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I feel like I should actually try to write on this blog so I look active but also... promo image. Hm. 🤔

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No spoilers, but DT is very cathartic for a WoL that is guard-dog coded. Let her watch from afar until you tell her to bite. :)

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For the relationship ask thing: Kor & Alphinaud!

Have your followers send you NPCs and you describe your OC's feelings/relationship to that NPC! I have nothing to say except I went insane.

He is just a child.

She reminded herself of this fact through gnashed teeth and folded arms; he is just a child, he does not deserve your ire.

But Kor was very tired of children. She had only recently interred one to the sea — to the crabs, the fish and the three-day rot — and the arrogant intervention wore thin in the repetitive belief that Alphinaud knew better simply because he was the prodigal grandson of a man who gave his life to Eorzea. He intermingled with the potentate, both of city-states and non, and she watched with loosely contained annoyance how he prattled on.

But she watched. That was one thing the Captain was good at, she supposed — watching. Guarding. He monopolised it with lazy gestures and self-assured smiles, and she fell easily into the role of dog to its master. Not because she respected him exactly, but because it was all she knew. Because she couldn't be better.

Should she have said something? Should she have intervened? She saw the way they looked at him like he was a thing to be used, a stepping-stone to their aspirations, armies and Warrior of Light. When Ilberd glanced to her she could see intention in the edges of his easy smile, "Daughter of Ala Mhigo, don't you see the opportunity?"

If looks could kill she'd encase him in the amber of her eyes, right at the juncture where equitable manner bordered on ridicule.

Why didn't she? Because the last time she had said something, the last time she tried to intervene, it only sent the child running.

Right into the jaws of the deep.

He is just a child. He was tired. Alphinaud doesn't complain (perhaps he knew better the limits of her patience), but she could see the weariness in his eyes — exhaustion hugging the corners, hoping to fuse with the rest of the cold truths.

And they were cold. Not just of the temperature, for Ishgard was abysmally frigid, but of the loss of their comrades and the fall of their station; how their pedigree had diminished to the kindness of an foreign nation determined to arise from the ice, even if their sanctuary to accused murders might isolate them all over again.

Or heresy. Koret thought herself more superstitious than religious, though maybe it was all the same in the end. An offering to a deity, a prayer for good luck (give Llymlaen a Dagger just so she can throw it at the bastard again), click your heels three times or whatever-the-fuck. She wasn't praying to anyone when she rescued Tataru and he from the Tribunal. She only knew outrage and the acrid taste of bile in the back of her throat at the thought she could lose them too.

"Are you alright?" It was the first time she reached for him since the banquet, her fingers just a little too tight on the groove of his shoulder. Kor hadn't even thought about it, so natural was the movement, but when he jumped and fixed his gaze to her, she immediately knew her misstep.

"...I am fine, my friend," he answered, and before she could whip her hand away he had laid his own atop of it. They stood there for a far too long in their strange silence until Kor thought to squeeze once and finally relinquish her hold. She stepped back, awkward in her intimacy, and could not look directly in the eye.

"Good."

She soon realised he was learning the values of leadership, too. He saw them in Aymeric's careful navigation, Estinien's brute force and Ysyale's hope. All had their merits but all had their flaws. He internalised them and stepped carefully over the ruins of his mistakes until his friends were whole and hearty again.

Not a leader, just a comrade... a friend.

He is just a child, but fucking hell he's a clever one. Kor couldn't deny his intelligence, especially given what she knew of Sharlayan, but she was reminded of the old idiom of teaching a man to fish: teach a boy bureaucracy and he might become a man through it. Show him what it means to lead, to plan and to prepare; allow him the privilege of the floor, but be prepared to challenge him when he oversteps. Do not squander his inexperience, but allow innovation to bleed through tried methods.

Frankly, she appreciated his methodology, for it allowed her little room to think about herself. He was the enthusiastic foreigner, not the diaspora grasping at the hems of the little culture his father felt prudent to leave him. He could meet the gaze of M'naago, Lyse and Conrad instead of staring just a little too far to the left.

She only had the left these days. When she woke up screaming in the night, disorientated from a lack of vision, his were the hands intermingled among the many that grasped her frantic fingers. "You are safe," he reassured her, squeezing tightly in the din. "Koret, you are safe."

