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lucky-clover-gazette · 10 months ago

Text

kings rising highlights & annotations

chapter 15

indented text is from the book. some quotes have commentary, some do not. some comments are serious, and some are definitely not. most of them will only make sense to people who have read the series. and, like, there are spoilers. so please read the books first if you're interested!

also: part of the reason i'm doing such a close reading is to study cs pacat's style, especially in terms of how she does romance and erotica. there are "craft notes" that might seem weird, like i'm being redundant or restating something rather than analyzing, but those are more things that i want to remember/take away from the writing!

i'm going to tag these longer posts with "sam reads capri" in case anyone wants to read them all at once.

this is a google doc i wrote with overall content warnings for the captive prince series. it's not perfect, but i do think it's important to include.

Damen, who as a prince of the blood did not excel at wagon repairs, nodded knowledgeably,

love this slightly snarky oxymoronic moment from the narration. fake it til you make it!

‘Hey!’ Laurent called out. He was pulling himself up from the front wheel onto the wagon top. He had a swathe of yellow silk in his hand, and he stood on the wagon waving it colourfully at the squadron. ‘Hey you! Akielons!’

i think this entire bit is going to be so much funnier and rewarding after having done 2.5 books of intense analysis, which has made me essentially conclude that laurent and to a slightly lesser degree damen are a gifted and naturally-inclined improv comedy duo, even in the most dangerous and horrifying situations. horny despite the horrors? nah, “yes, and”-ing despite the horrors

It was too late to stop it. Too late to grab at Laurent’s ankle. The squadron had seen them. Brief visions of strangling Laurent weren’t helpful.

The officer in question was identifiable by his superior horse.

"superior horse"

‘You are merchants?’ ‘We are.’ ‘What name?’ said the officer. ‘Charls,’ said Damen, who was the only merchant he knew.

very thankful that they recycle the charls name from the inn but don’t bring up volo again. for reasons

‘You are Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant?’ said the officer sceptically, as if this was a name well known to him.

the absurdity here is perfectly escalated. of COURSE charls is well-known, they cannot catch a fucking break!!

also i just love the idea of these cultures essentially regarding merchants as celebrity figures. like is charls an influencer. he’s so popular that even people in the opposing nation have no choice but to stan

‘No,’ said Laurent, as if this was the most foolish thing in the world. ‘I am Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant. This is my assistant. Lamen.’

i like how laurent’s correction isn’t “of course he isn’t this public figure you know and like, neither of us are” in order to steer clear of having to prove their identities, but instead it’s ‘i’m the public figure you know and like, because i can actually sell this bit’

also admittedly some of the comedy in king’s rising does not work for me. especially the more fanfic-y stuff. but laurent using the ship name for him and damen in the text as a fake name is so fucking funny and i love it

(sorry i couldn't help myself)

The officer said, ‘We’re patrolling for Damianos of Akielos.’ ‘Who’s Damianos of Akielos?’ said Laurent.

‘He’s the King’s son,’ Damen heard himself saying, ‘Kastor’s brother.’ ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Lamen. Prince Damianos is dead,’ said Laurent.

Then, to the officer: ‘I apologise for my assistant. He doesn’t keep up with Akielon affairs.’ ‘On the contrary, it’s believed Damianos of Akielos is alive, and that he crossed into this province with his men six days ago.’ The officer gestured to his squadron, waving them forward. ‘Damianos is in Akielos.’ To Damen’s disbelief, he was waving them forward to mend the wagon. One of the soldiers asked Nikandros for a wooden block to brace the wheel. Nikandros passed it to him wordlessly. Nikandros had the slightly stupefied look that Damen remembered from several of his own adventures with Laurent.

this scene works so well because of everything that came before it. just… absolutely perfect

‘When your wagon is repaired, we can ride with you to the inn,’ said the officer. ‘You’ll be quite safe. The rest of the garrison is stationed there.’ He used the same tone that Laurent had used when he had said, ‘Who’s Damianos?’ It was suddenly obvious that they were not free from suspicion. A provincial officer might not feel comfortable confronting a well-known merchant on the road and searching his wagons. But at an inn, he could set his men to investigate the wagons at his leisure. And why risk a fight with a dozen guards on the road, when you could simply escort them back to the waiting arms of your garrison? ‘Thank you, officer,’ said Laurent without hesitating. ‘Lead on.’

damen doing my analysis for me!

It was a common enough arrangement in the provinces: merchants and travellers of good birth appreciated and even subsidised a military presence, which elevated an establishment over the usual public houses where not even a slave, if they possessed a shred of respectability, would risk eating.

in akielos, it’s apparently more respectable to be enslaved than poor. boooooooo

‘Very well.’ Laurent showed no sign of hesitation whatsoever. ‘Come, Lamen.’

i think in-universe laurent isn’t using it as a ship name, but as a pun to call damen “lame.” because he’s a bitch

‘This is Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant.’ ‘That isn’t Charls the renowned Veretian cloth merchant.’ The innkeeper looked at Laurent. ‘I can assure you that I am.’ ‘I can assure you. Charls the renowned merchant is already here.’ There was a pause.

‘Who is this impostor claiming to be m—’ They came face to face with Charls the Veretian cloth merchant.

laurent is getting ready to “yes, and” the shit out of this

Charls took one look at the unmistakable blue eyes and blond hair of his Prince, who he had last seen in Damen’s lap dressed as a pet in a tavern at Nesson. His eyes widened. Then, with a truly heroic effort: ‘Charls!’ said Charls.

no notes. delightful situation.

‘If he is Charls, then who are you?’ said the officer to Charls. ‘I,’ said Charls, ‘am—’ ‘He is Charls, I have known him these eight years,’ said the innkeeper. ‘That’s right. He is Charls. I am Charls. We are cousins,’ said Charls, gamely, ‘named after our grandfather. Charls.’ ‘Thank you, Charls, this man believes I am the King of Akielos,’ said Laurent. ‘I simply meant that you might be an agent of the King,’ said Stavos irritably. ‘An agent of the King when he has raised taxes and threatens to bankrupt the entire cloth industry?’ said Laurent.

laurent in this scene is me like 70% of the time playing dungeons and dragons. yessss girl pull in local politics and economics to make people accept your credibility

‘There is no need to apologise, Stavos. Your vigilance does you credit.’ Laurent gave a stiff little bow of his own. Then he drew off his riding cloak and passed it to Damen to carry.

‘In disguise again!’ Charls said sotto voce as he drew Laurent over to his table by the fire. ‘What is it this time? A mission for the Crown? A secret rendezvous? No fear, Your Highness—it’s my honour to keep your secret.’

charls deserves his celebrity status. i’m obsessed. he’s like, “oh goodness how delightful! i wonder what fun games of deception the king of vere and his little boyfriend are playing now!”

‘This is my assistant Guilliame.’ ‘This is my assistant Lamen,’ said Laurent.

laurent gets to be himself but damen doesn’t. lmaoooo

Laurent found a seat close to Charls and the silk merchant Mathelin. Lamen was relegated to a small three-legged stool at the table end.

loving how the narrative is now just calling damen “lamen”

It was decent wine and there were no flutists or dancing boys, which was the best one could hope for at a public inn, Damen thought.

WELL DAMEN I THINK THAT’S PROBABLY BETTER THAN PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY ENSLAVED AND GROOMED TO PROVIDE ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE RULING CLASS BUT MAYBE THAT’S JUST ME

Guilliame came to talk to him, since they were the same rank. ‘Lamen. That’s an unusual name.’ ‘It’s Patran,’ said Damen. ‘You speak very good Akielon,’ he said, loudly and slowly. ‘Thank you,’ said Damen.

picturing him like yzma in the sombrero

Nikandros had to stand awkwardly by the end of the table when he arrived. He frowned when he realised he had to give his report to Laurent. ‘The wagons are unpacked. Charls.’

nonconsensual improv

‘We usually operate in Delfeur, but I’ve been forced to come south. Nikandros is completely useless as the Kyros,’ Laurent said, loudly enough for Nikandros to hear him. ‘He doesn’t know the first thing about cloth.’ ‘That is so true,’ agreed Mathelin. Charls said, ‘He disallowed trading in Kemptian silk, and when I tried to sell silk from Varenne he taxed it at five sols a bolt!’

this is the best day of laurent’s life

nikandros private twitter vent #15. obviously. also does this count as an hr complaint? gonna say no—but i think nikandros would still file it out of spite

‘Charls met the Prince of Vere once,’ Guilliame said to Damen, lowering his voice to the conspiratorial, ‘in a tavern in Nesson, disguised as a,’ lowering it further, ‘prostitute.’ Damen looked over at Laurent, who was deep in conversation, letting his eyes pass slowly over every familiar feature, the cool expression tipped with gold in the firelight. He said, ‘Did he?’ ‘Charls said, think of the most expensive pet you’ve ever seen, then double it.’ ‘Really?’ said Damen. ‘Of course, Charls knew who he was right away, because he couldn’t hide his princely style, and nobility of spirit.’ ‘Of course,’ said Damen.

two possibilities here:

1) charls is lying about recognizing laurent immediately as a flex for his friends (most likely)

2) charls did recognize laurent and was just like “go off i guess”

Across the table, Laurent was asking questions about cultural differences in trade. Veretians liked ornate fabrics and dyes, weavings and ornamentations, Charls said, but Akielons had a sharper focus on quality, and their textiles were in truth more sophisticated, every aspect of the weave revealed by their deceptively simple styles. In some ways, it was harder to trade here. ‘Maybe you could encourage Akielons to wear sleeves. You’d sell more cloth,’ said Laurent. Everyone laughed politely at the joke, and then speculative looks crossed one or two faces, as if this young cousin of Charls’s might have stumbled by accident onto a good idea.

this is perfect for several reasons:

1) laurent using his political intelligence to make a genuinely helpful suggestion, foreshadowing that he will be a great leader

2) laurent dunking on akielion fashion in front of damen, which he has done several times before, but this time damen can’t argue

3) laurent further mocking damen, who dropped a fucking pitcher because of his exposed arms, by suggesting that his entire culture start wearing sleeves en masse so such situations would not occur again. iconic.

4) we actually get a sense that it might have worked. because laurent really is just That Bitch.

the wagons where Jokaste was spending the night, along with Guion’s wife, Loyse.

so we’ve got an akielion noblewoman, who had the bastard child of one of the two princes as a means of social mobility, having a hostage sleepover with the mourning and resentful wife of a veretian noble whose son died as a result of her husband’s unforgivable choice of letting said son be assaulted as a means of social climbing. very fun girl’s night circumstances

Damen the assistant checked in on both the soldiers and the wagons,

so he’s called damen again? but he’s called lamen in like two paragraphs. did someone else get the name damen? i don’t see that on the page. maybe it’s just distinguishing based on who’s perceiving him? i don’t know it’s fine i don’t need to understand every little detail (this is going to bother me until i find a coherent pattern or forget entirely)

One of the inn men came out with a lantern in his hand traversing the courtyard to tell Lamen that his room was prepared, second door to the right.

okay so i think it’s “lamen” when he’s interacting with the inn people, “damen” with his own people, and a mixture of both with charls and the merchant’s guild

He ascended the stairs. Without the lantern, there was quite a bit of unlit gloom,

He had exchanged his Akielon cotton for an oversized Veretian bed shirt, loose and trailing laces. And he had dragged all of the bedding from the small Akielon-style bed and heaped it in front of the fire, even dragging the clean mattress down to join the smaller pallet there.

didn’t they do something similar with the fireplace in the nesson inn scene? i get that we’re getting a lot of parallels and it’s great

Damen looked at the bedding, and said, carefully, ‘The innsman sent me here.’

“carefully” he’s like “uhhhh i don’t want to be presumptive but am i about to get laid”

‘At my instruction,’ said Laurent.

“yes. yes you are about to get laid."

Damen felt his heart begin to pound, even as he held himself still and tried not to make any dangerous assumptions.

damen i can read you like a book (literally)

Laurent said, ‘It’s our last chance for a real bed before the Kingsmeet.’

this is brutal, knowing that laurent almost certainly intends to turn himself in at this point :(

‘I need to bathe.’ He said it into Laurent’s ear, let his lips find the sensitive skin just behind it. They were kissing again, deep, heated kisses. ‘So go and bathe.’ He found himself pushed backwards, looking at Laurent across a stretch of space. Leaned against the wall, Laurent indicated to the small wooden door with his chin. His pale brows arched. ‘Or do you expect me to attend you?’

unlike previous sex scenes, they’re actually taking a breather and considering it beforehand. making the conditions how they both actually want them to be. i like that a lot, as opposed to the last sex scene, where it was all very sudden and impulsive. my guess is that i will love this scene for the reasons i disliked the last—they represent the two different ways damen and laurent respectively experience and prefer to express desire. damen’s is overwhelming and raw and primal (“you like it simple”), while laurent’s well-considered and gradual and within his own control. i think it’s very clear which my preference is, and i do stand by the suggestion that the last scene wasn’t as Good as damen felt like it was—but i also acknowledge that i’m just more on the laurentian side of things, and part of a relationship is indulging things that your partner desires that might not be your exact preference. in chapter 12, laurent is indulging damen. in this chapter, damen is more indulging laurent.

