#when i think about the look of dragon age i always this of dais iconic tarot and stained glass motifs

[imagobin]

🐲Grandpa Zeno HCs🐲

Because Zeno is unironically one of my favorite HxH characters, idk why, this grandpa's vibes are immaculate. So I tried imagining how it'd be like to be his grandkid! Don't judge me fhgjkd I know I got requests to work on but I need to write some sillies for me as well çwç

A new Zoldyck is born:

Zeno prides himself on being a cold blooded assassin, laser focused on his job, but old age has definitely mellowed him out a little when it comes to his daily life.

He's definitely a lot less strict with his grandkids than he was with his own son, just like any old man. Though he has a tendency to play favorites even among his beloved family.

The day you were born, he took one look at you and knew from that moment that you were definitely going to be one of his favorites. Just that peculiar glint in your eyes was enough to activate his caring grandpa side.

Even Silva and Kikyo were surprised at how his personality seemed to flip every time he got to hold you as a baby... it was an odd, but sort of sweet sight to see Zeno behave like an actual grandpa, bouncing you on his knees or telling you stories from his younger days.

Of course, that's not all he ever did. He's a Zoldyck, and his idea of 'fun with his grandchild' went on to include flying on a dragon's back, teaching you what each torture tool does, and showing you where human weak points are. Even when you were a toddler, he was already thinking of useful things you had to know in order to grow up and be a fine Zoldyck.

Once you were old enough to start going on missions, he'd also reward you for your success, way more than your parents ever did. He'd call you to him, and would sneakily place a piece of candy and a couple bills in your hand and gently close your fist, telling you to buy whatever you wanted with that.

In your free time:

Nowadays, grandpa Zeno is a bit more focused on Killua, but you're still his second favorite at least. Naturally, because of your strength, but also because you actually listen to him and not just dismiss him like the other family members do.

You're often busy going on missions, on your own or with your siblings, but whenever you're actually home, he often asks you to get tea with him.

He has a tendency to start rambling about the "good ol' days", talking about his most iconic missions and showing you pictures of past family members.

He may still be a sharp assassin, but his memory isn't as sharp as it used to be, so sometimes he might tell you an anecdote he's already told you. If you bring it up he'll get a little embarrassed and apologize. "Ah... did I tell you already? My bad, my bad"

He tries not to let it get to him, and he definitely wouldn't tell you, but he genuinely hopes that doesn't annoy you, because it's rare to have someone who seems to genuinely enjoy listening to him.

He doesn't go out of the house too much, but when he does, sometimes he asks you to accompany him, not for any reason in particular, he just wants some company while he's out and about, and he finds the butlers quite boring.

Collaborative effort:

Grandpa Zeno doesn't take on many missions unless they're of the utmost difficulty, and he usually teams up with his son, Silva, since they're the two most experienced Zoldycks.

But he's not beyond making an exception. He recognizes your abilities as phenomenal, and compared to some of your other siblings, you're also a great team player, quick to react and synchronize with anyone you're working with. So there have been some rare times, where he's asked you to come on a mission with him.

Seeing your grandfather fight, really makes you understand why he's so feared. Despite his age and smaller build, you would NEVER want to find yourself against him. He attacks with precision and no hesitation whatsoever, like a true veteran.

If there's one frustrating thing about him, is that he's stubborn. He always wants to be the one who gets to do most of the fighting, while you're stuck on support duty.

At first, you believed it was because he didn't trust you to be strong enough, but as it turns out, it's because he enjoys fighting that much. It's not even about the kill, he gets no satisfaction from killing, he's just always looking for a good fight.

He's an old, powerful man, you figure there's not many people in the world who can surpass his strength... he's always looking for a worthy opponent.

The few times he's taken you on a mission with him, it's always been very nostalgic, because after you succeed, he always insists on going to nearby cafes, as if nothing happened, and even though by now you have your own money, he still has that old habit of putting a couple bills in your hand, to go and order whatever you want at the counter.

[medra-gonbites]

Baldur's Gate 3 Companion Head Canon Music Edition

Ok soooo ! Recently my bestfriend and I wrote and composed a song about BG3 (which we might release one day) and it got me thinking about the Tadfools (as if I don’t already think of them 15 times a day) and imagined what their band would look like and which instruments they would play and thus voilà my rendition:

Karlach | Drums

Look at her and tell me she does not play the drums. She would sometimes have to be asked to stop because she would not notice everyone has stopped playing but her. She just has the proper energy, rhythm, not to mention arms, to rock that drum set and start a solo Whiplash style.

Lae'zel | Harmonica

“What is this shiny rectangle? “whistle metallically” Oh. This sounds… beautiful. Like the screeching of a blade on a sharpening stone, but… Better!” And that’s how Lae’zel picked up on the harmonica, true story, I was the harmonica!

Wyll | Main Vocal and Violin

Yes, Wyll would absolutely sing and dance and become an icon on the Sword Coast. He also plays the violin. I don’t know, maybe it’s the horns, but I could also see Duke Ravengard enrolling him at conservatoire at age 6 to play the violin. He writes most of the lyrics

Shadowheart | Bass and Back-up Vocals

Shadowheart is a bass player. Look at her smoky eyes and her pout: she obviously plays the bass! She matches her nail polish to the colour of her bass (black, purple, white). She is always down to jam and she also provides Wyll with beautiful back up vocals when he needs it. Her timber is quite ethereal as well.

Astarion | Electric Guitar

Astarion has massive rockstar energy. He did try to play with his teeth on more than one occasion but that breaks the strings. He has several guitars, guitar straps, dedicated stage outfits and hundreds of guitar picks (which he does not even use but hoards like a dragon).

Gale | Synthesizer

Gale is a piano player but why constrain himself to a regular piano when he can make it sound like space music. Or any other instrument really. Fender Rhodes with a distortion and reverb to the max? Yes, please. He tried the keytar and while he does like the funkiness of it, he prefers the horizontality of regular synthesizers. I also believe he’d compose a lot of the songs.

Now for the one who are not part of the band but do play an instrument:

Minthara | Band Manager

Sorry I do not see Minthara as a musician. She’d be an amazing band manager or music producer though. If I must attribute her an instrument I would say the harp as she canonically has a lute but I imagine the discipline it takes to learn the harp is quite in character and would be a funny contrast; the angelic sound it makes, opposed to… Well, Minthara.

Halsin | Bansuri

And he made it himself from bamboo or wood. He plays it during his session of guided meditation or when he is alone in the forest. Usually attracts dozens of critters and little animals and it makes him look like a Disney princess (Although he has never seen a Disney film himself.)

Jaheira | Steel Drum

She learned during her hippie phase in college back when she would travel to Puerto Rico and/or Jamaica twice a year. She still has her old steel drum and will take it out if you nag her long enough or if she is in a celebratory mood. She might play it at your LuAu themed birthday party if requested.

Minsc | Triangle

It is the only instrument that he can play. It looks relatively simplistic but it is actually quite tricky to play as it requires great timing and a little bit of technique. Minsc is a natural at both. He likes being part of an orchestra and finds the agitated man with a stick the funniest of all people.

Boo | Church Organ

I have no argument to justify this but the hilarious image of a miniature giant space hamster playing the phantom of the opera on a huge cathedral organ. 

Gortash | Acoustic Guitar (but not really)

Gortash will claim he plays guitar. He will claim it even faster if he is flirting (approximately 2 minutes into the conversation and/or maybe before even asking your name). He, however, does not. What he can do is play one song (wonderwall or alleluia take your pick) that he learned by heart back in highschool specifically to brag at parties and bag dates. In adulthood it works way less.

[lairofdragonagelore]

Hi, I really like your lore pages! I've been trying to figure out what DA The Veilguard Bellara's Dalish tattoo is related to, the one primarily on her forehead. Usually they represent one of the elven gods, but hers doesn't look like any of the gods tattoos I've seen. Though I have not found any tattoos for the Forgotten Ones, so it's possible it could be from there. Though those gods are considered to be evil. Any ideas?

Hi!

Hers and the Warden companion's Vallaslin look like things we didn't see before, which made me feel very suspicious about how much this new game will end up breaking lore just to make it look cool or just to pursue a "shock effect", narratively speaking.

Davrin, in any case, seems to be a retcon redesign of Falon'Din's or Dirthamen's or Ghilan'nain's Vallaslin [check Evanuris], which I hate, you can't really decide which one among those.

Why do they have to redesign these Vallaslins again? They claimed that "every Dalish clan developed their own vallaslin" since they are not a very homogeneous community and each Keeper ends up modifying their "ancient history" in order to obtain some desired effect: keeping the young people of the clan safe, making the clan less reckless in some explorations, helping the clan with some mourning process, etc. After all, DA lore teaches us that legends and cultural symbols are conquered, used, co-opted, and modified in order to obtain some political or social benefits/effects [you can explore these concepts in Dragon Age Iconic Patterns: The Sun or in The Chantry and the Mythology of the Chant of Light]. I don't think the Dalish would be an exception to this natural process that even happens in our real life history. This, on one hand. On the other hand, even when something evolves and is co-opted and modified, you can trace their origin; you can see the source that inspired it. Pretty much we can see this on a design level in the Dalish Banner in DAI, for example: compare it with the Elvhenan Banner and the Orlesian decorations you find in all Orlais [see Patterns and Styles: Orlais],

and you will see that the Dalish banner is a combination and amalgamation of both, testament of their Elvhenan culture influenced strongly in the Dales by the Orlesians during the time of the Halamshiral [when humans and Dalish tried to co-exist before the Exalted March on the Dales]. And this is a single example, DA lore has tons of them. I don't see this process in these new companions' Vallaslin. I feel, with all the ignorance we have about the Veilguard, that they may have retconned the dalish vallaslins just "to make them look cooler" once again, and put a cheap explanation: Dalish clans are not a monolith, [which is true], but they are not modifying all their own lore extremely apart from what they consider their "true history", aka the unreliable Dalish legends. After all, we know via Merril, that all clans try to gather once every few years to exchange knowledge and relics; they have mechanics to still keep their own "culture" as one with slight modifications. So far as we played all games of DA, we know that every Dalish considers their Vallaslin as something to be proud of and, with the lore given by game files or Bioware itself [they gave us all the Vallaslin's names in DAI], we know that these are related to the Evanuris. So, we can fairly assume Dalish see it that way: they are honouring their gods.

However, in DAI, we were told that the Vallaslins are marks of ownerships on slaves, and we also know, due to Bioware and game files that they belong to the Evanuris so far. Even Felassan's [Felassan and bits of lore] is Mythal's Vallaslin. So, in conclusion, so far, we always have been seeing and being informed that these Vallaslins were related to Evanuris, who [according to Solas shared Lore Part 2] put this mark on their slaves/servants.

Her Vallaslin is basically an aesthetic third eye, symbol of knowledge and insight, which is a very cheap design detail for her characterization, in my personal opinion. Why could she not use a variation of the one of Dirthamen one, for example? Even the retconned design of the Vallaslin from DAO to DAI have some resemblance, one another. This feels like a "whatever cool symbol we can put on her face".

