#...i realised that all of my other character sets for this event so far have been pride flags and then this is just arm jhfjksdhdfjkd

[kinnbig]

KP Anniversary | Favourite Supporting Characters [2/?] | Arm

[snowthedemonfox]

So we got some screenshots for Ep 3, and I'm going to talk about some things I've noticed + some theories

I went off for over an hour in the bunnydoll burrow's VC talking about everything I noticed, but I'm realising writing it all down would be a smarter move, cause I know I'd forget it. If I've missed anything you think is important, let me know! I'll edit this post with new notes.

Let's start with the first screenshot, because that just makes the most sense:

The elephant in the room is the realistic human hand. I don't doubt this is the scene that has some level of blood and gore in it. We can't see what the hand is connected to, but whatever it is, it seems to be taller than Pomni and Kinger. They're both looking up, and the camera angle is facing down towards them both.

We can see 2 heads hanging from the wall behind Kinger, and what we can assume to be a 3rd behind the desk behind the hand.

One of these heads, as many have pointed out, seems to resemble Pomni. The face is entirely white, what I can assume is an eye seems to be the same size as Pomni's, and you can see that familiar looking hair on the side.

Even the other two things we see look like other members of the cast!

The head to the right of Kinger looks like Ragatha. It's got the hair, and even the face looks to be made of actual fabric, like a real doll. It seems whatever these things are, they're meant to look like more 'horror' versions of the characters.

(Side note, but if I had to guess, if Glitch releases a 3rd sticker sheet for episode 3, I wouldn't surprised if we got a new set of icon variations for the main cast. But instead of candy, we get these horror versions instead. I think that'd be cool, and I really hope that's what happens.)

You could even go as far to say the 'human' hand we're seeing is from the horror version of Kinger. Like I said before, the camera is looking down at them. Why would it be looking down? Because whatever's looking at them, is attached to the wall.

Moving onto other details in the room, we can see there's a chair behind Pomni with some kind of light on it. At first, I thought this might have been the tape recorder from the February trailer, but you can see the tape recorder is on a desk, not a chair.

And while there is a desk in the room, whatever is on there doesn't look like a tape recorder. It looks more like a photo, or some kind of radio.

The giant 'M' on the rug. We know the ghost lady's name is Martha Mildenhall, so this probably implies she owns the mansion the gang are exploring. Why would she need their help, though? Maybe whatever force is moving the hand in the screenshot, is some kind of 'evil' ghost, and that's why Pomni and the others are there to help. There's evil ghosts inhabitating the mansion, and Martha needs help to get rid of them. It's simple, it's your basic video game quest, it seems like a normal adventure plot that Caine would come up with.

There seems to be something behind the chair, but I can't make out if it's a door, some curtains, or some kind of closet. The lighting isn't doing me any favours. Either way, I doubt it's important to the episode, probably just background decoration.

As for my other thoughts that aren't as related to the screenshot itself, I do believe that everyone is going to be split up. Obviously Kinger and Pomni are working together, but I'm still not sure if Jax would be hanging with Ragatha & Gangle, or if he'd be off doing his own thing. As for Zooble, I'll get to them later.

And this might just be me looking into things too much, but it almost looks like one of Kinger's eyes is focused entirely on whatever is behind the camera, while the other isn't focused at all. Like he's half paying attention to the 'danger' he and Pomni are in.

But that's really all I have to say about the first screenshot. Let's move onto the main event:

Again, let's get the obvious out of the way: new Zooble design! They've got some new parts, like the arms, unicorn horn, and the blocky yellow and pink thing, but also some old parts, like the bluish-green ring, and their classic black and white antenna. So far, I like this design! I'm happy to see that they've decided to mix things up a bit. Not my favourite design, but still decent. They've got good taste.

Before I talk about Zooble and Caine, I first want to talk about the location they're in. At first, I thought this might've been Zooble's room, but looking closer, it's obviously not. Then I thought it was that little desk area at the end of the dorm hallway.

But nope, the hallway has different plants, picture frames, wallpaper, and no chairs to be seen. The plants we can see look similar to those seen in Caine's resturant realm from Ep 1, so I think I can safely guess that this is a new location, made specifically for him and Zooble to chat.

Speaking of that, I think that's going to be the driving point of Zooble's character development this episode. Something is going to convince them to join the future adventures, and it seems this will be that something. We know thanks to the AMA, that Zooble not going on adventures is important to their character, so having their episode focus on this topic makes sense.

What I can assume happened to lead up to this interaction is this:

Caine announced the adventure, and just like in both Ep 1&2, Zooble immediately expresses that they are not interested, and walks off. Caine can't really do anything about it yet, so he focuses on everyone else. Explains the rest of the adventure to them, and sends them on their way.

He then catches up to Zooble before they reach wherever they planned on going, and teleports them both to this new room. It looks almost like some kind of waiting room, or a room where they're both supposed to talk things out. It's got the comfy chairs, wall art, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a little table between them.

Zooble, obviously, is not impressed. They don't care about Caine's adventures, and want nothing to do with whatever he has planned for them in the meantime. Caine, on the other hand, just wants to figure out why Zooble doesn't want to go on his adventures. He spends so much time figuring them out! Just for the humans! Why won't Zooble participate!?

This very likely evolves into an argument between the two. I like how Caine is clearly angry in this screenshot. It's nice to see him show some more variety when it comes to emotion!! Zooble doesn't care for whatever Caine is saying, and Caine just wants to understand why they don't care.

Something happens, maybe they do talk it out, maybe something else, but by the end of the episode, Zooble decides that maybe going on a few adventures isn't that bad. I think it's way too early to guess what happens in that huge timeskip, but for now, this is the best I've got.

I feel Zooble's arc in this episode might touch on a few topics, like how while they might think staying by themselves all day and doing their own thing is better for them, isolating themselves isn't doing anyone any favours, and that, for lack of a better term, going 'outside' every once in a while can't hurt.

... and that's pretty much all I can think of to say regarding these two screenshots! I'm sure we'll get to learn more as the episode release gets closer, but I'm excited to see how things turn out!! :3

[porcelainseashore]

Into the Ether (14)

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Vampire! Toreador! Leon Kennedy x Fem! Reader

Summary: At the all-night events cafe you run, you’ve become acquainted with an elusive patron, Leon, though you can never remember the last moments of your interactions together. After a harrowing encounter, a love-hate relationship develops between the two of you as you grapple with your newfound status in a world of darkness and investigate the reasons behind the untimely attacks.

Content & Warnings: 18+ Resident Evil x Vampire: The Masquerade crossover, horror, mystery, romance, slow burn, strangers to enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, eventual smut, swearing, smoking, alcohol, drug references, non consensual blood drinking, blood bond, vampire turning, violence, injury, mild gore, torture, religious themes, minor character death, RE ensemble, VtM concepts.

Author's Note: Drug and mild gore references ahead. I’m back from sailing around the Norwegian islands, which made me realise how much I missed outdoor activities, especially in the summer! As I’ll be engaging in more of that and playing in two VtM campaigns, I have less time for writing overall. So, I won't be able to update this fic regularly, though I intend to finish the story. For everyone who has been following me this far, thanks a million for your support! I hope you continue to enjoy my writings, however spontaneous they may be ❤️

Taglist: @admirxation @angelstargel @miss-oranje-disco-dancer @delulusimps @g0thesqe ✨

AO3 Link

Chapter 14: Renegade

It was the first time you’d jolted violently awake, no sweat, your body frigid and gray. Your eyes snapped to the digital clock by the bedside, its angry red numericals burning white spots into your retina. The sun had already set, but it was still early. Leon hadn’t moved a muscle.

Quick steps along the stairs, your feet were light and hurried, as you peered around the apartment to check if everything was in order. It was. 

You fiddled with the remote, opening the shutters so that you could view the night sky. Was it intact too? Shades of lavender spread across the horizon, merging with rich indigos in the encroaching darkness. You could already spot a multitude of faint stars emerging in the background. A pale crescent moon hung overhead. 

Nothing seemed out of place, but you couldn't shake the uneasiness that had plagued you since rising from your slumber. No, wait, that wasn’t right. You remembered dreaming, but you couldn’t recall what about. It wasn’t normal for corpses to dream, was it? You were sure it wasn’t the Abyss or the Beast speaking to you, so were there other causes that Leon hadn’t known and informed you about?

Instead of pursuing it any further, you grabbed a blood bag from the fridge and emptied its contents into your mouth, not even bothering to use a glass. You would’ve hunted tonight, but Rebecca had required both of you to be present in advance to prepare the ritual chamber before the prisoner would be brought in.

You heard him lumbering down the stairwell, lethargic and sluggish, like he’d willed himself to wake up before his usual time because of you. Leaning his weight against your back, he snaked his arms around your waist, mumbling incoherently into the crook of your neck, “Nervous about the appointment?”

Placing one hand over his grasp and the other around his head, you massaged his scalp languidly as he hummed with satisfaction. “Just a bad dream,” you sighed, downplaying the pervasive, ominous feeling that had lingered.

He twitched, an obvious sign of his concern about what you had revealed. “Hmm, that doesn’t usually happen; not that I’ve heard of anyway.” His voice was nonchalant, but you could detect an uneven stammer at its edges.

Turning you around to face him, he tilted your chin towards him, his eyes veiled with worry. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I would, but my mind’s coming up blank,” you admitted in frustration. “It just feels like something’s gonna go wrong.”

He drew you in, clinging to you staunchly as he whispered against your chilled skin, “I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

“I know,” you whispered back, your crisp breath tickling his collarbone. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know,” he echoed.

You allowed yourself to melt fully into him, savoring a moment of peace where time seemed to be suspended. Both of you understood they were rare and hard to come by in these nights, especially with your journey ahead. 

When you breathed again, he hoisted you up effortlessly, carrying you in his arms as he returned to where you came from. He excused it as “snoozing for a bit longer” in bed, though you did anything but. 

And all too soon, it was time to go, but his scent and mark on you still remained.

━━━━━━━━━━━

“Oh, I’ll handle that,” Rebecca said, taking the unusual apparatus out of your hands as she set them aside. “No offense, but they’re kinda delicate.”

She handed you a bunch of trinkets and a musty cloth with occult sigils imprinted on it. “Maybe you could lay these out instead? Just follow the shape in this diagram.”

You studied details on the page she was pointing at a leather bound manuscript, attempting to replicate the same design on the floor. Leon was busy speaking with Jill, placating her as she grumbled about not being allowed to be present at the scene when the ritual took place. 

Rebecca had insisted on you being her guide and for Leon to keep watch outside, so there would be no interference. After all, it was the two of you who were personally assigned by the Prince to take on this task, and not the Sheriff. The fewer people around in the ritual chamber, the better chance Rebecca had of completing it successfully.

“I actually learnt this ritual from a Tremere Thinblood, well, I guess they’re all just Thinbloods to the Prince,” she revealed, smiling wistfully as she mixed the contents within an apparatus. “I just tweaked it a bit so that you could focus on specific memories, piecing them together, rather than relying on the whims and fancies of what the Kindred deemed as important.”

“You’re not called an expert for nothing,” you pointed out, smiling back at her while you worked. “What happened to the Thinblood anyway?”

You weren’t optimistic, after all, the Thinbloods or Duskborn were those whose blood were too diluted from Caine to be considered as part of ‘normal’ Kindred society. They were the weakest, but also the most lifelike of all vampires. Jealousy and fear made them direct targets of everyone else, particularly the Camarilla.

She heaved an audible sigh, pausing her intricate preparations for a moment. “Destroyed by the Scourge, along with his sire.” 

Though she could not voice her opinion on the matter, you could tell that she did not agree with the outcome the Prince had dictated. From what Leon had told you, the Scourge reported directly to Wesker and was somewhat regarded as his personal executioner. It was also a backup option in case Jill ever strayed from her loyalty. In this case, weeding out the Thinbloods was one of their duties, and that made your disdain for the Prince grow.

“It’s a shame, since he was so talented,” she added quietly, just loud enough for you to hear. 

You threw her a sympathetic glance, mouthing an apology which she acknowledged gratefully. Then, she walked over to check on how you were getting on before asking, “You ever been on a drug trip before?”

“What?” you choked, slightly taken aback by the sudden change in subject. “Um, sure, yeah…?”

“Great, well, this is something like that,” she continued as if it were part of everyday conversation. “I’ll be incapacitated, so you’ll need to make sure that I’m where I’m supposed to be while in Memoriam. As you’re my only link to the tangible world, I’ll need your reassurances every now and then through voice and touch. That’ll prevent me from slipping away.”

You nodded. It sounded easy enough.

“And, uh, you’ll have to watch the timer,” she instructed, handing over an analogue alarm clock to you. “It is absolutely crucial that I’m back and awake by the 15-minute mark, otherwise weird shit starts to happen.”

“Like what?”

She shrugged indifferently. “Mental trauma at the very least.”

You guffawed in disbelief, realizing this was no joking matter. “And at the very worst?”

“Permanent torpor.”

“Jesus!” you blurted out. “Rebecca, are you—”

“I’ll be fine.” She squeezed your shoulder, seemingly still in good spirits. “Just remember to start reviving me a few minutes in advance.”

“Everything alright back there?” Leon called out, eyeing your discussion curiously. Jill had disappeared.

“Yeah, we’re good to go,” Rebecca commented with a thumbs up sign.

Eventually, Jill returned with the prisoner in tow, scarred and dragged around by the chains. He was no longer thrashing about like what you had witnessed in the video recording, but mute, as his will had been broken. You could see it in his listless eyes; he was a slave who had accepted whatever fate befell him. It sickened you to the core that Jill had tortured him to the extent that Final Death was considered the most peaceful option. However, if what Rebecca had promised was correct, you knew you had made the right decision.

“Hunnigan and I will be watching from the monitors,” Jill commented gruffly as she bolted the prisoner in place to a reinforced anchor on the floor, positioned just in the middle of the markings you had made with the materials provided to you earlier. “So you better not try anything funny, usurper.”

It was a pointed remark aimed at Rebecca, but the Tremere took it in her stride, offering nothing but a polite wave as Jill exited the room.

