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apocalypticavolition · 11 months

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Let's (re)Read The Eye of the World! Chapter 15: Strangers and Friends

This chapter brings us a new and exciting icon, by which I mean terrifying and awful. Speaking of awful, if you don't want to have literally every detail of this series spoiled, you should probably go somewhere else. I hate to see you go, but I'd hate your complaints even more so begone!

Anyway. Chapter icon. We get a sunburst which stands for the Whitecloaks, an organization that really feels like it should have stopped being a quirky miniboss squad by the halfway point but continued to haunt one of our heroes almost all the way to the end of his arc. This is the chapter where Mat pranks them, because early books Mat is very, very dumb.

With a sigh he tossed the pillow aside and sat up, wincing as he stretched. All the aches he thought had soaked out in the bath were back. And his head still hurt, too. It did not surprise him. A dream like that was enough to give anybody a headache. The others had already faded, but not that one.

Rand is blaming the wrong thing. It's been a week since he channeled at Bela to keep her going, so now he's feeling that lovely post-saidin hangover. This is also why he slept so late compared to everyone else.

“. . . my Cirri is a good cat,” the cook was saying sharply, “and I won’t hear a word otherwise, do you hear? Complaining about him doing his job too well, that’s what you’re doing, if you ask me.”

Cirri's not even the reason all the rats are dead, but I'd take the cook's side anyway. If a place has too many dead rats for your liking, blame the people who make the conditions for the rats to thrive in the first place, not the one thing keeping the bubonic plague at bay.

Also, considering how professional cooking is so often a man's job, I'm withholding criticism on how we're establishing a pattern of kitchens being a woman's place because at least Jordan is being more consistent in his divisions that actual western society manages to be. Hopefully we won't see any palace head cooks who are dudes to make me irate.

"...Cirri wouldn’t let so many get into the inn, he wouldn’t. It’s a clean place, too, and not one to be so troubled. And all with backs broken.” She shook her head at the strangeness of it all.

You know what, I'm shaking my head too. Of all the early book weirdnesses, this might be the weirdest one. Like... what? How? Why? Did Ish just have a bunch of rat corpses in the dreamshard he had to put somewhere? Is he literally so crazy he thinks this is scary?

It was what the gleeman had called Plain Chant, those nights beside the fire on the ride north. Stories, he said, were told in three voices, High Chant, Plain Chant, and Common, which meant simply telling it the way you might tell your neighbor about your crop. Thom told stories in Common, but he did not bother to hide his contempt for the voice.

I can't help but assume that High Chant wouldn't sound out of place in an extended reading of scripture at a Catholic Church or some such, while Plain Chant, based on what dialog we get from Thom, seems like it's dramatic in a radio serial sense.

Rand slowly lowered himself to the bed again. He licked his lips, then said quickly, “Did he kill a rat?”

Note how effortlessly Rand communicates with someone he trusts. Moiraine really, really, really, really shot herself in the foot over the last couple chapters. People talk about how this is a series where nobody communicates but the ta'veren trio are actually really good about it with each other and others they care about (and Nynaeve is usually good but sometimes the plot demands that she not talk about things that would interfere with the Seanchan Supremacy Subplot), it's just that the plot tears them apart so they can't be effective.

Perrin fell back on his pillow. “You’ve heard the stories about Aes Sedai. Do you think we can trust Thom? If we can trust anybody. Rand, if we get out of this alive, if we ever get back home, and you hear me say anything about leaving Emond’s Field, even to go as far as Watch Hill, you kick me. All right?”

I actually kinda wonder if Jordan intended for Watch Hill, named for a very obvious strategic purpose, to end up being Perrin's main base of operations in the area once he became king and for this comment to be ironic. Perrin would have to spend a lot of time touring up and down his territory, and even when he ends up back in the Two Rivers it's still not the home he knows, just as the others have to lose it too.

...or, based on revelations below, it's probably because he was never gonna get to go home at this point in the story. Lame.

Even at the height of Festival he had never seen so many people so jammed together. Not even half so many. And this was only one street. Master Fitch and the cook said the whole city was full. The whole city . . . like this? He backed slowly away from the gate, away from the street full of people.

It's okay Rand. I've been hella uncomfortable in crowded situations for a couple of years now myself. It's good the poor boy had Baerlon to help him adjust to the rest of the world, considering the sheer mass of humanity he's going to have to put up with on occasion.

Startled, Rand jumped to his feet. It was the crop-haired young woman who had been with Moiraine when he came out of the bath chamber, still dressed in a boy’s coat and breeches. She was a little older than he was, he thought, with dark eyes even bigger than Egwene’s, and oddly intent.

It's Min again! It's a shame she gives up the gender non-comformity to get into Rand's pants because having somebody who didn't give a fuck about the gender bindary in Gender Binary World and still get a distinct kind of magical powers anyway would have really future-proofed this series against the various sexual revolutions that Jordan did not foresee. Frankly, it's my headcanon, and it could be yours too for the low, low price of nothing at all!

“Mistress Alys, then, if you prefer,” Min said with an amused look that made his cheeks color. “There’s no one close enough to hear.”

Considering that Min will spend much of the back half of the series blatantly giving away Rand's confidence to anyone who asks, it's really no surprise that she's also really bad at keeping Moiraine's secrets too.

“When you’re all in a group? Sparks swirling around you, thousands of them, and a big shadow, darker than midnight. It’s so strong, I almost wonder why everybody can’t see it. The sparks are trying to fill the shadow, and the shadow is trying to swallow the sparks.”

Min vision #1: The party is diametrically opposed to the Shadow and both sides know it. They're critically important to the effort, but also represent the Light in distinct, individual ways. This one is obvious and needs no particular analysis, though I don't think Min ends up mentioning it down the road even when she's around multiple party members.

Min did not seem to notice his slip. “The girl? She’s part of it. And the gleeman. All of you. You’re in love with her.” He stared at her. “I can tell that even without seeing any images. She loves you, too, but she’s not for you, or you for her. Not the way you both want.”

Min vision #2: Rand and Egwene are not soul mates, but there's an implication that they are for each other in another way since they're only not for each other as soulmates. This ultimately comes true in Egwene's being instrumental in stopping Rand's misguided seal plan and solo martyrdom.

“When I look at her, I see the same as when I look at . . . Mistress Alys. Other things, things I don’t understand, too, but I know what that means. She won’t refuse it.”

Min vision #3: Egwene will embrace channeling. This comes true.

That said, she doesn't mention to Rand if she sees any channeling potential around him (though that may just be politeness), and in later books her ability to suss out channelers is the generic "They always have a lot going on around them while ordinary people sometimes just have a couple signs", so it's hard to say what's going on here. I have an idea for what she may be seeing specifically around Aes Sedai and Egwene, but it relies on an early book weirdness that is coming up...

“The War . . . ah . . . Master Andra has seven ruined towers around his head, and a babe in a cradle holding a sword, and. . . .”

...now! In this book and only this book, Min's visions reflect both past and future, so it may be that the thing she sees specifically around current Aes Sedai and also Egwene is being bound to the Oath Rod, which won't apply to Rand. Lan's omens - and Thom's - rely on their past, not their futures, so we'll skip over them.

The strongest things I see about the big, curly-haired fellow are a wolf, and a broken crown, and trees flowering all around him.

Min vision #who cares: Perrin will become a werewolf, end up the king of Saldaea, and no one knows. Some suggest it's another Saldaea thing, some say it's about the trees on the farm, I say it's something to do with Tinkers or the Ogier or both that never came to fruition because Jordan never figured out what to do with him or because he changed things around, as evidenced below:

And the other one—a red eagle, an eye on a balance scale, a dagger with a ruby, a horn, and a laughing face.

This just never stops being weird. This particular prophecy suggests that Jordan intended for Mat to be the guy reuniting Manetheren at this point! The eye on the balance scale is him saving Moiraine, the dagger is the dagger, the horn is the Horn, and the face is... another oddity. The Wiki suggests it could be how he relates the Dice to laughter (no) or Balthamel (even weaker, somehow). I myself have no idea, but will suggest that maybe the Seanchan had different iconography at this time or that the Mat/Fain conflict was intended to be relevant at this point and just never was.

A sword that isn’t a sword, a golden crown of laurel leaves, a beggar’s staff, you pouring water on sand, a bloody hand and a white-hot iron, three women standing over a funeral bier with you on it, black rock wet with blood—

Callandor, the crown of Illian, the time he went and pouted in Seanchan territory, the lake he makes at Rhuidean, the hand he loses and [see below], the harem being really bad at pretending he's dead, Shayol Ghul.

In early drafts, Rand's lost hand was by royal decree of Morgase (who had Elayne elements at the time) and the white-hot iron was related to that. The Wiki tries to introduce the heron markings as a substitute, but I'm going to be bold and offer my own desperate patch to canon: Min doesn't know what balefire is yet and is just giving her best explanation for it.

(For anyone offended by "#who cares" because the answer is them, this is technically #8.)

“Most of all, I see lightning around you, some striking at you, some coming out of you. I don’t know what any of it means, except for one thing. You and I will meet again.” She gave him a quizzical look, as if she did not understand that either.

This is just all the Power that gets flung around when Rand enters the country, and of course the inevitability of their romance, which Min will utterly destroy herself to see fulfilled and then spend several books destroying Rand in subconscious vengeance for. I'll talk more about how their romance might have been improved in terms of the whole arc of the series when we get to it.

“Run, if you want,” she called after him. “You can’t escape from me.” Her laughter sped him across the stableyard and out into the street, into the hubbub of people. Her last words were too close to what Ba’alzamon had said.

Twu wuv!

But most of the people did not look any different from those he had grown up with, not in dress or in face. He had expected they would, somehow. Indeed, some of them had so much the look of the Two Rivers in their faces that he could imagine they belonged to one family or another that he knew around Emond’s Field.

Considering how canonically inbred the Two Rivers folk are, this actually is genuinely surprising and not just Rand being a racist country boy.

The man’s eyes were sunken and his dirty face gaunt, as if he had not eaten or slept in days, but Rand could swear. . . .

Oh dear, Fain is here. Worse still, Rand tells him exactly where everyone's staying, because Lan's warnings to trust no one mean nothing. In Rand's defense, he mistakes Fain's entirely deserved misery for having spent the last week fleeing like they have, but still.

“Aaaaah! She’s . . . she’s the Aes Sedai, is she?” A guarded look came over Fain’s face. “Maybe, though. . . .” He paused, licking his lips nervously. “How long will you be at this—What was it? What did you call it?—the Stag and Lion?” “We leave tomorrow,” Rand said. “But what does that have to do with—?”

But I've got nothing for Rand here except maybe post-channeling stupidity but even that's stretching it. Especially when Rand promises not to tell the scary, half-crazed dude who he doesn't like all that much not to tell Moiraine about him.

“Mat?” People still streamed by without paying them any heed, but Rand lowered his voice anyway, and leaned closer. “Mat, did you have a nightmare last night? About a man who killed a rat?”

To balance out Rand's overall stupidity, points again for actually communicating with his friends about what's going on. And since Mat specifically names the ferry as why he doesn't trust Moiraine, points from her for being a bad communicator overall.

“A dagger with a ruby, eh?” Mat said. “I like that. I don’t know about the eye, though. Are you sure she wasn’t making it up? It seems to me she would know what it all means if she really is a soothsayer.”

Instance number one of Min's prophecies being potentially self-fulfilling. Would Mat have taken anything from Shadar Logoth if he hadn't know it was his destiny to have a ruby-hilted dagger?

Rand stared after him, knowing he should do something. That look in Mat’s eyes always meant one of his tricks. But oddly, he found himself looking forward to whatever Mat was going to do. Something told him that feeling was wrong, that it was dangerous, but he smiled in anticipation anyway.

Post-channeling hangovers seem like the absolute worst. Mat has no excuse and I should be giving him shit for this but if Rand hadn't been accompanying him he would have gotten to fuck with the Whitecloaks at no cost to anyone.

The narrow-faced man glanced at Rand’s sword hilt again—the bronze heron was plain—and his eyes widened momentarily. Then his gaze rose to Rand’s face, and he sniffed dismissively. “He is too young. You are not from this place, yes?” he said coldly to Rand. “You come from where?”

Dain, you'd explode if he told you the truth. It's good that all three of our boys make Dain miserable at one point or another, I have to say. Shame Mat and Rand didn't get more opportunities to do so.

Bornhald turned his attention back to Rand. The light of knowing burned in his eyes. “Darkfriends do not escape us, youngling, even in a town that stands in the Shadow. We will meet again. You may be sure of it!”

Dain, odds are very good that there are several Darkfriends in your party, and worse still Padan Fain is running around and you're going to cause him exactly zero problems. Still though, let the record show that Rand has now fucked up the group's downtime in two different ways, all thanks to the magic of being ta'veren. Bro's probably so happy after AMOL to walk into a town and not immediately meet everyone of importance.

It was Mat who began disjointedly telling Thom about the dream and their worry over whether or not to tell Moiraine, but Rand joined in, for there were differences in exactly how they remembered it. Or maybe each dream was a little different, he thought. The major part of the dreams was the same, though.

It would be pretty weird if all three of you reacted to things in the same way. Was Ish doing them all in sync, or did he do them one after the other?

Mat snorted. “I could tell you about Children of the Light,” he said with a wry look at Rand.

Thom of course just assumes Mat's being an idiot and doesn't follow up on this, because sadly he doesn't realize just how much worse the situation is. And of course he's focused on Ba'alzamon, not the kids.

“The other lad! You say he had the same dream? Does he have sense enough to keep his mouth shut?” “I think so,” Rand said at the same time that Mat said, “We were going back to the inn to warn him.” “The Light send we’re not too late!”

Thom doesn't hear the word yes and assumes the worst. Thankfully, Perrin spent the whole day sick. What is up with that and him having headaches too? Does Wolfbrotherhood come on you like channeling? Did he reach out to the wolves accidentally on Bel Tine and now his body's reacting to the psychic stress on delay?

“We had to talk to somebody or go crazy,” Rand said.

Sadly, from now on, Rand is choosing to go crazy.

That brought them all up short. They exchanged glances, drew deep breaths, and marched inside as if to face Trollocs.

The fact that they put Nynaeve on the same tier of threatening as Trollocs is both hilarious and entirely accurate. In the next chapter, we'll see her again at last!

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #rand al'thor #thom merrilin #perrin aybara #min farshaw #padan fain #mat cauthon #dain bornhald

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shadowsong26fic · 1 year

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for A-Z OC meme, L.

Okay!

::pulls out mental list::

So, the obvious choice would be Lavinia, but I've talked about her here enough before so moving on XD

I did have an AtLA OC back in the day named Li-Hua; I don't remember much about her other than she was like the generation after the gaang; she was a firebender but barely used it, and she managed a theatre. She also ended up hopping timelines and getting written into a LOK RP at one point. (there were probably others; i had a lot of OCs in this fandom in particular, but most of the ones i'm coming up with do not have names starting with L)

Lariel is cheating because even though she was Kind Of a Supernatural OC she was really from another canon who was named for crossover purposes and then stuck around and became an Easter egg character (and I never actually wrote her into anything, just her demon counterpart Tesriel).

When we get to my original stuff--there's Lonura; mistress/girlfriend/paramour of a main character's older sister; is a sound-mage which mostly works out to be like Bardic Gift in Valdemar, but can also be things like mimicry and Directly Manipulating Sound (i.e., she can turn sound inward on itself, so something that should make a noise doesn't; also things like ventriloquism are Much easeir lol). She's sweet and steady and very much in love with Nolani; very aware of the potential pitfalls of her magic and rarely uses it.