Could Bellana's Vallaslin belong to the Forgotten Ones? Maybe, if you read all my posts, you may know that I've been playing with the idea that the Evanuris may have worshiped the Forgotten Ones first, who were dragons, and once the Evanuris acquired power [divinity] through the use of Titan's blood and other unknown elements extracted from them, they chased the Forgotten Ones [Andruil in particular], forcing them to hide in the "Abyss", a word we have seen many times in all the games to be related to places deep into the Deep Roads [complete analysis here: Attempt to rebuild Ancient Elvhenan History ]. But the Evanuris not only took divinity power for themselves, they wanted to have the divine shape ["winged shape reserved only for the Divinity and their chosen ones"], and I think it's not too far-stretched to think that they co-opted all the symbols of their previous "ancient gods" to become Gods themselves. Remember that Solas doesn't say "vallaslins are marks of the Evanuris", but "of the gods that nobles worshiped" and yet the Dalish kept the name of the Evanuris attached to them:

Solas: I've discovered what those marks mean. Inquisitor: They honour the elven gods. S: No. They are slaving markings, or at least, they were in the time of ancient Arlathan. I: My clan's keeper said they honored the gods. These are their symbols. S:Yes. That's right. A noble would mark his slaves to honor the god he worshiped. After Arlathan fell, the Dalish forgot. I: We try to preserve our culture, and this is what we keep? Relics of a time when we were no better than Tevinter? S:[…] You deserve better than what those cruel marks represent.

But can we question if these marks are truly from the Evanuris? Maybe the Dalish got this wrong too. The answer seems to imply that no, this part was correctly preserved: we had this curious example in Orlais where an elf who visited an old Temple of Mythal when he was a child had a dream during DAI in which Flemeth talked to him, and he woke up with the Vallaslin of Mythal on his face [I talked about this in Until We Sleep]. So we can be more or less sure that Mythal's Vallaslin is the one that the Devs gave us in DAI. Flemeth applies it on this new servant. Could this apply to all Evanuris? Well, that depends, since I don't know if it is Mythal the one who has double nature [Forgotten One and Evanuris] instead of Solas [I talked about this point all over my blog, many times].

However, it's also true that the tabletop core book [so questionable if its information is canon or not] says that some Dalish clans from the Tirashan forest wear red [blood based] Vallaslin and perform human sacrifices, and they are told to be related to rituals of the Forgotten Ones.

So far, we only know unreliable legends about the Forgotten Ones, as vague as they are, and only in the last DLC we may have found one of them, Geldaraun, who was, curiously, a dragon [read Frostback Basin [DLC]: Elvhen Tomb and Frozen Gate]. So, in general, Forgotten Ones are an immense mystery in all DA lore, and no game, comic, or book put a bit of light on this topic. It's as obscure as it was the first day.

On the other hand, and trying to debunk myself, we also have the example of Merril's Vallaslin, which was unique [maybe because they wanted to make her more unique herself? hence "let's made out a vallaslin out of nowhere"?], but also we can excuse that it was inherited from DAO [a game with a lot of visual difficulties, for example, they were unable to make the sun-mark on the tranquils' forehead, even though they knew it had to be there, lore-wise] and later, in DA2, we even find strange inconsistent vallaslin used on some elves that make no fucking sense [for example Huon, the blood mage elf who wears a castless dwarven mark on his face, is a blasting, enraging big wtf, lore-wise].

So, in short, can those strange Vallaslin be a representation of the Forgotten Ones? Maybe, we know so little about them that we can't truly answer with certainty.

We really don't know if the Forgotten Ones were evil, we only know that the Evanuris clearly made a big effort to erase them from History and indoctrinated their slaves to prosecute anyone who wanted to follow the Forgotten Ones [Pyre of the Forgotten]. Can we be sure that something is Evil just because the Evanuris considered so? We know Solas' story with Fen'Harel, and how the Evanuris saw him: as a rebel, a danger, someone you should not follow, and yet, Solas and the idea of Fen'Harel is a lot more complex and less evil than what the unreliable legends of the Dalish tell about him. So I have my doubts if someone or something is Evil just because the legacy of the Evanuris tells us so.

We only can glimpse a level of rivalry between Forgotten Ones and, at least, some of the Evanuris in Geldauran's tomb [read Elvhen Tomb]. We don't even know if the Forgotten Ones were elvhenan. Hence, all my speculation about them being Great Dragons. We only know three names: Geldauran, Anaris, and Daer'thal. Fen'Harel is considered a Forgotten One according the unreliable Dalish legends but I have my doubts, since Solas claims he has always been this elf you see, even though there is another part of him wandering the Fade [according to Cole's words]. However, Mythal is the only one of the Evanuris who has 2 different versions of her mosaic: one in elven form [a mother] and another in dragon form. If for a moment you consider the speculation that the Forgotten Ones were dragons, Mythal seems to fit better this dual condition than Solas. As you can see, my answer is very cautious, and basically I can't say much about these Vallaslin that they brought me a bit of worry of hardcore retcon. That's all what I can say with certainty. If they make a good in-lore explanation that justify these two strange Vallaslin, we may be in peace. Otherwise, it should be yet another retcon we have to endure, as we did with previous games. Although, DAO consistency is super low because the immense amount of visual difficulties they had, so DAO always sucked at environmental telling; DA2 and DAI are a lot more consistent one another [despite the difficulties that DA2 also had!], except with the Qunari lore, which was changed each time in each game, unfortunately.

Update: In Interview with John Epler, we learn that Bellara's Vallaslin is, indeed, Dirthamen's [??? wtf] and Davrin's.... Epler doesn't even remember the name of the god. So yes, imagine how careful they are with the lore details. I mean, we can only need to listen to the podcasts to realise they were absolutely careless with lore in the majority of the time. All these symptoms are giving me Marvel-like vibes from a game that should be the opposite.

[sparklyeyedhimbo]

every month of 2023

i got tagged by @i-got-the-feels @itsallaboutbl and @smileytharn

thank you all for the tag..this was pretty fun hahah

i am tagging @bunnakit @petrichoraline @gabrielokun @supanuts @heretherebedork @firstmix @guzhu-furen

okay lets go lets see my gif journey of 2023

(i am nice and put a read more here hahah)

JANUARY: i was still on my gaymer boyfriend agenda but i also did the the eclipse but it's a comedy. But my favorite gif out of that month is 100% this:

which also was the last gif i did for this series i had started LUL

FEBRUARY: bed friend and my school president was omi-present in this month. I also started more to experiment with adding stuff to my gifs. My favorite out of that month is this one:

this gif is always a mood okay

MARCH: this was the month of midnight museum and my mike in a boss and a babe gifs. This is where doki doki kali style was born (funny because this is also my birth month..so it's fecking fitting ahjsdhasjkd) so my favorite gif of that month is hands down this:

look at all the sporkle (I EVEN POSTED THIS ON MY BIRTHDAY)

APRIL: april was the same as march with some bed friend gif sprinkled in. but mostly midnight museum and me making fun of khatha. but for this month i will go with a whole gifset as my favorite. it's my khatha matching the artifacts in every episode gifset.

my old, pathetic and very stylish idiot

MAY: in may be my favorite joined the ranks of shows i going to make iconic gifsets for. And i was still doing the mike in our skyy gifsets. I think that was the only time i really was crunching out a gifset like on a specific time. Loved it but also it was very stressful hahaha. My favorite gif of this month is this one:

babymode!puen was one of the best things out of their our skyy episodes..and well them as DADS.

JUNE: be my favorite was in the main focus in that month but i also squeezes in my pan-coded bl people gifsets (looking back i did all of this while working FULLtime..idk what i was on) My favorite gif out of that one is this:

the birth of the excessive animated fronts hahaha

JULY: hidden agenda and be my favorite where the gifsets i did on the regular in that month. And i dipped my toes in working with "more then one gif in one gif" thing and i started to animate my own things i added on my gifs. My favorite out of that month is:

this whole set i enjoyed doing so much hahaha

AUGUST: only friends and dangerous romance mayor things i gifed that month. I also started to do so much extra work for my gifs..like create a whole ass dialog wheel for my only friends gifs hahaha. Only friends really was just so mass effect/dragon age coded that i had to. With some of these decisions these idiots did hahah. My favorite out of that month is:

nawin..it will always be nawin

SEPTEMBER: in september i really got in a low of gifing..you could say i was starting the burn out. (because my mental health finally catched up on me and well...) I only gifed 6 gifsets in that month and my favorite out of all of these gif was this one because it was the easiest to do at that time:

look it's ray

OCTOBER: ohh spooky-tober was a treat, i fell into the kiseki: dear to me hole and i think came up with one of the most fun gifsets i have ever made at this point *playboyy looms over my shoulder*. my favorite out of this month has to be this one

tHE YOINKENING!!!

NOVEMBER: November came and brought me playboyy and pitbabe and boy did these show change my brand. A stupid brainfart idea about adding peach emojis on gifs turned into well the fruity bunch and me condition people into thinking about playboyy when they see fruit. i can't really say what was my favorite gif for this month because all of them i love them dearly (even the evil gifset i had to make for @kayatoasted) but to not post yet another version of shell with a fruit penis i am going with this one:

pavel doing the fanficton sniff

DECEMBER: ohh december..my i sleep 50% of the day away and don't get shit done..but i somehow made 3 gifsets THREE..but are they iconic? because two of them are the sign gifsets? And both of them involve jellyfish? maybe? yes? but my fav of all of the gifs i DID is this one

the gif i made for @bunnakit of yai our beloved himbo and first phayatharn shipper!

one thing for sure i let go in 2023..i didn't give a shit about what size my gifs where as long as they where 540 wide i was game hahahah.

[captain-astors]

Omg wait 20, 23, and 24 for Touka, Ayato, and maybe maybe Renji :OO

Alright here we go! Kirishima family.

Touka, such an icon, if I don’t see her giving up on her dreams for Kaneki it didn’t happen.

20. A weird headcanon

Yoriko briefly really wanted to start a band, and Touka actually got really good at playing the electric guitar because of it. The band never happened but she retains the skill. Karaoke night at Anteiku is all fun and games until Touka breaks out the guitar and now everyone’s just sitting on the floor in awe while she duets whatever song gets chosen on the jukebox out of their small catalog. She’s got Wonderwall down to a T at this point, everyone say thanks Koma. 

23. Future headcanon

After the utter chaos of the dragon died down, she returned to her ambition of researching the origin of ghouls! She became widely respected in her field and wrote a couple books with theories that were used far into the future, and eventually one of them was proven. 

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

When she worked at Anteiku, she collected little scraps of travel magazines, research articles, etc. and kept them in a drawer. Just motivation for days when pretending to be a human at school was difficult.

Ayato! Garbage child, committed 3 war crimes before he learned what a kidney was, banned from 4 public restaurants.