The evidence of planning was in fact very like Laurent, though Damen had never experienced it from him quite in this context before.

congrats buddy, you’re about to

(also i love and am saddened by the idea of laurent having a list of things he’d like to do with damen before turning himself in, and just kind of methodically assembling the circumstances to make sure he can experience it all)

Laurent didn’t follow him in, but left him to wash, a utilitarian task.

damen’s bath trauma is definitely an ongoing thing, and i like how we’re seeing how it can slowly heal. we’ve gone from Very Bad associations to Neutral associations—utilitarianism. eventually we’ll get to Good, but there’s still a way to go.

Here, too, was evidence of planning, and he could see it now for what it was: the lit candles, the joint bedding, and Laurent himself, clean and dressed in a bed shirt.

He thought of Laurent, waiting for him expectantly. It was charming, because it was clear that Laurent was unsure exactly what to do, yet, typically, had acted to take control of everything.

it better be charming or else i’m personally screwed. who said that

‘First time to entertain a lover?’ Just saying the word made him flush, and he saw Laurent flush too.

cheesy ass line

Laurent said, ‘Are you bathed?’ ‘Yes,’ said Damen. Laurent was standing on the other side of the room, near the stripped-down bed. He looked tense in the flame light, a nervy steeling of himself. Laurent said, ‘Take a step back.’

i like how we’re subtly seeing that laurent has been identifying the reasons that doing this specific sex act makes him anxious, and actively seeking to create circumstances where he can feel safe. he wants damen to be clean. he wants to be the one giving verbal instructions. he does not want to be touched. verbalizing those things makes it slightly less overwhelming, and allows him to consciously experience this, rather than just saying “i don’t care, do whatever you want.” and that’s amazing.

‘Take off the towel,’ said Laurent.

dead girl walking…

Virgins and the inexperienced tended to get nervous, which he enjoyed as a challenge to be overcome, hesitancy turned into eagerness and pleasure. It pleased some deep part of him to see in Laurent the flickering of a similar reaction. Laurent eventually lifted his gaze from the place where it had, instinctively, dropped. He let Laurent see him, see his nakedness was on display, the strident fact of his arousal. The flames in the stone hearth were too loud as they consumed the young cut wood. ‘Don’t touch me,’ said Laurent. And dropped to his knees on the floor of the inn.

god this is SO fucking good. laurent puts himself face-to-face with a source of trauma and abuse, sets his boundaries so he can feel safe, and decides to challenge that trauma head-on (PUN NOT INTENDED)

(slightly related, i just recently wrote my first earnest sex scene ever in a self-insert fic for another fandom and it is a LOT like this one. which is funny, bc that wasn’t really was i was trying to do, but i guess it rubbed off on me when i read it back in may. and i’m a lot like laurent, soooooooo)

oh also, damen’s perception of laurent being a cute nervous virgin, when in reality he’s like fighting demons with his bare hands, is yknow. more of the same stuff i comment on, where it’s good that he doesn’t see laurent as a victim but also lacks the understanding that we have and it’s paradoxically frustrating and nice

Damen’s pulse escalated wildly, even as he tried rather desperately not to presume that any other action would necessarily follow from this one.

yeah damen he’s definitely on his knees to rearrange the rug

(it’s nice that he’s trying to show restraint, especially after the last scene. not that he did anything WRONG last time, but he seems to be noticing that this is something laurent wants and needs to control)

Laurent was going to do it. When you see a panther opening its jaws you don’t get your dick out.

i listened to an interview with cs pacat where she was commenting on the way people always portray giving head or being penetrated as an inherently demeaning activity, like it’s always showing that the person doing it is weak, but she pushes back like uhhhh no. when you see a panther opening its jaws you don’t get your dick out

also telling is that one of laurent’s first (and arguably most memorable) acts of dominance over damen was forcing him to have someone else give him head, which very much made him the weaker and demeaned person in the situation, even if damen ultimately kinda just shrugged it off bc he was already so casual about sex before meeting laurent and also like. had sex slaves

The idea of the frigid Prince of Vere sucking his cock was impossible.

was

Laurent’s eyes were very dark, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths, clearly struggling with something, as he leant in again.

i am very grateful that laurent exists as a character and is written the way he is

He hadn’t imagined it like this. He knew Laurent’s mouth, knew its vicious capability. He knew it as Laurent’s primary weapon. In his daily life, Laurent held his lips taut, repressing their lush shape into a hard line, his mouth cruel curves. Damen had seen Laurent eviscerate people with that mouth. Now Laurent’s lips were given over to pleasure, his words traded for Damen’s cock.

this is one of my favorite lines/paragraphs in the entire series. definitely the best one related to eroticism. it’s so much more rewarding for damen to have laurent, who he genuinely respects for his brilliance and sharp tongue, willingly and mindfully taking him despite his anxieties out of desire and determination, than for a slave with no personality to do what they’ve been groomed to do, or someone damen only shallowly understands like jokaste to basically use him for social clout. it’s also more rewarding to me personally as a reader for this to happen, as opposed to laurent just being like “i don’t care, do what you want” with very little mindfulness or control and damen just taking him like that, which is what happened in chapter 12. ultimately i think it’s more of a matter of taste and personal preference, which of those situations a reader prefers. both make sense for the characters they feature in control, and tell us useful things in understanding who they are and how they feel.

It was clear that Laurent didn’t know how to process the fact that he was turned on, and that part of his wariness was that he was uncertain what was next, one of the strange gaps in his experience that Damen couldn’t predict.

fuck… that’s so sad. but a really good detail and i’m glad it’s there.

In the dim light, Laurent said, ‘A fair exchange, is it?’ ‘I don’t know. What do you want?’

i’m trying to figure out what exactly this means. is laurent asking for something in return, as a way to minimize his own vulnerability here? what does the “i don’t know” mean, then? it almost sounds like laurent is referring to some previous conversation between them. ughhh i feel lazy. is it just bc damen gave laurent head in a previous scene? laurent being aware that he gives really good head (because [redacted]), basically teasing damen that he (laurent) gives better head and they both know it, and therefore a true fair exchange would include damen giving him a little extra? and damen teasingly being like “mayyybbbeeee, depends on what you want ;)”

‘Show me,’ said Laurent, ‘how it could be.’

damen understands this as “how it could be if we were together as we’ve fantasized about, without any of the war shit and courting conventionally”

laurent means that, but also, “how it could be if i’m not being assaulted or dissociating. because with what i’m about to do—turning myself in to be killed—i’m never gonna have it”

‘I would court you,’ said Damen, ‘with all the grace and courtesy that you deserve.’ He undid the first lace on Laurent’s shirt, and the fabric began to open, a glimpse of the hollow of his throat. Laurent’s lips were parted, his breath hardly stirring. Damen said, ‘There’d be no lies between us.’ He opened the second lace, felt the low throb of his own pulse, the warmth of Laurent’s skin as his fingers moved to the third. ‘We’d have time,’ Damen said, ‘to be together.’ And in the warm flame light, he lifted his hand and cupped Laurent’s cheek, and then leaned in, and kissed him on the lips, gently.

figuratively and literally undressing him. also this is so hot. anyway

He felt Laurent’s shock, as though he had not expected to be kissed after what he had just done.

stopppp

The way Laurent kissed was nothing like the way he did anything else. It was simple and without artifice, as if kissing were serious.

this scene is interesting, because it’s kind of written like they haven’t done stuff like kissing and intimacy together before. is it kind of an indication that damen subconsciously recognizes that this is the first laurent has allowed himself to be fully present? bc i think that is what’s happening here

The kiss deepened at Laurent’s bidding.

“at laurent’s bidding” let’s fucking gooooooo. man who has struggled to prove he’s in control of a world that hates him for 2.5 books has been willingly given control by someone who deeply respects and cares for him, who has said that he trusts him to treat him well

the sort of proprietary touch he wouldn’t have dreamed of before tonight, and still half expected Laurent to kill him for. Laurent made a small sound of encouragement, breaking off the kiss for a moment and closing his eyes, all his attention on Damen’s touch.

yeah this works for me. lol. in chapter 12 it’s like, there damen was getting off on laurent’s lack of control or mindfulness, the fact that his defenses had just completely fallen and he was being “honest,” so much so that he almost acted like a slave. but here, laurent is mindful about his choice to make himself vulnerable, and damen both sees and respects him for the complex and snippy and very un-slavelike person he is. the amazing thing here is that laurent isn’t pushing back or away, but he’s also not dissociating or pretending to be someone or something he isn’t—in fact, he’s pushing himself to be there despite his hesitation, and trusting damen to treat him well.

‘You like it slow.’ He dipped his head near Laurent’s ear. ‘Yes.’

I FUCKING KNEW “YOU LIKE IT SIMPLE” WAS GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE RELEVANT

do i even need to spell it out, how that line so perfectly works with "you like it slow"? holy fucking shit.

Laurent’s overfine skin was more sensitive than his own, though during the day Laurent ruthlessly strapped himself into the most severe clothing possible. He wondered if Laurent repressed sensation for the same reason that he struggled to admit it now, his jaw taut.

i love this little observation, wow. laurent represses feelings because he tends to experience them more deeply or sensitively than other people. this means that when he protects himself from harm, he’s also protecting himself from pleasure—because to laurent, as a victim of sexual abuse especially, pleasure and harm come hand-in-hand. we get to see damen figure this out on the page, even without the context of the regent, and accurately suspects that laurent’s “struggle to admit it” runs deeper than just being a flustered virgin, which is what he had previously assumed.

It was Laurent who pushed him down onto the bedding. Laurent’s hands were on him. Laurent touched him as if to learn the shape and feel of his body, as if to catalogue every part of him and commit it to memory.

HMMM I WONDER WHY HE’S TRYING TO CATALOGUE AND MEMORIZE HERE

Laurent broke off, and appeared to have come to a decision, his breathing quickened but controlled. ‘Make me come,’ he said, and placed Damen’s hand between his legs.

checking another thing off the bucket list! i feel like laurent had almost an intimacy contingency plan here: if i do a and still feel comfortable and present, then i’ll try to do b. and then c, if i haven’t been overstimulated or triggered yet. all the way down the list

‘Like that?’ No. Slower.

remember when laurent gave very similar directions to ancel as he gave damen head back in book 1?

“You’re more likely to win a game if you don’t play your whole hand at once,’ said Laurent. ‘Start more slowly.”

turns out the key to pleasuring laurent really was hidden in plain sight the entire time ;) it is the game he likes, after all

His own body’s renewed interest had grown from lazy arousal to primed, heavy; ready to mount, even as he put it aside to watch Laurent attempt to let his guard down.

“ready to mount” damen don’t be cringe

He felt the repression when it came, the hard restraint that Laurent exerted over his body, his stomach clenching, a muscle moving in his jaw. He knew what it signalled. Damen didn’t stop moving his hand.

so he didn’t come? am i reading that right?

‘Don’t like to come?’ ‘Is that a problem?’ His breathing shallow, Laurent didn’t quite manage the approximation of his usual tone. ‘Not for me. I’ll tell you how it was when I’m done.’

damen: you seem to be having a weird time with this (teasing to ease the intensity of whatever dark shit is going on in laurent’s head) laurent: is the matter of how one does or does not come a problem damen: not for me, i come all the time and i’m awesome at it. how about we come together and compare our experiences

they’re ridiculous. i love them

Laurent swore, once, succinctly,

he took Laurent in his hand and said, ‘Come on, then.’ It felt ridiculously daring to tell Laurent in any respect what to do. The first thrust against him was deliberate, a push of heat into his hand. Laurent’s eyes were on his. He could feel that it was new for Laurent to do this, just as it was new for him to feel like he was receiving it. He wondered if Laurent had ever fucked anyone in earnest, and he realised with a jolt of shock that Laurent hadn’t. The flood of heat that came at that wasn’t comfortable. And then like Laurent he was suddenly somewhere he had never been.

cool way for the playing field to be evened between them—the idea of bottoming makes damen feel similarly confused and inexperienced but undeniably aroused to laurent in like most sexual situations

‘I’ve,’ said Damen, ‘never—’ ‘Nor have I,’ said Laurent. ‘You’d be my first.’

damen jots that down for later (laurent doesn’t think there’s going to be a later)

Laurent said, ‘I thought that in Akielos, a First Night was special.’ ‘For a slave it is,’ said Damen. ‘For a slave it means everything.’