“Ladies,” Leon nodded to the both of you courteously. “I’ll be on the other end of this door. Stay safe, please.” The last word was drawn out, almost pleading, as the blue of his irises flickered, holding your gaze.

“We will,” you asserted, as he tore his eyes away from you, reluctantly closing the door behind him with a secure click.

You followed Rebecca, making sure you stayed by her side every step of the way. Lighting a row of candles on the altar table, she held out the apparatus containing the liquid she had prepared, chanting in a language that sounded ancient and otherworldly — none that you could recognize. The liquid thickened and congealed, sizzling as she clutched the apparatus close to her heart, using her fingers to stir the contents as the black concoction clung to her skin like tar. Steam rose from it, and though it appeared to be scalding hot, she was not affected. She did not burn nor yelp in pain. Her eyes glazed over white, glowing like a jackal’s at night.

The captive mourned aloud as she drew symbols on his face, as if he were crying for the loss of his unlife and knew that his Final Death was near. You felt terrible for him then, but you suppressed the urge to stop the ritual, knowing that whatever awaited him at Jill's hands instead would be far worse.

Finally, Rebecca took a lit candle, dousing its fire into the liquid which sparked a brilliant white flame, so dazzling that it hurt to look at it. There was a deafening whoosh and smash as she flung the apparatus to the ground in front of the captive, and he lit up like a bonfire, just like the one you had seen the night you died. However, there were no smoke or screams. Like an illusory magic trick, the Kindred had vanished into thin air, leaving only pale gray ashes in his wake.

She looked at you knowingly before sinking to her knees as you accompanied her. Feeding the ashes hungrily into her mouth, she devoured them whole as though it were her last meal. Powered dust swirled around the room, glittering under the dim sources of light. The more she stuffed into her mouth, the more she coughed and gagged, but she didn’t let up. The ashes decorated her chin like parched chalk and the rot of death, flaking and peeling off as others took their place. 

Soon, she slackened, her movements stuttering like a malfunctioning machine as her body turned rigid. Her eyes rolled towards the back of her head as she slumped into your outstretched arms. Gently, you laid her down within the marked out area where the Kindred had been confined earlier.

“I’m here,” you murmured, holding her hand as you kept an eye on the clock.

There was no response. If you didn’t know better, you would have thought she was a mummified carcass, a relic waiting to be found and entombed in some museum halfway across the world. You reassured yourself that this was just the beginning, and you didn’t need to worry yet.

Time seemed to pass by excruciatingly slowly, like the fluid from an IV drip gradually entering the body through a network of catheters and needles, the effects of which you could never feel until it was too late. Every so often, you stroked Rebecca’s hand, verbally reminding her she had a place to return to. However, you were met with blank silence, and it seemed as though you had gone crazy and were talking to yourself.

By now, the ten-minute mark had been reached and there was still no sign of her coming back. At the moment, there was enough buffer time for you to revive her, and you prayed that this wouldn’t end up any worse. 

Tapping her cheek lightly, you called out, “Rebecca? Can you hear me? There’s only five minutes left, you need to start waking up.”

At first, you merely coaxed her, but as each minute passed, your taps and voice grew more urgent. However, she remained out cold. Why was she taking so long? What was holding her back?

Three minutes remaining. Not good.

You broke out into short, rapid little breaths. “Come on, Rebecca?” You were shaking her lifeless body now. “If you can’t find the rest of them, just leave it!”

Two minutes. Shit!

Your heart raced in fear and your nerves fired up as you doubled down on your efforts to bring her back into the real world. Nothing was going to stop you from doing so.

Meanwhile, Leon had been waiting patiently outside the chamber. So far, things were mind numbingly boring and quiet, which was good. Why Rebecca had requested him to physically stand watch at the location baffled him. There wasn’t anything the cameras wouldn’t be able to catch, and not to mention, the security systems in Elysium were top-notch. However, she seemed to trust Kindred instincts more.

Then, he heard some noises coming from inside the room. Focusing his senses, he heard your frantic voice yelling at Rebecca, trying to rouse her from her comatose state. Before he could head in to help you, the light beams flickered, as if the power had been cut for a split second. 

He glanced up, noticing that someone had killed the cameras. They weren’t blinking red anymore. His muscles tensed, instinctively shifting into a combat stance as he readied himself for the incoming intruder. 

Just as he predicted, a blurred figure from the corner of his eye whizzed past. Sharpening his reflexes, he timed his move, reaching out to grab the culprit by their arm. All at once, he came face-to-face with the last person he wanted to be stuck in a corridor with.

“Ada? What the hell?” he snarled, finally piecing together the last parts of the puzzle. “I should’ve known…”

“You never should’ve underestimated your sire,” she tutted coyly, running her other hand up his chest provocatively.

He recoiled from her touch in disgust, throwing the hand he had seized back at her. “The Prince will have your head for this!” he hissed.

“Resorting to threats now, are we?” she laughed derisively. “Well, don’t worry, I can always counter with my own.”

Grazing a stiletto fingernail along the pulse point of his neck, she leaned in and whispered suggestively, “If you and your childe want to live to see another night, you better listen to what I have to say.” 

She cocked her head, peering behind Leon at the door as she narrowed her eyes. “And from the sounds of it, she doesn’t have much time…”

“We should go in,” she decided, stepping forward, only for him to block her path.

“Ada, I don’t know what fucking mind game you’re playing, but I swear to god, if you so much as lay a finger on her, I will—”

She sighed in vexation, interrupting him as she patted his chest condescendingly. “Relax, big boy.”

Taking his hand, she pressed it against the touchpad, and the door slid open. Instantly, they were greeted by the sore sight of you desperately trying to revive Rebecca. There was only one minute left before she would be in trouble.

“For fuck’s sake—”

And that’s when you looked up, your eyes darting between the two Kindred in a mixture of complete shock and confusion.

“Ada?” you exclaimed. “Leon? The fuck—”

“Ada!” A voice next to you screeched, choking and sputtering as if she was recovering from nearly drowning underwater. “You… Heisenberg… the Baker boy… you’re planning a coup. But why?”

30 seconds. You shut off the timer. That was close, way too close.

Despite the chaos and her accusations, you’d never been more relieved to see Rebecca back to life. You pulled her in hastily for a quick hug, before turning to the rest for a much-warranted explanation.

“We only have a few minutes until Jill storms in. Hunnigan is stalling her, so I’ll make this quick.” Ada sauntered towards you with cat-like grace, while Leon trailed behind watching her suspiciously. “The Prince is getting too big for his own shoes. Even I know that the benefits of working with the Anarchs, as long as they’re kept at an arm’s length, outweigh the cons. Unfortunately for Wesker, greed will be his downfall.”

Squatting down beside you and Rebecca, she stated, “You see, I just happened to stumble upon his plans to exterminate every single one of the Anarchs here in Raccoon City, so that he can rule uncontested.”

Nodding in Leon’s direction, she addressed him, “All the time you spent with them, along with his sending you as his emissary, allowed him to gather valuable information about your friends from you.”

He shook his head in abhorrence, huffing, “You’re saying, he used me as a spy?”

Instead of responding directly, she mentioned, “Of course, to keep up appearances, he couldn’t actually have you defecting to them. Though with the increase in SI presence recently, he sensed an opportunity to redirect the threat towards Heisenberg and his crew.”

Idly inspecting the apparatus that Rebecca had dropped when she fell unconscious, she chucked it aside when she found nothing of interest. “Foolish and reckless,” she criticized. “So we’ll give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“And you expect us to trust you?” Leon spat, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he glanced between the door and Ada.

“No,” she replied simply. “But you still have a boon to pay, and your missing vessel.” She flashed you a malevolent smile as Leon drew closer, situating himself between you and his sire defensively. 

Before Rebecca could speak her mind, Ada cut in, “Your Primogen is ready to finish what Glenn started if you decide to take matters into your own hands.” That caused her to shut her mouth and sink back in defeat.

So, there were others in the Camarilla who were in on this as well, you figured. In spite of the odds, you pushed back, detesting the woman’s methods from the start. “Let me guess, you have something to threaten me with too?” you jeered.

Leaning in, she sniffed your neck deliberately and simpered, “Mmm, I can smell him on you. How wonderful it must be to still enjoy such humanly pleasures…”

“Ada…” Leon warned, but she waved him off dismissively.

“With you, my dear, I wouldn’t need to lift a finger,” she gloated confidently. “No one’s going to believe a fledgling, especially without proof. And even if they do, would you really choose to endanger your beloved sire for lying?”

She was relentless, refusing to wait for your answer as she questioned rhetorically, “Or are you particularly fond of Wesker? Seeing as you know what he’s capable of.”

It was true that you held nothing but disdain for the man, given how he had treated you from day one, setting you up to fail with his ‘tests’ and what he had done to Leon with Sherry. Maybe it was time for him to go, you found yourself agreeing with Ada, in somewhat abject horror. But were there really any better candidates to take his place?

“Think about it,” she said, getting up as she ambled towards the side of the room. Fishing out a device from her pocket, she aimed at a metal grill in the ceiling and fired a shot. A grapple hook attached itself to the grill and she yanked it down.

“What’s in it for you?” you asked.

She gave you one final smirk as she turned towards Leon, winking at him. “I’ll be in touch very soon.”

With that, she clung onto the grill, blinking up into the crawl space above as she secured it back into its original position.

At that very moment, Jill burst into the room with her Doberman in tow, growling ferociously at the three of you. Her hand had morphed into a monstrous claw, sharp enough to dice anyone into pieces and ready to tear the place apart. “Someone had better tell me what the fuck is going on!”

Rebecca was the first to respond, “I had some difficulties in Memoriam. Leon had to assist his childe in getting me back safely.”

“The cameras were cut,” Jill fumed, not backing down as she scanned your reactions for answers. “Hunnigan seemed to have a rough time bringing them back online.”

“We were kinda busy down here,” Leon claimed, already well-versed in the art of omission and partial information when it came to any form of interrogation.

“You better watch your step, smartass,” she cautioned, still not fully buying Leon’s half-truth. Her eyes gleamed dangerously. “I’m going to investigate this matter myself, and if I trace anything back to you… Carlos here is gonna have a field day ripping your goddamn balls out every night for the rest of your unlife.”

At this, her Doberman let out a series of sharp, piercing barks as it wagged its tail enthusiastically. You bristled at her threat as something within you snapped. Without thinking, you sprang up, shielding Leon with your body, almost hissing in defiance. However, Leon reined you in, his face plastered with alarm as he grasped your arm, knocking some sense into you.

“Oh, so the little diva wants to play, huh?” Jill grinned viciously, her claw twitching with anticipation.

“She meant no offense,” Leon said calmly, attempting to relieve the tension between the two of you. “Besides, you wanted the report from Rebecca?”

A diversion. He had always been a clever one.

Leon exchanged cursory looks with the Tremere, who got the hint and cleared her throat before piping up, “I know who’s behind it. They’re all Sabbat members.”

“Bella, Cassandra and Daniela,” she rattled off the top of her head.

Whatever tall tale Rebecca had come up with seemed to work as Jill relaxed her stance, quirking an eyebrow at her. “Lady Dimitrescu’s childer?”

“Yes,” Rebecca affirmed. “Beneviento’s involved too.”

“That Ugly-Ass Psycho Doll?” Jill remarked, shifting uneasily. “Hm, explains the Dementation, I suppose.”

She straightened up, her feral eyes sweeping across the room one more time before issuing a set of commands. “Right, clean this mess up, and then you and I are gonna have a talk with Hunnigan to see if the info checks out,” she directed to Rebecca.

“As for pretty boy and his harlot here, the Prince wants to see you, stat.”

Your temper flared at the insult, but you bit your tongue in an effort to suppress it. With that, Jill turned to leave. Once she was a safe distance away, you whispered to Rebecca, “Did you just lie about all those Kindred? How did you come up with that?”

Her blue-eyed gaze met yours. “Because it wasn’t exactly a lie,” she explained carefully. “They appeared in his memories too.”

━━━━━━━━━━━

It turned out that your meeting with the Prince this time was more of a private affair, so instead of the greenhouse, you found him lounging on an opulent and richly-textured couch in the presentation room. He sat there regally, sipping on an artisanally crafted chalice with feigned indifference, not even bothering to acknowledge your presence when you and Leon walked in. 

The Scourge stood diagonally across from him, monitoring your actions intently. He was keeping watch while Jill was busy with the previous technical hiccup and questioning Rebecca. You didn’t have a clue as to why the Prince had requested this meeting, but nothing he wanted could be good news.

The man in question bided his time, draining the chalice to the last drop at a leisurely pace, making you and your sire stand around and wait like idiots in utter silence. Finally, he spoke up, his voice laced with sarcasm, “Ah, not maimed yet, I see. Congratulations are in order.”

It took you a moment before you realized he was talking about you.

Before you could react, Leon had stepped forward, crossing his hand over his heart as he bowed in veneration. “My honorable Prince, how may we—”

However, Wesker saw through his bullshit. His patience waned at Leon’s obvious attempts at sweet-talking his way out of the situation. Brandishing the empty chalice in your direction accusingly, he remarked, “Your fledgling seems to be making quite a name for herself.”

Your mouth ran dry. What Leon had warned you about during your big fight with him came rushing back. 

“I don’t want to be ordered by the Prince to destroy you.”

“If you step out of line, he will ask me to.”

You had been too careless in your dalliances with the Anarchs, and naturally, word had gotten around, as well as back into the viper’s nest.

Leon hung his head low in submission, averting his gaze. “Prince, I can assure you, I have put a stop to the issue at hand.”

Ignoring him, Wesker smirked, “Like sire, like childe.”

“Do you have any idea what I do to traitors of the Camarilla?” he asked as the Scourge shifted slightly, his dual curved blades glinting under the fluorescent lights.

A mere glance from Wesker at the Scourge caused him to back down. “Go on, why don’t you take a guess?” he beckoned you.

Although an immobilizing fear rippled through your body, you still managed to cough out, “Final Death?”

At this, Wesker bellowed with laughter. “Oh, no, no… that would be far too merciful for the likes of such filth.” 

