#there's no romance between them at all

[johnlennonbignaturals]

hey so i might actually be going crazy

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The indescribable tension between an overworked and underpaid smut writer, and his biggest fan hater.

(for @frummpets)

[the-crooked-library]

the one thing that absolutely entrances me about Nosferatu is the sheer level of intimacy between Ellen and Orlok, especially in a setting that keeps its characters so thoroughly repressed. there are swathes of fabric and bonnets and heavy furs separating them from the world -

and then, a lock of lilac-scented hair. A hesitant caress, hovering over her cheek. She'll argue with Harding and even Thomas from across the room, but will get in Orlok's face to yell at him. He will be called "My Lord," unless it's Ellen. It’s always so... close to the skin. Hair falling, entirely loose, down her back. Skin against rotting flesh, his lips on her breast, and her hand on the back of his neck, clinging even as they both lie dead???? hhnnggghhhhhhhh

their chemistry is the lifeblood of the film, its framing is impeccable, 10/10 monsterfuckery

[vaguely-concerned]

lucanis' most attractive quality is that he's an effortless 'yes, and -- 'er. he and davrin especially 'yes, and -- ' each other constantly, even at the death threat stage, culminating in the 'first talon first warden' grotesquery (affectionate) as its most potent form once they're over that. few things are as charming to me as a willingness to bond over the bit and boy. when you're making weak jokes while facing down an archdemon lucanis will stand next to you and go 'she didn't want to talk, rook!!' like he was born to do nothing else. and that's part of why I love him

freaked out broken grieving, a wreck of his former self, come hell or high water. within five minutes he will say something that startles me into laughing so hard I have to put the game on pause for a while. only purple hawke can equal him in this regard

the darker side of this is that it is also how he communicates with illario but in a way where they lob resentment and self-loathing disguised as levity back and forth without ever really touching it or bringing it into the light, never leaving space for air to get in to stop the wounds from festering. I think it might have been less like that once upon a time -- just the playful bonding part, the mutual back and forth game of it, and not the wounding, since lucanis keeps doing it with others without that layer to it. sort of like intuiting where a river of love once ran by the evidence it left behind in the landscape, before something slowly dried up and left some toxic sludge behind along the floors of the river valleys

[squea]

pick ur pretty boy!!!! fresh from the fields of mistria!!

[spookberry]

Another thing I find really refreshing and cool about Descendants(specifically the first one) is that there is no third act betrayal/misunderstanding/blow up between the main characters.

The VKs are all loyal to each other to the end, even once their motives have all changed and theyre no longer happy with the plan they stick together and follow Mal's lead.

Ben realizes hes been love potioned and finds it endearing and goes along with it even when the affects have worn off

Like the first descendants movie is practically allergic to the third act betrayal/misunderstanding despite CONSTANTLY setting up for one

[inquisitor-julia]

This has for sure been asked numerous times already but I'm curious so with the information we have so far:

[beaulesbian]

Some Lich!Emmrich & Rook romance endearments

[OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS AHEAD]

first official invitation to spend more time together in the gardens:

flirting over a dead body, literaly:

offering some reassurance to Emmrich:

--

second date invitation:

some midst of battle dearest :

When being a Grey Warden and taking Emmrich on the Eruption in Hossberg Wetlands quest, hearing the blight:

the Emmrich & Harding trip plannnig, when romanced, you have a funny input:

Emmrich becoming a lich:

Ghilan'nain talking with Elgar'nan about who she wants to experiment on, Emmrich and Rook overhearing it at the Crossroad tree:

The EmmRook Fight™ ;-; (not complete) :

the Tearstone island tidbit of their fight:

with Rook back from the Fade:

Their night alone in Necropolis :))

+ the morning after:

the Lighthouse talk before going after Elgar'nan:

the last talk before the final fight in the Archon Palace:

and just before the Elgar'nan fight, if you take Emmrich up there with you:

*BONUS: one human!Emmrich replay, specifically trying to find out if their argument would be different when playing as Grey Warden, and there was finally one mention of it, thankfully:

(I definitely didn't get every line like this, I know I missed to make some screenshots during battles, there's few other variations of Emmrich worrying about Rook. But overall... Emmrich's romance, my beloved!! 😭🥰)

[moliathh]

the scorpion and the frog

[vanilla-bean-buttercream]

"Allies should be okay with hearing hard truths that we have been suffering through for years, because if a child has to experience it, they as an adult can take the time to understand it with their adult brain and their adult emotions, and if they cannot handle that, I shouldn't have to be okay with handling their feelings gently."

and

"Sometimes we go too hard on allies because they're the only person who benefits from the problem who will listen to us, and the anger that we have carried from being wronged for years should not be put solely put on the shoulders of people trying to help us, and they should not have to be okay with being mistreated with the same hatred that people have aimed at us."