20. A weird headcanon

If he wasn’t a ghoul his beverage of choice would be some terrible soft drink or just straight milk with no alternative. I can’t specify the prior because I’ve had a singular sip of about 2 sodas in my entire life but I can speak for the latter, because the two of us are very similar in certain ways and I thrive on milk. No one has ever made the interesting critter joke and it saddens me.

23. Future headcanon

I know he’s canonically 5’5 (170cm) by the end of the series but consider, it would be way funnier if he just stayed 5’2 (159 cm) and for that reason I will always draw him shorter than everyone. Pry short Ayato out of my cold dead hands Ishida you can’t make me believe this idiot is even average height. 

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

Generally he did a lot of stuff at Aogiri he’s not proud of at all anymore. Many ghouls are forced to kill from very young ages on account of their parents being taken by the CCG, but they’ll still have someone to help them compartmentalize it, and typically they’re not slaughtering for the sake of slaughtering in the name of a terrorist organization. He had a lot of power and a need to prove everyone wrong and to prove himself, so he blindly committed at least a few atrocities mindlessly following a command. He refuses to open up about any of it. 

Renji! Uncle by birth, good one by choice.

20. A weird headcanon

He genuinely does not know how to tie a standard shoelace knot. Any pair of shoes with laces he owns were tied once by someone else and are functionally slip-ons. Uta refuses to teach him because he thinks watching this grown man struggle to keep his shoes on is the absolute HEIGHT of comedy, and Yomo refuses to ask anyone else because of pride. So Uta will continue to lose his goddamn mind in peace. Why did the mask maker just fall off his chair cackling? Look across the room, Renji’s probably fighting for his life with a piece of string and losing. 

23. Future headcanon

Constantly anticipating the next murder attempt from your closest companion is… an objectively miserable way to live. But he’s also still well aware Uta will go right back to “tormenting everyone you love because I desperately need your attention if I can’t have your affection.” So he has no choice but to tolerate it for a very long time. However, I like to think it gets more tame with time. From ward-shaking battles to simple poison in his drinks and whatnaught. Sometimes Uta just jumps out of his closet and stabs him halfheartedly 3 times with a stolen quinque and then goes home and that’s the murder attempt for the week. It’s a funny dynamic because that’s a miserable day for Uta and he’s probably going to be pondering the emptiness of his own existence for the rest of the night and is only held back because of lack of drive, and a good one for Renji because in his mind less murdering is a sign of calming down, right? And he can focus on his actual healthy family and friends. Also like a couple others I’ve seen, I do like the thought that eventually Uta is successful. It fixes nothing.

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

Overall he's a very secretive person but I should probably think of something relatively amusing because I could go on about genuine regrets for a while... As a teenager in the fourth ward he'd graffiti ravens with bloody claws, and thought it was very cool and tragic at the time, but on account of his poor art skills they kind of just looked like weird black blobs with red feet. That unrecognizable form was a blessing and a curse because he can insist that it definitely wasn't him without major suspicion.

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Dragon Reborn! Chapter 31: The Woman of Tanchico

Well I guess my laptop was only pretending to be dead or something who knows why it's stupid, let's read! Beware of spoilers for the whole series!

This chapter has the harp icon because Thom's back, y'all!

Mat knew him. He had saved Mat’s life, once.

Sure is lucky Mat hasn't forgotten a single thing that actually matters!

The old gleeman had nearly stopped the story dead when Mat came in. That was new, too. Few things startled Thom enough for him to let it show, and nothing short of Trollocs had ever made him stop a story in the middle that Mat knew.

Really at this point it's got to be ta'veren that doesn't have Thom up and running whenever he sees these lads. He does not want to be involved and yet every time they show up everything turns into an epic saga.

‘I’ve given them all the chances they deserve and more,’ she murmured to herself. Slipping Kadar’s crown into her bag with the first two, she climbed back onto her cart, clucked to her mare, and drove straight back to her village. And when Mara had told them all that happened, the people of Heape would have no king at all.”

Mara and the Three Foolish Kings is one of those background details that sadly fades out entirely before too much longer. Thom will definitely perform it again, but I think this is all the story we get of it. If Mara's a real person, she's definitely got Nynaeve vibes but who knows?

���Common,” he muttered. His voice was still deep, but it no longer seemed to reverberate. “The tale is a hundred times better in Plain Chant, and a thousand in High, but they want Common.” Without another word, he buried his face in his wine.

Another little way that culture is always moving on. It probably won't be that long into the Fourth Age when almost no one can perform High or Plain anymore, not even to kings and queens.

“Two,” Thom murmured. “Morgase had a temper, but I thought I could ignore that, so it ended with her wanting to kill me. Dena, I killed. As good as. Not much difference. Two chances I’ve had, more than most, and I threw them both away.”

Poor Dena, a great character concept thrown away so that a man could be sad about it.

“Rand is still well, then?” Thom’s eyes sharpened to almost the keenness Mat remembered. “I am not sure I expected that. Moiraine is still with him, is she? A fine-looking woman. A fine woman, if she were not Aes Sedai. Meddle with that sort, and you get more than your fingers burned.”

1. Thom can't even help but be dragged back in the game for the sake of these boys.

2. Half a chapter in and we're already adding more foreshadowing for the Thom/Moiraine outcome. Seriously folks, I could see this as a 13 year old boy who at the time assumed Harry Potter was going to end up with Hermione, how was I outsmarting so many adults?

“Cairhien,” the old gleeman muttered, the sharpness fading from his eyes again. “Such trouble it causes killing a man, even when he deserves killing.”

Oh good, at least part of Thom's breakdown is because of the guilt of having caused a civil war in a fit of rage, that's something. Sort of. And just remember folks, Thom's one of Rand's GOOD advisors.

Some of the Red Ajah still remember me. I saw Elaida in the street the other day. If she knew I was here, she would peel my hide off in strips, and then she would stop being pleasant.

Does Rand have any male role models who aren't masochists? At this point I'm assuming Tam al'Thor only left the Two Rivers because he felt that the women of Emond's Field were not sufficiently skilled at being dominatrixes and he really wanted to suffer.

“Caemlyn, Thom. Elaida will likely be going back there sooner or later, so you’d have her to worry about. And from what I remember, if Morgase puts her hands on you, you will wish Elaida had you.”

See what I mean about lucky memories? This came up like ONCE, back in Master Gill's inn! But Mat remembers because it helps him even though he probably doesn't even remember that Perrin has sisters and he probably saw them loads of times, or will have once they get retconned into existence.

The younger of the two women, Saal, stopped Mat as he reached the door. “Whatever you said to him, I forgive you for the wine, even if it is taking him away. I’ve not seen him this alive in weeks.”

For all of Mat's outrage at how mean the ladies were to him, the random stranger who shows up to get the drunk even drunker, this shows they're not nearly so capricious as he assumes.

His laughter shut off like the last drip from a wine barrel: Thom was there, but not the corpse. The windows of the taverns down the street put enough light across the cobblestones for him to be sure of it. The city guard would not have carried a dead man away without asking questions, at those taverns and at The Woman of Tanchico, too.

One wonders why Mat's enemies only did clean-up and didn't pursue him. Did they think that he must have run even further away, or perhaps back to the Tower? Do they think he's locked in the city so he has no way to run? Was Lanfear about to balefire the whole fucking inn when she suddenly realized Rand had fallen asleep again and had to rush off to visit him?

“The first bloody ship, Thom! If it’s sinking, we’ll be on it!”

That's not a very smart escape plan, Mat...

Next time: They find a ship that's not sinking right this second.

[cepetriwrites]

Into the Storm

Chapter 5: Aemond

Read on AO3

It was Targaryen tradition to place a dragon egg in the cradle of a prince or princess. There has been none available for Aemond or his sister Helaena. They were both dragonless riders, though the indignity of it all hurt Aemond more. His sister was more focused on bugs than dragons. She was a strange Targaryen, but Aemond enjoyed spending time with his sister. She was nice, and didn’t mock him about not having a dragon, like Aegon.

She liked the same things he did, like history. Aemond loved pouring over the volumes of Targaryen history the septons brought him. Helaena and Aemond recreated iconic battles from their history with her dolls and his figures. It was an effective way to study as well. Today they play pretend the best moments from Aegon’s Conquest. Aemond had lined up multiple figures to represent the bannerman Aegon had fought during Aegon’s First Test. “Who did Aegon face on the field during his first battle?”

"Lord Darklyn of Duskendale and Lord Mooton of ... Maidenpool, they formed an alliance and mustered a force of three thousand men.”

“And then Aegon came in on Balerion and burned them to death!” Aemond said, gleefully smacking into his figures with the stone carving of Balerion their father had made. They had borrowed it, along with his figures of Vhagar and Meraxes. “And then Visenya and Rhaenys crowned his king, and he became the greatest warrior Westeros had ever seen, undefeated in battle!”

“Almost undefeated,” Helaena said, playing with the figure of Vhagar, “He never beat Dorne. Unbowed, unbent, unbroken.”

Aemond gave his sister a sour look, Dorne , one blight on Aegon’s unstoppable campaign. Only ending the war on the condition of being an equal alliance. They could always lord over the Targaryen’s that they had never been defeated. Not only that, they had done something impossible: kill a dragon.

The young Targaryen turned over Balerion in his hands, his father had been his final rider before his death. What had it felt like? Mounting the giant among dragons, and taking to the air. He wanted more than anything to have a dragon of his own. He’d give anything to finally be a dragon rider. To fulfill his destiny and birthright as a Targaryen, then Aegon would stop mocking him about being riderless. “When do you think we’ll get dragons?” Helaena shrugged, playing with Vhagar, making it fly in the air. Clearly the denial of their birthright did not torture the girl like it did her brother.

“A dream comes first, before eternal sleep, it leaves a shadow behind.”

Aemond sighed, Helaena was rambling her nonsense again. Aegon said she was touched in the head. Aemond knew she was smart enough, she was able to recite all the lessons her septa gave her with good accuracy. He wished she could be serious instead of spouting nonsensical rambling. A servant entered dressed in red and white entered Aemond’s room. “Your Graces, it is time for you to train in the dragonpit.”

Helaena dusted herself off and stood up, Aemond remained on the floor, frowning at the stone Balerion. “Aemond?” She said.

“I don’t want to go, it’s embarrassing, everyone has a dragon except for me.”

“And me.”

“No one makes fun of you for it.”

“Aegon mocks me all the time.” Helaena sat down next to her brother, and put an arm around him, “You’ll get one eventually. Not everyone gets a dragon when they’re born. Father didn’t. Or Uncle Daemon. Laenor’s sister didn’t have a dragon at our age. Now she rides Vhagar!” She handed him her figurine of the she-dragon. “You’ll have a dragon one day, Aemond. I know it.”

He was glad to have Helaena as a sister, she was his best friend, she usually defended him from Aegon when wasn’t tricking her into pulling pranks. Aemond found himself thinking of marriage. They were only a few years away from thirteen, they’d need to be betrothed soon. Helaena would marry a Targaryen to uphold tradition and strengthen their family. He hoped their mother would choose him. He’d be a good husband, and they got along well.