She wasn't sure she believed him, but it was comforting all the same. There was a familiarity in their company now, whether she liked it or not. Kor teased him for his whimsy and his innocence (the art, the sword — fuck, he was a terrible swimmer) while he offered wisdom beyond his years and a hope they could make a difference in the world.

So who was holding him — why did he need to be held? It was her job to protect him, her job to guard; she knew the job well well since the banquet, it was the one thing she was good at. Kor ran to him so desperately, wrenching his lifeless figure out of their arms as if her violence might be the one thing that would bring him back to her, yet his weight was like an anchor that pulled them roughly to the ground.

"Alphinaud!"

She cradled him, one hand in his hair while the other gripped him far too tightly, but he did not wake. Not even when she shook him, not even when the other Scions had to pull her from him, not even when her voice cracked in its snarl. "Wake up you fucking — WAKE UP!"

She wondered if he was a child in body only, given all the things he'd seen. Weeks for her was a whole year for him; a year of separation, strife and sorrow. Alphinaud was so infuriatingly formal when she found him, as if embarrassed by his failings on the Source, and balked when she wrapped her arms tight around him to prove to herself he was real.

"A-Are you alright?" By the navigator did she laugh! It was a desperate, pained sound, but how could she hope to encapsulate anger and relief in the same breath?

"Just dandy. Now shut up."

And he did, bless him. He hugged her tightly back.

She wanted... a lot of things then. Mostly she just wanted to apologise. She wanted to apologise for failing him and forcing him to this foreign world. She wanted to tell him that she was alright, even when she was igniting from the inside and spewing hot ichor across the floor.

Kor wanted to lie to him, but she was a terrible liar. When she writhed on the floor of the Crystarium, and the veins in her hands turned a vibrant gold, she wanted to scream that he was just a kid! He was a child discussing how much time she had left, contemplating how they might survive if she were to purify in front of them. He did not deserve it. Alisae did not deserve it. Ryne did not deserve it.

He had weathered the brunt of her suicidal ideation for far too long. Enough. Enough.

"If the fucking bastard is going to disown you, I'll just adopt you myself. It can't be that hard. You're like, what, seventeen —?"

The way Kor paused was enough to make them snort with laugher, so stunned was she that she rendered herself speechless. The Captain looked like she had swallowed a lemon, as if she only just became reacquainted with the passage of time, and her single eye narrowed to glare at the twins suspiciously.

"How old are you?"

"Literally or figuratively?" Alisaie asked, slicing through the tension of the hour with impish wit.

Koret Swan threw up her hands as she came to the horrific realisation they weren't really children anymore. But they were hers — they were her kids — and they only laughed harder despite it.

"I think I should like to watch you contemplate a bell longer," Alphinaud teased, that self-assured smile appearing when Alisaie snickered, and she had a mind to strange him anew.

"I think I should like to kick your arse," Kor answered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Fuck me."

"Brother, we graduated! She swears openly in our company!"

Never mind, she was going to kick both their arses. They could be orphans.

The end of the universe was no place for anyone, least of all them. They held her hands in theirs, small when pressed against the leather of her gloves, and it was their steps that carried her to the precipice of apathy.

It wasn't that Kor would not continue (they had come so far, seen so much, done too much), but that she knew what taking those last few steps meant.

She thought she knew death a thousand times. She swore It was her friend when her sister died, a siren calling her so sweetly from the craggy rocks as it ushered her into the king-tide. It wore the faces of friends — occasionally her enemies if it suited — and soothed her aching bones when exhaustion became almost too much to bear. "There is a solution," it cooed, "if you're brave enough to take it."

No! She wanted to live! For fuck sake, she wanted to live — and she wanted them to live! She didn't want to walk towards the yawning void with its songbird's dead-eyed stare; she wanted to be home in Mor Dhona with the their annoying merrymaking and cheap, frothy beer. She didn't want to keep stepping over ground earned with her loved ones' lives while the Endsinger herself prised her ribcage higher with her butchers knife. I will take everything from you, and you will only know despair.

Kor did not feel worthy. Tears streaked her cheeks as she tried not to cry, and the tension in her jaw was excruciating when she stalled.

There was no bravery in death, but they were so brave. Alphinaud sensed her pause and took the first step forward, turning just enough to face her, and smiled as he squeezed her fingers in his.