“you like it simple”

damen has realized there is so much more to loving a real person than the simplicity of having semi-ritualistic sex with slaves groomed to only care about his pleasure and not their own, for whom the pinnacle of existence is getting fucked. laurent has a lot more going on than just his sexuality, and so does damen. and they truly know and love each other, and demonstrate that in ways that aren't just sexual.

for a slave, this means everything—everything in the absence of any other purpose, because slaves aren’t allowed to have any other purpose. for a person with purpose beyond sex, this means SOMETHING. and it’s something they’ve actually chosen to care about and pursue, because they want it without having to be groomed. and that’s why free will is sexy.

Climax hit even though they were not inside each other’s bodies, but joined together, one.

it’s dangerous to come alone

He felt Laurent shifting, too soon. ‘I’ll get—’

i like how his trauma responses don’t like magically disappear once he lets himself get off. in fact were are reminded of them immediately

He knew that Laurent was fastidious after lovemaking, and he liked that he knew it, liked that he was learning Laurent’s idiosyncracies. Laurent paused, touching his fingers to the wooden edge of the table and just breathing in the dim light. Laurent’s post-coital habits were also an excuse, covering a need to take a moment to himself, and Damen knew that, too.

He sipped from the shallow cup that Laurent provided, and poured water for Laurent in turn, which Laurent didn’t seem to expect.

too easy to point out the metaphor there

Damen stretched out comfortably, and waited for Laurent to do the same. That took minutes longer than it would have with any other lover.

he likes it slow!!

‘You’re still wearing it.’ He couldn’t help but say it. Laurent’s wrist was heavy with gold, like the colour of his hair in the firelight. ‘So are you.’ ‘Tell me why.’ ‘You know why,’ said Laurent.

i think this might be the closest thing we get to an “i love you”

‘There will be no Patran princess, or daughter of the Empire.’

THERE'S NOT GOING TO BE A PATRAN PRINCESS, YOU STUPID SLUT

‘It’s your duty to continue your line.’

damen is projecting. he’s realizing how much he wants to marry laurent and truly Have Him, but it’s in conflict with his obligation as king to create an heir. so i guess that’s also why we have plot device baby

He didn’t know why he said it.

don’t worry man we’ve got our people (me) on it

‘No. I’m the last. My line ends with me.’ Damen turned, to find Laurent was not looking back at him, but also had his eyes on some point in the dim light. Laurent’s voice was quiet. ‘I have never said that to anyone before.’

a few implications here. most likely perceived by damen: he’s ashamed of his bloodline and the bad people in it, including himself. probably intended by laurent: he’s not going to have a chance to continue the bloodline even if he wanted to, because he’s going to turn himself in and get killed

‘I’m glad you’re here,’ said Laurent. ‘I always thought that I’d have to face my uncle alone.’

i hate it here. just TALK TO HIM AND FIND ANOTHER SOLUTION (something laurent has been unwilling to do several times in this series, and each time it has been a mistake)

laurent has gotten so comfortable conferring with damen re: plans and strategy, as long as the goal is to protect other people. what makes this different is that the only person who will be “harmed” by this plan is laurent himself, and laurent doesn’t believe that he deserves to live, especially if his death means everyone else can win. strong vs weak stuff is still deeply internalized. he does not expect himself to be able to get out of this one by killing a guy with a chair—he’s walking into the situation knowing the regent is stronger, and the best he can do is pave the way for damen to exercise his own strength in opposition

‘You’re not alone,’ said Damen. Laurent didn’t answer, but he did give a smile, and reached out to touch Damen, wordlessly.

yet

it is interesting how we went from laurent keeping secrets from damen in order to punish him and limit the amount of intimacy and care they can show each other, to laurent keeping secrets from damen in order to save him and relishing every second of intimacy and care they have left

Charls’s wagon train lent them respectability

literally an influencer

When the days got too hot, they retreated to inns and wayhouses, and once a large farmhouse where they ate bread, hard cheese and figs, and Akielon sweets of honey and nuts that attracted wasps in the sticky heat.

do you think akielos also has slaves to provide fine goods and foods for the ruling class? is it just a sex thing?

‘So you ministered to his household.’ ‘And to his boys,’ said Paschal. Damen said nothing.

i think damen definitely suspects [redacted] deep down, maybe he thinks laurent would have told him already if it were true?

‘I see that you used to be a slave, and that Charls has freed you,’ Guilliame said to him, as they prepared to part ways. Guilliame spoke very earnestly. ‘I want you to know that Charls and I have never traded in slaves.’ Damen looked out at the weird beauty of the gnarled landscape. He heard himself say, ‘Damianos will end slavery when he becomes King.’

LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nikandros was looking at Laurent. ‘He’s very—’ ‘You get used to it,’ said Damen, with a little wellspring of joy inside him, because that wasn’t really true.

AWWWWWW this is a love confession too

And that was strange. To be here, so close to the end of his own plans. So close to the end, really, of everything.

oh my god laurentttt

To be where he’d never dreamed he would be, and to know that by morning, this would be finished, or at least, his part in it.

STOP

Then, because there should be no witnesses to this, he dismissed the guards. All bad things were done in the dark.

Jokaste watched all of this happen and didn’t flinch from it, nor did she scream or plead for help, as he had thought she would not.

i really like “as he had thought she would not”

He said, ‘I think it’s Kastor’s child.’ Jokaste didn’t answer him, and there was a silence in which her gaze was on him. Laurent regarded her in turn. Around them, the camp stayed quiet, no sounds except for the breeze and the night. ‘I think you saw it clearly, in those twilight days in Akielos. The end was coming, and Damianos wouldn’t listen to anyone. The only way to save his life was to persuade Kastor to send him as a slave to Vere. To do that you had to be in Kastor’s bed.’

is laurent accusing her of loving damen and trying to save him, in a very manipulative and roundabout way? because that is what he’s doing right now. which is neat. i like these two together

It gave something away. And she was angry about it, and for the first time she was afraid. He said, ‘I think it’s Kastor’s child, because I don’t think you would use Damen’s child against him.’

“because you love him. i know this, because i’m just like you and i love him”

‘You mean, the only difference between us is that I chose the wrong brother?’ As the stars began to drift across the sky, Laurent thought about Nicaise, standing in the courtyard with a handful of sapphires. ‘I don’t think you chose,’ said Laurent.

WOAH okay gotta unpack that. is laurent thinking of nicaise in regards to what he (laurent) didn’t and couldn’t do to save him? at this time where he’s doing something to save people he cares about? or is he comparing jokaste to nicaise, in that they both had to fraternize with nobility in a way that was technically their “choice” but very much informed by money and society? or is he comparing the baby that he’s giving himself up to save to nicaise, that’s why he cares so deeply about saving it, and he has no choice? none of these feel quite right.

“nicaise in the courtyard with a handful of sapphires” i forget what exactly this refers to. is it when nicaise is about to warn laurent, and fails to? is that the last time laurent saw him alive? is he likening nicaise’s lack of autonomy in the situation with the regent, and the efforts he took to help laurent despite it, to jokaste telling kastor to spare damen? these imperfect attempts at helping others within a situation that robs a person of their control, which an observer could identify as stupid or useless? just like what laurent is doing right now?? yeah. i think that might be it

#capri #captive prince #kings rising #laurent of vere #damen of akielos #lamen #charls the cloth merchant #sam reads capri

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zephyrrhiesfyrian · 7 months ago

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Wait, if Akari gets pokefied into a BB Arceus, does that mean she could get god-like powers at some point? Lil' bitey godling. She could probably un-pokemon the others if she wanted, right?

I worry about Volo deciding to try, and catch her (If it's possible) in order to enact his 'Destroy the world to remake it as he sees fit'-type of plan. Just imagine literally everyone in game deciding to open a can of whoop-ass on Volo for even trying. lol

Especially the Snaeasler-submas twins. And Lady Sneasler. And Elesa. And the Diamond/Pearl Clans. And the folks in Jublife Village that can fight. And the other Noble Pokemon. And-

oh god

Akari has done SO many side quests at this point that EVERYONE is on her side. Including Giratina. She's lowkey also the trio's fourth sibbie. Palkia, Dialga, Giratina, and this random feral baby that Arceus arce-fied.

Volo is about to get his ass kicked by everybody in Hisui and even some people who aren't from Hisui

#zef askbox #pokemon #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon akari #pokemon volo #sneasler!ingo #ngl emmet might just straight up eat volo

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hyuneskkami · 1 year ago

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╭₊˚ BACKPACKING ACROSS GREECE . . . skye’s 200 followers event ! ⋆⭒˚.⋆

ꕀ intro post here !

ᝰ. TRAVEL GUIDE (masterlist) . . .

~ m.list

~ completed: 7 ~ remaining: 31

REQUESTS CLOSED ‼️

ᝰ. TRAVEL NOTES (a/n) . . .

hello?? what?! I only very recently finished my 50 followers event requests (procrastination struck SO hard), and was planning on doing the 100/150 event, but we already hit 200?? this is so so so amazing 💓 thank you all so much!! i’m eternally grateful for the unwavering support and for hyping me up, from my followers, moots, and especially my closer ibfs! i’m so excited for this event 🌸✨ even specifically, a huuuuge thanks to mori for lending me her intelligence to make a very major chunk of this event possible! thanks for brainstorming ideas w me, ilyyy 🫶 (+ spoilers: my favourite ones are volos, crete, and mykonos 🤭) • also, please comment if you don’t want to be tagged in further posts related to this event / want to be tagged from now on, I won’t mind! but pls lmk your decision soon, bc i’ll be using the same taglist as this post’s for every request related to this event! sorry for any inconvenience <3

ᝰ. ITINERARY (everyone) . . .

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 01. VOLOS ⠀ᰋ

i’ll make you a mini playlist based on the aesthetic of your favourite book/movie + your blog, together

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 02. ARGOS ⠀ᰋ

i’ll write you short headcannons of you on the argo II with the seven, nico, and reyna + give me any specific character you want to see mentioned specially

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 03. ACHARNES ⠀ᰋ

tell me about yourself / give me a short description about you, and i’ll assign you to a pjo cabin, hogwarts house, and hunger games district + make you a moodboard with it

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 04. PATRAS ⠀ᰋ

give me your favourite book/movie universe + favourite character, and i’ll make you a moodboard + mini playlist based on that

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 05. CRETE ⠀ᰋ

(different prompt list from thessaloniki) pick a prompt from here + give me a character name (from any book or anime, preferably, but I can try for movies too) and i’ll write a short oneshot for that character x reader (specify gender of reader please—f/m/gn)

∘₊✧ ────── ✧₊∘

ᝰ. VIP ITINERARY (only moots) . . .

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 01. MYKONOS ⠀ᰋ

tell me about yourself / give me a short description + what you think is your greatest strength, and i’ll tell you what I think your fatal flaw would be

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 02. ATHENS ⠀ᰋ

(only applies if we’re closer moots): give me your cabin from camp half-blood + your best friend from the riordanverse, and i’ll write a few headcannons for you, if you were in chb

೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 03. THESSALONIKI ⠀ᰋ

(different prompt list from crete) pick a trope/prompt from here + give me a character name (from any book or anime, preferably, but I can try for movies too) and i’ll write a short oneshot for that character x reader (specify gender of reader please—f/m/gn)

ᝰ. SUPPLIES TO BACKPACK ACROSS THE CITY (rules) . . .

i. i’ll only be able to answer your request if i’m a part of that fandom, so I would suggest checking out my fandoms nav here first

ii. only one request per message

iii. only two requests per day

iv. normal requests (non-event ones) will be closed until event ends

v. please include title of the ask (ex. athens) and the character name & fandom (if applicable). if it’s a description request, send your desc in points (if applicable), so it’s easier to read, for me

ᝰ. TRIP DATES (dates) . . .

starts on | 24th july, wednesday

ends on | 14th august, wednesday

> EVENT OPEN !!

ᝰ. TRAVELLERS (mutuals—taglist) . . .

@serendipitous-girl @anyas-shitposting69 @ziasworld-com @urmomabby @sweetnnaivete

@fizzywashere87 @aezuria @gentlehue @mqstermindswift @percabethlvr

@maybxlle @cinemaconrad @riordanness @book-girl4evaaa @flowers-for-em

@starlitszn @skeelly @lauffey @metyouattherighttime @luvusrry

@ssparksflyy @fayvpor @iheartgirlzn @nomournersonefuneral

@over-the-oceancall @seaglass-and-string @strawberryapologist @xoxochb @auroraofthesun1 @pinkdiorluvr

@sophiesonlinediary @solangelotus @brodieland @waitingonher @nqds

@on-starrii-nights @daydream-of-a-wallflower @catastrxblues @rehlie @d4rkdi0rrr

@seasirengirl @lavisenri @daonedaonlyskh @rxry-lxves-jess @cowboycasanovaaa

@thewhispersofthewaves @writtcnbycassie @55kywalker @ravisinghs-wife @yourtwistedlies

kozumesphone © 2024 | don’t repost my works onto other platforms, or edit and post them even on tumblr, without asking me first • don’t steal my works, steal my heart instead • reblogs and comments are more than appreciated !

