themontess

[themontess]

tbh i like that more and more games are introducing a "narrative mode" instead of an "easy difficulty", cause a big thing about the easy mode discourse was centered around "are people capable of playing hard games", which showed a lot of elitism and sometimes ableism, but with the introduction of "narrative mode", it completely shifts the paradigm away from "hard mode is for real gamers, easy mode is for noobs" and towards "this is just the game mode for you to experience the story", which not only smooths over that problem, but also enables devs to really rethink how they want to approach designing their game and telling a story to their audience, which i think adds in a lot of possibilities beyond just "is the game easy or hard"

[themontess]

Dancing in Treviso ~

[themontess]

Spite's poetry is eating me alive. What do you mean a demon writes poetry while his host is asleep. What do you mean he describes himself as a fraction of what he once was.

"a PEACE cut from the ALL" A PEACE. A peace. Not piece. He was content once. Rememburnings. The memory of what he used to be burns. An infinity instead of a small shade.

What do you mean he feels like a hooked claw into Lucanis's gut. What do you mean he can feel the joy from Lucanis when they drink coffee because Lucanis wiggles his toes. A small shade and a wounded spirit sitting together oh my fucking god

[themontess]

I would think a non-Antivan Rook would have to be taught from like Teia and Viago on how to care for Lucanis and learn the Antivan Depression Signs(TM):

Depression spaghetti (made it hastily, used cheap ingredients, did not make it like nonna with love and care, just Did Not CARE, lowkey almost crying over it because he knows it's bad, does not want Rook eating his depression spaghetti because it was not made with care, it was not made with love)

Depression wine (the cheapest wine to be classified as wine)

Depression eating (has not eaten a homemade meal in a week)

Depression Not Even Cooking (cooking is love, how can he cook when his heart is so sad)

Teia and Viago have to stage an intervention over his Depression Spaghetti, non-Antivan Rook is simply amazed by it all

Lucanis ass tweet:

[themontess]

As a therapist told me post my second bout of postnatal depression: "You had coping mechanisms and now they don't work" Life changes. Be kind to yourself and know the way you work best with yourself may need to change too.

If your ADHD is causing you to fuck up more, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the ADHD is getting worse.. you could just be doing more things which gives you more opportunity to fuck up.

This is one of the reasons, ADHD can get ‘worse’ as an adult. A child has very few responsibilities. An adult on the other hand, has all kinds of opportunities to fuck up on. 

[themontess]

I (finally) started and finished reading Remarkable Retirement this week (your book was in a very tall tbr pile haha) and I wanted to say THANK YOU for writing such a lovely book! You gave me many laughs, I loved your subtle foreshadowing of [spoiler], I cried along with the characters, and just had so much fun reading it.

Unfortunately I had no butter to make snickerdoodles to eat along side it but I’ll make them in the spirit of Edna sometime soon!

omg I hope you'll share pictures of said snickerdoodles when you do 🧡 tysm and I'm so glad you enjoyed the book!

[themontess]

the contrast in lucanis' early game responses to bellara and davrin are sooo funny and also quietly devastating. the vibe is like

BELLARA: heey so... how are you feeling lucanis? generally, I mean. or specifically, if you'd rather talk about something in particular! well, you usually don't, so no worries if not, you know, no pressure, only if you'd think it'd maybe, I don't know, help! I know it doesn't always. but ah, um... are you -- alright? (in the pantry. we should probably stop asking you about this but are you sure you're alright in there? it's where the parsnips live. and you now, too, I suppose! just... you and the onions. and a demon. sorry, didn't mean to remind you! you see I'm only asking because um for a second there I thought the dark circles under your eyes were actually bruises and it jumpscared me a bit)

LUCANIS (tired but soft): I'm fine, Bellara. Really. Don't worry about me.

VS.

DAVRIN: So hey lucanis. just out of interest. what the fuck is your damage anyway. why are you like this

LUCANIS (at his most 'orders one black coffee and drives away' and also honest): Well you see Davrin since you're asking: I am in hell. Also go fuck yourself.

