stopped by the medicine tents to help out. People speculate how proud the General must be. To have such talented and dedicated children. He trains them and drills them. He’s harsh, they say. None of those people see the General leave his tent in the morning and sigh. None of them see the glimpses of worry in his eyes before he too banishes it in favor of the same blank mask he’s passed on to his kids. Yuzuru is just a guard. He doesn't get to ask questions. Much later, he’ll find out those two are General Kokushibo’s kids. It’s not long before they earn a similar moniker to their father, the Twin Tigers of the West. Sometimes together, sometimes not. Terrifyingly good fire benders and fighters. Still, Yuzuru will never forget the first time he saw them. In those uniforms, following their father. They didn’t pay him to ask questions, Yuzuru told himself not to ask questions. But if he could, if he could ask those kids just one question it’d have to be, “What do you like to do for fun?” And if he could ask his nation one question, his Fire Lord, it’d be “What honor is there in sending children to war?”

Anyway, as you can tell I have feelings about this AU. Yup the kids are Tanjirō and Nezuko. Kokushibu aka Michikatsu doesn't care for them at first but they grow on him, even though it takes him quite a while to realize just how much. I initially wrote this without having a specific character in mind but the guy from Mugen Train fit super well. Hope you liked it.

Here's the Fire Nation lore if you need a refresher or read this post first.

[quibbs126]

Something that’s bothering me about the Might of the Ancients stories, in the stories we get younger versions of our current three Ancients, but the stories themselves seem to be taking place around the time they do the thing that leads to the founding of their kingdoms, at least for Hollyberry and Dark Cacao, as she’s chasing down Pitaya and he’s going to confront the North and South Dragons

Thing is, at the time of their kingdom’s foundings, I don’t think they were as young as these designs imply

First off, we have the cutscene of when Pure Vanilla was crowned king and the Vanilla Kingdom was founded

While Pure Vanilla isn’t clearly seen, we can see White Lily, who seems to already look like an adult. Given she and PV are likely around the same age, it’d make sense he’s an adult too, and thus he’s much older than he looks in his flashback design

But you could argue that maybe there was some sort of time gap in between the two given periods. But then we have the gacha animation for Dark Cacao, in which we see him confronting the two dragons. And in the flashback, he’s just about to set off to do that, so there is no time difference excuse here. Now look at the design from his pull

This is clearly not the same design, and he looks older in the gacha than he does in the flashback

And also, let’s look at the Might of the Ancients flashback designs. The three look like teenagers at best, children at worst (maybe around 12-14?). I kind of doubt that that even with their achievements, people would be willing to crown Cookies this young to be rulers. Admittedly I suppose I could be wrong in this aspect, but I still think it makes sense

Oh right, and one more important aspect that I just remembered, we know by the time they founded their kingdoms, they had their Soul Jam. Yet in these younger designs, they’re nowhere to be found. Which doesn’t make sense

My guess as to what’s going on? The designs we see in Might of the Ancients are even younger versions than what we saw in the flashbacks, likely of their original adventuring days (as they look like the flashback image in Odyssey), with their actual ages in these scenes probably being closer to adults

As for why these designs were used here, perhaps it’s because the devs plan to use these designs for future flashbacks to the proper age that these designs come from, hence why they were made

And they were used in Might of the Ancients to indicate to us that they’re their past selves, as it seems their current looks maybe have been already put together by them, if that makes sense. As in like, they would already look like their current day selves, minus their crowns, and so they used an even younger version of them to indicate that this is the past and so we aren’t confused

[1000dactyls]

i want to consume your art into my very soul by the way. it’s amazing and you draw them so well!!!

also yeah i love seeing your headcannons and ideas about trans astrid because i feel like we don’t get that a lot in the fandom. it’s very interesting to see how you perceive astrid’s growth as a character from building herself into the most fearsome warrior of her generation and that all being torn down, and how she finally has her girlhood but doesn’t know what to do with it

anyway ty for reading this rambly ask!!