Can and should coexist actually.

[mintjeru]

it probably wasn't the smartest decision to start an ongoing 1000+ chapter webnovel when i know it'll consume my every waking thought but here we are

open for better quality | no reposts

[yichens]

thinking about how in the past, wen xiao and zhuo yichen helped each other through grief that struck them on the same day, even if they didn't know about it then. how fate brought them together so that they could heal each other, could save each other. zhuo yichen was there to take care of wen xiao when she was sick and felt useless and scared, while wen xiao was there to pull zhuo yichen out of his gray grief to let colors back into his life again.

and i know that in the middle, the show kind of tries to paint them as childhood sweethearts, or as a story of one sided love from zhuo yichen's side. and maybe it has been like that, maybe it still is sometimes, but no matter what, they love each other and that's all that matters.

they rely on each other a lot too when they're suddenly faced with the force that is zhao yuanzhou. when, bc the world is cruel, it is revealed that he is the reason they ever created this bond between them and needed each other so much. zhao yuanzhou killed zhao wan'er, wen xiao's beloved master. he also killed zhuo yichen's father and brother. he is the reason wen xiao has been sickly and fragile for so long and he is the reason why zhuo yichen's world ever turned gray.

zhao yuanzhou is also fortunately the reason why wen xiao becomes strong again, as well as the reason why zhuo yichen is able to let go of his hate and find his true self.

and so, in the end, wen xiao and zhuo yichen are together again. but this time, they share a common grief. this time the other's grief does not feel so distant bc they mourn the same losses. they mourn ying lei, mourn bai jiu. but above all else, they mourn zhao yuanzhou.

they heal each other from the loss of the one that once caused them indescribable pain. they understand what it's like. they know how deep the grief goes, how cold it feels. wen xiao was always powerless to stop zhao yuanzhou from dying and zhuo yichen was always powerless to stop himself from being the one to kill him.

which is why i find it so fascinating how the main trio are tied together by this very closely shared grief and loss. but especially fascinating i find wen xiao and zhuo yichen bc they're placed on different sides of zhao yuanzhou. they've made into these two different paths that zhao yuanzhou walks at the same time as he also shares grief and loss with both of them. his relationship with wen xiao starts from shared grief over zhao wan'er and his relationship with zhuo yichen finally solidifies as they share mutual grief over their loss of control. there is also the horrid experience of zhao yuanzhou wondering if he needs to share his grief over wen xiao with zhuo yichen as they fear she will die (several times), or his grief over zhuo yichen with wen xiao as they fear he will die (once again, several times).

also, as an ending note, it's fun how zhao yuanzhou is able to save both wen xiao and zhuo yichen while the other is powerless to do anything. zhao yuanzhou gives wen xiao the baize token that zhuo yichen has been looking for so long and later takes the poison away from wen xiao while zhuo yichen has only thought about doing it himself. zhao yuanzhou is the one to get zhuo yichen both his inner core and his sword fixed while wen xiao doesn't really even know where to begin with them and is powerless to do anything against ying long. so, yeah, zhao yuanzhou keeps them from grieving each other – so that they can eventually grieve zhao yuanzhou.

[fadetouchedfennec]

it beats for you

[limeinaltime]

"Sir, the immortal eldritch lich that we've been using for organ trafficking just broke containment." "... THE HELL YOU MEAN IT BROKE CONTAINMENT-"

Yet another update of Aster, this time with (hopefully) her final draft of lore. Urbanshade stole her from a geneticist as an embryo and gave her to her "bio" mom, who wanted to cover up an affair she had through serving as a surrogate for the stolen embryo. One shitty childhood and a lot of circumstances later, she ends up a prisoner in the Blacksite, where Urbanshade subjects her to some pretty nasty stuff (even by canon standards) for a decade before she snaps out of it and proceeds to massacre the entire N.O.S.T Division stationed down there and allying with a certain mutated fish man and AI.

Bonus stuff:

Aster has a gender-ambiguous body, but identifies as a ✨woman✨. She could easily pass as a man, though.

Despite what Urbanshade's been sold by Mr. Shade, Aster is not immortal and cannot grant immortality. However, she cannot be killed prematurely, and will remain in peak condition until the end of her lifespan.

The scar on her back is from an axe

She can still feel pain, she's just developed a heightened resistance to it after years of constant torture. It freaks Seb out a lot.

EDIT: Added a lil accessory and some edits to her lore text

[fading4ngel]

i need to inject silverv into my veins desperately.

[lostiel]

biggest tragedy is not being able to get davrin and lucanis together bc i'm romancing davrin