“Wouldn’t it be more appropriate and resourceful for me to have my scientists conduct their work on them?” he suggested, tapping on his chin thoughtfully. “Or perhaps I should string them up in a cellar somewhere with their limbs chopped off, and have them bleed out into my waiting cup, hmm?”

You noticed the way he had emphasized ‘them’ sounded more like he meant ‘you’.

Placing his chalice on the side table, he leaned forward with his hands in a steepled position and grinned deviously. “I mean, all these marvelous reviews have left me wanting to have a taste…”

You gulped at his insinuation, your hands trembling as you tried to conceal them from his sight. Then, you felt Leon nudging you protectively behind him.

The amber of Wesker’s eyes glowered through his shades. “And why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me everything, Leon?”

“My trusted Sheriff has her suspicions that you’ve not been fully cooperative on the case,” he alleged, looking to your sire for an answer.

“The information turned out to be more difficult to acquire than expected,” Leon explained guardedly. “But I have provided Jill with everything I know, and so has Rebecca.”

Truth be told, you were in two minds when Ada had approached you with her request. However, the way this meeting had unfolded caused the hatred you harbored for Wesker to grow exponentially — so much so that you said nothing when Leon was lying through his teeth. You had taken your stance.

There was a long, agonizing pause as Wesker considered his words. “Very well, you’ve made your bed, Leon. Just be aware, we will find out whatever it is you’re hiding…” he trailed off before stating in a deliberate tone, “You of all Kindred should know how much I love personally gutting traitors.”

Angling his head towards you, he warned, “One more misstep and we’ll see about that drink I am dying to have…”

You nodded feebly, preparing to take your leave with Leon who was ushering you out hurriedly.

It was only when you had reached the door of the room that Wesker tutted, “I’m not quite done with you yet.”

Like a sly predator toying with its prey, he had lulled you into a false sense of security, only to yank it away at the last minute. Whirling around, you caught a glimpse of the diabolical uptick in his lips as a side door slid open. 

A slender blonde woman with a layered, cropped haircut walked in apathetically, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere that permeated the space. She was dressed in a fitted beige blouse, olive khaki pants, and lace-up utility boots. An arctic blue scarf adorned her neck even though the temperatures within Elysium were well-regulated.

You heard Leon's breath hitch as he suddenly gripped your hand with a vice-like hold. The woman smiled placidly at the two of you, and it was then that you could see the blank stare in her glassy blue eyes. Was she—?

Wesker flung his arms open dramatically, as if unveiling a prized possession. “Ah, Sherry! How nice of you to join us.”

[aphroditeslover11]

Hi what do you think about a Neil Lewis with a actress reader? Like they met before and he has already a crush on her and then he watch movie and see her ?

Another tought (not q request just something in my head) so I'm from Göttingen, an we have here q tradition if someone has his PhD they have to kiss the Statue of the goose Maid ( "Gänseliesel") he is not common with this tradition and so when reader ask him when he is planning do the kiss he assumed she wanna that he kiss her

I hope this is something along the lines of what you were thinking of. I’m not at my best at the moment so I’m sorry if there are any glaring errors. I hadn’t written for Neil before, but he’s actually very fun! Thanks for your request. Also, that is a fabulous tradition, it might get slotted into one of my other Oppie requests, I’m not sure yet though as it’s in the idea phase at the moment.

A Surprise Encounter

A/N: the classic films mentioned are all free on BBC iPlayer, go and give them a watch! I also have no idea where the store is, so I made it up.

Neil was absolutely beside himself when the invite arrived in the post. A new film that he couldn’t wait to see was premiering soon, it was low budget but contained a few big names who had decided that they wanted to promote the more independent side of the industry. He had been asked to attend an event aiming to promote smaller video shops like his rather than the huge, commercial ones that were taking over. When he read that you and the director alone were going to be on the panel he felt like he had never been luckier, finally a chance to meet his favourite actress in the flesh. Although he did admire your talents, he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he also found you wildly attractive.

The next few weeks were spent planning everything. He rewatched a few of your films so that he could ask some decent questions of you at the press event and reading every article that he could on the making of your new one, a biopic of Julie d’Aubigny. He went out and bought a new suit for the occasion, had his hair cut. As far as he was concerned, there were going to be no disasters, not when he was going to meet one of his idols.

~

The day of the event had finally come. All of the invitees, including Neil, had been piled into an auditorium where they had been given an early viewing of the film, then being moved into a press room with rows of chairs set out in front of a platform. He was happy with his seat, about half way back in the crowd, not too conspicuous but with a good view of the stage. The previous hubbub died down as soon as the panel made their way up, the director taking his place, yet Neil’s eyes were fixed on you. Your hair was down and curly, framing your face, and that smile that everyone always talked about. You were wearing black heels a red dress that dipped down just enough to give a small view of your cleavage. He was transfixed.

Questions started being asked, the general types of how you had enjoyed working with the rest of the cast and what you had taken away from playing your character, some conversations were had about wanting to make sure that the smaller side of the film and cinema industry wasn’t dwarfed in the future. For some reason, all of the eyes in the room suddenly focused on Neil, it was only then that he realised that he had drifted off, his arm leaned on the armrest of his chair in such a way that you had thought he was asking a question.

“Uh, the gentleman in the blue suit there, do you have a question?” The sentence was coming from you, quickly drawing him out of his reverie.

“Um.. yes,” he never was much good at thinking on his feet. “I know that you’re promoting this film today, but do you feel as if classic cinema has been forgotten. My shop specialises in older, more hard to find movies and… well, yeah,” he trailed off. He was like a deer in the headlights, speaking as if he was full of terror. A few people around him were scoffing and hiding their laughter. Great, he had embarrassed himself in front of you.

“Actually, I do think that we’ve forgotten about classic cinema. Not only the thrillers and comedies, but for me the least talked about are the romance films. I grew up on Astaire and Rogers musicals, I know some people don’t like them and find them a bit politically incorrect know, but they still have a special place in my heart. If you think about their influence on modern cinema, we wouldn’t have ‘Sleepless In Seattle’ if it hadn’t been for a 1939 film ‘Love Affair”. What was your name?” Why the hell did you want to know who he was?

“Neil Lewis.”

“And where’s your shop?”

“California, its called Gumshoe Video.”

“I’ll pop in next time I’m in town, maybe you could give me some recommendations.” And that was the end of that conversation.

~

About three weeks later everything had returned to normal. Neil was back to running the store and the gang were still practically living there. It was a completely normal day when Lucien, who had been manning the counter, came around to the back to find him.

“Neil, you might want to come inside, there’s a customer asking for you.”

“Can’t you handle it?” He just wanted a bit of time to himself, making is response more huffy than he had intended.

“Trust me, you want to come and see this.”

He followed Lucien back into the shop, only to be caught in shock as he saw you standing there in front of him, dressed a lot more casually than the last time he saw you, but still with your hair down in its beautiful curls. He never thought that you would actually make true on what you had said, but here you were.

“Is there anything that I can help you with Miss y/l/n?”
“I came by to see if you had any suggestions for me, you know, classic films like you said you specialised in.” You actually seemed a bit nervous, though he had no idea why. “And please, call me y/n.”

“Right, y/n,” it just felt so right when he said it. “What kind of thing are you looking for, any genres in mind?”

“I always love a romance movie, the press don’t know yet but I left my boyfriend last month after he cheated on me. I’m down here to get away from it all, so a romance to take my mind off everything would be good, yeah.” He could see the sadness behind your eyes as you explained.

“He must have been an idiot then,” he said, immediately regretting it and walking past the stunned Lucien towards the romance section, beckoning for you to follow.

“So, you said that you liked Astaire and Rogers, but have you ever seen ‘The Sky’s The Limit’?”

“I don’t think I have, no.” He reached out for the dvd, showing you the front of the case.

“It’s Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie, came out in 1943. A musical about a fighter pilot who falls in love with a girl who wants to make it as a journalist, sounds like the sort of thing you might be looking for.”

“I think I’ll take that then, sounds perfect.” Something lit up inside him, you were smiling and it was because of something that he had done.

“Right, I’ll go and sort out a membership card so that you can rent it then, do you have any ID on you. Driver’s licence or something?” You followed him over to the till, rooting around in your bag to find what he had asked for. He busied himself, quickly handing over the card and the movie.

“What do I owe you?” you asked, reaching for your purse.

“Nothing, it’s on the house.”

“Are you sure, because…”

“Yeah, in return for having me at that panel a few weeks back. It was amazing.”
“Well, in that case can I pay you back in another way?”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe we could watch the film together?”

“That sounds like a fair means of payment, I think I’ll accept.” You slipped him your number, telling him to call when he was free before walking out of the store, Neil wondering what the fuck had just happened.

[timetodiverge]

TL:DR: a brief treatise on learning to love Ahsoka for the gifts it gave us, rather than its shortcomings

Reasons why I struggled to like Ahsoka on first watch:

-my Rebels-fan brain constantly chanting WHERE IS EZRA WHERE IS EZRA WHERE IS EZRA; every episode that ended without him had me screaming

-the portrayal of Ezra as some noble war hero/wise Jedi instead of the little shit devious street urchin thief who, after four seasons of growth, pain, and temptation to turn darkside, turned into an IGnoble war hero with the potential to become a wise Jedi

-the show's habit of far-too-casually dropping facts that emotionally wrecked Rebels fans (ALL the Wrens died on Mandalore?? Could we maybe explore that a bit?? Dave do you remember when you had Sabine collapse into what she thought were her mother's ashes, and the depth of her relief when she realised her family was still alive and she still had a chance to make things right with them?? DO YOU???)

-the show's refusal to recap/reference insanely important events from Rebels and The Clone Wars (Mortis Gods, Trials of the Darksaber, Vader v Ahsoka and Ezra rescuing her via the World Between Worlds, Ahsoka's entire existence, etc) that would have made Ahsoka, Sabine, & Hera's importance in the larger Star Wars universe much more comprehendible for non-Rebels & TCW fans

-watching Sabine, who only ever wanted to be a valued, equal member of a family & team, and who was already incredibly skilled (art/warfare/mechanics), belittling and limiting herself trying to play the part of Jedi Padawan

-the wasted potential of show that could have truly explored how non-Jedi&Sith engage with the whole spectrum of the Force (e.g. other force users such as Nightsisters, loth wolves, purrgil, and non-force-sensative people such as Sabine), instead ultimately championing the light-dark binary and the traditions of the Jedi order (which many of us have little respect for) such as the Master-Apprentice relationship

Reasons why I now adore Ahsoka and would defend it to the death:

-the breath-taking care, love, and attention the production team put into every tiny detail (the sets, the costumes, props, the MUSIC, the background art, the ships and weapons, my god the detail!!)

-the shameless centring of diverse, layered female characters and the exquisite, subtle performances of Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Genevieve O'Reilly

-a mature exploration of how traumatic events e.g. wars may technically "end", but don't end for everyone: Ahsoka and Sabine are still traumatised ex-child soldiers mourning people they desperately loved but had complex & unresolved issues with; Hera still has zero boundaries between being a soldier and her personal life. And this PTSD has very real consequences to the narrative

-the show ultimately resisting the urge to choose a plot-twist Ezra reveal (e.g. turns out Thrawn and Ezra are now buddies/Ezra is the new big bad/Ezra was Marrok), which may have been more interesting but would have deprived us of the wholesome Ezra reveal we actually wanted

-Eman Esfandi giving us the most successful animation-to-live-action transition since Katee Sackhoff's Bo-Katan, and being so perfect in his mannerisms and behaviour that it was almost worth the wait (and looking so much like Ezra's father in Rebels!!)

(...unless you include Chopper, whose transition was actually 120% perfect)

-ultimately refreshing and levelling-up the potential for mature and diverse Star Wars narratives, like Andor did, but instead of leaning away from SW tropes and traditions like Andor, digging deeper into SW tropes and history, and linking non-mainstream-SW-elements such as the Nightsisters of Dathomir, the Mortis Gods, the World Between Worlds, and the existence of other galaxies

[project-sekai-facts]

how do you think every group is now compared to their arc one end event?

Genuinely the growth is amazing. Like MMJ going from their first gig to doing TV shows, concerts and full-time work, Leo/need deciding to become pros to actually getting signed, Wandasho saving the park and then leaving it in good hands and choosing to move on, N25 gradually healing and Mafuyu leaving her abusive situation, VBS doing their first attempt to surpass RW to… discovering that the entire town had kept the death of one of the organisers under wraps and lying to her psuedo-niece for years, getting beat down by that woman’s brother immediately after learning that what they’d been working towards this entire time was essentially a memorial concert, having to rethink everything, losing half their team and then they guy who caused that immediately leaving the country but they didn’t lose their resolve!

Honestly I think most of the progression was really good. Most units had good pacing and progression and what they couldn’t get in a unit story by anniversary probably happened in a mixed event. My main issues are that VBS was a bit poor in the pacing department but I dunno how far in advance the decision to make all arcs end on their second 4th rotation banner was made because VBS got hit hard by having their first arc take two full rotations. Like you can really tell where most units had a few events that weren’t really part of an overarching plot before picking up on their second arc properly (eg Mafuyu’s mother not being a major plot point until quite a few events after Footprints), but then VBS went straight from first gig in Power of Unity to “Nagi is dead we’re just not saying that in the text yet” in their next event. Especially Light Up the Fire was SO long and if we had more events maybe it wouldn’t have had to be that way. I still think their development was alright but compared to other units it’s a bit underwhelming. Their individual character arcs were handled really well though.

I think that’s another thing. The individual character arcs were probably more impressive to me than the unit arcs. Especially with characters like Honami, Rui and Mafuyu for more obvious examples. When you read the main story and their first events, and then read the conclusions to their character arcs (or, the ones that I consider to be that: Little Bravers, Pandemonium, Sayonara to my Persona), the change is really obvious and it’s really nice to see them healing from past trauma. Honami is braver and doesn’t let people walk all over her anymore, Rui learnt to be loved and have friends, Mafuyu realised that she needed to stop pretending and leave her abusive mother. These are just three of twenty but they’re some of my personal favorites.