#skye's cafe ~ ⋆.˚#🏛️ ~ skye’s 200 followers event ⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅#200 followers

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maybecoffeemixed · 2 years ago

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MAIN PLOT LINE OF DLC HAS BEEN FINISHED, SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT (long post, be warned)

7.8/10, kieran doesn't actually kill us.

Seriously though, I enjoyed it!! Since I don't actually own the game (we poor), I watched a no-commentary playthrough so there are plenty of things I very likely missed, including optional dialog, side-quests, and whatever that thing with the professors is (still lookin' for a video without some guy over it), so I can only comment on the bits I saw! That being said, here we go.

First of all, the BATTLES!! Despite not being able to play them myself, they looked SUPER fun!! I screamed when I saw Lacey's tailwind/lightscreen prankster whimsicott, and even MORE so when I saw it was sashed! I loved the usage of competitive items, and the fact that all their teams weren't completely mono-type, each having one exception to their type (Lacey's excadrill, Crispin's Exeggcutor, Amarys's Reuniclus, and Drayton's Sceptile) that they DIDN'T terrastalize was lovely touch!! Amarys's fight was super hype in particular, despite having an over 20 level advantage, the person I watched still nearly wiped to her! Her trick room AI does appear a bit goofy, but it's a small flaw. Finally, Kieran's battle... I personally adore a good rain team, but unfortunately Kieran's politoed was frozen at the start of the battle, and remained that way all the way til the end, so I can't honestly say how difficult it looked. The one thing I will say is that before the indigo disk was out, I created a hypothetical team for Kieran, and I CALLED that Grimmsnarl!! Literally even the focus sash. If anyone's curious, here was the hypothetical team I made. I'm a nuzlocker, not a competitive player, so it very well may be shit. Apologies in advance.

Next is the characters!! Every design slapped as always, and I enjoyed their personalities! Lacey was adorbs, Crispin was fun, and Amarys might just be one of my new favorites! As for Drayton? Let me tell you, I was side-eyeing him the whole time the MOMENT after he said THIS to Kieran.

After all the hype around dokutaro/peechikeen (now know as pecharunt, apparently), and all the speculation that Kieran would fall victim to its influence, him saying "that's just peachy" made my rat brain go into overdrive. In the end, I think it was just Legends Arceus giving me Volo flashbacks.

Now, the main event... KIERAN! Let me tell you, he gave me GOOSEBUMPS. Every time he appeared, I could feel a chill run up my spine, and his battle had my heart RACING. ESPECIALLY his breakdown at the end of it! One of the best times I've had in a good while. The animation, his reaction, all of it was GREAT!! It was so refreshing to see him not immediately heel-face turn.

Unfortunately, though, what happened after that all disappointed me. I admit I got too attached to the Dokutaro Posession theory, buy it was still disappointing for Dokutaro (I know that's not its name, leave me be) to not play any role in the main story. It felt like a natural conclusion to what the game was setting up, I thought he'd throw the master ball at terapagos, it'd fail, and he'd become so overwhelmed with everything that has happened that he'd succumb to Dokutaro's control and we'd have to fight the Dokutaro-Kieran with Terapagos's aid. That's not what happened, and I felt a bit sad. His recovery from his breakdown was still set up nicely and had some atleast sufficient justification, but it still felt like too-little too-soon. It felt more like he just gave up all together rather than defeated his demons. He'd never be as strong as the player, and that's that, which is a sour note to leave off on.

We see that he legitimately has nothing. All the other students left the MOMENT he was defeated. No one came to help the kid who was clearly having a panic attack. The BB league cares about him, sure, but I wouldn't consider them his friends. They all thought Kieran getting defeated would "fix" him, and even when he clearly wasn't any better after being defeated, they didn't do anything to assist him. Sure, sometimes when someone has climbed so high, you gotta let them fall, but once they do, you can't just leave them lying on the ground. You need to be there to lift them back up before they start digging.

This isn't an attack on the BB league at ALL. Like I said, I really enjoyed their characters! In fact, this reaction is part of the reason I like them so much. It adds depth.

I just wish that Kieran DID start digging, and that it led to something bigger. Even if Dokutaro wasn't involved, I atleast wanted the final battle with him to be that big thing, and not just a turtle that can't do anything but throw out weak earthpowers.

Though the biggest failing to me is that Kieran apologizes to us, but we don't apologize to him. We as in the player, and Carmine

Kieran's actions are his own and I'm not saying he shouldn't have apologized, but he wasn't solely culpable for how things turned out. We and Carmine purposefully lied, kept a secret that was dear to him, and were the straw that broke the camel's back. Even if we the player didn't apologize, Carmine should've!! Her treatment of Kieran heavily impacted him, and he mirrored her abuse (Kieran telling Carmine to "Shut it", just like she did to him, for example).

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was in the wrong here. Kieran took things too far, Carmine behavior is a serious problem, and the played character was complicit.

I'm not demonizing anyone here, I am the number one Carmine defender after all, but everyone needs to take responsibility. Not. Just. Kieran.

I relate heavily to both Kitakami siblings, as both an elder sister with younger siblings who she's accidentally mistreated, and as a little sister with an older sibling who treats me like I'm lesser.

I've lashed out at my older sibling, and while my reaction wasn't proportional, it doesn't mean my emotions weren't justified.

I have severe genetic anger issues (that I'm now thankfully medicated for), and have unjustly taken them out on my younger siblings.

Carmine needs to apologize too, or the cycle will just continue. Maybe she already did and I missed it, or maybe it happens in the post-game. However, if she didn't? It makes me feel unresolved.

Anyways, that all I gotta say on it!! Hope someone enjoyed this overly long rambling!!

(P.S. I still don't trust dragon boy. "Thats just peachy" my ASS, you know something ya toothpaste haired cunt. Why did they request to bring ya along to area zero anyways, ya plot relevant FUCK.)

#I actually really like Drayton I'd just also punt him off a cliff #pokemon #pokemon dlc #kieran #pokemon sv #the hidden treasure of area zero #kitakami siblings #the indigo disk spoilers #the indigo disk #pokemon spoilers #kieran pokemon #pokemon kieran #scarlet and violet #the teal mask spoilers #carmine pokemon #pokemon carmine

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fave-fight · 2 years ago

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ROUND 2, MATCH 33

NO MAGIC, POWERS, WEAPONS, OR ADDITIONAL HELP FROM OTHERS

Volo:

“Peopel want to think he’s buff as if he isn’t a fucking twig look at his model”

“He loses to the player character in a pokemon fight, and player character is like 15 years old - and this is with him getting 8 pokemon when you include Giratina stage 1 and 2. If you took away the pokemon and made him fight with his fists he would still probably lose because he has wet cat energy. Talks big game but can't always follow through with the threat type vibes.”

“He could stab everyone with his hair”

Jonathan Sims:

“It would be really funny if he and Jonah Magnus both got in so John could literally strange his boss to death. That would be so much fun. He should lose to everyone else tho bc he is doomed by the narrative to always take the L”

“Listen. Listen this is a fistfight, im not sure if his all knowing fear god bullshit powers will work here. If he can’t smite people. If he can’t Know things about them and scare them to death. If it’s just a fistfight of pure ability. He is going to get beat up so badly but I think he’ll live. Jon’s sturdy. He had a rib taken out. Was kidnapped and forcibly moisturised by an evil ringmaster puppet. He is… the fandom interpretation is that he’s skinny. Thin. His boyfriend is the strong one. Jonathan Sims would probably lose in a fistfight -he’s Just A Guy without the antichrist shit- but it would be so fucking funny. He might win. He might lose. It’s 2:18 AM here and I cannot sleep.”

“He has an endless supply of disdain and is so willing to use it Especially if there's Martin He HATES Martin Martin can do no good Let me tell you, that Martin... Wait, where'd you go?”

#fight fight fight #round 2 #poll tournament #tournament poll #poll #polls #volo #volo pokemon #pokémon #jonathan sims #the magnus archives

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doubleddenden · 1 year ago

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Okay I was just sharing a tweet I saw with my friends, right. Then I realized the background- one of the possible decorations you can set for the Blueberry Academy League Club Room, the Dark theme- could potentially be a hint towards ZA. So basically I saw a gold mine in a meme, so thanks for accidentally inspiring me :)

1. The "hag" meta is definitely in for vtubers, so that tracks for Iono lol, but 2 moving away from that, 2. Follow me into this rabbit hole and look here, friends

Besides Larry being beautiful and questioning his life, a lot of us saw the portrait and thought it could resemble Caitlin of the Unova Elite 4 and formerly princess of the Sinnoh/Johto Battle Castle- fitting since Blueberry Academy is off the coast of Unova in the case of Unova Elite 4. Some of you probably think this is old news- be patient, I'm going somewhere with this.

The resemblance is there, especially in the hair in gen 4, but the eyes are different and she's holding a Banette or Banette doll, a ghost type. It was dismissed by many to just be a creepy little girl.

Except, I think it might be a hint or teaser. And before anyone dismisses this. Take a look at these screenshots (from Nintendo Life via google)

A lot of people immediately turn to the painting of Uluru- aka the rock monolith found in Australia, and many tend to focus on that for Gen 10 hints- myself included, of course, I've wanted Pokemon Australia since I was 10. However, what if I told you that if a Z-A hint were a snake...

...It would have bitten you. That's Lumiose Tower in that one sketch, a cleverly hidden tree in a forest of brighter colored trees. There's other stuff there I wanna look at, but unfortunately the angle is purposely bad in Hassel's art room, so you can't focus on it.

So if we go back to the creepy girl in the portrait, knowing that Game Freak already planted a Z-A hint that tiny on that wall, we could possibly go a little nuts and say that maybe she's a character we meet in Z-A.

If that weren't enough- Banette has a Mega Evolution, introduced in XY. So yeah.

Anyway here's what I think: Caitlin has an ancestor that used to be royalty in Kalos, or more fittingly, part of the Lumiose Aristocracy in Z-A's fan proposed time frame of 1850s Rennovation of Paris, or so. Caitlin has psychic powers, fitting for a Psychic type user- but Ghost type trainers also have been known to exhibit supernatural abilities similar to Pokemon Psychics as well, and Caitlin is so powerful that she either had her butler run the Battle Castle for her or sleeps most of the time as an Elite 4 member to keep her powers in check. Perhaps her powers are passed down and a result of a family line of involvement with supernatural Pokemon.

The girl in the photo is either the first or just another of the family that has some kind of innate power or connection to Pokemon in this manner- in this case, ghost types.

Lumiose in XY is actually not that far from the haunted swamp and supposedly haunted house/tourist trap, so perhaps Caitlin's ancestors are losing power in the aristocracy at the time period but still retain some sway, and most importantly could be the proprieter of ghost Pokemon we'll need for the dex AND an "alpha" equivalent ghost type Pokemon.

Picture this: there's a haunted mansion to the north of Lumiose. There's some old documentation inside that will help with your goal of rebuilding Lumiose- but it's haunted. Like HAUNTED haunted. It's layout kinda large but manageable, like Luigi's Mansion in a way. Caitlin's ancestor- maybe of some partial relation to Shauntal as well- helps guide you through this mansion that's infested with ghost type Pokemon.

That's an idea anyway, which admittedly could be a stretch from just a couple of screenshots- but do keep in mind that Gamefreak hid Gmax Toxtricity in their Alolan office in Ultra Sun and Moon on a poster at a bad angle. Not to mention they probably had DeNA use Masters to tease at Volo with Cynthia's Giratina Sygna Suit. Plus the Kitakami Easter egg at Larry's own gym before SV DLC was even announced, or using the English word for Blueberry- a North American berry, instead of the Spanish words for Grape and Orange- to signify Blueberry Academy being off the coast of Unova/America.

Sometimes their hints are right in your face, sometimes cleverly hidden, sometimes it doesn't even register until it hits- so imo, I think I might be onto something here. At the very least, a haunted house in Pokemon is LONG overdue at this point- we haven't had a new one since Alola in gen 7, although that was a destroyed grocery store- the others we've had are repeats of Lavender Tower or Lost Tower and Old Chateau.

... WHICH, BTW, A chataeu... is French :) the Old Chateau- haunted by ghosts, in Sinnoh, where Caitlin was first introduced. Come to think of it, in Hisui, there isn't even a NEW Chateau yet.

So now I think it's a possibility that Caitlin's ancestors were the ones that built the Old Chateau, and possibly used blueprints from one in old Lumiose to build it in the freshly colonized lands of Sinnoh. Blueprints WE help find.

Or, as a lot of people who made it this far are probably SCREAMING at me right now- all of this is nothing and the little girl is just a generic little girl made to be creepy on purpose.

But we like to have fun here in DD's theory corner. And it'll be so hilarious if I got some of this right in the slightest.