[themontess]

Christmas update from Aunty Mo:

Apparently Uncle Frank used to blush from the neck up

He once got incredibly flustered by some belly dancers at a local fete and had to go cool off for 5 minutes. He was "very easily embarrassed" like that

Someone else bought her some of the Yardley's Lavender this year, and I do think our Emmrich would like that scent

(I have also been touched by how much you all have taken to the old gent, he was a very special part of my life. I also reiterate that he would hate my fanfic writing on every level, so I love being able to reintegrate these parts of my soul)

Some writing inspo for the Emmrich fans this morning, may I present: my late Uncle Frank.

Frank put the gentle in gentleman and to this day, I've never met anyone so consistently well groomed, well kept, and genuinely pleasant to be around. He:

Showered and shaved every day. This took a good 20-30 minutes and we had to either let him get ready first or make him go last, or the rest of us would never get a decent shot at all having time in the bathroom.

Wore the same aftershave consistently, Brut, which is described as citrus top notes with hints of spicy woods.

Once dyed his hair when I was around 5 years old to cover the greys (he had brown hair as a younger man) and I disliked it so much he never did it again. He had gorgeously natural grey hair for the rest of his life - again always well kept and trimmed.

Used to co-ordinate his boxers and socks. My Aunty Mo, bless her, only realised this after 40+ years of marriage, and the story came up at his funeral.

Had a perpetual supply of clean pressed handkerchiefs, which were distributed to guests at his funeral.

Did all the ironing throughout his marriage.

Had specific clothes he wore for specific activities. He would not wear his day clothes to do the gardening, or play with me, etc.

Bought my Aunty Mo the same Yardley's English Lavender bathing products every year for Christmas.

Could never be trusted to share an ice cream or a can of soda.

Read the newspaper every day, and would always walk to the shop to buy it.

Anyway. Maybe this helps with writing everyone's favourite Thedas silver fox and/your blorbos ❤️

[themontess]

BELLARA

Continuing the Veilguard cocktail series with a non-alcoholic mocktail for Bellara. Bright and bubbly with the fizzy zing of the Veil and a hint of Arlathan’s wild herbs.

2oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

2.5oz honey syrup*

5-6 basil leaves

2 sprigs rosemary

About 2 oz sparkling water or club soda

Optional: Mint sprig and lemon wedge for garnish

* To make honey syrup: Warm up equal parts honey and water until they fully combine, then let the syrup cool. This can be done in a microwave in short 15-second bursts stirring between each.

Add everything except sparkling water/club soda to a shaker tin

Add ice

Shake well

Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a highball glass filled with fresh ice

Top with sparkling water and gently stir

Optional: garnish with a sprig of mint and a lemon wedge

[themontess]

my earnest hope for 2025 is that everyone embraces being a little weirder and freakier and less judgmental bc we will all be better off for it like to charge reblog to cast

[themontess]

Everyone can get back in touch with me in 3-5 business days 😍 Merry Christmas and Eight Little Talons-Mas to all who celebrate

[themontess]

He insisted.

[themontess]

Every batch of Dragon Age companions have something wrong with them but the Veilguard crew has Something Deeply Wrong with All of Them to a new level. They are all so unhinged but they're unhinged in such a calm manner you let your guard down until they suddenly say the most batshit thing you've ever heard

[themontess]

Reblog if you're a writer who re-reads their own work for funsies.

[themontess]

There are already so many delicious meta posts on everyone's specific thoughts on what's going on in Illario's head, but I am jumping in myself because he and Lucanis are making me CRAZY

I think that soooo much of his jealousy is that he and Lucanis get treated as a binary. Damn near every time Lucanis talks about something he is or isn't good at, he brings up how Illario is the opposite. It isn't just that they're constantly being compared (already something that's going to be super damaging to both of them and their relationship) but there's such a strong sense that they're not allowed to overlap.

