#think i'm gonna change her to mage when it comes time to actually play her tho. assuming i stick with this face.

[manfred-volkarin]

it may be a giant pain in the butt to recreate inquisitors in the veilguard CC, but it IS a lot of fun to just play around in

anyway. this might be Filia Mercar. maybe?

[ohlawsons]

slow day at work so i might as well put together some veilguard Thoughts now that i'm hurtling towards end game on my second playthrough. anything spoilery will go under the cut

tl;dr it got me invested in dragon age again, which i wasn't sure would happen.

first off, i have largely really enjoyed playing. it's incredibly refreshing to play a game that feels complete (bear with me) -- yes, it's sparse in some places, but nothing so far has felt outright unfinished to me. the closest would be the lords of fortune (which. btw. what a fucking background to start with. the mourn watch has been 1000% better) but that feels more... tacked on later?

i personally have run into zero bugs. i know there have been a few, but none that i've heard of that are game or even quest breaking, which is a novel thing these days.

(i'm gonna preface this next bit by saying i think it's incredibly unhelpful to use bg3 as the Gold Standard to hold all rpgs up to for a variety of reasons, but i have 2 small comparisons to make)

this comes on the heels of playing through bg3 an embarrassing amount of times since launch, and not once have i been able to complete jaheira's entire questline in act 3, due to bugs. twice it's been bugged to the point that i'm unable to recruit either her or minsc. so to have an entire dav playthrough where the game runs entirely As Intended? amazing.

also, as much as i miss the depth of companion convos we expect in a dragon age game, one thing i really really missed while playing bg3 was the feeling of companions interacting. there's a bit of party banter, sure, but i've really missed having companions hang out at camp and little cutscenes where they interact and mini-plot lines between companions.

combat: it's fun, it's different, i'm kinda *wiggly non-committal hand gesture* about it so far. the changes to mage combat is amazing, but i'm playing a warrior this time around and not big on the changes. as much as i really miss having a party of four, i will begrudgingly admit it works better this way with the new combat

exploration: i think they really hit the nail on the head with this. it really feels like a fantastic middle ground between da2 and dai in terms of maps -- the more "enclosed" and less overwhelming da2 maps but without being. tiny.

plot: yeah, the pacing is a bit wonky, especially at the start. i really feel like i get what they were going for, but i don't know that they managed it all the time.

also, this is not the popular opinion and i'm aware, but i really don't hate the lack of imported choices. i think there's a couple that would've made a lot of sense (well of sorrows, inquisitor's class, if romanced!cass is divine, etc) but it's clearly set up as a soft reboot which just feels inevitable, tbh. there's so many choices and it's been 20+ years since the blight so some (not all) will lose importance.

i also don't hate the art style, tbh. i think it'll age better than an ultra-realistic style. also the hair? amazing. perfect. 10/10. so much of the character creation (and gameplay options in general tbh) feels like bioware actually listened to feedback over the last few bw games

on to the spoilers!

so let's talk about varric.

i'm. uh. torn. because when he was stabbed in the prologue, i said out loud to myself "i hate it but also, narratively, it just feels like the right time" and then he showed up at the lighthouse, and the twist at the end caught me completely off guard and i'd already built him up in my head as the only father figure nasrin has ever known. so. :(

playing back through knowing that he's dead has actually been really interesting. i still don't know how i feel about it or how i'll decide to write (around) it in fic, but it definitely comes across as a deliberate plot choice that they planned/wrote around and not something tacked on later. rook is the only one to look at him in cutscenes, his lines get cut off/talked over by companions, any reference to him is very carefully worded, everyone (rook included) only refers to him in past tense.

that said. the reveal that solas completely fucked with rook's mind/memories is not given enough weight narratively imo. i do really enjoy the juicy implications of varric being the one to help rook through their mind-regret-prison, but we're really just gonna skim over that thing about solas, huh bioware?

tbh i really enjoyed like. 99% of the end game sequence. it really feels like the tension gets ramped up on the island, then a nice bit of reprieve back at the lighthouse, only to be thrown right back into things. it's probably the closest a game has come to feeling like the denerim sequence in origins for me. my only minor gripes are 1) i wish it was a little less hand hold-y about who to choose for what in minrathous, let me accidentally get my friends killed bc i chose bad!! and 2) it's a bit odd that you choose who goes where, then a big cutscene plays and shows the outcome of everything. i really thought it would be more like me2, where the cutscenes are broken up by combat to sort of draw it out.

i like the companions. i like the factions. the lords of fortune was lacking for sure, but i LOVE playing as a mourn watcher and being weird coworkers with emmrich!! i actually love that his quests are like... comically spooky? i'm def looking forward to playing through as a warden next (grey wardens my beloved)

i do agree with the popular opinion that the game lacks bite. i love the fact that the companions actually feel like friends which we get bits of in the other games but in hindsight, inquisition companions feel more like work-friends than friend-friends for the most part. any disagreements between them (like taash and emmrich or lucanis and davrin) do feel sort of glossed over, but i don't think i hate it?

i can headcanon around the factions. doesn't mean i should have to. it's easy to say we don't see slavery/excessive classism in minrathous bc we're in the poor part of town. it's easy to say it's been two decades since zev started cleaning house so the crows are less shitty now. it's easy to say the lords are culturally-conscious bc look how things went the last time isabela stole an important cultural artifact. but it really does just feel like the game trying to toe the line and be full of Good, Non-Offensive Content.

the "choices" are odd to me. mostly bc there aren't many outside of the companions. and maybe that's intentional? but if that's the focus, why isn't there more of a reaction to which path you choose for the companions, instead of just "are they loyal y/n" during the end game

i want to also add that wrt taash, i do like their plot line. parts feel a bit Too Real (the codex entry about "mae says she's here to support me on my journey but i never asked for a journey"?????? just fuck me UP bioware) and yes, the Very Modern Language feels extremely out of place, but overall i did like it. maybe it's shitty writing to have everyone throwing around terms like nonbinary and agender, but i'm going to pretend it's an extremely deliberate choice to be crystal clear about what's going on. maybe it's a (political/social) statement. idk if that's the case but it makes it easier to get through.

last thing (bc this got incredibly long lmao) -- bioware what's going on with the romances? why the step back? why the awkward forced sex after one of the most traumatizing and emotional scenes in the entire game? why does it literally not feel like you're romancing lucanis until that moment? bellara's is really sweet, just... lacking in content, and i've watched emmrich's and neve's and they're better, and i've heard harding's is really good. i don't think we need straight up pixelated porn a la bg3 to have well written romances, but i literally walked away from my first playthrough with no idea why in the world lucanis is interested in nasrin. their chemistry is about 95% in my head or stolen from lucanis/neve banter (sidenote: why do they work SO well together and why is that the best written romance in the game and how long until there's a poly mod so i can romance them both with an equally Sexy And (professionally) Competent rook??) like. dai had blackwall dramatically profess his love while handcuffed and completely at the inquisitor's mercy and had the inquisitor heroically literally duel for josie's hand complete with a pick-up-and-spin-her-around kiss after!! veilguard barely let nasrin get any confirmation that lucanis actually liked them until they were forced into a sex scene.

anyway. i've had fun playing. i'll probably be writing fic eventually.

[riddlerosehearts]

Okay now EYE must ask you - how are you liking BG3??? How far are you?? Tell me about your Tav!!!! (Please and thank you <3)

hi!! 💖 i only started the game a few days ago and it was an impulse decision i made after having previously told a friend of mine that i definitely wanted to play it but that it'd probably take me a while to get around to it (and, because i thought i wouldn't play anytime soon i hadn't really been trying to avoid spoilers). but, i have the PC version and while it generally runs just fine, my computer is kind of slow and the game is so big that it took hours to download and install. so i kind of went ahead and started to come up with a whole character idea during that time LOL. sorry if my explanations of things get a bit too rambly/disorganized. i'm actually not very far in the game at all yet, i've been spending a ton of time doing stuff in the druids grove and i'm supposed to go find halsin but i haven't even gotten karlach in my party yet! i've recruited all the main companions except for her but i am excited to meet her. gonna put the rest of this under a cut for length.

my only background with DND is that i listened to the first campaign of the adventure zone and i've watched the legends of vox machina show. i also have a friend who's super into her own DND campaign and another friend who's told me a lot about dimension 20, specifically fantasy high--and i've considered trying it out for her but haven't gotten around to it yet! i think she actually told me the same thing about the episode lengths making it easier to get into than critical role, because i had tried critical role and it was just so long that i couldn't stick with it. but, yeah, i've also looked at the forgotten realms wiki a bit but i've never actually played DND. i have played skyrim and final fantasy 14 and some other similar RPGs with customizable blank-slate protagonists, and in those types of games i always have to make OCs to roleplay as--usually i'll think up a basic idea to start with and then flesh the character out as i get into the game. they're never really self-inserts but i do often project onto them a little.

so, in games like these my first character is usually an elf that specializes in elemental/destructive magic. idk why, that's just what i've always liked. in ff14 i started out as a black mage without knowing it was the hardest class to play LMAO. soooo i went into this planning to create a high elf sorcerer, but as i started writing out ideas and thinking about what to do, i ended up creating a half-high elf bard. they're transmasc/nonbinary and in my head they use he/they pronouns, but i picked the nb option in the character creator and that causes npcs to actually use they/them in dialogue which i think is so cool. i love that the character creator is so inclusive in regards to gender.

anyway, i named them elenion, which is something i took from the lord of the rings universe because i'm a huge nerd. in LOTR it's an elvish word that basically means "of the stars". here's a couple screenshots i took when i first started. let's just ignore the fact that this hairstyle clips into elf ears (and also that the face preset is from a mod i downloaded).

i didn't really give him a tragic backstory or even the most interesting story haha--i'm wanting to do something bigger and angstier with another character on a second playthrough when i'm more familiar with the lore and world of the game. and i'll probably also end up changing or expanding on some things about this character later, but for now i just kind of made a normal guy with normal problems. i had this idea that his father, a human who attracted the attention of a beautiful elf woman, was also a bard and was a very successful musician in his youth. so elenion has always shared his father's passion and dreamed of being like him, being able to effortlessly tell incredible tales and inspire crowds of people through song, but no matter how much he studies and practices he never feels good enough. if he seems confident it's usually just because he's gotten really good at faking it. he's also pretty reserved and often avoids having to talk about himself by asking a lot of questions. see, i kind of wanted to specifically find a way to not roleplay the usual sort of loud, flirty, goofy bard, lol. not that i dislike those kinds of characters or anything though!

however, bards are meant to be super charismatic, witty, and persuasive and of course the game strongly encourages that with the dialogue options and skill bonuses you get. so my way of explaining this is to have elenion be a bit like raine from the owl house, in that they may be shy, but they're very firm in their ideals and are no pushover when it comes to protecting themself or their allies. they're clever and have a snarky side to them, and they're genuinely friendly and caring in a way that gives them a sense of quiet charisma. which reminds me that one of the spells i gave them at the start was sleep, and it's made me imagine that when they were a kid they tried calming a crying baby by playing a lullaby on their lute and accidentally ended up casting their first spell.

oh, and, i also wasn't really sure at first where in the world i wanted elenion to come from but i decided on something pretty quickly after getting multiple of those dialogue options suggesting that the protagonist is baldurian! i pictured them growing up in a somewhat small town with their family but moving to baldur's gate as an adult, hoping that if they left the comfort of their home and started to journey out into the world a little they'd eventually find their spark and become the bard they wanted to be. unfortunately they've had little luck so far because even after all this time they can't see that maybe their whole fixation on trying to be just like their father and achieve the exact same kind of success that he had is holding them back. the fact that their father died the year after they moved away hasn't helped either. and now, in the middle of traveling to a historical site that they'd wanted to see in person and use as inspiration for a song, they've been abducted by mindflayers and are struggling with the massive upheaval that this has brought into their relatively mundane life.

so. yeah. my tav for this first playthrough may not be the most unique or exciting character but i like him! i like figuring out what kind of choices he'll make and thinking up new ideas for what he likes and how he sees the world. also, i find it funny how in your reply to my ask you said you thought you'd be into gale but then you fell for astarion--because i thought that i'd be all over the edgy, brooding, snarky vampire man, but it turns out gale is so charming and funny that i'm probably going to romance him first. i'm also pretty intrigued by shadowheart and wyll but i'm so early in the game that i can't even say who i think my overall favorite companion will be because they all seem so interesting!! even karlach despite the fact that i haven't actually met her yet, i've seen a bunch of cool gifsets of her and my brother told me he's been romancing her on his playthrough. i really need to go find her soon.

i'm sure you can tell from everything i wrote here that i am definitely enjoying the game LOL. i can already tell that there's just so many different things to do and see, that i will both need and want to do a lot of different playthroughs and that it's going to be something that sticks with me. nothing wrong with using guides and walkthroughs btw! i do it too because i'm worried about missing too many things and have the world's worst sense of direction even with a minimap. honestly i probably need to look up some guides for certain mechanics that i don't feel like i've really figured out yet. there's a sarcophagus trap in the ruins early in the game that got me SO stuck and got my whole party wiped and then i looked up a video and found out you could turn off the whole trap system by pushing a switch... i felt so stupid askjdfgf.

anyway, i think this got to be way too long of a reply so i will stop here! but if you ever wanna tell me more about your tav or anything definitely feel free to and i hope you're having an awesome day!

[the-drunken-huntsman]

Hiii arr u willing to answer all the TES months asks for Aneis and Murza and Dire please please please :} I know that's a Lot so if u want to skip over some that is totally understandable hehe

Morning Star - What was the first thing you gave your OC? Name, backstory, design, etc

Aneis: I guess technically the first thing I gave her was her name, even though I've since changed the spelling. I had liked the name Anais before picking up Skyrim (even though I was pronouncing it wrong lol) and had used it for my PC in Pokémon Sword and one of my SDV saves so I just used it again when I started Skyrim. Also side note, I've never watched The Amazing World of Gumball before today while babysitting and I had no clue that was the little sister's name.