Lif, from the same canon, is the youngest sister of two other major characters; she's an air-mage and a dancer, sometimes a prostitute. Her sisters are a War Hero and the eventual Clan Head respectively, but she's much happier with a quieter life. There's also some stuff tied into her story about the way Unthreaded mages (meaning mages with powers that are not the dominant/native element for that area) are treated in their culture.

Lux is. Well. She's Lucifer. A bunch of Our Angels Are Different tied into how this story works.

Laura Sanchez, from the same canon, is married to the Guardian, who keeps track of the family of humans who descend from Simon, an immortal (nephil) who keeps getting his memory erased. She ends up basically bullying the Archangel Gabriel into helping her track down her husband after the Horsemen (distant cousins of his) kidnap him. She's a reporter, the daughter of a diplomat, and she and her husband have two or three kids and a handful of grandchildren.

Larien is an extremely cold, calculating person--except where his wife is concerned. He's the king of a nation with a history of war with one of its neighbors; there was a treaty in his parents' generation that tried to solve it (basically, the then-kings; Larien's father and uncle; exchanged sisters as brides. It didn't work). Everything he does, he does for at least three reasons and he's thought it through (again, except for marrying Metanrye). He does love his brothers (half-brother Tahnrin and full-brother Idan; Idan is currently Missing) and his two daughters, but is mostly focused on winning the game, so to speak.

Landelye is the elder of Larien's two daughters. Elanhean succession follows essentially Salic law, meaning that she can't inherit, but she's aware her father is Considering changing the law--if she proves she's worth upending centuries of tradition. Her bastard uncle Tahnrin is the other candidate; they are having a very subtle war for the throne in the background of the wider political complications. Which include possible war with Nandere and some impending Major Drama with the Church. ...also, she and her uncle are both in love with/sleeping with the same main character. They like him (and the potential political advantages he could bring) enough to share, despite cordially despising one another.

...I think that's everyone whose name starts with an L, at least when it comes to Significant characters (or characters with close ties to Significant characters, lol). Though it's entirely possible I've missed someone...

Ask me about my OCs!

#asked #answered #tigerkat24

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signalwatch · 1 year

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Brooks Watch: History of the World - Part 1(1981)

Watched: 03/15/2023

Format: Hulu

Viewing: Unknown

Director: Mel Brooks

Hulu now has a series running called History of the World - Part II, which has participation from the 96-year-old Mel Brooks. Jamie mentioned she'd never seen the movie, and I said "well, we can't have that" - even though I hadn't seen it since college - and so I put it on.

Right out of the gate, it's amazing how much this movie would not be made today. I know that's something you see in every post or article about a movie made during a certain window, but the self-censorship (not enforced by a code or Breen office) that's crept in during the past 10-15 years is somewhat shocking to some of us who lived in the long, long ago. That's not to say every joke can or does still land the way it would have 42 years ago, there's some that were not great in 1981, and there's some that just haven't stood the test of time.*

That said, as a satirist, Brooks' "ain't I a stinker?" delivery still cuts remarkably well. Whether you're taking the piss out of the self-seriousness of historical epics, actual history and historical figures, the folly of humanity through the ages from stone-age to French Revolution... Brooks' eye for the absurd still works.

My favorite bit remains the Spanish Inquisition, which - for a period of absolutely horror - has really managed to capture the imagination and create not one but TWO bits of classic comedy between the stunning musical sequence here and, of course, Monty Python.

youtube

I mean, there's so much to unpack here in commentary and the general "fuck you" baked into every moment is incredible, robbing the Catholic Church of its power and reminding people that Jews survived this bullshit, too. Maybe I grew up on too much Bugs Bunny, but this kind of thing is a 1000x more effective in communicating truth to power than yet another shame-troll reminding you "actually" something is bad.

It's also a delight to see Gregory Hines having a grand time in this movie, Dom Deluise, the beloved Madeline Kahn at the top of her game, Sid Caesar, Cloris Leachman, Ron Carey, Harvey Korman, Pamela Stephenson (of Superman III fame), the voice of Orson Welles and @#$%ing Shecky Greene.

No one is going to accuse Brooks of not playing for cheap laughs, but it's the cumulative affect of what he chooses to cover and how that

It doesn't work as well as some of his other films. But it works on that High Anxiety level, which is "enjoyable, insightful, but not as sublime as Young Frankenstein".

Anyway, the new series is on Hulu. I watched the pilot. It was hysterical.

*it's also depressingly necessary to note that showing a character (especially one who isn't our hero) engaging in bad behavior is not the same as endorsing that behavior. But that doesn't mean that the jokes don't feel a bit tired or still work

https://ift.tt/uQq08Tn

from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/mIhXNuG

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spoopy-donuts · 1 year

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An Apology

Earlier today on Twitter, against better judgement (as all my tweets are), I made some commentary on the passing of George Pell (who would be what you get if you combined Jeffrey Epstein and Amy Coney Barrett) stating that he is “with Satan” i.e. he is in Hell. Furthermore, I implied that former Pope Benedict XVI (referred to as “Ratzo”) was there with him.

It was a colourful remark to express my sincere disgust towards these two and the great social harms they’ve caused, as well as their roles in the child sexual abuse and the cover-up thereof. However, it was a bit irrational of me to say. Do I genuinely believe what I said? Of course not. I don’t believe in Hell (or Heaven, or any of that.)

When I condemned Pell to the fires of Hell, I implied there was some sort of divine and celestial justice awaiting for him - one that was inescapable, no matter how good his lawyers are. While one can’t know for sure, it’s reasonable to believe this isn’t the case. When he died, his brain switched off. That’s it. No justice, no eternal suffering. Just nothing. The exact same justice that the victims who committed suicide received when their lights went out.

And while his death may seem like a happy day (and believe me, it is), it should be remembered, he died at the ripe old age of 81, comfortably cloistered by an archaic organisation that is quite literally the last vestige of authority of the Roman Empire. He was no doubt surrounded by good friends, ate good food and drank good wine (he was in Italy) until the very end. Other than maybe some pain and suffering at the very end, he had it good.

Which is a lot more than can be said about the victims who live(d) with permanent psychological damage and trauma, having to deal with what happened and how the church treated them if they tried to bring it up, and being further abused and called apostates, despite still managing to hold onto their faith. I hope as many of them picked up the pieces and managed to have a good life but I suspect most didn’t or won’t spend their final years enjoying a nice Chianti on a warm Roman evening. The painful fact is Pell died happy, the others not so much.

So the only thing we, the living, can do about the cruel indifference of the universe is at least make sure that socially they do not get away with it. While Pell managed to evade justice while alive, we can still do our part to destroy his legacy - to make sure history remembers him as a villain. It’s the least we can do for the victims (both those we’ve lost and those still with us) who are the real heroes and by highlighting this stuff, we can maybe be more vigilant about this stuff in future.

So, while I do not believe in an afterlife or any cosmic justice, if it gives people peace and comfort and hurts the posthumous reputation of a truly wicked man then I will happily perpetuate the idea that Pell and others like him are suffering in Hell, and no for the dishonesty of that (and nothing else), I apologise.

Also, if Satan’s real, I apologise for lumping Pell in with you.

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heniareth · 3 years

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I was really curious about what your opinions on the DAO companions are :) I know we have talked about some, but I'd love to hear more and about the others as well :D I hope it's ok to pose this as an ask :)

Sure! That sounds like a ton of fun. This might be a long one tho. Mind you, this is not the finished version of the answer. I'd like to link stuff and add a cut, but rn that's not possible. I'll update it when I can.

Edit: I have updated it ^^

Let's go alphabetically bc why not.

Alistair:

Sweet guy. So sweet. There was a moment when I was hard pressed chosing between him and Zevran (alas, Zevran won). Also, he's weirdly tall according to the wiki? How did I not notice that before?

Let's get a bit more serious now, Alistair is a great guy. The only reason he's not the hero of the story is because he doesn't want to. He has all the qualities of a leader: he's good at dealing with conflict (as evident with the conversation with the mage at the beginning. He gets where he wants to get without antagonizing the mage, but without allowing him to trample all over him). He's a solid tactitian and knows how to make allies (he suggests to use the Grey Warden treaties, after all). I bet if he was in the leadership position, he'd even not bicker with Morrigan. His moral code is pretty tight; some might say too tight, but I think it's less about the moral code and more about learning to judge people by their actions, not by the labels they fit into (Morrigan is a proud apostate and therefore bad. Wynne is a humble circle mage and therefore good). He also has a bit of a black-and-white way of seeing the world. I empathize a lot with Alistair, especially with his experience with the Chantry and his subsequent reluctance to deal with it. I really wish I had gotten to know more about concrete experiences he had during his training as templar, but he seems reluctant to talk about it (gee, I wonder why).

Since I've only played the game once, I haven't really picked up on Arl Eamon's abuse towards him, which apparently exists (Isolde, however... I mean, even if he were Eamon's illegitimate son, he's a kid, ma'am, he didn't exactly get to chose his parents. So that's so not okay). Alistair's way of speaking about them both, however, is either sign that he has not come within a hundred miles of acknowledging how much it hurt him, or that he's already gone through the whole process and has decided to forgive them. The latter shows a very strong character; yes, he relies on the approval and leadership of others, he has his issues, but he's already started working on them.

That being said, irl Alistair would be like a little brother to me. I'd tease him relentlessly (all in good fun and I promise to stop if it makes him uncomfortable, but he's just so teasable). I still wish the videogame gave him the chance to take important decisions for himself. But that, of course, would somewhat defeat the point of the game.

Leliana:

Another sweet, sweet person. Her singing voice is amazing. Her belief in the Maker inspires me (I'm a religious person and seeing religious characters represented in a positive light is Very Cool. It's also sometimes a source of discomfort, because the Church has done a lot of very messed up stuff and positive representation can sometimes veer into apologetics for things that should not be excused, but that's a whole other can of worms. The bottom line is that religious characters sometimes work for me and other times don't and Leliana works for me very much bc she's an outsider inside the Chantry).

Leliana is best friend material, tbh. I'd love to get to know her irl, discuss theology and philosophy and maybe even politics? She makes mistakes and has prejudices, but, tbh, so do I. And I do get the feeling that she tries her best to learn. From the times she intervenes in a conversation between the Warden and an NPC, she shows herself to be compassionate and open to the needs of others. What I get from her character is that she genuinely wants to help, which is something that I adore of her. I suspect that she sometimes has a hard time deciding wether she's a good person or not. She has killed and seduced and worked for a morally dubious person, and she doesn't show the same nonchalance about it as Zevran (though they both do discuss their line of work in very... professional terms). This is, however, more of a headcanon than actual factual canon.

I also very much enjoy her girly side, like her interest in shoes and dresses. She's one badass woman who also looses her cool about the latest fashions in Val Royeaux. I like that. Between her and Alistair, a non human noble Warden has as good a help to navigate the Fereldan court as they're going to get. Leliana is also, I can't forget that, clever and insightful. It'd be easy to write her off as the innocent chantry girl, but she's so much more than that. Her kindness is paired with foresight, I think. She knows that taking on the trouble to help now can go a long way in the future. I just have a lot of respect for her.

Loghain:

This one's gonna be short bc I didn't recruit him. He's an amazing villain and would probably be a great Warden as well. He reminds me of Denerhor from LOTR; once a hero/stewart of his people, ambition and desperation have driven them both down a terrible path. I have also only little idea about his past. People say he lost a lot, and I believe it wholeheartedly; it doesn't excuse the fact that he plunged the country into a civil war in the middle of a Blight. I don't have a lot of sympathy for short-sighted politicians. I wish he hadn't made himself regent. That's what I take away from his character.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention that really impressed me was his death. I had Alistair duel him (that was a rough duel), and then it kinda just jumped to a cutscene of my Warden nodding and Alistair executing him. That didn't sit well with me. I didn't want to kill Loghain, and less so in front of Anora. But what impressed me was that Loghain just accepted it. That takes a whole lot of guts. Compare that to Howe's death, and how he screams out that he deserved (more, probably, or anything but death) and it's crystal clear who the more noble of the two is. Loghain strikes me as very lawful neutral, and any neutral alignment has the particularity that it can be dragged towards good or bad, sometimes without the characters noticing it (which is interesting from a DnD perspective; neutral is often concieved of as just as stable as good or evil, but that may not be true. But that's a different post). Anyway, Loghain's death was impactful.

Morrigan:

I could kick myself for not maxing out her approval in the first play-through. I got to enjoy a bit of her friendship by the end of it and boy was even that little bit worth it. Friendship with Morrigan is something that is hard-won. It's all the more precious because of that.

Morrigan is full of paradoxes, I think. She's incredibly wise in some ways, yet also very short-sighted (”just kill them, don't solve their problems”. Morrigan, dear, I'm not going to gain a lot of allies if I kill everybody who poses a problem to me). She is so intelligent, but emotionally... not so. She knows so much about some things, and very little about the next. She's incredibly wilful and knows what she wants, but follows Flemeth's orders all the time through. She hungers for power and independence, yet craves closeness, but won't allow herself to have it. She asks you to prove yourself to her and is extremely critical of your actions, I think, because she's afraid. She bites the hand that feeds her because it might hit her next.

Like with Eamon, I haven't managed to catch the undercurrent of abuse that seems to permeate Flemeth's relationship with Morrigan. Except there are signs, because there must be something Morrigan is scared of and who has instilled all that rage in her, and that's Flemeth. Also, she clearly hates/does not care about her and wants her dead (unless killing Flemeth was part of Flemeth's plan as well? Hm.)

Morrigan is that one person who you are nice to, continuously, because nobody else is. And suddenly she becomes less cold. And then friendly. And suddenly you're asking yourself why everybody hates her, because she's a really good friend! I just wish the other companions came to a similar conclusion, especially Alistair and Wynne.

Oghren:

They did this man dirty. He has such great lines and I'm convinced he was a great person before Branka disappeared. He has that dwarven warrior spirit, and while he looks like Gimli, some of his most impactful lines remind me of Dwalin or even Thorin Oakenshield himself. He could be so noble had he gotten some character development, damnit!

Oghren as he is written is somewhat disgusting. I hate the lechering comments and the drunkenness. And still, I don't hate him because of those amazing lines he has when he's actually sober. It's frustrating and I'll give him that character development myself if the game won't. I strongly associate the song Whiskey Lullaby with him, bc that's how he would have ended up if the Warden hadn't taken him along (warning: the song talks about suicide and alcoholism). Like I said, they could have done such cool things with his character. As he is written now... it's just sad. Moments of lucidity drowned in alcohol and creepy jokes. As you can see, I don't blame the character for either. The alcoholism happens all too often irl. The creepy jokes... I put that one on the writers' tab.