***

The dragonpit was a huge system of caverns and tunnels capable of hosting numerous dragons. Young dragonriders and the dragonless trained with the Dragonkeepers. It was torture for Aemond, watching his brother and nephews train with their bonded dragons. The dragonkeepers hadn’t let him attempt to ride the couple riderless dragons in the pit. Every available dragon or hatchling was on Dragonstone, a place his family had not visited yet. Father said when he was old enough he would get to try claiming one. For now he had to suffer the insults from Aegon.

Today Aegon was showboating even worse than usual, he flaunted his mastery with Sunfyre. He was only this good because he had had the most time, Aemond thought bitterly. Helaena was practicing her Valyrian by translating for the Head Dragonkeeper Loras. “Beware… Don’t be so… proud? Dragons are not… objects.”

“Be careful Your Grace to not be so arrogant. Dragons are not toys.” The dragonkeeper’s assistant clarified.

“We don’t want accidents happening.” Helaena continued, Aemond could tell Aegon was only half listening, he didn’t respect their sister. He only listen to the keepers because it suited his needs. Aemond felt his stomach twist with rage, it wasn’t fair that Aegon had a dragon. His brother treated Sunfyre like a plaything, he didn’t show the creatures the proper respect they deserved. He should be the one with a dragon, not his lazy older brother. Sunfyre was wasted on Aegon. Everything was wasted on Aegon. He got the best of everything, he was the rightful heir to the throne, and what did he do with those opportunities? Squander them. Aemond excelled everywhere that Aegon failed, yet he was always passed over for the eldest. He hated the traditions of Westeros, why should everything go to the first son? Why not the best son?

A grinding noise pulled Aemond out of his ruminations, the dragonkeepers were opening the door, a dragon was leaving to stretch it’s wings. Such great beasts only tolerated staying grounded for so long. Out it came from the lower parts of the pit, escorted by four dragonkeepers. Dreamfyre had been unclaimed for nearly fifty years since the death of her last rider, Rhaena Targaryen, a sister of Jaehaeyrs the Wise.

Aemond eyed the dragon hungrily, the she-dragon could be his one day, hopefully. She was easily twice the size of the young Sunfyre, with a slender body. He was told she was one of the fastest and maneuverable in the air. The young prince understood, looking at her streamlined body, she was built for speed. Dreamfyre was pale blue with silver markings. He felt the urge to approach the dragon, to try and claim her. The dragonkeepers would have him by the back of his neck before he could lay a finger on her. They were very careful about keeping a safe distance between dragons and anyone they might consider roasting alive.

Dreamfyre paused and turned her head, Aemond’s heart skipped a beat, thinking she may be looking at him. No, the she-dragon’s eyes were on a different Targaryen. Loras was whispering to Helaena something he couldn’t quite understand in Valyrian. Helaena took a step forward and Dreamfyre lowered her head to be level with his older sister. She slowly outstretched a pale hand to touch her scales. Dreamfyre exhaled, blowing hot hair on Helaena, she hesitated. Loras called out encouragement, something about asserting herself. Aemond felt his blood run cold. What if Dreamfyre rejected Helaena? Claiming a dragon was dangerous, hopeful riders had been burned alive, thrown off their backs during flight, or eaten in the past. He should stop them. Why were they letting Helaena take such a risk. He feet stayed planted as he watched in horror and anticipation.

Helaena’s hand made contact, and Dreamfyre stared at his sister, she didn’t look hungry. She withdrew her head, to unleash fire? And let out a low rumble. Aemond wondered if he could reach her in time to knock her out of the way if things went south. Helaena was walking around the dragon, trailing her hand along her scales, utterly mesmerized. No one was moving, they hardly dared breath. Dreamfyre moved her head again, and let out a low trill. In a blink Helaena, sweet, quiet, timid, shy, overly cautious, unambitious Helaena, was shooting up the back of a dragon, with speed Aemond didn’t know she was capable of. “Helaena!” He shouted, his heart beating wildly.

The dragonkeepers made a move forward, concerned, Dreamfyre moved her wing, creating a barrier from Helaena and any would be rescuers. Loras called out in Valyrian, his assistant translated, “Princess, she does not have a saddle.”

Helaena was settling into seat, on Dreamfyre, bareback, “We’ll be careful,” she said with too much confidence. Aemond’s knees were weak, he was going to be sick. Why were the keepers allowing this recklessness to happen?

Dreamfyre stretched her wings in anticipation, Helaena looked at Loras, who nodded at her, NO! “SOVES!” Fly. Her command rang out clearly in the pit. The she-dragon took several more steps until she was free of the pit, out the door, then flapped her wings, gaining air. Everyone ran to the entrance to watch Helaena’s first flight with Dreamfyre. She was not out of the woods yet, the dragon could still decide to throw her off. Why had his stupid stupid sister decided to attempt her first flight without a dragon? This was impulsive and reckless! Behavior he expected from Aegon, but Helaena?

“Helaena claimed a dragon!” Little Luke called out excitedly. The little fool, a dragon could take to the air before ditching a rejected rider.

“How long before we know Dreamfyre won’t reject Helaena?” Aemond asked a keeper breathlessly, eyes fixed on the shrinking dragon.

“A dragon will not keep a rejected rider on their back for long.” The keeper said.

Dreamfyre was gliding through the sky, he saw no figure falling from its body. Helaena must still be on. Soon the dragon disappeared from their sight. “Where’d she take her?” He asked anxiously.

“Probably flying around the city, it’s what I did with Sunfyre,” Aegon said, how could he manage to brag at a time like this? Aemond wanted to punch Aegon in his mouth. He decided against it, keeping his eyes fixed on the sky, hoping Dreamfyre would return Helaena soon unharmed.

Dreamfyre took Helaena around King’s Landing three times before landing in front of the dragonpit entrance. She clumsily slid off the dragon, down her wing and ran to her waiting welcoming committee. “That was the best moment of my life!” She shouted, she was breathless, her braid had hair sticking out, and her eyes wild. “She wanted to go faster but I told her no, I didn’t have my saddle and she listened!” She said to the approving dragonkeepers.

“Very good Princess, but remember, full bonding takes time and work. Dreamfyre will not fully listen to your commands yet.”

“I understand,” she was bouncing on her heels, Aemond couldn’t recall the last time she was this animated. “Can you put a saddle on her? Please? She’ll allow it.” The keepers obliged and fetched a saddle to fit on Dreamfyre. She sat patiently as it was put in place, Helaena was rubbing her dragon’s head.

“It is secured Princess, remember to secure the chains in place before every take off.” A keeper said.

Dreamfyre let out a trill, and Helaena was scrambling up her dragon again, ignoring any calls for her to come down. She quickly secured herself in place, Dreamfyre slowly raised her wings in anticipation, there was a glint in the she-dragon’s eyes. “Helaena they said come down!” Aemond said.

“Soves!” Helaena cried out, Dreamfyre shot up in the air, shooting off with a speed it had not attempted when Helaena rode bareback.

“What is wrong with her? She never disobeys like that.” Aemond wondered aloud.

“Well Aemond, riding dragons is fun, and riders like to stay up in the air, you’ll understand one day, maybe.” Aemond lunged at his brother and had to be held back by dragonkeepers who immediately started scolding him.

Jace let out a whistle, “Dreamfyre is showing off.”

She was, it was easy to understand Dreamfyre’s intentions now. The dragon had invited his sister to fly on her back. Only landing for a brief moment for a saddle to be secured so she could take her new rider on a true flight. Dreamfyre soared with the air with grace and agility. Climbing high, diving down, turning left and right, you could faintly hear shrieks of delight from Helaena. Watching the pair soar through the air, all the fear left Aemond. Only to be replaced by a heavier emotion. Jealousy. His stomach twisted in a painful knot, now he was the only one of his siblings, of any of the Targaryen heirs to be dragonless. Aegon and Daeron had been given an egg at birth, a tradition the gods had denied him. His bastard nephews had bonded with eggs laid by their mother’s dragon Syrax. Now Helaena had claimed one, no it was worst than that. Dreamfyre had picked her, practically begged her to climb on and take flight.

“Back to the pit Princes, you’re not done with your lesson.” A keeper called out. Aemond didn’t move, instead crying hot tears as he watched his sister enjoying what he could not.

[lairofsentinel]

The implications of this short dialogue is even a motivation for Solas. After all, the creation of the Veil is the reason why his people [the true Elvhenan, the generations of elves that lived in Mythal's Temple, for example] kept dying with age. It may also be a reminder of Mythal's assasination too. He is tired of seeing his people die, but as we learn in codices, there was nothing else he could do to stop or earn some bit more of time to fix the Big Evil that the Evanuris unleashed [which I personally think it's related to experiments potentially performed on Mythal that end up killing her]. According to the Murals in DAI and in particular to “The Creation of the Veil”, we know that the Veil was created to contain a greater evil, the black city, probably the origin of the Blight itself that the Vynil art [Speculations about the Vinyl Art] made us speculate it may represent a true danger for Thedas: a giant corrupted dragon [And the true origin of the "Archdemon's song", according Avernus, who places it not in the Archdemon but in the Black City itself].

In order to create this Veil, Solas used 7 sources of energy, that so far, we always associated with symbols that may represent the forgotten ones [Greater Dragons like Mythal herself], the ancient gods that the evanuris worshipped until they claimed divinity [As the comics The Silent Grove and The Missing seem to imply], or the evanuris themselves who co-opted those ancient god icons for themselves [more details in Attempt to rebuild Ancient Elvhenan History ]. But how Solas could do it? This also brings the idea that The "real" Uthenera may not be like the Dalish's think, and this process may or may not be related to the very cryptic codex found in the Vir Dirthara: A Flowering Imago which analysis I performed in Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara. The Elvhenan certainly knew a strong process to capture the mind of the Titans and force them to sleep forever, breaking their link with the dwarves and, therefore, with the Fade, when they won the War against them, so this knowledge could have been used on the evanuris themselves, considering that "They are not easy to kill". This coudl have created the legend of Fen'Harel "sealing" the Creators, story twisted across the generations of now mortal elves who barely could keep record of their history as they had to endure slavery from the incipient and powerful Tevinter. If this is remotely true, the whispers in the red lyrium have some chances to be the Evanuris' memories or even their wills [we know red lyrium saves your memories, as we saw they kept Corypheus' in Orlais: Shrine of Dumat], because in the mural “The Destruction of the Veil“ we see that the Black City is not only contaminated with the Blight, but with the Red Lyrium too. So I assume the two creatures that rise in this scene are not only contaminated with Blight but also with red Lyrium, and may be Evanuris that awoke from this forced Uthenera due to the interruption of the ritual. Solas certainly doesn't look happy to see them, and for some seconds, he seems to be worried. There is so much deep, interrelated lore in all past games, I hope they are careful about all the hints spread before and remain consistent.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard | ▶ dev. Bioware

[f8weaver]

independent - mutuals only - FANTASY MULTIMUSE via side blogs. all muses fit into fantasy / dnd / dragon age / bg3 settings. fates foretold by nika, 25, he/they, est.

