#what if they tell the wrong story.

[squorttle-pox]

if im being honest, as much as im excited for all the new lore we're getting in season 2, im also very terrified because i mean,,,

what if they get it wrong??

[muppetfreak]

Mr. Riordan, it is truly a pleasure getting to experience your second draft.

[bamsara]

There are ten billion personal Lamb interpretations and all of them are correct (and also the other characters but I suffer from lamb favoritism)

If you're looking for an excuse to ramble about your Lamb or AU (or any cotl character you have) take this post to do it NOW

[doverstar]

can't express accurately how happy it makes me that c.s. lewis did not leave room for many interpretations in narnia. it's christian and you can't get around it. susan chose to care more about worldly things than what matters and he said what he said. the lion is Jesus. evil is evil and good is good and people have to choose. and that makes some readers angry because it's nearly impossible to ignore and they want to ignore it. they want it to be something else and they can't make it something else without making it not narnia. love that. that is doing it right

[egophiliac]

Tl;Dr - I stopped playing the game but I like the characters and I wanna draw them but idk if the wiki I use is up to date for cards

Do u know any wikis that have up to date cards for all the twst characters-

Asking specifically bc of Malleus cause I can't tell anymore if he has any more new cards bc HE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A 100 DISNEY ANIVERSARY CARD IN THE WIKI I USE 😭

Like compared to everyone else in Disanomia, he has 12 cards (in the wiki I use) and then Lilia has 17 cards 💀

Cause I think Malleus has a Bean's Day card as well, but that could just be a fanmade one, I don't have JP twst nor ENG twst anymore so I can't confirm it myself urhghrhevw 🫠

Malleus doesn't have a Beans Day card, so that would've been fanmade! and the 100 anniversary cards are actually the new round of birthday cards, so most of the characters don't have 'em yet -- Malleus should be getting his in a couple of days, when his birthday event starts! oh god my keeeeeys

I think the wiki.gg stays pretty up to date? it looks to me like they have everything that's currently up through JP, at least. :O I did go through and do a quick count just because I couldn't believe Malleus only had 12 cards, but. he really does have the least...defeated only by Silver with 13...astonishing. we need his gargoyle club wear immediately.

[benevolenterrancy]

so I've started reading Journey to the West, and I more or less knew what to expect from Sun Wukong going in, no surprises there. Tripitaka, on the other hand, completely knocked my feet out from under me... I am enchanted

[ziyechs]

brunch with the in-laws <3 (2/2)

[missescalientee]

Finally revealing one of my other blorbos, Niccolo Sonata! A mixed genre troll who poses as a Pop Idol up until world tour

He's a complicated bag, he's half rock half classical, his mother kind of low-key hates him, and his dad does care but is kind of paralyzed with various anxieties that comes with the fact that Niccolo is half classical (worried about his constitution and his wings) and things related to his mother (she doesn't want Niccolo to become like his dad and puts a lot of restrictions on him)

Both of his parents don't really know what to do with him, and he doesn't know what to do with himself.

He has a lot of internalized hatred towards himself and the two sides of his musical families, plus he is a secret third genre (symphonic rock) which he doesn't fully understand. He got picked on a bit in Volcano Rock City, they're a lot rougher than he's used to so he just kind of took it, which is why he looks so roughed up in one pic and the other he says they hate him in VRC

Again he's really complicated even tho he doesn't look it, if you have questions about him lmk

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

Explanations for the Robespierre sibling feud compilation

Version given by Augustin in 1794 — Charlotte is abusing her brothers’ ”spotless reputation” by spreading calumnies painting them as ”bad brothers,” and threatens to ”take a scandalous step in order to compromise us.” Her goal with this is to ”lay down the law on us.” Augustin also implies Charlotte is meeting with suspect people, such as ”a certain Saint-Félix” (a several times arrested ”hébertist”), and tells Maximilien to meet with Guillodon La Saudraie (Augustin’s mistress according to the memoirs of Charles Nodier) who ”would give you certain information on all the masks that it is interesting to know in these circumstances.” He himself has reached the conclusion their sister ”does not have a single drop of blood that resembles ours,” and declares her to be ”our greatest enemy” and ”a woman who causes our common despair.” He therefore tells Maximilien they must send Charlotte off to Arras in order to ”take her away from us.” Source: undated letter from Augustin to Maximilien, usually traced to May 1794, cited in Correspondance de Maximilien et Augustin Robespierre (1926), p. 293.