I actually think Oghren could have been a great mentor figure (I know, I shock myself as well sometimes). Next to the Grey Wardens, the ones who know most about fighting darkspawn are the dwarves because they have to deal with them constantly. Especially a warrior caste dwarf like Oghren could have brought a lot of that invaluable knowledge to the team, especially since there are no Grey Wardens in Ferelden but two extremely green recruits. Next, you get the chance to give Oghren the command of the teammates you leave behind in the battle of Denerim with the reason that he has lead men into battle before. Where did that suddenly come from? Oghren should have been right up there telling my Warden that they were doing this wrong, that they needed more food (and booze) and a confident leader to keep the armies they've called together going. Oghren should have been able to tell my civilian city elf who got recruited into the Grey Wardens a six months ago how one leads an army. How one presents oneself to inspire confidence, how one doesn't crack under the pressure, how one gets the leaders of said armies (some who hate each others guts i.e. Dalish elves and humans) to work together. And, last but not least, Oghren could have had a great story about grief. This is a man who has lost most of what made him (and what he hasn't lost he's spilling down the drain with every mug of ale). This is a man who, if you take him into the Deep Roads, has to see what his wife did to his family, how his wife got absolutely obsessed, and can be forced to kill said wife or watch her die. All Wardens loose their home and families at the start of the story. It would really have rounded the whole narrative out if the Warden and Oghren could have recognised their grief in each other and hashed it out somehow. Such as it is, Oghren is a depressed drunkard and there is nothing we can do about that. I find that frustrating.

Rascal (a.k.a. Dog):

Best boy. 100/10. I wish we had gotten to see the reaction of the different origins to the mabari (because elves probably have a whole different experience with them from mages or humans. And dwarves just... I think they straight up have none? XD). Other than that, no complaints. The name Rascal was the one I gave my dog because you have to be a right rascal to survive what he did and play the pranks he plays. Smartest breed in the world indeed.

Shale:

Shale is one of those characters that I recruited rather late in the game, so I haven't had the chance to explore their personality and worldview, really. I didn't even get to take them to the Deep Roads (this will be ammended in playthrough nr. 2). As such, I don't have particularly strong opinions on them (or her? The wiki refers to Shale as 'it', but that sounds weird). But, because I know so little about Shale, I have a lot of questions. First, what were they like before they were a golem? Shayle, as she was called then, was the best warrior of her time if I remember correctly. Why did she become a golem? Was it to be able to eternally protect her people? Was the sarcasm the golem Shale exhibits also part of the dwarven warrior Shayle or did that come later (if for thirty years you have nobody to talk to but yourself, you better be entertaining. And I can imagine how it could make somebody terribly jaded as well).

Next, how attached is Shale to their golem form, exactly? According to the banter, they infinitely prefer it to a squishy fleshy form. If that is the case, however, why go to Tevinter to try and become a squishy dwarf again? It's not like that process could be reversed if they wanted to become a golem again; if Shale survives to the end of the game, the Anvil of the Void is destroyed and Caridin is dead. Was the whole spiel about their indestructible form a façade? It might have been, but not because Shale actually disliked their form. I think it would have more to do with the loss of their memories and with the very invasive experiments and alterations of Shale's body made by the mage Wilhelm. The loss of memories means that Shale is unable to remember life as a fleshy creature. They might be deflecting by pretending that they didn't care for that experience anyway because of the superiority of their golem form. The modifications made to their form by Wilhelm would have alienated them from their body. In light of this, it's significant that Shale asks the Warden to decorate their form with crystals.

All of this is, of course, pure speculation. I may have easily missed or forgotten details that would disprove the above thoughts. All in all, I like Shale and I hope we meet them again in DA4 (given that it's mostly set in Tevinter). It's a liking from a respectful distance, because Shale is tall and made out of rock and also way more experienced than I will ever be (they are literally the oldest member of the Warden's little Blight fighting squad).

Sten:

Sten is another person I'd keep a respectful distance from physically. That seems to be the what he would prefer, at least. I've enjoyed his character a lot, especially because he seems pretty clear-cut at first, but slowly lets the nuance of his person show (gruff and stoic, but then he has an eye for art, a sweet tooth and he likes cute animals). It's also very interesting that there's no moment when you learn "the truth" about him the way you do with Zevran or Leliana. There's no big reveal about his life under the Qun before coming to Ferelden. He says he was sent to monitor the Blight, but honestly? If neither Ferelden nor Orlais knew there was a Blight, how could the Qunari know? I think he's lying, and he takes his secrets back with him when he leaves Ferelden. And yet I think I know him enough to say that a Warden who has become friends with him has nothing to fear from Sten.

One thing I find very interesting about Sten is how he thinks. His conversation about how women can't be soldiers has been analysed a lot on this page I think. He seems to be arguing based on a different paradigma than the one the Warden has. He also seems to have a very clear-cut view of the world. What is fascinating to me is that, when arguing with the Warden and learning about their culture, he is not necessarily becoming more lax about his worldview. I think it's more likely that he is expanding his paradigma, the structure of thought through which he understands the world. I don't think that he is now convinced that women can be warriors as well. I think he rather understands that, in Ferelden, the relationship between occupation and gender is different than under the Qun. Which of the two he thinks is more right or more agreeable, I have no idea. I'm also not very interested in that. But I find it fascinating how he always seems to be looking on quietly, gathering data, classifying it and trying to fit it into his understanding of how the world works. I wouldn't be surprised at all if his original party was a scouting party to see how vulnerable Ferelden was at that moment to outside forces. One thing I don't understand with all of this is why he urges the Warden to meet the Blight head on. No smart soldier would suggest that, except if they are foolishly proud (and Sten doesn't seem like that kind of guy tbh). I get that the Warden takes way longer to gather allies than expected because they first have to solve all of their allies' problems. But surely Sten sees the need to have allies? Is he just that impatient? Does he have a death wish (à la, I lost my sword and am without honour, better to die sooner than later and in glorious battle)? Was he his group's previous commander and is he now having trouble following somebody else's orders? Or maybe it's his way to make sure the Warden knows what they are doing? To push them into becoming the self-assured commander their allies will need once they're all gathered? I really don't know. I like the last option best, however.

For me, Sten is my fellow, more experienced soldier. Like Alistair, he can potentially be the Warden's brother in arms, but he's definitely the older brother here. He probably doesn't take kindly to tearful confessions of how hard everything is, but I feel like he's otherwise a solid rock to lean on. I feel like the Warden can trust him to do what is necessary and count on him no matter what, especially after they get his sword back. His devotion from that point on is honestly so powerful.

Wynne:

Wynne was such a support for my Warden (except with the whole conversation about love vs. duty and that she may have to choose between Zevran and ending the Blight and that she should therefore break up with him. Wynne had a point. Astala was so not willing to sacrifice her relationship with Zevran. But the whole conversation came at a point where she was already so disillusioned that she blew up in Wynne's face (”can i please just have one (1) nice thing????”)). But all in all, Wynne is great.

She has a lot of flaws. She was very marked by her life in the Cricle and, for all her age, she has little experience living outside of it. She is also a conformist despite her strong moral core. In a way, her ability to find peace with her lot in life impresses me deeply because it speaks to a lot of strength of character. Sadly, however, strength can be ill applied and used to suppress. I think she has convinced herself that the Chantry is right under (almost) all circumstances to be able to rationalize the life that mages live. She's had her son taken away from her as a baby and an apprentice killed. Her reaction seems to have been to convince herself that this was right, or for the greater good (and now I'm thinking about the Guardian's question at the temple of Andraste's Ashes; are you wise or do you just repeat what others have told you? The answer is not as clear-cut as it might be). This is why she is so irritated by Zevran and Morrigan. By aligning herself with the Chantry, she is, in her eyes, good. Zevran and Morrigan are not; they do not conform to Chantry morality and they defend themselves tooth and nails against somebody who would try and convert them. This is something Wynne never allowed herself to do; she always did the "right" thing and it has cost her so much. I'm not saying she was right (it would probably have done her some good to rebel from time to time, and to trust her own gut instinct more), but in light of this, it hardly surprises me that she's so judgamental. She has to be, or she would be forced to confront all the evil she has not fought against all those years and all the hurt that has been caused to her by the very institution she protects (and thank God she only tries to argue and can appreciate it when people have found a good life outside of her comfort zone. If she tried to convince by force or, for example, drag her former apprentice back to the Circle... boy oh boy that would get ugly). If you think about it, Wynne really is a good example for what happens if you live by a philosophy of always choosing the lesser evil.

Something that I keep forgetting over her grandmotherly and dignified character is how damn powerful she is. She has escaped the carnage at Ostagar; HOW!? She protected those mage apprentices in the Circle tower for God knows how long. In the battle of Denerim, she wades through an army and comes out alive on the other side. The wiki lists her age at 40, I think, but that doesn't make a lick of sense unless 75 years of age are the Fereldan equivalent to 100. This lady, about whom people make grandmother jokes, did all that. It's impressive.

Zevran:

You know, I would really love to know what Wynne thinks about the events at Kirkwall in DA2. It might be a disaster for her, or it might pave the way for one last bit of character development. She certainly didn't want to return to the Circle after fighting the Blight. That may be an indicator of some change in her stance on the Circle of Magi.

Edit: I forgot that she is what the Circle considers a literal abomination! Holy cow, how could I forget that?? Anyway, her conversation about what being an abomination means is so... heartbreaking, actually. It's so tentative. So careful. "Am I an abomination? Am I the same thing that has killed my students? The same thing as Uldred? Am I lost and damned? Did I invite this spirit in? Is this my fault?" Like wow, Wynne is going through something huge right there. I love it. I have to continue playing the game to see what it ends up as, but it's fascinating and such a huge thing that she allows the Warden in on that.

Ah, Zevran, my beloved (he has stolen my heart so much it's not even funny anymore). He's funny, he's charming, he's so so loyal and it breaks my heart. Zevran is the one about whom I've read most meta: these three wonderful posts for instance, as well as this one about his possible lack of scars, and this one about his lack of freedom. All of these have influenced my opinion of him and they are great reads.

I have talked about Zevran with you before, so I'll just skip to the new stuff. I have come to conclusion that Zevran is an artist at heart. This is totally not biased by the fact that I also do art, but hear me out. One of his preferred gifts are bars of silver and gold. While those have the obvious utility of basically functioning as money (they can be sold to any silversmith or goldsmith and their value is pretty stable through time and in different countries), there's also this from his codex: "Zevran shows an affinity for the finer things in life—hardly surprising for an Antivan Crow—but his appreciation can be more poetic than he lets on. A simple bar of refined silver or gold, uncomplicated by a craftsman's hammer, is elegantly valuable." Tell me that is not an artist's eye that sees that gold and sees the beauty in it. Then, there's also the meta about Zevran the Seducer which I linked above and link here again. It talks specifically about how he lets himself enjoy the target and be seen in his enjoyment. Tell me that is not an artist's eye that beholds the beauty of something he is set out to destroy. Even his talk about his assassinations show this. He talks about it as an art, the way somebody would talk about the brutal intervention in stone that produces a sculpture. Yes, it's a rationalization of the act of killing and yes killing is still wrong. But he doesn't go on about it on a moral tangent the way Alistair or Wynne would (”this person was bad, killing them was necessary”) or even through the argument of survival like Morrigan would (”it was either them or me and it sure as Hell wasn't going to be me”). He talks about the pleasure of a job well done, of the satisfaction of striking the precise point and executing a plan to the perfection so as to minimize chances of discovery and to make a clean death possible. And pleasure in seeing and in doing, this I firmly believe, is absolutely fundamental for an artist.

My favourite part about my Warden and Zevran as a pairing is that Zevran precisely brings out that ability to take your pleasures as they come and to really savour them. Fighting the Blight is tough; it's so important to find good things amidst the chaos to stay sane. If Astala saves Zevran from himself by offering him a place to stay and a purpose, Zevran saves Astala from herself by keeping her from running herself into the ground trying to save the world.

There are some things I don't like about Zev. The incessant flirting, for example, sometimes makes me uncomfortable (it becomes enjoyable for me once the Warden and him are in a relationship, but before that? Nah, no thanks). I wish he would also leave the other female characters alone (and there's so many more shameless comments of his aimed at Morrigan, Leliana or Wynne than at Alistair or maybe even Sten).

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And that's my take on the Origins companions (this was rather long. Whew ^^' I hope it was still readable and that you enjoyed it!!) Thank you so much for the ask!! It's been a joy thinking about this. I was worrying at first that the less prominent companions like Sten or Shale wouldn't get as much content but... well XD

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obligatorilypretentious · 3 years

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queer classic book recs!!

Image description under the cut! Please tell me if I did something wrong and I will gladly change it!

The other recs will be in the reblog!

[Each slide excluding the title screen includes 3 photos relating to the book, largely alternative covers of each in a small grid format.]

Slide One: In the center is a box with interior text reading "13 lgbtq classics and 1 “modern” classic. Recs in the comments welcome!" The top left corner includes an image of a calligraphy quill. Underneath this is text that reads "Disclaimer! The beginning of this list is.. Very White, but don't worry it gets more diverse as the books get more recent!!" In the top right corner is a text box reading "Look up trigger warnings or I’ll steal your gender! … or give it back!!" under this is a picture of an open book displayed in the foreground and another stack of books in the background.

Slide Two: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

1872

Lesbian/wlw but written by a man

vampires!

“Following a near-fatal carriage collision, the beautiful young Carmilla is taken in by the narrator Laura and her father.”

While this book plays into the stereotype of the “monteress, seductive lesbian,” it is one of the oldest and most famous classical texts depicting a lesbian relationship. Toxic AF.

Slide Three: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

1890

not explicitly queer (subtext)

but gay (mlm) tho

“Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence.”

This book contains Anti-semitism, Racism, Sexism and is honestly a product of its time. Oscar Wilde is certainly a character.

Slide Four: Orlando by Virginia Woolf

1928

sapphic/gender exploration

“The novel opens as Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabeth's England, awaits a visit from the Queen and traces his experience with first love as England under James I lies locked in the embrace of the Great Frost.”

Main Character is racist and anti-Semitic. While her writing is incredibly important and impactful as a queer figure, she will always be white before she is queer.

Slide Five: The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

1928

lesbian/wlw

originally banned

“Stephen is an ideal child of aristocratic parents—a fencer, a horse rider, and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a bestselling writer, and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women. As her ambitions drive her, and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions.”

This book contains racism, use of the N-word, sexism, homophobia & lots of outdated ideas in general.

Slide Six: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

1956

gay/mlm

“In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself unable to repress his impulses, despite his determination to live the conventional life he envisions for himself. After meeting and proposing to a young woman, he falls into a lengthy affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured by his sexual identity as he oscillates between the two.”

OMG! A classic on this list in which I can't find any evidence of racism or antisemitism! /srs. Imagine that- it's almost like POC classical authors are important to teach about! /hj

Slide Seven: Maurice by E.M. Forster

1971

gay/mlm

fluffy, but homophobia exists in the story as well.

“Maurice is heartbroken over unrequited love, which opened his heart and mind to his own sexual identity. In order to be true to himself, he goes against the grain of society’s often unspoken rules of class, wealth, and politics.”

This book contains the use of the g slur. Please tell me if I missed something!

Slide Eight: HERmione by H.D.

1981

queer/sapphic woman author

poetry

so mf sad bro I mean look at that blurb

“An interior self-portrait of the poet H.D. (1886-1961) is what can best be described as a 'find', a posthumous treasure. ‘I am Hermione Gart, a failure' -she cried in her dementia, 'I am Her, Her, Her.”

To my knowledge, this book isn't problematic- please tell me if it is though!!

Slide Nine: Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde

1982

lesbian/wlw

A staple of lesbian lit from before the peak of an activist’s career. Great read.

“From the author's vivid childhood memories in Harlem to her coming of age in the late 1950s, the nature of Audre Lorde's work is cyclical. It especially relates the linkage of women who have shaped her.”

Once again to my knowledge, this book isn't problematic

Slide Ten: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

1982

features queer women

has a movie adaptation!

“Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance, and silence. Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery, and Sofia and their experience.”

Once again to my knowledge, this book isn't problematic

Slide Eleven: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

1985

lesbian/wlw

“This is the story of Jeanette, adopted and brought up by her mother as one of God's elect. Zealous and passionate, she seems destined for life as a missionary, but then she falls for one of her converts. At sixteen, Jeanette decides to leave the church, her home, and her family, for the young woman she loves. Innovative, punchy, and tender.”

Once again to my knowledge, this book isn't problematic- but warning, there are quite heavy themes!

Slide Twelve: Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

1986

lesbian/wlw

a classic comedy comic + a really good insight & look into lesbian culture

“Grin, giggle, and guffaw your way through this celebrated cartoonist's graphic commentary of contemporary lesbian life.”

Once again to my knowledge, this book isn't problematic*

*contains d-slur used by lesbians in a non-offensive way

Slide Thirteen: Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

1993

lesbian/gender identity around lesbianism

“Woman or man? This internationally acclaimed novel looks at the world through the eyes of Jess Goldberg, a masculine girl growing up in the "Ozzie and Harriet" McCarthy era and coming out as a young butch lesbian in the pre-Stonewall gay drag bars of a blue-collar town. Stone Butch Blues traces a propulsive journey, powerfully evoking history and politics while portraying an extraordinary protagonist full of longing, vulnerability, and working-class grit.”

Once again to my knowledge, this book isn't problematic

Slide Fourteen: Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

1998

lesbian/wlw

historical romance

“Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser, and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins.”

Once again to my knowledge, this book isn't problematic

Slide Fifteen: Under the Udala Trees By Chinelo Okparanta

2015

lesbian/wlw

modern classic imo, look into the coexistence of native Nigerian culture & queerness

“Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child, and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls. When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.”

Once again to my knowledge, this book isn't problematic

#queer books #lgbtq books #classic books #classic literature #lgbt books #book recommendation #classics #books #literature #poetry #lgbtq #queer #diverse books #diverse reads

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twelfth-harbinger · 4 years

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A/n: Greetings! Request away! Here’s a sample of my writing! Just a few cute head cannons I’ve been dreaming up! — I plan do Liyue next! Enjoy ^^!

Nightly Routines — Monstadt

Warnings: None! All Sfw!

Mentions: Bed time routines and nightly activities!

Lisa

She likes to read before before bed, I suppose this is not much of a surprise but alas...

How could she not allow herself to be lost in the sweet confines of a book in the late night hour?

If she is not reading — the Purple Rose is experimenting with an array of different ingredients.

Crafting potions... she so eagerly wants others to try.

“Come now, these are just harmless concoctions. Nothing dangerous cutie. Nothing that a Calla Lilly won’t heal.”

Sometimes she’ll read Klee a book before her bedtime.

Reading with company like Klee is always a treat.

Lisa likes to “save energy”, with all the book keeping work she has to do during the day.

Hunting down those who have overdue books.. at night is so taxing.

She’s usually in bed early to be ready for the next day to come.

Sometimes she’ll have long talks with Jean about miscellaneous things that happen throughout their day.

It’s very relaxing and Lisa gives great advice.

Klee comes up a lot she just worries about those bombs..

Jean

She’s doesn’t really have a bed time routine.

She falls asleep at her desk instead of in a proper bed. It worries Lisa and Barbara.

What’s sleep? She’s always up late into the night doing paperwork “It’s exhausting just looking at the work pile” — Kaeya

Though, when Jean is able to finish up for the day without any issues, she likes to take the time to soak in a hot bath.

She stays inside for as long as she can.

It simply relaxes her muscles and relieves any tension the day might’ve given her.

Lisa joins her sometimes, seems that woman gives her peace of mind.

When she’s all tucked in at night she enjoys indulging in books akin to Lisa.

Reading tales of legendary heroes. Her favorite being the King of Khaenri’ah.

Honestly, she does not like sleeping. She has asked Lisa for a potion that keeps her awake.

But, when she finally does wish to sleep she has a hard time doing so and well...asks Lisa for aide.

Lisa reads her a bedtime story too or rather she tells her stories about the strong and admirable people she has met at Sumeru Arcademia. — This occurs during their long late night talks.

Kaeya

He wouldn’t be Kaeya if he didn’t have a glass of wine before bed.

He’s enjoys the company of Lisa from time to time they will share a glass.

Before going to bed and leaving for the night, he checks in on Klee.

He makes sure she’s alright but, that’s usually only after she has caused trouble for Jean that day.

Those pointers seem to go to waste. Pls don’t report him.

Kaeya likes to take his time before getting into bed.

He usually takes off his clothes and strips down to his bottoms. Or naked

Yes, he removes his eye patch but, only his reflection has seen what lies underneath.

Kaeya stargazes as he enjoys his nightly glass of sparkling wine.

Once he has had a few and they’ve warmed his insides, he’ll take a cool shower to regulate his body temperature.

It relaxes him more than a hot bath or shower would.

When he’s out falls asleep fairly quickly.

Diluc

He does not sleep much.

Given his nightly rounds keeping Monstadt safe from any posing threats, overseeing Monstadt’s wine industry and running the Dawn Winery...

Diluc escapes sleeps like Houdini.

Not that he wants to but he simply doesn’t have the time.

Like his voice line for relax is literally “Guess we can rest for a bit” like he didn’t have any plans on doing that before lmao poor Diluc.

He cares about the safety of Monstadt and her people.

Kaeya may be an ass at times but, he can tell that even he worries about his lack of sleep.

When he does have a moment to relax, he will play a round of chess with his butler while drinking grape juice.

He likes to drink that before bed instead of wine in difference to Kaeya.

Diluc often gazes at the collection of artwork he has around the manor.

It’s so intricately detailed, many thoughts and emotions were sewn into each of the piece by its maker. He notices it all.

He does all these things because he’s so used to being up for long periods of time that when it is finally time to rest his head. He’s up doing these idle things.

Diluc lies in bed for a long while before drifting off into a restless sleep, before he even realizes it — sometimes the sun rises and he needs to work yet again.

Klee

She’s never truly tired when her bedtime rolls around.

Always doing bomb experiments inside of her “room”

The guard that stands outside her door is genuinely scared they’ll get blown up...again.

Jean has to confiscate everything so she goes to bed on time.

Lisa will read to her for a while.

Her voice is so sweet and soothing it’ll easily put her to bed.

Klee keeps Dodoco close by when she’s tucked in.

She never sleeps without it, she also sleeps with a bomb right next to her.

It may not be a good idea to surprise her in the middle of the night.

For everyone’s safety lmao.

After a long day of treasure hunting with Bennett or being saved from a disaster by Razor. Klee will fall asleep quite easily.

Amber

She has a lot of energy even before bed.

So, to tire herself out she will go for a nightly run or jog in and around the city of Monstadt.

She will also glide around from time to time up by the church.

Feeling the night wind in her hair is a nice stress reliever.

She may not sleep right away, she wanders around the Knights HQ and often sees Lisa up reading if she isn’t sleeping.

She may also check in on Klee, she doesn’t really like her being inside that confinement cell.

If she isn’t doing that, she may go on a nightly hunt before bed too.

Just so she can cook up a good breakfast in the morning.

All that energy needs to go somewhere.

She’ll eat moon pie before bed, she knows it’s not good to eat and then go directly to sleep but... it just tastes so good!

Barbara

Outside her room everyone can hear her humming to herself.

The acoustics in the cathedral are top notch she sings there are night when it’s empty.

Bennett often walks in covered head to toe in scraps and bruises.

Nearly scares her half to death. She heals him of course.

In her pjs’s Barbara sits in front of her vanity, singing to herself as she brushes her hair.

She has a melody to go along as she counts each brush stroke.

She checks in on Jean to make sure she’s not working herself to death.

Some nights she helps Jean to a proper bed.

If she isn’t sleeping during the late night hour she may be performing at the Angel’s Share.

Diluc frowned the entire time.

Her performances tucker her out and she sleeps as soon as she sees her bed!

She’ll take a bath first though and sing there too. Barbara will never stop singing!

Fischl

When she’s alone out adventuring on a quest Fischl can relax a bit more.

She sits under the illuminated night sky with Oz, gazing up at the stars.

Dreaming of far off worlds with the company of Oz by her side.

She can break character in front of him.

She lets her hair out and takes off the eye patch when she’s not in front of people.

She brushes her fingers through her hair a few times to allow it to fall freely. Only to pick up one of her favorite novels.

Always manages to read herself to sleep until or until the sun rises.

She reads a lot of fantasy novels and of course makes sure to return them on time.

Fischl spends her time in the adventures guild usually until the late night hour.

It’s a bit hard to understand her word choice but everyone there tries to be nice about it.

It’s a good thing Oz is there to translate.

Fischl is one for walks through the city of Monstadt at night, well that’s when she usually returns from her adventures outside the city.

She’s tired then and will quickly fall fast asleep, she’s more of a day time bather than a night.

Diona

She spends her nights bartending.

If she’s not busy making delicious drinks...

She’s out in the wild searching for ingredients to make a concoction with a horrid taste.

All in efforts to bring down the wine industry in Monstadt.

She has her reasons but, she dares not to speak of them in front of anyone and especially with Diluc around. — Seems he has eyes and ears everywhere?

Diona is an excellent bartender in fact, she’s so good at her job that the people who frequent there are there for her!

Her nights consist of entertaining the guest at the Cats Tails whilst also making drinks.

It’s fairly tiresome but when the night is over she goes home.

Not to sleep no, but to try and come up with a drink that will utterly topple the wind industry.

If she comes to a standstill, Diona will go out and ask around about the things people would most hate to drink.

When she does sleep, she will crawl into the comforts of her own bed. Doing nothing but stretching to get comfortable as she moves to rest.

Which seems to occur when the sun begins to rise. She sleeps throughout the day so that she can focus on her job at night. — that is unless she’s asking around to feed into her plans. One may see her during the day!

Razor

Will always watch the moon and star lit skies before he falls asleep.

He does this while keeping watch.

He checks on his lupical throughout the night too.

Just to make sure they’re all sleeping easy and peacefully.

Will sit and eat meat casually letting his feet dangle by the cliff side.

He honestly doesn’t do much before falling asleep.

Razor think about a plethora of things though before it tires him out.

How he’s not a real wolf mainly — it saddens him.

In any case he enjoy going to bed with a full stomach.

If he’s feeling restless, he will go for a run as well.

All that excess energy disappears once it’s concluded.

After that he’s too tired to think about anything else other than sleep.

He smells like a wolf and won’t bathe too often — doesn’t see it as a necessity to being a wolf.

If he’s out at night and sees Lisa she will make sure he’s clean even if she has to shock him.

Bennett

He sleeps like a baby most times but as luck would have it...sometimes he doesn’t.

It’s mainly when he’s out adventuring.

When he finally drifts off into sleep — not that he does much to prepare for sleep to begin with other than getting comfortable.

Bennett keeps his fire going to stay warm.

It unfortunately attracts hilichurls.

He stays up late trying to defend himself and his treasure from them.

He lost everything once lmao.

When he isn’t out and about, he’s in the guild.

Staying up late taking care of his Dads.

Always makes sure they’re all alright before he even thinks about sleeping.

Bennett, after assuring their happiness and comfort would then rest.

He thinks about death but not in a fearful way albeit, it does cross his mind often at night but he tries not to dwell.

Sometimes his nights are spent being mended by Barbara — he falls asleep at the cathedral too if he’s too tired to move.

It all depends where his adventures have him end up!

Noelle

She cleans before bed, any surroundings that may be out of place Noelle will scrub, sweep and dust until it shines.

She’s often doing errands during the day or helping out with the Knights at HQ.

When night falls she’s fairly tired.

Albeit she does not show it, the hard work she does is quite the energy drain.

She barely lets herself rest often doing the “less dangerous” jobs assigned to her by Jean or Kaeya. All in efforts to keep her safe.

When night falls and she has done everything she could do for that day, Noelle will practice with her claymore crafted by Wagner.

She stays up late trying to refine her skills until she can’t swing anymore.

She may have super human strength but after a few rounds of practice she will get tired.

She likes to soak in a hot bath with geo salts. It’s relaxing and rejuvenating.

The healing properties aide in strengthening her body when she’s exerted herself from a longs day work.

Sucrose

Research.

It takes up her days and her nights.

Lisa is always so insightful to almost everything that she does.

It is very helpful but Sucrose seems to never know why.

She loves alchemy and will often fall asleep at her work station. With experiments bubbling over and materials by her head.

Albedo wakes her only to tell her to go rest somewhere properly — wait for a new day to begin again.

Sucrose uses this time to bathe as well but she won’t soak in a bath for very long she prefers hot showers they’re brisk and warm her up just the same.

She will read alchemy books before moving to rest for the night and sometimes she’ll fall asleep with them in her lap.

Scribbling down notes along the way, she often wakes up in the morning with books and paper scattered throughout her bed.

Mona

She is a night owl, very rarely will someone see her during the day unless she’s shopping for something to eat at Sara’s.

But even then she’ll go out and do that at night if it’s not too late.

She scrys, usually somewhere out in about in one of the forests of Monstadt.

Honestly it’s hard to fall asleep on an empty stomach so she reads the stars like a book until she’s too tired to do so anymore. In hopes of possibly making a breakthrough of some sort.

Astrology being the only thing that can put her to sleep when she’s feeling restless.

She will indulge herself in a few experiments as well, getting “important work” done so that she can further her magical prowess.

Mona can’t discern the origins of a few things in Monstadt — that often keeps her up as night.

She will read star maps while she’s soaking in a warm bath at night before bed.

They float above the water and she turns the wheel in the air with as she proceeds with divination.

Being surrounded by water in a warm bath and their reflective surfaces always helps her see clearly.

Venti

He does not sleep at a set time.

Be it night or day...

It is always random with him.

Not to say he does not get tired but..

Venti does things on his own time.

He stays up drinking through all hours of the night.

He will sit atop his statue within the heart of Monstadt.

Always with an expression on his face that reads that of melancholy and longing.

It is there he falls asleep and it’s not for very long.

He doesn’t do anything to prepare for sleep it simply has to catch him in the wind.

Venti will sing, of tales new and old.

He may even go to the cathedral to see Barbara — he has watched her preform at Angels Share.

He often tries to bum a drink off Diona but never gets very far.

If he’s not in the city he’s out by the large tree you can always find him under.

Writing poetry, songs and playing the lyre.

He will fall asleep doing these things.

It’s there he will sleep the longest and where the sunrise wakes him for the new day.

#genshin impact #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin impact venti #genshin impact jean #genshin impact kaeya #genshin impact lisa #genshin impact diluc #genshin impact klee #genshin impact razor #genshin impact bennett #genshin impact mona #genshin impact sucrose #genshin impact fischl #genshin impact noelle #genshin impact amber #genshin impact barbara #genshin impact diona

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randomnameless · 3 years

Text

I write and write and make comparisons between a swimsuit and themes like tolerance and freedom,

But in this fandom, some people draw more dubious comparisons, especially ones regarding a certain game - and I warned (who?) at the beginning of the FE16 trend that while it wanted to have a Jugdral flair, it obviously failed. You have a sprinkle of Jugdral in FE16, but it’s only a surface image, or even a mirage.

“CrEsT SyStEM”? Holy Blood? No, those comparisons at least were made in good faith and had some merits.