I’ve kinda rambled on about anything other than the question now haha. But yeah I think the progress is really good. While some of the first arc enders probably felt like there could have been more, this second set really had that more. Mostly. Every unit had at the very least a satisfying and proper conclusion and left room to work with going forward, so I’m looking foward to seeing where we go from here.

[adozentothedawn]

Six-song soundtrack

Rules: If you're tagged, make a new post with links to music and/or lyrics describing the following:

An event that defines your character's past

How your character sees themselves

How others view them

Their closest relationship (platonic or romantic)

A major fight scene

End credits song

Tagged by @solas-backpack-mug (and others but I never got around to it and now I forgot, sorry :( ), thanks!

Favaen (with Emblyn making a guest appearance)

So this was hard, on the one hand because I didn't really have anything on hand and on the other because when I went looking I suddenly had a bunch for the same point.

The Shore - Basia Bulat

Dakara Hitori Ja Nai - Christina Vee (Little Glee Monster)

Rise and Fall - Black Water County

We'll Meet Again - Laura Brehm and TheFatRat

Burn It Down - Vixy and Tony

Like The Dawn - The Oh Hellos

Throwing a tag towards @adraveins and @stylishanachronism for some good music recs. 👀

An event that defines their past

(This was so hard to limit, holy shit)

The Shore - Basia Bulat

There is no one who will take me by that shore Close to the smoke, far from the fires of your harbour But if I am awake this time I'll know All over your eyes, a storm is rolling over, rolling over

Emblyn, dearly regretting her decisions.

Oh you can take away the divine my dear And comb your hair And I won't mind at all Even when the thought's behind I came just to remind you I love you so

And while she does regret a lot, this one thing she clings onto.

How they see themselves

Dakara Hitori Ja Nai - Christina Vee

(an english cover translation)

Once I hated everything Sadness seemed my destiny Couldn't see the beauty all around me (If only) my future spans in front of me A crossroad branching endlessly The road is paved, the course is set I'll grab my dreams, the time is now

Favaen used to have severe emotional management problems and had no idea what to do with herself, a problem she eventually worked out with the help of her mentor and mother figure.

But those empty words are not a plan Lucky stars don't care So don't rely on counting them I'm thinking way too hard about my past I gotta push myself, I'm facing my worst fear, oh Don't care if I'm crying (I'm crying) I'm flying (I'm flying), I made my mind up Trust me, I will keep trying I'm stronger than I know (I'm stronger now) Don't care if I'm lonely (I'm lonely) It's only (It's only) the end of the old me It's time to let her go Say goodbye! (Say goodbye, say goodbye!) Love never lies

She is inherently optimistic because she made the decision and effort to be. Despite her past (both personal and Emblyn's) still on weigh on her, she does her best to move and make the future a better one.

How others view them

Rise and Fall - Black Water County

Listen here, tell me dear What have you now got to fear? Took you long to realise Take it one day at a time verse You've been wasting the minutes In the hours of your days Look around and you'll find That it's just another way

But there's something on my mind That I need to leave behind So tear the page, hit erase 'Til the day you hear me call Make a promise that you'll be The best to rise and fall

Favaen makes herself a turning point for the people around her. An opportunity to do better, to move on, to be someone you's rather be. Be that for Edér who ties himself to her in turn with such a force he literally sails across the ocean on the vague hope it might save her, or for some random bandit who gets to make the choice to leave, live another day, and never see her again.

Their closest relationship

We'll Meet Again - Laura Brehm and TheFatRat

This one had a lot of options, both in relationship and song (Edér being a good contender for example) but I realised I already had this one saved and it's too good not to take so Eothas it is. This is probably pretty self explanatory.

Suddenly you're nowhere to be found I turn around and everything has changed Looking for a way to work it out I'm trying to find some peace to navigate Everything we wanted turned to gold (Turned to gold) The path we chose, the future on our side Never thought I'd do this on my own (On my own) But now I wield the sword you left behind Dark for the sunrise Clouds for a blue sky Space for the travelling star Strong from the inside You're still my life-line I feel you wherever you are The oak tree where I met you And the writing on the statue I still remember every word you said I'm not a soldier, but I'm fighting Can you hear me through the silence? I won't give up 'cause there will be a day We'll meet again

Fight Scene

Burn It Down - Vixy and Tony

This was kinda hard for different reasons. I eventually landed on this one because it fits her as a character and is energetic and inspirational. Some expamples:

The legend of the firebird Is one of transformation If you dare to take the journey And you give the wolf his due Let the flame inspire For you are your own creation Throw your fear upon the pyre And let it rise as something new

So you think you don't burn bright enough? I tell you it's not true Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down Throw your fear upon the fire and burn it down Throw your voice out to the wind Feel the heat upon your skin As you hunger, so begin Burn it down

End Credits

Like The Dawn - The Oh Hellos

(The Oh Hellos are such a treasure trove for this)

I was sleeping in the garden when I saw you first He'd put me deep, deep under so that he could work And like the dawn you broke the dark and my whole earth shook I was sleeping in the garden when I saw you At last, at last Bones of my bones and flesh of my flesh, at last

Imagry of how Eothas kept Emblyn's soul with him repaired it over time and how she was eventually reborn as Favaen with pieces of him holding her together, making them essential soul twins.

You were the brightest shade of sun I had ever seen Your skin was gilded with the gold of the richest kings And like the dawn you woke the world inside of me You were the brightest shade of sun when I saw you

Being a form of soul twins it made Favaen absolutely miserable to be apart from him (something he didn't consider at all as a possibility cause he is in fact, not very smart) and eventually officially joining the clergy was an incredible relief for her.

[moira-shears]

Cloud and Tifa's Relationship and What it Means to Final Fantasy VII

It's no secret that Final Fantasy VII is a popular game, it always has been ever since its release in 1997. At the centre of this classic is our protagonist, Cloud Strife, a character so famous that even someone who's never played the game would recognise. With his large sword and handsome character, Cloud is one of the most iconic video game characters of all time, even making guest appearances in games such as Kingdom Hearts and Man at Arms creating a replica of his iconic Buster Sword.

Then there is the heroine of the game, a woman called Tifa Lockhart who is equally if not more popular than Cloud himself. However, if it weren't for her role in the story, there would be no Cloud and therefore no Final Fantasy VII.

Within a story, the protagonist is the leading character, the one whom the audience stays with from dawn until dusk, and none in the narrative of Final Fantasy VII fits that description better than Cloud Strife. After all, he is the character you play as for the majority of the game, but behind his status as protagonist is Tifa Lockhart, the heroine of the game without whom, Cloud would not be whom we all know and love. For it is she whom Cloud sets out to impress by travelling to Midgar to become a SOLDIER First Class, a fact slightly altered under the water tower where they first made a vow so sacred only they ever knew about it - a night under a stary sky. It was there that Cloud made his promise to Tifa that if she were ever in the face of danger, he would come to her rescue, put upon him by the woman whom he'd been in love with from a young age. That night, Tifa realised she was in love with this boy who presented himself as being ordinary, just like any other boy his age, the kind of love that makes you want to be by one's side for eternity.

Years later, unbeknownst to Tifa, that promise was fulfilled, when Sephiroth, the man Cloud once looked upon as a hero betrayed the village of Nibelheim, burning it to the ground in a rage of violent anger. They became all they had left of their childhood and thus is the reason only Tifa could awaken Cloud from his comatose state. Had it not been for Cloud, Tifa wouldn't have survived Nibelheim, and had it not been for Tifa, Cloud would have been comatose forever, and therefore the world would have ended had neither of these events taken place. Cloud is the only one who can defeat Sephiroth and in turn, help save the planet, therefore Tifa is important to him.

Now, the lifestream sequence brings to light the love Cloud harbours for Tifa. By allowing her to explore his subconscious, Cloud is making himself completely vulnerable. Remember, your subconscious is home to your deepest darkest secrets so normally, you wouldn't want anyone exploring it, so for Cloud to allow Tifa to explore his own is a big deal, showing the amount of trust he has for Tifa. Trust is an important part of any relationship, especially a romantic one, and the trust Cloud shows for Tifa is far greater than what a child could show their parent (I, for one, would never allow my parents to explore my subconscious). Within the lifestream sequence, we learn many things about Cloud, including of course, his motivation for joining SOLDIER - Tifa. Ever since the accident at Mt. Nibel when he and Tifa were eight and nine, Cloud has wanted to better himself for Tifa, to be capable of saving her, hence his motives for joining SOLDIER, he wanted her to notice him. Therefore, if Tifa is removed, you have no Final Fantasy VII, because Cloud's story is built upon Tifa, Tifa is his motive, and Tifa is the reason he's the character we all know and love: Cloud Strife, the boy from Nibelheim who defeated the great Sephiroth and saved the world of Gaia. None of this would have been the case without Tifa Lockhart, his childhood friend and the only one capable of salvaging Cloud from the darkness of his mind.

Without Tifa, there is no Cloud, therefore to say something such as 'Cloud's love interest is player choice' or 'Cloud's in love with Aerith' is to undermine the meaning of his character, and what she means to him. Cloud and Tifa have a beautiful romance and if removed, there would be no story, as it is vital to weaving it. This is, in fact, part of what makes it so beautiful, as well as the fact that it's the best relationship you could have whilst still being realistic.

There are many reasons people love Final Fantasy VII, but it wouldn't be the story we all know and love today were it not for the romance of Cloud and Tifa.

[fairys-book-reviews]

The Revenant Games - Margie Fuston (8/10)

I'll start this off by saying what i thought prior to reading it. Cos i wrote what I thought down so i could do this lol

What grabbed my attention first, was the name. The Revenant Games, Revenant tends to mean someone come back from the dead, and well, I've always loved books with aspects like that. Then, the cover. It's not exactly too original, in fact on the same day I bought this book, I bought another book with a similar format on the cover. Yet it still intrigued me. I've never been too interested in stories with games and the such (Like the Hunger Games and many others like that), but vampires and witches? Resurrection? Immortality? All are in my top five favourite things, only ones it was missing was polygamy, LGBT+ stuff, and the fae.

And now, to the actual book. I wrote this last night, directly after finishing it (at 11pm).

I must say, I didnt start reading this book with high expectations. The reviews....hadn't exactly painted the best picture. Nonetheless, after reading, while those bad reviews did have points, for me the good outweighed the bad.

Many reviews stated that this was blatantly copying The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), just with witches and vampires. Honestly? They're right. The first thing I noticed when reading, is that the writing style was suspiciously similar to The Hunger Games. The way she met Emerson? In the woods, suspicious, sorta watching. Her sister, whom shes doing this all for? Liked by everyone, probably favourite kid (definitely favourite kid). Love triangle between Dude Who Helped Her That One Time and Guy From Home That She Maybe Liked For ages. The actual games were a bit different, but the bare bones were highly similar. But either way, lets get into the characters.

First, our main girl. Bly. She's the least favourite in the family, and she's highly stubborn and freespirited. And honestly, it was rather refreshing to have a female main character whom instead of being like all those 'not like the other girls' girls, refusing to wear fancy stuff, she REALLY wanted a dress, and a ribbon, and a lot of that 'shallow' type stuff. Either way, except for the first part, set a year before the books events, her goal remains the same, with a bit of flexibility in the end. Her goal is to bring her sister back to life, as she blames herself for her death. And honestly? Only development of note that Bly gets is realising she wasnt rlly in love with Guy From Home, she just sorta fantasised about him, and that she has a vampire kink.

Next, Elise. She's not really included in the book, we dont really get anything but memories of her, stories of her. She's our main characters dead sister, and the cause of Bly participating in the games. She's put on a pedestal, likely because when a characters dead, only alive in memories, people tend to say they are better than they were.

Emersons next, and honestly? I don't much like him. At the start I did, but as the book is from Blys perspective, and she mostly just fantasised about him, we saw him in the light she did, where she idolised him. As time goes on, flaws become more apparent. He's cold, rather selfish, and i Just dont like him. Bly shouldve taken the vampire prize instead.

Kerrigans pretty cool. He's a vampire and Blys main love interest. And you know whats amazing? This fucker aint a 200+ yr old dating a teen!!! Bodily, he's 18. But otherwise, just in his early to mid twenties!! (heard others say he was 24, but i dont quite remember). He's got a backstory, and hes got a pretty cool personality. He does that sort of thing I do, where he wears masks of personalities. Cant really say much more without spoilers.

Last person I'm gonna mention is Benedict. Benedict appeared about 3 times, only for maybe a page each time. Benedict is by FAR my favourite i just love him.

Other characters of note that I cant really bother talking about and dont have much to say about are Donovan (Kerrigans brother, hes got some stuff at the end but its all big spoilery stuff), Nova and Vincent (Twins, theyre pretty cool, in Bly and Emersons team in the revenant games), and Demezela, a fuckass witch (I HATE HER GUTS AGH)

Next, we're onto worldbuilding Many people had problems with aspects, like the origins of witches and vampires, but honestly? The characters dont know what happened, not the humans or the vampires or the witches, so why should we know? Others also have issues with the games themselves. They say why would the vampires and witches encourage humans to hunt them? Well one big reason, is immortality. They get bored. They want to feel alive. So they risk their lives. And they want the blood of the enemy side. Theres many other reasons it could be, but on the side of vampires we hear the boredom side a lot.

And onto the plot. So, I wasnt really into it at the start, although by page 30 I was honestly quite enjoying it, although Bly was infuriating at times. Vampires, witches, murder...its cool. Also at the beginning Kerrigan sorta flirted with Vincent and Emerson so bonus points? There were some scenes that sorta meant nothing to the plot but i loved them anyway. Vampires? Making out? Bites? Sign me up, am I right?

Havent been doing brilliant recently but this has been a great distraction, even if it only took me three nights to read (i went to bed at 11pm i swear!!! Reasonable time!!!)