hello i am so sorry for having this sit in my inbox for so long!!!! I really wanted to think of a good response to this ;___; it means a lot that you enjoy my art and how i draw them. I’m still working on aligning the dragon riders’ younger teen selves to how they appear in httyd2, i think, but hopefully drawing more of them will mean that their shape language also begins to come naturally to me…. I HOPE……….

i think trans astrid having 3 fics on ao3 is hugely a shame and the lack of it in the fandom makes me so sad. not that i think a lot of astrid characterizations are the best, anyways… astrid is one of those characters that i think is hard to nail down, in part because canon itself doesn’t really know what to do with her — is she the girl that the hero gets? is she the heart of the team? is she a girlboss? is she a damsel? the series kind of loses itself here trying to answer these questions. but i think the most compelling and consistent narrative about astrid is her coming of age: how she navigates being a member of a community shaped overwhelmingly by loss now faced with sudden abundance

and i think trans astrid in specific is one of the most fun lens you could explore that arc through, in part because you get to explore the httyd-verse with questions like “how are queer people who are not the child of the chief of berk treated” (not that berk, in my head, cares all that much for what bits you’re born with). but if astrid’s most consistent piece of core characterization is her finding her way to adulthood when she hasn’t quite fleshed out what childhood means to her, then giving another layer to her finding out what exactly “girlhood” means in all senses of the word can only be a fruitful experience.

at least, that’s the way i view it! especially since astrid is so much the it girl on berk — except berk’s it girl can’t cook and puts on smudgy dark eye makeup and wears skirts that seem impossible to sit in and reaches up to touch the clouds that always seemed impossible to reach. so in some ways, astrid’s figured out bits and pieces of what girlhood means to her. now she just has to figure out the rest of it

[khaleesi-posts-stuff]

Betrayal? You know so much about it, don't you? (Daemon Targaryen)

"My lord, It has been a boy, they named him Aemond." The maester said, which led to her father rejoicing.

"Ahh yes, all enough to usurp the old cunt and then make one of them as King of the Seven Kingdoms!" Otto rejoiced, without seeing the lethal look he received from his second daughter

"Well father, I may leave to take care of the prince Aegon. He shall become a good King one day." replied the princess royal, the title which was gifted by Viserys on her 18th name day. "My daughter, he shall be!"

*****

"My appreciation for taking care and loving my step-niece, Laenor." Leanora Hightower showed empathy to the boy who was forced to push away his feelings and marry a woman. "Tis I should be apologizing, princess. I have thought bad of your name."

"You are right. My father is a cunt and my sister is desperate to make her drunk son king. What shall I do?"

"You are the daughter of the hand? Don't you want your bloodline on the Iron Throne?"

"No, I don't want to risk my children's life to make them princes or kings. They shall be lords and noblemen." Leanora replied, making Laenor gawk at her, he had never seen a kind Hightower

"Aemond shall be a great warrior one day, he has the talent to be." Alicent joined in on the conversation with Laenor. Leanora was truly happy that Alicent was finally noticing her second son and not Aegon.

"He really does"

"I agree"

"Well, my Queen and my Prince, I shall go back to Rhaenyra and comfort her for the loss of her best friend" Leanora felt bitter saying that, as she was the one true friend the Princess of Dragonstone had. She had never acknowledged her after her sister's marriage to her father.

'Princess, I am very sorry for your loss, I shall pray for Laena's soul, she was a good woman. She will always be remembered"

"I'm sorry, what shall I address you again? Princess or Princess Royal?" Rhaenyra asked, mockery lingering in her tone telling her that she did not deserve that title, she did not even look at Leanora, her gaze was just on Daemon Targaryen. Leanora scoffed internally, the princess held too much pride to even talk to her. Let alone being smitten with a man who had just lost his wife.