Murza: The first thing I came up with for her was just a vague concept. I wanted to play around with mismatched race/class, so of course the first thing I wanted was an orc mage. The second thing I decided for her was that she was gonna be trans because hell yeah.

Dire: The first thing I came up with for him was also a vague concept. I had wanted to make a chaotic evil demigod type character and even though he's changed a lot since initial concept I figured the best way to achieve that would be to make him a demiprince. I wanted him to be kind of conniving and sly and settled on making him the son of Clavicus to get there. Originally he was going to be another one of Aneis' companions who was tagging along just for the vain glory of being a part of the dragonborn's adventures but you know how OCs sometimes seem to have a mind of their own and he eventually got to where he is now :)

Sun's Dawn - Does your OC have a love interest? What is their relationship like?

Aneis: Aneis was always a pretty promiscuous person. She knew she'd have to make Teldryn another one of her conquests from the first moment she saw him without the helmet. They hooked up a few times while traveling on Solstheim, but while going through Nchardak trying to get to the Black Book, he used his whole body to shield her from an automaton that had caught her off guard and that was it, she was done. That night in Severin Manor she sits him down and is like. Look, don't be alarmed and please don't leave because I still need you to guide me around this gods forsaken island. But I think I'm in love with you. To which Teldryn is like

Murza: You know the "me doing whatever my hot witch wife wants" meme? That's Murza and Endurys. However before they were married they were the epitome of idiots in love. Just stupid long stares and longing sighs in camp at night until one day Aneis snaps and shoves them in an inn room together and yells at them to not come out until they've fucked all the yearning out.

Dire: Dire is aroace do no romantic interests for him! But his absolute favorite people in the world are his little cousins and his little brother

First Seed - Does your OC have any enemies or rivals? How did these rivalries start?

Aneis: I know there's lots of people who read into the LDB's relationship to Miraak and how tragic his story is and blah blah blah, he makes my blood boil so Aneis feels the exact same way. As opposed to any other big bad she faces, (Harkon is Serana's White Whale before anyone else, Ulfric had to go for the well-being of the people in her opinion, and defeating Alduin was more for the people she loved and needed to protect than anything else) Miraak makes it personal for her, acting like some sort of sibling rival to her when Akatosh is nothing more to her than a perverted puppet master playing with her fate. She actually loathes any of the Dovah who call her sister without having earned that respect from her first (like Paarthurnax and Odahviing have). As far as she's concerned she only has one father and he never used her to clean up his messes, he gave his life trying to protect his homeland from the Dominion.

Murza: I've been wanting to play around with the concept of Savos Aren being the big bad of the College Quest line as opposed to Ancano. Like Ancano is still evil and shit, but like, Aren was actually in league with him the whole time. He needed the Thalmor's resources to get him to the Eye and the Staff and the second he has what he needs he betrays their shaky alliance. Anyway yeah I think Murza would kinda always be wary of Savos and it would also legitimize her succeeding him as opposed to any other member of the staff if she's the one who was able to fell him.

Dire: I wouldn't say Dire had any real enemies or rivals. I'm kinda keeping his story once he goes adventuring on his own open because of TES:VI supposedly being eminent and I might want to use him in that game. So as of right now, in the Skyrim timeline, he's just a lil guy? Who could hate that?

Rain's Hand - Can your OC use magic? If so what Schools?

Aneis: Aneis knows three spells: close wounds, clairvoyance, and muffle. All taught to her by her father as they're the most useful out in the wild while tracking prey. She can also do a bit of fire magic, but nothing more than just enough to light a campfire. She might later learn heal undead for the sake of Serana though.

Murza: I'm not sure what to say for her. She's the arch mage of course she uses magic. I guess she is particularly adept at conjuration, being a follower of Malacath and having a half daedric son

Dire: Dire would mostly be adept with alteration and illusion, but also conjuration because duh. I could see him as a very small child, using alteration to make his toys move without touching them, a slightly older child summoning small beasts from oblivion to play with (maybe even Uncle Barbas), and when his cousins are babies, using illusion to calm them down and keep them entertained.

Second Seed - Is your OC an alchemist? What do they excel at making?

Aneis: Araneth, Aneis' mother, was an apothecary. In the same way her father passed his hunting prowess to her, her mother also tried to give her as much of her knowledge as she could as well. She didn't much get it or appreciate it while her mother was alive, but later in life she put the effort into actually trying to understand her mother's teachings. She eventually becomes about as skilled as your average professional alchemist.

Murza: Gonna preface this with the fact that I still consider alchemy a school of magic even though it counts as a thief's skill in Skyrim. Anyway I think it would be the one school to slip her grasp. It's just too... material. Breaking an enemy's mind with a flick of her wrist? Summoning a sword from Oblivion that weighs nothing in hand but can slice through trees? Those are the kinds of esoteric things that Murza understands. Plants that need to be boiled at a certain temperature and creatures' innards that need to be removed in an exact precise manner? May as well be Dwemeris to her.

Dire: Dire is like his mother in that alchemy is just too far over his head. But he isn't as frustrated about his lack of comprehension as she is. Why would he need to worry about mixing potions when he can just find them well and good for the taking in every dungeon in Tamriel?

Mid Year - Does your OC have a favourite celebration? Do they celebrate holidays?

Aneis: Hircine's summoning day is a very special time for her. She always spends days hunting before hand, trying to gather as much a variety of pelts and trophies as she can for her offering. This is even though, as his champion, they are definitely not necessary, the woman fells dragons in his name. However she always prepares as much as she can for him, and once summoned she always has the same simple request for him. To deliver a message to her family in the Hunting Grounds, that she loves them, and misses them, and hopes she is making them proud.

Murza: Murza always tries to make it a point to be home at Lakeview Manor for the Witches Fest. She loves seeing the children dressed up and doing little tricks to entertain them. (This goes along with the headcanon that Lakeview Manor would eventually have a little village crop up around it)

Dire: He would very much enjoy the Jester's Festival, but his absolute favorite is Clavicus' summoning day. I've joked before that it's the only time he gets to play catch with his dad, but since he is also a small aspect of Vile in and of himself, I think the whole day he'd just feel a little closer to Oblivion and it makes him feel whole.

Sun's Height - What is your OC's favourite shop, in any of the games; what do they buy the most of?

Aneis: Aneis adores The Drunken Huntsman. Anoriath is a very talented fletcher and Elrindir is always game to swap hunting stories. They make the whole establishment feel like what she's been missing from Valenwood all these years away, even as a wooded building. They're probably the only people in Tamriel she trusts to service her family bow.

Murza: Murza actually likes hanging around Tel Mithryn. Neloth always has interesting, useful things to sell to her and she suspects he likes her company as she's much quicker to catch onto his teachings than his actual apprentice (sorry, Talvas).

Dire: Even though Enthir's displeasure at having a child on college grounds was always well known to Dire, he still likes bugging him to show him all the weird, cool things he has for sale, which he has no intention of buying. Just looking and maybe a little swiping to play with later.

Last Seed - What weapon does your OC use? Who taught them how to use it?

Aneis: Aneis' main weapons are her family's heirloom bow and the battleaxe gifted to her by Balgruuf. Her father taught her how to shoot and she's self taught with the axe. She'd honestly never touched a two handed weapon in her life before but she thought the nords might think it a great insult for her to not use a weapon gifted to her by the Jarl, so she just swung it around until she found what felt good and did the most damage.

Murza: Murza got her base knowledge of magic from Atub, but growing up in the stronghold she was also expected to learn to swing a sword. Though the swords she uses now are less... mundane. She uses summoned weapons. Idk if that got across lol.

Dire: Dire has had a natural affinity for magic since birth but he hones his craft under the tutelage of his mother and the other professors of Winterhold.

Hearthfire - Does your OC have a family (blood or found)? Who are they closest to?

I can answer this generally for all three characters. The whole of the found family (the people who live at Lakeview Manor) are Aneis, Murza, Teldryn, Endurys, Dire, Hab, Cinuri, Braiel, and the dogs, Sable and Merc. Aneis and Murza are closest to each other platonically, and though he'd never admit it, Dire is closest to Cinuri, she's his best friend.

Frost Fall - Where is your OC's primary residence? What city is there favourite?

Aneis: Aneis knows most of the Bosmer living in Skyrim find The Rift to be the closest approximate to their homeland, she finds the quite, backwoods nature of Falkreath reminds her much more of the area she grew up in. Of course she loves her quite little life on the homestead, surrounded by all her loved ones.

Murza: Technically, Murza's main residence is the college, but she tends not to spend much time there, mainly because she gets lonely. Endurys hates the cold having grown up in the shit hole of Eastmarch and avoids the college as much as possible and Aneis only goes if she's asked to specifically by Murza. So she ends up spending most of her year in Lakeview.

Dire: His parents have determined its much better for him to grow up in an actual stable home surrounded by actual stable adults, so most of his childhood is spent in Lakeview. However, once in a while, Murza will bring him with her on her trips to the college and he loves it. So many places to explore and get into trouble and so many people to bug until they relent and teach him something new.

Sun's Dusk - Is your OC religious? If so, who do they follow?

Aneis: Aneis' grandmother was a priestess of Hircine, her father a priest, and the rest of her family devotees. Their whole devotion is based on having such hunting prowess on their own, they have no need for the gift of the beast blood. This of course culminated in Aneis literally being born to be the greatest hunter of the greatest prey, the Last Dragonborn.

Murza: Murza has always felt like an outsider, even within her own tribe growing up, so she finds a lot of solace in the tenants of Malacath. She also keeps a quiet reverence for Dibella, as her priestesses were the ones who helped her become her most true self.

Dire: Dire doesn't really necessarily worship Clavicus Vile, he just kinda has this air of thankfulness around the subject of his daedric parent. After all it is through his connection to Oblivion that he is able to help so many people and keep his family together in the afterlife.

Evening Star - When is your OC's birthday?

Aneis: 27th of Hearthfire, 4E 153

Murza: 21st of Sun's Dusk, 4E 165

Dire: 30th of Mid Year, 4E 206

[holocene-sims]

next // previous

july 4, 2021 7:30 p.m. adam's house

[wyatt] maybe you’re bored of it and that’s fine! but dad says you were really, really good, like you have trophies and all kinds of stuff like that, and you got on the local news one time because you won the state championship, and, uhhh, you have a friend that plays in the NHL and he was really nice to me that one time...

[grant] hey, buddy, the answer is yes, i promise.

[grant] seriously, it’s not a problem. i'd also be happy to teach you or practice with you. i may not play anymore but that doesn't mean i wouldn't change that for you. i love you guys. you're family. i would literally do anything for you.

[wyatt] dad doesn’t know how to skate at all, so he can't help. and if i go without help, i'm gonna suck. i mean, i can skate and shoot and everything, but i'm not good.

[grant] look, you won’t be bad at it! it’s just a learning curve, but you’re young. kids are like sponges. you absorb skills so much easier at your age. and by the way, listen to me, when you play in games, call me and i'll come to them, too! i'll be so annoying in the stands with your parents. you’re going to wish we weren’t there, that’s how annoying we’ll be.

[wyatt] yeah. i just think it’d be so cool to play in the NHL. i wanna be like, uhhh, gordie howe or steve yzerman! or like your friend!

[grant] i think you should go for it, then! anything is possible if you set your mind to it. and i'd be thrilled to help you get there. just remember us little folks when you hit the big stage.

[wyatt] but mom says education is important and i should do college hockey first.

[grant] i agree with her. i mean, college isn’t everything, and it’s not a requirement, but if you become a pro athlete, you usually, like, are skipping out so much on middle school and high school to get there. that’s what really hurts you. college helps you avoid going out into the world clueless in that case.

[grant] but not to get on my soapbox there.

[wyatt] did you like it at michigan?

[grant] uhh...

[ezra] he didn't!

[grant] why you all want to know so much about me? i'm a just a boring old man who apparently played video games in black and white. surely there’s way more interesting kid-friendly stuff to chat about. like the actual hockey season that just wrapped up a couple months ago? we’re sick of tampa bay winning, right? like i couldn’t stand to watch the finals with them in it.

[wyatt] you hated it.

[grant] you really want to know? why so curious?

[ezra] i'm making the catboy! i'm naming him, uhhhhhh, spongebob. can i name him? pleaseeeeee.

[wyatt] make it spongebob catpants!

[ezra] okay! uhhh, s, um, p...where’s the o…oh, right there.

[ezra] he’s gonna be a magician guy, too. no weapons. only magic. i wanna melt people with lightning.

[grant] oh man, uhhh, mage kinda sucks in skyrim, plus we’re playing khajeet...you know what, we can work with that. excellent choices. i love it. i gotta get you on oblivion, though, if you like magic.

[wyatt] soooo, can i be nosy? mom says i'm nosy. especially when i'm not on my ADHD meds.

[grant] i don’t think you plan to stop asking, do you?

[wyatt] no.

[skeletonmob]

A Twist of Fate, Chapter 1

This is the first chapter of a story set in my fantasy world, Ouranos. New chapters will be released on Friday, and I may add illustrations over time. Right now, I'm just trying to get ideas down so they're not just floating in my head. Thanks for reading!

Word Count ~ 3500

Reading Time ~ 17.5 min

Apr 8

"Hey there gaylord! Where you goin'?"

I was on my way to the football field when I was stopped by Trevor and his main partner in crime, Chad.

"I heard you went paintballin' over the weekend."

"Y-yeah?" I responded weakly.

"What for? You practicin' so you can pull a Texas University on us? You gonna come in duel wielding squirt guns?"