( you DO NOT need to follow this account, just the sideblogs/characters you want to interact with. However since they are all sideblogs, I will follow back from this main blog )

multimuse blogs/characters (these blogs are sideblogs that are attached to this blog, f8weaver. likes and comments for the below blogs will come from f8weaver). Many of these blogs have Dragon Age verses coming soon!  

[ @hellfiheir - Asmodeus, unholy god and ruler of the Nine Hells -- Based on a mix of original lore & lore provided by the Forgotten Realms setting (dnd) ] [ @asangel - aasimar / demigod oc -- written primarly in bg3 dnd settings,] [ @slaycults - samurai/fighter & first son of bhaal / resist!the durge ] [ @h3llslinger - cursed changeling & gunslinger ] [ @fa1lmage - talented half-elven wizard & disowned son of renowned sorcerer family ] [ @goldenf8 - demigod of lathander & holy cleric/knight ]

my other blogs [ @mistakenmessiah  - multifandom elven mage oc] & [ tbd ]

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[televinita]

Reading Triage (??)

I'm in a whirly-twirly-IDK-what-to-read mood and am throwing out TBR plans practically on the daily, so what if I simply made an enormous post full of titles that caught my eye in the last week and which I may or may not read soon.

1. Lock Every Door and/or The House Across the Lake - Riley Sager: I loved Home Before Dark (my thoughts are still percolating; I haven't forgotten your note, @kateschechterxthorwasmyfirstotp!), and I think that one will stay my fave, but these two look almost as appealing.

2. A Paris Apartment - Michelle Gable: because I keep thinking that Lucy Foley's mystery-thriller with almost the same title is based on that iconic real-life news story about the apartment that was left untouched since WWII full of beautiful art and heirlooms, and it's not, but this one is.

(it's not the only one either, but it's the one that got to me first and/or looks best. whether it actually is the best...hm, don't love this MC having a cheating husband whom she retaliates against by also cheating. why can she not be 34 and single instead)

3. The Paris Apartment - Kelly Bowen: this one is also about that! it looks like it is probably better but also. I am just So Tired of dual-timeline WWII novels in Europe.

4. The Apartment - S.L. Grey: I don't know a damn thing about this one or the author. It popped up when I searched Foley's book in the library catalog, because this apartment is also in Paris, but this one appears to be a horror/thriller and I immediately said "hell yeah place request." (update: I peeked at Goodreads. Ratings appear Bad. So...we'll see.)

5. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt: idk what randomly put this book back into my brain, but it's one I remember seeing everywhere in used books for a while, and might even actually remember seeing in the 90s/early 2000s due to its iconic cover. I always dismissed it because "eh, adult book," but today I realized, oh yeah, I like adult books now sometimes, so I read the synopsis and it sounded pretty intriguing actually, and then I learned for the very first time it's actually nonfiction and not a novel?? So...maybe. Seems a good October read.

6?. The Work of Art - Mimi Matthews: I started the ebook assuming I could get the paperback from the library the next day, since it was checked in and reading on a screen sucks, but IT WASN'T ON THE SHELF WHERE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. I placed a request to make them find it, and yet its status remains unchanged since 9/24, which I can only conclude means they have well and truly misplaced their only physical copy. >:( So fingers crossed they find it, because I simply will not make further progress on a computer screen with a book of this length.

7. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett: I keep forgetting about this and then being randomly reminded about it in BookTube videos. I tend to like this style of book (very A Natural History of Dragons), and it's one of the few ways a book with a faerie element can appeal to me.

8. The Echo of Old Books - Barbara Davis: Beautiful cover, antiquarian bookseller, sold.

All right, I think that's everything I've just collected or am in the process of calling in from the library...

------------------

24-HOURS-LATER UPDATE: would you believe that only books #2-4 are available to me right now? "Parisian apartments or NOTHING for you, Televinita," says the library, as all the other books are checked out right now (or lost), except #5, whose dense text and snoreful writing style immediately put me to sleep so that's gonna be a no. And I've already read the last book (about Tara) from yesterday's library triage post. I guess I still have Good As Gold... and the hundreds of unread books I own?? nah

48-HOURS-LATER UPDATE: that said... Lock Every Door is now on its way in, as are two books I put on hold ages ago and also two books I just found out about and immediately decided to read.

[deviliciousnavy]

Alrighty!! Time for part 2 of Monkie Kid season 3 special talk for ep 3 and 4!! This time gonna talk in general rather than in order of the events.

🚨SPOILERS AHEAD!🚨

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Well for starters Macaque was ICONIC here!! Also adorablex3 From his expressions to his redemption (which we'll prob see more of next season x3) I LITERALLY DIED WHEN I SAW HIM TIED UP LIKE OMG MY BOY XDDDD also don't get me started on how gentle he was with lbd's host. WELCOME TO THE DAD SQUAD MY MAN!!

Edit: I totally forgot to add the "hero and warrior" part huh? ^^' that was also one of the best parts of the episode! The fact that Macaque kept saying "I'm not a hero" because he doesn't SEE himself as one. So MK sees what this is about and tells him to be a warrior! That hit so hard it killed me qwq and his face while MK said that it looked so puuuure TwT (I'll also like to add the amazing moment with both of them transforming at the same time they looked so cooooooolx33)

I'll also gonna go ahead and say I DIED from the dragonfruit content we got like, "don't you give up on me dragon girl!" I JUST CAN'T!! He was so worried the entire time for MeiTwT AND HE GRABBED HER BY THE CHEEKS! NOT EVEN THE SHOULDER THE CHEEKS!! AND HE CALLED HER BY NAME! HE HASN'T CALLED ALMOST ANYONE BY NAME!! and then the hug at the end omG I'M GONNA CRY!!! He was leaning on her tooooo QwQ the shippers ate good those 2 days UwU

Let's also talk about the interactions we had with Macaque and Wukong cause I honestly loved every second of it! I'll be real I don't really ship it, I mostly see them as a sibling dynamic. I was super excited with the fight scene and the fact that we had some parallels from their first fight!! (now if that was on purpose for us to talk about or to make the animation quicker idcUwU) I'll add here the fact that we FINALLY got to see the monkey king use his freaking laser eyes!! I seriously got hyped there!! X3 and then we go towards the end with them bickering like the bros they are XDD it was super adorable and it killed me how cute and funny it was! I also appreciate how they didn't go with saying "I'm nothing like him" at the same time, making it more realistic!

Now going to the epic final fight!! It was truly a sight to behold!! The way we got everyone helping out was just beautiful!! And the animation was the cherry on top!!

I also wanna give some spotlight to our villain here! It's really cool that we got some backstory at the start of the 3rd ep. And you have no idea how I screamed when we got a reference from the original journey to the west, where lbd transformed into a young girl, an old lady, and an old man afterwards! I can't help but get excited when they do things like that!!! We also got more about the mayor! And how apparently he AIN'T one of the corrupted/ possest people and how apparently he also ages old! But the fact that we don't know wat happened to him after the defeat of lbd kinda concerns me... And talking about defeat, while I did want her ded after what she did to my boy, I kinda felt bad to how done she was afterwards, how she had accepted her "destiny" hehe... Also with what she said to MK about their pursuit always leading to pain I can't help but think we in for sth more angsty than what we got now sooooo... Ready ur tissues next season and let's pray that they get a little break before that qwq.

Finally! Leaving my fav part for the end! MK and Wukong!(this one is gonna be longerxD) This whole situation started because monkey king decided to deal with lbd alone to protect the others.(and mostly MK let's be realUwU) I can't imagine what both monkey king AND MK were dealing with after lbd's cheap shot with possessing the king. The first time Wukong tried to attack MK he got saved last minute by Macaque! The 2nd time Wukong manage to break control for a few seconds thanks to MK!! Not only did he not hurt him, but he even threw him out of the way to make sure he doesn't end up doing sth worse to the kid!! 3rd time saved by Macaque AGAIN! (TY MY EMO MONKEY!!) And thank GOD the fourth time was the last, and our king finally broke free thanks to MK's trust!! And talking about trust, that's what I love about them. During the whole special, MK believed in The king, he knew that he was fighting for control! He trusted him so much that during the 4th attempt to hit MK, he didn't flinch! He knew Wukong was heading towards him and he didn't turn his head for a second nor did he try to defend! Giving Wukong the strength he needed to break free! (God the hug after that was adorable qwq)

And not just MK, Monkey king also trusts in MK's strength! When the kid went to confront lbd Wukong was the one who stopped the others from interfering. Trusting that MK was more than capable on handling the situation!

And during the end, the whole apology scene was everything I wanted to see! At first I thought MK was gonna be the one to start the conversation, but I'm really happy that Monkey king approached him instead. He was aware that he messed up and that he could obviously tell that the kid was still somewhat upset about it. He knows he's a bad mentor and honestly idk why people expect him to be amazing at it.

This is the monkey king we're talking about! The same guy that made an entire mess up in the celestial realm cause he wanted to be called "great sage equal to heaven". He still has a long way to go to be able to learn how to properly teach but he will try! He's trying for his kid. It's good that they finally got the time to talk about it cause that will make their bond even stronger now!(also the fact that he said "I'm sorry MK" and not bud is so sweet qwq) Honestly I'm a big sucker for parent-child relationships especially when they play it right and when the characters are to die for x3

I really can't wait to see what the future has in store for them in the next season ( and hopefully the one after that pls qwq)

[nataliaphantomhivesblog]

Corruption & Trust

Stormbringer and bsd spoilers in general ahead so read at your own risk!!

So in this post I will be listing all the times Chuuya used corruption and all the times Dazai was there to stop it. I will also go into depth as to why Chuuya trusts Dazai when it comes to having to use corruption and I will also emphazise on Dazai's care and how he takes corruption seriously.

1. First time using corruption: Stormbringer

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 16 yrs old

"Isn't it an unpleasant sight, Chuuya."

It was a young boy. This young boy casually caught hold of Chuuya's arm and lifted it up. With this movement, the gravitational field which had occured around them disappered immediatly. As well as Chuuya’s agony.

"Y...You..."

"You can't even die gracefully can you?" the young boy said in a raspy voice as he heaved Chuuya on his shoulders. He set off to walk.

Alright so this was the first time Chuuya's corruption was ever activated, after Dazai nullifies it and carries Chuuya on his back, he drops him off outside the bar were Chuuya's friends lay dead. He took him there instead of taking him directly to the port mafia quarters.

Why did he do that exactly? If Dazai doesn't care for Chuuya, then why did he give Chuuya the opportunity to pay farewell to his dying friends?

It's actually sort of funny because I don't really think Dazai really realizes or accepts that he feels a certain connection with Chuuya and therefore looks after him.

