#what do you mean red mages aren't a thing

[brights-place]

⋆˚࿔ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝟐‼ 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Read The full book on my wattpad

๋࣭ ⭑ ❝ 𝐏𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐞 ❞𝜗𝜚˚⋆

Vil Schoenheit "Compact Mirror in my hand, who's the fairest in the land?"

"Hm... you say such comments of the fairest queen is tenacity why would you know so much about her I wouldn't expect that a potato like you would know about her in a familiar sense do tell me why you know such things" - To [Name]

Housewarden of Pomefiore. A young man of striking beauty, he considers himself the fairest of all. No effort is too much for him in his unending pursuit of beauty.

Rook Hunt "I wish I could show you my beautiful world"

"Reine des Corbeaux~! Some beauty can only be beheld by those who have fully mastered their art. Très bien! You have shown me a whole new world with your share of your talents!" - To [Name]

Vice Housewarden of Pomefiore. An appreciator of sublime aesthetics, he holds Vil and Epel's beauty in high regard. He can be a bit hard to read, though.

Epel Felmier "Care for a bite of a nice, red apple?"

"Ya don't mind mah accent?.. hmm that's nice to know. Vil would have meh dead if he figured out aah ain't speakin' all preppy..." - To [Name]

A dainty boy with an ephemeral beauty. Quiet, he gives off a mysterious air and distances himself a bit from others in his orbit.

๋࣭ ⭑ ❝ 𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐞 ❞𝜗𝜚˚⋆

Idia Shroud "Ah, You must be the problem child... it's nothing to do with me me though, so whatever."

"Oh hey want a gummy worm? ...I just love brightly- colored candy UHM- Ah I mean NVM God this is so awkward..." - To [Name]

Housewarden of Ignihyde. A gloomy boy who shies away from socialization and prefers to shut himself in his dorm room. At times, though, he gets unusually talkative and animated.

Ortho Shroud "Are you one of the living? Then be my brothers friend"

"scanning... you have a large sum of magical energy yet you dont seem to have overblottted- oh wait aren't you the girl my brother talks to about games! Wah nice to meet you!!" - To [Name]

Idia's little brother. While somewhat shrouded in mystery, he is caring and attentive, and accompanies Idia at all times. In contrast to his constant companion, he is upbeat, forthright, and brimming with curiosity

๋࣭ ⭑ ❝ 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐧𝐢𝐚 ❞𝜗𝜚˚⋆

Malleus Draconia "I've got some ideas for giving you a proper welcome."

"Child of man, you have a dragon called Nevermore? and you pamper her and coddle her hm... I don't enjoy another dragon having to be so close to you" - To [Name]

Housewarden of Diasomnia. Descended from fae, he is one of the most powerful mages in the world. He is highly respected on campus, yet his demeanor is less than approachable.

Lilia Vanrogue "Are you good at finding things? Then I'll welcome you with open arms. Khee hee"

"You seem to be quite fun to be around Do you have plans after this? If you're free, would you care to go for a stroll with me? I could use some company." - To [Name]

Vice Housewarden of Diasomnia and Malleus's overseer. He often makes surprisingly thoughtful remarks for someone of his youthful appearance.

Silver (Vanrogue) "If you what to protect someone, train yourself at this school"

"Hmm ah sorry I fell asleep- it's normal for you? You have a friend who also falls asleep randomly? Hm thats nice I'm sorry for the bother ... you seem quite familiar have we met once upon a dream or is it just me- Ah... ignore me" - To [Name]

A cool and collected boy who guards Malleus like a knight. He is so low-key that his calm demeanor often crosses over into a state of visible drowsiness

Sebek Zigvolt "Grovel in the presence of Malleus, Human"

"HUMAN! How dare you speak to Malleus like that- I DO NOT SPEAK LOUDLY-! A cough drop...? For my throat if it's sore... uhm... Thank you..." - To [Name]

A livewire who, in his zealous eagerness to be a retainer worthy of the great Malleus, often expends a great deal of energy to accomplish very little. He views his fellow countryman Silver as a rival.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 / 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫

[raayllum]

Why is Clauderry together / why is Terry with Claudia?

This is a question I've seen posed more than a few times in the fandom, of people feeling confused with why Claudia is with Terry (despite her dislike of elves) and more so why Terry is with Claudia despite her being a walking collection of red flags. This has, admittedly, always questions I felt the show answered quite well and obviously, but if it's still being probed, then... why not?

Let's talk about it.

Why is Claudia with Terry?

The only prior examples we have with Claudia having any kind of romantic connection is with Callum, which never came to fruition; I've also gone on record saying myself that the show made it clear Callum's feelings for Claudia were a lot stronger than whatever, if any, she held for him. However, in her interactions with Callum even just as a friend, we can see what she appreciates in her free time. For starters, we see that Claudia enjoys being a goofball:

We see that a shared sense of humour is something that Claudia cares about, as one of the only compliments she gives to Callum is "You always make me laugh" and "That was very confident Callum" as he was able to go with the flow while asserting himself.

Words of affirmation is also something she clearly enjoys. Appreciation, acknowledgement, and gratitude are very important to her.

(Side note: This is also part of why she spirals into "I did all THIS FOR YOU" on the beach in a "You owe me your life" kind of way, because she was prepared and sacrificed and saved you, and doesn't that deserve acknowledgement? Doesn't that mean getting what she wants? What she's owed? But I digress.)

We also see early fracturing in Callum not trusting her (1x03, 2x03), a subsequent breakdown in honest communication on both sides, and that Claudia reads Callum as being judgemental of her dark magic use, which is also something that frustrates her about Soren:

(Part of this is because Claudia has gone from seeing dark magic as just an amazing beautiful tool to a terrible but necessary one, so necessary that it overrules any other reservations... because she's attached to seeing herself as a Good Person—"But I'm not evil, it's me"—but again, I digress.)

Conversely, Terry has all of those things in spades. He admires and relies upon her dark magic use, he's someone she can be reciprocally goofy with, he's extremely attentive and loyal (and loyalty/devotion is something that is also extremely important to her), and perhaps most importantly, he's helpful and non-judgemental.

Terry also explains that one of the things Claudia likes about him is his smarts / creative thinking ("Goofy and glorious, just like you" / "You saved the day Ter-Bear") and his thoughtfulness:

Claudia says I think too much about everything, and that makes me weird, and wonderful, so...

This makes sense as Claudia values being prepared in her own day-to-day life curtesy of being a dark mage, and that Soren's tendency to being impatient when they were growing up together (lying about Harrow without consulting her, picking the fight with the dragon, etc) was something that got on her nerves.

As for the Elf 'elephant' in the room... Claudia also doesn't have an issue trusting Aaravos for one simple reason: he's helping her save her dad.

Even while she's warning Soren against trusting or forming friendships with other elves and dragons because they might "take advantage" of him and be fake friends, she can't see that's precisely what Aaravos is doing to her. In a similar vein, Terry also believes in her (as he says directly in 4x09) and is helping her save her father, so why would she have a problem with him even if he's an elf?

That doesn't mean there aren't problems in Claudia's worldview, or that exceptionalizing people is a Good thing to do, particularly to your partner, but it's a clearly defined and realistic cognitive dissonance. Claudia has moved past seeing all elves as Bad™ to "these ones are good" because they're helping her, and not getting in her way, and that's all she really personally cares about.

However, I think most people can understand why Claudia's with Terry, given how sweet and routinely supportive she is. The bigger thornier question then is the opposite. So let's talk about that too.

Why is Terry with Claudia?

One of the most common things people say when it comes to Terry and Claudia is that they wish we could see how they met (and presumably whether that initial attraction was there from the start or how it developed). This usually leans into an underpinning idea (and I could be wrong) that seeing their beginning would help indicate why Terry fell for her (and thereby why he stays). And I would definitely be interested in how they met, and am open to seeing it, whether in a show, graphic novel, or novelization mention.

That said, I think the show has also answered these accordingly. In a lot of ways, there's really only two reasons why Terry is with Claudia as she is in arc 2:

1) He doesn't have an Issue with dark magic.

He admires Claudia's use of it ("And your daughter's amazing, she brought you back from the dead, wow!"), is open and receptive to using it ("Dark magic has a tingly aftertaste, nobody ever tells you that"), and doesn't see anything fundamentally wrong with it ("Should I give up dark magic? Terry, tell me what to do" "Claudia, I can't"). On the one hand, this makes sense; there are spell ingredients of dark magic that aren't that different from hunting and given that Terry grew up near the Drakeriders, I'd find it hard to believe if the Drake riders don't hunt and eat meat, so even if Terry's village didn't, he was at least somewhat close to societies that did.

That doesn't mean he has zero reservations about dark magic ("I've seen you do some awful things, dark magic things" / "Are you mixing the pentapus ink with your own blood?") but that to him, it's not any different from how Claudia thinks about it. She also thinks she's done terrible things in the name of saving her father:

But I'm not evil. It's me. You know me.

I had to do things... [starts crying] I never imagined I would be able to do. (4x01)

This is also how Terry copes with murdering Ibis, citing "I had to, I couldn't let him hurt you," "and he was going to take Claudia's life, I had no choice," and "I'm going to be strong enough to do whatever I need to do and still have feelings." To Terry what matters most is exactly what he says in 4x09: why are you doing these things? Are they actually necessary?

Terry loves Claudia (and Viren by extension) above anything else. Everything he does is for them, good or bad. That devotional loyalty is something that Claudia also lives by, and is arguably her and Terry's biggest shared life value.

Doing terrible things is okay if it's in the name of love, and if it's not, then you shouldn't do them. This is why when he talks about his grief/guilt with Ibis, Terry always scaffolds it alongside the reason why he did it.

This is also why Terry steps in exclusively when what Claudia is doing is unnecessary. She didn't need to trick Rayla in order to get away. She doesn't need to kill the dragon ("It won't follow us anymore, it's trapped") as it's already helpless. They're actions without good reasons, which is also why Terry distrusts Aaravos, because he realizes:

Maybe this story started out as a story of love, but along the way it got twisted. [...] He isn't doing anything for love. He's doing it out of revenge.

So long as Claudia is doing things out of love, Terry will stick by her. And if she stops doing it out of love, then she stops being the Claudia he knows.

Which, I'll also note, is fundamentally different from the Claudia that everyone else knows, because

2) He didn't know Claudia beforehand.