"Princess Royal," that was all said by Leanora before she knew what she had to do. Daemon Targaryen was Laena Velaryon's husband, she knew that the princess Rhaenyra was in love with him when she was of age

"My condolences on the loss of your wife, Prince Daemon," said Leanora, Daemon heard the 'sincerity' in her voice

"She died the death of a Dragon rider, and for that she wanted me to be grateful." Daemon replied, making Leanora honestly fell bad for him, he was rejected in the name of a hand and was replaced with a cunt of a man, she felt bad for that. "Did your sister send you?"

"No, why would she send me to speak with you. I know that she does not support your actions, but she is not the kind of person to use weakness against her opponent, Daemon."

"Tis you know about your sister that much, hmm?" Daemon chuckled, making Leanora confused.

"Hightowers love to have power, don't you? Are you trying to seduce me, Leanora Hightower?" Daemon had already pulled Dark Sister with one hand and was gripping her bodice with another. He was aiming Dark Sister right at her chest, if she moved closer, the sword would be cutting her skin.

"Is it working, Daemon Targaryen," the moment she said that, Daemon's grip on her waist tightened and blood was pouring from her chest, the sword hadn't reached her heart but was only piercing on her skin, making her moan in pain.

"Is this because of Rhaenyra, are you afraid that she'll marry me?"

"You wish, my dragon can burn anyone into a crisp." Daemon chuckled "Dragon? What dragon?"

"You did not know?"

"what are you referring to?" Daemon asked "I am not a Hightower, my prince. I am the bastard daughter of your brother, my hair is hidden by the maester's dye."

"You're- You're older than Rhaenyra?" Daemon stuttered, it was his destiny to end up with a niece.

"Yes, but I have no interest for a crown"

"Listen, you are a Hightower, a house lower than Targaryens. I shall marry you and take you as my slave, nothing else."

"I am a princess royal, the title was given to me by my father I am not a slave to be bought" the words were no true, if Daemon had asked to marry her, she would be delighted. The words were given large spaces as Daemon had already started to kiss her neck.

"I shall not marry you."

Taking your silence as confirmation, his smirk widened, "I could simply reach out and take what I wanted, but I like to think of myself as a somewhat honorable man. So I'll give you a choice." 

Daemon held out his leather gloved hand to you, his fingertips nearly brushing the front of your gown he was so close now. "Make it easy and come with me now, or run and take your chances in the forest. If you can escape me, you have my word I'll let you go. But," Suddenly those fingertips were hooked in the neck of your gown, jerking you up against his chest and reminding you of his superior height now that you had to tilt your head up to meet his gaze, filled with wicked intent. His fingers slid lower, sliding between your breasts and resting against your skin as he inclined his head towards you, "If I catch you, I will not be gentle, dārilaros."

Dārilaros. Princess. His accented High Valyrian made your thighs clench. Or maybe it was his fingers rubbing soft circles against your skin. Your gown still clutched in his fist, refusing to let you stray so much as an inch away. 

"I'm not a princess." You breathed, your only defense sounded as useless in your ears as you knew it was. 

"Had your father given me what I asked for that night at my brother's wedding, you would be my princess already." The sudden darkness in his tone sent a shiver across your skin, but he didn't give you time to think any further, "Now make your choice before I make it for you." 

"Then release me, Daemon. I have a new life to begin now that you have taken a torch to my old one." There was a part of you that could have happily taken his hand. With his scent in your lungs and feeling every inch of his body pressed against you it might have even been easy. 

But you craved surrender no more than gentleness. 

You expected to see a flash of anger in his eyes. Perhaps disappointment. Instead he radiated satisfaction. Like you'd woken a sleeping beast he was tired of keeping contained. He released you, pushing you back a step into the trees. "Run." 

So you had. 

It felt like hours had passed. You knew it wouldn't be long before you reached the creek. You could follow it to the break in the trees and then into the hills. You knew the land better than Daemon. Surely it gave you the upper hand. 

