#Anyway there's your outlander post for today

[the-halfling-prince]

Most recent episode of Outlander I watched was low key so funny at the end

Fuckin Marseli was like "listen, so... doctors take an oath to do no harm. Good thing I'm not actually a doctor" and killed that bitch. Jamie walks in to her freaking out because she killed someone and just goes "damn that sucks. But shit happens."

[genshinluvr]

A Star from Another Universe

Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader/Idol!Reader

Summary: What if Alice found you when you first arrived in Teyvat? Alice nursed you back to health, and you stayed with her until you healed. One day, Alice goes up to you while you're babysitting Klee and asks you what your thoughts are on becoming an idol.

Note: I have been having so many random AUs recently that I need to get it out of my head. This is Idol!reader AU for the ongoing Isekai'd!reader one-shot series! :> This entire story is what I have had on my mind for a while, and I honestly don't mind making a "small" headcanon on what kind of fans the men are. Since there are almost thirty people in the harem. Anyway! I hope all Al Haitham wanters are Al Haitham havers! :> I was able to get him on my NA account and my Asia account ^^ Keep in mind that I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: None that I know of 🤔

Word Count: 8.7k

The day you appeared mysteriously in Teyvat, a woman took you under her wing to nurse you back to your healthy state. The woman went by the name Alice; she was a sweet woman who mothered you as if you were her own child. Alice is not only charming, but there’s something about her that makes her feel so powerful, almost intimidating.

You’re not from Teyvat or their universe; you’re an outlander, but you’re not like the two blonde outlander twins searching for their kin. You’re an outlander whose existence does not belong in their universe; you just mysteriously appeared in their world without an explanation. Not even Alice can figure out what brought you to Teyvat.

A few weeks after the injuries you sustained from being thrown into Teyvat had healed, Alice approaches you one day while you’re outside playing with Klee. Today is the second time you’re tasked to babysit Klee while Alice is out and about tending to her business; you nearly got bombed with the fishes in the lake. It was not fun, but Klee made it up to you by giving you a small dodoco plush similar to the one hanging off her backpack.

“[Y/N], sweetheart, how are you feeling today?” Alice asks, walking up to you while Klee is chasing a crystal fly five feet away from you two. 

You give Alice a smile and wave at the woman. “I’m doing great! The concoction you have given me for my injuries has helped me greatly. I really appreciate it, Alice,” you said sincerely. 

Alice pulls you into her arms and rubs your back. “That’s great to hear, sweetheart,” Alice coos.

You hug Alice back, and the two of you pull away from the hug. You hear Klee scream with joy;  you turn to look, only to see Klee jumping up and down in the air while cheering that she finally caught a crystal fly. Klee looks over at you and Alice; her eyes light up before making her way toward you and Alice.

“Look what I got!” Klee squeals, holding her hand out to show you and her mother the anemo crystal fly in the palm of her hands. “Isn’t it pretty?” Klee asks in awe. 

Her eyes fill with wonder as she watches the crystal fly flutter out of her hands. Klee pouts and turns around, running off to catch another crystal fly. You look at Alice and notice her looking at you from head to toe, her chin propped up on her fist, head tilting to the side.

“Is there anything I can help you with, Alice?” You ask, laughing nervously. 

Alice purses her lips and squints at you. “What do you think about becoming an idol?” Alice asks.

Your eyes widen. “An idol?! Like, singing and dancing in front of a large audience?” You squeak.

Alice nods. “That is correct! What do you think about being an idol? I think you have the potential to be a worldwide idol,” Alice says.

She turns you around, continuing to look at you from head to toe. You have no idea how it’s going to work out. You being an idol while you’re from another universe? Would the fans and critics even care about your origins and background? There’s no way you can be an idol in Teyvat— no way at all.

After that day and the conversation between you and Alice, you find yourself sitting on a chair backstage. You look at your reflection in the mirror while the stylists are getting you ready for your performance. It’s been a year since the conversation between you and Alice, and now you’re an idol.

It’s strange and sudden; it feels like a blur, and everything around you has changed so much and so fast that you end up getting whiplash from it all. You lean back in your seat and close your eyes, letting the makeup artist apply sparkly eyeshadow on your eyelids, putting small gemstones at the corner of your eyes. Alice insisted you become an idol so you can thrive in Teyvat. When she told you that, you knew she was telling you to get off your ass and get a job. You don’t mind getting a job in Teyvat, but getting a career as an idol? That is something you would never imagine yourself being. 