Version given by Charlotte in 1794 — Maximilien ”detested her because she had the courage of letting him know the danger he ran by being sourrunded so badly,” as she, everytime she had met him, ”had taken the opportunity to let him know that the men around him were trying to deceive him.” Charlotte says she understood that the Duplay family had taken up the case to lose her older brother, and that this motivated her to move out of their house. But both her two brothers and Madame Duplay had also asked her to leave, and on top of that the latter had ”reproached her for seeing counter-revolutionaires, among them Guffroy, representative of the people.” Charlotte also affirms that she had almost fallen the victim of the Revolutionary Tribunal, to which she knows Maximilien, in the public spirit, ”passed for having appointed people to.” Source: interrogation of Charlotte held July 31 1794, cited in Charlotte Robespierre et ses mémoires (1910) by Hector Fleischmann, p. 85-86.

Version given by Armand Joseph Guffroy in 1795 — Maximilien and Augustin kicked Charlotte out of their house ”because she did not think like they did, because she came to see my wife and because she visited citizens who were sincere friends of justice and truth.” Maximilien even reproached her for these visits by saying she was frequenting ”a conspirator.” When Joseph Le Bon, the representative on mission in Arras, briefly returned to Paris in May 1794, he took Charlotte back with him when he set out for the north once again. This was partly to prove her wrong about charges of cruelty she had directed against him, and partly because her brothers wanted to ”get rid of her” (unknown if he by this means to say ”kill her” or just ”get her out of their sight”). Source: Les secrets de Joseph Lebon et de ses complices, deuxième censure républicaine(1795), undated Committee of General Security decree written by Guffroy in the spring of 1795, cited in Charlotte Robespierre et Guffroy (1910) by Hector Fleischmann.

Version given by Maurice André Gaillard somewhere before 1844 — by the spring of 1794, Charlotte says the Duplays have ”destroyed me entirely in [Maximilien’s] mind, today he hates the sister who served as his mother.” Despite living in the same house as her older brother, she no longer has the power to approach him, and advices Gaillard to not even speak to him about her. Charlotte seemingly shows despair over her brother’s role in ”the terror,” saying that, even though she still loves him tenderly, she’s ”no longer able to bear the pain and the shame of seeing my brother devote his name to general execration” and therefore ”ardently desire his death as well as mine.” She is nevertheless certain Maximilien’s ”excesses” are only the consequence of ”the domination under which he groans,” and she hopes Augustin will be able to help her get him to move away from the Duplays, who ”obsess over him and lead him to the scaffold.” Gaillard writes Maximilien for his part had ”devoted mortal hatred” to Charlotte ”since the trip she had made to Arras to collect evidence of the massacres carried out by Joseph Lebon.” Source: La Révolution, la Terreur, le Directoire 1791-1799: d’après les mémoires de Gaillard (1908) page 263-266.