Every sound had nearly made you jump out of your skin. Every shadow making you sure he was closing in. Your mind playing tricks on you in the darkness.

You told yourself that lie about having an advantage a dozen more times as your muscles grew sore, but you could make out the familiar path you'd traveled before in the distance. Just a little bit further and -

A pair of strong arms wrapped around you from behind, pulling you off your feet and spinning you around so quickly the world blurred until you found yourself pressed up against the rough bark of a tree trunk. Daemon's warm body pinning you there. Your gasp of surprise lost in his grunt of satisfaction.  One hand snatching your wrist and pulling your arm behind your back. He leaned in close, his breath tickling tendrils of your hair by your ear as his fingers twisted through the strands, pulling hard enough to make you gasp again, "I did warn you that I would not be gentle." 

Despite your lungs burning for oxygen you managed a breathless smile. You turned your head as much as his grip would allow, "Why do you think I ran?" 

You saw only a flash of that same darkly satisfied smile before he spun you around again, releasing your wrist but keeping his grip in your hair. Your back now against the tree as his mouth depended on yours in a rough, demanding kiss. His teeth sinking into your bottom lip to elicit another gasp before his tongue was invading your mouth. Claiming every inch for himself as his other hand settled on your hip. You could feel the curve of his lips as you twined your arms around his neck, pulling him closer still. 

Still feeling the spot on your lip that he'd bitten...wondering what his mark would look like in your skin. How it would feel.

"I'm going to make you mine," He promised against your lips, his hands slipping from your hip and hair to seize the front of your gown again. Only this time he tore the rich fabric straight down the middle, ripping at the fabric without ever breaking the kiss. Those gloved hands that had just claimed dozens of lives were ripping away the remains of the fabric, leaving a trail of heat across your skin. 

You reluctantly unwound your arms from his neck and instead grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling impatiently at until he raised his arms and helped you, tossing it aside  to the grass without a second thought. 

When your dress lay in tatters at your feet he pushed you back when you tried to kiss him again. His hand wrapping around your throat and keeping you pinned to the tree trunk as he took a small step back. Chuckling at your huff of annoyance, "Patience, my little qēlos. I didn't go through all the trouble of ripping it off not to admire what lies beneath." 

You felt a rush of heat across your skin at the way he studied you. His entire gaze focused on you and sweeping over every inch of your body. A sort of marvel in his eyes like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. Naked hunger blazing in his emerald colored eyes. 

"What does that mean?" You breathed out, one hand resting over his. Trying to distract yourself from the cool night air nipping at your bare skin and the growing ache between your thighs waiting for him. Your study of the dead language was not nearly as robust as his.

"Star," He answered, his other hand working to undo his pants as he tilted your head up with his grip around your throat, "My light in the night sky that led me exactly where I wanted." 

It was your turn to study him without the barrier of his clothes. Just as his had, your gaze dropped to take in his muscular form. His peerless skin only disturbed by a collection of faded scars. His victories tangible in his flesh. 

He slowly stroked his hard cock, clearly enjoying leaving you tongue tied so easily. When your eyes found his in the darkness again, he flashed you another dark half-smile, "I've been dreaming of your cunt since the night we met; don't keep me waiting any longer." 

You weren't sure you could even if you wanted to.

You moved your hands to his hips, urging him closer. Spreading your legs wider when his foot urged yours further apart. Letting out a sharp breath as he ran the head of his cock along your wet slit. A stark reminder of the need that had been building since you saw him in the garden. 

Since you saw him at the wedding. 

Since every letter he'd sent you since promising to make you his no matter who stood in his way. No matter how many villages he had to burn to the ground to have you. 

Since the last one when he'd told you when he gave you a choice, he wanted you to run. 

Daemon's hand tightened around your throat as he pressed through your spongy walls, groaning with you at how tight he felt there. For just a moment he paused, looking to you. You nodded. No hesitation. 