“How much time do you guys need before [Y/N] goes up on stage to perform again?” The security asks, peeking into your dressing room.

“Give us five more minutes, and we’ll have [Y/N] out on stage soon,” Emilia, your makeup artist, says, dabbing a little bit of foundation on your face. 

You didn’t expect much when you first started as an idol. You had low expectations for yourself because why would anyone be a fan of an idol that did not belong in their universe? Especially when you don’t know what region they’re from; many have speculated that you’re from one of the seven nations in Teyvat, but all continued to be speculations and have never been confirmed nor denied. 

Your existence and general background are shrouded in mystery. That’s what made you appealing to your audience; your fans. Despite being a charming and appealing idol, you’re still mysterious, and that’s what the fans love about you. You have a lot of fans, even more than you expected. You expected to have around fifteen fans, but you were wrong. Your popularity is booming, and it excites Alice (she is also your agent). She has booked you many interviews and TV shows (she also wants you to have a background in acting) and booked as many performances as possible to get your name out in Teyvat.

Within two months of your debut as an idol from another universe (that is what you’re known for), your face is all over magazines, billboards, posters, and advertisements and many people know your name and music. Who doesn’t know you and your music? Even adeptis and archons from seven nations know your existence and music— perhaps even Celestial gods know of your existence, but you don’t know that. You’re living the luscious life, showered in attention, Mora, precious gems, and expensive fabrics. 

“I wonder if there are people that claim to be my biggest fan,” you mutter.

Emilia places her makeup brush down on the table and looks at you curiously. “I’m sure there are people that do! My niece says that she’s the biggest [Y/N] fan,” Emilia replies, smiling at you.

You crack your eyes open and look at Emilia with interest. “Is that so? Has she been to one of my concerts before?” You ask.

You look at your reflection in the mirror and stand up. You fix and adjust your stage outfit. Each set of your performance has specific clothing made for the set performance. One of your favorite outfits out of all the things you have worn to perform is usually the one that is saved for last. It’s silver and white; you have tinsels in your hair, and the gem in the corner of your eyes would sparkle each time you winked (not really, it was the lighting that made them glimmer). 

Emilia nods her head, smiling widely. “She’s currently in the crowd with her mother and father. They’re really excited to watch you perform,” said Emilia. 

“Well, I am excited to perform for your niece and her parents,” you said. “I’m ready for my performance now. I’ve been keeping them waiting for way too long,” you brush your hair over your shoulders and turn to Emilia.

Emilia nods her head and watches you leave the dressing room. You’re guided to the lower part of the stage behind the curtains. You’re instructed to stand in the center of the stage trapdoor and were handed the microphone. You can hear loud cheers, screams, and excited chatter from the audience. No matter how many times you have performed, you will always be nervous about how the performance is going to turn out. 

“Good luck! You’re going to do great!” Alice squeezes your arms with an encouraging smile.

You let out a shaky sigh. “Thank you, Alice,” you breathe. 

Itto and Gorou shove their way through the crowd of roaring fans; Itto has a large sign in his hands while Gorou is holding onto glowsticks. Gorou mutters a soft “excuse me,” “pardon me,” as he and Itto weave through sweaty people. Once both Itto and Gorou have gotten to the front of the row, Itto sees how close they are to the stage. On the front row in front of the stage, aside from Itto and Gorou, were twenty-three other men standing in front of the stage barrier, waiting for the performance to start. 

“[Y/N]’s number one fan? Psh! I doubt it,” Itto hears someone scoff. 

Itto turns to the man beside him and sees a ginger-haired Snezhnayan man, also holding up a sign with your name plastered on it. Itto raises his eyebrows at the Snezhnayan man and looks over at the dark brown-haired man beside the ginger. 

“Childe, please refrain yourself from starting fights at a concert,” Zhongli mutters, glaring over at the man beside him.

“Yeah, Childe. Why are you upset to see me, [Y/N]’s number one fan, coming out here to support them?” Itto asks, glaring at the ginger-haired male.

Gorou laughs nervously and taps Itto on the shoulders. “Itto, I don’t think we should be getting into fights either. Not only will that get us kicked out, but people around us can also get injured,” Gorou explains.