"Maybe he'll come in with one of those boba straws and spitball everyone!" Chad taunted.

"Gross!"

They snickered at their 'joke' before waiting for my response.

"I-it was – I was just celebrating my birthday."

"By playing mass murderer?" Trevor scoffed, "Pfft, of course, you can't even pretend to be a man properly."

He shoved me as hard as he could. I stumbled back, my shoulders knocking against the lockers behind me.

"Listen gaylord, you're not a man, and it doesn't matter what you do. You were born under a bad star and nothing you do is going to change that. You're always going to be the biggest girl around here, got it?"

As they turned to walk away, they gave me the evil eye to ensure their point got across.

"Come on. It's time for some pizza!" Trevor commanded.

They disappeared behind a corner. I slumped against the lockers and sighed. Ever since I met him, Trevor has always been like this. He constantly gloats that he's going to be the next great football player, or start the next great rock band, or the next great actor, or even the next great celebrity chef. He never commits though. It seems like every month he's found a new calling in life. Beyond that, kicking people like me down has been his go to method of achieving his goals. I initially thought that he was trying to eliminate any competition, but this has been going on for so long that I honestly don't care why he's doing this anymore.

"Ah, shit!"

I realized how tightly I'd been squeezing my lunch bag this whole time. I furiously opened it up and inspected everything inside. Part of my sandwich had been flattened but everything else was okay. The bell for the next class period rang, and I rushed over to the football field to avoid losing anymore of my lunch time.

It was a beautiful spring day, not that I was in any mood to enjoy it. The temperature was perfect, warm enough that you could wear shorts and cool enough that you weren't going to sweat uncomfortably. Big, fluffy clouds dotted the sky and lazily drifted along their merry way. Helped along by the occasional light breeze, which also carried a faint perfume of apple blossoms and butter. It was an unpleasant but comforting scent. Mrs. Willow must be teaching her class how to make croissants or something.

. . . . .

I suppose all this really started back when the town was founded. In history class, I learned that the Industrial Revolution brought about a huge wave of anti-magic sentiment. With all the new technology that was discovered, many people started viewing magic as archaic and useless. To prove this point, many companies started company towns to show that you could subsist without magic. Frogtown followed a similar trend. It was originally started as a logging town, though I think many of loggers were actually mages themselves. They secretly kept regrowing all the trees they cut down so they could keep their jobs for longer, which I thought was kind of hilarious.

Anyway, while 1800s are long gone, its shadow still hangs over everything. Basically everyone in Frogtown has a really low opinion of magic, unless it's something 'cool' like Mars or Jupiter magic. My mom isn't a mage, but she loves gardening. She worked at a Stumpy's – the largest flower shop in town – for the longest time. When people found out about that, they started calling me the son of 'some crazy hippie lady'. Then, people found out that I have an affinity for Moon and Venus magic, the two 'girliest' types of magic, and I haven't heard the end of it since.

. . . . .

The whole thing's a pain in the ass.

Apr 9

Tuesday was a repeat of Monday, except that this time, Trevor was picking on Blake.

"The fuck was this shit? Can't your girly magic ass tell what good food is?"

"It's – my mom thought you'd like it!"

"Hmpf, guess I should've known where you got it from."

Trevor tossed Blake to the floor, which was followed by a soft clattering sound, and that was followed by Trevor stomping out of the bathroom. I stiffened as he passed by. I'd been hiding in a stall the entire time. He thankfully didn't recognize my shoes or even notice there was another person in here.

I waited for a minute before stepping out. Blake was curled up next to the far wall, sobbing quietly. There was a mangled pizza box tossed onto the sink. On the front was a receipt that said:

VEG SUPREME, XL

+ BANANA PEP

+ ROAST RED PEP

+ HALF SUN DRI TOMA

This was definitely what Trevor was mad about. Blake lifted his head as I stepped over and started furiously explaining what happened.

"IwASinchargeofthefOOd,andmymomthoughtit'd beniceto haveall kinds ofpizzas, y'know? Youcan't eatmeat allTHetime. And I knowTHAtTrevor doesn't like that sORt of stuff, but I still thought t-that ordering a single one would be a good idea. That's why - "

"It's fine. It's all in the past now."

No amount of words or crying was going to change that. There was a brief pause as I decided what to do. It's always difficult to try and comfort someone on the spot like this.

"You have five dollars on you?" Blake suddenly asked.

"What for?" I helped him up to his feet.

"I was gonna chill at one of the coffee shops nearby. I can be Trevor's punching bag next time so we're even."

"No, it's cool."

"But hasn't he -"

"No, seriously, it's fine. I'm not a yakuza."

I gave Blake some money and we parted ways once again. Me and him are similar in the same boat, more or less. He's your all American pretty boy, with dirty blonde hair and beautiful, icy blue eyes. He'd look at home in any romance manga you'd could imagine. He has an affinity for Moon, Venus, and Jupiter magic. Combine those with the fact that his last name's 'Rose' makes him the perfect target for Trevor. Even though he has the ability to force lightning someone, that's not enough to counteract everything else in Trevor's eyes. He's still a huge girl, just like me.

Despite that, me and Blake have never really become friends. It didn't seem like a good idea. Two of Trevor's biggest targets casually hanging out together. I've also basically given up on making friends. Everyone either sees me as some sissy little bitch, or the resident fortune teller.

"GALE!"

I looked up to see Lily furiously stomping over toward me.

"Why didn't you help me?"

"With what?"

"My math test! I failed it! Why didn't you use your magic to help me?"

"I haven't been divining test scores for a while."

"I know, but we have like, three classes together! You never thought to randomly help out a fellow classmate?"

"Again, I haven't been divining test scores for a while. And that extends to people I know."

"Well, just because you give someone a prediction doesn't mean it'll come true! Even if you told me that I'd get a 65% or whatever, that'd still give me some idea of how to study!"

"Or you'd sit on your ass and do nothing."

"You know I'm not like that. Just because I'm an influencer doesn't mean I'm some dumb bitch."

I stayed silent, not really wanting to respond. Lily spun around.

"Whatever. Thanks for nothing."

She dramatically flipped her hair and stomped out of the bleachers. When she was gone, I sighed and sadly stared into my sandwich for a long moment. I wasn't hungry anymore, but knowing I'd probably be starving when school ended, I finished it anyway.

May 27

The rest of the school year passed as normally as it always did. However, the week before finals, I was called in by the principal along with several other students: Blake, Trevor, Chad, Lily, and Celeste.

"I've gathered all of you here because the school is worried about your academic performance. All of you are severely struggling in one or multiple subjects."

I guess that makes sense. I've basically failed every history class I've taken. All the wars and political schemes just remind me of what I've had to endure. Sometimes Trevor would put me in such a bad mood and I was genuinely unable to focus.

"Isn't that normal?" Celeste asked.

"It is, however, some of your parents have raised concerns about that particular issue. In addition, we had our divination teacher – Mrs. Rubedo – use her magic to divine the most likely outcome for the next year of your life. The results for all of you were some flavor of 'not good'."

"Whatever! I bet that old hag made all that shit up anyway!" Trevor shouted.

"Yeah! She's one of those teachers that just hates us for no reason!" Chad agreed.

They attempted to get up and barge out of the room, but the principal used his telekinesis to stop them. Trevor strained to get out of his chair, but after doing a half squat for a long moment, gave up and sat back down. The principal continued.

"Trevor, you have been held back twice. If I remember correctly, you're going to turn 21 later this year. Unless your family is poor or you have some sort of disability, you should not be in high school."

"Third time's the charm!" Trevor tried to brush off the principal as smoothly as possible.

"That's not how this works!" He slammed the table, "The school can't keep holding you back forever! The school can't keep wasting resources on you forever! Moreover, if the board of education sees this is happening, they're going to start considering budget cuts to the school."

"Because two people are being held back?" Blake asked.

"Well, if one person's being held back, that likely means other people are being held back. And the reason they're being held back is either because they don't have the resources to succeed, or because there's something distracting them. The solution then is to find the missing resource and give funding, or find the distraction and cut funding. That'll be the board's overall thought process anyway."

"But that's not – well, I guess there's no guarantee they'll give us money." Blake said.

"Correct, the short of the situation is that all of you are struggling academically. If nothing is done, then it's likely all of you will suffer down the line. The school board will look at all this and might decide to take drastic action. So to hopefully avoid all that, it's been decided to send all of you to Chicago Institute of Magic and Science for the next school year."

You could practically feel everyone's eyes widen at that statement.

"The program you'll be a part of is one that's intended to help struggling and or disadvantaged students. After the school year has past, your academic performance will be evaluated. If it's up to our school's standards, then you will graduate. If it's not, then you will be expelled from the school system. What that means is you won't be able to attend any public or private high school, college, university, or technical school in California."

"But some of us just have really bad grades!" Lily objected.

"Again, Mrs. Rubedo has divined some unpleasant outcomes for all of you. Moreover, I should think this would be rather easy if you're simply struggling in one or two subjects."

"Well, like, wouldn't it be better to just send Trevor and Chad over, and have the rest of us attend summer school or something?"

"That was an option we considered initially. It's more efficient to either keep all of you here in an in-state program, or send you all off in an out-of-state program. After discussing this with your parents, they all agreed that sending you out of state would be more beneficial for you."

"What?"

Lily was in complete shock. I was too. I guess I should've expected that my parents would be informed about this, but they never mentioned it to me. In that moment, it felt like they'd been plotting against behind my back, waiting for the perfect time to backstab me.

Lily was about to retort again, but simply sighed instead. It seemed our fates had been decided for us, and there was nothing we could do about it.

-----

Mrs. Carver was feeling adventurous and made a buffalo chicken and potato casserole, which had surpassed all expectations. She and her husband casually made their way through dinner, both unaware of the smoldering angst and frustration within their son's heart.

"This actually tastes really good!" Mr. Carver said.

"I know! The hot sauce isn't overpowering at all! It's probably because of all the fat that's needed. Gives it a more savory flavor."

"Chicken's not that fatty though."

"Oh, you're supposed to use a third cup of olive oil for the marinade."

"Ah, the cheese and the other spices probably help as well."

Mrs. Carver suddenly noticed that her son hadn't eaten anything. He was intently staring at his mini casserole dish as if trying to divine the future.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

. . . . .

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"About going to Chicago?"

"Yes!"

"Don't get all dramatic." Mr. Carver calmly said, "We've talked about your grades multiple times. You keep insisting that you don't need to take summer classes, but you've been failing history consistently."

"Because it's pointless! It's all just a bunch of nobles starting wars and oppressing poor people!"

"There's more to history than just wars and economics."

"That's basically what it all boils down to!"

"Honey, this is why we signed you up for all this," Mrs. Carver chimed in, "You're . . . well, to be honest, we feel that you're slipping into some bad habits. The school astrologer confirmed that if we don't do anything, you're going to get worse."

"So your solution is to ship me off to some far away land? Like I'm some sort of slav-"

"This is the exact reason we're doing this!" Mr. Carver snapped. Both Gale and Mrs. Carver were briefly taken aback with shock.

"I . . . I know you don't see things this way," he continued, "But the world is not out to get you! The world is not a complete fucking shitshow. I know it can seem like it on social media and whatever, but that's not the whole world. There's more to it than that."

Mr. Carver angrily stared at his empty dish for a moment.

"You sitting in your room playing Call of Duty all day isn't helping."

That was his final word on the subject. Mr. Carver quickly drank the last of his water then headed towards the dishwasher. Gale and Mrs. Carver quietly went back to their food as he cleaned up. He then stepped out onto the front porch to calm his nerves. After a moment, Mrs. Carver spoke up again.

"We want to help you, but we can't if you keep shooting down every suggestion we have. That's why we kept this a secret. We're not purposely trying to betray your trust or anything."

"Hmpf . . . fine." Gale was slowly coming to terms with the situation.

"And know that you can stay with us as long as you need to. I know it can be hard with Dad, since he can be a hardass sometimes, but both of us do really love you."

Jul 31

Jae Sheridan started off his Sabbat celebrations with a tarot reading. Surprisingly, the store he visited was rather empty. It was rather strange, as getting your fortune read during a holiday was the thing to do. Though there are probably at least a thousand divination shops in Chicago alone, and most people were likely starting off their extended weekend by having lunch and catching up with friends.

Once Jae got back to his apartment, he was greeted with a hug and a surprisingly passionate kiss from his boyfriend, Dune.

"Hey, I'm not in the mood right now." Jae said.

"You wanna save it for your birthday or Halloween?"

. . . . .

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just . . . thinking about everything that happened."

"Back with Parade?"

"Hmm, mostly the stuff after that."

Leon Fetor is the CEO of Securitas, a home security company. About two years ago, he was facing immense public backlash and ridicule for his divorce and several major scandals at the company. Jae would've been the perfect solution to all his problems. Leon saw him as a lonely, unappreciated, but talented artist. He could hire him as the lead product designer, which would turn around company profits and also make him out to be a patron of the arts. That would hopefully start turning the tide in his favor.

But Jae wanted nothing to do with him. This of course, didn't stop Leon. He kept harassing him throughout the summer, promising him too-good-to-be-true job offers, inviting him to tech conferences, or trying to tempt him with blackjack and hookers. This eventually culminated in a mage duel where Jae hospitalized Leon and many of his 'friends'. Despite being acquitted in court and apologizing to the families, there were days where Jae felt genuine guilt over what transpired, and other days where he acted as if nothing happened.

Dune gently let go.

"You know none of those tech guys actually cared about you."

"I know, but I just . . . there's always this feeling that things could've gone better, y'know? That nobody got hurt and that everyone was able to live their life as they pleased."

"Silicon Valley's based off exploitation."

"I know, but . . . I just . . . I just feel like I did something wrong. I know that most people don't care for those tech guys, and that they'd consider me in the right, but it still feels . . . bad. Like things could've gone differently."