Version given by Charlotte in 1834 — in the fall of 1793, Augustin and Jean François Ricord travel to the army of Italy to serve as representatives on mission. For company, Augustin brings Charlotte while Ricord takes his wife Marguerite. After a while of traveling for town to town the group settles in Nice for a longer period of time. Augustin and Jean François inspects the armies while Charlotte and Marguerite make shirts for the soldiers during the day and go for horseback rides in the evenings. The rides do however cause ”several journals paid by the aristocracy” back in Paris to state the two women are acting like princesses, and Maximilien writes a letter to let his siblings know (I have unfortunately been able to find neither the journals nor the letter). Augustin therefore vetoes future horseback rides, and Charlotte promises to abstain from them. Shortly thereafter, when Jean-François and Augustin are away, Marguerite suggests going on yet another ride to Charlotte, who hesitantly agrees, sad to be disobeying her brother but somewhat assured by the fact Marguerite will have to take full responsibility for the ride since it was her idea. But when Augustin a few days later reproaches Charlotte for breaking the rule and Charlotte does call on Marguerite to testify, the latter lies and says it was Charlotte who came up with it and took her with her against her will. Charlotte gets so stupefied by this statement she is unable to retort it, but Augustin, chooses to believe it, much to his sister’s despair — ”My brother knew I was incapable of lying. Why then did he not want to believe me?” After this incident, Augustin stops speaking to Charlotte and starts keeping a certain coldness towards her, a coldness which grows day by day since Marguerite ”didn’t cease to speak ill of me to my brother and invent thousands of lies to make me lose his friendship.” Charlotte cries over Augustin’s behaviour when alone, but hides her pain from her brother and chooses not to ask him for an explanation for why he’s treating her like he is either, since he’s so burdened by work.

A bit later, Marguerite suggests to Charlotte they should go to Grasse together to see a friend of hers, something which Charlotte agrees to. But just after they’ve arrived, Marguerite comes forward with a letter that she says is from Augustin, and that he’s telling Charlotte to return to Paris as soon as possible. Charlotte, without reading the letter, obeys. But Marguerite had in fact forged the letter, wanting Charlotte out of the way so she can seduce her brother. She and her friend Madame Gesnel now go on to slander Charlotte even more to Augustin, telling him that the reason she had so abruptly left for Paris was because she didn’t care about him, and that Charlotte had caluminated the reputation of both him and Marguerite. So when Augustin in December 1783 comes back to Paris for a short stay, he is ”outraged” against his sister, refusing to even put his foot in the same house as her, lodging instead with his colleage Record. He leaves for the army without seeing his sister even once, but does make their break known to Maximilien, and although he never speaks to Charlotte about it, she can see that he too is unhappy with her (he does however never seem to get more involved in the conflict than this). When Augustin returns from the army for the second time, in the summer of 1794, he is still ”fleeing my [Charlotte’s] presence” and ”telling anyone who would listen that I am unworthy of him, that I conducted myself badly with him, that I no longer deserve his esteem.” The two never manage to make up before his death.

Charlotte writes the reason she never asked either brother for why they were treating her like they did was partly grounded in her ”pure conscience” and feeling that she should’t have to, and partly in the fact she saw them both overwhelmed with work and didn’t want to bother them with her problems. Charlotte does however claim it wasn’t until after thermidor she discovered what had actually caused her brothers’ change in attitude towards her. How exactly she did is unknown (did Madame Ricord herself come forward and tell her about her intrigues? 🤔). Source: Mémoires de Charlotte Robespierre sur ses deux frères (1835), p. 109-116, 125-126.

@henriette-robespierre here you see what you missed out on! Still regret dying young?

[silentbeaves]

Hi! I'm trying to write a fanfic but I'm lacking on hcs for Petra. I was wondering if you'd be ok if I used some hcs of yours? Either way I rlly wanna know what your Petra hcs are :D

Ohh, this one's an interesting one. I totally don't mind anyone using my headcanons because they're not really that interesting, and I don't have too many headcanons that I keep. They mostly remain as little thoughts and ideas before I brush them away cuz I love to keep to canon, but I can totally share some headcanons that have stuck, and some little ideas I've had here and there.

Might not be super organised, but here:

I love to think that Petra is a huge softie at heart (I mean it's almost confirmed atp but like hear me out), but no one has ever been able to pick that lock in her heart to let it out (until Jesse 🥰🥰 we love you Jesse). The only reason why she's so stone cold is because she's been forced to be within her adventures, and probably had bad past experiences opening up to people in the past. But as soon as you can get past that wall of defence, she's one of the most loyal, affectionate, and caring people you'll ever meet.