Terry doesn't know Claudia as a semi sheltered girl growing up in the palace who did dark magic solely for fun, nor how most of her close personal relationships (Soren, Callum, Ezran) got destroyed in the span of 3ish weeks. He only knows Claudia who uses dark magic (seemingly) 90% out of complete necessity for flight, safety, and bringing her father back. He seemingly doesn't really know how Soren and Claudia had their falling out, nor does he have any real clue who Callum or Ezran are.

Because Claudia was his only way to know these things rather than knowing multiple people involved, or even living through experiences, Terry would've gotten sparse details or the version that is how Claudia experienced them, and he has no reason to doubt her.

To be clear, I'm not saying that their set up is perfect or that their relationships is perfectly healthy. It's not. Claudia's singular control over how Terry knows the experiences of her life when we as an audience know it's very different is an issue, but is not that dissimilar from when you meet / date new people to begin with (i.e. was their ex really that bad, or were they the problem is sometimes something that can only be known in time). Terry's passivity and mirrored worldview helps enable Claudia's even when she's being destructive to herself and others, and her treating Terry as an exception for his people is also not good in the long run. Clauderry walks this line of being incredibly sweet and uncomfortable, and I think that's one of the things that makes it interesting and with spades of tragedy, particularly going into S7. Terry may not yet have a deep seated issue with dark magic (which enables Claudia but also frees her up to grow on her own terms), but it is the reason they may be torn apart in the future for a time.

I do think they'll find their way back together eventually (even if they'll always be Divorced Eventually in my head). To me, it's clear why they love each other, and while TDP could say that's not enough (and I think that'd be a very interesting valid route to take), I don't think that they will. This scene exists, after all:

[sparrowrye]

Alastor x Fem! Reader {soulmates} Part 6

Synopsis: soulmate AU where you have the same mark on your body as your soulmate, and if your soulmate dies, you die too. Alastor needs to make sure that his soulmate is safe so he can continue his reign - whatever that takes.

Part 6: expanding horizons

Part Pilot | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Husker spent the next morning teaching me how to hold my human appearance. It took several practice tries before I could switch between Human me and Demon me. Afterwards, I spent the rest of my time outside staring off into space.

I still didn't know how to wrap my head around...well, myself. Husker had been right, holding a human appearance took effort. I couldn't hold it for long and ended up letting my demon side out most of the time. It was cool, yeah, but scary. What else did I not know about myself?

"Hey," Husker called from the door. "You busy?"

I scoffed. "Does it look like it?"

He padded to his chair and sat down facing me. "Do you...want to talk?"

"About what?" I stared at the tree line.

"About...this new side of you?"

"What's there to talk about?"

We both fell silent. I felt bad. I knew Husker was trying to help. It made me uncomfortable to talk to him, though. Would he spill to Alastor some of the things I said? Did Husker himself have motivations against me? It didn't seem likely but there was always the probability.

"Have you been to hell?" I finally asked. I didn't want to talk about myself but there was a whole other world I supposedly came from.

"Yeah, a few times," he replied, "I mostly grew up on the surface though. In the gambling district."

"So you play cards, huh?"

"A few." He slipped a card into his fingers, spun it, and made it disappear a second later. I chuckled.

"What's it like?"

"Dark. Creepy. Lawless. And a fuck ton of red."

"Is it really...hell or just..."

"It's really hell."

"I thought demons were just a form of spirits."

"I wouldn't know the specifics of things like that," he waved his hand, "but I do know that demons have their demonic look and hid among humans when they first crawled on the surface. Our history is supposedly recorded in some fancy library down in hell."

"What uh...does this mean I'm a Full mage?"

"Mmhm," he nodded.

"So I can do things like you and Alastor."

"Well, things like me sure. Alastor is a bit different."

"How?" I pushed.

"Well, in hell, demons who rise through the ranks are called Overlords. They own hundreds and thousands of souls down there. They all seem to have some kind of...super magic. Something specific to them. But Al...he's a completely different monster."

"Why does no one know that you exist?"

He shrugged. "We phased out. Everyone has magic now from the first demons so it's not really...important I guess."

"True but how come demons aren't taking over places like the Overlords?"

"Our powers are dampened a little up here. We're governed by the laws of Mother Nature. In hell, it's a different story."

I fell quiet as my mind made a map with all the information he had given me. I looked down at my black claws and rubbed my fingers together. It felt like I was still in a dream of some sort.

An idea sprung into my head. "Can you teach me how to fly?"

Husker's eyes widened as he looked at my black wings. Then he touched his chin as he thought for a moment. "Sure, why not? But not now..." he motioned for me sit back down. "It's too breezy and there's a storm coming in. Not the best air for learning."

I sat back in the chair and felt the wind. He was right. The wind was stronger and the air smelled more earthy. Speaking of smells, my nose curled when Husker opened another bottle. The alcohol ran straight for my nose and I rubbed at it furiously with the back of my hand.

That's when I noticed my heightened sense of smell. I could smell the old wood of the house, the small fire in the fireplace, and a bunch of other smells I hadn't noticed before. My ears flicked as I picked up the sound of a bird's wings flapping overhead. It flapped its way into the tree line and disappeared back to its nest.

"What is it?" Husker asked.

"I can...I can hear and smell everything." I probably looked like I was in a trance as I walked into the old home to discover the little smells and noises. Everything that was normal sounded so incredibly loud. The small fire crackling sounded like it was right next to me. And of course I could hear Alastor's footsteps as he walked around upstairs.

Husker taught me how to dampen loud noises like the faucet running or the door squeaking open. He made a comment about how I had the most sensitive hearing he’s ever heard of. His tricks helped tremendously to clean up dinner that night.

"Can you show me how you fixed the floor?" I asked him, tapping my clawed feet on the new tile. He looked between me and the floor before agreeing. He always seemed to be a little unsure when I asked him something like that. Was he worried I would use it against him? Or was he worried what Alastor might do?

He went to the study/library and ran his paw across a dusty side table. The top of it came back squeaky clean like it was freshly bought. "Try with one of the legs," he instructed, "Imagine your picking up all the dirt and dust."

The first and second time did nothing. I knew how to use Slight magic so why was Full magic so much harder?

"Use your imagination," he tried next. "And take your time. This is something new."

I clenched my hands into fists for a second before releasing the anger slowly. I took a deep breath. Wrapping my claws carefully around the wood, I dragged my hand down the leg and imagined the wood turning shiny. I opened my eyes and found a clean leg at the very least.

"Keep practicing. You have to exercise your magic muscle," Husker said. 

"Sure."

"You have time tonight. Alastor told me he and Rosie had something to take care of tonight."

"Oh, okay." I tried to hide my disappointment. With every meeting I had with Rosie, the more I discovered about my past. I wanted to remember my mother's face so badly. At the very least I knew she didn't purposefully leave me in the rings. Her hand had been forced.

"Try with something simpler." He held out an old lightbulb.

****

As Husker helped me learn and relearn my physical and magic abilities, I started to notice Alastor watching. If I was outside learning to fly, he was on the porch watching. If I was learning to use Full magic in the field, he was watching from one of the many windows. If I was in the library practicing on different objects, he somehow managed to appear in the sitting room observing me quietly.

I mentioned it to Husker but he simply brushed it off as one of Alastor's weird habits. That didn't mean I had to be okay with it.

Husker was fixing the electricity in the dinning room while I was practicing lighting the fire in the sitting room. I had seen Alastor and Husker snap their fingers but when I did it, nothing happened.

"It's all about intent, dear." I jumped at Alastor's voice. He stood behind me with his hands behind his back like always. The stupid cane was like a third eye for him.

"I've got it." I turned my back to him and stared down at the dead logs. I heard him walk past me and sit in one of the chairs, his red eyes never leaving me. I let out a tense sigh. "What do you want?"

"Absolutely nothing."

I scoffed. "I find that hard to believe." I tried again with the fire but nothing happened. "Why are you always watching me?"

"What ever do you mean, dear?"

"Stop calling me that. And I mean every time I'm doing something you're hiding somewhere watching me."

"Is it a crime to watch my soulmate?"

"Don't call me that either." My tail whipped hard against the floor. I was getting frustrated with him and myself. I knelt down and grabbed one of the embers. I could ignite my own hand but how could I not ignite a simple stick?

"Sometimes it's all about imagination," he said, drumming his claws against his cane. "Surely that's not something you're lacking in."

My lip curled in a snarl. I looked down at the hot ember and put it in the corner of the fire place. I looked at one of the logs and closed my eyes. I remembered seeing Full mages lifting air when they wanted to move something. Maybe I could do something similar.

I turned my hand palm up and pictured small flames sticking out from under the wood. They slowly grew bigger until they were catching the neighboring logs on fire. I felt the heat on my face and snapped my eyes open to a working fire. My shock turned into a smile. I had done it.

"Nicely done," Husker said from the stairwell. I stood up and brushed off my pant leg.

"Yes well done," Alastor commented from his chair. "You've got a lot of potential. We just need to harness it properly."

"We?"

"Yes, we." He stood and stepped up to me. He always came ridiculously close, forcing me to take a step back. I noticed that I had grown an inch or two in my demon form, putting me exactly at his shoulder height. “You and me. And Husker of course. But even he has his limits." I heard an angry cat growl from Husker in the dinning room.

"So now that I have power you're interested all of a sudden."

"Of course," he chuckled. "Before I thought you were a meager human with no redeeming qualities. But now I see you have some sweet secrets hidden in that mind if yours."

"I expect nothing less from the Radio Demon. Everything's some kind of string you can benefit from."

"I'm sure you'll come to understand me the more you discover about your power." He put a hand on my shoulder again.

"I don't think I will." I pulled his hand off.

****

I met with Rosie again but I made zero progress. She told me to write down any dreams or memories I had and to keep practicing with my magic. Apparently, I had gotten over the biggest hill but now everything was slow and steady.

I spent the following days restoring the old house to its proper glory. As slow and tiring as it was, I felt accomplished at the end of every day. I had restored all the flooring so they didn't creak so loudly and cleaned up the walls. Thanks to Husker, working electricity reached all over the house.

The library was the next room to be restored properly. I hated spiders but having magic solved that problem for me. I started practicing with using magic from afar so I didn't have to deal with them. Husker thought it was funny.