One of the worst comparisons was noted by several friends, a certain someone, wanting to push a certain ship involving a certain character, managed to write :

“Every route makes one villain from Genealogy of the Holy War the hero, Edelgard being Arvis, Dimitri being Eldigan, Claude being Travant and Rhea being Manfroy”

This will not be a post about Manfroy’s hips, you are warned

Who is Eldigan (Eldie)?

A man who is the carrier of Hezul’s holy blood, Hezul being the founder of Augstria, a sovereign state. Everyone loves Eldie, he is good-looking, strong, kind, chivalrous and has the magic blood that makes him able to use his magic sword.

Is he the King of Agustria? No.

The King is a man named Chagall, who has an ugly sprite, doesn’t have Hezul’s magic blood and cannot use the magic sword. He also killed his father, and is really jealous of Eldie.

However, Eldie’s line (House Nodion) has sworn to support the royal line of Augustria (Chagall’s), so even if everyone wants Eldie to ascend to the throne, he will never accept it. Even if Chagall pisses on him, or imprisons him because he felt like it, Eldie will not rebel against his King. Eldie is seen as a Camus, because he will fight and die for Chagall, and his country, when Sigurd is... more or less attacking Chagall (because Sigurd’s forces are occupying Augstria and Sigurd’s orders are to bring peace to the land, Chagall doesn’t want peace and wants to fight to retake his throne). If everything ends well, Eldie will promise Sigurd he will try to talk one last time his king, try to convince him to accept a ceasefire and peace with Granvalle - but Chagall is an ass and beheads Eldie.

Dimitri... isn’t like Eldigan, at all. First of all, Dimitri is supposed to be the crown Prince, instead of being a mere knight sworn to serve the royal family. Secondly, Dimitri doesn’t die because his liege beheads him - Edelgard will never be his liege - he dies either by defending his borders against someone who is bringing war to his lands and wants his head, or he dies because he pursues Edelgard in a three way battle in Gronder.

We do not know what Rufus is like to his nephew, but I am pretty sure he is no Chagall.

The only common points Eldie and Dimitri have is their blond hair, and sometimes, their manner of death. there is also something about bonds with their sisters but we’re not here for that

Who is Travant?

Travant is the King of the Thracian Kingdom, a proto Nohr-like place, where farming is difficult, and the people living there are starving and often turn to banditry or become mercenaries to be able to earn some money.

Thracia’s neighbour, the Manster District (Manster) could export food to Thracia... but they do not, because, well, the people in charge of the Manster District do not like Thracians a lot (and use slurs to talk about them, but Quan is a special character). So Thracians raid the border, with hopes to reunite the peninsula, with the dream that, one day, they will seize the arable lands in the North.

Travant has an infamous line, which more or less went like “I will unite the peninsula for the sake of my people, and if that process dooms me to hell then so be it”.

And to hell he will go, because by Jugdral standards, ambushing Quan and his family in a desert (horses cannot move in sand, another example of gameplay and story integration!) with horseslayers, is despicable, especially since he leaves no one alive, even, apparently, killing Quan’s young daughter Altena.

(Travant ranks pretty high in the douchebag ladder).

With time, Altena grows, unaware that Travant, who adopted her, isn’t her real Father, Quan was. Things happen, Altena discovers the truth, and Travant finally achieves his dream by making a suicidal charge against Seliph’s forces (he doesn’t even bring his magic lance to the fight!), with him dead, finally, the peninsula can be united under one leader.

Claude? Also has a wyvern. And comes from another land than our hero (but which one?). And... that’s all.

If Almyra raids every sunday, it is not because they are starving, but because they are doing it, per Cyril, for funsies. Claude pretends to be a schemer and underhanded, but he never does something on the scale of the Yied Ambush (the moment where Travant pulled out the horseslayers against Quan). Claude never takes a child hostage, and never orders his daughter to punish civilians.

If Claude wants to unite the two countries, it is not because he wants his people to finally leave their life as mercenaries and bandits behind, but because he wants people to understand each other.

Edit because I’m sleeping : Travant will die for his dream. Claude... always survive. Always. I am not saying he doesn’t believe in it, but he is not as desperate as Travant is.

Comparing Claude to Travant is like comparing... Virion to Iago. They are both male with long hair, and pretend to scheme. Bar that? Well... they both have hands...? I guess?

Who is Manfroy?

Manfroy is... both a mastermind and a plothole.

Manfroy was the one in the shadows engineering a war in Jugdral, not because he likes wars, nope, but because he wanted political instability to recreate the Loptyr Empire.

He will help a douchebag to conquer the world, and use him to sire Julius, the only person in Jugdral who can become a host for the dark dragon Loptyr. The last time Loptyr was there... well, apparently it wasn’t roses and sunshines, slavery was rampant and citizens were pitted against each other to make sure the strongest ones would become citizens of the Empire.

Why Manfroy does this? It depends on the sources, but it is heavily implied Manfroy is part of a sect (sect as in group of people practicing a religion, here the Loptyr religion/cult) persecuted by a lot of people in Jugdral - to the point where Agustrians were having witches hunts to chase them. Manfroy and his followers escaped the the Yied desert, touted to be an inhospitable land. His people had no where and no one to turn to, so they prayed to their God Loptyr (who doesn’t give 3 figs about them).

Manfroy is thus the Archbishop of the Loptyr Church. He also killed his son in law, for some reason, and planned to turn his granddaughter in a zombie. Manfroy also supports (and conducts?) the child hunts, basically the plot in the second part of FE4 and FE5 where the Granvalle Empire and the members of the Loptyr Church round up children, take them from their families (sometimes by killing said families) to send them to Granvalle, with the highly suggested goal of sacrificing them one way or another to Loptyr.

On the not-so bright side, Manfroy doesn’t kill Julia - when Loptyr/Julius expressly asking him to do so, because Julia is the only person, story-wise, able to kill him.

What a guy!

Now, Rhea?

There are some comparisons to be made, unlike Claude and Dimitri, but again, it reinforces how they could be seen as foils.

Rhea? Yes, also engineers the birth of a vessel.

However, unlike Manfroy who “forced” Arvis and Deirdre to marry and have a baby, Byleth’s birth, born from the union of Jeralt and Sitri, was completely unexpected. There is no trace in canon of Rhea arranging Jeralt and Sitri’s meeting, and future wedding.

Rhea? Also wants her granddaughter to “die”?

Well, not this one, since Rhea thinks Billy is actually an amnesiac Sothis. Billy would just recover their memories.

Rhea? Doesn’t start a war to build her Sothis vessel. Hell, the DLC is about her previous experiment to resurrect her mother - it was a failure, but someone supposes she fails because she did not want to bleed dry the Four Apostles. Rhea wishes to resurrect a benevolent Goddess (when Manfroy knows Loptyr is... far from benevolent) but will not kill to do so.

Sitri? Asked her to save Billy, by offering her own life.

The most interesting foil though is... how Rhea and Manfroy both belong to a community that was persecuted by others, the people they are supposed to live with.

Manfroy? Went the “if the world hates me, then I will hate it and burn it down” route.

Rhea? Doesn’t want to kill humans, hell, she and her brother disagreed because she didn’t want to kill children of the people who wronged her! She opens a monastery and offers guidance to anyone who needs it, a shelter for the needy and tries her best to protect peace and the humans living under her care.

They could have followed the same path, but didn’t. Manfroy rounds children to kill them, Rhea offers a new home to children who lost theirs.

They can also be compared with their “welp” points, Rhea gave CF!Billy the means to destroy her, just like Manfroy “forgot” to kill Julia - and yet, again, it is different. Rhea trusted Billy and never wanted to use them as a tool, in the other routes, it is because she trusted Billy with “those means” that Billy is able to save the world. Manfroy? Berserks Julia, wishes to use her as a tool and suffers when she regains some agency and beats her brother. But even without Manfroy, Julia would have recovered the Book of Naga to end Loptyr.

Rhea and Manfroy are definitely not parallels, but foils.

And the best for the end...

Who is Arvis?

Well... to summarise Arvis in a few words...

it’s impossible.

So, Arvis is the descendant of one Jugdral’s God-Crusader, Fjalar. Arvis is very proud of his heritage, but he also bears Loptyr blood, through his Mother. And yet, since the Loptry blood exists thanks to Saint Maira - the brother of the Loptry Host of that time, Emperor Galle, who rebelled and helped the Crusaders - he is also very proud of this heritage and his two brands.

Arvis’s familial history is a mess, his father was a womanizer and his mother abandoned him (which might have fueled his Freudian complex?). When his Father died, he exiled all of his bastard siblings, bar Azelle (his bastard half-brother, sired to his mother’s favorite maid). Arvis apparently wasn’t interested in women before he met Deirdre and fell in love with her...

But he had time to sire a bastard (on his best friend and confidante).

Arvis wants to build a world free of prejudice and oppression, and wants to build it by... associating with Manfroy, who blackmails him about his Loptyr blood (if Arvis is proud of his Loptry blood, sadly the Agustrian witch hunts are still a thing, and it will not be well seen in Granvalle’s nobility); however, he made it clear, to Manfroy himself, that he will never allow another Loptry Empire to be reborn. Arvis thus uses hiw fellow Dukes Reptor and Langobalt to set up a coup against Prince Kurth (the Prince of Granvalle) to kill him. Arvis grows close to Kurth’s father, Azmur and more or lesses takes care of everything in Granvalle, since Kurth has no heir left.

And, by chance, Deirdre, Kurth’s bastard daughter, thus rightful Princess of Granvalle, appears at his door. She bears the mark of Naga (the special blood of the Crusader Heim), so they marry, and if they have a son, their son will rule over Granvalle, Arvis acts as a regent until then.

(women can’t rule shit in Jugdral)

Then what? His plan is set into motion, all Granvalle Dukes die, he and Sigurd (plus his pals) are the only ones left, Sigurd dies after being lured to a welcoming party, and Arvis becomes the last man standing able to rule Granvalle, who became, through his plans and treacheries through the 1st gen, an Empire.

(and then his son becomes a Loptyr host, vaporises his mom and makes his sister disappear, wrestles power from him and he is reduced to a sad state (oldvis). He makes a last stand against Seliph, after delivering him Sigurd’s magic sword, and dies.)

Okay.

So, now, Edel.

Arvis managed to become the ruling... person in Granvalle by eliminating all of his rivals, and securing a nice marriage. Edel becomes Emperor... because Ionius gave her his crown, as her father.

So they do not rise to power the same way.

Edel never talks about her brands, but Arvis is proud to bear them and proud of his ancestors. Judging by how Edel speaks of Wilhelm I as a traitor who sold humanity to creatures, I am not sure she is proud to bear his blood.

Also, while Edelgard is extremely prejudiced against Nabateans, Arvis wishes to create a world... free of prejudice (his actions though...). He does not mind Manfroy preaching his stuff, when Edelgard will not allow anyone to follow the Seiros faith (friends put it better, but in several routes, the people who were followers of the Church of Seiros are missing in Adrestia...).

While both Edel and Arvis think they are making “sacrifices” for the greater good, as pointed out earlier, this greater good is different. They both ally with a death cult, but Arvis is naive enough to think Manfroy will not backstab him - he even wishes for him to preach his nonsense freely. Edelgard has been hell bent since day 1 on getting rid of Thales and friends.

By the time Arvis learns of the child hunts and Julius’s nonsense... he wants to stop it. He is however powerless to do so (or so we think! Apparently he and Ishtar managed to hide every children captured in a castle!) but, at least, he tried to do something.

Crest Beasts... are still used, no matter the path, and even after Edelgard became Emperor.

Now, if Manfroy had to capture children and round them up for execution to make sure Arvis would become Emperor, would Arvis have supported him? I... don’t think so. If children were captured during Arvis’s conquest of the world and it was a “necessary evil”, would Arvis have accepted it? We don’t know. Prideful as he is, I don’t think he would have agreed.

(which is all kinds of wrong, the man can start wars and backstab friends, allies and turn his own brother to ashes, but hunting children is too much? Meh. And yet, Manfroy mentions something about his ways and his pride being an obstacle to the realisation of his dream).

Arvis is... a complicated character. A douchebag through and through, who tries to redeem himself at the end, but ultimately fails. He is rewarded for his actions in the 1st gen by the 2nd gen, where Julius becomes Loptyr and destroys his Empire. He had it coming? Yes. Is it painful to watch? Yes.

Edelgard... does not face any retribution for her actions.

Yes, she can also kill her (step) brother. But either she didn’t remember it, or only cries after it, and ultimately puts the blame on him - so it is not a sacrifice ?

People doubt her words? Well, it doesn’t matter, Linhardt, Yuri and Lysithea are still alive after their... interrogations. Reptor doubted Arvis’s words? Aida was sent as back-up (and... backstabbed him).

Ultimately, Arvis loses Deirdre (whose ghost chills with Sigurd’s), Julia and Julius, whom he loved dearly. Edel loses... Billy, and some randoms.

So, in a way, Edel feels like a discount Arvis, because she misses his ascension to power and his downfall. Arvis doesn’t mow down enemies on the front lines like she is doing, Arvis maneuvers to ensure victory.

Both fight for ideals, but Arvis seems to believe in them when I cannot believe a world for “humanity” involves continuous making of Crest Beasts.

Both betray the main character, but Edelgard is hit with the uwu hammer, thus cannot kill Billy - Thales does it in the non CF-routes.

So... short story, long story, Eldie is not Dimitri, Claude is not Travant, Rhea is a foil to Manfroy and Edelgard is a discount Arvis.

Also, I don’t know what kind of weed the person who wrote this take had, but labeling Eldie as one of FE4′s villain is as dumb as labeling FE7 Karla a villain because she appears as a red unit you have to fight.

where is edel’s bastard son

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years

Text

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 11 second part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Absurdity)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Message from the Lan Clan

After dinner the Yunmeng bros go to talk to Jiang Fengmian in his study. They're quiet and respectful here, with no shoulder-shoving or arguing. This scene has such Brady Bunch energy, where Dad's Study is the Man Place where boys come to talk about Serious Things.

The boys tell Dad Jiang about the Yin Iron and he says yeah, I know. This is probably why he let them run off on their road trip without punishing them, but he could have, like, shared data with them so they might have actually achieved something related to the Yin Iron, rather than just wandering around the countryside bonding with Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang.

He shows them a letter from the Lans that basically says the Lan Clan is in the shit, and he tells them they've got to go to the Wen indoctrination because otherwise they will also be in the shit.

He gives the boys a warning about the Yin Iron, which is that

1. it can be refined and

2. if you refine it carefully, it will not control you.

Awesome tip, will definitely use, thanks pop.

(more behind the cut)

Jiang Cheng wants to argue about going to the Wen party, but Wei Wuxian vocally gets on board, not leaving any opportunity for whining.

Wei Wuxian is only sucking up a little bit in this scene. He obviously has a lot of affection for Jiang Fengmian, but WWX doesn't play up to his favoritism nearly as much as he could. Compare, for example, how he leans into Yanli's preferential treatment of him.

Fight Outside the Cold Cave

Over on the Gusu side of the country province township, the disciples have gathered outside the cold cave that previously none of them knew about, and Su She is freaking out.

Most of the acting in The Untamed is naturalistic, but then there are occasional characters who are portrayed with a much more theatrical, broad style. Su She's villainy is not given a lot of layers; he's playing a type, more than a person.

Many of the villains in The Untamed are played this way, but not all. Wen Zhuliu, for example, is a genuinely horrifying bad guy while also conveying depth and ambivalence--despite having hardly any lines. And JGY is a masterpiece of a performance. For Su She, the directors or the actor have opted for "sniveling backstabber" as a type, which is unfortunate, because it robs his final scenes of emotional impact.