Overall yeah, I really enjoyed the book

Note: It's a series, book 2 isnt out yet

[lovejosephquinn]

could you do joseph quinn x fem!reader

you two were secretly dating, you two about gonna interview each other in Actors on Actors in Full conversation on Variety. Joseph were in cast on Stranger Things and you were in cast in Bridgerton, you two talks about describe each other as characters, what their story about, you two deeply laugh and talkative, you two gonna have good photoshoot together, you two were bit done and have fantastic dinner *fluffness*

(hope you will try your best in your writing, thanks and have a lovely day)

This is so different, I love it! The plot gives me so much food for thought. Thanks for requesting and your wonderful idea! :)

Enjoy your weekend, angel x

Warnings: fluffed up

Word Count: 1.7k

Actors on Actors - A Love Story. Joseph Quinn x celeb!fem!reader Short Story Request

It was always a want to be a celebrity and gain fame and fortune in the industry, most would be quick to admit that. But for people actually a part of it would agree that it's not as easy as it appears to be, especially the part where you date. You'd first met your boyfriend Joe at an awards event around a year and a half ago. You had gotten talking at the after party, quickly bonding over your love for martinis and knocked them back as if they were water. This was the first and only time you had been photographed in public together, as a mutual decision, you thought it to be a better idea to keep your relationship private - the press and the rumours which caused some couples to break up were enough to put you both off.

This year both of your careers had taken off completely, hitting almost with the big leagues as Joe scored a role as the newcomer in Stranger Things and you in Bridgerton; two extremely loved and famous Netflix shows.

You'd both been nominated for an award of 'breakout actor of the year' clearly impressing the critics and gaining huge fan bases on both sides. Variety studios had invited you both to do their 'Actors on Actors' talk show followed by a joint photoshoot, a way to enable to show off your quick overnight rises to fame and shared breakout status. As your agents advised you of your invites separately, you both couldn't quite help the high five and cracking of jokes as it made the secrecy of your relationship and the fact you already knew each other inside out even better, a game to be played if you will.

As you walked into the studio, Joe arrived shortly after. You were greeted by the producers and camera crew, shaking their hands. The executive producer took you over to make up and then chaperoned you both to the set which held a large white backdrop, two armchairs and a small table in the middle, two glasses of water on either side and a fake plant situated in the middle, how fun. The executive producer sat you down in place and explained how the panel would work.

"So, all you have to do is talk about one another's character, discuss one another, find out things you didn't really know and elaborate, clear enough?" He shot you both a smile and you nodded.

The camera and sound crew got into place, and you were given the thumbs up to begin.

"So, one thing I didn't actually know you were British until I met you last year Joe, that baffled the life out of me. Your American accent is extremely convincing in the show, kudos to you."

Joe shot you a playful laugh. "Well personally I thought my accent was terrible, I had to hide myself away for the majority of down time just to keep the accent intact. Funny you should say that though, I didn't realise you were American at first either, and I must say, your British accent was scarily accurate for that century."

You slapped your hand onto your thigh as you grinned back and snorted at your man.

"Let's face it, it's an easy stereotype putting on a posh accent isn't it. A little like your real voice."

"Far from posh Y/N, did you get to keep your outfits?"

"No, no more importantly; did you get to keep your wig?"

Joe pouted a look towards you, you already knew the answer just like you did to everything else. "No, my wonderful hair and makeup buddy sent me packing when I tried to ask for it."

"And the guitar?"

"No, that one hurt." he held his wounded heart and you grimaced.

"Your character was a lot like mine." Joe exclaimed.

"What severely scarred and thought to be a murderer?"

A genuine growl of laughter erupted from Joe's throat as he was taking a sip of his water. "Not quite, a hero, she saved the Bridgerton family from turmoil."

"You know it baffles me every time, they're considered a strong family, yet they always get themselves in a pickle. I'd definitely consider Eddie more the hero in this, he sacrificed himself and saved his best friend and the town that hated him. What a guy."

"We'll agree to disagree on that Y/N."

Behind the camera's you'd already had the same conversation but in front of them you had to pretend you knew nothing of him. In reality, it was sad that you had to hide your relationship; but you remained strong, and you loved each other. You were each other's escapes from the tough of world of your work.

Once you'd finished the talk show, you were walked over to the studio next door to finish off with your photoshoot. The building was plain white everything, you almost felt like you were in a mental asylum with how unearthed and sterile the place looked. You were sent separately to two different rooms to get changed into slightly adorned matching outfits, your hair and makeup complete and taken back to be introduced to the photographer. "I've been so excited to meet you both, these shots are going to be great!"

You both heartily shook hands with the man and stood in front yet another large white back drop to pose for your photographs. He talked you both through the shoot easily and you couldn't help but admire your boyfriend as he looked like a complete natural in front of the flashing camera. Absolute model material. If you weren't in a relationship with the guy, you'd have certainly crushed on him hard by now.

Once finished, the photographer took you to one side to view some of the shots, where he clicked through for you to find your favourites. There were 2 that stood out to you both.

The first was you draping your hand onto Joe's shoulder, staring into the character with a blank stare, lips pursed together, one hand each in pocket and Joe's free hand was holding his jaw. You looked good.

The second was a natural pose and most definitely your favourite, something you imagined yourself and Joe would look like in private if there were a camera on the wall taking a picture of the two of you in your apartment. You were laughing, slightly bent forward with your hands on your thighs, whilst Joe was looking at you contently and his mouth slightly gaped open, laughing back. An absolute natural state for the two of you usually. You couldn't wait to keep that one to yourself once it had been released.

Whilst the photographer was busy sorting through the remainder of the photographs, you had a couple of spare minutes. Joe took you to one side and rubbed the side of your arm, he whispered quietly to you "That was fun, love. Made it better that you were by my side." You swooned to your side, looking up with nothing but adoration for your partner. "Wouldn't rather do this with anyone else, my love." The photographer interrupted your moment calling your names and Joe's hand was quick to release your arm as you hastily speeded back over to him.

"We're done here, no do overs needed. We'll send your agents a few of the shots once they're edited and printed properly."

You thanked the photographer, went back to the rooms and got changed back into your clothing that you came in, then left in separate cars, giving each other a subtle wink and wave as were driven back to your homes. Once dropped off, Joe had text you.

'Be at mine for 5:30. You'll be dining for two with my speciality of prawn linguini a la Joseph, this evening beautiful. I love you.'

This man, he never failed to make the butterflies flutter.

You arrived at Joe's dead on 5:30 where your nostrils were consumed with the smell of prawns, vegetables, garlic and fresh pasta. His cooking was amazing. Letting yourself in, Joe was facing away from you, plating up the food for the both of you. You made your way in and walked over to your man. "Hello, handsome." Joe turned to you and threw the towel over his shoulder, pulling you into a warm embrace as he kissed your temple. "Hello, beautiful lady, right on time, hope you're hungry, I made way more than enough for the two of us." Your stomach growled loudly at the sight of the delicious meal. "I'll take that as your ravenous." He chuckled as you rolled your eyes. Leaning up for a peck on his lips, Joe happily obliged.

You sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen as Joe brought both of your plates over. He poured you both a glass of wine and sat next to you, watching you like an excited child, waiting for your praise. You took your first mouthful in, and your eyes almost rolled to the back of your head. "Ugh, this is amazing." He looked all pleased with himself, smiling at his efforts as he tucked into his own meal.

"You know, I always think about this. What would you want to be if you weren't an actor?" you asked as you shovelled your next forkful into your mouth, savouring the taste with each bite.

"I really have no idea, it's something I can never answer because I simply don't know." Joe shrugged his shoulders and looked over at you, he grinned at you as he pointed to his inner cheek, indicating you had a little slab of prawn stuck to it. You rubbed at the spot away from your face with the palm of your hand and he nodded to let you know it had gone and for you to continue.

"I know exactly what you'd be."

"Oh yeah, what's that love?"

"A god damn chef."

[nerdwithabirb]

In Praise of Bluey

I haven’t been on Tumblr in a hot minute because life marches on and I forget about some of my socials for a while.

Anyway, today I’m doing something a little different in the form of a longass rambling post so if you read to the end, you’re great and I hope all of the dogs you meet want you to pet them. (If you’re not a fan of dogs, insert whatever your favourite animal is.)

I’m not a parent. I will most likely never be a parent. I got my tubes removed almost two years ago now, by choice, because of medical issues that would impact a pregnancy, and sociopolitical issues I don’t want to bring a kid into. If I decide I want children, I will adopt them. But for now, my nephew is enough to get my fix of hanging out with kids.

With that said, I adore Bluey. It’s a masterpiece of animation, especially as far as modern kids’ shows are concerned.

Conflict Resolution and Realistic Characters

I find that many modern children’s shows are, for lack of a better word, sterilized. They don’t seem to like to show any sort of conflict. Bluey shows conflict. The Heeler sisters get frustrated with each other, with their friends, with their other family members. Bluey herself can be bossy and vindictive at times, occasionally bullying her sister Bingo, her cousins Muffin and Socks, and her classmates. Bingo is shy and sensitive and has a love of nature, but she runs into problems standing up for herself. 3 (later 4)-year-old Muffin behaves like an average toddler: absolute chaos, but not trying to be bad on purpose. Chilli and Bandit aren’t perfect parents - they get frustrated and sometimes hurt their girls’ feelings as a result. But they all learn from their mistakes, and they’re not afraid to admit when they’ve done something wrong — even the adults.

I grew up with an emotionally abusive father who was always too afraid (or too many beers deep) to form a meaningful connection with me. He’d belittle me for being interested in the arts and actively bullied me when I passed my driving test instead of congratulating me at all. He’s never apologised for any of it. Bandit is the dad I never got to have: he’s entirely devoted to his wife and daughters, even when it humiliates him. He’s not afraid to own up to his mistakes and learn from them.

Chilli reminds me of my own mother in a lot of ways: witty and sarcastic on the outside, completely losing her marbles on the inside because she’s afraid she’s not a good enough mom. Like my own mom, Chilli has a passion for drawing and encourages her daughters to keep practicing. She’s warm and welcoming and gives great hugs. She’s got both jokes and sage advice. And she sets out to right all the wrongs - my mom apologises to me all the time for stuff that happened years ago. (I love you, Mom!)

Tackling Serious Subjects and Different Family Dynamics

Another thing Bluey does absolutely spot-on is addressing serious subjects tactfully and in a way kids can understand. In the episode “Copycat,” Bluey starts her morning annoying the hell out of Bandit by copying everything he does. Things take a turn for the serious when the pup finds an injured budgie and rushes to the vet with her dad. The little bird doesn’t make it, which crushes Bluey. To cope, she plays out the events of the day in a game, but budgie-Bingo doesn’t get the memo and acts all better. Bluey realises that, like the budgie dying, Bingo derailing the game is out of her hands, and she comes to accept it.

In “Dance Mode,” Bandit steals Bingo’s last French fry. She’s given three chances to activate Dance Mode on her family, but gets all of those taken from her as well. Poor little Bingo is absolutely heartbroken when Chilli asks her an important question: “Does your outside voice sometimes say yes, when your inside voice is saying no?” As an (at the time undiagnosed) autistic kid who often struggled with speaking up and asserting myself growing up, this hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Early Baby” tackles premature birth with Bluey’s classmate Indy, “The Show” nods to Chilli having had a miscarriage, “Grandad” emphasizes that aging parents still need to take care of themselves for their adult children.

“Flat Pack” is an allegory for evolution, faith, getting older, and the struggle that is putting together flat pack furniture.

“Sleepytime” and “Baby Race” show some of the more everyday aspects of growing up, like sleeping independently and learning how to walk, all set to beautiful arrangements of classical pieces (Gustav Holst’s “Jupiter” from The Planets and Bach’s “Prelude in C Major,” respectively). And I won’t lie, as a nightmare-prone kid who was super attached to my mom, both of these episodes hit me hard too. I can’t watch either of them without getting a little misty-eyed.

In a more general sense, and regarding different family structures and dynamics, secondary characters like Judo, Winton, and the Terrier brothers are all shown with single parents. Rusty’s dad is in the army and, as a result, away on deployment for long stretches of time. But none of these things are made out to be a show or a spectacle or something bizarre, just a fact of life: different kids come from different backgrounds. I can guarantee that if a same-sex couple were to be introduced, it would be in a way that feels natural, like one of Bluey’s or Bingo’s classmates saying “My mums/dads are here to pick me up!”

Humour and Art-Related Ramblings

The character designs are simple and memorable. They have extremely expressive faces and movements despite being made of basic shapes like rectangles and ovals. The animation is smooth and fluid while embracing the “cartoony-ness” of being a cartoon. Everything is colourful but not to the point where it feels like a rainbow exploded on your screen. The backgrounds are simple, but not TOO simple, and many settings are nods to actual places in and around Brisbane.

Joff Bush and anyone he collaborates with on the soundtrack can convey everything from the beauty of nature to a boring workday via music alone, whether through arrangements of classical and folk music or original pieces. Bush isn’t afraid to use a variety of instruments, from a delicate music box in “Charades” and “Mount Mumandad” to a rambling banjo in “Grandad” and everything in between.

The humour is amazing, especially for children’s media. There are a few jokes that are clearly aimed at the adults in the room, like Bandit’s Polaroid camera going off in “Bob Bilby” when Chilli arrives with her tandem bike, or his discussion with Fido about getting a vasectomy/neutered in the original cut of “Perfect.” Bingo innocently asks Bandit questions about where babies come from in “Takeaway” and “Daddy Putdown,” though he always dodges the questions. “Dad Baby” is all about the struggles of pregnancy from the perspective of Bandit carrying Bingo in an old baby harness and it’s frankly hilarious; despite not being a parent myself, I have a nephew and I’m in that magical spot in my twenties where several of my former classmates are having kids left and right. There are well-timed fart jokes (“Daddy Robot,” “Fairies”) and slapstick moments (“Dad Baby,” “Born Yesterday”).

Conclusion

Bluey is a show that people of all ages can watch and learn from. It has heart, humour, and lovable characters. Its natural conflict resolution teaches its audience to be better people through showing rather than telling. It’s a beautiful show and I’m unashamed to watch it as a childfree adult.

[lykegenia]

Come Night, Come Morning

Fandom: The Wayhaven Chronicles

Characters: Mason x Olivia Greene

Rating: T (can anything with Mason be less than T?)

Warnings: None

My contribution to @wayhavenficexchange for @ejunkiet - just a little bit of fluff set after the main events of Book 3 but before th MC goes back to their apartment. I hope you like it!