2. Second time using Corruption: Stormbringer

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 16 yrs old (obviously, its still the same light novel lol)

After losing his strength, Chuuya drifted in the air for a few seconds, then lost the black wings on his back and slowly fell.

Dazai caught his body.

From the spot where Dazai touched, the nulification skill was activated.

The self-contradictory skill that supports the energy of the singular point receded, and the output of the singular point decreased. Eventually, it converged and the "gate" closed. The red imprints disappeared from Chuya's whole body. Eventually, the gravitational field disappeared and the complete silence was restored.

“Good job, Chuuya." Dazai chuckled, looking at Chuuya he was holding in his arms. "I forgot to bring my ink pen, so I'll spare you from having your face scribbled."

As much as it looks like this is from a fanfiction, I can assure you that it's an actual passage from stormbringer.

I can't really say much except the fact that Dazai is being extremely soft here.

And this was the conversation Dazai and Chuuya shared beforehand:

"There is one problem." Dazai cut off his sentence hesitantly. "It has nothing to do with the sucess rate of the plan. It is a matter we have to overcome in the end but... It may require some time to decide."

"What's with you?" Chuuya raised his eyebrows at Dazai. "Stop dramatizing it. Just hurry up and say it."

"I said earlier about this control spell to open the 'gate' that is used to reset the command inside Chuuya, right?" Dazai spoke with a strangely restrained voice. "If we use that, the logs of the command formula that were written in the past will be erased. That means...even if the memory erasure was used on Chuuya in the past, the traces of that will be erased as well."

"What?"

"I told you before right? the memory erasure command. The only way we can confirm if Chuuya is human or not is to check the history to see if the memory erasure command was ever used. It means..." Dazai looked at Chuuya with eyes that he had never looked at him before. Those eyes were serious. "If we use that control spell, the method to confirm if Chuuya is an artificial personality created by a string of code, or just a normal human being, will be lost. For good."

The time had stopped.

Chuuya opened his eyes and looked towards Dazai but his eyes were not seeing anything. The wind blew between the two of them. Even so, Chuuya did not blink.

"Verlaine became like that because he was tormented by the curse that he was not human. That only is enough of a big problem. The matter of being human or not." Dazai looked at his pocket watch, gave it a glance and continued. "I can delay the time until the plan starts for about two minutes. I will send an order for my men to wait... You can think about it alone for a while. Cuz I guess its hard for you to collect your thoughts with me around."

Having said so, Dazai turned away and walked down the stairs, leaving Chuuya alone.

Dazai fixated in his pocket watch. Two more minutes. Too short for a life decision. But he couldn't afford more than that.

Inside Dazai's head, he was planning a procedure to swith to an alternative plan in case Chuuya refused, at a tremendous speed.

After this exchange, Chuuya does decide on using corruption. I have talked about this section on a previous post of mine, and I just love it so much. For starters, I think this conversation that these two shared is very important to their characters.

For Chuuya, it shows us how undeniably selfless he is. He would rather save the people of Yokahama instead of finding out something that meant a lot to him. He sacrificed his own desires to save the people he cares about.

For Dazai its a completely different story, in this exchange Dazai was able to openly express genuine concern for his partner. He also understands the gravity of the decision Chuuya has to take and therefore leaves the decision up to him.

Third time using corruption: Dragon's Head Conflict

Chuuya and Dazai' s age: 16 yrs old

During this one, Chuuya demands to know where his friends are, and Shibusawa says all six of them killed themselves after being caught. Enraged, Chuuya activates Corruption which ultimatley ended the 88 day conflict.

There isn't much to say about Dazai and Chuuya here since there isn't really an aftermath on this occasion but I bealive this picture is enough.

Before reading the DA manga, I genuienly thought that the only time Chuuya ever rested on Dazai's lap was when they were 22 but this proved me wrong.

I mean this is a minimal thing to point out but if Dazai disregarded Chuuya he would've just left him there, right? But instead he remained with Chuuya and allowed him to rest on his lap, in the picture you can also see he is putting Chuuya's hat back on. It's such a simple gesture but it shows us how caring Dazai can be when it comes to Chuuya using corruption.

Fourth time using corruption: Lovecraft Battle, Double Black reunion

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 22 yrs old

This is personally one of my favorite times in which Chuuya uses corruption. The fact that these two had not been working together for 4 years yet they still managed to not only accomplish their mission, but mantain their trust for one another.

I find what Chuuya says here extremely ironic because if anything, the choice has always been up to him. Dazai always uses corruption as a last-resort trick and its always Chuuya who makes the final decision of using it or not, even in a life or death situation Dazai won't take it upon himself to force Chuuya to make the decision if they will be using it or not, and hes always willing to come up with an alternative plan in case Chuuya refuses. (an example of this is when Chuuya used corruption for the 2nd time in SB).

I think the reason as to why Dazai takes corruption extremely seriously is because during stormbringer he was the first person to even see Chuuya use corruption and also the person who understood how corruption will always be sort of like a burden to Chuuya, since it was thanks to corruption that his "am I human?" question stayed unanswered.

He knows how it feels to struggle with your own humanity and he doesn't want for Chuuya (who he literally sees as human), to hold that inner conflict with himself because of corruption.

Anyways, Chuuya decides to go through corruption trusting that Dazai will be there to nullify it.

And of course, Dazai does nullify it.

And after Dazai nullifies corruption, we get this very touching moment between both of them.

This is the first time Chuuya openly admits to trusting Dazai, although it was always evident that he trusts him, I just love how open he is being here.

Also the light punch he gives to Dazai's chest is such a sweet gesture, I see it as a silent way for Chuuya to say "I trust you because after all this time I still see you as my partner."

Dazai's smile in that small pannel is one of the most genuine expression we have gotten out of him. What he says is also a very sweet, I love that he calls him partner. The fact that these two are literally in rival organizations yet Dazai still calls him partner, it shows us that even after all these years he still can't help but see him the same way as he has always done.

Actually in Japanese he calls him "Aibou" and from my understanding, when you use the term Aibou it's for someone who you consider yourself to be close with. It means "partner" like in english but it holds a deeper meaning. If Dazai used the word "nakama" it would have been a very diffrent story since it means partner as well but it isn't used for someone you share a significant connection with. Asagiri's play with words here says a lot.

Fifth time using corruption: Dead Apple

Chuuya and Dazai's age: 22yrs old.

Of course I have to talk about one of the most iconic moments in the history of Soukoku.

Chuuya uses corruption to save Dazai, even if Ango says that he's dead for sure. Something I find very intresting here though is that Chuuya screams for Dazai while he is on corruption, he is obviously not supposed to be self concious about the whole situation, while on Corruption clearly he is not supposed to be in sane state of mind, as we all here know, Chuuya loses control and does not have the track of reality while under his own ability but this time, while using corruption, the one and only thing that was on his mind was "Dazai."

It wasn't only Chuuya who entrusted his life to Dazai, Dazai too entrusted his life in Chuuya's hands. When Dazai came up with this plan, he was more than certain that Chuuya was going to save him. And I think a tumblr blog pointed this out but when Chuuya uses curroption, he cannot control his strength, but when he had to punch Dazai he did it lightly, which is strange considering he was using curroption and it would've made a lot more sence if Dazai ended up decapitated due to being punched by a literal god. Dazai had to have faith in the fact that Chuuya will somehow be able to control corruption, even if its just a little bit.

Afterwards when Chuuya manages to rescue Dazai, Dazai gently touches his cheek to nullify corruption and greets him with, "You used Corruption believing in me? I am so touched I could cry." Chuuya groans, and replies that yes he did, that he believed in his disgusting vitality and craftiness.

When they both fall to the ground, Dazai forces Chuuya to rest in his lap because he didn't want to have to protect him from this situation since the fog is still up and Chuuya himself is all worn out and wouldn't be able to fight. But heres the thing, both Chuuya and Dazai's abilities can't be seperated by the fog. I mean Dazai's ability is nulification so it basically cancels out, and Chuuya hosts a literal god inside him so it isn't really an ability if you know what I mean.

So in reality, Dazai just wanted Chuuya to rest. Dazai could've literally just left Chuuya in the fog if he was only using him for his goals, but he was genuienly appreciating Chuuya's trust in him. The way Dazai's hand is resting on Chuuya's hair is a nice gesture too, he is greatful for him and he is moved that someone trusts him, it is shown throughout the Fifthteen and SB light novel that no one trusted Dazai and how most were afraid to even approach him. And in the ADA, everyone is somewhat warry around him (excluding Atsushi ofc). But Chuuya literally puts his life on the line trusting that Dazai will always be there to save him. He trusts him greatly and Dazai knows that, and I think its pretty clear to us that he would never want to break that trust.

The fact that Chuuya trusts Dazai even after he left the Port Mafia without an explanation or goodbye shows us how strong their bond is. Chuuya most likely trusts Dazai because deep down he knows that he isn't using Chuuya's ability out of his own selifshness, a part of him is aware that Dazai uses corruption as a last resort but he just doesn't want to admit it, and I feel like he also trusts him subconciously because of how gentle Dazai is after Chuuya uses corruption.

I really hope we get to see more of these "corruption moments" because in all honesty, these moments are the ones that bring out the most vulenrability for both characters. The moment corruption is used, we see the inmeasurable amount of trust and care these two have for each other that they won't show in other situations. During these times it always shines a very open and bittersweet light on their bond and I love it so much.

[kens-double-sunglasses]

Another Shroud also, Diasomnia

You're the youngest

You were/are Ortho's twin

And while you think Idia needs serious therapy for making a robotic A.I. to replace your brother

You love having Ortho around to any degree

Idia is a shut in, Ortho is a social entity, and you, you just wanna have a good time

Ortho wants to go out? You're there

Idia wants to play video games? You're there

Kalim is hosting a party? You're there

I don't know why, but I've decided you're the God of Just Dance

To this day, nobody has beaten you

And they never will

Malleus

You're from the same clutch of eggs

So twins...?

Forgive me for not being well versed in the genetics and reproduction of draconic fae

But, while Lilia raised you two roughly the same, you two look similar, and act similar. You are even on par with eachother power wise

The only real difference in either of you is that he's the crown prince

If you're a girl, Malleus is considered scary while you're considered mysterious and a catch

If you're a guy, you two are basically interchangeable in the eyes of strangers. This has been tested and proven

Sebek is also all about serving you and keeping you safe, but you have better odds of escaping him

Silver is technically your Bodyguard while Sebek is technically Malleus'

The team gets kinda smooshed together because you and Mal Mal are inseparable

Thus, you're a free reign dragon because your Bodyguard has narcolepsy

Lilia

Wow. You two are old

Neither of you really super remember who's older and who's younger

So it's based on convenience

"I'm your older brother listen to me!"

"You know, you should be nicer to your little brother"

"Lilia, do you wanna be the coolest most awesome big brother ever?"