#pokemon #Pokemon legends za #Pokemon legends z-a #legends za #legends z-a #dd's theory corner #pokemon scarlet and violet #indigo disk

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astarionbraiinrot · 7 months ago

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Last Call

Chapter 4: Arrival

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Read on AO3

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

– Maya Angelou

What followed was a flurry of activity. Tents are put up and bedrolls laid out. Jaheira moves her bag into his and Tav’s tent. Shadowheart starts delegating tasks to the others, instructing Gale to get a cauldron of water boiling on the fire and having Wyll and Karlach gather whatever spare sheets and towels are available, before returning to start assisting Jaheira. Halsin takes Minsc and Boo with him to see if they can forage any useful plants or herbs. Lae’zel corrals little Xan, woken by all the noise, back into their own tent, then proceeds to threaten Volo with a swift maiming if he even thinks of writing anything about this. Volo, thankfully, makes himself scarce. Withers continues to idle away ominously in that little chapel on the edge of the camp, which isn’t really any change from what he’s already been doing all night, but at least he’s consistent.

For his part, Astarion had been tasked by Jaheira with sitting next to Tav, holding her hand, and not being in the way. Which he can do, certainly, there’s no place he’d rather be than right beside her. He can’t help but to feel incredibly extraneous, though.

He watches as Shadowheart washes her hands, then performs some sort of incredibly invasive examination of Tav, declaring her to be “at four centimeters,” whatever that means. When he asks, he’s told it means they’ll likely have a while before “the main event” started. When he questions how long this process would take, he’s absolutely floored to be informed by Jaheira that it’s typically many hours, and a day or more wasn’t unusual, especially the first time. He can only look at Tav in horror, choking out a whispered I am so sorry, love.

His face must be a sight, because upon seeing his wide-eyed concern at what could not possibly be a normal timeline for this sort of thing, Tav immediately starts laughing. This coincides with what must be another contraction, because she then starts trying to breathe through the laughter using the exercises Jaheira had shown them, letting out a quiet ow, ow, ow between each breath. It’s just as the contraction is tapering off that the four of them hear a sharp little snap! sound, almost like a tiny bowstring breaking, that’s followed by a slowly growing puddle appearing underneath Tav’s bottom.

Well, if they hadn’t been sure before, there was no question what was going on now.

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

Most of the next several hours is spent with he and Tav walking steady laps around the campsite, her being encouraged in turns by Jaheira, Shadowheart, and Halsin to pause and stand, or squat, or lean on him through the contractions. He learns several new and highly-specific skills over this time. How to help her sway through the pain. How to knead his fingers into the muscles of her back and hips in order to provide some relief. How to lead her through the breathing exercises and help her stay focused. How to grimace politely and swallow down any whimpers of pain any time Tav squeezes his hand and it feels like she’s going to crush all the little bones in his fingers.

He rather thinks he’s doing a pretty spectacular job, all things considered. Tav, of course, is handling this with the same skill and determination she’d handled leading them through their whole tadpole adventure that had begun just over a year ago now. Which is to say, despite never having done this before, she’s at least doing a spectacular job of acting like she knows what she’s doing. Hells, she’s even been making jokes throughout, and worse, not even good jokes, including panting out a particularly lewd one mid-contraction about how this is what she gets because “vampires need permission to come inside,” which had left him sorely tempted to set himself on fire. Ugh, really. Here they are, mere hours away from becoming parents to the little monster that’s seemingly doing its best to rip her insides apart, and she’s making puns.

If it weren’t for the fact that they weren’t actually married, he’d divorce her on the spot out of principle.

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

More hours pass in a hazy loop of standing, sitting, swaying, squatting. When dawn begins pinkening the horizon, they move into that little chapel Withers had been occupying. Jaheira had somehow bullied the man (Skeleton? Lich? God?) out of the building, saying that it had a better purpose to serve than housing his dusty bones. A bedroll piled high with blankets and pillows had been set up for Tav to rest on, and their bags, along with Jaheira’s medical supplies, had been brought in. The final touch was to hang a blanket over the doorway to keep the sun out and scatter several lanterns around to provide light.

He had to admit, this was a much better idea than the tent, which wasn’t exactly made to hold four people. Especially not when one of them was in the middle of ejecting a fifth person. The chapel left them with plenty of room to move about without stepping on each other’s toes.

Still more hours pass. Sometime around midday, things really start to ramp up, and he learns that what Tav had been experiencing since last night was, supposedly, the easy part of labor, not that there was an “easy” part from what he’d seen so far. Now the contractions, coming more frequently and much more intensely, have Tav gritting her teeth through the pain until she’s reminded to breathe, Tav, quick breaths, like you’re blowing out a candle, and leave her gasping when they end. He does what he can to try and help, but there really isn’t much for him to do. His job here is, for some ungodly reason, emotional support, and he’s pretty sure the only person less equipped for that task than him is Lae’zel.

Honestly, what in the fresh hells was he even doing here? What was the point of him, when he couldn’t even succeed at the simple task of “sit there and look pretty,” a task he had been the undisputed king of for two centuries. Tav had been in pain for hours, had been dealing with this for months, and he’d helped by, what? Doing the shopping? Moving some furniture around? He certainly wasn’t doing anything helpful now, which was probably his fault for not reading any of those books Jaheira had left them because they’d freaked him out, and really, the fact that they were even in this position to begin with was also his fault, because while it might take two to tango, so to speak, he’d done the math, and he and Tav hadn’t exactly had ample periods of alone time in the first months of their journey, so he was almost certain he could pinpoint the creation of this little creature to the night he and Tav had snuck off to celebrate his return to unlife after having an entire monastery collapsed on top of him (which was also his fault, though he’d never admit to that one, because he’d been the one to grab that damned mace).

And sure, Jaheira and Shadowheart said that everything was going as it should, but that could change in an instant, couldn’t it? If he had learned anything throughout the last few months of Tav’s pregnancy, it was that everyone wanted to talk to them about it. Ever since Tav had started showing, any time they went anywhere, they’d been subjected to not just unsolicited advice, but complete horror stories from random strangers, always shared with the same nonchalance as if they were talking about the weather. Everyone had a story, from the woman at the market who’d gone on about her wife nearly hemorrhaging to death with their daughter, to the man in line at the Counting House who’d regaled them with the story of sitting in his room as a young boy and hearing his mother’s screams as his younger brother was delivered feet-first, to the positively ancient old Dwarf that ran his favorite fabric shop, who’d ended what had been a rather tame retelling of her youngest’s birth with Now once she came out, I passed the afterbirth, and wouldn’t ye know, my womb came out right along with it, like I were a dumplin’ what lost its fillin’! So the midwife had to stuff it back in, ye see. Used ‘er fist, like she were punchin’ down dough. Took ‘er what must’ve been near on thirty minutes, and I were hollerin’ and swearin’ up a blue streak all the while. And I’ll tell ye, that hurt worse’n having the little’un ‘erself did! I told my fella I’d be takin’ a knife to ‘is bollocks if ‘e even thought about wantin’ fer another after all o’ that.

(Tav hadn’t been bothered in the slightest, cackling along with the woman at this apparently hilarious story. Which wasn’t surprising, considering her pre-tadpole life. He, on the other hand, had turned a rather unflattering shade of green at the far too animated hand gestures that had accompanied the woman’s story, and had had to turn away to dry-heave in the nearby bin.)

He knows he’s fixating, knows it’s not doing him any good to focus on what could happen rather than what is happening, but he can’t help it. Good things don’t happen to him, and he’s spent the last year waiting for the other shoe to drop. For the curtain to be pulled away and reveal that this had all been a grand ruse, an elaborate scheme, just one more shovelful on the pile of pure shit that had been his life. That he’d never actually gotten out of that tomb at all, and all of this was just his mind creating pretty stories while he slipped further and further into madness in the perpetual dark and silence of a stone box.

And of course, like fucking clockwork, there went his damned lungs again, hitching like they weren’t getting enough of the oxygen that they didn’t actually need godsdamnit. There was the first flush of familiar heat crawling up his neck and prickling at his scalp. There was the shivering in his core threatening to spread to his hands.

No. Nope. Absolutely not. He was not doing this right now. Because while he did have quite a few rather important things to be rightfully panicking over currently, now was not the fucking time. He had one job, keep focused on Tav, and he’d be damned if–

He hisses through a gasp, fangs bared, as a sudden sharp spike of pain in the cartilage of his right ear pulls him out of his racing thoughts.

Turning his head to look to his right, he sees Shadowheart, a stern look on her face, with her hand poised to yank his ear again. As if he were some unruly child instead of a terrifying vampire two hundred years her senior.

“Come help me with something,” she says, giving him a firm Look and nodding towards the table on the other side of the room where she and Jaheira had been taking turns mixing ingredients he couldn’t begin to name into tinctures and potions.

He looks down to Tav, laid on her side with her eyes closed, doing her best to rest on the cot beside him while she waits for another contraction to take over, and he’s about to tell Shadowheart he isn’t moving from this spot, but Tav takes her hand from his and flaps it tiredly in his direction without even opening her eyes, telling him to go on because It’s not like I’m going anywhere, and one of us may as well get to stretch their legs. So, he gets up and follows Shadowheart to the table.

When he gets there, he’s unceremoniously handed a knife and several dried mushrooms, and given instructions to chop them as finely as possible, while Shadowheart begins stripping tiny leaves from the stems of some herb. Eyes on her work, she whispers to him, “Look, there’s not much longer to go, a few hours at most, but we can’t attend to you and Tav both, so I need to know you’re not going to freak out and collapse on us.”

He bristles at that, partly because he could feel his ears turning red in embarrassment because he’d really thought he was hiding his internal panic a lot better than that, partly at her insinuating that she didn’t think he could handle this, and partly because he was starting to think that maybe he couldn’t handle this.

“I’m not taking shots at you,” she continues, “But I only have two hands, so if you pass out, I’m going to have to leave you there on the floor.” She looks at him from the corner of her eye. “There’s no shame if you need to wait outside until this is done, plenty of expectant parents do,” she says gently. “Tav would understand.” She reaches over to place a hand on his arm. “It’s not an easy process, to go through or to watch. It’s understandable if you’re feeling overwhelmed.”

He lets out a long sigh, putting down the knife and bracing his hands on the table, and stares ahead at the wall trying to get some sort of hold on himself. “I’m not ‘overwhelmed,’” he says, sneering that last word like it had personally offended him. “I’m just… sitting here. Useless. Watching her go through this, and I can’t do anything to help.” He drops his head down, ears pinned back and eyes falling closed as he whispers, barely audible, “Even Godey, sadistic sack of shit that he was, would usually get bored of torturing us after ten or twelve hours and just lock us in the Kennels to cry ourselves unconscious. Tav’s been at this for almost an entire day, and she’s still got hours to go.” His voice starts to shake as the trembling he’d been fighting back finally wins, and he rasps out, “And all I can think about is all the ways this can go wrong, and I wouldn’t be able to stop it.”

She huffs at him, not unkindly. “Astarion, we have a cleric, two druids, a paladin, and whatever the hells Withers is, plus an entire camp’s-worth of potions and scrolls. I’m pretty sure royalty doesn’t even have births this well-attended. If anything were to go wrong, we would be able to handle it. I promise.” Grabbing his shoulders, she turns him to face her. “I’m only going to say this once, so look at me,” she says, catching his eye, “Before all this emotional sincerity makes us both sick: You are doing fine. You are in a situation that is completely out of your depth and fully out of your control, with nothing to do but watch as things happen, and it’s okay to be freaked out about it. But we can’t deal with that right now. Tav needs our focus, and she needs you by her side. You are helping, even if it doesn’t feel like it. So I need you to keep it together for a little while longer.”

With that, she gives him a little shove back towards Tav and Jaheira and turns back to her potions. He makes his way over to them, feeling slightly more in control of himself.

And if he decides to blame the nausea he’s feeling on all the talk about feelings instead of his nerves, well, that’s no one’s business but his own.

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

As the day nears its end, he really hopes that Shadowheart’s assessment of “a few more hours” would prove correct. Tav’s contractions were lasting longer and longer, and the intervals between them grew ever shorter. He’d helped her move between countless positions, laying on her back, on her side, kneeling, crouched on all fours, trying to find something that would provide a little relief. Tav had, during one contraction, barked at him to stop touching her, so he’d then busied himself with handing her canteens of water, helping Shadowheart with small tasks, and refilling a cloth from a bucket of some magically-conjured ice, courtesy of Gale, so Jaheira could press it to Tav’s forehead and neck.

After a while, having been up for nearly a full day at this point, Shadowheart and Jaheira both had swapped out with Halsin for a couple hours in order to catch a quick nap. Halsin had distracted him and Tav for a time with stories of Reithwin, the rebuilding, and all the orphans in his care, before eventually pulling out a deck of cards for a few hands of Three Dragon Ante to pass the time.