There was a long pause as Dune thought how to respond.

"Listen, you're not a bad person for wanting to move on with your life. You're not a bad person for setting boundaries, or cutting ties with people who aren't you're friends anymore. And you're definitely not a bad person for cutting ties with people who were never your friends in the first place."

He punctuated his mini speech with a comforting hug. The two of them stayed like that for a long while, and once he felt his point was made, he let go. Jae didn't respond, but knew that he was right. Leon and everyone else had probably forgotten him by this point. They'd probably gone back to trying to bullshit investors with the newest useless tech gadget, or gushing about the newest useless tech gadget. Or they were at some party, trying to pick up girls by spinning the whole incident as 'that time I got into a mage duel and used my genius to just barely escape with my life'. That's just the kind of people they were. If they weren't going to give him the time of day, then Jae shouldn't do the same for them either.

"I also got you something from the college."

"Uh, which one?"

"CIMS"

Jae instinctively walked over to the dining table and immediately found the form he was talking about. It was titled: Wanderlust Leader Application.

"Is this a student club or a public event thing?"

"It's an extracurricular activity that's run by volunteers. You basically get assigned a group of students and play tour guide to them."

"You take them on field trips and stuff?"

"Yeah, as long as it's approved by the school. Most people take them around the city, but the lady told me one group went to celebrate Halloween over in Quebec."

"I'd rather save stuff like that for you and my family."

Jae looked over the paper. At this exact moment, the program felt rather manipulative. Trying to assuage his guilt by taking college kids on a deep dish pizza run. Though, this might be exactly what he needed. The past was in the past. As guilty as he felt about it at times, that wouldn't change anything. Perhaps the best thing to do was to keep living in spite of it, to actively try and put the lessons he learned into practice.

"Is there a deadline for this?"

"If you're just doing a semester, it's four weeks after the start. If you're doing the entire school year, it's before the end of September."

[foxingpeculiar]

FF16 Blogging: I've gotten through the point where the party is preparing to leave for Oriflamme. Spoilers Up to that Point.

I've actually started taking notes as I play, so I'm just kinda looking through those. But generally speaking, the section I did today (Martha's Rest, Eastpool, Phoenix Gate: Part Deux) are the game going, "hey, have you noticed how much it sucks to be a bearer? Gonna beat you over the head with it for a sec." Actually, what it kinda reminded me of was the Village of Dali from FF9, where they find the Black Mage factory: this idyllic rural setting where they expose how horrific the treatment of this minority class is.

I still don't know what Joshua's up to. It's pretty clear he was leading Clive along by the nose to get him to take control of Ifrit, and whatever he's trying to do, it has a time limit on it. It seems logical that 1) Cid is correct about the mothercrystals and their relationship to the Blight, and 2) whatever Joshua is involved in behind-the-scenes has something to do with that, but I dunno.

The scene with Kupka in his castle, where he receives the package has a lot going on. Like, okay 1) you know how I said earlier that I wasn't sure Benna was dead? A lot of that was because her involvement with him hadn't really factored in yet. So this may have resolved that. Boo. 2) Cos I'm pretty sure we just pulled a Se7en there and that's her head in that box--that's the only thing I can think of that would explain that reaction, based on the information we have. 3) Which, if true, speaks a strength of this game's presentation--it implies a lot of awful shit, without having to actually go there. Not the first time it's done that. 4) I find it unlikely that Cid is actually behind sending that to him, and significantly more likely that someone is playing puppetmaster somewhere, but that remains to be seen.

Re: point 3 there, that's not to say the game shies away from shit, though. The slaughter of Eastpool was... rough. I dunno, I'm not sure what else to say about it, other than damn, fuck Annabella. (I was yelling "your mom sucks, dude" at the TV a few times during that bit). Her character is coming into somewhat more clear focus now--we know she married the Emperor (Sebastian or whatever), and it seems like that was more about being a power move than being really invested in an affair with him or something. So... yeah, proper cunt that one.

I suppose it's logical that the most difficult boss so far was myself. The whole reconciling with Ifrit thing was pretty cool, and brings up some interesting questions, the largest of which in my mind is "what do the Eikons and The Fallen have to do with each other?" Because there is clearly some connection there. But beyond that, more thematically, it's funny, cos I was just talking about the concept of "moral injury" with my therapist the other day, and now here's a grand example of it: both Clive and Jill figuring out how to go on after the awful things they've done.

Speaking of Jill, I like her so far, but it doesn't feel like she's gotten to do much yet. I'm looking forward to that changing, especially now that that kind of soul-searching, emo stretch of the game is over and we're about to get down to some business. Some fuckin'-shit-up business.

Stray thoughts:

So okay. When Clive hears "the voice," it's not speaking the language everyone else speaks. But he can understand it. And then there's that rando moogle (Nektar?) in the Hideaway who's like "holy shit, you can understand me?! thank god!" So... what's with that? Can Clive just understand any language, or what's going on there?

The lady in pre-slaughter Eastpool who was like "hey, check out that mysterious tower. Isn't it mysterious?" made me laugh a little. That's some old-school RPG shit there, those little "hints."

They keep showing the moon and Metia. What IS that thing? Like, it stays with the moon, so it's in orbit around the planet, not at a fixed position. I dunno, I keep thinking of like the Lunar Cry in FF8 or something like that. (Actually, the fact that magic takes a toll on the bodies of bearers and dominants kinda reminds me of GF's effect on people in FF8 also).

So, inside the holy whatever (some word that started with A) beyond Phoenix Gate, that bit where you have to hit the switch on each side to raise the bridge in the middle. Clive says something to the effect of "It's not a dead end, after all." And Jill pauses and looks at him like he's an absolute idiot before saying "Apparently not." Great moment.

Who are the "we" in "we are you?" That's the 10,000 question.

lol @ Kupka's henchman being identified as "Suspicious Character" in the subtitles.

Cid has a kid, huh? Wonder if that's just backstory or if that's gonna become a thing later.

[mrpenguinpants]

Hey so that Dainsleif quest huh 👀

[Spoilers for those who haven't played it yet ofc]

.

.

.

These are just some disorganized initial thoughts for your consideration:

So I'm pretty sure his "travel companion" that he keeps mentioning is our twin

Does that mean our twin has gone to the exact same places as we've been going?? Dainsleif seemed to be familiar with all the locations we visited in Mondstadt but I suppose that could've been from an even earlier journey

And the possibility that the Abyss is trying to mislead us bc we hadn't encountered any abyss mages since Dvalin 🤔🤔🤔 what do they want??? We know (kinda) that our twin is watching our progress and that they're the prince/princess of the Abyss so like are they trying to keep us from getting in the way of their plans so as not to accidentally hurt us? Though something tells me we're gonna get tangled up in it one way or the other lmao

Dainsleif said that his goal is to oppose the Abyss so perhaps he's got his own secret plans to try to stop our twin (as is also supported by what he said at the end of the mortal travails video about proving ourselves worthy of stopping "her"/Lumine probably)

Also turns out I'd been pronouncing his name wrong the whole time lmao I had been saying dains-leaf instead of dains-lif

No Vision as confirmed by his full character model

Also his eyepatch is more of a phantom of the opera mask lmao

Important observation he looks like post timeskip Dimitri from a distance when I had to meet him in Dvalin's Lair I legit thought he was Dimitri for a sec XD

Anyway those were my thoughts about the new quest lmao my internet was cutting out the whole time while I was trying to play like dsfkdksjf pls I just wanted to talk to blond eyepatch man

Important part of this post: 

I took a lot of pictures of Dainsleif if you want to use them as references (or appreciation).  The pictures are under the read more tag so if you don’t want spoilers, don’t read anything and skip to the read more. 

Also, he calls you and your sibling “idiots” through money.

He asks for 500 mora and (this is probably just a coincidence but considering Zhongli tips Xiangling 888 mora I’m sus). The number 250  [二百五] or ( èr bǎi wǔ) means “idiot”. 

If someone calls you 250, they can say (nǐ shì wǔ bǎi) or “You are [250]”. But if you give someone 500, this can be taken as saying two people are stupid (250 + 250 = 500). I mean, that’s probably not how it works but I think it’s funny to imagine Dainsleif being too polite to call us stupid. 

---

I know right? When I saw the leak for it and seeing it confirmed in patch notes, I was so confused. Wha-Why are you here so early? I wasn’t expecting you for another 5 years at least. I’m happy to see you and your beautiful model in game but at the same time I was so worried that we were going to get crumbs of interactions. Same thing with Guizhong in Zhongli’s story quest. Genshin please...finish your stories (that’s fucking hilarious coming from me considering I still have a part 2 to Childe that I need to write), but I’m honestly just happy that he’s in the game. But yes 👀👀 more lore food. 

You know, I was talking about the archons a bit with @maagdalen and, I may have been misunderstanding or reading the wrong message, but they brought up the idea that what if the archons’ personality is based on their regions country's? So for example, Venti’s personality adopts the German mentality because Mondstadt was modelled after Germany? Obviously, I have no idea if that’s true because I’m not from or am German but in the context of Liyue and Zhongli. I can definitely see some sort of connection. 

But some food for thought:

“But cyro archon is very viable since she's suppose to be a kind hearted person that needed to be cold for the sake of freedom. or peace. something like that.”

 “Sorry, but this is stupidly Russian style. No matter what you say, people will always be dissatisfied. Of course it's not that bad...but it's something to think about.“ 

But yess, @svnflowery​ said the same thing. That Dainsleif was Lumine’s “guide” the same way Paimon is our guide. I actually think that’s an interesting idea. That Lumine has gone to the exact same places as we’ve been through. It actually makes me wonder (since we can play as both her and Aether), that Lumine went through the same story line as Aether. She met Venti, Zhongli, everything that’s happening right now. She’s already been through, then when she reached the Khaenri’ah chapter she failed. So she decided to spin the clock back and change destiny. I mean, this is me spit balling and I don’t think this happened but it’s something to think about. 

You know funny enough, hasn’t Venti been asleep for a while? Either way, he doesn’t really strike me as the type that truly wants to be an Archon. He says in his voicelines as well that “that’s a problem for Mondstadt to deal with”. So it would be easier for the Abyss Order to mess some things up. While Zhongli has been alive for 6000 years and I highly doubt Abyss Order can do anything to him haha. If we’re going on that “Lumine has already been through this journey” she could be trying to re-make or lead us on the same path. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Dainsleif was our guide, then when Lumine spun the clock back and aligned herself with the abyss, that’s when they split. That could be a reason why he’s trying to oppose the abyss order but really I think it’s because the Abyss Order’s goal is to basically set the world on fire (or something like that). I always pronounce character names wrong and I don’t understand why people make such a big deal out of it. You know who I’m talking about, my pronunciation isn’t completely shit to the point you don’t know. So why do you keep yelling at me??

Also. The most important part of his quest was it was “Aether’s version” of the “We will be reunited” trailer. 

It even showed the crushed dandelion flower and the ruin guard footprints. IT’S OUR SISTER. 

I knoww, I was searching for his vision and got weird pics but that’s alright, I LOWKEY HATE THE OPERA MASK SO MUCH. GIVE ME ACTUAL MASK. THERE GOES THE “SEPERATE COLOURED EYE” ART OF KHAENRIAH PEOPLE. Yo, knock off Dimitri let’s go. 

I love Dainslief’s english voice but I hate Xiao’s en voice. What a dilemma. I usually play in chinese but wow does Dainslief sound old. Jp is slightly better but I hear grandpa vibes. Korean isn’t bad and I actually don’t mind korean xiao so korean we shall go. It’s weird. I like Dainsleif english voices, Xiao chinese voice, paimon korean voice haha. Jp is usually just good all around but I have preferences. But tyty for telling me your thoughts! I’d love to hear about the Xiao quest that just dropped. Beautiful boy 

sweats 

yeah about that...xiao scammed me. I wonder if his speech changes based on what you say. i kind of doubt it though. 

I’m looking at his outfit from every angle while Xiao stays pretty in the back. 

I like that you can see his magic arm there. 

While on this side you can’t. 

I swear this is for research. IM TRYING TO SEE IF HE HAS A VISION. IM INNOCENT!!

he also has some sort of weird...blue thingy on his foot?

Im using Xiao as a personfication of me BUT TELL ME YOUR SECRETS 

[paintedwarpony]

CRITICAL ROLE REWATCH C2E110

(And further ranting and raving and campaign predictions...)

Hey guess what I'm back to talk about today you guys?

Verin Thelyss? Always. But not for this episode.

HOW ABOUT SOME MORE GODDAMN HINTED MULTICLASSED EODWULF.

Yep. You bet.

For those of you just joining this Ted Talk I posed a theory months ago that Eodwulf is NOT infact multiclassed as a paladin for the Raven Queen/Matron of Ravens as most of the fandom has considered. But is something far more dangerous and terrifying.

That Eodwulf is in fact multiassed as a War Domain Cleric.

WHICH IS BAD.

VERY VERY BAD.

At least from a D&D combat campaign point of view. Because essentially it creates an absolute malestrom of a NPC. And it turns the gut to think of the kind of fight it would put the Nein through.

*coughTPKcough*

Because the facts are this. Eodwulf is already a very highly trained, extremely powerful wizard, which is dangerous in and of itself. Add to that fact that he's ALSO a homebrewed Volstrucker and considered one of Ikithon's elites. That means there's going to be all kinds of shit mixed up in that bag of tricks that we haven't seen or yet to speculate.

My basis as to why I think Eodwulf is a cleric of some kind leans heavily on the fact that Matt Mercer himself very often grumbles and complains during campaign about how "unfair" it is that the Nein have two clerics. Yet to date the Nein have not actually gone to combat with a full party that includes a cleric (that may change with the Tomb Takers, who knows) but its certainly not an oversight by any means. I'm positive Matt is saving the use of a cleric enemy for a particularly nasty encounter or series of encounters.