With one sharp thrust he was buried in your depths. Making you gasp at the mixture off pain and pleasure. Need exploding through your entire body. You sunk your nails into his skin, feeling the roughness of the tree behind your back as his his ground into yours. 

His hand slid around from your throat to twist in your hair, cranking your head to the side as his thrusts grew faster. More brutal, claiming you all over again. Your hands moved up his back, letting your nails strike along his warm skin as you pulled him closer. 

He dipped his head down and began kissing along your neck. His warm breath ghosting against your skin. His tongue ran over your pulse point. He groaned again, lips moving against your flesh like he couldn't bring himself to pull away, "You taste sinful." 

He was sin. 

"Mark me," You begged breathlessly, rolling your hips into his. Desperate for more. For him. Ever since he'd bitten your lip you craved that same spike of pleasure again. You wanted to be his. You wanted everyone to know you were his. 

His hand slid between your bodies, palm flattening against your stomach, the rough pad of his thumb finding your clit as if he already knew your body like the back of his hand. You could feel his cock jerk with need in your depths, gasping as his cock rammed into your g-spot. You were so close to release. 

"Beg me again my desperate little slut, and I'll give you whatever you want." His fingers tugged harder at your hair. His words suggesting he held all the power, but his demand was just as much a plea. 

Ignoring the sting of pain, you turned your head, locking on to his gaze, "Please, Daemon." Your moaned out, barely capable of speech. God his name tasted so good on your lips. After weeks of seeing it written at the bottom of his letters you didn't think it could get better. But a piece of paper and ink couldn't show you the dark blaze of possessiveness burning in his eyes. 

"Hold still." He jerked your head to the side again, his teeth sinking into that sensitive spot his tongue had touched. You cried out at the flash of pain, at the pressure of his thumb against your clit, tracing rough circles against your throbbing bundle of nerves. 

"Not yet." 

His demanding growl left you disoriented. You could feel your muscles tightened like a coiled spring. That flash of pain almost pulling you into oblivion. 

In the blink of an eye he had withdrawn from your core, ignoring your confused whine. He pulled you to the soft earth beneath you, hovering over you. Caging you beneath him, pressing you into the dirt. 

There weren't words to describe how he looked towering over you in the moonlight, that wild hunger etched into every line of his face. 

In one harsh thrust he was inside you again, both your moans lost in the stillness of the night. He seized your wrists, slamming them down on either side of your head, holding them there more securely than chains ever could have. 

You wrapped your legs around him, savoring every second, feeling your body build towards your peak once again. Shivering at the feeling of your sweat running over the mark he'd left on your neck. 

You came together. The world shattering around you into a tidal wave of bliss. You screamed at the overwhelming pleasure. You committed the sound of his moans to memory, wanting to replay them again and again. 

Daemon fucked you through every second of the high. Your bodies pressed together. Your thighs trembling around him. The sounds coming out of your own mouth were foreign to you. You watched him tip his head back, his eyes rolling backwards and you were sure you'd never seen anything as addictive as his pleasure. 

In the aftermath he leaned into you, his forehead pressed against yours as you both struggled to catch your breath. His hands still clutched tightly around your wrists, his cock still buried in your core. 

Were you the devout lady your brother warned you to be, you'd be worried for your reputation. Instead you basked in the scent of sweat and sex and let your mind sink into the afterglow. 

"Thoroughly fucked is a good look on you," Daemon murmured, eliciting a smile from you as he pressed his lips to your forehead. 

Your eyes slipped closed as he shifted. You might have just drifted off then and there, but your body felt his absence like a physical ache. He moved again and you yelped in surprise as he suddenly flipped you on to your stomach, slapping his palm against your ass. Confusion taking over as he pulled your arms behind your back. You turned your head in time to see him bring the ruined fabric of your dress to his mouth, biting down and tearing off a piece. "What are you doing?" 