Sometime after Shadowheart and Jaheira had returned, Tav had retracted her moratorium on touching, swinging in the complete opposite direction with requests for him to knead into her lower back, or to let her lean on him, or to just hold her hand. The last hour had been the worst, and he could feel Tav’s exhaustion in his own bones as what little reprieve she was getting between pains slowly disappeared. Throughout all this, there were several more invasive investigations of her innards, with words like “dilation” and “effacement” and numbers thrown back and forth between the two healers. At last, they hit whatever marked the final stretch of this ordeal, because Jaheira had followed up her quiet exclamation of “Ah, finally,” and pronouncement to Shadowheart of “ten centimeters” with “Congratulations, it seems the little one is finally ready to make its appearance.”

Tav’s tired exclamation of “Oh thank gods!” covers up the sound of his breathe punching out of him. Oh, this was really happening. Right now. For real. Right before his eyes. “Your body knows what to do, cub,” he distantly hears Jaheira saying to Tav, “Listen to it. When you feel the urge to push, do so, and I will guide you through it.”

While Shadowheart starts bringing over various supplies, he follows Jaheira’s instructions to help Tav shift into a better position for the task ahead. His eyes land on a low wooden crate at the foot of the bed, set there to act as a makeshift table. Amidst the towels, potions, and various medical supplies Shadowheart had set there, he spots a small bundle, its dark blues and soft purples standing out amidst the other objects scattered around.

That was the baby blanket he’d sewn, and the little sleepsuit Tav had picked out to go with it.

She had brought up starting on the nursery a few months ago, but he’d been hesitant, convinced that any real, tangible preparation would somehow jinx everything and draw the eyes of any of the dozen vengeful deities they’d pissed off and invite disaster. He’d come up with endless excuses over the next month for why they couldn’t do it right then, until Tav had finally called him out on it and demanded an explanation, and those fears had come flooding out of him like a burst dam. He’d eventually relented though, choosing to trust Tav’s assertion that the very mundane act of putting together the nursery was not going to attract the ire of any almighty beings who probably all had much more important and interesting things to focus on, and besides, the baby would actually need somewhere to sleep, angry gods or no.

Of course, then they’d debated over how to decorate the nursery for nearly another month. With their child being due in the spring, he’d originally wanted to go with something pastel and floral, the soft greens and yellows of a sunny spring day. A bit cliché, maybe, but appropriate. Tav had had her heart set on colors that reminded her of the night sky outside the city, though. “All those nights, sitting around the campfire with our friends, those were the first happy memories I ever made. That was the first time either of us had a real family. The first time we realized that we could be more than what we were created to be,” she’d said to him one night, as they’d lounged on the porch swing to watch the stars. “And now we’ve created something, someone, and they’ll get to be anything they want, infinite paths to choose from, innumerable as the stars. They won’t have to claw back the pieces of a life stolen from them. They’ll be free, right from the start.”

Not for the first time, he’d felt his insides turn to warm mush as she’d taken his hand, gaze still turned to the sky, and whispered,“So many things I thought I’d never have, things I’d never even known I wanted, happened under those stars. I can’t help but to want for just one more.”

And if that hadn’t set a pleasant ache going in his cold, undead heart, her leaning into him to burrow into his arms beneath the blanket they’d wrapped themselves in certainly had. He’d pressed a kiss to her temple, suddenly finding that maybe the night sky held more beauty than he’d given it credit for. “I suppose I could be persuaded on the aesthetics of stars,” he’d whispered into her hair, utterly failing to keep the smile out of his voice.

So he had sewn that blanket with swirling patches of blues and purples. Then, after writing to Halsin for help, he’d used silver thread to embroider all the constellations their friends had taught each other throughout the moonlit nights of their journey, even including a crescent moon trailed by Selune’s Tears in one corner. He’d left the opposite corner empty, leaving room to add a name. They hadn’t fully decided on one at that point, but he’d been sure they’d get to it in time.

(They still hadn’t decided on one yet, but he felt that maybe this was not the time to mention that. He didn’t think Tav would take it well, and she didn’t need another distraction. Best to just put that to the back of his mind to be dealt with it later.)

Several minutes later, with Tav in position leaned back against him, it’s the feeling of her grip suddenly tightening on his hand as another contraction starts and the sound of her voice telling Jaheira that she needs to push that bring the world back into focus for him. Jaheira gives instructions in a steady, soothing voice, a far cry from her usual gruff no-nonsense tone, guiding Tav on how to bear down, tuck her chin, and push for counts of ten.

When the contraction ends and Tav drops back against him, he feels a tightness in his chest that he thinks would feel an awful lot like his heart racing if it could still do that, and his mind focuses on only one thought.

Gods, please let this be okay.

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

Time passes him by with no comprehensible speed, the next hour and a half seeming to take an eternity and also no time at all. He’s so far out of his element that he’s managed to waltz right past his nerves and loop back around to a state of focused calm he usually only finds mid-combat. It wasn’t that there weren’t plenty of anxiety-inducing things happening at the moment, of course not. The current situation is probably the single-most frightening thing he’s ever had to be a part of. It’s just that the need to feel panic and nerves generally comes around when there was a chance, no matter how small, that he could do something about it, and right now he has never been more aware that he very much cannot do anything at all.

Which is fine. Much as he might complain about being told what to do, he didn’t actually enjoy being in charge when there was planning or strategizing to be done. Oh, he’d give his opinions on every aspect for sure, they couldn’t stop him if they tried. But actually being the one responsible for calling the shots? No thank you. He much preferred when his role was being pointed at an enemy or a lock and told to take it apart. Besides, he’d spent the last year following instructions from the three women in this room. They hadn’t led him astray yet, and they seemed to have everything well in hand right now, so who was he to mess with what worked?

(Usually the first one, a little voice in his mind says, which he promptly tells to fuck right off.)

A pained cry in his ear brings the world back into focus. Tav is on her knees facing him, one arm wrapped around his shoulders, her other hand clutching his, face pressed into his neck to muffle the not-quite-scream that’s forcing its way out of her throat as Jaheira counts her through another push. Gods, they’d been at this for so long. He wants to ask if this is normal, but now isn’t the time for him to have questions, and neither Shadowheart nor Jaheira seem worried in the least, so this must be what’s supposed to happen, right?

He uses his free hand to knead into the muscles at the small of Tav’s back as the contraction starts to taper off and she’s left panting, hot breath hitting his neck like the Grymforge air. As she rests her weight on him, he switches from the kneading to taking the ice-filled cloth and pressing it to her pulse points and along her back. She’d shed the last of her clothes an hour ago, any sense of modesty having gone well and truly out the window. In her words, what was the point of wearing a shirt when the evening was going to be spent with her friend and her mentor staring at her bits, anyway?

(Not that she’d had much, if any, modesty to begin with. No one in their little adventuring group did anymore. With communal trips to the river often being their only safe bathing option the first few months, and the numerous trysts and flings that had happened around camp over their seven months of traveling together, they’d all seen each other naked enough times that the sight of a companion’s bare ass didn’t even warrant notice by the end of it.)

Tav’s grip on him tightens again, and she lets out a pained, almost whining groan into his shoulder. Jaheira’s telling her to breathe through it, gentle pushes, go slowly so she doesn’t tear (tear what?! he wants to yell). The pitch and volume of her cries increases with each of the next several pushes like this, reaching a peak that has him truly worrying for the state of her vocal cords, before she slumps forward against him again. “Good girl,” Jaheira encourages her, “That is the head out. Rest and breath for a moment, you are doing very well. We are nearly done.” She lets out a small huff of a laugh. “Such a head of hair on this one. Now we know who was responsible for all that heartburn, hm?”

He sits up a little higher, trying to catch a glance, but he can’t see anything. Tav is trembling, face still buried in his neck, and he only realizes that Shadowheart has taken her hand and brought it down between Tav’s legs when he hears Tav sniffle and let out a quiet “Oh. Oh, that’s you. You’re real,” with a wet laugh. When Tav takes his own hand again a moment later, he expects her to resume her death grip. Instead, she brings it down and guides him to where Jaheira’s hand sits, and he feels suddenly the warm weight of something hard and wet and fuzzy resting in his palm. The sting of unshed tears burns his eyes as he realizes that he’s holding what might as well be the entire world in his hand at the moment.

His throat is too tight for him to get any words out, wonder at the reality of what’s happening slowly winning over worry in the war for dominance inside him. He wants to say so many things, but all he can do when he brings his hand back up to hold Tav’s is to kiss the side of her head and rest his forehead on her shoulder.

Jaheira speaks up again. “The next part is the worst of it. When you are ready, give me strong, steady pushes, and we will have these shoulders out, yes?” He feels Tav nod into his shoulder, then tense as another pain takes her and she does her best to follow Jaheira’s instructions.

They go on like this for several more minutes, Tav’s grip on his hand growing ever stronger, the hand she’d wrapped around his back fisted into his shirt so tightly he expects he’ll need someone to cast a Mending cantrip for him when this is over. He hears a murmured “first shoulder” from Shadowheart, kneeled at their side toward the end of the bed, before she gets up and gathers a towel from the makeshift crate-table and crouches next to Jaheira.

A few more pushes, the intensity of Tav’s cries building like a wave, until she lets out a screech like a hellcat that cuts off with a tearful gasp, and he wraps his arms around her to steady her as she all but drops her weight against him, panting and sweaty like she’s just come off the battlefield.

(and he rather thinks she may as well have)

There’s a flurry of activity at the end of the bed, the two healers talking quietly to each other through vigorous movements. Tav has tensed in his arms, his own spine ramrod straight in anticipation. Waiting, hoping, praying, as long seconds tick by.

Silence, like the world is holding its breath with them.

But only for a moment.

A tiny cough, and then a fierce, angry wail cuts through the night air, and the collective exhale of relief nearly shatters him.

Quickly, Shadowheart is at their side, helping an exhausted Tav turn over in his arms to rest back against him. Then, Jaheira is gently placing a squirming, shrieking, viscera-covered little creature onto Tav’s chest, and as he stares at it, his brain just. Stops.

That wiggling little creature is a baby.

His baby.

He made that. They did. Him and Tav.

It was here and alive and theirs.

And they just get to have this.

Someone’s crying. It might be him. He’s too awestruck to care.

Jaheira lays her hand on the squalling child’s back. “Congratulations,” she says, looking a little misty-eyed herself. “Say hello to your daughter.”

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

He all but floats through the next half hour, mind too preoccupied by what just happened to take in much else. None of this feels real. Jaheira has him cut the cord, which takes him by surprise when it’s not nearly so flimsy as he expects. Then Shadowheart collects the baby from Tav in order to give her a more thorough washing, him going with her at Tav’s insistence while she and Jaheira start the work of delivering the afterbirth.

He watched, fascinated, as Shadowheart cleaned all the blood and grime from his daughter. She’d offered to let him try his hand at it, but he’d declined. He wanted to, but wet and wiggling as she was, he was terrified he’d drop her. Instead, the cleric walked him through the process, showing him how to hold her steady with one hand so the other would be free to clean her. Then she was dried off, and he received a crash course in diapering, the process of which was somehow both more and less complicated than he’d anticipated.

He’s shooed away back to Tav’s side after that, the afterbirth having been delivered in his absence. She’s got that look on her face, the one she only wears when she’s about to say something ridiculous. “Sorry, babe, you just missed the snack tray,” she tells him, fake pity in her voice as she nods at the bucket Jaheira is taking outside. He sees the corners of her lips twitch as she fights to keep a straight face.

“You are a vile, wretched creature, and I want a divorce,”he deadpans, face arranged in a mock scowl.

That manages to crack her, and she leans her head into his chest, tired laughter bubbling out of her.

When Jaheira returns, they help Tav get cleaned up, and he grabs a nightgown from her pack to help her dress while Jaheira strips and replaces the bedding. He climbs into the bedroll next to Tav, holding her as they wait and watch Shadowheart attend to their daughter.

Once she’d been weighed and dressed in the little sleepsuit they’d set out earlier, Shadowheart wraps the baby in the blanket he’d made and walks her over to them. He thinks he sees her quickly wipe a tear from her eye when she places the little bundle in Tav’s arms and says, “There we are, one perfectly healthy little lady, weighing in at a very respectable six-and-a-half pounds, and born under the first stars of twilight on Ches 19.” She sets a gentle hand on the baby’s head for just a moment. “She sure knows how to make an entrance. Picked a good day, too. What day’s more fitting for the start of a new life than the Spring Equinox?”

With that, she lets them know that she’ll be outside keeping an eye on the revelry that their companions have kicked up if they need anything, and that she’ll be back in a bit to bring them something to eat and check in on them, then exits the little chapel, leaving just the three of them to get acquainted.

He and Tav sit there for several minutes, before she breaks the silence with an awed “Holy shit, I can’t believe we just did that.”