Lan Qiren tells the disciples to get to safety. He rushes forward, gamely getting his ass kicked by human cuisinart Wen Xu. He's not as effective a warrior as either of his nephews but he's a brave S.O.B.

Hanguang Jun to the Rescue

Before things can go completely pear-shaped, Lan Wangji sails in with his guqin.

The Blue Steel technique of the Lan Clan

Like many gifted learners, Lan Wangji's musical abilities are more advanced than his social skills. Here he musically makes the ground literally explode, almost as if it had been specially rigged with incendiary charges.

Lan Wangji is very pretty when he's worried, and his affection and concern for his uncle is touching. He's 100% not interested, as we will see, in Lan Qiren's whole "lets all die for the future of the Lan Clan while my nephews hide" agenda. He's on his own agenda of smiting the wicked and protecting the weak.

Notice how Su She is standing right next to Lan Qiren here, even holding his arm? The next thing that Lan Qiren says is to tell all the disciples to keep up as they run into the cave. Somehow Su She totally does not keep up, and he gets caught outside along with a bunch of other disciples.

Giving Up

Wen Xu and his men kill most of the other caught disciples, and then threaten Su She, asking him how to get into the cave. In fear for his life, he tells them. Not cool, Su She, but possibly forgivable. Although when you voluntarily join a, you know, battle cult, physical courage is kind of an important qualifier.

But this shit here...

They didn't fucking ask about the books, douchebag.

Su She was there in Lan Qiren's house when the two heads of his clan knelt to each other, each claiming the right to be the one to stay behind and die. And he heard Lan Qiren say that the ancient books are the foundation of the clan and that only if LXC and the books survive, will the clan continue. By giving up both men, and pointing out the book situation, Su She has totally earned his expulsion.

Lan Wangji Takes a Stand

Lan Wangji decides, for the first but not last time, to openly defy his uncle...and it's got nothing to do with Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji is a hero, who follows the dictates of his conscience. His conscience is extremely filial and extremely orthodox, but he’s got a growing open-minded streak. This is going to cause a whole lot of conflicts for him over the next few years.

This time, however, he manages to skate out from under the whole disobedient, unfilial thing by citing Lan Yi's directive, which means Lan Qiren has to accept it because she's his predecessor and elder relative (She is probably not a literal ancestor, since she spent her life in a cave putting fucking headbands on fucking rabbits which probably didn’t leave time for having babies).

This is a pretty extraordinary moment for Lan Wangji and for Lan Qiren, because Lan Wangji just asserted his own form of authority to do the exact opposite of what Lan Qiren wanted, and Lan Qiren just sucked it up and let him.

It's also very different from western stories involving a holy McGuffin such as the Yin Iron. Lan Wangji's solution of "fuck it, just let the bad guys have it, it's not worth so many people dying for" is refreshing and surprising to me, a westerner raised on The One Ring, the Grail, the Death Star Plans, etc.

Lan Wangji steps out of the cave and uses a sword blast to save Su She, the ungrateful bastard, from getting stabbed by Wen Xu. Then he surrenders, and they break his leg to slow him down. This does not actually incapacitate him, because he is Lan Fucking Wangji, already a BAMF at like 17 years old. When they whack his leg, his chunk of Yin Iron falls out onto the ground.

That thing was in a magic bag of holding before. So...it just falls out when you whack him? If they whack him again will his guqin fall on the ground? What about candy?

Archery Practice at Lotus Pier

Meanwhile, back at Lotus Pier, the brothers are enjoying some quality time together before they head to the hostage-taking indoctrination.

Wei Wuxian is such a great cultivator that he can hit a distant target even when he jerks his bow upwards as he releases the arrow.

Jiang Cheng seems fairly pleased, and proud of his brother. He's competitive and fundamentally grumpy but not, at least here, a sore loser.

Club Ruohan

We go over to Da Club, where Wen Ruohan is yelling at Wen Qing for letting Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian go. He names them both, so they're becoming more and more known to their enemies. Which is not a good thing.

He menaces her with the zombie mosh crew, having them kill a dude in front of her and then saying her baby brother will be next in the circle of zombies if she tries any more stunts. Neither of them can imagine how much zombie ass her baby brother is going to kick, later in his (un)life.

Side note: What is up with WRH’s hair? Why bother pulling your hair up over your ears if you're going to leave an enormous curtain of it over your face? It's because he knows there's a wind machine next to his throne, isn’t it?

Leaving Lotus Pier

Jiang Cheng: when I ran off earlier in the year on my road trip you didn't pack a goddamn thing.

Wen Indoctrination

Is it even possible to stand next to this much active volcanic shit and not, uh, die? I live in the tornado part of the US so I don't know much about lava (yet. 2020 still has 2 months to go). But it seems like it would be hard to breathe the air. Also they appear to build houses on lava piles, which seems imprudent. I say that even as someone who plays The Elder Scrolls Online, which is full of lava towns and nonsense like “ash farming.”

Nie Huaisang is adorable at all times, but particularly here, when he's so happy to see his friend who *didn't* fuck his gege and then abandon him without an explanation.

Nie Huaisang: I'm so glad I can count on Wei-Xiong to be consistent and not vanish for months, or become a traumatized shell of his former self, or, like, horribly die.

Jin Zixuan isn't quite as happy to see Wei Wuxian.

Wen Chao enjoys the sound of his own voice way too much, and is malevolent and boring. On the plus side, he likes to stand with his hand stuck out in the air, which is fun for your resident photoshopper.

Nie Huaisang is so miserable every time he's holding a sword, or blade, or whichever we're supposed to call this. He's got his fan tucked into his belt, which is sweet. He is happy to give up his sword but don't you dare try to take his fan.

Meanwhile Wei Wuxian is worried about Lan Wangji, and Jiang Cheng isn't.

Lan Wangji shows up under guard, and takes his position at the front of the line, but without any extra disciples. The Wens let him change into snowy white robes after breaking his leg which will go well with arterial blood spray. He's focused and is determined not to interact with Wei Wuxian in this public context.

When I was little, I would sit near my best friend at church on Sunday, but not be allowed to talk to her until church was over, and it was exactly like this. She was good at churching and I was hyper and hated church. We are still best friends and these things are still true.

This interaction is like a thumbnail for the whole dynamic of these three boys: Lan Wangji outwardly ignoring Wei Wuxian while having many interior feelings about him; Wei Wuxian demanding attention and creating a bit of a scene, due to his very genuine caring; Jiang Cheng telling him to leave that boy alone for fuck's sake.

Lan Wangji: Stop trying to talk to me Wei Ying, I’m busy composing a song in my head about the two of us and our love for each other.

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #the untamed gifs #the untamed meta #wei wuxian #lan wangji #jiang cheng #lan qiren #su she #jiang fengmian #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #my gifs #the untamed spoilers

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albertasunrise · 3 years

Text

It's Yours - Chapter 8

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

Summary: You and Javier have been sleeping together for almost two years but after his name was leaked by the papers, he is sent home for investigation. You remain behind with Steve to catch Escobar but when he’s finally dead, you decide to go after the man you’ve fallen for. You don’t like what you find when you finally reunite with him.

Warnings: Fluff, Unprotected Sex 18+

Relationships: Javier Peña x Reader

The Murphy’s stay with you, helping you plan your simple wedding. Connie and you had managed to find a dress that you didn’t feel like a whale in and Javi and Steve had managed to get the church booked on short notice, much to Chucho’s delight. Neither of you is particularly religious but Chucho is and it meant a lot to him that you’d agreed to have a church wedding.

‘So you promise you’re not going to leave me at the alter.’ You tease as the four of you sit around the fire pit, you cuddled into Javi’s side with a blanket around your shoulders.

‘Ha, you’re funny.’ He grumbles, rolling his eyes at Steve when the man chokes on his beer ‘There’s one major difference between you and Lorraine.’ He states and you all look at him with a bemused expression ‘You’re actually pregnant.’

‘What?’ Connie exclaims as Steve spits his beer in surprise.

‘I’ve never told anyone this but the reason I left her at the altar was that I’d learned she wasn’t actually pregnant. She’d told me she was and I’d proposed thinking it was the right thing to do.’ He clarifies as he takes a swig of his beer ‘We had an argument the night before and she blurted out that she wasn’t. Ate me alive. I realised on the day that I couldn’t go through with it. Couldn’t marry someone who'd lied to me.’

‘Shit, Javi I had no idea.’ You say as you rub his arm affectionately.

‘Yeah well, neither does anyone else.’ He states ‘I never told anyone the truth. Let her look like the victim. She lied but she didn’t deserve to be ruined because of it.’

‘Ever the hero Peña.’ Chuckles Steve as he salutes his partner with the neck of his beer bottle.

‘Yeah well. Easier for me to be the bad guy.’ He shrugs as he places a kiss on the top of your head ‘Plus I didn’t deal with the situation right. I shouldn’t have just left her at the altar, should have broken it off face to face.’ He concedes, the four of you falling into a slightly awkward silence.

‘Well as lovely as this has been, I need to get to bed.’ You state, rubbing your bump ‘Plus these seem to be playing soccer or something.’

‘Oh my! Let me feel!.’ Squeals Connie as she leaps to your side, placing her hands on your belly ‘Oh wow.’ She looks at you with comically wide eyes ‘Wow they’re really going for it.’

‘Take after their father.’ You chuckle ‘He fucking fidgets too!’

‘Hey.’ He groans as he taps you on the arm ‘I do not.’

‘Well, you do.’ You giggle ‘But it's cute.’ You finish as you give him a wink.

‘Right well. See you two in the morning.’ Says Steve as he pulls Connie up and into his side, waving at you both before leading her up to the main house.

‘Time to get you to bed.’ Javi says as he scoops you into his arms.

‘Damn right.’ You chuckle ‘I’m in desperate need of sleep.’

‘Oh, you’re not going to sleep yet.’ He growls as he carries you inside, laying you down on the plush couch.

‘Javi, what are you doing?’ You giggle as you watch him strip himself out of his clothes.

‘I’m going to you cum with my fingers Hermosa.’ He starts, his eyes turning black with lust ‘Then I’m going to make love to you.’

You shiver at this, watching as he stalks towards you like a hunter stalking its prey. He makes quick work of your leggings and panties, leaving you in just your oversized t-shirt that's outlining your prominent bump. He kneels, on the couch, between your spread legs, smashing his lips against yours as his fingers tease your entrance and groans at how aroused you are, making it easy to slip two thick fingers into your, hot, wet, heat.

‘Fuck Javier.’ You moan, throwing your head back as your eyes flutter closed.

He curls his fingers perfectly, fingers brushing against that spot inside you that makes your toes curl. He’s relentless. You know exactly what he’s trying to achieve and you know he’s going to achieve it. His arm threads behind your back and pulls you closer, grounding him as he continues his maddening pace.

‘Javi-.’ You whine and he knows what you're trying to tell him,

He presses his thumb to your clit and that's all it takes, your release gushing over him, and you practically scream from how hard he’s made you cum.

‘Well done baby.’ He coos as he pulls you into a soft kiss,

‘Where do you want me.’ You pant against his lips, your own pupils were blown with want.

‘Stand up.’ He whispers against the shell of your ear and you oblige him, grinning as he stands and pulls you flush against his chest ‘Turn around and bend over.’

You shiver at his commanding tone, biting your lip as you do as he asks and grab hold of the arm of the couch for support.

‘So beautiful.’ He praises as he lines himself up with your entrance, moaning as he slides in with ease ‘Fuck.’ He groans, seating himself fully inside of you.

He starts a slow, languid pace that has you moaning loudly, your hips meeting his thrusts. You remain in this position for a while, the lounge filled with the sounds of skin slapping against skin and your combined moans of pleasure. He praises you as he fucks you, his hand cradling your bump as he edges you both towards your peaks, smiling as he feels one of the babies kick.

‘I don’t think they like it when I fuck you.’ He chuckles and he pulls you flush against him, the new angle making him hit that earth-shattering spot again and again.

‘Fuck baby.’ You whine as you let your head fall back against his shoulder.

His hand snakes around your front and cups your sex, his middle finger then rubbing circles around your clit. You reach behind you, grabbing a fist full of his hair as he brings you closer and closer to that release that you so desperately crave. With a few sharp thrusts you cum together, turning your head to kiss him sloppily as you swallow each other’s moans.

‘Better?’ You ask breathlessly, looking up at him with a blissed-out expression.

‘Much.’ He replies as he grins at you, spinning you around so he can pull you into a languid kiss ‘Let’s get you cleaned up and into bed.

‘Let's.’ You agree, feeling your exhaustion take hold.

‘Chucho this is delicious.’ Groans Steve as he shovels down his omelette enthusiastically, eyes closed in euphoria.

‘Well, there’s plenty more.’ The older man chuckles as he watches the blonde eat ‘Everything ready for the wedding?’ He asks, turning his attention to you and Javi.

‘More or less.’ You reply ‘Dresses are sorted, suits are sorted. Flowers are being delivered on the day.’

‘Si’s offered to cater the event for us too!’ Adds Javier excitedly and he’s closing the bar so we can hold the reception there, opening the garden up for us too.’

‘That man is too nice for his own good.’ Chuckles Chucho ‘But it is kind of him to do that.’

‘It is.’ You reply, a small smile crossing your lips as you look at Javier ‘He’s been incredibly kind. Considering everything.’

Silence washes over you all again as you finish your breakfast, Steve going up for seconds and thirds. The Murphy's then offer to do the dishes which after a strong protest on your's and Javier’s part, you concede and they get to work like a well-oiled machine before rejoining you at the table with fresh cups of coffee in hand.

‘There is something that I want to give you.’ Says Chucho suddenly as he places a small box at the centre of the table ‘Go ahead open it.’ He says as he points at it with his chin.

Javier does and his brows furrow in confusion. Inside lay a single key, nothing attached to give a clue as to what it may be for. It looks a little like his key but it also looks like the key for the guest house.

‘Pops. What is this?’

‘The key to this house.’

‘I have a key.’ Says Javi, still confused by what this meant.

‘I know pendejo.’ He grumbles, rolling his eyes at his son’s naivety ‘It's the meaning behind the key. I’m giving you this house.’

‘What? Chucho No.’ You protest.

‘The guest house was meant for me eventually anyway.’ He states, shrugging his shoulders ‘You’re going to need the extra rooms with the babies on the way and from the sounds of it you’re not going to be stopping at these two.’

You notice Javier’s cheeks flush and you giggle, remembering his drunken declaration at your engagement party that he was going to have ‘so many babies with you’ as he put it.

‘I want you two to have the house.’ He continues, giving you a warm smile ‘There’s plenty of room here and you can expand if needs be. With me living in the guest house you’ll have someone nearby to babysit. This is my gift to you. Please accept it.’

‘Pops.’ Javi chokes ‘I don't know what to say.’

‘How about thank you.’ The man jokes, smirking at his son.

‘Gracias.’ Javier says with a nod before pulling his father into a tight embrace ‘Muchas gracias pops.’

‘Yes. Thank you, Chucho.’ You concur ‘This is the best present anyone could ever give us.’

Javier clears his throat as he looks at you and then your swollen belly.

‘Okay… Second best.’ You correct yourself, rolling your eyes at him.