Because lets be real

Clerics will fuck some shit up no matter what their domain is. Between the ridiculously long list of spells they have access to and the ability to pop other members of their team back up clerics are brawlers in the disguise of supports.

NOW HERE'S WHERE IS GETS DANGEROUS CONCERING EODWULF.

Considering Eodwulf is a wizard, and a homebrewed Volstrucker at that theres going to be alot of fire power there but Wizards are notorious glass canons unless handled or multiclassed correctly. Caleb is EXTREMELY powerful mage wise BUT he still follows wizard format to balance him from becoming to powerful. At lvl 13 his AC 15 (jumps to 16 with Mage Armor) and he has 96HP. They're at a point of the campaign where they are coming up against creatures that deal out damage in the 50s, 60s, 70s, or more in one shot. And in turn the Nein themselves are starting to be able to do that kind of damage back.

Which if Eodwulf was just a wizard played by wizard stats, even just slightly homebrewed, wouldn't make him much of a threat.

BUT THROW CLERIC IN THERE AND MAKE IT A WAR DOMAIN CLERIC?

You just turned that glass canon into a GODS DAMNED SHERMAN TANK.

That gives Eodwulf access to martial weapons, heavy armor and a PLEATHORA of other equipment that most wizards could only look longingly through a shop window at before. Not to mention the spell list expansion. His AC jumps. His HP jumps. His attack ability skyrockets as he could both cast spells and make (multiple with certain effects) physical attacks in the same round. His magical longevity bolsters as he can save spell slots until more opportune times to but continue to cause damage with physical strikes.

Not to mention the aspect of keeping the rest of his side of the fight up. Healing up other Volstrucker, Astrid, fucking Ikithon himself to keep them in combat. Hell even using FUCKING REVIVIFY to bring one back if he needs to.

Counterspell? Got it. Cure Wounds? Got it. Guiding Strike? Yep got that, too. Divine Intervention? Sure thing! Fireball? Pssht, for sure.

Considering the hint in C2E110 that Eodwulf favors electricity the same way Caleb favors fire I wouldn't be surprised if he has friggin' Chained Lighting as a go to favorite spell.

BUT I DIGRESS

Some more hints came into focuse during C2E110 to support this theory but the biggest one was said by Eodwulf himself. When questioned about what he did on the front lines Eodwulf admitted:

"I am not much of a front line fighter..."

Its kind of a throwaway line BUT is very much known and considered within D&D that paladins (like Fjord) are considers front line fighter types. But wizards AND CLERICS OF ALL DOMAINS are considered SUPPORT LINE. That they hang back and try to stay out of the thick of danger. Despite the abilities of a cleric to be absolutely savage in combat, as displayed by Jester and Caduceus over the campaign, they're still considered 'support/support line' classes.

It might not be a huge hint but the only time at the table Eodwulf showed any small bit of his own personality was when he bragged just a little about himself and admitted to liking being called a 'living magical weapon', he was also incredibly honest and forthright when he answered questions or spoke about their duty, parents, the torture that he'd been put through at the hands of Ikithon and his faith in the Matron of Ravens was no secret and peppered casually into his conversation. I think that if he was in fact a paladin Edowulf would not hesitate to talk about his pride at serving the Matron of Ravens AND the Empire in direct combat. A wiz-pally combo like that would be formidable but...

A Wiz-War Cleric combo thats a homebrewed Volstrucker and backed by the goddess of death...

Its gonna get real ugly really fast for the Nein if they have to fight him.

I fully believe Eodwulf can be flipped to the Nein's favor but I think to manage that he needs to be separated from Ikithon AND Astrid. During C2E110 he took ALL of his cues from Astrid, looking at her EVERY TIME before starting to speak or reacting to anything. He only acted a little more independent when they were outside the tower. Everything about Eodwulf's demeanor and behavior suggests someone so very lost and used to being bullied or directed one way or another that he doesn't think twice to follow instructions or vomit back up beliefs he was 'taught' but might not be his own. People like that bury their personalities and only find their way to the surface when they're separated from the supervision of their influence. Caleb as expressed multiple times he wants to win both his friends back with a much heavier emphasis on Astrid than Eodwulf. Astrid seems a much more difficult person to turn to their side imo and habors to many secrets and ulterior motives and its worrisome the way she does execute her will over Edowulf. Its clear by some of the interactions at the table that Astrid was very much the 'leader' of the Blumentrio, as she several times tried to cue Caleb with looks to stop or change his behavior and actions. Caleb has been free of Ikithon (and Astrid's) influence for so long now and grown so much in the care of his found family it didn't even cause him to balk but it worries me that if Astrid were introduced into the Nein her influence and manipulations that she does still hold over Eodwulf may start to sink in and control Caleb again as well. The encounter certainly rattled him and left him repeatedly insisting "freeing" her specifically over the course of the campaign since.

But thats a whole different can of worms...

If the Nein turn Astrid to their cause I'm almost positive Eodwulf will follow her. He cued to her FAR more than he did to Ikithon and that speaks volumes.

But I would so much like to see Eodwulf on his own, see his personality and see his own decision to join the Nein's side or not.

But truly... if the answer is 'not'...

Its not going to be good...

[afandommultiverse]

One Night Lifetimes - Langris Vaude

word count - 4k

request - patpatlangit

warnings - Lime, no actual smut even though it says lemon juice, I'm sorry I got really tired and ended up making this 4k words and didn't have the brainpower or creativity to write smut, demand of abortion 