Childe laughs. “If you’re [Y/N]’s number one fan, then how come you weren’t in the first row throughout the entire performance? This is the first time I have seen you in the first row,” Childe raises his eyebrows at the oni.

Itto narrows his eyes at Childe and eyes Childe from head to toe. Childe has a bandana wrapped around his forehead with your name in the center. A sign in Childe’s grasp has the words, “❤❤ PLEASE MARRY ME [Y/N] ❤❤” written in capitalization in colorful markers. Hearts are scattered around on the white sign, glitter lining the borders of the sign, and your name is big and bold in gold. Itto lets out a scoff, a smirk appearing on his face.

“How desperate and pathetic,” Itto thinks to himself. 

Itto turns to look at the stage, watching people prepare for the next performance. Diluc peeks from Kaeya’s shoulders and rolls his eyes when he sees Itto and Childe’s signs. It’s almost laughable in a way, but Diluc shouldn’t be the one to judge since he, himself, has a sign as well. 

“Archons, how did we get stuck near those two idiots?” Diluc mutters, rolling his eyes.

Kaeya snickers. “Relax, brother. They won’t start anything other than an argument. We’ve seen them argue on public forms before; it’s normal at this point,” Kaeya says.

“They also snuck their way into the first row. Apparently, Itto weaved his way through the crowd to get in front of the stage barrier,” Albedo says casually, looking at the stage designs and stage lights.

Venti taps Albedo on the shoulders. “Don’t you know [Y/N]’s agent? If so, can you get us all backstage passes to meet the [Y/N]?” Venti asks eagerly. 

“I thought we’re already going to meet [Y/N]? Didn’t the front-row tickets get us the chance to have a meet-and-greet with [Y/N]?” Aether asks, unscrewing his water bottle and taking a sip of his water.

“Last time I checked, it says guaranteed. Therefore, we are going to meet [Y/N] backstage after the concert,” Dainsleif says, resting his arm on the steel stage barrier. 

“Why after the concert? We’re all going to be smelling like each other’s body odor while sweating at the same time,” Scaramouche grumbles, glaring at the person that accidentally brushed up against him.

“To be honest, I would rather meet [Y/N] after the concert than before the concert because they’ll remember us when they go home,” Heizou says, shrugging his shoulders.

“But we’re going to be sweaty when we meet them,” Tighnari sighs in discontentment, scratching his ears with irritation.

“Hey, we’ll be meeting them after their performance. I’m pretty sure they’re going to be just as sweaty as we are, if not, maybe sweater than us because they’re the one that’s performing,” Thoma shrugs his shoulders, leaning against the steel barrier while waving the glowstick in the air subconsciously. 

The lights in the stadium soon dim, causing everyone in the stadium to quiet down. Kazuha taps on Xiao’s shoulders, motioning for him to crack the glowstick for it to illuminate. Xiao searches around on his person for the glowstick, only to realize that he had dropped it somewhere while getting seated in the stadium. 

“I seem to have lost it,” Xiao mutters, his eyebrows furrowing while his hands continue to roam around his body, searching for the glowstick.

Kazuha gives Xiao a sympathetic smile. “That’s okay, Xiao! I have a spare glowstick,” Kazuha says, handing Xiao the uncracked glowstick. 

A faint smile appears on Xiao’s face as he takes the glowstick from Kazuha’s grasp, quietly thanking the samurai shyly. Xiao cracks the glowstick, and it immediately lights up. The sound of footsteps echos the quiet stadium, and the stage lights shine down on a white box. The crowd stares at the box with anticipation and sees your silhouette rising in the box.

Loud cheers and screams erupt from the audience, colorful stage lights come on, the box you’re in is suddenly knocked down, and you step out onto the stage. 

“They’re even prettier in person,” Kaveh whispers to himself, covering his mouth as he watches you start the performance for over one hundred thousand attendees.

“They’re very mesmerizing,” Baizhu says in awe, not taking his eyes off of you.

Al Haitham watches you dance and sing on stage. The way the light shines down on you, trails after your movement, confetti flying in the air and raining down on you and the audience is a sight to see. Your face is on the big screen; you make eye contact with the kamera man and send a wink to the kamera, the gem at the corner of your eyes sparkling. 