"Come, my dearest friend," he softly encouraged, "There's not much farther left."

I love you, I love you, I love you. She wanted to tell them more than anything but her mouth would not make the sound. Instead, Kor looked to both of them, desperately trying to memorise every inch of their faces on the chance she might lose them forever. I love you. I don't want you to do this. I don't want to do this.

Acceptance was the swallow that felt like ingesting razor wire. When this was over she would bring them back, and she would give them everything.

They deserved everything.

Hence, she walked.

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I might come back for Dawntrail.

I MAKE NO PROMISES... but I might.

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Nature is healing 😌

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𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓 / a private, semi-selective multi-muse divulged by sea. featuring characters from final fantasy, world of warcraft & others. previously abyssine / tatarusdwells. if you could give this a ♡ or ↺ so I can find people again, it would be appreciated !

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🌿🍒 / kaia and ardbert @eredeha

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐎, touching down by Eulmore before the cover of dusk. Ardbert was thankful for it, now that he could give Seto a rest, as he was convinced certain members of his party might murder him if he dare event hint they'd miss the celebration proper. ( ❝I'm not saying we will!❞ He tried to assure, ignoring their vicious stares. ❝I'm just saying we might not — you're... you're really not going to let me suggest we take a rest, are you?❞ )

The answer, he swiftly found out, was no.

Still, with a final brush to his treasured companion, he couldn't say he regretted the journey. Seto was tired but seemed content in his barn, he could hear the distant roar of drinks and merrymaking, and the candle-lights strewn from the upper and lower decks were a sight to behold. It was a far cry from the modest celebrations he grew up with in his village, though that was sort of the whole point of journeying.

❝You rest easy, yeah? I won't push you for a few days.❞

Most of his companions had left already, ushered off while he tended to their steeds, and Ardbert stuck his hands in his pockets as he left Seto and made his way to the street.

Or... at least he would have, if not for the ominous figure standing at the threshold of his freedom.

❝You alright, Kaia?❞ What a fool's question — he mistook her lingering for an ailment or concern! Her wicked laugher gave her away as she grinned at him, a single finger pointing to the sprig of mistletoe hanging just above the door.

❝Pay the toll,❞ declared she. He just stood there gobsmacked.

❝Have you been waitin' there the whole time?❞

She did not answer him, simply repeating her phrase. Ardbert felt his cheeks grow hot ( it wasn't like he hadn't kissed her before. he'd kissed her quite a number of times, in fact! ) like a schoolboy being called on his crush, and he lifted his hands from his pockets like she were a colt in need of calming.

❝Can we just go into the city first? Get a drink?❞

No. Pay the toll.

Of all the trials and tribulations he would eventually recall, he swore she had to create the most challenging.

❝Fine. You get one, Kaia. One.❞ He made his way over to her, thinking he'd get away with a peck or even a little kiss to the forehead.

That was until she pulled him down. So much for one.

The fool would kiss her more than that tonight.

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🌿🍒 / for emet ( you said be indulgent!!!! )

❝𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐀 —❞

To think he expected better ! His voice was a tired lecture, incredulity woven in like a weavers project gone awry, and Hades felt the weight of the tangle across his shoulders sagging from the disappointment. It was one thing for him to be dragged from his work for such a banal holiday ( ❛My apologies, did you mistake me for someone who enjoys such a ridiculous charade?❜ he said with cold sarcasm, glaring at the ugly sweaters, the malted drinks — the way he wished Hythlodaeus might choke on his laugher ) and quite another for him to be an active participate in it. When he stared at her, he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

The sigh did little to loosen the tension — he held it close in the ivory of his breastbone, sheltered by the bars of his ribs — but, as the man uncrossed his arms, he seemed to shred at least one layer of protection. ❝Why am I surprised?❞ he asked the air, his fingers a lofty request for missing gods to deign him an answer.

He found his answer in the curve of her chin, his fingers a tenderness like the rivers of Elysium carrying the dead to her tides. They had to be, patron of the dead — the last warmth of life felt before the end — and when his second hand joined the first he cupped her cheek and met her lips so gently.

Briefly, beneath the gardens of life and love, like the tumultuous peace they clung to. They would ignore the howl of wolves at their door just a little longer.