Like, Lucanis is better at physical combat? Okay, so Illario is bad at it. It doesn't matter that he's still very good, that's he's good enough to still be a living, working Crow at the ripe old age of 30+, as a member of the First Talon's family no less. It doesn't matter that he's good enough to drop down from the ceiling (when and how did you get up there???) and kill Zara before anyone can register he's there. It doesn't matter that he's still a significant boss, even once you factor out the Venatori. He's worse than Lucanis, so Lucanis is the 'good' assassin and Illario is the 'bad' one.

In the reverse, Lucanis's self-esteem about his social skills is in the DIRT. He is CONSTANTLY bringing up how Illario is the people person. Even when, in the same breath, he says Illario only ever had relationships with people he didn't like and they never lasted, he's still saying Illario is better at it. And because Illario is better with people, he's 'good' at it, and Lucanis is 'bad' at it.

In any discussion with or about Lucanis and Illario there is, apparently, zero overlap in their skill sets. Despite the fact that that's very obviously not true. But they've been set against each other so thoroughly that they don't even realize it. Because presumably Caterina started training them and they had a knack for some skills more than others and rather than encouraging them to teach other or partner up to boost each other's strengths, she was most likely going "Look, Illario, your cousin did that move so much better than you, be more like that," and "Lucanis, Illario perfected this ages ago, it is not that hard to convince someone you're harmless" and all they got was that one of them was the assassin and one of them was the conman and never the two shall meet.

And Caterina, of course, heavily favors Lucanis. And I imagine there's a million reasons why - starting with the fact that it sounds like his mother was the last favorite. (And how can Illario compete with that? He'll never be the son of the favorite.) But I think a big reason is Lucanis's skill set. Maybe he's the most like her. Maybe she thinks if he's good in combat, he won't die like all the others did. Has she just written Illario off as a lost cause, certain to get himself killed? Not consciously, I'm sure, but subconsciously? Easy to imagine. Easy for Illario to feel that way, whether it's true or not.

And then!! He's being babysat! This idea that Lucanis is the one who can fight (and therefore Illario cannot) has taken hold so deeply that Lucanis feels like he has to look out for Illario, has to protect him, and of course that's bundled up in the 'we're all we have left' but when you're suffocating under the weight of your cousin being a mother hen that feels much less sympathetic. And when you're a 30+ assassin it's gonna feel pretty aggravating if everyone acts like you need your cousin to help you tie your shoes in the morning.

And I don't think either of them realize this. Introspection is not a Crow skill. All Illario knows is he can't be a good assassin while Lucanis is alive, because only one of them can be a good assassin. And that built and built and I think the opportunity to have Lucanis killed crossed his path, and he - Well, despite what Caterina might think, he is a very good Crow. So he took the opportunity. And then he couldn't go back.

And what does he have, under this binary? At least the good fighter, the good assassin, can have a talent for other athletic work, a passion for knives. At least the favorite can find another hobby without feeling grandmother breathing down his neck, asking why he's learning a new skill when he hasn't even mastered the important one. What's under a conman, a grifter, a politician? Sure, he can make people like him, but he can he ever connect with them enough to like them back? Does he know who he is? Would he know where to begin to try and find out?

I'd argue that - whether he knows it or not - is the biggest reason he tried to have Lucanis killed. He doesn't know who he is other than Caterina's least favorite grandson, Lucanis's cousin. He doesn't know how to find out.

[themontess]

Today I was finishing up some old WIPs I had lying around.. wantet to keep this sketchy and fast...

I loved the Book club entry on the codex and I really wanted to see them chatting together about romance books...

[themontess]

Origins: the world is ending and you and your one remaining coworker are the only option left to save it.

II: the unavoidable tragedy of a queer friend group/polycule trying and failing to save their fucked up city

Inquisition: you went to a conference and accidentally ended up in charge of saving the entire world (again) with a team of colleagues who are (mostly) professionals and outstanding in their fields.

**

Veilguard:

Rook: hey, I suffered from “sudden field promotion” after “fucking everything up worse than it already was.” I’m putting a team together to kill at least one, maybe three, Gods

Seven of the most unwell people in Thedas: say no more, I’m in