a/n - of course enjoy, and let me know about any spelling errors please! Again sorry there no team smut❤️

~~~

“Hey, Y/n, you’re glowing a bit, you okay?” Looking up from your food you stared at Vanessa questioningly. Her sudden odd question caught the attention of some of the others eating at the table. 

“Oh yeah! Did you do some new kind of body wash, Y/n? You’re shiny!” Asta exclaimed, stuffing his face as he looked at me for an answer, as did everyone else. 

“No… I haven’t changed anything in my schedule- or any of my products.” The only thing different from my life is… I couldn’t be? He wouldn’t be stupid enough… Everyone else continued to talk and speculate before someone finally asked the Captain for his opinion. 

“What do you think, Cap’n?” Yami eyed you up and down, his expression unreadable as he looked at you over his newspaper. Before going back to reading he folded to the next page saying;

“I know a thing or two about glowing women… I’ll call a good mage of mine to come to check you out.” 

***

“Any change in foods?” 

“Uhm, no not really.” 

“And you said you haven’t changed any bathing products?” 

“Yep.”

“No schedule changes?” 

“No.” 

“Well, then I’ll run a quick spell over ya’ and we should know what's wrong with you in a jiffy, Dearie.” The old woman smiled warmly, easing your anxious nerves and buzzing fingers, which played together tirelessly in your lap. The doctor's grimoire opened and the relief of her mana washed through your body, cleansing every cell leaving you with refreshed, rested bones and muscles overworked or exerted from missions with every touch, even the slight nausea you had earlier disappeared. 

“When was the last time you had your monthly cycle, Dearie?” You look at the woman, confused but almost knowing what she was already going to say. Again that nausea was back, along with a new lump in your throat that burned and tightened the muscles around it, pulling painfully on the tear ducts of your eyes. 

“Two- Two months.” Your voice was shaky, wavering weakly in reply. 

“Oh, Dearie,” Reading your face she didn’t know what to say. All she did was hug you and rub your back consolingly as you sat frozen, still breathing and heart. 

Time seemed to blur by after that when you came back to the hideout in your room, Yami and the mage talking outside, they’re murmurs coming through the wooden door taunted your ears. A few moments of silence passed before the door opened to show Yami. He came in as neutral as ever, lighting a cigarette and coming to sit beside you on the bed, which creaked loudly under his weight. 

“Here, Gladys gave me these to give to you.” He handed you a glass bottle of small capsules. You looked at the bottle and read the label ‘Prenatal Supplements,’ yet another sign that what was happening is real. 

“Are you going to keep it?” Yami asked, looking at the wall while blowing out a puff of smoke. 

“I don’t know.” 

“Are you going to tell him?” You snorted weakly. 

“I think that's the only thing I’m sure about at this point.” You fell to the side and laid your head on his shoulder, holding back every tear that had been building up behind your eyes since you got the news. 

“So am I gonna tell Finral he’s going to be an uncle or do you want the honors?” You turned to look up at him, head-snapping so fast you thought you broke it. 

“You knew?” Yami turned to look at you, a grin pulling at his lips, teeth gripping his cigarette in place. 

“Who do you think brought you back that night?” 

***

“Captain Langris? A visitor is here to see you.” Langris frowned, he wasn’t expecting anyone today, he was supposed to be working on mission assignments and specifically freed up the day due to his lag in work as of late, a certain woman clouding his thoughts. 

“Come in.” He wasn’t prepared for who came through the threshold of his office door. In you walked, legs striding with a confidence you didn’t feel at all, but you could have fooled him, with your head held high you met him head-on at his desk. 

“What can I do for you, Y/n?” His chin came to rest on his pen that he held in front of him with his two hands, watching you with sharp, intrigued eyes, anyone else might have thought he was bored, but he was beyond curious of where this would go. 

“I-” The words were stuck in your throat, a huge knot holding up the words from passing your lips. 

“What is it?” He didn't mean to come off so rude but it was out of instinct, he wasn’t a patient man. 

“W-Well.” Once again the words balled up in your throat, restricting your breathing as your eyes began to water, built-up anxiety and nerves ripping away at your nerves as you began to shake. 

“Well? Get on with it-”

“I'M PREGNANT!” The scream seemed to clear your throat, but the shaking continued, as did the tears burning your eyes, blurring the reaction of Langris, but you didn’t need to see it. 

“Get rid of it.” you blinked, breakdown halted for but a second, a second of clarity where you saw him, terrified and desperate, another blink, calm- angry eyes. You took a step back, disgusted, almost betrayed. You didn’t know what to expect when coming here, but it wasn’t this.

“Y/n wait-” He could see the disgust in your somber eyes, the regret for even coming here. He should've known, his mouth speaking before he even really thought about it, a mistake solely on his part. 

“No, I-I’m sorry to bother you but I need to go.” 

“Y/n no-!” You were just out of reach, just falling from his hand, his stumble almost made him run into the door which you slammed closed on your way out, by the time he opened it, you were already gone. 

“Fuck…” 

***

Three Years Later 

“Thank you for coming in on such short notice.” Langris was quiet and hushed as spoke to Finral, essentially unnerving him. 

“Langris? Are you okay?” Finral almost offered to get him a glass of water but held back in fear of insulting his younger brother, even after their bettered relationship, Finral still felt there were some lines he still didn’t get to cross.

“Fine, I’m fine. I’ve asked for you because I have a proposition.” 

“A proposition?” Finral watched as Langris pulled out a long piece of paper from his desk, the edges sharp and lined with gold. As Langris laid the paper down slid it toward his older brother, Finral in return, brushing it closer, reading the words written with wide eyes. 

“I-Is this some sort of joke?!” Finral shoved the paper away, glaring at his brother, not finding one of his usual pranks so funny. After everything he’d done, what right does he have to ask this of him- to ask this of you!

“Finral-”

“No! Do you have any idea what you said did to her? I’ve seen your lows, Langris, but I didn’t think you would go this far. I thought you had made it clear you didn’t want anything to do with-”

“It was a mistake! Those words were flying out of my mouth before I even had a chance to even think of what I was saying. I know that doesn’t make it any better, but it’s the truth. Y/n doesn’t deserve that, she doesn’t even deserve me, she should have nothing but the best but… well- goddamnit I love her and I’m going to try my damn well hardest to fix what I did!” Finral couldn’t believe it, the tears filling his younger brother's eyes only fueling the shock rippling throughout his senses, freezing him. Langris loved you? Langris didn’t love anyone. 

“How do I know you're not lying, that you’re not just trying to get close to her and Lefric only to kidnap him and sell him huh?” Finral eyes his brother, suspicion ripping at his thoughts, training each opinion and speculation. 

“Lefric? Is that his name?” The smile on Langris’ face was almost unnatural, something Finral hadn’t seen in so long, a genuine smile. 

“Y-Yes.” Langris hummed, leaning back and seeming to drift away in his thoughts, probably his little paradise where he was with you and Lefric, a part of the family you had created, but the sadness clouded his eyes once again, reminded by the reality of which you hate him, and your son, his son, didn’t even know he existed.

“I don’t plan to sell my son, and I don’t plan on deceiving Y/n either, I just want another chance.” Finral sat back and looked at his brother for a long time, and several emotions ran through his eyes and face, sometimes his eyes contradicting the face he was making, and then he was completely unreadable. It was the first time Langris wanted to hear Finral speak. 

“Okay, I’ll bring her- BUT if you so much as making a suspicious glance at her OR Lefric, we are outta there!” Langris almost could hold his joy in, feeling like jumping around and throwing his hands in the air, instead he settled on a face-splitting smile that frightened his older brother. 

“Perfect! Shall we get you ready for your wedding?” 

“MY WHAT?!” 

***

Sitting in the white chair your blood boiled, simmering under your skin and scorching your veins. What was Finral thinking bringing you here, bringing Lefric here! You had the mind to struggle him in your seat right now if the music hadn’t started playing and everyone stood. Lefric hung off my you as you both turned to watch the bride walk down the aisle. 

Finesse looks gorgeous, draped in a white fabric dripping from her figure in exact seams and hems. Her veil was decorative, lace flowers growing across, she looked like a goddess. Walking toward the steps of her future matrimony, gorgeous lilies in hand, you couldn't help but think if this deity knew about her future husband's bastard child. Everyone sat back down and the priest began, looking over at Finral, you realized why he might have brought you, clutching at his slacks, he couldn’t even look up at the ceremony, eyes burning into his legs. You only slid Lefric onto one hip and grabbed Finral’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. You were happy to feel a small squeeze back. 

The ceremony blurred as Lefric began moving, playing with your dress and hair, you couldn’t help but play with him too, making sure you were still quiet, but your playtime was halted when a sentence from the priest caught your ear. 

“Is there anyone who objects to this?” The priest turned to the crowd looking for objectors, surprise pulling at his old face when someone did. 

“I do.” The priest pulled back, babbling nothings before spitting out, “I beg your pardon?!”

“I object. I don’t love her and I don’t want this marriage.” Some people in the crowd gasped, some even laughed, others watched on in astound, frozen in their seats. You looked away from the others, catching the sad face of Finesse at the altar, as sad as she was though, the breath of relief was obvious. 

“I wouldn’t want to put Finesse through that.” Confusion wiped at her eyes, some even dotting my face with furrowed brows. Langris turned to look at me, looking as though relieved and elated. His gaze went sideways finding Finral and nodding. The brothers wordlessly switched places, much to your annoyance as you whispered questions to Finral as he walked away. Panic and anxiety bubbled up and your hold on Lefric tightened a little watching as Langris walked closer, his final steps the only thing you heard over the blood rushing your ears. 

“Y/n.” His voice was but a whisper, hesitant and tentative much like a shy child, which coming from Langris, was the least of what you expected. His eyes dropped from you and fell on your son, eyes suddenly ten times brighter. He looked as though he was going to pick Lefric up from me, but he stopped, his arms frozen awkwardly, before stiffly smoothing down his suit. His hand came down to grab my free one before turning back to the priest and saying, 

“You may continue.” The priest looked off to the parents of Langris and Finral, met with angry scowls but nodding heads, so he continued. 

Sitting beside you, he paid you no mind, never once letting go of your hand either. You thought of pulling it away, even moving your wrist a little to pull it away but you stopped. Why you don’t know, maybe it was because his hand was so warm, a warmth you’d been needing for a while. 

“And do you Finral Roulacase take Finesse to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold till death do you part?”  

“I do.” 

“And do you Finesse Calmreich, take Finral to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold till death do you part?”  

“I do!” 

“I may now pronounce you as husband and wife, you may now kiss the bride!” 

***

The reception was loud and joyful food and drinks passed around nobles and spectators mingling together, each going up and their own time to congratulate the married couple. When it came to be your turn, Langris followed you up, practically as attached to your hip as Lefric. 

“Y/n I know I’m horrible but-” 

“Congratulations Finral, I’m glad everything could work out. You two deserve each other.” You watched as Finesse smiled and squeezed at Finral’s hand. Finral smiled as he looked down at the hand clasping his, still not believing that this was truly happening. 

“Thank you, Y/n.” You nodded. 

“Of course.”  you set down your wedding gift to give to them on the table before handing over a second present. 

“So since someone has some explaining to do and you're busy, you get to watch Lefric while Langris does explain this all to me. Sound good? Good?” The end was a bit snippy, but you're already peeved off self sort-of had a right. Langris followed without command and followed you into the first empty room you could find, a simple guest room. You sat on the bed and sighed, staring up at Langis with squinted eyes, skeptical of his motives. 

“You may begin.” 

“I made a deal with Finral that if he brought you to the wedding, he would be marrying Finesse instead of me.” Never one to beat around the bush, Langris answered you with a bored tone, staring at you like he had done nothing wrong like he’d done nothing at all. 

“And what in the hell were you thinking when you did that?” You were pissed, fuse lit and burning down fast, you were ready to explode. 

“I was thinking that I love you and I want to be a family, I want to be a father to Lefric.” It was like a bucket of water had been dropped on you, efficiently washing out the burning fuse. Langris dropped to his knees and looked up at you. 

“Please, give me a chance Y/n. You wouldn’t believe how sorry I am, honest. I didn’t mean to say what I did back then, and I'm so glad you didn’t listen to my foolish ass. Please, Y/n I don’t think I can watch him grow up from the sidelines.” 

“You’ve done well so far,” you muttered, turning away from his pleading eyes which seemed to burn through you , pulling at the heart-strings you had thought you cut off. He looked away with a small sad smile, shaking his head. 

“No, I haven’t. I was there when you had your seventh-month scare, even arranging a better doctor for you. I was there when you were recovering in the hospital after giving birth. I managed to catch glimpses of him at his first birthday party but that was a bit difficult, that boy Asta moves around too much for his good. It was his second birthday, I couldn’t make it, I was sent on an assignment near the kingdom's border, and god- I was so pissed. I don’t think I’d ever seen my men so scared of me.” He stopped coming forward to drop down in front of you. Langris Vaude, on his knees, looking up at you like you were the empress which ruled his life.

“I knew that I couldn’t do it anymore, I couldn’t watch him from the sidelines, I wanted to see him and me… I wanted to see you.” He finished shakily, eyes dropping to the thighs he leveled with, he was sincere, honest, there was nothing much he missed more than you, even if it was only one night, no woman has ever compared to you. Looking up at you now, sharp eyes glaring at him while slowly softening as he pleaded, Langris had never felt more at home then underneath you. He was so close, closer than he’d been in four years, he didn’t even feel his arm moving from his side moving to lay on your thigh, falling in slightly. Langris knew he had you when he spotted the shiver in your back run down your thighs closing them around the fingers that slipped to touch the soft skin of your inner thighs. 

“Langris,” Your voice was stern but it wavered, frailty curving around your words as they fell from lips. “I don’t… I can’t just accept you into my life this is gonna take a lot of time. You hurt me Langris, scared me.” Your head pulled at his own, curling it up in your CV hands. 

“But I can meet you halfway, as long as you promise to do the same.” Langris felt his breath stop, looking up at you he felt like crying, he felt like screaming in joy but he settled on smiling up at you, tears welling in his eyes slowly, making his eyes shine in the lowly lit room. 

“Thank you,” He whispered, “thank you, thank you, thank you.” 

***

Six Months Later

Langris met halfway, if not more which swept you off your feet more than anything, the second Langris met Lefric he had been nothing less than a loving father, spending time with him as much as he could and even taking him out, of course only with you or Finral’s presence. If Lefric became upset, Langris was there to ask him what’s wrong and comfort him before a cry even left his lips. Family dinner became a thing every Wednesday, usually held at the Black Bulls hideout but the times where you ate with Golden Dawn commanders sometimes evening the Captain coming to join, those nights were filled with just as rich food and laughter. 

Then there were the dates, the nights Finral and Finesse took care of Lefric and left you and Langris to go out and eat, filled with flirty gestures and hearty chuckles. As much as he cared for Lefric, Langris equally cared for you, checking on you when you seemed stressed, coming to see you after coming back from a mission, even occasionally going shopping with you for small things or groceries because he wanted to be near you. With Langris as Vice-Captain and you being a guild member yourself, it was hard and there were some disagreements, old Langris even coming out a few times but he never failed to apologize, and neither did you if you were wrong, you both couldn’t afford to be petty, if he- if you both wanted this work, then you had to think about Lefric as well.

Six months doesn’t feel like much, but as you break down every moment, every decision, every soft minute, each building juncture in your budding relationship, you wouldn’t give it up for anything. To you, Langris had long proven himself and you were tired of waiting for the right time to thank him and forgive him. 

“Are you ready?” You snapped out of the recollection of events, met with the questioning eyes of a certain Vice Captain, holding his hand out for you, ready to take you home after a refined night out at some highly rated nobility restaurant. The food had been great and the wine was sweet, heavy on your tongue and you never found your mouth closed, conversation buzzing the entire night, carrying with the wind that softly blew around you both. You had come as the sun was setting, dining and watching the sunset but as the dinner went on the sun long faded and the dark sky filled your desert with stars and a chill that ran up and down your spine, dressed a little too thin. 

“Hmm? Oh yeah, sorry.” You move to get up, pushing your chair back in before taking Langris’ hand letting him lead you out, opening every door for you and letting you through first making you feel like royalty. He walked toward a carriage waiting for you both but you waved off the driver and pulled Langris back. 

“Walk with me.” He looked stunned, almost pulling back from you before catching up, walking beside you and still looking questioning. Walking for minutes on end, Langris didn’t know where you were going, but he didn’t mind, he would follow you anywhere. It was when you shivered lightly while the harsh wind blew between you, shaking the trees around you, making the leaves swish a blow in an airy sound, did Langris speak. 