He parted as quickly as he came. But, when he looked at her, the ambivalence smoothed to a bemused smirk as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. ❝What a foolish custom,❞ he murmured, before leaving her entirely. He returned back to the gold-inlayed halls and champagne; to Venat's interrogation and Hythlodaeus teasing with a wave of his hand and that self-same deadpan sarcasm.

❝If you wish to be my chaperone, consider yourself fired.❞

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Capping Elpis is literally an exercise in me grabbing Hades and shaking him like a rag doll.

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As it's officially ticked over here, Happy New Year! May 2024 treat you kindly. ♥

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❝ it’s been a long time since someone stuck their neck out for me like that. ❞

❝𝐈'𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐓 𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐓.❞

The woman's sincerity were like jaws wrapped around a ligament, threatening to snap those threadbare tendons of cold ambivalence, and Koret Swan did not like it. It came with the accusatory point of her pinky finger with her thumb and index pressed to the bridge of her nose and the other hand waving her off like a fly.

In truth, the captain wasn't sure what possessed her to bail Flint out, other than her own suicidal stupidity. She could barely consider her 'crew', it wasn't like she was there for her fight and, to be frank, pulling the strings of the thalassocracy while her father held a lofty seat would no doubt come back to bite her. Yet she stood in that dingy Limsan gaol all the same, ignoring the caw of other prisoners and the drip of briny sea water that left an uncomfortable weight from the moisture on her overcoat. It wasn't a difficult bribe; a little gil, the promise of a shaving from her Dimitri's assets.

❛ So fucking stupid,❜ she thought, watching as the roe man clamoured down the slickened stairs. One coin for his effort, two for the unlocking, three for their safe passage wrapped inside a parcel of butcher's paper. ❝Pleasure doin' business with ya, captain,❞ said so condescendingly.

She kept to her silence — the gnash of her teeth and the lock of her jaw ( the pain was a comfort, she could ground herself to it ). He must have felt so clever in a banal mockery, one she'd heard so many times before, and the bravado was a bore as he slid the key into the latch. Kor breezed past him, shrugging out of the navy felt she used to wrap around the other's shoulders and tie off at the sleeves.

❝Keep that on,❞ she ordered. ❝I'm not going to deal with you getting a fucking chill on the way out.❞

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true tumblr war veterans remember: follow forevers, blog rates, tumblr crushes, accent challenges

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baldur's gate 3 starters (part 1)

part 1 / ? .