That startles a laugh out of him. “You, my love,” he says, curling around her, “You did that. I dare say you can take full credit for all the heavy lifting of the last nine months.” Tav merely gives a noncommittal hum and unwraps the blanket from around their daughter.

“Time for an inventory check, I think.” She says it in the same amused tone she’d used during their adventure whenever the shared camp chest was getting suspiciously heavy from all the mostly-useless junk their party of packrats had hoarded in there, and someone needed to sort out all the various scrap to be offloaded at the next trader. “Let’s see… ten fingers,” she says, touching their daughter’s hands. “And ten toes…” She runs her finger along tiny feet, so small they wouldn’t even span the length of his little finger. “Two eyes, a mouth, and a nose, all present and accounted for… and,” she gently lifts the baby’s upper lip, “No teeth.” She brushes her thumb over a barely-there eyebrow. “Gods, Jaheira wasn’t kidding about the hair, was she? She looks like a dandelion!” Turning to him, she doesn’t even bother to hide her laughter as she says, “Reminds me of you in the mornings.”

He scoffs in mock indignation. “How dare you, I look nothing of the sort!” Though Tav’s right about the baby at least. Now clean and dried, her head resembles nothing so much as a dandelion in full bloom, thick head of white hair standing near-vertical from her scalp at all angles.

He’s so busy looking at his daughter, that he almost misses Tav’s bemused “Your turn,” and his frantically whispered protests of “Wait- You can’t- Hold on- I don’t know how-” fall on deaf ears as he very quickly finds himself with an armful of baby for the first time in his entire existence. He locks every muscle in his body, going stiff as the corpse he is, wide eyes staring at Tav as he sits, frozen.

“What if I drop her???” he whispers. He doesn’t know why he keeps whispering. It just seems like the thing to do. Babies like quiet, don’t they?

She raises an eyebrow at him. “Astarion, I have seen you snatch an Orthon’s bomb from midair that was thrown at your face without even a hint of a fumble. You’re not going to drop her. Relax,” she says, adjusting his arms, “It’s not that hard. Support the head with your elbow, just like that. See? You’re a natural.”

He’s not quite sure he believes that, but he slowly untenses his body, and studies the child in his arms, truly taking her in for the first time.

His daughter has a wild halo of fluffy white hair, sparse silver eyebrows that she’s furrowed in a mimicry of her mother, and a mouth seemingly stuck in a permanent pout. Bright cerulean blue eyes, Tav’s eyes, squint hazily at him through a delicate fan of white eyelashes, seemingly assessing him right back. Two tiny, pointed ears currently sit pinned back in annoyance against her still cone-shaped head. Her hands are curled into fists and tucked up under her chin, while her somewhat-gangly little legs kick out at him. She’s red, and wrinkly, and unbelievably small. Overall, she looks like a tiny, angry, geriatric goblin.

And, excluding Tav, he thinks she might just be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

He’s been keeping a tight rein on his composure so far, but he’s completely unprepared for the rush of emotions that takes him out like a kick to the knees when, while brushing a finger across her palm, she wraps her tiny little hand around it, holding it like a lifeline, and he realizes all at once that everything is okay. Tav and the baby were both alive and healthy, no monsters from their past had jumped out of the shadows to steal them away, no capricious gods had turned their ire on them in revenge, his little family was safe and, unbelievably, happy, and all those things he’d spent months worrying over hadn’t happened.

The sound he makes as he bursts into tears could, most charitably, be called a whimper, and he has just enough presence of mind left over to hope that no one outside had heard, before his thoughts are muffled by Tav’s scent and the sound of her and their daughter’s dual heartbeats as Tav pulls him into her arms, carefully sandwiching the baby between them. He frees an arm to wrap around Tav, clutching her to him as tightly as he dares, stifling his tears in the crook of her neck, and finally, finally, let’s himself believe that this isn’t a dream. He wasn’t going to wake up to find himself trapped back in that tomb, there was no second shoe waiting to drop, no one was coming to take this from him, and the “everything life had to offer” he’d told Tav he’d wanted all those months ago wasn’t just a possibility, but a reality.

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

The hours after that had slowly melted into a carefully controlled chaos. Shadowheart had eventually come back with sustenance for the both of them. Then, she’d led Tav through their daughter’s first feeding, which the girl had taken to with enthusiasm, if not decorum, her nonstop litany of soft, satisfied grunts leaving no doubt about whether she was enjoying her meal. He’d watched, enthralled, as her pointed little ears twitched with each swallow, like a newborn kitten. Once finished, she’d been passed off to him for burping, requiring very little encouragement on his part before his gentle pats had forced a sound out of her so loud it startled him.

“Now, I wonder who else I know that eats like that?”Tav had commented, prompting a laugh from Shadowheart.

He’d decided not to dignify that with a response.

Soon after, the high of adrenaline Tav was riding had started to run out. While she’d initially wanted everyone to meet the baby right then, Shadowheart had reminded her that they’d all still be at the campsite for another night, and insisted she get some rest. Tav had eventually relented, and Shadowheart and Jaheira had departed for their own tents, leaving he and Tav alone with their daughter to enjoy their first night together as a family of three.

As they lay together on the bed facing each other, their daughter splayed out between them emitting breathy little snores, he remembers something. “You know, darling, I didn’t want to bring it up earlier, considering we were all rather busy, but we never did decide on a name.”

“I… had been thinking on that, actually, and there was one I thought you might like. It seemed fitting,” she says.

He smiles, reaching over and tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear. “Not a namesake, I hope? Because you know if we name her after one of those weirdos outside, we’ll have to name her after all of them, and I don’t think she’d ever forgive us for giving her nine names.”

“No, not that,” she says, huffing out a laugh. “Though I… may have… run the idea past Shadowheart of ‘Jenevelle’ for a middle name. Considering the sound she made was one that I’m pretty sure only Scratch could hear, I think she was okay with it.”

He looks down at the sleeping child resting between them. “Well, I suppose if she isn’t going to be using it, we may as well have it, hm?” He says, running his finger softly over a tiny, curled fist. “What was it you’d had in mind for her first name, though?”

“It was one I actually ran across a long time ago, a character in a storybook my foster parents had given me when I was small. I’d forgotten all about it, but it came back to me earlier because of what Shadowheart said about today being the Spring Equinox and her being born under the first stars of the night,” she says, taking his hand in hers to fiddle with his fingers. She did that when she was having trouble describing something. She’d healed fairly well from the damage Orin and the tadpole had done to her brain, but she still struggled sometimes with finding the words for things, and she’d found that having that bit of tactile distraction helped her order her thoughts. “It’s an old Elven name. The meaning doesn’t translate exactly, the closest would probably be “little star,” though “new star” might be more accurate.” She pauses to gather her thoughts. “It used to be a word for something small and bright that brings light to darkness, like the first flowers in spring, or twilight stars, and it was sometimes used as a term for things that represented renewal, justice, and innocence.”

She soft smile she turns on him makes him melt. “I thought it was fitting, since now that she’s here, it’s kind of like all three of us are starting from scratch, you know? Renewal, justice, innocence. I want that for her. For us, too.”

“Well,” he says, clearing his throat of the tightness that had wormed its way in there, “I think we could all use a little more of that in our lives, considering… well, all of it.”

Between them, their daughter shifts in her sleep, peacefully oblivious to the conversation happening around her.

He turns his hand over to take Tav’s fidgeting fingers in his. “Now, don’t keep me in suspense, my love. What’s this magical storybook name you’ve pulled from the shadows in that mind of yours?”

── ･✩*₊˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖₊*✩･ ──

It takes another hour, which they spend watching their sleeping daughter as though she might disappear if they took their eyes off her, but eventually Tav loses the fight against her looming exhaustion and succumbs to sleep. He’s well on his way to joining her, when a thought occurs to him.

He slides out of the bed, then carefully, as if she were made of spun glass, he picks up his daughter, wrapping her in her blanket and cradling her to his chest, before stepping out of the little chapel and into the cool night air of their camp. It’s a lovely night, the quiet broken only by the sounds of crickets and occasional snores from the tents scattered around the clearing. The sky is painted with what feels like millions of stars.

He pauses a moment to take it all in. He hadn’t done that when they’d been camped here before, too focused on trying to make sure he lived another day to really appreciate it. But looking back, so many of the things he cherished now had found their start at this camp. This was where he’d first tried to bite Tav. It was also where she’d caught him and then let him do it anyway. It was where he’d started putting his nice, simple plan into action, before it would all fall apart because he’d tripped and fell into his own trap. It was where their ragtag group thrown together by circumstance had started to become friends, of all things, with nights spent around the campfire sharing food and wine and stories.

He meanders his way across camp, eyes scanning the river’s edge, watching the fireflies as they dance in the moonlight, until his gaze lands on his quarry. There, just on the bank, standing in the same spot he’d occupied throughout their initial time at this camp, was Withers, back turned to him as he stared out over the river. Taking a breath to steel himself, he settles his daughter more securely in his arms, and approaches the… skeleton. God? Being. The jury was still out on exactly what Withers was. Nothing normal, that was for sure.

He walks until he stands beside Withers, looking out across the water in silence while he tries to gather his thoughts.

After a few minutes, Withers eventually breaks the silence. “I expected thee,” he intones.

“You did?” That surprises him. He hadn’t expected to sneak up on the man, but he hadn’t exactly made an appointment either.

Withers gives a hum of confirmation. “Thou hast questions. Some yet may be answered.” He turns his cloudy gaze on Astarion. “Ask them, if thou whilt.”

He swallows thickly, mouth suddenly dry. “It’s not a question, really. Not exactly. It’s just… when Tav- When she di-” He cuts himself off as his voice breaks. He’d locked those memories in the back of his mind, determined never to revisit them, and unearthing them felt like watching it happen all over again. He looks down at his daughter, curled up against his chest, safe and content, and lets out a long sigh as he blinks back his tears. “When Tav killed Orin, and Bhaal… took back his blood from her. It only occurred to me a few tenday ago, and I don’t think Tav’s realized at all, but… but she was already pregnant then. And…”

He pauses in an attempt to stop his voice from shaking. “When you brought her back. You said that she’d created new life free from Bhaal’s influence. At the time, I thought you were just talking about Tav, but I think…” He finally looks Withers in the eye, tearing up as he whispers, “I think you knew. When you revived her. You brought them both back, didn’t you?”

“I did,” Withers answers. And, per usual, does not elaborate.

“How did you know? Tav didn’t even know,” he asks.

Withers says nothing for a moment, then, “I know every life. Those who are mortal, and those who are not. Those yet still living, and those who have passed from this world. Those who walk this plane, and those,” he nods toward the sleeping infant, “Who still await their turn. The child’s soul was known to me from her very inception.”

“And will she…” He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself for his next question. One he both needs to know the answer to and dreads to hear. “Is she a Bhaalspawn too? Can he control her?”

“No,” Withers replies, and Astarion’s knees go weak for a moment. He almost laughs in relief at the familiarity of the scratchy drawl coating that single word. “Bhaal’s influence was removed in its entirety. Both thy bosom companion and thy progeny are beyond his reach.”

He takes a minute to center himself and just enjoy the moment as his last worry is laid to rest. He lays a kiss on his daughter’s forehead, smoothing out the little wrinkle that’s formed there as she furrows her brow in her sleep, dreaming whatever it is babies dream of. He catches the scent of that new baby smell he’d been convinced Jaheira had been making up to mess with him, and brings her up to rest on his shoulder, his face turned to press into the bright, dandelion puff of her hair, allowing time to pass him by while he revels in the peace of the night.

After a while, he remembers the other reason he’d come out here. A much happier reason.

“There was something else,” he says, once again turning to Withers. “A request. For her. If you’d be willing.” His daughter stirs in his arms as he gestures to her, opening her eyes to peer sleepily at him.

“Indeed. What request wouldst thou make on behalf of thy progeny?” Withers asks, and Astarion thinks he hears curiosity coloring his tone.

“Well, there’s this rite that Halsin told us about, back when we’d first found out Tav was expecting. For when a baby is born into an Elven community,” he says, thoughts for once racing in a good way. “They’re supposed to be presented to an elder, or someone who’s done the parents a great service, and that person would welcome them and announce their name. Tav thought it was sweet, but she didn’t really feel strongly about it one way or the other, especially considering that neither of us had anyone who fit the role.”

He's finding it surprisingly hard to explain himself. He’s used to being able to gesture while he talks, but his hands are currently otherwise occupied.

“Anyway, um…” He swallows, mouth suddenly gone dry. “Given… recent revelations. I was hoping you might be amenable to doing it? Since you’re the reason she’s even here. The reason both of them are here.” He sighs, looking into his daughter’s blue eyes, watching him hazily. “Halsin said Elves hold onto the memory of that rite for their entire lives. I don’t… I don’t really remember my mortal life, not even in Reverie. Everything before I was turned is just a dark void. Tav only remembers bits and pieces of her life before the tadpole, and most of the time she wishes she didn’t. There’s nothing we can do about that now.”