“Maybe we should head back soon, it’s getting pretty cold.” He didn’t ask but he didn't pull you away either instead continuing to follow as you pulled him to a little inn. You walked in and straight to the desk lady asking for one room, pulling out your own money before Langris could think of reaching for his, he was annoyed with that and rolled his eyes averting himself from you for a bit before walking with you again when you handed the key. 

“What about Lefric?” 

“He’s with Finral and Finesse tonight.” 

“Yeah, but Finral’s is an idi- ahem! Finral is... Finral.” He settled, taking the key from your hands gently and pulling up next to your room, unlocking the door and letting you in. 

“Finral is very much capable of taking care of Lefric and if not he has Finesse! They’ll be fine, they always are, and if they aren’t, they know just how to get a hold of us.” You spoke, slipping off your thin coat and beginning to drop useless jewelry onto the side table. You stopped for a second turning to find Langris in the door staring at the room, analyzing every inch meticulously. “What?” 

“What are we doing here?” He looked back over to you, suddenly you noticed the way he gripped the key, his eyes falling down your figure while you took your time to answer. Slowly you walked from the bedside table and sat on the bed taking off your heels promptly, and sitting back in the bed looking at Langris with just as much yearning as he did you. 

“I think I’ve left you waiting long enough,” You unclipped your dress from your back and shrugged it down, bunching it at your hips halting as you looked back up at him. Watching his face fall, eyes widen and devouring every inch of naked skin they could scour, falling on your bare breast with a shuddering breath. “don’t you think?” 

The door was slammed shut, you almost feared he broke the door frame almost waiting for the door to just swing back open but it held. Langris was on you in a second and suddenly you found yourself on your back, hands pulling your dress down your legs hastily. He pulled back taking a shuddering breath as he looked at you, watching you slide your legs open waiting for him to do something, anything. Becoming a little bashful with his long stare, your legs began to droop, almost falling closed but he caught them. 

“Don’t cover yourself, Honey, it’s been so long.” His voice ending in a high whine as he slipped onto the bed, arms wrapping under your legs to set them on his lithe shoulders. Langris turned to look back up at me finding my eyes. 

“Can I touch you?” you didn’t hesitate. 

“Please!” and neither did he.

[pippuns]

!!! I would like to tell you a little about Oak if you'd be okay with that!!! She's the shortest of the warriors of light which she's salty about ("Only five foot eight" >:/) and the only real way to tell she's still technically a juvenile viera other than the squishy quality her face has yet to entirely lose is the fact her ears are still FAR too big for her face, she's fervently praying she'll grow into them soon which... well she'll grow into them more but she's also just a viera with large ears so F in chat there buddy njkbh

She gravitates towards thaumaturgy and the Warrior's path for different reasons, but also uses both as a method of processing emotions; Oak isn't an angry person but she's someone who's been so deeply wronged that she still carries that anger, and she doesn't really know what to do with it. She can't put it down, she's moved on from those who put it there to begin with, so what does she do with it? Channelling it into something productive is the best way she's found of lifting that uncomfortable weight in her chest. She also just does really well with thaumaturgy due to the gift her echo gave her, namely really good aetheric tracking - she's incredibly gifted in recognising people's aetheric signatures across long distances, and has real talent when it comes to both curses and enchantments.

Lastly, while she doesn't resent the protectiveness of the other wol's and finds it pretty sweet actually, she is very quick to point out the hypocrisy of it especially in Kou's case - mostly because Kou is 1. very close to her in age considering Oak's a few months older than Alphi and Alisae, and Kou's only about a year older than them due to timeline edits I make for my story 2. a massive hypocrite about accepting any sort of protectiveness themself which she thinks needs to change and 3. Oak just got into the habit of trying to piece together Why Kou does the things they do early on when she still didn't really trust them; Kou gets antsy when people look at them as a person too much and Oak spent a lot of time in Ul'Dah and so values honesty and getting a read on people. They didn't gel well at first, until Oak actually started getting parts of the real person Kou was behind the mask, which is where Oak started realising Kou being like this was probably something to do with the role they'd been playing for so long now. So since she's starting to care about this overbearing lizard by now she's made it a point to reassert every time Kou expresses misgivings about how young Oak is, that yes she is young and yes she'll be extra careful because of it but also... Kou you aren't even a school grade older than me. You shouldn't be taking on all this shit either we are Both doing things here that are wildly inappropriate for our age groups. It is how it is. We're just the folks who Can

and a picture of She I drew a while back!! her ears are a lot fluffier but I was still figuring it out lnjkbihu

thank you again for letting me infodump on occasion in your inbox I'm sorry it always turns out so long it was only meant to be a paragraph klnjbih

I AM MORE THAN OK WITH THAT

i was gonna say "omg so tiny!!!!" and then i read her height and now i need to lay down in my bed and think about how unfair it is that so many ffxiv characters are so tall. wtf.

HER EAR TO GOT DAMN BIG FOR HER FACE!!! thats so adorable

i really like how you described her anger though, fucking baller dude. we love black mages in here, this is a black mage support blog. the aetheric tracking is really cool though!!

oak president of the kou support club real??? love that for her. i think kou should get a break.

[fe-sekai]

Fire Emblem: Sekai - what ive got so far

this is in regards to my fire emblem/project sekai au that as of right now is some drawings and 1 chapter of a badly written fic, however that may change in time so i'll keep this specific post updated as i come up with stuff

i was inspired by this fic which im unsure if the author is on tumblr at all, but if i find their username i'll link it too

the basic premise is that Ichika is a lord, and Mafuyu is the antagonist you would see most often, and the rest of the groups are all playable units with different classes and roles in the story. From thar reference point i kept going. Im approaching this as if it were an actual fire emblem game, but not like a New Entry or anything, maybe like a hand-held inbetween the gba games and awakening. I'm mostly borrowing from sacred stones, awakening and fates, maybe with a little shadows of valentia sprinkled in, but i think you'll see a lot more of awakening in this whole thing bc its the one i played the most. Im not really familiar with 3 houses so i wont try to incorporate things from it unless its like a staple of the fe franchise

of course anyone is free to send me asks of things they feel might fit with what ive got going on, so the askbox is open¡¡

to give you an overview of what this is looking like, im gonna go character by character, starting with the bands, then secondary characters, and finally original characters, with a quick description of what i think their role is and their class. I'm skipping the virtual singers right now because its the group im the least sure about their role in the story, and i think they're a bit scattered, so im gonna try and make a follow-up later.

LEO/NEED

Ichika: The heir of her kingdom, the lord whose story you follow. The future of the land rests on her shoulders. She has a peculiar fighting style in which her evasiveness is pretty flawless, and she has a lot of stamina, but she overthinks the retaliation, and that gets her into trouble. She is orphaned in like the middle of the story when it all breaks down, and i think that'd be the catalyst for her to take a less defensive approach so you would see more of the continent after that. She tries her best to be very serious but still has a child-like side to her that comes out mostly with her childhood friends (saki, honami and shiho, ofc). Her stats would be quite balanced for the most part, but her speed and skill are pretty high.

Saki: the daughter of one of ichika's tutors, she lives in the castle with her family because of an arrangement her mother had with the king and queen, so Saki could be treated by the best healers of the land. At the time of the story, she just got healthy enough to be out on missions and such. She is training to be a mage, and has a lot of magic potential, but has very little hp and defense, but her resistance is a lot better

Honami: daughter of a noble, also frequents the castle, for education in her case. Ichika has more lessons than her, but they share most of them. She is a healer who has decent hp, and a very high skill so she is very accurate once she promotes to a more offensive class.

Shiho: daughter of an important general, trains with Ichika everyday and is her rival. She has never been able to beat Ichika when they train, and gets really frustrated with her when she is in full dodge mode. She is a fighter, and has a lot of strength and would be very good at hittting crits, but her defense is lacking.

MORE MORE JUMP!

Minori: a girl living in a small village in Ichika's country, with dreams of becoming a sword fighter and defending the weak, bringing smiles to everyone. She has a history of actually trying to defend her village but more often than not someone has to go rescue her. She's the Kliff archetype (like donnel from fe13 or mozu from fe14), so she would start with low stats but eventually would be a pretty powerful unit. For her promotion, i'm thinking swordsman and pegasus knight to be her possible branches, maybe even fighter or armor knight, but i think she would have low magic so i dont think she would have any magical branches.

Haruka: she is a former pegasus knight, that after an accident which led to her pegasus to be flightless, decided to quit the order. She then takes up mercenary work, being a sword fighter. She meets Minori while at work and Haruka kind of takes her under her wing after rescuing her. She's very balanced, and has a lot of hp so she would be a bit of a wall, one of those units that weakens the enemy for someone else to take the exp.

Airi: wyvern rider, was good friends with Haruka before she quit. Originally she wanted to be a pegasus knight, but it turns out wyverns are the only animals she isn't terribly allergic to. Her wyvern's name is Cherche. Her defense would be very high, but she would have bad luck.

Shizuku: the model pegasus knight. She's the best of the knights in training, and everyone there admires her. She is good friends with Airi, but has to be careful not to bring with her any stray feathers with her by accident, but sometimes she keeps them on purpose as a joke. Her speed would be pretty high up, and she would have a lot of magic potential.

VIVID BAD SQUAD

Kohane: her parents are usually very supportive, but she was only allowed to learn how to fight if she had the most protection available, so she is an armor knight! her head doesn't quite reach the helmet in the armor suit, so its very easy to knock it off, wich would turn into a rumour that Ichika's army has a headless knight, a creature that defies death. As a typical armor knight she has super high defense, and is very slow, but has an outstanding luck.

An: the daughter of a very famous mercenary, Ken, that finds herself living in the castle after her father suddenly retired to work in training new recruits for Ichika's army. She meets Kohane on a random spar they did, and instantly decided they had to train together from then on. An is a cavalier and wields a lance, and has pretty bad magic resistance. She is one half of the cain/able archetype.

Akito: a cavalier who is very excited to train under Ken. His origins are pretty unknown, but he has lived and worked in the castle since he was a kid. He is the other half of the cain/able archetype, and wields a sword. Has more magic resistance and magic potential than An.

Toya: the son of a very well respected mage. He does show talent for magic, probably more than his father, but thinks he is better suited for the fighter class. His father of course doesn't like it, but Toya goes on to train to be a fighter anyways, so their relationship is strained. He hangs out with Akito a lot in th castle. He has a remarkable magic resistance for a fighter and a higher mag than normal, so he'd be very good with a bolt axe (maybe he even promotes to a healer unit like a war monk from fe13)

WONDERLANDS X SHOWTIME

Tsukasa: a pegasus knight, like his father before him, determined to be the best knight of them all, known by all and written about so that his adventures prevail. In his very first solo mission he is hit by a storm and lands in a deserted island, and is rescued by a little pirate who annoys him a lot, but joins her noble cause. He's particularly strong for a pegasus knight, sacrificing a bit of his speed. He also has a talent for magic but not very much, however it does give him decent magic resistance.

Emu: a little pirate who escaped her evil pirate father once her nice pirate grandfather passed away. She was followed by 2 guards her grandfather had tasked with her safety before his death and is now roaming the seas, looking for more crew for her little ship so they can defend innocents! look I just really like pirates in fire emblem, i love that they look so goofy and that they swim so good they can fight in water. Emu would have decent defense and strength, but she wouldnt be very accurate, and i want her to have her own hammer, just for fun, and it would help her accuracy. She's the only one who can wield it because its very easy to disassemble it by accident.

Nene: an aspiring actress and songstress, the very first person Emu and Tsukasa rescue after their alliance. She joins them on the premise of "these guys are gonna die if i dont help them" but its mostly because she has so much fun with them and wants to help their cause. She is the dancer unit of the game, and she uses magic to attack. She would be very frail for the most part, but would be a very good magic tank if you trained her right.

Rui: wyvern rider from Mafuyu's country. He is recruited later in the game, about halfway, and you can only recruit him if Tsukasa, Nene and Emu talk to him. He is very inventive and is working with mixing magic and mechanical systems, with some small success so far, and is this ability that Mafuyu recruited him for. As for stats, he would be very phisically strong, and have very high mag for a wyvern rider, but not much in the defense or resistance. He would be very evasive however, and have very high crit chances.

NIGHTCORD AT 25:00

Kanade: she is a healer for the group who also uses magic. She lives in Mafuyu's country, and they have meetings to help Yuki, who they don't know is the princess of the country, develop some new tecnologies, mixing magic with mechanics, to help people in need, or so they all think. She was trained by Yuki but she has a natural talent for magic and healing. She would have low defense, she would be best used at a distance.

Mafuyu: as Mafuyu she is the princess of her country, but her parents are very secretive about her so the people don't really know what she looks like. As Yuki she brings a group together to help her innovate and invent things behind her parents back. She also has their group do skirmishes with the people of Ichika's country. She is trying to tap into the power of one dragon god using machines made with Rui's help, but she tells them all it's for the good of the country's less fortunate. She is a bow knight, with low-ish defense but very high speed and accuracy.

Ena: Akito's sister who got left behind when he ran away from the country when they were little. A dark mage, with a lot of potential, but is overshadowed by her family who is known to be very graceful and powerful group of dark mages. Yuki trains her to be more agressive in a way her family never would, it makes her magic all the more brutal. Very high magic, very high resistance, a bit higher strength than normal for a dark mage.

Mizuki: a wyvern rider who wields tomes and axes. They taught themself to wield the axe but Yuki taught them magic and attacking from a distance. They're the second most accurate of the group after Yuki, and they're the only one to take chances to attack upclose. They're the only one close to their family. They would be better with magic than with axes, and they have a better resistance than they do defense.

oof,,,, that was A Lot,,,, anyway

SECONDARY CHARACTERS

(what i mean by that is that they're secondary or mentioned in project sekai but would be playable/featured in the au)

Ken: in charge of training new recruits, retired from mercenary work because he sensed a war was coming, and he wanted to help the king and queen as much as he could. His class would be mercenary and he would be kind of a Jagen, but with a longer usefulness like Frederick from fe13.

Saki and Tsukasa's mom: she is Ichika's music and dance tutor, and honami's magic tutor, and an old friend of the king and queen. She is a talented mage, and a playable character later on. Well-rounded, defense stronger than normal.

Saki and Tsukasa's dad: a retired falcon knight, who works in the castle's stables and training recruits from time to time. He inspired Tsukasa to become a pegasus knight himself. NPC, but is featured in the plot at some points.

Mafuyu's mom: the queen of the country neighboring Ichika's. She is blind and wears a blindfold. Seemingly very sweet and loving but is quite ruthless in her rule, very strict and with a rigid class system. NPC, maybe final boss.

Ichika's mom: queen of the country, a warrior first and queen second. Not much of a diplomat, but is very honest. She would have her own class, and would wield a lance. At the beginning she seems like the most powerful unit so its shocking when she is killed.

Ichika's dad: king of the country, very soft spoken and kind, has a way of finding common ground with just about anyone. Has his own class, wields tomes and staffs. He has less defense so once his wife is killed he is pretty much done for.

(i kinda want ichika to be able to promote to either queen or king)

toya's dad: a bit of a magical jagen, but you get him on the later half of the game. super high magic stat, but not much growth rate.

Emu's dad: a minor boss in the first half of the game. You confiscate his ship to sail to another land and if Emu defeats him there is special dialogue.

Emu's siblings: they're all crew members and if Emu fights them, they all have special dialogue with her. Theyre mean to her ):

Kanade's dad: has some illness that Kanade is trying her best to train to cure while she works with Yuki and everyone else.

for now thats all i have, but as i play i might add some other secondary proseka characters.

now onto

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS

(these are characters that are not really mentioned in project sekai as far as i can tell, so i took the liberty to give them roles, because a cast of teens is not enough for a fire emblem game)

Kigu and Rumi: siblings who worked for Emu's grandfather in his ship, tasked with Emu's safety after his passing. They're both pirates and have pretty similar stats, only one has more strength and skill and the other more defense and hp. They practically raised Emu alongside her grandfather.

Nene's mom: a scholar and the closest thing to a doctor youre gonna find, doesn't use magic at all. Also very interested in mechanical and wind-up machinery. Her class would be mechanist, like in fe14, but it would be more western i think.