"My, I love what you've done to the place." Alastor manifested in the middle of the room. I rolled my eyes and shook the curtains until the dust had disappeared and their true colors shone through. Using magic was getting easier but it still made me exhausted. "I knew this old house just needed a woman's touch."

"Well you sure weren't going to do it," I said as I passed him. I took off the color glass shade of a lamp and ran my hand across it.

"I must say, this type of work suits you better than running about on the streets."

I placed the clean shade back on the lamp and took a deep breath. "You ought to remember I'm not your fucking housewife." I turned to find him barely an inch from me. I tilted my head back to stare up at his angry red eyes. My horns were the only thing that were taller than his shoulders.

"You ought to remember my rule about such foul language. It doesn't suite you."

I licked my lips and swallowed hard. Everything in me tensed as I straightened, closing the distance between us. My hands were sweating. "Fuck. You."

His hand grabbed my jaw and shoved me into the bookshelf. I pulled on his wrist as spit dripped out the corners of my mouth. I couldn't swallow with his hand pressed so tightly under my jaw. Breathing felt like I was sucking air through a pillow.

"Let this be your last warning, darling," the radio static coated his words, "Next time I will silence your defiance for an extended period of time. I'm sure you wouldn't want that." I looked up at his yellow smile with half closed eyes. "Now apologize, dear."

What!?

My tail whipped against the bookshelf and I pressed my claws into his wrist. I couldn't understand how someone of his stature had the strength he had. I wanted to swallow so bad.

"I'm waiting, love."

I felt something sharp poke above my lip. He dragged his claw along my upper lip and pressed it painfully in the corner of my mouth. I whined and tried to drop my weight to no avail.

"Three..." he started counting. I wanted to cough but I didn't dare. He pressed harder into the corner of my mouth. I pushed my foot against his leg but something pulled it back down. I couldn't see what had done it.

"Two..." I could see a mark on the corner of his smile that matched the injury he was giving me.

"One-"

"S-sorry."

"What was that dear?" He turned his head and lessened his assault only slightly.

"I'm s-sorry," I sputtered.

"For what, love?"

"For...for cursing."

"Thank you for the apology, darling." He let go and I stumbled to my knees. I swallowed first before coughing a bunch. I touched the puncture wound in the corner of my mouth. "I do hope you've learned your lesson." His feet melted into the shadows and the next second he was completely gone.

My face was hot with embarrassment. I went to the kitchen and padded my lips with warm water. Husker came to check on me but I waved him off. I know he had witnessed it. Even if he wanted to interfere, I don't think he could.

As terrifying as it was, I wasn't ready to give in so easily. Alastor would learn that he still had to treat me like a normal human being. If there was one thing I had learned from the rings, it was how to never give up.

[icedragonlizard]

What if dream friends had dialogue in Star Allies?

I suppose it could've been a lot of unnecessary work for HAL to do, but I still think it could be highly fun and imaginative to think about.

How cool would it be if the game's plot actually acknowledged the existence of the dream friends? The things they'd say in-game, etc...

I think it would be especially fun to think about what all the different dream friends might saying during the mage sister fights. Like, y'know, the points of the game where there's dialogue. What they all might say to the mage sisters in response to their words....

... I'm not going to go over what I think every dream friend would say in these moments, but I think I'd like to focus on ones such as Susie, Magolor, Marx, Taranza and Daroach. Why these ones in particular? Because I think they'd probably be the more entertaining ones in what they'd have to say in their dialogue during the mage battles.

How funny would it be that Marx and Magolor just troll the shit out of the mages? How funny would it be that Susie acts condescending when talking to them? How funny would it be that Taranza joke-flirts with them, he doesn't actually mean it as he's just doing it to get them riled up? How funny would it be that Daroach tells them to watch out before he steals from them? This stuff is fanfiction-worthy! Heck, this might be the biggest reason why I might attempt my adaptation of Star Allies into a fanfiction in the future, although I've got many other fics planned beforehand so it'd be a long while.

But still! There could be endless potential when thinking about this.

Let me demonstrate an example. First, let's look at the part where the game first introduces Flamberge, and she's really angry.

"HEY, YOU! Stubby little...pink thing! Yes, YOU! I have a buuuurning question for you! You're the one who was so rude to sweet Francisca, aren't you?! Don't you dare try to deny it!"

"Ohohohohohohoho! We sure put that crazy blue lady in her place! What are you gonna do about it? Throw a temper tantrum? Go so berserk that you lose control and we can easily beat you?"

Wanna guess who said that? Hahahaha... the purple text probably made it obvious. In this interpretation, it's Marx who said that. There's no way he wouldn't just totally mock them and rub it in their faces. At the very least in my interpretation of Marx, it'd be like him to do that.

And by the way, I'm one that actually headcanons Marx becoming friends with the mage sisters post-HiAD because he loves how chaotic they are, and loves that they're willing to join him in doing insane shit (especially Francisca). But during Star Allies when the mages were the enemy? I bet he totally mocked the shit out of them!

Magolor, too. Here's a good example of Magolor having dialogue against one of the mages:

"Bonjam. I am Zan Partizanne, the eldest of the three generals of magic."

"Woah... Zan what? I didn't hear that thoroughly! I think I'll call you Zan Parmesan Cheese, though!"

".... I absolutely HATE that you ended up getting my name more right than a lot of other fools have."

It'd be hilarious to see a lot of dream friends trying to say her name. All the different ways they could say it wrong.

Here's a Taranza example:

"This must be the fiery flames of fate at work! Ooooh yeaaaah! My flames and I are fully stoked now!"

"Golly, you're really hot, good ma'am!" with a trollish look on his face.

"... Excuse me? EXCUSE ME?"

"Hahahahahaha! Am I making you overheat too much, fool?"

I think Taranza deserves to be depicted as silly sometimes.

A Daroach example:

"We wish to assemble the dark Jamba Heart pieces that were scattered across the universe."

"Woah... you want them all? That's a big bummer! What if I want to steal some of them? Maybe I'll still do it out of spite, teehee!"

I hate the limited amount of colors allowed for tumblr posts. To make it clear, for this example, the blue text is Francisca while the red text is Daroach. While, of course, Flamberge was the red text in the examples with Marx and Taranza, while Magolor was the blue text in the example with Zan.

And now, let me demonstrate a couple examples with Susie. I think she'd delightfully fire off on them like the feisty cheeky woman she is.

"I shall now turn this pink ball of nice into a frozen block of ice!"

"No you won't. This 'pink ball of nice' is a force of pure destruction, and you're going to defrost by daring to harm the universe with all of this insolent nonsense. You must be destroyed!"

"... Very well. But I won't go down without a fight, so you best watch out that you all might become ice sculptures this time. I can more than make sure of it!"

"We will more than make sure to obliterate you, just like the rest of your barbaric cult! Let's put her in her place, Pinky!"

Susie example with Zan:

"I did not expect you to survive your visit to Jambastion."

"You thought that would've gotten us? Pfft! We've all been through worse than that. You're going to have to try harder than that if you really want to eliminate us for good."

"Really, you survived worse? Well, that doesn't matter, because your luck has run out."

"No. Your luck has run out. We're going to exterminate all of you like the savages you are!"

This works out well with my interpretation that Susie's Japanese SA pause description containing the words "exterminate the savages!" is referring to the Jambastion cult when they were still the enemy. I headcanon that she's slowly in the process of unpacking baggage, and "savages" is just a thing she calls people she views as enemies.

And uh... to be honest, the cult kind of deserved to be called words like that during Star Allies when they were threatening everything.

I've done a lot of examples of a few dream friends having dialogue during the mage battles. But what about when confronting Hyness?

I think all the dream friends would be horrified at the moments that Hyness knocks Zan out of the way, weaponize all three mage sisters' bodies in his second phase of the fight, and then sacrificing them and himself to Void Termina. It would make them just flabbergasted.

Although I bet Marx would probably laugh at how unhinged he is.

"It seems... we do not have enough energy... to revive our Dark Lord... Must we... allow ourselves... to fall... into oblivion?"

"Yes, you should do that!"

"No."

"Yes."

"NO!"

"YES!"

"No no no no no!"

"Yes yes yes yes yes!"

"*goes on his giant unhinged rant*"

"*laughs hysterically* Look at you go off! It's hilarious!"

Marx is just... lmao.

Sorry that I don't have examples with every dream friend having dialogue in this post. But you get the general idea! Perhaps if you have ideas as to what the other dream friends could say in these moments, feel free to mention them in the notes!

Although I'll leave you here with a King Dedede example, just cuz:

"For what you've done, I'll scorch you to such a degree that... that... even tasty, toasty marshmallows will seem like ice cubes compared to you!"

"You ain't gonna be scorchin' any of us, ya hot fiery slimeball! We'll put you in your place like we did to the blue look-a-like of ya!"

Hahaha... ha... I interpret southern accent Dedede. Sue me.

Thanks for reading the post if you did! Let me know about more ideas of dream friend dialogue you have in the notes. I'd be curious what else you think in this broad, interesting concept.

[spectrechosts]

Johanna II

More elf ear stuff. Stuck-up wizard has a milf moment.

Johanna knew that this was a phase.

Little wizard on her first adventure, fresh out the college, thinks she's the hottest shit the unwashed masses have ever seen. Doesn't yet understand the value of things like a frontline or not being reliant on mana.

It's fine. Johanna's seen it a million times. She'll learn.

"I mean really, why do we even need a knight?" The haughty elf (Myrrae? Nerah? Oh, whatever. The priest knows.) drawled. "Swinging a sword around like a maniac, it's barbaric."

Going to be fucking annoying until she did, though.

"Mind your tongue, Neria." Said the priest. (Neria. Right.) "Johanna's been getting us out of scrapes since before you could cast cantrips."

"I could cast cantrips at four." Countered the elf, smugly.

That would be what, twenty years ago? She might have already known the priest, it was hard to remember.

"Since before you figured out you could mage hand yourself, then." Added their rogue. The priest rapped her on the head with her staff.

("Don't speak that way to our new partymember, Gristle.")

("What? Everyone does it, boss.")

"Right, well, you have me now." Neria said, ears tinged red. "I hardly think her presence is required, and I'd rather split the take three ways than four."

"She makes a valid point." Said Johanna, a lazy smirk on her lips. "All in favour of ditching the wizard and splitting her cut?"

Gristle raised her tiny green hand in the air, and the priest rolled her eyes. "We ditch no one." She said.