Your wedding was over in a flash and suddenly you were Mrs Peña. You’d spent your wedding night testing your new name on your tongue before Javier made love to you over and over, well into the early hours of the morning. As you lay there watching your new husband sleep you smile and think about all the things you’ve been through together. You’ve suffered so much but in the end, it was all worth it. Javier Peña was your husband.

‘You know it’s rude to stare.’ He grumbles, eyes remaining shut but a smile tugging at his lips.

‘Well, I can’t help it.’ You reply ‘My husband is just so fucking sexy.’ You finish, smiling sweetly at him.

‘Oh is he indeed?’ He probes, brown eyes peeking through the cracks in his eyelids ‘Why you up so early?’

‘Babies are kicking up a storm.’ You reply, eyes drifting down to your bump and you chuckle as you see the skin move with their ministrations ‘I guess I should get used to no sleep.’

Javi shifts himself so his head is laying just beneath your bump, placing soft kisses on the underside of it before smiling sweetly at you.

‘Now you two are keeping mummy awake.’ He mumbles against your skin ‘Why don't you both settle down so she can get a little more rest now. How does that sound hmm?’

Your eyes grow wide as you feel them still and you look at Javi and grin, smoothing your hand over your swell as you watch him crawl up the bed towards you.

‘Okay, how did you do that?’

‘Clearly, I’m already the favourite parent.’ He says, flashing you a cheeky grin.

‘Clearly.’ You reply, rolling your eyes at him before allowing them to drift shut, your exhaustion taking hold.

You wake a few hours later the smell of pancakes and your stomach rumbles. Getting up and out of bed you pull on one of your oversized shirts and make your way to the kitchen where Javi is serving up fluffy pancakes with an array of different toppings covering the table’

‘What’s all this?’

‘Breakfast for my pregnant wife.’ He states, smiling as you kiss him sweetly.

‘Oh.’ You reply as you grin at him ‘And what did I do to deserve this?’

‘Just being perfect.’ He replies, shrugging his shoulders ‘And saying I do. That was the main thing really.’

‘Well, it was hit and miss there for a moment.’ You say, winking at him ‘But in the end, I couldn’t say no.’

‘Well, I’m glad.’ He replies, pulling you into a passionate kiss ‘I was thinking we could go to that shop today that I told you about. Start picking out some things for the babies’ nursery.’

‘Oh yes!’ You exclaim excitedly ‘I think that sounds like a splendid idea.’

‘Connie and Steve are here until the weekend and he’s offered to help me paint the nursery before they leave. I thought we could do the room half and half. Like one-half pink and one half blue sort of thing. Doesn’t have to be those colours but you catch my drift.’

‘I like that idea.’ You reply as you stab a mouthful of pancake onto your fork ‘I trust you to pick out the perfect colours.’

‘Good.’ He beams back at you before serving up some food on his plate.

The baby shop was beautiful. You’d wanted to buy the whole shop but Javier had managed to talk you round. You purchased two, matching, white cots. A changing table and a vast array of stuffed toys that Javi was now in the process of stuffing into the bed of his truck whilst you watch him work with admiration. Connie had asked you not to go over boards as she wanted to arrange a baby shower for you, she'd even stole your address book to get the names and numbers of your closest friends. Friends you may have forgotten to tell about the babies... and the wedding.

‘Well, thank goodness they deliver the furniture.’ He states, wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand ‘Don’t think I could have got much more back there.’ He finishes as he secures the tarp over the top of the toys.

‘What can I say?’ You reply, shrugging your shoulders ‘These two wanted them.’

‘Oh they did, did they?’ He asks, quirking an eyebrow at you ‘Or was it your inner child that wanted them?’ He pushes as he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you close, kissing the tip of your nose affectionately.

‘It was the babies.’ You confirm ‘Definitely the babies.’

‘Liar.’ He says with a grin.

‘Javier?’

This new voice takes you both by surprise and you turn to see a blonde woman stood across from you, her expression a little hard to read.

‘Lorraine.’ He replies, nodding his head at her.

‘I heard you got married.’ She starts, eyes flitting to you ‘You must be the woman that finally managed to tie this man down.’

‘I guess so.’ You reply, turning so you can shake her hand.

‘Oh, I hadn’t realised that you were pregnant.’ She says as her eyes grow wide at the sight of your growing bump ‘When is it due?’

‘They.’ Corrects Javi ‘And in around 3 months.’

‘Well, congratulations.’ She says sweetly ‘Children are the best blessing of all.’ She finishes before starting to walk away 'I suppose I'll see you at Danny's wedding next week?' She says, turning her head to look at Javi.

'Yeah.' Javier replies plainly, watching as she then disappears from view.

‘So that was Lorraine.’ You state and Javier nods.

‘That was Lorraine.’

‘She’s not how I imagined her.’ You confess as you turn back to face him.

‘No?’ He asks as his head shoots back in surprise.

‘No.’ You reply, shaking your head ‘Not sure why but I never pictured her blonde.’

Javier chuckles at this before unlocking the truck and opening your door, holding your hand and helping you climb inside.

‘Come on Hermosa.’ He says and he climbs into the driver's seat ‘Let’s get you and your army of fuzzy friends home.’ He finishes as he smiles sweetly at you.

‘I told you it was the babies!’ You whine ‘If anyone's starting a teddy militia it's them!'’

‘Can never be too prepared I suppose.’ He says with a wink ‘Even if they can’t utilise their forces for another 3 months.’ He finishes and you poke your tongue out at him, grinning when he throws his head back and laughs.

Chapter 9

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just-dreaming-marvel · 4 years

Text

Out Of Time ~ 103

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 3,320ish

Summary: The team goes to Sokovia to fight Ultron.

“I can’t enter your head anymore,” Wanda stated, standing in front of Y/N.

Y/N had placed herself so that she wasn’t seated near anyone on the quinjet. Her head snapped up at Wanda’s sudden appearance.

“It’s like… something wanted me in there just that once and now I’m not allowed anymore,” Wanda continued. “How is that possible?”

“You show what I’m capable of,” Y/N responded, quietly. “I can’t freeze a whole room of super heroes. Get them to do my bidding…”

“Yes, but how? Does it have anything to do with what Thor was saying?”

“Leave her alone,” Tony ordered, coming up in his Iron Man suit, helmet down.

“I’m just trying to—“

“I don’t care what you’re trying to do. Y/N needs a break and time to prepare for what we’re walking into.” Wanda nodded, walking away, and Tony knelt down in front of Y/N. She looked away as he took her hands. “You going to be okay?” He asked quietly.

“Maybe if everyone would let me be for a second, I would be,” she responded, quietly as well.

“Can you look at me, honey? Please?”

She closed her eyes. “I don’t want to look at any of you until after this is over… even then, I don’t know if I really want to…”

“Steve’s just upset cause he feels everyone’s been keeping secrets.”

“And you didn’t do anything to stop him.” Y/N looked at him, eyes full of tears. “You didn’t try to understand or stand up for me…. Why?” Tony immediately felt guilty as Y/N’s voice cracked. “I thought— I don’t know why I even thought that a future would be possible…” She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling of the quinjet. “I’ve seen what is to come….”

“Y/N, you can’t be serious—“

“Stark,” Steve called. “We’re here.”

“One second, Cap, we’re kind of—“ But Y/N disappeared though a portal. “Damn it.”

Y/N had needed a second to herself, so she disappeared into the Sokovia woods. Where they had fought HYDRA before retrieving the scepter. She let out a loud, frustrating scream.

“I don’t want this!” Y/N screamed, falling to her knees. “Take this.” She clenched her eyes shut. “I don’t want to know what I know, have what I have… please, somebody, help me…”

“I have,” the Ancient One’s voice came out of no where. Y/N’s eyes snapped open, she looked around to see that she was standing in the Mirror Dimension. “I will continue to help you.”

“Can you take this away? Give this burden to someone else? It’s tearing me apart—tearing my relationships apart! I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can. That’s why you’ve been saved. Y/N, you are stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“That was the cheesiest, most unhelpful thing you’ve ever said.”

The Ancient One chuckled. “Yes, but that doesn’t make it any less true… Y/N.” The woman stepped forward. “You can do this. But for todays battle, you need to put the future aside, focus on the task at hand. Or there will be no future, for anyone.”

~~~

The team had begun an evacuation of the city. Tony and Vision were headed for Ultron, who was waiting in the church. And Bruce went to rescue Natasha.

“Has anyone seen, Y/N?” Steve called through the comms.

“Not since she disappeared,” Tony replied. “FRIDAY, try accessing Y/N’s comms.”

“On it, boss,” the new AI responded. “It seems that she is in the woods, just outside the city.”

“The woods?” Steve and Tony repeated.

“You’ve pushed her too far,” Thor said, with a shake of his head. “You two shouldn’t have—“

“I’m fine, guys,” Y/N interrupted, making her way out of the woods. “Thanks for the concern but can we focus on the task at hand?”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Y/N?” Steve asked.

“Are you asking cause you really care, or out of familial obligation?”

“Y/N—“

“Not now guys,” Clint scolded. “Stop Ultron now, family problems later.”

“Agreed,” Y/N said. “I’m just exiting the woods. Where do you want me?”

“Help with the evacuation,” Steve ordered. “If you could, um… if you could persuade them to leave—“

“You mean use my mind powers to get them to go?”

Steve sighed. “Yes. It would be helpful.”

“Don’t drain yourself too much,” Tony added.

“Channel the Stone,” the Vision offered.

Y/N hurried further into the city. Closing her eyes, she focused on the Mind Stone and the people in the buildings surrounding her.

“Leave,” she commanded them, in their thoughts. “Leave and don’t look back.”

She had moved to her third block with the attacks started. Her eyes were closed, so she didn’t notice an Ultron bot coming at her. The bot kicked her back, throwing her tumbling forward.

“Uh, guys,” Y/N called over the comms, “anyone else getting attacked by mini Ultrons?”

“Keep the fight away from the people!” Steve ordered.

The Ultron bot began blasting at Y/N. Using the portals, she sent the blasts back at it. Successfully hitting it. But then two more showed up. As she fought them, the ground began shaking. Y/N could hear Tony asked FRIDAY what’s going on.

“Sokovia’s going for a ride,” the AI responded.

“Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability,” Ultron said, through his bots. “You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal.”

The ground continued to shake as Sokovia was being lifted into the air. Y/N took out the bots near her, trying to help the citizens at the same time.

“The Vibranium core has got a magnetic field, that's what's keeping the rock together,” FRIDAY explained, to the whole team.

“If it drops?” Tony asked.

“Right now the impact would kill thousands. Once it gets high enough: Global extinction.”

A child began screaming as an Ultron bot came up to it. Quickly, she portaled herself over the shielding the child as the bot started firing. Opening another portal, she rushed through with the child in her arms. Y/N wasn’t quick enough though. With a scream, Y/N fell forward, still trying to shield the child from the fall. The bot had fired at them, successfully hitting Y/N’s leg as her and the child went through the portal. The child scrambled away as Y/N looked at her leg. It was bleeding and burned, but she still had a job to do.

“Cap, you got incoming,” Tony warned.

“Incoming already came in,” Steve grunted.

“Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed… walk it off.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you saw my leg right now, Captain,” Y/N tried to joke, wincing as she stood up.

“What?!” Tony panicked. “Y/N, are you alright?”

“I’ve been worse, I’ve been better. It’s bleeding and burned. But a child is saved, so—“

“Don’t move. I’ll be there soon.”

“No, Tony, I—“

“Stark, we need her help,” Steve interrupted. “Y/N, do you think you can survive?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, breathing heavily. “I think I’ll manage.”

Using all the strength she could gather, Y/N fought off all of the bots near her. Breathing more heavily than she had been before, which she didn’t think was possible, she leaned against a building.

“Alright, we’re all clear here,” Clint told everyone.

“We are not clear!” Steve rushed to respond. “We are very not clear!”

“Alright, coming to you.”

“On my way too,” Y/N replied.

Taking a deep breath, Y/N created a portal to the bridge, or what used to be a bridge. She stumbled into a car, trying to keep herself up. Natasha and Steve were just finishing up the bots near them.

“The next wave's gonna hit any minute,” Steve stated. “What have you got, Stark?”

“Well, nothing great,” Tony answered. “Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear.”

“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan.”

“Impact radius is getting bigger every second… We're going to have to make a choice.”

“Cap, these pool are going nowhere,” Natasha said. “If Stark finds a way to blow this rock—“

“Not ’til everyone’s safe,” Steve demanded.

“Everyone up here versus everyone down there?” Y/N asked, making her presence known. She limped toward them. “There’s no math there.”

“I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it.”

“I didn’t say we should leave.”

“There's worse ways to go,” Nat added with a shrug. “Where else am I gonna get a view like this?”

“Glad you like the view, Romanoff,” Fury teased over the comms. “It’s about to get better.” A helicarrier rose from above.

“Thank you, Coulson,” Y/N whispered with relief.

“Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do.”

“Fury, you son of a bitch,” Steve smiled.

“Oooh! You kiss your sister with that mouth?”

“This is SHIELD?” Pietro asked as the lifeboats flew towards the city.

“This is what SHIELD's supposed to be,” Steve answered.

“This is not so bad.”

“Let’s load ‘em up.”

The group split up, hurrying civilians to the lifeboats. The second wave of bots hit as they were doing so.

“Thor, I got a plan!” Tony shouted.

“We’re out of time,” Thor stated. “They’re coming for the core.”

“Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier.”

“On it,” Rhodey replied.

“Avengers, time to work for a living.”

Y/N portaled her self to the church, immediately grabbing onto the wall to support herself. Her energy was basically drained. She didn’t know how much more she could take.

“Y/N?” The Vision rushed to her. “Take my hand.”

“I’m good, I’m good,” she swatted his outreached hand away. “I just need a second.”

“The Stone will give you some strength.”

“I’ll be—“

“Do it,” Thor demanded. “You need all the strength you can get.”

Slowly, Y/N placed her hand into the Vision’s. Also instantly, she felt better.

“Thanks,” she said, removing her hand.

The Vision nodded, moving away as Iron Man landed. He made is way to Y/N.

“You okay?” Tony asked.

“I’m fine,” Y/N nodded.

“FRIDAY, give me a reading on her stats.”

“Tony.”

“Agent Rogers is currently running on good energy levels,” FRIDAY began. “The injury to her left leg is still bleeding. If not treated soon, an infection may form from it.”

“You should get on the helicarrier,” Tony said.

“Not a chance.”

Tony sighed, knowing it wasn’t worth the fight. “Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini.”

“Relax, Shell-head,” Nat responded in everyone’s ear. “Not all of us can fly.” She drove up in a tractor, jumping out to join the rest of the team. “What’s the drill?”

“This is the drill,” Tony pointed to the Vibranium core. “This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose.”

Ultron showed up, slowly hovering down to them.

“Is that the best you can do?” Thor shouted.

Lifting his metal hand, Ultron summoned his army to join him.

“You had to ask,” Steve sighed.

Ultron held his arms out. “This is the best I can do,” he stated. “This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?”

“Well, like the old man said,” Tony paused, him and Steve looking at each other. “Together.”

The Hulk roared and the next fight began. Everyone was surrounding the core, fighting off every bot that dared to try and reach it. Thor, the Vision, and Tony had the main Ultron bot cornered outside.

“You know,” Ultron began, “with the benefit of hindsight—“

He didn’t get to finish because the Hulk knocked him far away. Ultron’s army began to retreat.

“They’ll try to leave the city,” Thor said.

“We can’t let ‘em, not even one,” Tony stated. “Rhodey!”

“I’m on it,” Rhodey responsed.

“We gotta move out,” Steve ordered. “Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you.”

“What about the core?” Clint asked.

“I’ll protect it,” Wanda offered. “It’s my job.”

Steve ran out one way while Natasha and Clint ran another. Y/N followed her brother.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked.

“Right now, protecting your ass,” she responded.

“You need to get to the lifeboats.”

“And you should have learned by now that I don’t follow your orders well. I’m staying, Steve. We’re in this together.”

The swept the streets, looking for the last of the civilians and guiding them to the lifeboats. They met up with Thor as they headed towards the lifeboats.

“Thor, I’m gonna need you back in the church,” Tony said.

“Is this the last of them?” Thor asked the twins.

“Yeah,” Steve replied. “Everyone else is on the carrier.”

“You know, if this works, we maybe don’t walk way,” Tony stated.

“Maybe not,” Thor replied.

“What? No. Wait,” Y/N rushed. “No, Tony. You’re getting out of this we all are getting out of this.”

“Honey, you know our job isn’t that simple,” Tony said.

“I’m coming to you then. Where are you? You’ll do what you need to do and I’ll portal us onto the helicarrier.”

Suddenly, a quinjet began flying over, shooting down at everyone. Thor, Steve, and Y/N were thrown onto the ground. Y/N looked up to see Pietro standing in front of Clint and a little boy. He had red marks all over him. He quickly collapsed onto the ground. Thor flew off to the church while the twins rushed over to Pietro and Clint. Clint set the little boy down and checked Pietro’s pulse. The look he gave the twins gave them all they needed to know.

“No,” Y/N gasped, tears filling her eyes. She shook her head. “No.”

Clint grabbed the little boy and Steve grabbed Pietro. They hurried to the nearest lifeboat. Y/N stood off the lifeboat, looking around for anyone else as Clint gave the little boy to his mother and Steve set Pietro’s body down. Steve joined his twin.

“Tony,” Y/N called. “Tony, I’m not leaving you.”

“Y/N, I love you—“

The ground suddenly began dropping. Steve grabbed Y/N, who was kicking and screaming, and jumped onto the lifeboat.

“No!” She screamed, looking down at the city that was falling from the sky.

“Thor, on my mark,” Tony instructed. “Now!”

The city blew to pieces.

“Tony! Tony!” Y/N cried into the comms. “Tony—“

“I’m here, honey,” he replied. “I’m here…” A sob cracked through her mouth. “It’s okay. Stay with Steve. I’m on my way.”

Steve guided Y/N into the helicarrier. He quickly noted how bad her limp was.

“Let’s get you to the med-bay,” he said.

All she did in response was nod, which made her brother sigh. Steve led her to the med-bay and got her settled into a bed as a nurse began to check her out. He sat down in a chair beside her. Leaning forward with his hands clasped in front of him, Steve watched Y/N. She kept her eyes closed, trying to get some rest without completely falling asleep just yet.

“Say what you need to say, Stevie,” Y/N said. “Your thoughts are giving me a headache.”

“That’s the thing… when were you going to tell any of us about the sudden mind powers?” Steve asked.

Y/N sighed. “When the time was right.”

“And the Infinity Stones.”

“When the time was right.”

Steve scoffed. “So never.”

“I didn’t keep my portals a secret. I wouldn’t have the mind powers either.”

“But the Infinity Stones? You would keep your knowledge of those a secret.”

“For everyone else’s safety yes.”

“How much do you know about them?”

“I—“

“There you are,” Tony came rushing up to the twins. “How are you? Have they seen you yet? How’s your leg?”

“I’m fine, Tony.” She smiled softly at his worries. “Just come here.” Her hands were on his neck, forcing him down into a kiss. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“Can’t make any promises.”

“Agent Rogers,” Fury called, coming into the room. “May I have a word?”

“She’s a little busy at the moment,” Tony replied. “Whatever you need to do can wait.”

“No, it can’t.” Fury stared at Y/N.

“It’s okay,” Y/N said, squeezing Tony’s hand. “Why don’t you and Steve make sure everyone else is okay and find me some food?”

“I think I’d rather stay,” Tony responded.

“Please, Tony. I’ll be right here, waiting for you to return.”

Tony met Y/N’s gaze. He looked long and hard before giving in with a sigh and a nod. He leaned forward and gave her another kiss.

“We’ll be right back,” he promised. “Come on, Cap.”

The two men left, leaving Y/N alone with Fury.

“You needed something?” Y/N wondered, raising a brow at Fury.

“You’re needed, requested immediately,” Fury stated.

“By?”

“You know I can’t say.”

Y/N nodded, knowingly. “Immediately?”

“They need help explaining the helicarrier and Sokovia.”

“Where?”

“Gonzalez has a ship in the middle of the Atlantic. Hill’s preparing a quinjet for a fly over so you can portal yourself onto the deck.”

“You know the team won’t be happy about this.”

“I don’t care. You have an hour.”