Nene's dad: a tailor and a mage, makes clothes for his beautiful wife who has trouble finding clothes that fit her body right, and also does it for himself, since he has the same problem. Well rounded, not much potential but can be promoted and branched out.

this is all i have for now, but im gonna look into siblings and such of other characters, since a lot of them, like minori and airi, have siblings that are only mentioned, so i could maybe do something with that, but thats gonna come later.

as i mentioned before, if you think of an idea id be happy to incorporate it or discuss it, and even if i end up thinking it wouldnt fit, id still like to read about it, and if you feel like im totally wrong, feel free to make your very own fire emblem project sekai au!! i'd love to see it :D

i dont know if anyone will actually read this far down, but if you did, thank you! I really appreciate it! i hope you have a nice day!

[fauxkaren]

Witcher Season 2 Thoughts

It's been 4ish years since I've read the books so my memory is fuzzy which for me, means that I'm not super wedded to the specifics of how the plot unfolds since I don't remember the smaller details. But I do remember the larger plot structures and idk. I think that helps me see the reasons for why the adaptation made certain choices. There was a big chunk of Original Material in season 2, but I can see what the writers were doing with it. And as a whole, I really liked the season, but I want to do a rewatch soon to really cement my opinions.

There's gonna be lots of spoilers for both season 2 and also the books (so probably spoilers for future seasons) under the cut. Just to warn y'all.

OK SO. Let's address maybe the elephant in the room. The larger season long arc about Voleth Meir (the Deathless Mother) is 100% original material. lmao. But I actually think that was a good decision. Hear me out!!!

In the books, there's like maybe 40 pages of Geralt and Ciri in Kaer Morhen and then there's like 50 pages of Ciri learning magic from Yen at the temple of Melitele and then shit really goes down at Thanedd and the three of them are separated for like... nearly the entire rest of the series. lmao. So to me, it seems clear that creating the Voleth Meir storyline was a way to give the central 3 characters more time to develop their connections with each other onscreen so that when they ARE separated by plot, it means more to the audience. Ok, now for WHY create this Voleth Meir figure? Why create this specific character/figure not found in the books? Simple: to emphasize Ciri's connection to the spheres. With both Voleth Meir and the monolith subplot (lol some more stuff that's not in the books), the writers are laying the groundwork for Ciri's powers to move between the spheres and the way that the towers (Tower of the Gull and Tower of the Swallow) that ARE in the books (which I think are the inspiration for the monoliths in the show) are connected to that.

Another change that I think was well done was having Triss play a larger role. I think that keeping Triss at Kaer Morhen for longer and using her work there to give some exposition about Elder Blood and starting to poke into Ciri's genealogy was very smart. In the book a lot of the stuff is just info-dumped in a really clunky way. WHICH, SPEAKING OF CIRI'S GENEALOGY, I am like 95% sure that the Emhyr = Duny reveal is MUCH later in the books. But I don't think that'd be possible in a visual medium because the audience can see that the actor is the same. lmao. (on a related note: Dear God, please let the writers nix the incest part of this plot thread. Amen.)

The one thing I'm struggling to fully see the big picture for is the Fringilla and Francesca stuff. I'm trying super hard to remember their involvement in the Thanedd coup. I think Fringilla has no involvement due to her being so tied to Nilfgaard so she wasn't invited to the Brotherhood's conclave or whatever. But Francesca was??? Right? In the books she's a part of the Brotherhood (and presumably got her training at Aretuza?) vs in the show she's shown to be rather separate from the other mages because Yen and Fringilla don't seem to know her. I know that when things all shake out after that night, both of them end up in the Lodge of Sorceresses though. I think it'll be v interesting to see how that comes about in the show. Since it seems like there's a lot more animosity between them and the sorceresses in the Brotherhood right now.

Small things I loved: PHILIPPA. MY QUEEN. I LOVE HER MORALLY GREY ASS. AND I EVEN THOUGH WE ONLY SAW THE ACTRESS FOR LIKE 2 SECONDS, I THINK I AM IN LOVE WITH THE CATING. Also the way that Jaskier and Yen care for each other deep down, even though they'd never admit it in a million years.

For me though, the best and most important part of the show is everything with Yen. lol. Yennefer is my babbbby I love herrrrr and I think the show does a good job with her character. Sure, just about everything involving her is Original Material, but it all jives with what we know of her from the source material. Yen is someone who feels like she's lacking something in her life, but she doesn't know what it is. She's so desperate to be loved completely and unconditionally but also tends to push people away. As an unloved child with deformities, Yen felt powerless, so to lose her magic and feel powerless again really fucked with her. So yeah, she made some real shit decisions, but she obviously regrets it and was willing to sacrifice herself to right her wrong. I think that Yen and Ciri's relationship in the books is really sweet so I hope we get that in season 3! And I hope Geralt eventually forgives Yen.

Ok that's enough rambling. I also do not have the energy or patience to even take a peek into what the fanboys are saying about the season. I'm sure it's a lot of whining.

[pretty-little-psych0]

It's Dragon Age day still in the U.S., so HAPPY DRAGON AGE DAY! This series means so much to me, I'm not even sure I truly comprehend it. DA2 and Inquisition, specifically. I was in high school when DA2 came out. I was gifted it for Christmas and I'd seen the trailer for it beforehand and I was super excited to play. Little did I know just how deep this series would worm its way into my heart. I cried when my Hawke lost his mother. Especially because my own family has been though so much, I still cry when thinking about the possibility of my mom just suddenly being gone. I loved Anders and his fight for his fellow mages. As a freshly out-of-the-closet teen, I applied much of this storyline to modern day LGBT stuff. Like, at 16-17 years old, I could see my Community easily ending up in situations like the mages in Dragon Age if certain people became elected. Maybe that's silly of me, idk 🤷‍♂️. Jumping ahead to Inquisition, this game couldn't have been released at a better time in my life. I had just moved to the next state over after living with my grandparents for a year and three months, to the day, my favorite band had dropped their new album the same day as Inquisition's release, and I was FINALLY able to start healing from my parents divorce. Even on the Xbox 360, I was amazed at the graphics and the new customization options. That's my favorite thing of any game I've played. Give. Me. Customization options. Choices, Characters I can identify with, the whole nine. I LOVE stimulating games that provoke emotion and deep thought. Inquisition had all of that. My first character was a female qunari saarabas named Maleficent (#obsessed) and when Cullen have his speech to the allied mages during the attack on Haven... 😍 I was so emotional, I almost cried lol. But, what really got me crying in the club was everyone singing to your Inquisitor in the aftermath. I love most of the soundtrack. And the tavern songs? Bops. All of them. I know it's likely gonna be 2022 (unless a miracle or two occurs) by the time we actually get DA4, but I'll happily wait it out! The pictures I've attached are my favorite characters. First and foremost is Flemeth. I just love her so much. From Origins to Inquisition, she's absolutely been my favorite. I think a lot of her advice also kind of applies to today's political climate. Particularly her advice from DA2, "We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment. And when it comes, do not hesitate to leap! It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly!"

Then there's Morrigan. I like Morrigan because she's kinda like me. I'm a Witch in my everyday life, and I love learning about magical history and the things most have forgotten or stopped caring about. So to see a character who is kind of the same, she knows so much magical lore and wants to protect the older magicks as best she can, regardless of how feared they might be in her present day; it's something I gravitate towards and I really respect her for that.

Cassandra is just awesome. In DA2 and most of Act 1 of Inquisition, we see her as this, like, brick shit house; doing what it takes to get stuff done while taking no BS from either side. But when you talk to her, she's so unsure of things. But, she still has her faith. I think that's definitely important, no matter who you are, that you have something or someone to believe in and maybe let guide you on your path in life.

Dorian. Good God, I love Dorian. The relationship with Dorian is similar to the one I have with my boyfriend. My boyfriend was so used to the typical hook-up culture that's infiltrated and (in my opinion) contaminated the gay community, specifically, that I had to teach him how to be a boyfriend, not just a lover. So my Inquisitor's relationship with Dorian ALWAYS goes on for the entirety of the game. No FWB, no "just for fun". I'm an "all or none" kind of dude. Also, that mustache? Daaammmnn 😍

I'm all about that #ApostateLife, but I do like Vivienne, especially because even though she comes off as this conservative, frigid bitch, she does show a softer side to her once in a blue moon (i.e. Duke Bastien's death). I also love the way she reads people to filth because it's so eloquent, you almost don't realize she's actually just committed character assassination.

Solas is one of my favorite characters for one main reason, and that's his uniqueness. Even before we find out his true identity, he's still the only mage we've encountered in all three games that has such a deep understanding of the Fade. I hope we learn more about the real elven history in DA4 because the tidbits Solas gives at the end of Trespasser are just not enough. I. Need. DETAILS! As for the Solas romance, even now knowing he's the Dread Wolf, we deserved better than just "oops, this isn't working, peace!". Like, we've all had a break-up like that and it hurts because you don't get any closure from it, no real reason why they left. And again, even knowing he's a "bad guy", OUR LAVELLANS DESERVED BETTER! But, that's also what makes him such a good character, to me. The fact that he elicited that reaction, that emotion, from me.

The Inquisitor. Regardless of whether it's Trevelyan, Lavellan, Cadash, or Adaar, my favorite line of theirs is from Trespasser: "Shit! Damn it! We save Fereldan and they're angry. We save Orlais and they're angry. We close the Breach TWICE and my own hand wants to kill me. Could one thing in this fucking world just stay fixed?!" I love it. Especially in the British female voice. I also absolutely LOVE telling off the Exalted Council. Whether I'm disbanding the Inquisition or not, these mofos almost don't seem to care that I saved their lives AGAIN, (and at the cost of my Anchor arm!) just that I won't ask "how high" when they say "jump".

[hollyand-writes]

You know, I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot since my most recent Bethany playthrough (which was a Circle Bethany playthrough) and I was actually just thinking that I’ve changed my mind on preferring the Circle route for her -- and on my next Bethany playthrough, I’m definitely doing the Grey Warden route for her. (We’ll see again what I think once I’ve done it.) I’m going to say some things that some people might not like and I expect to get yelled at LMAO, but I will stress that these are my opinions only and my interpretations, and people are 100% free to disagree. 

I know a lot of people recommend the Circle route for Bethany as she’s “happier” on that route. And I get it: as a Grey Warden, she is harder, bitter, resentful and angry, even on the friendship path -- her post Act 1 codex says she only writes to her mother and not you, and that remains the case for most of the six years between the end of Act 1 and the end of Act 3. Six years! That’s a looooong time to hold a grudge! Even Carver doesn’t hold a grudge against you for that long! 

But as Circle Bethany (oh god, people are gonna yell at me over this, I’m so sorry) I actually found her rather smug and complacent and... kind of uncaring about her fellow mages in some ways? (Obviously not all of them, given she mentions enjoying teaching the children and Ella especially.) Bear in mind that I’m coming at this from a very pro-mage point of view -- in Act 1, she is very sympathetic towards what Anders has to say about the plight of Circle mages and even seems to agree with him; after all, this is what her family have always taught her, this was why her father fled the Kirkwall Circle, this was why her family were always on the move to keep her safe. It makes sense. 

And yet, this is her dialogue with Anders if you play the Legacy DLC post Act 1, once she’s in the Circle: 

Anders: You know, we're a long way from the Circle. Down here, a mage could easily slip her leash.

Bethany: I'm not leashed, Anders. I allowed this.

Anders: You gave up, you mean. Threw your life away.

Bethany: I accept what I am and act accordingly. I can pretend to be miserable if you want, but I'm not.

Anders: You don't understand the stakes.

Bethany: Well it's a good thing you're here to carry the burden. 

This didn’t sit right with me. She’s now in the Circle, so she knows damn well Anders is right about what mages there are going through, and I didn’t really like the... almost mocking?... tone she takes with him now over mage oppression. We can run around the Gallows enough times to hear how mages are being made tranquil at random and beaten and raped -- fuck it, even Templar Carver writes you a letter in Act 2 saying he’s “glad that Bethany never had to live in a place like this”, it’s that bad -- and here is Bethany making out that it’s not that bad and that she’s happy? 

Even Ella (the young Circle mage girl that Ser Alrik pursues and threatens to make Tranquil in Anders’s Act 2 quest “Dissent”) tells you -- if you send Ella back to the Circle -- that "maybe Bethany is right that the Circle is not that bad”. How the hell can Bethany still say that with the likes of Ser Alrik and Ser Karras (if he lives) in there -- and has clearly said it with enough confidence that even Ella repeats even after she was literally harassed and threatened by Ser Alrik? Is this really evidence of Bethany’s sunny and positive disposition or is this evidence of some wilful blindness on her part?

This is coming from Bethany who literally has more privileges than any other mage in the Kirkwall Circle. Most mages aren’t allowed to write to their families -- Bethany is, as is Emile de Launcet; both are from noble families, and since nobles have so much influence in Kirkwall, it’s likely that’s why Bethany and Emile are allowed these privileges other mages aren’t. But even Emile de Launcet, for all his noble lineage, is not allowed out of the Gallows. Bethany is not just allowed out of the Gallows to accompany Hawke on a long jaunt of at least a few weeks’ away -- Bethany is allowed out of the Gallows twice if you play both DLCs while she’s in the Circle! Of course she’s “not miserable” when she’s been granted favours that nobody else in her position is....? (Not to mention she rises to the position of Enchanter within three years of arriving at the Circle.) She’s a good mage, a strong mage, and one who clearly knows how to deal with people and get on with everybody (unlike her twin or potentially even Hawke) and even get her own way with people, but she strikes me as a little blind to her own privilege there...?

I don’t know about anyone else, but if I were in a place where I knew -- and could see and hear -- that this was happening to my fellows, I don’t think I could tell someone “I can pretend to be miserable if you want, but I’m not”. I WOULD be fucking miserable about it. And afraid, too -- how do I not know that would happen to ME next? I just couldn’t be so dismissive about it.

I suppose this is why Anders asks Bethany in Mark of the Assassin if “the Circle teaches [her] to be smug as well as obedient.” It’s a shitty thing of him to say; I don’t like it; but I get why he’s frustrated. In DA2, Circle Bethany only seems to care about the mages’ plight when her own life is under threat at the end of Act 3 -- i.e. when it actually directly affects her and not just everyone else.

Of course, this is a harsh interpretation of her character as a Circle mage, and not everyone will agree with the points I’m making, but there is another interpretation. Bethany’s post-Act 1 codex does mention that she’s had an up-close-and-personal look at the abuse of some templars are in the Gallows, and that she “supports the Circle as it is, but this grows harder as Knight-Commander Meredith clamps down more tightly.” 

How the hell Bethany can support the Circle as it is given what she knows is going on is an argument I’ve already made above, BUT -- what if she’s pretending to be happy (or at least “not miserable”) in order that she doesn’t worry her family? We also know that as a devout Andrastian she has a hard time reconciling her faith with her status as a mage/apostate, and going to the Circle is one way she can do that -- but like @dankou says, it’s fucked up that she’s going to the Circle (and staying there) so willingly because she feels she’s a burden, and pretending to be happy and pretending in her letter to Hawke that things aren’t that bad. 

Denial is a powerful thing, and perhaps it’s not the case that Bethany doesn’t care about her fellow mages, but that perhaps Bethany is closing her eyes and ears to what’s going on in the Gallows (no matter how problematic ignoring their pain might be) in order to try and remain “happy” enough for her family not to worry about her? Perhaps she denies that she’s unhappy in order to cope, until the Right of Annulment is called at the end of DA2 and even Bethany is forced to confront her pain and unhappiness -- that she can’t deny what’s going on and how she feels about it anymore. 

So that’s why I think my next Bethany playthrough is going to be a Grey Warden Bethany playthrough rather than a Circle Bethany playthrough. Like @dankou says, neither route is great for her and I too would rather she was openly bitter for a while than at risk of experiencing or witnessing the horrors of the Gallows -- but at least being a Grey Warden gives Bethany a chance to use and reconcile with her powers and talents as a mage without fear or denial, and a chance to be around other mages who can use their powers and talents without fear and in service of helping people. 

It’s also why, right now, after my most recent Circle Bethany playthrough and feeling uncomfortable at what appears to be her lack of caring/concern about the abuses her peers are going through (although like I said, that could be more self-protection and her way of coping with the trauma of the Circle than a genuine lack of caring) I no longer agree that going to the Circle is necessarily the “best” thing for Bethany and her character. But I might change my mind on that after I’ve done her Grey Warden route, LOL. Feel free to agree or disagree as you see fit. 

can we please stop pretending that Bethany being a circle mage is the better route for her? thanks.