I like to think that her love language is a mix of gentle physical touch and lots of gifts. But it takes ages for her to get to that point, even with someone she trusts and loves.

I also like to think that her arm brace thing (idek what it is and I've spent ages analysing her design bro what is this woman wearing 💀) was just for fun at first and to function as a brace during adventures, obviously. But then, after the witherstorm arc, she kept trying to cover her left arm because of a scar that was left from her wither sickness. But, she uncovers it when she feels comfortable enough, mostly around Jesse, because she doesn't feel judged when around them.

Onto the more complicated stuff, the idea that Petra holds onto the past, be it by weapons, armour, or memories, is really interesting to me. Why she does it, I don't know, but from experience, it's either hoarding (lol) or a bad past, where she's struggled to keep what she once had (things like friendships, swords that broke (she loves swords she's such a nerd I bet she could name every single sword in existence), bases/homes) So that's kind of a headcanon I have. It also ties into the whole defence she's built up, so she doesn't become attached to people. But I like the idea that she becomes very attached to inanimate objects, like Miss Butter, because they don't skidaddle off and abandon her, unlike people.

I think that part turned more into an analysis, but do what you will.

Tying into the defence thing, I love to headcanon that she plays herself off as more confident and collected than she really is at times. I feel like it's more obvious in the witherstorm arc, where she's sick in the cave, can barely move, yet tells Jesse and the gang she's fine. She does this, not only to brush off the others from bothering her, but to try and convince herself that she's okay.

I also headcanon that, that defence was lowered within S2, because she had opened up more and learned what friends were. Beforehand, she was probably just some reckless mercenary, doing risky trades and stupid things to get the most out of life. She never really cared for other people, only rewards.

A really huge headcanon of mine that I enjoy delving into is that she developed PTSD and anxiety after the witherstorm arc, but hid it far too well for her own good, for ages. I love to think it all came back to bite her after S2.

EP7 is also really interesting for the whole trauma thing. I don't think she was traumatised by the events too much, but a few things got to her. She has occasional false memories and some minor flashbacks to the time she was chipped. Redstone machinery surprisingly doesn't bother her, though. What does bother her is seemingly sentient machines that talk back to you with a level of self-awareness that is just a bit too uncanny for her. For obvious reasons... Good thing her world doesn't have any of that... until Olivi- Ok, this one's kinda funny but I like to headcanon that Petra wasn't as built in S1 compared to S2, like look at the model difference on the arms dude SHE WAS GRINDING BRO LIKE DAAAAAANGGG

I think I have a pretty obvious headcanon (lol) that she's totally in love with female Jesse. Although she pushed it down during the portal arc, I like to think there were a few times where she went, "dang bro.. she's kinda sweet I can't lie...". And yet before this, she never had any interest in relationships or anything, but Jesse changed her just slightly.

These ones below are more like ideas, not really solid headcanons I have, but I still like the thought of them:

I like to imagine she has a resistance to eating rotten flesh because she had to resort to it so many times during adventures where she's gotten lost, or something. The thought of Jesse trying to down rotten flesh and gagging just by being in contact, while Petra is just munching on it like a snack, is hilarious to me.

Another small idea I looooovee a LOT is that Petra and Lukas were good friends before she met Jesse, Axel and Olivia. She probably trusted Lukas the most out of anyone in her life until Jesse swung around.

I'm not sure how useful any of these headcanons are cuz they're kinda minor and don't really affect much unless you're writing something really specific, but yea 🔥😎

If they're not that useful at all, uhhhh I hope you enjoyed reading miss yappertron 3000 talk about petra (and sorry if I may have repeated myself a few times during my yap, my ah ain't checking this over like it's an actual essay ok????)

ummm Ig that's it, SilentBeaver OUT 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🫡🫡🫡

[bunniehunn]

hughh I wanna talk about the queer theming and iconography in Disney villains/twst characters but I don’t want to look like a freaking nerd

Edit: I put my take in the og tags

[theladycarpathia]

Billy’s not expecting the call from his dad.