"Shame." The goblin said. "Got a new dagger I been eyin'."

~

Johanna stood, knee deep in charred corpses, and smouldered at the elf.

Literally smouldered, because Neria had apparently thought it appropriate to launch a fireball into the crowd that Johanna was a part of.

"I uh, I think we should check behind us, make sure we aren't getting flanked, boss." Said Gristle, eager to not be in the room for what was about to happen.

"Shouldn't I heal-"

"You can heal her when we get back. Go."

The rogue swiftly backtracked out of the dungeon chamber, dragging the priest along with her. Johanna sheathed her sword and stomped toward the wizard, furious.

"L-Look, you would have gotten hurt by the cultists anywAAAAAAIE-"

Johanna grabbed her and slammed her into the wall, pinning her neck with her forearm.

"Would I have?" She hissed, her lungs still stinging from the acrid smoke.

"Y-Yes!" The elf squealed.

"And what, pray tell, do you think I would do to them for attacking me?"

"Look, you're fine-" The elf bargained, trying and failing to break the pin.

"I am fine." Johanna seethed. "You, however, are in fucking peril." She drew a knife from her belt and drove it into the soft mortar of the dungeon wall beside Neria's head for emphasis, making the elf flinch.

"It was the fastest way, it's not a big deal-" She whined.

"Not a big deal?" Johanna asked, incredulous. Her still smoking eyebrows begged to differ. She grabbed one of the elf's ears and pulled it taut. "Are you fucking deaf, you idiot girl? I've killed for less. Why-"

"A-Aahn~"

Johanna blinked, stunned. What the fuck.

"Are you fucking enjoying this?" She asked, squeezing the tip of her ear, rolling it between her thumb and forefinger.

"N-Nuuhhh~" The elf moaned, squirming. Her face was flushed and her eyes shut tight as she tried to pull her head away.

Now Johanna was blushing too. This- This was weird.

But the elf was admittedly rather-

No! No. Johanna was mad at her. Hated her. Focus.

The elf was looking at her, unfocused eyes half lidded with pleasure. "M-More…"

She could feel blood rushing to her-

NOPE. The girl had to be almost young enough to be her daughter, for fucks sake. Not doing this. Whatever the fuck this was.

She let go of the elf and took a step back. Jutted an accusatory finger at her. "You-" She had completely lost her train of thought. Her threats were clearly not having the intended effect, and honestly she wasn't feeling that mad anymore. Just… confused. "You don't fucking do that again, you hear?"

The elf nodded, her eyes glued to the floor.

"Go get the others back in here." She ordered, and the elf started to leave.

She paused halfway to the door.

"Can, can we um, talk later? About-"

No.

"Later." She said tersely.

Fuck.

~

Johanna nursed her mug of ale until only her and Neria remained at the tavern table.

The elf couldn't look her in the eye. She'd like to think the shame stemmed from blowing her up earlier, but it probably didn't. Well, she was in no hurry. Let the fool girl stew in it.

They sat alone for nearly ten minutes before she finally spoke up.

"Shall we talk about… today?" The elf asked, ears drooping out of embarrassment.

"Have something you want to say to me, oh mighty wizard?" Johanna answered, feigning disinterest. "I'm all ears."

Johanna could be mean, it was practically her day job. You don't make knight captain without a healthy capacity for condescension and a deep well of insults. If the elf wanted it though, she had to earn it.

"I, you said we could talk, about- you know. Remember?"

"I remember someone lighting me on fire."

"R-Right, but then after that-"

"No, I think I'd like to talk about that."

The elf withered under her disdainful gaze.

"W-Well, as I tried to explain to you-" She stuttered, and Johanna sighed.

"You can explain all night girl, I don't rightly care."

Neria shut up, and they sat together in silence once more.

"I…" She said, after some amount of thought. "Am sorry. I was wrong to cast a fireball on you, even if it was the fastest and easiest way."

It was good enough, Johanna supposed.

"You think you're sorry now, I'll show you sorry. With me, elf." She said, as she got up and left for her room.

The elf had barely closed the door behind her before Johanna swung her around and pinned her to the wall by the neck again.

"Now, where were we?" She asked, pinching the elf's ear again and husking into it. "I think, you were begging like a whore."

Neria was red in the face, already squirming. "I-I'm not a-"

"Yes you are." Johanna said, pulling harder and making the elf interrupt herself with a shaky moan. "You're an idiot whore that needs to be put in her place. Isn't that right?"

"Ye-yesss…" Neria whimpered, her hand dipping below the hem of her dress.

"No touching." Johanna growled. "Your hands stay at your sides, or I stop."

She obeyed, arms rigid and hands balled into shaking fists. Johanna let go of her ear and hiked up the elf's dress, forcing her knee between her legs, pressing her thigh into the wet spot forming on her underwear.

"You're already soaked and I've barely touched you. Are you so desperate?" Johanna asked, and received no answer. She took the tip of the elf's ear in between her fingers again and pinched it tight, pressing her lips to the base and whispering: "You will speak when spoken to, slut."

The elf nodded.

"That isn't speaking, imbecile." She hissed.

"Yes yes I'm your desperate whore whatever you want fuck-"

"That's right." Johanna said, removing her arm from the wizard's throat and hooking a thumb into her mouth. "You're an idiot wizard who's getting what she deserves, right?" She asked, punctuating it by grinding her thigh into her harder and tugging her ear again.

"Y-Y-Yeshh…"

The elf was breathing hard, her whines were growing in pitch, and Johanna gasped mockingly as realization hit her.

"Ohhh slut, are you really going to cum from this? Just from me being mean to you?" She asked, voice dripping with venom.

Neria went redder than she thought was possible.

"N-Nuhhh-" She whined, trying to squirm away.

"I think you aaare." Johanna said teasingly, tightening her grip. "Fight it, whore."

The elf scrunched her eyes shut, her one free ear twitching uncontrollably as her breath hitched and she gurgled around the knight's thumb.

"C-Cahnt- fhuhh- oh ghod-"

"Fiiiiight it. You can't be this pathetic."

"OhgogohghghodfffffUAAH-"

Johanna watched, feigning boredom, as the wizard shook and spasmed through her climax. She noticed Neria kept her hands balled at her sides through it, maybe she wasn't a total lost cause. She withdrew her leg, released her grip, let the elf slowly slide down the wall and settle onto her knees.

The elf panted for a minute before wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth and getting up on shaky legs.

"G…Good talk. I'm glad we could, resolve that amicably, a-as professionals." She said, as she opened the door to leave. "I, I would quite like to work with you again, I think."

"Elf?"

"Y…Yeah?"

"Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you."

"O-Oh."

[silentastronauut]

i read a post once about how the "beware of falling rocks" sign on the storm coast in inquisition could be taken as an analogy for the whole game since no rocks ever actually fall (it's ancient by now but if someone knows it please lmk i remember it being more well put than i can ever manage). and like... the best way to summarize my thoughts on veilguard is i feel like it did the exact same thing but cranked it up to eleven.

the thing about the "beware!" sign is that if it wasnt there no one would have noticed there weren't any falling rocks. i certainly wouldn't have thought about it. there aren't any enviromental hazards like that anywhere else, so why would there be here? but now that the sign is there im wondering. mainly: did they mean to put in falling rocks and just didnt have time? then why leave the sign there? is it just a red herring? or did someone think it would be a neat little detail making the world feel more alive and then put no further thought into it and had no intention of following through on the setup and are you seeing what i mean yet?

veilguard does the same thing but every five minutes it hits pause on whatever's going on just to go "you're rook! you're super important! only you can do this! only you can save the world! you're the leader!!!" and then refuses to elaborate on that, in fact the game insists that while rook is The Guy they are simultaneously Just Some Guy. rook is making these supposedly big choices but always feels largely unaffected by most of them. it's as if there's someone following you around with one of those "beware!" signs to hit you over the head with, but there's still not a rock in sight. in fact, they've gone out of their way to remove the few rocks that were still around from before.

it's just.. it's the disconnect between how important the game tells you that you are and how important you really feel. back in inquisition it was choosing between the mages and the templars and the companions/advisors who'd argued for the side you didnt pick just sorta grumbling about it for five minutes before moving on. it was spending the quest where you resolve a civil war and choosing who sits the orlesian throne more worried about if you found all the halla statues than you know.. the politics.

you never have to worry about the politics, actually. you were to busy fighting off the demons! or venatori cultists, or qunari offshoot, or crAzY BlOodmAgEs, or [insert other faceless evil here] so you dont have to form an opinion or take a stance on anything and the player character can always respond with "we all need to set aside our differences and come together to fight the real threat!" so who cares if the motivations on either side are shallow at best (or better yet, explored exclusively in a seperate book/comic) and you get no option to properly choose one over the other.

and now i've reached the point where this has gottten away from me a bit i think.

tl;dr: veilguard took the issues inquisition had and multiplied them by ten. the stakes should be higher than ever but it never feels like they are and the idea that your choices matter is a joke.

(to come full circle; when you get to the lighthouse for the first time either neve or harding warns you to watch your step so you dont fall when you step outside since you're in the fade and you'll be lost forever if you do and this is what made me think of that post in the first place, and then i couldn't get it out of my head.

..because if you actually do fall off the ledge the game just teleports you back to were you were.)

[thessalian]

Molly!Rook vs Family Issues

Over in Arlathan Forest, in a bunch of ruins

Cyrian: Hi, Hummingbird.

Bellara: ...wut.

Molly!Rook: His ... eyes are red. Behind that ... really awful mask. His eyes are red, Bellara. Were his eyes always red?

Bellara: No, and he wasn't actively turning people into demons either!

Cyrian: ...Wut.

Molly!Rook: Oh, hey, look - his eyes aren't red anymore.

Anaris: *appearing* Calm down, Cyrian. It's no one's fault that they weren't strong enough to withstand the change to true perfection.

Molly!Rook; Bellara: .........WUT.

Molly!Rook: Aaaaaaaand his eyes are back to red; is this going to be a thing, you mind-controlling piece of spectral crap?

Anaris: I could obliterate you, but I think Cyrian would prefer you had a chance--

Molly!Rook: Given you can apparently make Cyrian 'prefer' anything you damn well want him to, I'm going to take that to mean "I can't obliterate shit but I can get something else to do it for me".

Anaris: Come along, Cyrian.

Cyrian: I'm doing the right thing. You'll see.