Daemon was already busying himself with binding your wrists together, pausing only long enough to press his finger against his lips, shushing you. 

When he was done he pulled you on to your knees. Behind you he pulled his pants back into place. He left the remains of your gown in the dirt, but grabbed his shirt to throw over your naked body. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. You didn't realize what it was until he bent and fastened the clasp around your neck. 

A silver necklace with a dragon's claw pendant. Clutched between the claws was an opaline stone, the same color as the stars above you that he'd compared you to. 

"Consider it a wedding gift." He kissed the top of your head before pulling you to your feet. Before you could ask again, he bent and tossed you over his shoulder, his arm looped tightly across your thighs to keep you in place. 

"And what should I consider this?" You asked, giggling. You could feel his smirk as he began walking in the direction of the manor.

"Enjoying The Revenge to Rhaenyra"

𝕸𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖘𝖙 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞/𝖔𝖓𝖊-𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖙

(Plus, I can make this a series but only if I get 100 likes and reposts)

[felassan]

Some more snippets of interest and insight from Mark Darrah PART 1, from a Mark Darrah on Games YouTube video where he is livestreaming playing Dragon Age II [link to Part 2] -

On Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and sort've like, the franchise in general:

A comment in chat asked ''Did you see the new BioWare blogpost about skill trees? Any thoughts on it?'' Mark replied "Yeah, I saw it, nothing particularly world-shattering or controversial there." A comment in chat then said "I wasn't a fan of how that skill tree looked, it seemed too busy" and he explained that "I wouldn't put too much stock in what it looks like, they will definitely do a ton of usability stuff, so I wouldn't be too worried about the actual visual of it".

He observed that none of the things that are presented in the lore as having huge consequences are actually usually shown as such (as having them) in the Dragon Age games. For example, if you're a Grey Warden, the Blight/Taint isn't affecting you very much, and if you're Templar spec, the lyrium isn't affecting you very much - "so it's something that I think legitimately would be good to see a bit more of".

On Flemeth's death in DA:I, chat asked "so it's possible she's still alive after what Solas did to her?" Mark replied "I mean, it's possible, if BioWare wanted her to survive the end of DA:I they could probably do that because they've sort've established the 'she can come back, somehow'" stuff [said in the context of Flemeth's DAII amulet delivery Horcrux scene].

Chat asked "Does Solas consider modern elves his 'people'?" Mark replied "I don't think Solas considers, I think Solas barely considers anyone his people, at this point." A comment in chat then said "I thought he grew a little more fond of the Dalish after DA:I?" and Mark replied "Yeah, I think he is more fond of them [then] but I still don't think he would consider them his people".

A comment in chat said "​I think it would be nice to get a game set in the ancient history of elven empire". Mark said "I don't think we'll ever get something set in a pre-Fade [Veil] world, I mean, I could see something - [cut off by in-game combat]".

Chat asked about griffon mounts in DA:D. Mark replied "What's the present time period in Last Flight in terms of year? Because I don't know how long it takes for griffons to grow to adulthood." When chat advised that Last Flight happens a year or two after DA:I, so about 8 years before DA:D, Mark replied "Oh, so maybe. I don't know how long it takes griffons to grow up".

Someone in chat expressed in surprise, "DA:D is 10 years after DA:I???" Mark explained that "I think the idea is that, I think, the idea is that Dragon Age advances at roughly the same rate as the time between the games. I mean, I guess that's not what we did in DAII, because we have ten years pass in that game, but. They've definitely been releasing new books and stuff and time has been moving forward with that".

"I don't think a silent protagonist is gonna fly for AAA RPGs. Even Bethesda has moved away from it".