“Billy?” Hop sounds distant, the faint sound of an idling engine in the background. Billy blinks, because his dad is at work and as far as Billy knows that usually means sitting behind a desk at the station and arguing with Flo.

“Don’t you have paperwork to be doing?” Billy says and Hopper snorts. There’s the sound of background traffic that’s then shut out by the clang of a car door.

“Don’t give me cheek, I am still the chief,” Hopper says as though that means anything in a small town where the most crime that they get is some drunk idiot attempting to rob the gas station.

“Yes, sir,” Billy quips and changes the channel. No one else is home and he’s bored. Jon and Joyce are still at work, and El and Will are doing weird nerd activities. The diner didn’t have a shift for him today and he doesn’t have a date, so he came home. He’d half expected someone to be here, instead of getting stuck with a protein bar and old reruns.

“That’s more like it,” Hopper says and then clears his throat awkwardly. “I was just wondering…are you definitely single?”

“Dad,” Billy says, attention now fully away from the TV set. Hop’s called him before, to ask him shit like do they need milk and to take the trash out. He doesn't call to talk about Billy's love life. They never talk about that, not after that time Hopper came in his room without knocking. “What is your next question, because this could make the next family dinner a little uncomfortable.”

“Don’t be a dick,” Hopper gripes. There’s the sudden cackle of laughter in the background and Billy sits up.

“Are you with someone?” he asks and then sucks in a breath at the implications. “Did you put me on speaker?”

“I may have done,” Hopper says, sounding sheepish. “I just picked up a young man outside the movie theatre and he’s about your age…”

“I’m nineteen!” the mystery guy hollers from the backseat. Hopper keeps talking like the guy hadn’t spoken.

“I don’t know, I just thought he was your type.”

Billy presses a hand to his temple, unable to believe that his dad has just said those words. “What’s my type?” he asks, wondering if he’s going to combust right here and now. Hopper makes that little awkward throat clearing again, like he can’t believe the situation either.

“You know,” he says stiffly. “Sort of…pretty.”

Oh God. Billy can never look Hopper in the eye again.

“You think I’m pretty?” the guy asks curiously, and Billy can’t blame him for sounding a bit weirded out.

“I think you look like a lot of the doe-eyed pretty-boys my son brings home,” Hopper snaps. Despite his obvious discomfort, Billy can’t help the rush of affection at Hopper trying to be supportive. Neil would have beat the shit out of him. Hopper tries to hook him up with appropriately aged delinquents in the back of the police car.

“A lot?” the guy asks and Billy flushes. He then regrets it because he has no idea if he even wants to impress whatever guy Hopper has picked up.

“It’s not a lot,” he says defensively because Hawkins isn’t exactly big on the gay scene. His last boyfriend he met at Tina’s Halloween party and to be fair, if you wear a kilt and not a lot else to a party in October, Billy’s absolutely going to beg you to rail him in the downstairs cloakroom. The relationship hadn't exactly worked out.

“Look, I get the feeling I’m never going to hear the end of this so here’s the situation,” Hopper says, sounding tired. “This is my son, Billy. He’s about to finish high school, he likes cars and burgers and loud music. He has shit taste in men even though he’s attractive, clever and a smart mouth. Billy, this is Steve. I was on my way back from the mayor’s office when I caught him peeing in an alley. Judging by his big brown eyes and the fact that public nudity doesn’t seem to be a problem for him, I thought of you.”

“Aww,” Billy drawls, sitting back on the couch. There are lights in the drive so someone has just arrived home. Which is good because he needs to tell everyone this story so they can give Hopper shit about it over dinner. “Pops, that’s so sweet.”

“Don’t say I never do anything for you,” Hopper says, like he hasn’t already done everything for Billy by getting him out, giving him a home. “I’ll take an extra polaroid when I process him.”

“I had to take a leak!” Steve protests and Hopper sucks in air through his teeth.