Molly!Rook; Bellara: *exchange a look*

Molly!Rook: You've read all those serials, right?

Bellara: The ones where the blood mage or abomination or whatever is flailing around going, "You'll see; you'll all see! Mwahahaha!"? ...Yeah.

Molly!Rook: He wasn't mwahaha-ing, at least? And we didn't laugh like those fools at the academy, or whatever.

Bellara: Aaaaaand there are demons.

Molly!Rook: Wanna vent some spleen by shooting demons full of holes?

Bellara: ...YES.

And later, in Treviso

Lucanis: I do approve of your nibleness on rooftops, Rook--

Molly!Rook: Used to climb around ruins and trees all the time. ...Still do, I guess.

Lucanis: And you did it in the name of discovery and finding things, which is why you have also ... erm ... deprived a few neighbours of a luxury or three.

Molly!Rook: If the average civilian had a couple of chunks of Fade crystal and a rune that makes you stabbier just lying around, they probably shouldn't? Confiscation by the Antaam, if nothing else. Better we have it than the Antaam.

Neve: And the cash?

Molly!Rook: If they leave it lying around in corners, they can afford to lose it.

Lucanis: I suppose a roundabout approach will keep Zara off her guard for awhile, so-- Illario?

Illario: *waiting for them on a rooftop* You're late.

Molly!Rook: Sorry not sorry - we had a thing and you weren't invited.

Illario: Why should I let Lucanis have all the fun?

Molly!Rook: I mean, sure, sneaking around the rooftops for a little light stabnation is a hell of a way to spend an evening, but cousins as chaperones take the romance out of it.

Neve: Oh? And here I thought your idea of romance was a fish fry and a tour of the docks.

Molly!Rook: That's for later. There's a canal right there.

Illario: ...What, exactly, am I interrupting here?

Lucanis: .........Go home, Illario.

Illario: ...fine. *exits*

Molly!Rook: ...He did not, in fact, go home.

Lucanis: What makes you say that?

Molly!Rook; Neve: Narrative inevitability.

Molly!Rook: Plus ... sorry, but ... he knows your movements too well. Like, we decided this on more or less a whim, and he knows the exact roof you're going to be on? When I was zig-zagging along half of Treviso's rooftops like a cat with the zoomies?

Neve: If he's been tracking you that hard, Lucanis, he's not going to just give up and go home. The question is, why is he doing it?

Lucanis: ...Zara first. Then we'll have a talk with my cousin.

Later, in a room with way too much bathtub filled with even more blood

Molly!Rook: ...You've got red on you.

Zara: How crass. Perhaps you'll help fill my tub by the end of this.

Molly!Rook: Gotta tell you, lady, if you're looking for a virgin girl's blood for this thing, you are shit out of luck on both counts.

Neve: One, here.

Lucanis/Spite: LESS. TALK. MORE. KILL.

Stabnation: *ensues*

The Surreal Estate, after a few unfortunate revelations and issues

Molly!Rook: So ... just to make sure my ears are working. Zara was about to call Illario "Amatus", wasn't she?

Neve: Yes.

Molly!Rook: And ... he made damn sure to shut her up before she finished that word. Right as she was offering to tell us who the traitor in the Crows' ranks was.

Neve: Of course.

Molly!Rook: And he's got access to blood magic.

Neve: Never a good sign.

Molly!Rook: And he is really weirdly good at knowing exactly where Lucanis is at all times. Which ... would probably include a year ago, when he got on that boat and got nabbed, right?

Neve: Unfortunately.

Molly!Rook: And now Caterina and Lucanis are conveniently out of the way.

Neve: The universe missed a trick. Illario would have made a brilliant magister, with backstab moves like that one.

Molly!Rook: You're leaving me to help Lucanis work through to the conclusion that his beloved cousin's a traitor and an asshole, aren't you.

Neve: He likes you. Spite likes you, which will probably be more important for this one.

Molly!Rook: Oh, please. Spite's going to like any idea that lets him be ... well, spiteful at something. It's Lucanis I'm worried about. He trusts so few people; one of the few he does trust unconditionally betraying him that hardcore? And betraying Caterina in the process, which is worse where he's concerned.

Neve: ...You really care about him, don't you.

Molly!Rook: Never said I didn't, but you have to admit, that part's pretty obvious.

Neve: Pretty men with trust issues; catnip to the right sort of person. Go on; showing him your trust and concern will be balm for that tortured soul of his.

Molly!Rook: ...Have you been reading those serials again?

Neve: Have to. I'm carefully picking out the ones with happy endings for Bellara. After the Cyrian job, she needs some fluff.

Molly!Rook: *little grin* And you're not enjoying it at all.

Neve: ...Not that I'd admit to. Reputation. You understand.

Molly!Rook: *wider grin* Bye, Neve.

[callinskiiscalling88]

OMG OZZY OSBOURNE IS A TWISTED WONDERLAND FAN?!

(I also did a little lyric analyzing, scroll for that)

(intro is red and you can skip it if you know the context of Ozzy and Twst. Book 7 spoilers are marked as green. Lyrics are purple. (When i didn't paste an image of them)

Okay so very quick intro. For twst fans who don't know Ozzy Osbourne what rock are you living under? He's a very popular rock artist and the lead vocalist for a heavy metal band "Black Sabbath" (a very well known 1970s band.) He has the nickname "Prince of Darkness".

And for Ozzy fans who are still reading and don't know twst. Twst stands for Twisted Wonderland, a Disney anime game. It focuses on Yuu (mcs name) who gets whisked away to a highschool organized by dorms for magic. Each of the 7 dorms are based off a Disney villain, who are praised as "The Great 7". It's a fun game check it out!! Dire Crowley is the principal of the academy. Not much is known about him but he praises himself on his "benevolence" and "kindness". Though no offense Crowley fans he's a lazy jerk.

To understand this analysis you'll need to know what an overblot is. With a mixture of strong negative emotion and a large use of magic a mage gets infected with the overload, causing them to overblot. (Blot is like magics equivalent to a car's gas emission per say). The person gets a new stronger form though it's highly damaging and if stuck in that form for too long they turn into a phantom. Imagine a sentient vicious blob of black ooze .

((((((Also Levan is Malleus Draconias dad who went missing long ago before Mal hatched from his egg. Maleanor is Malleus's mother who died after an attack on her castle ))))))

Now with all that out of the way!! Lyric analysis!! All the correlations. This includes the Crowley is Levan theory! Plus the overblot theory that he caused them. (Though you can still enjoy a lot of the analysis if you aren't a believer of either of these theories)

This could correlate to when Levan left. I haven't read part 5 in awhile but if I remember correctly it doesn't exactly say what happened but he disappeared during a battle when he was a general. What was he thinking when he was in that fight?

For the Crowley Levan theory to work he would have been kidnapped by the Silver Owls. He would need to be in a weak state for that to be possible. The line did you talk to the dead could be a metaphorical for him "seeing the other side".

Or people say the magical mirror that assigns the boys their dorm is Maleanor. That could be considered talking to the dead.

His disappearance was tragic. It affected a lot of people

And you could definitely say being a General is "thrilling". Though defining thrilling as an adrenaline rush not exciting.

You fooled all the people with magic could refer to him covering up all the overblots. You don't even need to be a believer of the "Crowley caused the overblot theory" to know he had to have covered all this up somehow. Though I find it gives it more depth to take that into consideration.

He praises himself a lot. He of course would think of himself as Mr.Charming. The line after could refer to someone questioning his judgement. He's definitely not as nice as he claims to be.

In nocturnal rapport doesn't actually have to do with the night. I believe this line just means he's hard to talk to emotionally. (I could be wrong) As the principal his students should trust him and be able to talk to him. Yeah he's not trustworthy.

Uncovering things that were sacred Could refer to people finding out about the overblots, or even that he caused them. Or that he's Levan.

Actually he's a mysterious guy there is so much this could refer to.

Conceived in the eye of secret also ties into his mysteriousness. He does have a lot of things he ain't spilling!

It could also refer to his identity being fake. Cough cough Levan.

White horses are commonly used for heroes of a story or even angelic entities.

This is quite ironic since he hasn't helped with the overblots at all. Even more ironic if he's causing them.

This whole paragraph could refer to the overblots. They've become common in the school. Even classic

A maidens call could refer to the students crying out. They need help they're being attacked.

The overblots are definitely drastic, each one getting stronger and stronger.

(And for the last line this isn't official but in book 8 if Grim overblots (assuming he will by then) and Yuu has to fight him there could be a scene where they're cornered.)

I had to Google what polemically meant. So for people who don't know it means something that defends/attacks a noun. (Person, place, beliefs, idea or thing)

What are his motivations for causing the overblots (if he did)?

Or dare I even say he's the reason Yuu's here? What purpose do they serve to him?

We all wanna know.

So that concludes my lyric analysis and correlation to Dire Crowley!!

Song:Mr.Crowley by Ozzy Osbourne

Character by Yana Toboso

Art owned by Disney's Twisted Wonderland team

Now extra stuff:

I love this stupid bird man. There's just so much we don't know!!

if you're still here I'm surprised, but comments appreciated

Help this took over an hour to type out...

Go listen to the song!! This song has a special place in my heart even though I don't actually listen to it. Now it's even more special with my twst hyperfixation.

Plus I find it crazy that it's over 40 years old yet it's still so popular. (43 years old if I did the math right)

The end.

Have a good day<3

[pinayelf-archive]

Hi! :D

Motion, roots and bling for Immy, Sinag and Amihan!

Hello! Thank you so much <3

motion: How does your OC move? How does their clothing help or hinder their range of motion? Are they flexible, coordinated, clumsy?

Immy - When comfortable (with her clan, around friends & loved ones), Immy is very bubbly and bouncy with movements. She wears a lot of skirts and dresses, and it's usually the type with twirly skirts. When she's in an environment where she's uncomfortable or out of place, she tends to be reserved: hands folded together, nervously stimming by tapping her foot. Her demeanor is quiet, shier, and tries to make herself look smaller.

Sinag - She is very extroverted and enjoys attention, and because of her tall stature, it's not hard for her to get it. Sinag moves with a lot of confidence with an easygoing air. Though, for the most part, it's guarded nonchalance, she doesn't want people to feel or see her weak spots. She tends to wear sleek and simple clothes: leather trousers, worn boots and tunics for easy movement. She may be a mage, but she knows how to fight with her hands, she'd prefer not to have anything extra on her to hinder movements.