Someone in chat asked, "Is it honestly possible to start the DA series with DA:D? I think it's possible to start at any of the first 3 games but DA:I seems very important". Mark replied, "They'll definitely make it so that you can onboard with DA:D. That would be a big huge mistake for them not to do that. You'd be asking a lot to ask someone to start/onboard by playing a game from 2009." He later continued, "I would say that a significant percentage of DA people, not most, but a significant percentage, have only played DA:I. DA:O wasn't an attractive game even when it came out, now it's very aged".

There has been an active decision made for the franchise away to move away from dark fantasy as a genre (like it was in DA:O) for a couple of reasons. One is that it's kind of soul-crushing for the devs to work on stuff like that. Also, that's the sort of genre that The Witcher is. DA:I was moving away and kind of differentiating itself from The Witcher. (Everything in RPG games was dark fantasy in 2009 to 2011, and now we barely have any dark fantasy games at all.)

Relating to this Mark also pointed out that with the question of what dark fantasy is, a lot of this comes down to what you consider that to be. DAII and DA:I both have lots of dark fantasy themes, but if you consider it purely from a visual perspective, he doesn't think that Dragon Age will ever visually be a dark fantasy game/ever visually be a dark fantasy game again because it has slowly been turning the level of magic up. Dark fantasy typically has very low magic, and the goal for DA for a while has been to slowly turn the magic up. "There are still definitely dark fantasy themes in there though and I think there always will be in Dragon Age. I don't think it will ever be high magic like Final Fantasy though, I think it's more just trying to get it away from the very low levels of magic, which is what we had in DA:O especially, to differentiate itself a bit."

[source]

He also talked more generally about DAII and the previous games in general. These bits are collected under a cut due to length:

Chat asked "​so, if you could ideally redo how blood magic looks in DAII, what would you replace the self-impalement with?''. Mark mentioned that he likes the way blood magic is discussed in DA:I where it's like 'these are the actions of an amateur' and you can be much more subtle (given that mind control is considered blood magic). "I think it's a little too much".

Another reason why some of the Dalish changed to Welsh accents in DAII was probably the fact that they had found a voice actor that they liked for Merrill, who happened to be Welsh

In DA:II, the wave-spawning mechanic of enemy mooks was a time saver for asset creation

Why spiders? They're creepy and otherworldly, but also common irl so there's a ton of reference material for devs to go by. They also have a 3D aspect to them without having to have flying implemented, which is good because flying is a huge design problem

Chat asked about the "Awesome Button" marketing for DA:II. Mark explained that "The idea for DAII was to have two-tiered marketing - 'frat house' marketing (it's a cool action game!), and 'tree house' marketing (for the Dragon Age 'core' [fans]). But the way marketing was run was that effectively, none of the 'tree house' stuff was done. I think it would have been fine if it had been backed up with stuff showing the more RPG elements of the game. As a result of it being all on its own all we got was confirmation from the core that this had been dumbed down for consoles, so a lot of the backlash at launch comes from just confirming peoples' fears. The game isn't so different [to DA:O] that there wasn't opportunity to prepare the audience better. And that wasn't done. I'm not necessarily super against the actual 'Button', I mean it was overdone, I'm not against it as a part of the marketing campaign, but it started to be too much of the marketing campaign. The frat house marketing wasn't supposed to push the DA core out, it was supposed to be delivered with something else, but effectively it did that. There were issues for sure"

Mark said that his biggest complaint about DAII is that one of the messages that comes out of it, to his mind, is that 'everything the Templars believe is right, mages are all going to become abominations given half a chance', because at the end of the game all the mages basically flip. "I think that could have been navigated a little more cleanly. It basically says 'better not be casting a spell and get a papercut because otherwise, demon'. It isn't that you can't make it make rational sense, but it is confirming a lot of the anti-mage propaganda"

He observed that DAII storytelling is like 'you're fighting against the sea'. He said that he really enjoyed that but not everyone did, as you lost a lot of agency as a result

A comment in chat said "Apparently, David Gaider has been saying that DA:O should get a remaster in PC Gamer". Mark replied "David Gaider has no way of knowing that, even less than I do"