“There are public bathrooms, kid, I’ve heard those work pretty well. Billy, help your mom with dinner when she gets home.” Sucks for Hopper, it’s Jon heading up the path, keys dangling from his fingers. Billy can’t wait to tell him this story.

“Or what, you won’t bring me any more dates?” Billy asks, but he’s only half-joking. Hopper means well and kind of fucks it up a lot but this time he might have hit it right on the money. He thinks he might like Steve.

“Do I get a picture?” Steve asks. “Or does the Hawkins Police just pimp out young innocent men with full bladders?”

Oh yeah. He’s definitely going to like Steve.

“I have a picture on my desk,” Hopper admits grumpily. There’s the jangle of keys in the door as Jonathan lets himself in. “You can look at it if you’re good.”

“And what if I’m not?” Steve asks and Jonathan walks in just in time to raise his eyebrows at Billy.

“I can help punish him, if he’s not,” Billy suggests, and Hopper hangs up the phone just as Steve begins to laugh.

This has probably been done before because it's based on that famous tumblr post but it's so dull during school holidays I have nothing to do but write. And I have no in progress Harringrove fics which is probably a problem I should fix.

[accioepiphany]

I’m halfway through season 4 of the bear and I think I get now what my problem with the show is… it should have ended at season 1

And I’m saying this as someone who looooooved season 2. But I’m now understanding that that season was overtime… it was a spin off… it was a remake years after lol

Cause what I’m seeing in season 3 and 4 is them hammering a point that was so beautifully made Season 1…

The whole you had fallen out of love with your passion, but seeing someone else have that spark can help you revive it. The, if you manage to get out of your head for a while you might connect with others and build something with them. The, you need to figure out some things to stop hurting people but that doesn’t mean you are not going to hurt them ever again… The… you gotta try!! And that’s what keeps your present.

That was literally all there exposed AND resolved in season 1. And the ending to that season was actually perfect in ways of giving hope without closing the doors to whatever might happen.

I love The Bear for its art. For the cinematography, the editing, the music!!!! But much like Carmy, I feel in a loop with it. Like it keeps trying each season to make the same point over and over. And though I love when we get this little episodes exploring each characters lives like Forks, Napkins, the fourth episode this season… I think for my own sanity and relationship with the show I’ll just take all these seasons and the ones to come as little specials. As windows into what my favorite characters are doing, the little adventures they are getting into. Because otherwise I’ll never leave the time loop lol

[tibli]

Regardless of how you feel about the action, the assassinations of Shinzo Abe and Brian Thompson have got to be some of the most materially effective assassinations in recent memory. Shit changed almost immediately in response.

Usually, changing societal problems isn't so simple, and one has to dismantle those issues piece by piece, over a long period of time.

But sometimes, one influential person's murder makes all the other people in the same position scared and so they start immediately trying to fix their bullshit so they don't face the same fate.

[hellooobees]

I can't stop thinking about how the show sets up selfishness and selflessness as two sides of the same coin. How do you walk the line between making sure your loved ones can achieve their own dreams even if it means hurting yourself, and hurting your loved ones because you're hurting yourself for their sake?

It all goes back to Thame putting up his wish on the orange tree that he'll make all of the other members' dreams come true. Thame, who agrees to a shitty contract and works himself to the bone and makes it completely his burden to prove that Mars is a good investment for the company. Thame, who is made to believe that that very act of love and sacrifice is only debilitating his friends' dreams and the only way to keep his original promise is to leave.

We see Thame essentially being back at square one in this episode. He has to leave and go to Korea alone so the people he loves can achieve their dreams. But so much has changed since then. Thame had found hope, that he could simultaneously keep his promise and be selfish to want both his band and his partner. He's once again been working himself to the bone, giving up all of his time and attention between the band and Po, because his tiredness is such a small price to pay to turn that dream into reality. Why wouldn't he gladly take on all of that tiredness and more?