(This is gonna get long so rest under the cut!)

Amihan - She is very stand-offish, often has a resting bitch face and never seems relaxed. Amihan is uncomfortable almost all the time unless she's alone or with people she trusts (she trusts very few), and she's stiff almost - like she's perpetually waiting for someone to yell at her for doing something wrong. Even out of the Circle, she's most comfortable in long robes (though not always necessarily mage robes). She likes long skirts and sleeves, preferably layered as she gets cold easily, and it also serves as a barrier somewhat, to keep her closed in.

-

roots: Is your OC's look inspired by any specific style of clothing or fashion trend? What are the roots and/or inspiration for their look?

Immy - answered here :)

Sinag - Growing up in a farm, younger Sinag always just wore whatever was comfortable, warm and easy to move in. Even as she got older and developed her own style, she will always choose something that's easy to move in. After moving to Kirkwall and finally having the means to get clothes she wants, Sinag prefers sleek and simple clothing. She also prefers blue, despite the whole Amell red thing (I hc that the robe she wears as casual wear is blue, maybe I'll mod it one of these days)

For formalwear, while she still prefer's sleek silhouettes, she likes bold blue colors and eye-catching elements. A bit more opulent than her casual wear, but she figures it's for "fancy" occasions, so why not go all out lol. Again, these aren't really historically accurate either.

Modern setting Sinag loves athleisure, denim, and a nice leather jacket. Cool & casual looks for every day wear, but she can clean up pretty nicely. She loves a nice, sexy silhouette, especially ones that show off her height :)

Amihan - The best way to describe casual wear for Amihan would be...mage robe adjacent? (lol). She likes trumpet sleeves and long skirts, and unlike Sinag, she reps the Amell red. After she left the Circle, she went to a seamstress and was like "Can you make it really long and sort of feel like a mage robe?" She's a creature of habit and likes comfort. I also like her in 1400s style Renaissance dresses, I especially like the empire waist silhouette on her. I imagine she would wear those to formal events. She also likes velvet.

For modern settings, Amihan still really likes long skirts. Best way to describe that style would be a mix of artsy and dark academia. Her color scheme is very autumn too - red and mustard yellow. Her go-to is a sweater and a long skirt, or a turtleneck top and a cardigan. For formal wear, I love putting her in vintage silhouettes like 40s and 50's, I think she looks lovely in it ^_^

-

bling: What jewelry does your OC wear? Does it have any meaning?

Immy - Her most important piece of jewelry is Cullen's lucky coin on a silver chain <3 It's her comfort object. She also wears a braided leather bracelet with glass beads that her brother made for her! I don't have visuals of it at the moment, but I should probably draw it one day.

In general, outside of that, Immy adores pearls and gold jewerly. She especially loves jewerly with floral and/or sun motif. Immy also likes being decked out in it during special occassions and will layer necklaces and adorn her hair with pearls (like Lizzie in P&P 2005 hehe)

Modern setting Immy LOVES cute jewelry. Fun earrings with strawberries, teddy bears, and hearts

Sinag - She loves BOLD jewelry, chunky chains and gems. Think statement pieces - especially with earrings. Sinag also has multiple piercings in her ear and she likes it studded with gems. She prefers silver jewelry, she likes the icy look of it as she's a frost mage.

She also loves those ornate combs

Modern setting Sinag wears chokers! She has similar types of piercings in a modern setting as well, and she likes wearing stacked earrings.

Amihan - Doesn't wear jewelry. She doesn't like any lol, it's a sensory thing. Modern setting Amihan will wear a srunchie around her wrist at most.

[loosesodamarble]

Oh! If you're still doing the headcanon ask game, can I get Vanessa and Morgen please? 🥰

Of course I'm still doing the ask game! I've only just started it today in fact!

And those headcanons you ask for are here now!

.....

Vanessa Enoteca

Realistic Headcanon: Vanessa’s Red String of Fate spell is a two-way street. There’s gotta be a mutual sense of connection for the spell to protect anyone. The spell can get around the elf possessions because the souls of Vanessa’s friends are still in the bodies. But if Vanessa and a person’s bond isn’t super stable, the spell won’t work for them. Zora and Nacht would have a high risk of not being under RSoF’s protection because of the walls they keep up. Nacht is definitely worse off than Zora. While he said he was gonna live with the Bulls, he would take growing accustomed to them at a snail’s pace, and even then his connection to most Bulls would probably remain as coworkers. Even with Nacht’s history with Yami, I think Vanessa wouldn't warm up to Nacht quickly. He is an acquired taste after all. Plus (and this is a personal me thing) I don’t see Nacht and Vanessa having much chemistry. (No hate to people who imagine them with a friendship or even romance. My mind just draws a blank when imagining them interacting. 😔)

While it might cause Vanessa some grief to learn that her spell does have conditions like that making it slightly harder to protect the squad/friends she considers her “family,” I feel like conditions like that would make for an interesting test of trust. Like, imagine if an enemy tried to infiltrate and bring down the BB? But RSoF outs them as an enemy because the spell won’t protect someone who doesn’t value Vanessa as much as she values them.

Not realistic but hilarious Headcanon: Vanessa has never won a drinking contest against other Black Bulls members. Either the members are too young to drink (Noelle, Asta), they aren't interested in competing (Grey, Secre, Gordon, Henry, Nacht), they'd rather compete with food (Charmy, Luck), or they agree to the drinking contest and in her overconfidence, she drinks ahead of time and ends up dooming herself to lose (Yami, Zora, Finral, Magna). Vanessa has won countless contests elsewhere but within the squad, it just never works out in her favor. 😅

Heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends Headcanon: Vanessa remembers how her mother looked when she smiled. When she was first put in that cage, she hoped to one day be able to do something to make her mother smile again and thought that was how she'd get her freedom. She gave up on that hope eventually. But even years later, Vanessa would like a chance to make her mother smile again.

Unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own Headcanon: Vanessa's actually a talented writer and has written a few romance stories (both the innocent and not so innocent variety). None of them are very long with 30,000 being the average word count. She's managed to write one short novel per year since joining the Black Bulls (which means her writing process might actually be "write drunk, edit sober" 😆). She bases the stories on the romantic gossip from other squads that she hears about. And one might've been a self-insert fantasy with a knock-off Yami. But you didn't hear that from me.

...

Morgen Faust

Realistic Headcanon: Morgen trained himself to specialize in healing magic. His magic had a natural inclination for offensive spells. But he wanted to heal and use support spells and so he underwent intensive training to get the spells he ended up with. He wasn't without any attacks in his repertoire but he was mainly a support mage with healing, defensive, and other utility spells. Morgen is not a noble who would coast by on his naturally strong magic and just take what's given to him. He will commit himself to learn how to use magic the way he wants to.

Not realistic but hilarious Headcanon: Morgen's go-to response to anything he really didn't want to do (meet with a suitor, clean the bathroom after Yami used it, do a spicy food challenge, etc) was to go to the nearest window and jump out of it. He wouldn't say anything, but walk to the window, open it, and jump out like it was nothing. If he wanted to make it clear how opposed he was, Morgen would run and leap out the window without even opening it. It was so bad that anytime Morgen was told something people knew he wouldn't like, they'd arrange to meet him in a windowless room. (Don't worry, he'd cushion his fall with a bit of Light Magic, that or he'd make a pair of wings and fly off.)

Heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends Headcanon: Morgen's first loyalty was always to his family. Not just Nacht. But his parents too. Even if they didn't truly love him, he loved them. Because they were his parents. They gave him life and a home and clothes. He was quietly neglected, but he was never fully cast aside and abandoned. And they loved Nacht (albeit for the wrong reasons, but they at least values Nacht) which meant that the brother Morgen cared for didn't face the kind of cold treatment that Morgen got. And when it came to the matter of devils, Morgen was more scared of his family hurting themselves rather than the illegal nature of it (hence why Morgen brought absolutely zero back-up when he confronted his family; he didn't want them arrested, just out of harm's way). Morgen loved all of his family, in a desperate and one-sided way where he could only want for their love back, but it was still a deep and honest love. Because that's the only kind of love Morgen knew how to give.

Unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own Headcanon: Building off how I said Morgen was more concerned about the dangers of working with devils rather than it being illegal, Morgen would've jumped at the chance to learn about Forbidden Magic. Not so much as to use it. But he'd tear through whatever books were available and watch with deep fascination as Nacht learned to control the powers of the Bremen devils. While not a scholar, Morgen is the type to like learning new things. And knowledge about devils isn't something you come across easily. Finally, it's his family's secret practice and Morgen would want to be in on that! Screw the law, the Faust family's devil knowledge is really cool!

...

Headcanon ask game

[the-rebel-archivist]

11, 16, and 18 for the da4 hype <3

Thank you so much for the ask <3

11. What's one think you'd really like to see in this next game?

Honestly, I feel like they looked at my wishlist and told me "Wish granted" with so many of the reveals we've gotten! I wanted Lucanis? There he is. I wanted mobile, snappy combat? It's there. I wanted to know what happened with the griffons and if Last Flight would have impact and we'll learn and it does! So many bits of lore that have been hinted at heavily seem like they'd come into play and we'll learn a lot about some of the more mysteriously shrounded parts of them (though I do hope they keep some secrets for themselves!). And of course there's the CC and its focus on not just functionality and creativity but inclusivity.

If I slightly rephrase to the thing I'm most looking forward to seeing, I think it's how all the companions will interact. They keep calling them their most engaging crew of companions yet and I can't wait to see how we're able to influence them. I'd like to know if there's any friction between them to solve and who gets closest to whom. I'm excited to handle difficult conversations and choices with them!

16. What's one crack theory you subscribe to (yours or someone else's)?

I've got a lot of theories but most are pretty well supported, here's one that I went down the rabbit hole with that has little to no connective tissue at all:

The ancient elves were particularly unkind to dwarves, we know this from Trespasser and the implication that they drove them underground. The dwarves allied with Tevinter. Though there was hostility between the elves and the dwarves, after the fall of Arlathan Cad-halash (later Cadash thaig) tried to take in the escaping elves only to be destroyed by the dwarves of Kal-Sharok, ostensibly to protect their alliance.