~~~

“What?!” Tony exclaimed. “You just got finished saving the world, you have injured leg and they’re expecting you to leave?! Na-uh, no way. You’re not leaving my sight for a month.”

“I have to go help clear some things up,” Y/N sighed. “This wasn’t my call.”

“You’re not going.”

“I have to.”

“No you don’t!”

“I need to make sure Skye’s okay. We haven’t been able to check in because of all this Ultron stuff. I need to make sure Gonzalez isn’t going to try anything.” She grabbed Tony’s hand. “Plus… I need a break from Steve’s glares and questions. I won’t be long.”

“The minute you get home, we’re leaving. Taking a break, you got it?”

“I got it. I love you.”

Tony leaned down and kissed Y/N. “I love you too.”

~~~

“Rogers,” Maria called, piloting the quinjet, “we’re over the ship. I’m opening the hatch now.” The quinjet ramp began to lower. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, Maria!” Y/N shouted over the wind. “You too.”

Looking down at the deck, Y/N opened a portal onto it. Coulson was there at the door, waiting for her.

“Nice to see you in one piece,” Coulson smiled, eyes checking Y/N over.

“It’s good to see you too, Phil,” she smiled back at him. She followed him through the door and into the ship. “Tony’s not really happy about this.”

“Not surprised.”

“He might be calling you.”

“He already has.”

“Of course,” Y/N chuckled. “Where’s the rest of the welcome party?”

“Waiting in the conference room. You ready to explain everything?”

“I’ll explain what I have to, not everything.”

Coulson studied Y/N as they walked. “Something happened, didn’t it?”

“Phil—“

“I know, I know. Not now. But later. We’re definitely going to talk about it later.” Y/N nodded as Coulson stopped at a door, hand going to the handle. “You ready?”

“They’re the ones that need to be ready.”

next chapter >

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#avengers x reader #the avengers x reader #tony stark x reader #iron man x reader #tony stark #Tony Stark fanfiction #tony stark imagine #Iron Man #iron man fanfiction #The Avengers #Avengers #avengers age of ultron #age of ultron #marvel #marvel fanfiction #marvel imagine

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nostalgiachan · 2 years

Photo

Aw ye, time for more OC redraws, this time featuring: Pretty Keyboard Lady Accidental Alcoholic My First D&D Character (aka WHY DID NO ONE ROLL A HEALER OH GOD) and The Angriest Boy

Character lore below the cut!

#21: Selene Lumiere Coueri/Selene Amour Idea: The elegant goth keyboardist Story: D.A.R.K.

Oh my God with that name though, especially with a character whose hometown's in West Virginia. Yet another member with a HIM reference name, this one to bassist Mikko Paananen aka Mige Amour.

Selene is the keyboardist of the band, and as elegant and composed as they come. Both she and the band refer to her as the designated hot chick, though I was careful to point out she's an intellectual and spends most of her non-music time reading. She also only apparently needs glasses when she's performing.

#22: Mige Enkeli Idea: Hard-partying, laid-back drummer Story: D.A.R.K.

Oh, hey, one of the people I named after Finnish men is actually a Finnish man. I don't know if he's the most flattering portrayal of a Finnish man, but I knew fuck-all about Finland at the time. Like Selene, Mige's name comes from, well, Mige the bassist; meanwhile his last name's the Finnish word for angel.

Mige had attended a private school in West Virginia for a few years (which was based on the college prep school I'd attended which was a horrible, shitty place, but it attracted some international students so it gave me an excuse to have a Finnish dude in WV...because I guess I didn't think of exchange programs) and had kept in touch with the friends he'd made there after he returned to Finland. One of them mentioned that his younger sister, Selene, was putting together a band, and Mige was compelled to return to the States and join as their drummer. And it worked out pretty well for him.

Except for the fact that apparently I wrote the man as a chainsmoker and a constant drinker. He's still a nice, chill sort of guy, but Adult Nost is like, "Oh no, I think I wanted 'guy with some vices' but I overshot the mark into 'alcoholic' instead."

I do have one intentional alcoholic, but we'll get to him later probably

#23: Sydan (II) Idea: WHY DID NO ONE ROLL A HEALER? Story: Gamers' Club D&D 3.5e game

Ah, my first tabletop character. For the last two-and-a-half years of high school, I was in the Gamers' Club, a tabletop/TCG/LARP club. We started a D&D 3.5e game and I specifically rolled a character based on what we needed in the party - for some godforsaken reason, nobody rolled a healer, so I made an elven Cleric of Pelor the sun god. That game fuckin' ballooned to, like, 10 characters and our club pres made the terrible decision to split the party about a year in, which took forever to resolve, and some weeks we wouldn't even play because people wanted to play Magic: The Gathering instead, and then one of the players started a villain campaign for the freshmen, so yeah, that shit never concluded before most of us graduated. We tried to set up play-by-post over AIM in the days before Roll20, but we got through one game before it fell apart.

But to tell the story in as much of a nutshell as I can: Sydan was a 106-year old elf who had been adopted by a cleric in a small village, wherein lived Lewar the halfling rogue, Twinkles McGee the half-elf druid, Fred the half-orc barbarian, Monk the Monk (human, I think), and Chaos the human mage. One day, the village was obliterated by a lich and his undead army; our intrepid heroes managed to get some villagers to the undercroft of the church, but everyone else was killed and zombified, including Sydan's adopted father. So, when the coast was clear, the squad led the survivors to the nearest town, Sydan wrangled some shelter and employment for the villagers because she was the only one capable of speaking, I guess (more specifically, I was one of the four players who actually roleplayed), and they set out to figure out just how the hell to take the lich down.

This is about the clearest part of the story I remember beyond brief moments like a dwarven bard managing to castrate a hydra with a spear; Sydan giving the later half-elf ranger a phobia of celestial summons because he failed a perception check as they were falling out of the sky and she summoned a celestial griffin to save them both; asking if Sydan could use Monk's ability to turn his skin to diamonds as a catalyst for resurrection spells (No); and our DM having to deus ex me a bunch of diamonds because a squad of party members managed to get themselves killed almost to a man during a fight.

As for Sydan herself, I'd intended for her main goal to be putting her undead father to rest and avenging the village, but as I said, we never managed to get there. I played her as a nice, polite, helpful young woman who was a dutiful cleric, but had her little quirks like being obsessed with rapiers and having an occasional spiteful streak. But BOY OH BOY, it's hard to roleplay with that many goddamn people at once, only four of whom tended to pay attention.

#24: Enosin "Sin" Alexander Idea: Former loyal soldier of the dictatorship turned rebel, secretly a living weapon, SECRETLY secretly a DOOMSDAY weapon Story: Year Zero (based on the Nine Inch Nails album of the same name)

Ah, yes, my first attempt at mature storytelling. Good gravy. Like "Experimentals", this story actually has seven chapters posted on my dA. If you really want to read it, go for it. Most of it is cliché and dull, but boy oh boy does Act VI get uncomfortably misogynistic. Full disclosure.

The story flips POVs in a few chapters, but our main character is Enosin "Sin" Alexander, a captain of Lord Gerardis (aka G) of the dystopian city of Lacryma and colleague of captains Hime and Luris. While overall, he's loyal, he questions his lord's plans for the impoverished Outer City, wondering why he won't share the wealth of the affluent, yet tightly controlled, Inner City. But that becomes the least of his concerns when G is informed of a strange find at a planned city expansion site; a mysterious glowing tree with a human figure embedded in it. As soon as G retrieves the tree man, he tells Sin to wait in his quarters in the White Tower, the seat of the government, until he calls for him.

A week passes, and Sin doesn't hear from G, so he takes matters into his own hands and goes to G's lodgings; there, he finds that not only has the room been trashed, but there's some documents he hasn't seen before lying around detailing both the tree man, now named Absolution, who apparently has the power to create life from nothing, and a project to build a weapon in the shape of a man that G had started 27 years ago. Said weapon was then raised as a normal human and had joined the Lacryma Army: it was Sin.

G was intending to use Sin as a weapon to obliterate other cities, people and all, then have Absolution rebuild those cities however G saw fit, thereby conquering the world. Well, Sin didn't take kindly to this. He took to this so unkindly, in fact, that he made straight for the White Tower labs with the intent of killing Absolution and G, hacking up every guard that stopped him along the way (because why wouldn't he use a sword instead of a gun?).

While he managed to stab Absolution in the chest, G found him before he could finish the job and proceeded to beat the absolute Christ out of him before leaving him for dead on the lab floor and sweeping Absolution away to who-knows where.

Meanwhile, two young Outer City rebels who had broken into the White Tower to steal intel and parts for a superweapon of their own, Alucard and Rez, found the dying Sin and brought him back to their hideout. They believed that if he could be persuaded to join them, he'd be a great asset to their cause of overthrowing G; of course, their leader, Taris, made sure to inform him that if he didn't accept, they'd kill him. Sin, convalescing in their base and boiling with rage, accepted...and as soon as he was left alone, he started to have a freakout because he could now hear the voice of the weapon speaking to him and it wouldn't shut up until he carved a capital G into his hand.

Chronologically, Act VI was the last completed work to happen, wherein his former compatriot Luris happened to have found him at the base (which was a problem because if she knew, then G almost certainly knew). Sin had never liked Luris because her specialty was seduction and assassination, and because she'd apparently started to even murderfuck Inner City citizens just to keep her skills sharp. Luris tried to convince him that she'd abandoned G, and that she'd always been in love with Sin, but he knew better. He played along until the clothes started coming off, got her on his bed, and then whipped out the knife he apparently kept under his pillow and stabbed her to death.

Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

I know Teen Nost was going for "The weapon was making him slowly lose his mind and become this angry, monstrous thing," but much like accidentally making Mige an alcoholic, I accidentally made Sin a misogynist.

As for what was supposed to be the rest of the story, since Sin now knew G was definitely coming for the rebels, they'd need to get their superweapon up and mobile immediately. The rebels would fight their way to the Inner City, and return to the White Tower, where G and Absolution were waiting. Absolution would pull a little coup of his own against G, because Absolution had no interest in G's world domination plan. Instead, he was much more interested in Sin's inner weapon, the Great Destroyer. He wanted to activate Sin to kill absolutely everything so he could create a world for just the two of them.

They have a fight, Enosin wins, Enosin Man~

More specifically, the Great Destroyer would be activated, but Sin would manage to contain the damage to the Inner City, he'd fight and destroy Absolution, and then he'd probably fuck off to wander the Earth while the survivors picked up the pieces.

This is one of those stories that I come back to from time to time just because I feel like there is still a worthy outline here, and Adult Nost might have the chops to make something a little more interesting with it.

#my art #100 oc challenge #oc redraw #original characters #pencil art #traditional art

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