But despite all of the groundbreaking things he's achieved and everything he's given of himself, it doesn't work. His friends break down around him possibly reigniting the same insecurities from earlier that he worked so hard to ensure wouldn't come to pass. His boyfriend breaks up with him despite Thame promising to take on all of the burden and tiredness to make it work. He's being forced to leave everyone behind and he's being left behind too.

That flip from Thame being convinced that the best thing for him to do would be to leave for everyone else's sake, to the rest of Mars and Po being convinced that the best thing for them to do is to step back for Thame's sake is so so important to me. It's not just Thame who made making his friends' dreams come true into his own dream. The rest of Mars and Po did the same thing with Thame's dream. But how does it all work when the sacrifices you're willing to make for the dreams of your loved ones are at the cost of their happiness because they're at the cost of your own?

Thame's effort didn't go to waste. We see all of that effort manifesting in how it opens doors for the other members and Po so much more easily now. But it's also true that at the base of those new successes lie the shattered hopes of that shared dream between them.

The show sets up the question of whether the person who's leaving others behind feels hurt, and we see so many iterations of it. We see Earn leaving behind the person who was an instrumental part of his success without a second thought. We see Thame giving himself up and leaving for the band's sake. We see Jun leave twice, the first so that his friend would for once think of himself and his own success instead of letting the others drag him away from it, and the second when he's sure that his friend can be what the person that he cares for deserves. We see Pepper being completely willing to leave if the two biggest parts of his life cannot exist together and we see Gam actually leaving when it proves to be true. And we see Po leave because he cannot let himself become an obstacle in Thame's path and make all of their efforts come to waste. If that's the price to pay so that the people they love can have what they want then so be it, right? Their sacrifices are insignificant in the face of that.

But what happens when all those sacrifices still aren't enough? When the cost becomes too huge to bear?

[vaguely-concerned]

every so often, varric will write a black fox story. not anything fancy or for publication or anything, just for fun and because he knows hawke has a soft spot for them. ("an intrepid hero getting into and out of all kinds of trouble and the merry band of misfits following inseparably in his wake? can't imagine why".) some of them are experimental, some of them are straightforward retellings; they're generally pretty short and quick to do, so he allows himself to play around with form and genre and language more than he does in his professional work. stretching over the span of almost twenty years as they do, they contain some of his favourite pieces of his own writing, and some of the most '...was I huffing lyrium fumes or drunk or both for this one, hawke? what the actual hell is this' pieces. hawke keeps every single one of them. varric speculates that this is either because they're just that sentimental, or possibly that it's for future blackmailing purposes. he usually has one ready for their birthday. they have so much blackmail material on him anyway by this point, he figures, what's one more piece of ammunition going to do one way or the other.

varric finishes one of these black fox tales a couple of nights before he brings rook with him to minrathous — the last one. it's about the very last black fox story, the one where the black fox and his friends all disappear together into the depths of arlathan forest, where those in the know say you can find them to this very day, if you know where to look, or if you ever find yourself in trouble and in need of a helping hand. they'll turn up to aid a traveller in need, and disappear back between the shaded trees again once the day is saved, squabbling all the way, seeking treasures and unlikely quests yet unfound and unimagined.

they say on some days, you can hear them as laughter and friendly bickering on the wind from a couple of clearings over. it's not the end, it's just other adventures, some other place. that's the thing about stories. they're funny that way.

(once he wrote a book for his mother on her deathbed and read it to her through the comfortless and drawn-out hours of the troubled nights, and he burned the book the day she died and never spoke of it again.)

after he finishes the manuscript, he sits with it for a long time in the quiet and the candlelight before he wraps it up properly and sends it off back home to kirkwall. he attaches a note -- a story, to the best of all my stories, the one I'd tell forever if I could. take care of each other while I'm gone. first one to arrive saves seats at the bar, right? happy birthday, and send all my lack of love to the merchant's guild, as always. —Varric

he sends that to hawke. just in case. and then he gets up and he goes to find rook — it's time to get going.