Now with AO3 link!

--

He remembers when he didn’t stay. And more, before that, he remembers when he didn’t care at all, when Wayhaven was just another mission – another too-loud, too-bright spot on a map, ripe with humanity, to be endured and then escaped like one of the tactical seminars Adam always insists they attend. Looking back at those first days, it’s hard to see the slow, inching change in him, the pull in his chest that led him to the sanctuary of having Olivia sleeping at his side. Her heartbeat is steady, her breath a roll of slow, even waves that ruffle his hair where it lies against his collarbone.

He doesn’t mind the sensation. In fact, he’s lulled by the reassurance of the motion, the measured swell of her ribcage with every inhale. She’s alive. Defiant but impossibly outnumbered, the image of her on the auction house stage is something he can’t get out of his head, and with it lingers the rage that welled within him, white hot and sharp as teeth, at the sight of all those covetous bastards in the room shouting over each other for her blood.

Birds are singing outside the window, the dawn chorus in full throat. So far out into the wilderness it’s deafening, and though he prefers it to the roar of car engines on the morning commute, the sheer vastness of the sound normally has him chaining cigarettes until the little fuckers decide they’ve had enough of screaming at each other for the day.

And he didn’t notice it.

Now he has, the tumble of song fills his ears, but not to the usual point of pain, and with the rhythm of Olivia’s pulse undercutting it, it’s even almost… tolerable. He can pick out threads in the tapestry to appreciate their melody. The realisation brings a frown to his features, and he turns further into her embrace, unsettled.

There’s been a growing awareness of the calming effect she has on his senses, but along with all the other changes in his moods – he ran out of cigarettes a week ago, he stayed to not disturb her sleep, and they didn’t even fuck first – this sudden burst of understanding reminds him too much of other things. In the past, his memory barriers have slipped, and every time the first early warning signs were always altered behaviour and senses blurring into confusion. This doesn’t feel exactly the same, but then there’s no other name for the tightness in his chest when he looks down at Olivia, either.

His movement has disturbed her. As she shifts, a moan rises from her throat and a fleeting smile touches his lips. Over the past few months he’s learned various ways to draw that sound from her, but this morning he has no interest in such exertion. He brushes his lips over her forehead instead.

“Sleep, sweetheart.” She’s had a rough few days, between the debrief over the auction and the slew of new training she’s been drafted into for her promotion to full agent. “I’ve got you.”

“What time is it?” she mumbles.

“Early.”

He turns slightly to better pick up the change in her heartrate, the barest quickening of her breath that he doubts anyone else would notice. That he does has ceased to be a surprise.

“Tell me what you’re thinking?” he asks, stroking a hand over her back.

There’s a small inhale, fingers twisting in the sheets. “You stayed again.”

At one time he didn’t – wouldn’t have considered it. He covers with a lazy smile.

“Would you rather I hadn’t?”

“More like I’m scared I’ll get used to it,” she admits.

Inside his ribcage, his heart clenches at the loneliness laid bare in those words, so strong that for a moment instead of a reply all he can muster is a phantom yearning for tobacco.

“I might get used to it myself,” he replies, once the moment has passed.

She sits up, eyes him warily. For an instant, struck by the tangles her hair has gained in sleep, he’s tempted to pull her into his lap and see how much wilder he can make it, but while he shifts against the pillow he doesn’t act on the impulse, only waits for her to decide if they’re going to talk about this uncertain, dangerous thing between them.

She breaks his gaze. “What about when my apartment is fixed?”

He hasn’t been thinking about it. He lives in the moment, because in his experience moments are all you get.

“What about it?”

“Never mind.” A fleeting smile. “It’ll feel weird going back after spending so much time here.”

Silence falls between them as she turns towards the window, the dawn light plenty for his vampire eyes to pick out fine details as it catches against dark eyelashes and the tempting curve of her lips. Who says she has to go? He never has the inclination to stay and he doesn’t ask others to stay either, but he’s used to her, to the calming if unexplainable effect she has on his senses. Instead of letting the words slip unguarded off his tongue, however, he focuses back on his observations, on the tremor in her heart that tells him as much about her mood as her half-turned away expression.

“If there’s something you want to say, sweetheart, I’m right here.”

“Hm?” She blinks. “Oh, no – it’s nothing. Just thinking.”

Lie.

He smooths a hand down her spine, under her pyjama top, her skin no more than a tingle against his fingertips.

“I don’t think there’s time for that, sunshine,” she chides gently. “Not with everything Adam has planned for me today.”

“Pity. But I wasn’t thinking about that.”

One dark eyebrow lifts. “Who are you and what have you done with Mason?”

I can think of other things, you know.” He smirks. “It’s just more fun not to most of the time.”

With a fond sigh and a roll of her eyes, she wriggles towards the side of the bed, only halting when he brushes a hand over her wrist.

“We don’t have to get up yet.”

“You want to cuddle?”

He manages to make his shrug look casual. “If you want to call it that.”

There’s another moment of wary scrutiny, but his open arm is an invitation she chooses to accept, and he catches her smile as she snuggles down with him once again. As her weight settles against his chest, right where she should be, he allows the contentment to escape in a sigh. He remembers when he didn’t stay, and this is much better.

[catt-nuevenor]

How's BG3 been going? I wanted to see your option on the companions and story (if you've completed it yet lol). I have like 200+ hours in it so far and it's deff one of my new all time favs haha. Have you done a dark urge playthrough yet? I just finished mine it and it's really good—especially in the feels department. Anyways, I just wanted to ask one of my favorite writers opinions about my new favorite game! ❤️

Oh darling, beware the rabbit holes you stumble into. I could talk about Baldur's Gate for days upon days and still not be anywhere close to done.

Spoilers big and small, visual and text, for Baldur's Gate 3 and all previous games in the series. I have few opportunities to talk about the game so we're going all in here. You have been warned.

I've completed one playthrough and am act 2 deep into my second. First playthrough came out at 124 hours, trying to be relatively thorough, and I'd been an early access player so I always storm my way through act 1.

As for choices/options, let's do a quick rundown:

Umrae, Seldarine Drow, Monk of the Four Elements, Neutral Good

Saved the Tieflings in the grove

'Killed' Ethel

Zero interaction with the Zents

Killed a large portion of the Goblin camp

Destroyed the creepy book

Hung around far too long in the Underdark

Less so in the mountains

Did not complete Lae'zel's quest for Act 1 (I know, I know, I amended this playthrough 2)

Best friendship:

Romanced:

Least friendly companion... honestly a toss up early game between Astarion and Lae'zel. Long term definitely Lae'zel.

Dream visitor looked like this:

Main crew for acts 1 and 2:

Main crew for act 3:

First screenshot I figured out I could cut out the UI by pressing F10:

Quick run-through of other but not all important events:

Aylin and Isobel are my best girls, and nobody hurts my best girls.

Trusted Dream visitor about as far as I could throw them, and made that very clear at the end.

The underdark has a bunch of new residents and I feel like Umrae has some explaining to do when she gets home.

Nobody hurts Karlach and gets away with their skulls intact.

The hells have a new two person devil kicking team and a nice house to return to.

There's going to be a new bard's school in Baldur's Gate once someone cleans up the mess.

Shadowheart is going to have a house in the countryside with animals, flowers, a partner.

Lae'zel 'ascended'...

Gale is getting swimming and diving lessons.

And a quick smattering of my other favourite moments/screenshots from playthrough 1:

---

And this post is officially long enough. Let me know if you would like a similar one for playthrough 2, or more pics from 1.

As for Dark urge, I've tentatively done the set-up for that playthrough, and I think that will be playthrough 3. My character for that looks like this:

I really like how that shot came out...

Thank you so much for the excuse to share the pretty pictures and talk about the game.

P.S. And I just realised how I didn't really talk about the writing or characters in any of that... I'll do a second post that'll go more into the craft. Sorry, got carried away.

[tleeaves]

Gush about your favourite TSC characters and ships! It's a free-for-all.

This is an incredibly sweet opportunity and now I'm sitting here trying to figure out who and what I want to talk about first. It's probably no secret or surprise that most of my favourites of anything in TSC come from the TLH series. See, with such open-ended gushing opportunities as this, actually, there are sooo many characters I want to talk about. I'm beginning to fear everyone's going to regret you calling this a free-for-all.

James Herondale is by far my favourite TSC character in existence, and I think about him and have talked about him (elsewhere, before I had any Tumblr blogs) the most. If you've read some of my longer fanfics at all, this likely hasn't come as a shock to you, but I love the guy, which is probably why I'm a little weird when it comes to others' posts about him (maybe Jane Austen was onto something when she said that if I loved someone less, I'd be able to talk about them more). We all come away from reading books with different takes on characters, and that's a perfectly normal phenomenon. Because I feel so deeply about James, I tend to dance around the topic of him unless I do agree with someone else's analysis or I have something substantial to say, and even then I tend to curb myself because I don't want to sound like a raving lunatic... and now I realise how long that sentence was. (I'm already a raving lunatic, aren't I?) Anyhow, this is an opportunity to gush, and gush I will (very extensively).

See, I've seen it going around the fandom that people dislike the characterisation of James or the way he was presented in earlier short stories pre-TLH publications and then post when some might argue he was a completely different person. Honourable mention to my fellow countryman, musician, and fanauthor, @faithfromanewperspective, who has some fascinating posts discussing the neurodivergence of the TLH cast, which help further explain their personalities and some of their characterisation across their written existence (seriously, go check out some of Silver's analysis posts, they're such wonderful and interesting reads). Similar to Silver, I like to observe the essentially four different Jameses that exist across the timeline of James Herondale's written existence.

We have the James from the Shadowhunter Academy era, James in The Midnight Heir set several months before the events of The Last Hours, and then, of course, who we have during TLH pre- and post-bracelet influence. I once embarked on a research rabbit warren when I hit a rough patch in fanfic writing where I was trying to decide how best to write James post-bracelet while still remaining as canon-compliant as possible, while also filling in the gaps I and other fans have been frustrated with in James' evolution, all before Chain of Thorns was released. I reread all the stories that involved James and constructed an approximate timeline where I explored the ways his personality was presented at various points. From there, I tried to make sense of him by connecting, essentially, these four Jameses.

James holds a number of insecurities and burdens that pretty much sealed the deal for me when I was reading about him the first time around (don't ask me to count how many times I've read about him overall). Similar to when I discussed the topic of Jem Carstairs and chronic illness (see here), I connected to James Herondale through the avenue of chronic conditions. Other content creators like to interpret characters through lenses of mental illness or disorders, for instance, which definitely have a wealth of analysis and discussion to offer. My go-to instead, I suppose, is chronic illness and relationship dynamics, and how that affects a person's character. I may have talked in part about this before somewhere on here, but I'm too lazy to comb through the James Herondale tag that exists on my fandom blog (@streettealee, where I'll also be reposting this ramble). Anyway, burdens and insecurities.

Goatface Herondale

The academy days were especially rough for many characters, but here I'm talking about James (obviously). He was around the age of 13 when he attended the Shadowhunter Academy (a year, give or take a bit, before Grace would ask him to retrieve her bracelet and wear it, and a little closer in time to when he went to Cirenworth and had scalding fever). We see that he was a rather shy kid, generally self-conscious as one tends to be when reaching teenage years especially, and also quite insecure.

He has a close relationship with his parents and also his sister. We know he's very protective of Lucie, and they were playmates, which naturally lends itself to bonding and frequent squabbles (take it from me, an eldest child with a younger sister born right as I became a toddler -- we were each other's only friends in many respects and we got into a lot of fights, yet I would do anything for my sister, even take ownership for her mistakes just because I didn't want her to suffer the consequences). The nature of his relationship with Lucie is something that does not change as the series progresses (it would have been interesting to see her reaction to him in TMH though). As for his parents: James is what my friends and I in primary school would have mockingly called "The Golden Child" (and not for his eyes, mind you), because he's not simply a mama's boy or father's boy. James is the dreaded combination of both, in which he is always trying to do right by them in some way, shape, or form, without much particular favour for one over the other. It wouldn't surprise me if Lucie was ever bitter about him being the oldest and something of a goody-two-shoes, or if James regarded it the other way with Lucie always getting away with everything because she's younger and so innocent-seeming (she definitely play-acted her way out of things as a child).

As has been examined by others already, James carries the burden of his parents' love (we'll get to more of this in the next section). Not only is he the miracle child of a Shadowhunter and a warlock, never seen before, he is also affected by the trauma Tessa carries as an outsider within the Enclave, and the concern she and Will have for him that borders on overbearing. We see in his academy era that he will not say goodbye to his father because he knows he cannot bear it and does not want to be seen as weak. We also see that he refuses to go home and or do anything that would reflect badly on his mother, because she is already alienated for being a warlock in Shadowhunter society. Furthermore, James is resentful of his father particularly at this time, because James is constantly being compared to him (again, we'll come back to this). He wishes Will Herondale were less than perfect so that James would be allowed to be who he is: less than perfect, a Nephilim child with demon blood.

As a kid, it can be difficult growing up in an environment where you are from two cultures, and everyone around you is constantly trying to get you to pick which you most are between them, instead of unifying them both as elements of your identity (this is from my personal experience). James has been an odd Shadowhunter for most of his life, up until the point at the academy where his warlock powers (thanks to Belial, yay) suddenly manifest. From that point on, where it is seen that some magical capability is possible, James is caught between two worlds. It was bad enough for him to have strange yellow-gold eyes ("Goatface Herondale") which he tried to hide by wearing his glasses more often than necessary, he then had to contend with a more noticeable, alienating feature of his demonic heritage, which drove away even the mundanes he had previously been befriending (outsiders to a particular majority tend to flock together, up to a certain point, as demonstrated).