Paragon Fairel founded Kal Repartha, the surface thaig in the Hissing Wastes, as "A place where we may meet in peace" sometime at least 100 years before the First Blight (possibly much older, they never give an upper bound for age) after the weapons Fairel crafted were used by the dwarves to war against each other. The entrance to the Deep Roads was closed off; the dwarves mentioned to be either fleeing or preventing a war could never return.

Somehow, the dwarves managed to bind demons into the pillars of the Tomb of Fairel, creating the sort of corrupted stone they call "The Gangue" - "Stone waste" or "Impure spirit of the stone." Long before the Blight, the Stone was already corrupted and the dwarves were already working to cut it from the healthy body. Containing the Gangue is one of the primary goals of the Legion of the Dead, not killing darkspawn.

The demons in the pillars are released by the use of veilfire, an ancient art perfected by the elves and only usable by mages. Cole says that the demons were dwarves once and believe they still are. Note that because this is before the First Blight, golems also don't exist yet.

Theory: Fairel founded Kal Repartha after the destruction of Cad'halash and perhaps even housed some elves as well who set up the veilfire. But we aren't finished yet.

The Gangue. It's described like a blight on the stone long before it makes sense to be blighted. When you talk to Solas about the Blight, he knows more than he lets on but also less than he would like. "The fools who first unleashed the Blight upon this world thought they were unlocking ultimate power," he says, and it sounds like he means the magisters in the black city... but what if in fact he means the evanuris. Their experiments and tampering, especially those of Ghilan'nain, began the process of blighting the stone and only later led to the outward signs of darkspawn, red lyrium, and the rise of corrupted archdemons.

And for another crack theory, Lucanis isn't possessed because that's such a straightforward explanation, but maybe pacted in some way to a demon? If not that, has some form of relationship to one without losing his sense of self. This one is pure wish fulfillment.

18. Which aspect of fandom are you most looking forward to?

Seeing all the new characters people create! It's going to be so fun to see everyone's take on the same material and watch what parts of it they hone in on as touchpoints for their Rooks and existing characters. Sometimes completely innocuous lines can take on so much profound meaning based on how the character you're roleplaying interprets it and relates to it.

[ganet]

Thoughts on Versus' sibling relationships

Original post

WARNING: SPOILERS!

One thing ONE likes to write is sibling relationships and I noticed this is a theme in Versus as well. (And as firstborn child I do support this wholeheartedly.)

Hallow & Zaybi

The series starts with first chapter introducing the brothers; Hallow and Zaybi.

Chapter 1: Zaybi and Hallow as children.

They were so cute as kids. And we are told how Zaybi is the brains while Hallow is the muscles in this dynamic. This would later reflect on the fact that Hallow became a hero and Zaybi is a mage.

Chapter 1: Hallow sees Zaybi.

Chapter 1: You can really see how it hurts Zaybi to see his little brother hurting, and he tries to comfort him.

Throughout the current 16 chapters it became clear that they support each other in their own way, and look up to each other. Although, Zaybi being the older one seems to have raised his kid brother by himself, threatening to even spank his ass if or when he does something reckless (which means exactly that he must have been the parent in that family in their lives - and Hallow's occasional way of begging Zaybi to include him/give him permission to join in certain missions indicates this as well). Makes me wonder what happened to their parents in the first place.

Chapter 2: Hallow thinks of his brother and how amazing he is. Chapter 3: Hallow begs that he could come with Zaybi and Keila and her team. Chapter 6: Hallow again asks to be let on the team who redirects the Titans towards Neo-Humans.

Chapter 3: Zaybi threatens to spank his little brother for acting reckless.

Chapter 4: Hallow seeking help from his older brother.

Poor Hallow really got everyone arguing about his plan, and needs Zaybi to help him. Which he does, albeit in his own way. (To prove a point to everyone.)

Chapter 4: Keila's thoughts. This seems to put the brothers in important role of the story.

Chapter 5: Hallow coming to Zaybi's aid.

You can tell how protective Hallow is also about his older brother.

Chapter 5: Zaybi refuses to put more responsibility on Hallow's shoulders.

Chapter 16: Zaybi seems to have hard time making a decision, and thinks about what Hallow would do.

I find this part kind of sad. There is something that tells how the brothers need each others' support. Zaybi doesn't seem to be able to act without some kind of plan, and Hallow acts without a plan. Although, in this case it was good Hallow wasn't there since its more of a risk with the parasites..

Chapter 16: Even while thinking he will die, Zaybi wants Hallow to survive and live.

Masayoshi & Mika

The latest chapter (16) revealed another sibling pair, Mika and Masayoshi. Mika seems to have this similar spirit that Zenko has in OPM, but their older brothers seem to be very different haha.

Other possible siblings or other family members

Honestly, Samone and Pakkya look so similar to each other. I wonder are they actually some kind of relatives..

Chapter 14: Samone wanting to wait for Pakkya, but he wants her to leave him behind so she can leave the dangerous place.

Monthly Shonen Sirius #229: Pakkya and Samone's official colors. Both even have a red hair with green (Pakkya) and yellow (Samone). Their eye colors seem to match also. And they both have sharp teeth. Although, their skin color isn't exactly same, but they could be blood relatives. Who knows. At least they aren't introduced as siblings or anything like that. So, maybe it is that all their people share these similarities?

And there is also Thear and that unnamed woman he has with him, who both also share same hair colors and their uniforms also sharing same colors makes them look more like siblings than anything. Their hair in general looks really special and I would like to think they are somehow related by blood, unless all their people share blue hair genes in their world. Their skin color seems to also match.

Images from Monthly Shonen Sirius #229 and Volume 3.

[ultimatecryptid]

glance, canvas, and favorite for your brosca and your amell!

@itzpapalotl im glad you like it i spent HOURS picking Laurentine out 😩 good to know the effort was worth it

this sets long enough im shoving it under a readmore, enjoy!

Glance: At first glance, what stands out most about your OC's face? What's their distinguishing feature?

Emery: From the outside I think it's hard to beat the face tats. ESPECIALLY the  blackout castle. It was designed to grab your attention, and I think it does. If you look past that, however, I've always found her eyes very arresting. 

Laurentine/Butch: That's gotta be the FRECKLES baby! Laurentine is heavily freckled, especially on his face. Also, she has a noticeably narrow mouth. During the Blight, though, Laurentine's most noticeable feature is the worst sunburn you've ever seen. Laurentine is as red as a lobster and burned to the point of peeling and she'll barely do anything about it. This is because he's a masochist and because he's having issues about being outside for the first time in 20 years. She's so well adjusted.

Canvas: Does your OC have any scars, piercings, tattoos, or other markings?  Do they display them or cover them up at all?

Emery: Loads and loads of facial piercings, and a few on her body. Emery did the majority of her piercings herself, and she started doing it very young, with all that entails. There's a decent number of piercing scars scattered around her face, some of which never healed properly and some she let close because she wanted to switch it up. 

The fact that DA: O includes complimentary tattos around the casteless tattoo targets me personally. It's been a number of years since she got her castle done, and I don't think it was done by a professional so the technical quality isn't very good, but it is one of Em's most focussed features. I wouldn't be surprised if she had others of varying quality, Em is very much a drunk tattoo kind of girl, and I don't think anyone was stopping her, but I havent gotten any more specific from that so we're all gonna have to wait in mystery.

And we aren't gonna forget her facial scar. For the most part she's avoided it past a couple nicks and bruises, but she got her cheek sliced open while working for the carta. It did not heal neat.

Laurentine/Butch: Just the standard lobe piercing for her, but she wears huge chandelier type earrings. Some are gifts from her fellow mages, and some are gifts from the Amells that were allowed into the Circle.

Favorite: Does your OC have a favorite article of clothing or accessory? What is it? What's the meaning behind it? Do they wear it all the time or do they wear it sparingly to keep it safe?

Emery: During the events of the game, no, Emery didn't get anything out of clothes like that. But at some point this changes, probably having something to do with the sheer joy Morrigan got from her gifts. But she doesn't find something that really calls to her until later.

Laurentine/Butch: A little to the left for Butch. While in the Circle Laurentine got really obsessed with those overly complicated gimmick braids, like the kind you see on pinterest that look like baskets or butterflies or something equally complicated. Laurentine would sit for however long it took to get something that elaborate. Jowan could do it sometimes, or her mentor, or literally anyone Butch was not picky, and it eventually became a whole thing. Laurentine Amell, founder of the Kinloch Braiding Club. But he isn't very good at them himself, and while on the road it's abandoned for the shittiest updos you've ever seen. It's a miracle his hair stays up—oh wait it doesn't.

[aplpaca]

Hey hi howdy hi if you have like a list of queer fantasy books you liked would it be alright if you shared them? i’m so low on spoons but would love to read some happy stuff if you’ve got any recs, all good if not! was just curious!

OK so I've got a couple things, but depending on what you mean by "happy", some might count and some might not, so I'm gonna group them by like "Happy/Feelgood" for the really sweet stuff vs "I wouldn't say they're "Feelgood' kind of warm-fuzzy, or at least they aren't entirely that, but they're def Hopeful at their core". (i tend to lean more towards things that have Angst even if the core is hopeful. i could list a lot more in the Mixed But Hopeful section, but i tried to stick to ones that felt more 'energetic' in tone, if that makes sense)

Feelgood

House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. Lonely man gets assigned to assess the "safety" of a boarding house for kids with supernatural powers and learns to enjoy life along the way.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. Trans latino boy performs a magic ritual to prove himself to his family and ends up having to help a ghost move to the afterlife. This one is YA, so might not be your thing but I thought it was really cute and fun. Does include some elements of transphobia, but the overall tone of the story is cute and heartfelt, and the transphobia bits are resolved positively. Lots of emphasis on self acceptance and family.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. Orc woman retires from fighting and opens a coffeeshop. This one didn't particularly do it for me, but I know a lot of people like it so you might also.

Hopeful at their Core

Witchmark by CL Polk. Mage who works as a doctor meets a mysterious man and ends up investigating a murder while trying to help his patients suffering from a mysterious illness. Deals with abusive family backgrounds but is overall pretty lighthearted/energetic.