A gust of wind causes him to tuck the blanket a little bit tighter around the baby. “But her… I want her to have that memory. I can’t give her a family history to be proud of, or pass down old traditions. I don’t know anything about Elven culture or the history of our people that I can share. I can’t do any of that for her. But, if nothing else, I can give her this.”

Withers’ face becomes contemplative. “Mortals are such… curious creatures.” He says, slowly. “Thou hast lamented thy lack of familial bonds, and yet, dost thou not have such in abundance in this very camp? Separate, all of thee were but single threads, plucked from thy individual fabrics, muted and fraying at thine ends. Without unity. But together, thou hast been woven into a tapestry anew, all the more pleasing for thy differences, and held firm by the bonds thou hast formed in each other.” He sees the corners of Withers’ mouth turns up in a faint smile. “Mourn not for what has been lost. Thy time is better spent enjoying what thou hast found.”

Withers steps closer to him now. “Throughout time, mortals have created many ways to welcome new souls. Some now ancient, and long forgotten. Others not yet come to be. To perform such a rite is a sacred duty, and an honor. And one that is within my power to grant.” Astarion swears he feels the faintest crackles of magic in the air as Withers holds out his hands. “So grant it I shall.”

Carefully, he places his daughter into Withers’ arms. The skeletal man holds her close, shifting her to the crook of his elbow as his other hand comes up to rest over her heart, boney palm splayed across her chest. She stares up at him, eyes wide, and grasps one of Withers’ fingers in her tiny fist. Withers’ next words are spoken directly to her, his voice almost seeming to echo, as if weaving a spell. “Child, thy journey to life has been fraught and perilous. Thou hast known the bitter taste of death and the chaos of battle before even thy first breath. And still, thou hast triumphed over this adversity, thy strength of spirit inextinguishable, and thy soul shines all the brighter for it. I wish thee many bright days ahead, and that thy will holds firm even in times of darkness. Let wisdom be thy guide in life, and thou may one day turn thy wheel of fate to thine own purposes.”

He sees the faintest glow of magic surround them, as Withers continues. “Now, we have met, and I know thy face.”

“Thy name has been recorded. I welcome thee to this life, Astraea.”

Next Chapter

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beachbears · 9 months ago

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Guess who got to see the rockafire guys the other day (10/19/2024)!! This was at the Volo Museum, of course, and they look really good!! These aren't the best photos cause I was so excited to see them IRL (and I don't wanna include any with the kids that were around lol), but I figured I should at least share them with y'all! Especially the ones of Dook and Beach Bear cause I thought they ended up looking pretty good.

#rock afire explosion #beach bear #showbiz pizza #dook larue #rockafire explosion #rae #rolfe dewolfe #mitzi mozzarella #billy bob brockali #looney bird #fatz geronimo #earl schmearle #i took an ass load of film pictures of them too #which arent as good but it was purely for the novelty of having the 80s animatronics with the film pics #can you tell who my faves are? lmao #god they were amazing to see irl and i do recommend it if y'all end up near Chicago at any point #totally worth the price imo #mostly cause there were other things there that were really cool to see but the rae guys were incredible

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grandmother-goblin · 1 year ago

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OC Smash or Pass: A'ras

Quick Facts:

Height: 6'5"

Age: 33

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: bisexual (monogamous, but he does have a history as a bit of a rake)

Pros:

Gives excellent hugs, cuddles, and massages.

Extremely difficult to anger and is really good at keeping calm in stressful situations - this has made him the de-facto leader several times in his life. He's ambivalent about being in a leadership role.

Eager and excited to try/learn new things (that is how he ended up with Volo's eye tbh lol). Definitely takes the "you only live once" thing very seriously.

Favorite activities include sleeping and metal working (he makes his own jewelry).

Very responsible and quick witted. Overall, a very kind person. Quick to admit when he's wrong and will take actions to correct himself.

Playful and has a good sense of humor.

Cons:

Can sometimes come off as condescending (he WAS raised as a Githyanki, after all lol). He really doesn't mean to though lol.

Used to being a lone wolf and free spirit, so he doesn't always communicate as well as he needs to (like he'll wander off without telling anyone because he needs to get food for the group and just assumes his companions know what he's doing.)

A bit of a flirt (in a very polite way).

Doesn't take "hints" well even if they are obvious and he knows exactly what you're hinting at. If you want him to do or know something, he wants you to just tell him directly and won't do anything about it until you do.

Can be stubborn and selfish, especially if he feels like things are a waste of his time.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #grandmother goblin grumbles #oc: a'ras #githyanki

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agent-oo-z · 1 year ago

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Alright gaymers time for more BG3 companion headcanons! This time featuring my beloved Atavia!

Potential spoilers below, you’ve been warned!

Still no Minthara, I failed to rescue her during Atavia’s run

Halsin

Ultimate nature nerd buddies. Atavia and Halsin love just going full autism mode and discussing the nuances of plant identification/creature behavior/etc for hours on end.

Once Atavia and Halsin become a “thing” they are almost annoyingly in love. Constant pet names, lots of physical contact, getting distracted by each other. Astarion teases them about it relentlessly, not out of jealousy though. He’s not immune to envy but he trusts his partners to be open and honest and does his best to do the same.

Halsin and Astarion are less stereotypically lovey dovey with each other but only because Astarion shows his love by being a menace. He teases and makes jokes and gets all sarcastic. Halsin usually responds with sincerity, not because he doesn’t get it but because he enjoys the challenge of getting Astarion flustered. It doesn’t take long for the pair to develop a sixth sense about what’s going too far.

Astarion

Turns out having two(eventually three!) people who are willing to dedicate themselves to you heart and soul can be overwhelming, even when you want it more than anything. Astarion develops a “non sexual safe word” for moments when he needs to be left alone/given space. He usually only needs a moment to recenter.

Astarion ends up working with the society of brilliance and the Gur to study vampirism and search for a cure. Some of the spawn in the underdark volunteer to help test theories and potential cures. This involves everything from finding out what types of fabric/materials can be used to prevent sunlight from damaging their skin to studying potential non blood food sources. Astarion mostly works with his partners to search for artifacts like sunwalker rings and magical/alchemical cures.

Astarion is good with kids. Once he has time to rest and begin healing from his two centuries of trauma he finds that children don’t annoy/upset him as much anymore. Yenna lives with Halsin at moonrise and is especially fond of him, the pair often play together when he’s visiting.

Gale

Quickest way to his heart is to compliment his cooking. And not just “wow this is good!” compliments. The type that shows you actually noticed things like the unique seasonings or the plating.

Because he doesn’t divulge much about his personal life to his students and fellow professors he accidentally ends up the center of a minor scandal. Astarion makes a surprise appearance on campus during a stormy day to deliver Gale’s lunch(which he left at home) and kisses him in front of his morning class. Atavia had done the same on multiple occasions but was out of town at the time, so the students thought Gale was having an affair. Eventually another professor confronted Gale when Atavia surprised him at work(she had gotten home from her trip early) and Tavi just burst out laughing while Gale desperately tried to explain the situation. The next day Astarion and Tavi deliver his lunch together to put the rumors to bed.

Gale develops a whole host of modified and new spells after becoming a professor. This includes spells that allow for the indefinite storage and preservation of food(including blood), spells that allow individuals with sunlight sensitivity to go outside for up to 4 hours at a time during the day, and enchantments that can be applied to collars and armor that allow animals to speak with people. He also publishes certain spells anonymously, not exactly out of embarrassment but because he’s uncertain how it might impact his career. Basically all of them are modified spells for sexual encounters.

Wyll

After deciding to break his pact with Mizora, Wyll procures the prosthetic eye Volo has. He continues to use the sending stone eye up until he and Karlach enter the hells after the death of the netherbrain. Given he is no longer working for the cambion he “swaps” eyes and tosses the sending stone eye as far as he can.

He waits to propose to Karlach until about a month after her engine is stabilized. They’d been dating for a while at that point, but he didn’t want her to feel like she had to agree because he had helped with her engine. He also wanted time to prepare a proper elaborate fancy proposal because she deserves it. She says yes before he can even finish asking, he’s not even fully on one knee before she practically throws herself at him in a massive embrace.

When Tavi complements his skills as a ranger at the reunion party he almost explodes with joy. She’s one of the best ranger he’s worked with(the other being THE Minsc) so it truly means a lot.

Karlach

One of the few people that Tavi isn’t romantically involved with who is allowed to be super physical with her. Tavi isn’t opposed to friendly hugs and the like, but doesn’t do well with extended touch from those she’s not with. Karlach is just such a giant cuddly teddy bear that somehow Tavi doesn’t mind. She doesn’t even fully understand it herself. If Halsin or Astarion weren’t wrapped around her at camp it was Karlach in their place.

Once she’s able to permanently return to the material plane, Karlach becomes a legendary hero in her own right. She often joins her former companions when they go out on grand quests.

Karlach is called “Auntie Karlach” by the various offspring of the Tavi-cule. She’s the favorite of all the companions when it comes to baby sitting(at least for the children.) She loves kids of all ages, but especially enjoys spending time with those between the approximate ages of 7 to 10.

Lae’zel

Lae’zel eventually introduces her companions to Xan, the hatchling rescued from the crèche in the ruined monastery. Xan is just as fascinated by the material plane as his adopted mother was, and is delighted to interact with Tavi’s familiars and companion animals.

After the defeat of Vlaakith Lae’zel and Xan move in with Shadowheart. It was originally supposed to be just until Lae’zel could find her own place but turns out Shadowheart and Lae’zel are in fact very much in love still. Xan now has two moms.

Tavi helps Lae’zel learn about the courting practices of the sword coast so she can make her intentions clear to Shadowheart(and not at all because Lae’zel doesn’t want to fight her because the idea of causing her harm is deeply distressing) Lae’zel and Shadowheart do end up romantically sparring eventually, but it’s far less intense than standard Gith fighting.

Shadowheart

Before Lae’zel moves in, Shadowheart is a bit of a hermit. She makes time to visit her companions but otherwise spends her days tending to her animals and her gardens in relative solitude.

During her first visit to Waterdeep she joins the Tavi-cule for dinner. She ends up staying over because of how late into the night the conversation goes. The next morning she learns about Gale’s Modified Silence spell when joking that based on how disheveled Tavi looks she’s surprised she didn’t hear them. She asks Gale to make her some scrolls to take home, and encourages him to consider publishing them under a pseudonym.

Shadowheart and Astarion love to gossip. During the absolute adventure they would sneak away and chat in elvish to avoid being heard, and post adventure they keep up a correspondence. When they get together in person they can spend hours talking about the latest gossip while enjoying some good wine and snacks.

Jaheira

When Atavia is pregnant with her first child, Jaheira visits to give her advice and guidance. Most of it consists of “here’s how to not kill a baby” and “here are safe ways to manage your symptoms during and after pregnancy”. She helps Atavia and her partners set up a nursery in Gale’s tower because Tavi is worried about it looking nice while still being safe. She serves as a sort of safety auditor. Jaheira is also the “god mother” of all of the Tavi-cule children. She accepts on the condition she is never called anything like “granny.”

Jaheira often joins Tavi and Astarion(and whoever else is with them) when they go out searching for artifacts. She’s with them when they get their hands on a real sunwalker ring, the first time they find evidence of a cure for vampirism, and when they finally get their hands on the last thing needed for said cure. They start to jokingly call her a good luck charm.

She continues to work with the Harpers on and off. Geraldus is one of the few Harpers she genuinely enjoys working with and the two become good friends over time.

Minsc

Minsc is eventually able to communicate half decent information about the vampire cures Boo supposedly knows of. It’s one of those cures in particular that the Tavi-cule is able to find evidence of and actually create. And it works! Astarion complains about being indebted to a hamster, but privately thanks Minsc and Boo. Tavi is beside herself with pride for managing to pull it off despite the language barrier.

Minsc will randomly appear on the doorsteps of the various party members with no warning. He usually only stays for a day and rarely spends the night, but he always comes with unbelievable tales of his most recents adventures. He always makes an effort to visit after any of the party members have major life events to offer his support/congratulations/etc.

Atavia keeps a stash of Boo’s favorite treats on her person at all times. You never know when you’ll run into Minsc and she never wants to be caught unprepared.

BONUS: The Creatures

Scratch

Scratch goes to live with Alfira and Larkissa after the death of the netherbrain. Atavia makes an effort to stop by and say hello whenever she’s visiting the gate.

Owlbear Cub

Once the owlbear cub moves to the grove Atavia makes sure to bring some fancy smoked meats when she and Astarion visit to spend time with Halsin. She loves to curl up and nap with him under the sun.

Taking the form of a cat in the eyes of all but the former adventuring party and their loved ones, Us ends up living at Gale’s tower. Tara and Morena eventually allow it to join their tea parties. It doesn’t drink any tea of course.

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