So, there's that aspect of his shadow powers. When I read about James, I drew connections also with the earlier mentioned chronic illness view. His demonic heritage is not a condition, but his experience of their manifestation in uncontrollable and traumatising episodes of shadow magic are what I would call one. As if he were not insecure enough about not being extroverted enough to break out of his loneliness and enter social circles he's always skirted at the edges of, he is afflicted by a condition that betrays his body and will. This loss of control is difficult for anyone. It's easy to feel helpless, even after a diagnosis of something, because it is incurable and or unpredictable in nature. Self-loathing lends itself to those left vulnerable by such a violent change in their body's nature and their identity. There is a lot to be said about the labels given to us and the ones we assume. To James, this is just another way he is less than perfect, less than his father, a weakness to his mother and family, no longer on totally common ground with his sister, different from his peers, and his ability to tamp down this part of him and appear as some semblance of "normal" for Nephilim becomes tied with his self-esteem.

As a quick side note: it is my theory that James feels like an outsider among Downworld circles and that is why he has always been rather awkward around them. We see he does fine in The Devil Tavern when he gradually makes a second home of it, but there are other instances, such as a brief moment that lives rent-free in my head where, at his introduction in Chain of Gold, he walks past a vampire and avoids eye contact because "[unless Downworlders broke the law, it was none of his business what they did]" (I'm paraphrasing there) and I think there's been a bit of shame instilled in him. James is not wholly a Downworlder, and he is not wholly Nephilim, and because he was raised as a Shadowhunter and alienated anytime he was not quite resembling one, he does his best to try and follow Shadowhunter values and norms and further avoids some aspects of Downworld in some contexts, like when he's just come off a patrol.

Of course, good things come to James too at this time: Matthew finally manages to befriend him, and the two are both insecure people who find security in each other. He also leaves the Shadowhunter Academy, and Matthew declares he and James are going to be parabatai and must therefore stick together, which for James would feel pretty damn good -- not only because Matthew wants to share such a special connection with him, considering his demonic heritage and the inherent angelic ties the parabatai ceremony holds, but also because his father places a lot of stress on parabatai as one of the greatest forms of love that exists (again, we come to that burden of love idea) and so James, I believe, would find this an opportunity to live up to the expectations his parents hold.

AND ANOTHER SIDE NOTE: I THINK IT IS BRILLIANT THAT TLH IS BASED ON GREAT EXPECTATIONS I MEAN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD THE ENTIRE TLH CAST IS SADDLED WITH ALL THESE THINGS EXPECTED OF THEM FOR VARIOUS REASONS, I COULD GO ON ABOUT THIS FOREVER AND THE CONNECTIONS THEY HAVE TO THE ORIGINAL NOVEL BY DICKENS.

All that is to say: this first sort of version of James that we see is shy, insecure, sweet, generally well-intentioned, clever (he's funny and I didn't get time to try and go back to the book to pick up all the instances where he says something amusing, keep off), and reaches this first turning point of burden -- the burden of love and expectations, and of his heritage and abilities/condition. All of this has already brewed into a hero complex (it does not quite rival Cordelia's, but it's up there -- James really likes to handle things himself and on his own, and now it's got me thinking about Batman... anyway).

Helen of Troy

This boy had shining golden eyes, like a crystal glass filled brimful with crisp white wine and held up to catch the light of a blazing sun. If his skin was luminous, his eyes were radiant. Magnus could not imagine these eyes as tender. The boy was very, very lovely, but this was a beauty like that Helen of Troy might have had once, disaster written in every line. The light of his beauty made Magnus think of cities burning.

The Midnight Heir is perhaps the most contentious piece written about James, and I would like to point several things out before we proceed: Cassandra Clare wrote this (as well as Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy) with co-authors who, as far as I know, were not as heavily involved in TLH. Furthermore, this is from Magnus Bane's perspective, and he is known to dramatise just as much as the TLH cast themselves like to drape their lives in drama. Now, going forward...

This occurred before TLH and I have my practical writer theories as to why James wound up so different in TLH compared to TMH. Clare changed her mind about the story's trajectory, about who the main characters would be, what the romances would look like, who she wanted James Herondale to be. And this is where I have to admit, Clare as a writer -- like any other -- is flawed and has a history of inconsistencies. As frustrating as it can be, it happens, and so there is obviously the issue of "well who is the REAL James Herondale? What/who is canon?"

This brings me to my exercise in interpreting James: the different Jameses that exist and my way of uniting them all so that they do indeed make one coherent character who can have the mildness of his academy era, the wild intensity of his midnight era, and have all that remain consistent with who he is by The Last Hours (during and post bracelet).

As you may have gathered from the Goatface Herondale topic above, James' turning point at the academy was just the start of the disasters he was written for--disaster written in every line--which leads up to TMH or his Helen of Troy period. There are some interpretations that his wild and unruly behaviour was simply as it was presented to us: heartbreak taken to the extreme "because he's a Herondale and they love only but once blah blah bullshit blah" and heightened by the cursed bracelet he was wearing at the time (there is textual evidence he had it on him, and we are told Grace merely sent a letter that made him despair and things were quickly made up after). Then, such as done by Silver, there is the interpretation that James may be bipolar or have some other disorder in which he experiences manic episodes, which lead to the vast, seemingly inexhaustible energy he had that night in TMH where we first meet him as he's grown older and the complete mood swing that almost resembles an entire change in character (also look to the dialogue of his parents who say he never used to be like this, he was always so studious, so good, very mild and well-behaved, kept his parabatai in line and shared private jokes). This is where I would have really liked to know Lucie's view, because as his sister, she is more than likely to share a view that is different from the adults gathered (Magnus, Tessa, Will, and Jem), and I almost think she would say he's being dramatic and she doesn't know what got into him except he's still treating her all the same and then she'd just roll her eyes (I'm not saying she wouldn't be concerned, but just that she'd easily disguise it as a mockery of her brother doing dumb shit).

There is also something to be said about masking and "the Mask" that James dons. However, I do not know enough about this to comment much on it. I direct you once again to @faithfromanewperspective who I know has covered this topic in more detail. What I have to add around it (as someone with some form of undiagnosed neurodivergence, but leaning toward ADHD and C-PTSD (I do not yet have the funds or ability to seek professional opinions)) is that this is plausible, and yet not my first thought when I'm considering the totality of James and how we can unite the different stages of his timeline. I say this because I experience bursts and lulls of certain behaviours, and so far I do not have anything concrete to attribute it to, and it may sound stupid, but I have found (in my experience) that sometimes we lose our inhibitions as a result of extreme emotions in difficult circumstances. Who I am when I am at home is different to who I am in the classroom and different again to who I am when I've been drinking alcohol and who I am when I'm wandering the streets of a city late at night (always with friends, notably, because I don't feel safe enough to wander alone at night as a woman). Sometimes, I do not even need a drink in me to loosen up certain aspects of my mentality, but a few hours of sleep deprivation (sort of a lie, I'm almost always sleep deprived and it's yet another chronic issue I'm working on since it affects other areas of my health). I believe I am a product of my environment in many ways. And so is James.

There is some merit to the original idea that James has been ensconced in such profound love his whole life, that when his love life goes wrong and is not at all like the beautiful fairytale he resents his parents for having and pushing on him, it destroys him inside. Admittedly, I'd say this would have greater impact and would be a much more compelling narrative if the bracelet was not cursed and James was allowed to break the dumb Herondale myth of loving once (furthering that alienation but ultimately providing him liberation). But even with the bracelet: James believes himself in love, believes he is damned because he is demonic and nothing good can ever become of him or anything he wants in life, he is going to always get the short end of the stick because the expectations placed on him are too great, and he has received a devastating letter as a hormonal teenager with access to an entire city to terrorise and alcoholic drinks to consume. I'd say it's not far-fetched to assume he was just incredibly drunk and heartbroken that night, and was simply embracing the drama that teenagers lean toward.

It is, though, the sheer cruelness that James demonstrates in front of Magnus that pokes a hole in this framework. The James we knew previously, and even the James we see in TLH, is not who you would call cruel. So where did this come from? Was it his resentment against Downworld rising to the surface, an extension of his insecurities raging inside him? Rebelliousness against his parents? If he embraces chaos and cruelty and vice, can he convince himself he is merely being who he was always meant to be, as someone who is part demon? (Sound familiar to anyone? *cough* Jace Herondale *cough*) Was he as drunk as Magnus thought he was? Was James, in reality, experiencing some sort of manic high where he could be wickedly precise with a gun and still be entirely out of his typical character?

I have no definite answer, except that I urge you to reflect inward. Have we not all at least once experienced a time where we "have not acted ourselves"? Where, for one reason or another, we shed our usual attitudes and embraced a different side of ourselves that only seems out of character because others around us do not know us as we know ourselves? I know I have. I know I can be cruel and nasty when I let go of care, and that a part of me believes sometimes that it is my truest nature because of what some people drilled into me for many impressionable years. That sometimes it is a form of self-harm, because I can still feel empathy and I know what I am doing is hurting someone else, and it hurts me too because I am so aware of it and the whole vicious mental cycle goes on. I know that if I simply stay up long enough at night, I indulge in reckless behaviours and say whatever comes to my mind with little to no filter. I know that I can have periods of energy fueled by recklessness, by some social interactions, by many other factors, and can lead to be attempting to perform feats I typically would not.

James trying to make love to a lamppost and a dog and what have you? That I could attribute to drinking or sleep deprivation. It could just as easily be something else, but I will stand by the fact that this is not out of the ordinary when one is in an extraordinary sort of mental state. I also believe Clare's intentions when writing that was more for humour than anything.

Returning to my earlier point, I do believe James might have been cruel in TMH because he simply could be, because he is unloveable (in his mind), demonic, and for that period of time, dreadfully tired of how hard he had to try to be someone everyone believed he was not. And perhaps because this rebellion, this reckless behaviour, as chaotic as it appears, is actually his form of taking control over his life and his image. If he acts the part of a wild, half-warlock, if he embraces wickedness, he is in control of that and no comments or misfortune that might be attributed to it are as bad in his mind. To him, under the curse, Grace is perfect and he's just Ken James, barely a Herondale. This night in TMH that catches glimpse of his character as of late is actually just the snowball effect of his insecurities that we already saw in the academy.

So, how does that connect to the Jameses of TLH?

Barely a Herondale

Let's revisit my favourite topics of chronic illness and control. We see by TMH, and with context provided in Chain of Gold, that James had begun to master his shadow abilities, so that they became actual abilities and not just a condition that he was struggling with. In a way, I see it as a remission. James has developed this precious view of control because of this, I would argue, and we see him grapple with control and his insecurities in TLH more. When we open the series with Chain of Gold and we see James enter the shadow realm against his will in the middle of a fight, there is a deep sense of body betrayal, I find when reading. I feel for James when his friends go "I thought that had stopped happening/all that rubbish was over" and he goes "me too". I cannot count the times in my life when I genuinely thought my health troubles were over, that the rollercoaster was only going up, just to have a horrible shock when suddenly my body gives out on me and I am plunged for months into chronic pain and illness all over again for usually unclear reasons. I have no cure, just as James doesn't. We simply have methods of managing our respective conditions, if that makes sense. It is a constant fight for control over ourselves. There have been times where I will not tell a single person that my symptoms of something have come back, simply because I am exhausted and I already know the drill of management techniques I'll have to employ myself.

James reaches for his knife, for the pain to bring him back. He contacts Jem because he's worried and has no idea what's going on or why it happened. I am so, so obsessed with this. I can't stress enough how much I relate to his whole shadow dilemma from a perspective of chronic illness. I am shaking you, reader. Please understand. I don't care how flawed this guy is or the fact that Clare might not have intended this interpretation, this is my form of projection like everyone else has theirs and it is so comforting to me, as someone who also struggles to feel in control of my own body, who exerts control over other things in other ways just to cope.

This is one line of consistency I draw from Goatface to Helen of Troy to the James of TLH. Now, moving on...

We see that in TMH that Will and Tessa have been trying to get through to James for ages to try and coax out of him what his problems are and why he is acting out. I discussed this once with an old writing partner, how when the Herondales learned of the Carstairs coming to London to save their reputation and required their help, that Will and Tessa likely approached James and demanded he be on his best behaviour so that they can help the Carstairs. For if the Herondales tried to help while James himself was out ruining his reputation, then the Carstairs would surely be doomed.

And so, we have the image of The Perfect Gentleman™ developed over the next few months ready for the arrival of Sona, Cordelia, and Alastair Carstairs in London. This coincides with the fact that over the summer (after the winter period when he had his wild streak and the spring when he would have been getting his heart and act together) he did not go to Idris to see Grace for the first time in years and the bracelet's hold on him was weakening significantly, which I believe, would mean less of the heightened hurt and insecurity surrounding the topic of love for at least a little while, because he would simply care about Grace (in a romantic sense) less. Who knows? Perhaps becoming the model gentleman was his form of revenge against Tatiana and others, because if he conforms and commits heavily to Shadowhunter society and the rules of propriety, then he cannot be faulted for his heritage so easily by that point. Plus, this is much easier to follow when he thinks he has total control over his shadow abilities at that point in time. For about six months, he can simply put it out of his mind (and get extra weird about interacting with Downworld and how he feels about it. This also brings me to a side tangent about how I think his interest in the occult is the little demon/magic intrigue he allows himself in private where only his friends are likely to be aware of the books he keeps. He says, if I recall correctly, at some point that he finds it fascinating what mundanes think of magic and how close or far they are from it sometimes, and I propose there's like this secret third thing to it about how he likes looking at magic and demonology from the perspective of a third party -- someone who is not Nephilim or of Downworlder origin, because it is the closest kinship he might find).

Also, let's not forget how much people in real life, let alone characters, can change over a period of time, much less several months to a year. I truly do not think his character is as inconsistent between books as it is made out to be. I think the real issue is that Clare left out elements of context that would have helped when characterising James and his journey, hashing out who he is and who he is not. I think another blog brought it up once, how TLH should have been multiple books and not just a trilogy. I agree, I think the dense character work would have benefitted from being more spaced out, particularly when exploring the bracelet in regard to James. Because the James after Chain of Gold especially feels rather like a blank slate that Cordelia is usually projecting upon. Which is valid. I have another theory about this, where the reason James was suddenly the It Guy at social gatherings was because he had "cleaned up his act" in the recent year and the bracelet meant that he was a blank canvas for the girls of the Enclave to project their desires onto. Perhaps it's an allosexual thing, but I know of myself and many others who tend to form crushes on people we know next to nothing about simply because they're beautiful and we make things up in our head based on what little knowledge we have, and the gaps are filled to suit. In Chain of Gold, it felt very purposeful, and the changes between James while wearing the bracelet as opposed to without was much more noticeable.