"Let me offer you some advice, as your older brother/sister/sibling"

Anyone who doesn't know better assumes you're twins and just messing with people

The only thing you do know about your ages is that you probably aren't twins

You two are fairly sure you'd remember that

Probably

You're Silver, Malleus, and kinda Sebek's cool Aunt/Uncle/Nobi

You two are pillars of history in the Briar Valley

Lilia is a Military icon and you run the socioeconomic scene

You're the reason he can't cook

You do any and all cooking that either of you would have to do and you always have

And with the way he cooks? You always will

Silver - older

Older than him, but "adopted" after him

That made childhood kinda weird

Because you were doing the protective older sibling routine while he was showing you the ropes of the family and fae society

You go to NRC with Mal mal and the old man, and when Silver arrives it's a whole reunion

There's tears and everything

Sebek likes you better because you can stay awake for extended periods of time

You carry him around whenever he falls asleep

You're probably going to pop Sebek if he keeps being a dick about the whole sleeping thing

Sebek - Older

You're the oldest

Looks up to you

Partially because you're the spitting image of your mom (you got all those "superior fae genetics")

Like, you've fallen on your face and he acts like it's the coolest most graceful thing he's ever witnessed

It's a problem

Like, you've tried to sit down and talk to him about it

But, he praised you for your concern and fucked off to do Sebek shit

[bbcmerlinvault]

[Article] “EXCLUSIVE: ANTHONY HEAD TALKS MERLIN, SOLD AND HIS £2000 PHONE CALL”

by Luke Connolly for Shadowlocked, first published 10:05 Wednesday 22nd June 2011

(the following is a copy/paste of the article followed by screenshots from the Wayback Machine. The original article is no longer available.)

Anthony Head talks openly about his remarkable career and generous work for charity...

As one of the most iconic actors ever to emerge from England, Anthony Head really is the definition of a true great. Comedy, drama, live theatre – Head has done it all, bringing his classic style of acting to each and every role. Best known as Rupert Giles in the Joss Whedon vampire classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Head has since diversified into other areas of acting. In recent years, he's guest starred in Doctor Who, found success as the Prime Minister in Little Britain, and at present is portraying Uther in the BBC's smash hit Merlin.

In this intimate interview with Shadowlocked – conducted at the Merlin: The Dragon Tower launch day at Warwick Castle – Anthony Head talks openly about his life, filming with Merlin and his career to date...

Well, while we are here (Merlin launch day), let’s start with this. How’s it all been going?

It’s been going great; very grateful for the production to let me potter over to the other side of the pond; they moved filming dates for me which was great. It’s looking gorgeous, they're now shooting it on a 35 million budget.

Well I think it deserves it considering its success...

Well yes, but these days everything’s shot on digital, thus cutting costs, but I think it loses so much from filming and from acting in general. But yes, I suppose it shows the BBC are 100% behind it, which they should be really. It’s in 183 territories (countries) so it deserves a budget complimentary of this achievement.

They’ve just finished season three in America and, from the viewing figures, they just can’t seem to get enough. On that note, have you been surprised by its success?

Erm, I’m always surprised...you always hope, but you just don’t know. From the very start, it had a good vibe about it, but even when I was offered the part I was concerned that it may limit itself to a young audience only; but the fact that it’s got such a wide demographic has really saved it. In fact, it was with NBC for the first year, and they said – on a number of occasions – that they were genuinely surprised by the numbers it got, especially considering it got little to no advertising or promotion, but it didn’t attract the demographic they were actually hoping for.

Well, duh...it got an older demographic instead of a younger one due to the fact that they showed it in the middle of the summer. Thankfully, Syfy saw the potential and picked it up, and they pitched it just right. It’s – well – one of those shows that has a genuine interest across all spectrums of society; it’s a show that the whole family can watch, with all members getting an honest level of enjoyment from it. A show like that is rare these days.

So many parents sit down and watch shows with their children that they have no interest in – to keep them happy – but there are very few shows that everyone can get into.

Marcus: My twin girls are big fans of the series, and when they started watching it so did their mother and I. I totally agree with what you’re saying, it’s like Doctor Who, you can grow up and watch it, regardless of your age. I think it’s very similar to Buffy really...

Well, it’s not the same writing as Buffy, but it’s got the same vibe. It’s humorous, but at the same time it’s capable of both its dark and somewhat surreal moments...

Marcus: Yes, I know – you are very scary sometimes.

Good – *evil smirk* – I’m glad to hear it...means I’m doing things right haha.

Marcus: You play a great Uther, and it’s a tricky character isn’t it? If you looked at Thomas Mannerie’s Uther, and how he gets off on countless maidens, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot more does there?

Yes, traditionally there is not much about the character Uther, other than the fact that he was a bit of a wino and liked to party. Oh, and he may have been partial to the odd woman or two.

And I’m sure, like any good actor, you researched this in depth for the role?

Haha, oh yes, to play a role well you must experience it for yourself. In all seriousness though, there is not a whole lot to research. I went to see a couple of other actors playing kings, but other than that the research element was fairly limited. For me, assessing the character of Uther, the most important aspect of the role was to make sure I understood his mythology and where he was coming from.

But that’s the point – it was the middle of the dark ages, and he was forever wrestling with his kingdom, holding onto it as best he could; with berserkers on every border. Basically though, he is an old fashioned father, and he’s just holding it together as best he can; whilst in the knowledge that Arthur is going to kick against everything that Uther stood for, and I think that’s what makes it interesting. The fact that he gets it wrong almost everytime – he wasn’t wrong about Mordred though – well that’s just a shame...

I can’t believe it’s been seven years since Buffy left our screens, but I love how you have diversified since. We all know about Little Britain, both a commercial and critical success, but I remember one you did way back...Sold. Unfortunately, that never kicked off – any ideas why?

To be honest, I remember thinking, from my very first read-through and onwards – can they hinge a whole series around estate agents? Well, they did, but that whole concept of them having a fantasy world was, well, a little bit thin...but there you go. I reckon with different circumstances, it could have been great.

Finally, I have to ask. I follow you on Twitter and I couldn’t help but notice a while ago that someone paid just short of £2000 for a 20 minute phone call with yourself...

And, the person who came in second – offering to pay around £1670 – was so eager, we have agreed to do a separate 10 minute conversation with her. It now means that £3670 has been raised for the Mental Health Foundation, so I’m just glad I could help do my bit to raise awareness and support their cause.

So, not to put any pressure on you, but what are you going to talk about? £2000 for 20 mins equates to £200 a minute, and I’m sure you will want to give them their money's worth...

You know, I’ve done it a number of times before, and after the old “wow” “argh” from them, it just kind of runs through. You know me, I could talk for England! It’s actually quite nice, and it’s for a good cause – so everybody wins, right?

Special thanks to Shadowlocked writer Marcus Pullen for his help in conducting this interview.

[d-druxy]

I originally put this in the tags but it got so long that I decided to just put it here instead:

This is such a difficult vote bc to me these games rank very differently depending on the criteria you put them against. I voted DA2 bc its the game I feel most at home at and also the one I think the most about. I didnt expect to love Hawke as much as I did and that really endeared them towards me. Varric is also an all time favorite guy of mine and I just generally deeply care for this little family of misfits and their bonds to each other.

Playing it however.. I had fun and its a servicable game, dont get me wrong, but I didnt love playing it. I do like that we see some actual art direction and exploration in da2 It has its own visual identity which DAO for all it strengths lacks imo.

I don't even mind that we're restricted to kirkwall. I think limiting a game towards an area can definitely be beneficial. But the game feels rushed and it really shows at times (the same three set pieces to battle some thugs in) I do think da2s combat has a very snappy look to it and feels the best to me in this game (at least animation wise). Especially the Rogue looks super fun jumping and teleporting all over the place (im so glad for mods bc the champions rogue armors color pallette is TERRIBLE). But even combat isnt flawless and I think it took a bit of a hit mechanics wise, at least when it comes to the ability trees. (tbf mechanics are never my speciality so thats all im gonna say about it)

As a whole package however?.... It will always be DAO. Im forever in love with the dwarf commoner origin and the rpg elements are heavy in this game, it's so fun. Theres so much to do and at least for this game it really makes you feel like your choices matter. The replayability is great

The differences between the origins are my favorite part and while I couldnt bring myself to try a different one out yet, its just great that the option is there and it allows for the creation of a variety of characters. It's such a solid base to play around with. The combat in this game feels a bit outdated and clunky to me but its straightforward and it works. (I also think it allows you more freedom to explore different builds? but again thats not something I really dabble in).

I will say; I wish that DAO had a stronger art direction in game. Its very much giving the same old classic fantasy and it just doesnt have a strong visual identity to call its own. I also think the graphics can be rough, a lot of the npcs look the same but honestly I can forgive it plus mods are always an option.

This is also the only DA game where I'm not super mad about how the dwarfs look (they have VERY long arms but I can deal. I exclude DA2 from this discussion tho bc we dont get to create/play as a dwarf in that game and I dont recall seeing any female dwarfs either(?)). There still is some sexual dysmorphism (especially in the concept art lmao) but its not nearly as bad as in DAI (< shudders).

Now.. DAI was my first Dragon Age Game. The glitz of it definitely impressed me back then and its still iconic in some regards.

But it didnt make me fall in love with Dragon Age as a whole. That would only happen once I played DAO and actually understood wtf was going on (years later after I tried playing DAI for the first time).

I think DAI is THE Dragon Age game when it comes to art design. It practically overflows with it. (Dear god the tarot cards aloneeee they're so fucking iconic!!). The visual identity of this game is SO strong and the environments are still super beautiful even now! They look distinct and really showcase the different parts of Dragon Ages world. I love the graphics despite the janky animations and even now i still think the way this game renders skin and certain fabrics is super pretty.

but the world feels super empty at times but there arent any real backgrounds for the Inquisitor (I actually missed the little info blurb for the inky you make gets, the first time around) but the rpg elements have been even more reduced but the races sexual dysmorphism in this game is atrocious (I hate the way the female dwarfs look in this fucking game) but some of the story decisions bloat dragon ages setting as a whole but the hairstyles in this game are soooo ugly. almost all of my Inkys have buzzcuts (< I jest but yeah) etc.. So my ranking of these games heavily depends on the part we base the ranking on. I love good art design and interesting visuals. I know a lot of people hate the out there- over the top fashion design in DAI and when I was younger I used to agree. But now?? HOW FUN! HOW INTERESTING!! I love that I can tell the historical fashion influences! I love how different orlais feels from ferelden! I can tell the people who designed those outfits enjoyed themselves!! And for that alone I will always love DAI. (doesnt help that im just unsure what I want my Inquisitor to be personality wise. Both DAO and DA2 give you such solid bases to build upon)

But I dont love it as much as either DA2 or DAO in a lot of other regards.