❝ a less trusting person might think this all sounds very suspicious. ❞ ❝ you say all the right words, but i’m not sure you mean the right things. ❞ ❝ i know somewhere quiet. somewhere intimate. somewhere we can…indulge in each other. ❞ ❝ eugh, don’t be nice to me. it makes me want to be nice back. ❞ ❝ we needn’t be enemies. there’s plenty of those to go around already. ❞ ❝ there’s a steeliness to you, an unwavering tenacity in the face of, to be frank, quite dire odds. ❞ ❝ even the waves of fate can break upon the shores of will. ❞ ❝ i appreciate anyone that opens a conversation with threats of bodily harm. ❞ ❝ oh, you know me - ever the optimist. i’m trying to focus on the positives. ❞ ❝ i’m not easily impressed by people, but you’re stronger than i gave you credit for. ❞ ❝ there’s an air about you. something alien. ❞ ❝ loosen the grip on your pride for one blasted moment, won’t you? ❞ ❝ it’s been a long time since someone stuck their neck out for me like that. ❞ ❝ there’s something odd about this village. people skulk around like they’ve something to hide. ❞ ❝ you know, if you want to spend time with me, you only have to say so. ❞ ❝ i want to know what the world sees when it looks at me. what you see. ❞ ❝ what’s better than a devil you don’t know? a devil you do. ❞ ❝ you must know that you’re…that you’re very special to me. ❞ ❝ the gods are nothing if not vindictive in their vengeance. ❞ ❝ stay with me a while, will you? day will come all too soon. ❞ ❝ here’s my little treat with their cheeks all flushed. ❞ ❝ i am terrified. i will not claim otherwise. ❞ ❝ my apologies. i’m not quite myself yet. i had the strangest dream last night. ❞ ❝ we didn’t die today. tomorrow, perhaps. but not today. ❞ ❝ leader’s need to make tough decisions. we do what we must. ❞ ❝ i think that unknowable powers come with unknowable consequences. ❞ ❝ i’ve had a lifetime’s fill of watching little men puff themselves up with grand titles. ❞ ❝ in these times, all we can trust are the blades in our hands. ❞ ❝ it’s not easy to turn away from one you once loved. ❞ ❝ much has been promised to you, hasn’t it? but what has been taken from you? ❞ ❝ damn it all. i can do nothing right - not a damn thing. ❞ ❝ every instinct i have tells me that nothing’s changed. that i’m still just a means to an end. ❞ ❝ do not speak of a story you only know the half of. ❞ ❝ i dreamt every night that you’d come back to me. that somehow it was all a nightmare dawn would undo. ❞ ❝ when the time comes to strike, you must take it. for there may be only one chance. ❞ ❝ your eyes. there is pain, endless and deep. but also devotion - blazing like the sun. ❞ ❝ you’re adorable even when you’re teasing me. ❞ ❝ i don’t need your help, and i don’t need your pity. ❞ ❝ i’m more than what i was. and i’m not afraid of anything any more. ❞ ❝ i said exactly what i meant: i love you. you should never, never doubt that. ❞ ❝ this is all like some sort of terrible dream. but it’s real, isn’t it? ❞ ❝ there is no redemption. can’t you see? it is too late. ❞ ❝ i don’t know that it was brave. i just know that it was right. ❞ ❝ you took those bastards down like it was nothing. it…was amazing. ❞ ❝ they underestimated me. so they paid the price. ❞ ❝ we fight, we die, and we just hope that when our time comes, there is someone else to take our place. ❞ ❝ unfortunately for me, you’re my friend. rescuing you from mortal peril is my right. ❞ ❝ what did you think i was going to say? 'oh, come here, i'll kiss you better'? ❞ ❝ flowers are so overrated. they're bright, gaudy, and almost never make good poisons. ❞ ❝ i’ve been lied to, my whole life. and i was gullible enough to just believe it. ❞ ❝ you know, i never pictured myself as a hero. never thought i'd be the one they toast for saving so many lives. and now that i'm here…i hate it. ❞ ❝ you know, i feel a connection between us. like we're two souls walking the same path. ❞ ❝ the forgiving sort, are you? you should be careful. plenty would take advantage of that. ❞

❝ it’s as if god made you just to ruin me. ❞ ❝ perish the thought. every word i said was nothing less than true. ❞ ❝ you have a manner of irresistible desperation about you. i like it. ❞ ❝ i got my eye on you. you got the look of a troublemaker. ❞ ❝ i’m starting to think you’re my guardian angel. ❞ ❝ it seems you know me better than i know myself. ❞ ❝ you…you have no idea what you’ve done. ❞ ❝ they say madness and genius are separated by but a hair’s breadth. perhaps the same is true of madness and stupidity. ❞ ❝ oh, it’s you. don’t you get tired of telling people how to live their lives? ❞ ❝ good morning! thank you for not killing me the other night. ❞ ❝ when the time comes to strike, you must take it. for there may be only one chance. ❞ ❝ it is good to savour the moment of victory - but pace bg3 syourself. our fight is just beginning. ❞ ❝ i was too hasty to judge you. i thought you were witless, gutless, unimpressivably bland… ❞ ❝ yours is the first happy face i’ve seen in a good while. ❞ ❝ when hope has been whittled down to the very marrow of despair – that’s when you’ll come knocking on my door. ❞ ❝ thank you, my friend. maybe we’ll meet again, in another life. ❞ ❝ you’ll regret sticking your nose in my business. ❞

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I've always vibed with the idea that the gift of the oracle passes down soft memories and 'skills' to each girl in the hopes that the inheritor would be better prepared to fight the Sin Eaters.

When you couple that with Ryne, Vauthury and what happened to the last Oracle... there's little doubt in my mind she has a healthy fear of him due to his power, but the additional imprint of what happened to the girl before her? I don't blame her for lying low and sticking by Ranjit, especially when she was younger.

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I'm gonna do it; this blog exists for my hyperfixations, after all.

What if i added Snow to my roster...

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What if i added Snow to my roster...

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