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell. Arranged marriage in an intergalactic empire gets complicated when half of the pair's previous relationships and potential criminal activity come to light. Feels pretty fanfic-y (i say as someone who doesnt really read fanfic, so take with a grain of salt) in a fun way. Deals with past relationship abuse, but isnt graphic and is overall pretty lighthearted and fun

The Last Sun by KD Edwards. Disgraced Atlantean noble and his life companion/best friend/bodyguard get hired to search for a missing person, only to get entangled with a legendary monster connected to the fall of said noble's court 15 years prior. YMMV with this one cause it deals with a lot of heavy stuff like abuse and sexual assault and gets pretty dark at points, but at the same time the series is really funny, the banter is so good, and it has some of the best and most fun found family dynamics going on in like anything I've read or watched. Like those 2012 avengers fanfics where all the characters live in the same house and do shenanigans except its actually canon and also they can say the fuck word.

True Love Bites by Joy Demorra. Disabled werewolf captain takes a job on an island and grows close to a vampire nobleman. Things get complicated when a mysterious woman shows up with news that the world's magical wells are dying. There's an explicit version and a fade to black version depending on which youd prefer. Explicit version has a red cover and the fade to black has a blue cover (I personally read the blue cover version). I want to gnaw on the characters (esp vlad) like a dog with a cocaine chew toy

[galadrieljones]

Royal! Twilight! Rocking chair!!

Thank you for the prompt ❤️ The thing I felt most like writing about for this prompt was my Skyrim oc, Osk Frostborn. This is a ship I have not written before but have wanted to write for a long time.

Skyrim | Dragonborn x Ulfric Stormcloak | Mature

Winter in the Marrow: I

Have you ever opened up a book and seen words, but not known what to do with them?

Osk sat in a hard wooden chair, staring past the fire in the Nightgate Inn. Outside, the snow had been like spikes, in her eyes and in her hair. 

The bard here was loquacious.

"Those is heavy weapons," said the bard with her hands folded around her lute. "Ebony weapons? You must be rich then."

"I'm a good smith," said Osk. 

"Well, it's your hair then. Your hair gives you away." The bard had a slight lisp. She had an accent straight from the lowlands of the Rift. She wore bright red make-up on her cheeks, a rouge made from snowberries, which felt on trend to Osk, considering what she’d seen the women wearing in Solitude in those days. She had round hips, but she couldn't have been much older. Maybe in her late twenties. "Plus you had to learn smithing somewhere," the bard went on. "From someone, right? Ebony. That's expensive juice."

"What are you talking about?" said Osk.

"I mean, your hair," said the bard. She sat down in the rocking chair beside the fire, right next to Osk. "It's long and very blond. Like, white. Looks like you were born from fear."

Osk laughed at this. "That's an old wive's tale."

"Well, maybe," said the Bard. Her hair was very red. "But you were born in the Pale, weren't you?"

Osk did not answer.

"Maybe Winterhold, I suppose. Nords up in Winterhold look nigh on as elves, I'd say. They're so old in the marrow. Lots of them come ‘round here. They farm winter crops, or they're mages. But you are not a mage I reckon. I've never seen you before."

Osk took a drink from her flagon. It was punishing and strong. Some sort of mulled wine. Or maybe not. She'd already forgotten what the innkeeper had offered. "I haven't lived in Skyrim since I was a baby."

"Where'd you go?"

"Somewhere else."

"I'm just trying to make conversation."

"A lot of bards have said the same exact thing, but they don't work for themselves."

"You aren't being too kind," said the bard. She seemed sad now. She looked down at her freckled hands. "I ain't no spy. I know the bad rap we got, us bards. But I ain't no spy. I swear. I'm from Falkreath. Helgen."

"Helgen?" said Osk. She had been wrong, and she felt bad. "Do you know what happened to your town?"

The bard nodded sadly, looking down at her lute. "Mother sent home about it. She's in a bad way now, I believe. Moved to Whiterun where she lives in the inn."

"I'm sorry," said Osk. "I really am." She wasn’t trying to be a bitch. She took a deep breath instead. "I don't tell people where I'm from, okay? It's not personal. It's just like...operational security."

"What's operational security?" said the bard. "Never learned nothing like that from Talos."

"It just means, I don't know you, so no matter what you say, I can't trust you. No offense."

"Guess you must be important then, eh?" This seemed to perk her up immediately. "You like, royalty?"

Osk had come across girls like her before. Rural kinds. They took on the very disposition of their crop. Hers would have been radishes. She seemed nice.

"Not really," said Osk.

"You ain't here with the Imperial Legion, are you?"

"No," said Osk. The bard recoiled. Perhaps she'd said it more forcefully than she meant. "Sorry. Just, no."

"You a Stormcloak then?"

Osk didn't answer.

"I said, are you a Stormcloak then?" said the bard, louder. She seemed to think that Osk couldn't hear properly. She glanced around, like it was a secret. But there weren't too many others at the inn that night. Some old man orc, down in the cellar. Liked her music. The innkeeper himself had dozed off behind the counter, and there were just a handful of off-duty guards from Dawnstar, piss drunk, trading bad jokes on the other side of the room. "If you are a Stormcloak," the bard continued, "that would make sense, being in the Pale and all, so close to Eastmarch. You look real tired, ma'am. You look real beat."

They both heard a loud noise then and looked toward the door. A big man had entered, bringing with him the cold, purple bite of the twilight air. Everybody got quiet, including the drunken guards. One of them dropped his flagon, and it spilled all over the floor.

The man in the doorway shook the snow out of his enormous, expensive furs. It was Ulfric Stormcloak. He wore a heavy fur cap, the face carved right off a bear.

"By Talos," said the Bard.

Osk looked away and closed her eyes against the heat from the fire. She was embarrassed. She squeezed her hands tightly into fists as a habit. She took off her heavy leather gloves, which she had not even realized she was still wearing, until now. She didn't know what to do, or how he'd managed to track her. She had been very careful.

"Osk," he said. The relief, how he regarded her. It was confusing, like the loud clanking of his chainmail against the quiet crackling of the fire. "Osk. Thank Talos."

The whole room was staring at her, including the bard. She looked at Osk with huge eyes. She’d guessed royalty. She could not have guessed this. In any case, she got up right away to ask him if he needed something, what he would like to drink. He ordered a mead and one whole apple pie with a kindly voice that Osk had rarely heard him use with his own servants, in his Palace of the Kings. 

He came and sat in the rocking chair where the sweet bard and her radish disposition had been sitting just moments before. It was strange to consider him in a rocking chair. Seemed a place for a grandmother, or a curious bard. And yet, he came to possess it. He leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees. He said it again, more forcefully now: "Osk."

It was almost pathetic, she thought. The way he spoke to her. So she looked at him. His pale hair was matted down where his hat had been. He had the saddest eyes of any man she'd ever met, frozen solid with grief. "Hello, Ulfric," she said. "How did you find me?"

"Your horse is very recognizable," said Ulfric. "Bred by the Black-Briars. You should sully her coat if you'd like to remain hidden, Osk. Especially in the Pale."

"How do you know the Black-Briars?"

He smiled.

Osk finished her mead. It made her feel dizzy. His smell and presence were all-encompassing, and they filled up the whole room, all around her. He had this habit in the mornings, of dabbing his wrists with this kind of apple essence, made for him by an alchemist in Solstheim. It smelled of bark, and tart juices. Apples were a relic from her childhood, where she had lived, hidden with her mother on a botanical berry farm near the Gold Coast of eastern Cyrodill. He liked apples. It was one of the first things they'd shared. 

"You shouldn't be seen in the Pale," she said.

"Neither should you."

"Why are you here?"

"You said not to follow," said Ulfric, removing his gloves, as he intended to stay a while. The bard stood by with his mead and his apple pie, set it down on the table between them. Ulfric thanked her and picked up his fork and knife.

"So why didn't you listen?" said Osk.

"I never listen," he said, tucking in. “I assumed you’d know this by now, Dragonborn.”

(to be continued)

Send a prompt! - Ask Box

[monorayjak]

Magic in Media: House Telvanni

House Telvanni is one of the Great Houses of Morrowind, filled with high ranking mages, powerful conjurers, wise alchemists, and unstoppable researchers.

The Telvanni identity, in Magic's colors, begins as many would expect it to: Blue-Black. Telvanni mages are intelligent researches who value knowledge and power above all else. They see little reason to value people, places, or things that lie out of their sphere of influence and contact; the only exception being when they desire one of them for research purposes or to expand their power and/or holdings. The Telvanni do not consider morals for the most part, choosing not what is best for a group, but what is best for themselves; this inclination alone is enough to turn them away from white. But in addition to the lack of morals, they also practice slavery on anyone and everyone they can manage, the most common being Argonians or Khajiit. This, mixed with the Telvanni's largely lax organization system absolutely pulls them away from white. The use of slavery also pulls them away, to a lesser degree, from red. Red's core value is freedom. While the Telvanni are certainly free to do whatever they please, very few would actually call them "lovers of freedom" in any sense. In addition, their own lack of emotions in their life (not to say they don't have them mind you, just that they don't show them) pulls them even farther away. And while they may have little regard to organization in the minute, they deeply keep their society organized by strict hierarchies with defined ranks and "do and don't"-s of their hierarchy. In other words, the members themselves may not truly value organization, the House itself does.

So, the Talvanni are blue, they are black, they aren't red, and they aren't white. You may suspect the lack of support from red and white mean green has little chance to show in the Telvanni. Interestingly, you couldn't be further from the truth. The Telvanni value tradition and take consideration with every bit of experiment and research they take upon themselves. They use natural elements to house themselves, using their mastery of magic to shape and accelerate their growth. They maintain absolute knowledge that what they do has impacts on the world around them, their reasoning for doing this may be entirely black (turns out if the area around you becomes uninhabitable, you tend to lose the land all together because no one can use it), but the methods to maintain it are pure green through and through. They study the natural world just as much as they study the theoretical and arcane. And to add the final kick, they believe in a care value of green: The strong rule. Well, in their case its more along the lines of "The Cunning and Smart rule," but its the same basis. They say that if someone steals something from someone, the thief obviously deserves it more; if a person is killed to advance the killer's rank, the killer is more worthy of the rank in general. The strong rise, and the weak fall. Most interestingly, this believe seeps into every part of the Telvanni culture, including their use of slaves. If slaves manage to escape and can't be found by hunters or hired professionals, that slave deserves to be free. If a slave kills their master, the slave deserves the title of master more. Yes, everyone can ascend ranks in the Telvanni, even those bought and sold like products. The strong and the cunning make the rules, and when someone bests them, the victor gets to redefine the rules.

So, in the final verdict, the Telvanni are Sultai.