DAO is the strongest as a whole experience. DA2s cast is so memorable and beloved. My brain loves to chew on Hawke and their story and its fun how much youre able to interpret into it since its by an unreliable narrator. I also think the rival vs friendly mechanic for your companions was and interesting idea DAI is a beautiful game. I love the graphics and its art. The cast is still lovable but playing it feels like such a big undertaking and I will forever hate what they did to the female dwarfs in this game

[zvnphoria]

- how being koko’s best friend would be like

a/n - had too much fun with this. THIS IS VERY LONG UM. this is an apology for being inactive.

contains - fluff, teeny bit of angst, just platonic because YEAH, fem!reader, implied strong reader, reader has mommy issues (definitely not projecting), reader had a friendship with akane and looked up to her like an older sister

you and hajime go way back since you were kids. you two met in an interesting way but not necessarily in a good one.

you were walking to the nearest park to get out of your crazy house because your mom kept screaming at you over the littlest thing again. you forgot to wash the dishes (you didn’t necessarily forget that’s for sure). you stopped once you saw a boy around your age getting beaten up by some older kids. his hand gripped tightly on what looked like a school bag and protected it like his life depended on it.

it didn’t matter anymore because you had just knocked out both of the bullies in no time without a thought�� almost as if it was normal to you. when you looked at the boy, he had blood going down from his forehead to his cheek, heavily panting and on the verge of passing out. he’s not the fighting type, huh. luckily you had a towel wrapped around your neck since you had just gotten out of the shower when you walked out your house, you weren’t gonna spend much time at the park anyways

you kneeled down and wiped the dripping blood off his face and noticed a bigger figure running towards you both. it was.. a girl?

“hajime-kun! what happened here?!” she panicked as she checked your surroundings

“akane-san.. it’s no big deal i promise..”

“no big deal?! i knew something was up when you rushed the other way. and my bag also happened to be missing! why didn’t you ask for help? you don’t need to be independent all the time.”

“and you,” she began, making eye contact with you

“are you okay? are you hurt?”

“no no! i’m fine don’t worry.”

“she was actually the one who knocked them out, akane-san,”

the older girl looked at the unconscious bullies, then back at you with shock and amazement in her eyes

“you did this? that’s amazing!” she says as she quickly takes your hands and wraps it around hers

“uh.. yes i promise it’s really not a big deal. i’ve dealt through worse, trust me,” you say as you gaze at the direction of your house

“worse or not this is still definitely something! even i cant beat someone up, and i’m way older than you!” she chuckled

“well it’s not like you have the heart to do something like that, akane-san,” the boy comments

“hahah you’re right, you’re right. anyways we should get going now— the sun is gonna set very soon, and you should get home as well. is your house nearby? we can walk you if you’d like,”

even ‘til this day you still don’t know why you didn’t decline her offer. was it because she was nice? it didn’t matter anymore, because if you had declined, you wouldn’t get to meet such amazing people.

it’s been a few months after meeting hajime and akane, and you had also met akane’s younger brother who was your age— seishu! you four would often hang out, whether it was at the inui home or at hajime’s house. getting to know them was pretty fun, and very interesting because a certain someone had a crush on akane.

it was definitely not seishu because they’re siblings and that’s just weird, definitely not you because akane had reminded you of your older sister who was almost never in your life, so that only left one choice— hajime.

his crush on her was so painfully obvious that you couldn’t stand seeing him try to impress her every now and then. he even ditched his glasses and bought contacts just for her to compliment him! he’s whipped huh..

one day you decided to help him out a little with his crush. it was another day of your usual hang outs except this time it was at your local mall! akane’s birthday was coming up and you three had collectively agreed to take her to the mall and see if she would see anything she’d like. turns out she was eyeing some platforms with red on the bottoms, and you took notice.

seishu dragged her to go to the food court with him because he was “hungry” so you and hajime took the chance to buy the heels. you were both now at the cash register, waiting for the register person

“i don’t understand you,” you began

“i don’t understand why you like her so much. i mean— i get that’s she’s amazing and nice and pretty and all but.. there’s another reason why you like her. something must’ve happened for you to be so attached to her so what is it?” you meant no harm with this question whatsoever. you were simply curious and that’s all.

before he answered, he smiled to himself and looked back at you

“she’s the only one that makes me feel not under pressure all the time. she’s the one who constantly reminds me that i shouldn’t be so independent and that i should always ask for help.” as you took a breath in to reply, he stopped you

“before you say anything, i know. i know she doesn’t like me. i know she’s just being nice. but there’s nothing wrong with a one-sided crush right?” he grins

even though he was beaming with a smile in front of you, you knew. you knew this wasn’t how he truly felt. you knew that deep down he was hurt but it was understandable. after all, he was just a kid wasn’t he? you saw right through him.

it was a shame after what happened the next couple of weeks after that conversation. it all happened so fast and none of you were prepared for it. you weren’t prepared for the incident that had happened to akane. a few days before it occurred, koko proudly told you that he was planning to confess and you were way against it.

“huh?! but i need to get this off my chest, y/n! i don’t care if she rejects me or not!”

“haji, i have a bad feeling about this.. i’m serious. you know how i always get bad feelings and they turn out to be true!”

he groaned and scooted far from where he was originally sitting which was right next to you. you sigh and got up to sit down next to him and laid your head on his shoulder so he wouldn’t escape

“i just don’t want you to get your hopes up, that’s all.” deep down you knew the truth. akane wasn’t interested in boys one bit despite all the confessions she had received almost every week.

“fine. you have a point. but im still going with this,”

all you could do was do nothing but let him. oh how you wished you protested more, because in return all he got was a huge burden on his shoulders.

“please ma’am, just please tell me what room akane inui and seishu inui are in,” you shouted as tears were rolling down on your cheeks. “107, right down the hall and take a left ‘hon”

you bowed and quickly made your way into the room. as you burst the door open, your eyes immediately go on seishu who looked so sad to the point where he didn’t even bother to look up at you. you hug him with a feeling of relief flowing in your body, but soon that feeling was gone when you asked where akane was.

you stood outside the door, not knowing why your feet couldn’t move. what’s wrong, y/n? her voice rang your ears. go on, don’t worry i’ll be right here next to you and if you get scared, just hold my hand! right. that was the time you were at a “haunted” house together and you were scared to go in. why are you being reminded of this right now?

you gulped and slowly opened the doorknob and found a crying boy in front of you, hands grabbing on the sheets with his head on the edge of the bed. you couldn’t do anything. all you could do was sit next to him with your head resting on his shoulder while you were crying.

a few years after that, you both acted as if nothing had happened. not because you wanted to forget akane, but because you knew akane would’ve wanted you both to continue living on without her.

despite not dating, you two would always have couple tendencies like feeding food to eachother or hugging often but you’re just THAT close to the point you can probably kiss without feeling any romantic attraction whatsoever

you couldn’t hang out with him as much anymore because of all the gang related things he’s doing. to make it up to you, he knocks on your window late at night and sleeps over most of the time. you talk to him about the usual— have you been eating? you should get more rest. and so on.

you were the one who got him to start wearing eyeliner! at first he just looked at you with a confused face when you handed him it as his present, but then you explained that if he wants to go fully dedicated to the black dragons, the wings of the eyeliner would represent the wings of the dragon. he didn’t wear it at first, all he did was ruffle your hair and said he’d think about it— and he kept his word! so now he’s the iconic money-making genius that wears eyeliner.

after all that’s happened between you two, there isn’t a single awkward moment you share. you know those friends who bring up an adult related topic out of completely nowhere? you two were those friends.

“i was walking by an alley and i heard a girl getting fucked,” he says while chewing the piece of gum you handed to him

“..and??”

“i’ve never walked away so fast in my life.”

there are days where you’re sad but, of course, you don’t tell him. in fact you don’t need to tell him because he’ll know when you’re upset.

“so are ya gonna tell me what’s wrong?” he says as he rests his head on your thighs

“ugh how do you always know..”

“because we’ve been together for the longest, duh.”

he doesn’t show it much, but he cares for you more than you think he does. overprotective and can’t help but show it at times, but don’t worry! he’s doing it because he loves you. remembers the littlest things you talk about and are interested in. he’s also constantly on the lookout so that you don’t get hurt or even worse.

when he’s the one who’s upset, you immediately know. he’s quieter than usual, zoning out a lot and just not paying attention to what you’re saying to him, almost like he’s in his own little world. before you initiate a conversation, you play with his hair so he’ll feel comfortable as a way for you to convince him to tell you what’s wrong.

even though it happened such a long time ago, he still thinks about her. you cant blame him, you do too! if you were to describe your best friend with one sentence, the first thing that would pop up in your head was weak little boy. not weak as in physically weak, but weak as in mentally weak. he can’t help but get emotional when it comes to her, which is understandable.

“it’s not your fault, hajime. she left you with no proper closure, and now you’re carrying guilt and burden on your shoulders. anyone would feel the same or even worse in your position.”

he didn’t respond but he doesn’t need to. all that matters to him is that you’re next to him, comforting him with your kind words like you always do. you both have some differences which caused a few arguments, but in the end you would still be best friends.

speaking of arguments, you argue either over the dumbest things ever or over serious topics. one time you got mad at him because he was beating you in a video game and his smug expression was not helping at all. you kicked him out of your house because you were just THAT frustrated. you felt guilty so you decided to walk to his house and apologize but stopped once you saw a certain figure trying to climb up to your window.

in the start of the serious argument, it was completely something different than what you were yelling at each other about now.

he showed up at your house with your favorite boba and snacks. you demanded him to put those down.

“hajime. food— no. MONEY cant keep me happy forever, and that also applies to you!”

“then what else am i supposed to do?!” his voice started getting weak. he was never the type to argue because he’d always get emotional.

“what am i other than a money-making genius? other than a wallet?”

“i cant do anything about my situation, y/n. nothing. because that’s all i am. just a stupid wallet for everyone to use.” he says about to walk away until you grab his sleeve to stop him.

“that’s not even true. you’re so much more than that, hajime. i’m sorry.. i’m so sorry.” you were crying into his chest and he couldn’t help but cry with you.

he spoils you 100%, no doubt. there was a point in life where you would always decline but you had just gotten so used to the offer that you got tired of fighting back. i mean, how could you? he was so willing and eager and most importantly HAPPY to do this for you.

hajime cant drive motorcycles and you constantly tease him about it, which he just responds to you by squeezing your cheeks together so you could shut up. the bad thing about this is that you guys always have to walk or go on a bus to the specific place you’re going to which is pretty tiring at times. although that doesn’t matter because what matters is that you both have each other.

back to the overprotective part.. you got called by this boy to meet him at the rooftop by the end of school and you already knew what was about to go down because of your shoujo manga reading sessions. the first thing you did was call hajime and he immediately got there to warn you about what you were gonna get yourself into.

“don’t you already have someone you like??”

“uh.. no?”

“i couldve sworn you liked that ‘tora dude..”

“keep your mouth shut!”

“…so you’re gonna reject him right?”

and you did! nicely, of course. hajime advised you should make come off as mean so he wouldn’t bother you again but you just ignored him and pretended like you didn’t hear anything.

being his best friend contains some ups and downs, but that’s the point of true friendships— it’ll never be perfect.