Genuinely, I think Clare dropped the ball once she got to Chain of Iron, and then dropped even further when writing Chain of Thorns. But still, for the sake of outlining the consistencies of James' character rather than the flaws, we'll ignore my personal frustration with those books and continue on.

We still see his insecurities manifest in various ways throughout TLH. Before we get to that, I'd like to point out that James remains clever throughout this series, always introverted even if he knows how to navigate social situations better now, forever a bookworm, loyal, but no longer so much of a people-pleaser as he seems much more prepared to be an adversary in any given situation as well as embrace rebellion, which I think gets overlooked a lot (do you see how quickly he goes "lock up your daughters and your greenhouses, James Herondale is on the loose and has a penchant for property damage etc." after getting in trouble in Chiswick? I swear, this guy had my heart in a chokehold). LIKE. CAN YOU NOT SEE IT? The way he is still the same guy we saw in TMH? His personality did not change so drastically that he is someone else -- it's still him! He's still there! He's just evolved over the months! And here we are, this is one such place where his insecurities are still pronounced, but in such a way where he tries to own it, to control it, once again.

And in spite of all the Herondale traits James definitely carries, he is still not the typical Herondale like Will and Jace or even some of the others we've seen. James is also Tessa and her trauma and Jem and his teachings and his father and his legacy, and he is influenced by disaster (hello? He was thirteen when he saw another dead kid? Got diagnosed with Greater-demon-for-a-grandfather? Has been brainwashed since fourteen?).

Remember how ready he was to believe he was a murderer? That's his insecurity and history talking. These horrible nightmares he's been having too. James tried so hard to be a hero, and yet he believes he inevitably ends up being someone against the heroes. He is surprised when Cordelia says he's the leader of the group because that's not how he sees himself. And this is what I find so fascinating about James. There's how other people see him, and many people see him differently, and then there's how he sees himself. (I will note that I find the idea of the Merry Thieves having any sort of leader laughable. I truly feel that's not how their group dynamic works. It felt like an excuse for Cordelia to fawn over him (as you do when you have a crush on someone) and have that weird shoe-horned on-the-nose moment where James goes to comfort Thomas and waves the others over when Barbara dies).

Most of what I have to talk about admittedly deals more with Chain of Gold, simply because kind of got lost between Chain of Iron and Chain of Thorns. He's still there, and I still see the strings of his personality, I think Clare just let some of his key character issues fade into the background. Also, I still only read Chain of Thorns once. I haven't been motivated to pick that one back up.

One thing I do like about Chain of Thorns though is that James was allowed to be the bad guy, even if it was via being a puppet for Belial. There was something almost cathartic about him crowning himself King of England. He didn't save the day; Cordelia did. James was merely fulfilling a prophecy he had made for himself.

Also, we don't get to see much of James without the bracelet. I think he's still trying to figure out who he is now that the curse is gone, then after Belial is gone and so are the main aspects of his warlock abilities. James has to redefine himself beyond many of the securities he held (so fucking mad that the "technically I did only love once because it was always Cordelia under the curse 🤪" happened because it would have made more sense for James to also break through that insecurity, but whatever).

In conclusion... um, this guy's just neat? I think he's beyond interesting. People who say he's boring and blank, I hear you, I just can't say I totally agree with you. He's my favourite character. I'll make all the excuses. I just wrote this to try and defeat the idea that his personality is inconsistent because I think it can be argued that it actually is not when you consider, well, all of the above. Anyway, I spent almost the whole day writing this. Whoops.

My other favourite characters are Matthew Fairchild, Cordelia Carstairs, Jem Carstairs, Magnus Bane, and Ragnor Fell. Love them all so much. I love a great many characters but these ones most of all.

Ships? Look, as much as I will criticise it and absolutely agree with other critiques of them, I love Jordelia. I project on and relate to both characters, what do you want from me. Also, I keep saying I have no faith in TWP and that I will not be actively seeking it out but... I do like Kit and Ty. Sue me. The drama is so delicious. For ages though, I've been wanting an equally juicy lesbian ship, I feel like the ones we have just... aren't it. You know? I think there was a missed opportunity in making Cordelia bisexual and a girl crush for Grace. OH BUT I ALSO LOVE GRACE AND LUCIE. SHUT UP, SHUT UP, I LOVE THEM. THEIR DYNAMIC COULD HAVE BEEN BRILLIANT.

Anyway, The End. That was a very long gush.

[umbracirrus]

Okay - so I have set myself an aim to at least have a portrait drawn for each of my Elder Scrolls OCs. I have started drawing them over this weekend, and am going to gradually get them neatened out, coloured, etc....

These are the ones which I have started so far! Aelia, Drissa, Florian, Elyse, and Thea.

I have a long list of the rest to work on before I can so much as start on colours or anything though!! At least five more Dragonborn characters (Siriane, Iduna, Aevra, Ivetta, and Maewynne), and six straight up OCs (Elyse's parents Ingja and Edwyn, and the Whiterun Guard Foursome Ingrida, Barknir, Sorik and Fjora-)

I'll give more details about these five under the cut though, because I can😊

Aelia

Imperial Hero of Kvatch who ends up mantling Sheogorath after the Oblivion Crisis is ended. She finds herself in the Shivering Isles after driving herself away from everyone through her grief, including her own child, which had her acting volatile and hostile towards those who wanted to help her. She does, however, have a sweet spot for flowers and butterflies, and always felt calmer around them.

Drissa

Known as a Hero of Kvatch alongside Florian, though is less visible in the spotlight than he is and that suited her just fine, because the spotlight had already shunned her. She doesn't join the Blades, and instead tries to find her place in the world, find a place where she belongs. She thought that she had already done that, when she earned herself the title of Grand Champion of the Arena through defeating the Grey Prince, but after getting framed for murder she finds herself with nothing once more. But don't worry - once she gets her revenge, a shrouded hand reaches out with an offer she couldn't possibly refuse. A family of her own.

She's blunt and prefers to respond to things with her hammer, but once someone breaks through the tough exterior, she's a bit more open. But only a bit. She doesn't know when she'll lose everything again, after all.

Florian Livius

Hero of Kvatch alongside Drissa, and is the more visible of the pair - quite ironic, given that he starts out as a thief in the Thieves Guild. Not a good one, mind you, as he had doyens sighing at the mere mention of his name with how often they had to clear bounties on his head, but on the days where he wasn't caught, he could bring in a fair amount of coin and that was the only thing stopping him from being kicked out.

After getting arrested and placed in the same cell as Drissa, then being a witness to the Emperor's final request and final moments, he had a moment where his mind faltered because for once, somebody actually believed in him - even if that somebody had just been killed before his eyes. The Emperor trusted him to get that task done. And after meeting Martin, and watching how he took the changes in stride... Florian made his mind up there and then that he would change his ways and be a better person because of Martin. For him, even.

He cut his ties with the Thieves Guild, and threw himself headfirst into his new responsibilities as a Blade, and to his amazement, realised that his reputation had flipped just like a coin - where once he was a criminal, he was now a hero. He strives to help others realise that they can do the same.

Elyse Verne

Dragonborn who takes pride in her mixed Breton and Nord heritage, so much so that she decides to venture north from where she spent her teenage and young adult years in Chorrol to Skyrim, to see the land that her mother, Ingja, would speak so fondly of. Obviously, she gets caught up at the border ambush, and sets forth the events which lead to her discovering that she is Dragonborn.

Rather than taking the advice of the Jarl of Whiterun and visiting the Greybeards, she instead tries to find her own way of understanding what she was by going to the place where her parents met - Winterhold. She spends six months doing her research at the college whilst avoiding her uncle in the city, unaware that she had very much caught the eye of the Thalmor through her very specific research topics. After six months and a lot of drama unfolding in Winterhold, she finally takes Balgruuf's advice... and almost exactly a year later, she defeats Alduin in Sovngarde. During this time, she made herself a home in Whiterun, and found that if there was anyone to put her trust in, it was the people of Whiterun hold and its Jarl.

Little over a year and a half after that, during which she defeats Miraak, Elyse finds herself slowly being dragged into the civil war taking place in Skyrim, but not with regard to the fighting, instead because of all the politics and her status. That worries not just her, but Balgruuf too, especially given that she doesn't agree with or want to be involved in the war, same as him. And those two happen to get very close in their solidarity...

Thea

Dragonborn who is a proud member of the Companions, though admittedly not as keen on being Harbinger. Of all of them, she found herself closest to Vilkas, and that closeness led to him being the only one to notice that she was not a fan of her title - even if she repeatedly kept saying out loud that Vilkas was a better fit than her.

The two of them gradually built up a system of mutual assistance, where she could tell when he needed help and vice versa, and it helped her with getting more comfortable in her role. Much of her part was helping him as he went through struggles with his lycanthropy until he felt ready to go to Ysgramor's Tomb, and even during that, she remained by his side even as Hircine lashed out against them both. She never mentioned to him that Hircine ended up punishing her for her involvement in cleansing both him and Kodlak of their wolf spirits though, resulting in her being plagued with nightmares of the hunting grounds and losing control of herself periodically when shifted.

Seeing each other through their troubles made their bonds incredibly strong, and they were the firmest of friends - even if one of them happened to be a werewolf.

She didn't really know when the two of them started being a couple though. They never really discussed it - it just sort of... happened. They gradually found themselves spending more and more time at her house in The Pale, just north of Whiterun, than in Jorrvaskr... and before they knew it, they were married and had a family of their own. Poor uncle Farkas was constantly travelling between the two places just to play with their children.

[samooooo1]

Going to the beach with them

Mentioned characters:Tai,Takumi,Takuma and Matt

(All the characters I have written for so far :D YIPPEYY)

_____________________

Takumi:

●Smug about it, I mean if ya both are married he probably smirk at ya one way or another

●Probably would shield from the eyes of any other person as he sees only he himself besides maybe family member should be able to see you in a swimmsuit

●Would probably take you to private area only the both of you can be, as he just loves spending time with you

●He is a sweet boy, well unless someone tried something on you in any way then this cute and handsome little Golden Retriever boy turns into a angry bird :D He aint afraid to get into trouble if its mean, that the people that he cares, would feel comfortable and save.

●So it could easily be said that with by your side nobody would mess with you, having a overprotectiv Golden Retriever boyfriend around you would also be cute, you would play so many games with as you can think, he would obviously try volleyball,then swimmimg, maybe even go diving (If you are into that) but if nothing of the mentioned stuff is something you like you doing he has no problems just sitting with you in a cool area reading something that you like or just relax.

●You both would probably spend the entire day doing something and only after looking at the sun do you truly realise how long both of you have spend on the beach, as a bonus he also would love to finish the day by watching the sunset go down with you in his arm near a cliff just watching as sun goes down and both of you go home and recide everything you both have been doing in the day :D

Tai:

●Is probably a beach person.He isnt really a jealous person but he still wont like it if someone who isnt part of the family, look at you in a swimmsuit. Especialy if the both of you are married, he just doesnt like unwanted eyes on your skin and who can blame him, no one wants weird eyes on the beautiful s/o skin, the person God has trusted them with.

●So I do think he would pull the same move as Takumi and take you into a more closed area where only you and him are there, and where the both of you can spend your time there together.

●But he probably wont be one to back down from challenges, so I wish ya the best trying to sit down doing nothing but relax as he will most certaintly never be still. So you better take your lazy butt up and have some fun with him in the beach.

●The both of you probably would also same as Takumi spend so much time there that the both of you forget the time and only realise how much time you spend on the beach when the sun is about to set.

●The both of you would probably even stay longer not only watching the sun going down but also watch the stars for some time before the both of you return home.

●Then it probably be just sleeping time as you both were way to long out, having a peaceful but eventful night.

Takuma:

●Takuma my boiyyyy, probably the most chill out of the people, but still most protective of the bunch, he is a pretty quiet person, so when someone even dares to look at you, he just stares at them while holding a arm around you,if your married and the person still doesnt wanna look away... well lets say fis- I mean actions speaks a bit clearer then mere looks.

●Yea I think its not suprising that he also would most likely take you to a hidden area only you and him can be with another alone.

●Is the most introvert of the bunch, and he himself would sit and relax or read something rather then go in the water and play or play any game at all, but if its you he always makes a exception as he deeply cares for you and wants to spend time with the love of his life.

●I do think he finds most and best comfort inside your home, he is a person who appreciates you and wants to make the moments between you, only between you and also maybe cause he dont want no eye on you as he feels only he or family members are allowed to look at you in your swimmsuit.

●So you both most definitely will head home sooner then expected and even though you both wont see the sunset going down, both of you would spend time together as a way of spending better time, like for example cuddling with good movies or series and the background as both of you cuddle and hold yourself in eachothers arms just loving the time the both of you can spend with another.

Matt:

●Most likeliest to immdiatly punch the person in the face if they dare to look at you wrongly in the swimmsuit. Boy has some anger issues. He wouldnt mind putting someone back in their place if they dare to look at his s/o wrongly.

●Boy gives tsundere vibes off, he would probably try not to say some thing like how beautiful you are in the swimmsuit (he definitly didnt try to keep his eyes away from you to give off the Illusion that he aint liking you look or how beautiful you are).

●He wouldnt mind anything at all, as long as he is with you, he doesnt mind any activities he can do there, so reading or just relaxing? No problem, wanna have fun and stay active? Also no problem and he leaves whenever you leave so the both of you wouldnt have any problems if you wanted to see the sunset or just go home and spend some plain old romantic time with another, pretty relaxing I would say :D.

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FINALLY THIS IS DONEEE, Yea enjoy the story and leave any feedback ya like.

(Also remember my requests are open, reason I write for so much Digimom fandom is of lack of it being even there, there are only 3 Blogs that write digimon fanficts which is why I just wrote most of my fics as of right now for digimon, but dont be afraid to ask or request any other chara as long as it is with in the rules I dont have any problem with it 👍)

Have a noice day and stay blessed :D

;)