A question in chat was "How does BioWare decide on the default canon worldstate?" Mark replied "I think it's a combination of, if we have the telemetry, going with the majority, and also 'we really need this person for some reason so let's write into that'. But I do think it typically goes with majority rules if that data is available"

Chat asked "Has Flemeth been weakened by putting a piece of herself in the amulet? Like permanently." Mark said "I think the answer is as dictated/needed by the story"

Regarding the piece of Flemeth and amulet in DA:II, he said "you could look at it through the 'Archdemon, Corypheus' lens and she's body-hopping, just through a more elaborate ritual probably"

A comment in chat said "We get a peek in Trespasser that before the Fall of Arlathan, the Elves were more or less Tevinter where powerful mages enslaved everyone else". Mark replied "Tevinter is basically the old elven empire, it's a photocopy of a photocopy of the old elven empire, for sure".

A comment in chat said "Do you think they write Solas too convincingly? I saw people legitimately saying he was right." Mark replied, "I think that's what you would want from a villain, I think you want a villain that you can say is right. He definitely believes that he is the only person that can fix everything. He would be a terrible manager. He would be micromanaging you to death. I think Solas believes that we are in the best possible universe currently because he did the best possible thing at the best possible moment, even when it didn't go right. He absolutely has Main Character Complex. He's probably the most Main Character cCmplex of every character ever"

A comment in chat said "it just sounds like Solas thinks the only 'real people' are ancient elves". Mark replied "you're not wrong, I think that's basically where Solas sits, maybe not if he thinks about it, but kind've his default is like, ancient elves are people, everyone else is someone who came along later and is kind've in the way"

Qunlat is a very literal languauge

"The Qunari are the youngest race for sure"

We haven't really yet interacted with any "civilian" Qunari much

The games haven't spent much time on the Qun's concept of gender roles, "so it's kind of half-baked as a result and a lot of people just find it very confusing"

The games often inject different pronunciations for place names depending on the characters' accents

In DAII, Act 1 is more like 2 acts together

Players tend to stick most to the companions that they're used to, so people don't use Sebastian very much because you don't recruit him until Act 2

A question in chat was "How come this game [DAII] is so stingy with money? I always feel like I'm barely scraping by." Mark explained "that's the point, is that, this whole beginning part up until Act 2 is about you not having enough, barely scraping by, like it's supposed to be this refugee story. Even then the balance is kind've off, because you can basically still get the 50 sovereigns in Act 1 doing mainly critpath stuff only"

A person in chat quoted lore: "According to dwarven scholars, surface dwarves may soon outnumber their underground-living peers." Mark replied "the 'according to dwarven scholars' is the perfect example of the unreliable narrator, whether that ends up being true or not, that could just be propaganda on the part of Orzammar itself"

On Branka making golems, if she's left to do so in DA:O, he said "I never got a very clear understanding of how many golems there are if she is. I always assumed it was in the hundreds, not tens of thousands. If it was the latter it would change the balance of power in Thedas dramatically"

In the current timeline, present day Tevinter and the Qunari in Par Vollen are presented as being the two strongest nations. "Everything else is kind of in balance, Orlais and Ferelden were fairly strong but then banged at each other and brought themselves down to the level of about Antiva, the Anderfels etc. They're all kind of recovering powers, though Antiva, not so much, it was never a superpower as it has always used assassins to keep people at bay."

"Tevinter was the Ottoman Empire back in the day, 'the rest of Europe worries about them and unites to stop them if necessary'. Honestly, a Tevinter-Qunari battle that was on a large enough scale would probably turn into World War One with people picking sides for political reasons. I could totally see Ferelden taking the side opposite of the one Orlais chooses."

At this point I ran out of characters in this post, Part 2 of this post can be found here. :)

(pls note that in places there is a bit of paraphrasing of the info, the best source is always the primary source with full quotes in their original context)

[source]