“Not only are their performances flawless and beautiful, but they are as well,” Al Haitham says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Cyno chuckles beside Al Haitham. “That’s why they’re known as the world-class performer, Al Haitham,” Cyno replies.

With the music blaring, and the audience screaming for your attention each time you walk by them, the men doubt the others would be able to hear them voicing out their thoughts. Every time you walk by the front row close to the men, they would scream as loud as they can and wave their signs, trying to get your attention. Your eyes will sweep over the VIP section of the stadium, smiling and waving at the section. Your music is blasting in the background; you have earplugs in your ears; your stage outfit looks immaculate, and your hair and makeup are flawless as usual. 

Wanting to grab your attention, Pantalone pulls out a generous-sized bag of Mora and tosses it on the stage. The bag of Mora lands beside your feet, lightly tapping your foot. You look down at the bag of Mora with wide eyes. You squat down, grab the bag and examine it with wide eyes of disbelief. You look up, searching around for the owner of the bag of Mora. 

Pantalone waves his glowstick around, desperately trying to get your attention. You and Pantalone make eye contact; the minute your eyes meet, Pantalone feels his heart race against his chest, heat rushing to his cheeks to the point where his face feels hot under your gaze. You slowly stand and walk towards the section where he’s standing. Seeing you approach their section, the twenty-four other men start to crowd around Pantalone, resulting in him getting pinned against the steel stage barrier. 

“Hey, stop pushing, you buffoon!” Dottore hisses, glaring at the men who are desperately trying to get your attention the closer you get to their section.

You walk down the step on the side of the stage with the help of security. You thank the guard and approach the men who are almost breaking through the stage barriers. You stop in front of them and hold the bag of Mora up for them to see.

“Who does this belong to?” You ask into the microphone.

You would ask them without the microphone, but with the screams and number of people hollering your name, reaching out to you to grab your attention (or to even touch you), it was hard to ask them personally. 

“It belongs to me, but you can keep it,” Pantalone says, sending a wink in your direction with a charming smile on his face. 

While the smile on Pantalone’s face looks like a charming smile, Pantalone is trying his best not to show the pain on his face. After all, he’s being pinned against a steel stage barrier by most of the VIP section. Maybe throwing a bag of Mora on stage to grab your attention wasn’t the best idea he had in mind. 

“Keep it? I can’t simply keep someone’s bag of Mora!” You look at Pantalone with wide eyes.

“Hey, if Pantalone says you can keep it, keep it. He already has too many Mora,” Capitano says nonchalantly, smiling underneath his helmet. 

You smile at them sheepishly and shake your head. “No, no, no, it’s fine, really!” You said.

You gesture for Pantalone to hold his hand out. Pantalone complies and holds his right hand out in front of him. You place the bag of Mora on his hand, grabbing his fingers and wrapping them around the bag of Mora.

“There!” You said, smiling up at Pantalone, who looked at you with wide eyes, his cheeks bright red. 

You slowly release Pantalone’s hands and smile at him. Pantalone gulps and nods shyly, pocketing his bag of Mora.

“Lucky bastard,” Pantalone hears Pierro mutters jokingly. 

“[Y/N]! [Y/N]! I love you so much!! Please marry me!” Childe screams at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking halfway through the sentence.

You hear someone angrily protest, pushing the ginger man away and shoving the sign in front of you. “Don’t listen to him, my love! I’m your biggest fan, and I am more worthy of your love than this idiot!” Itto screams.

“Please notice me, [Y/N]! I collect every single one of your albums!” Aether screams from behind Itto, trying to shove his way toward you.

“Ignore these idiots; I’m your biggest fan and your most loyal fan! These buffoons are nowhere near my level!” Scaramouche hollers, hovering above you and the men below him.

You crane your head up to look at Scaramouche, who smiles down at you and caresses your face in his hands. Out of spite, Xiao smacks Scaramouche’s hands away from your face with a scowl on his face. You chuckle at them and shake your head.

“I’m assuming you,” you gestured to the twenty-five men in front of you, “are the ones I’ll be meeting backstage after the concert?” You ask, raising your eyebrows at them.

The twenty-five men nod their heads, cheeks flustered. They can’t believe it! You’re talking to them! You know that they exist in your world! They’re breathing the same air as you are and are face-to-face with each other! As much as they wanted to keep their cool, seeing you, their biggest idol and celebrity crush, in person is a whole new experience.

You smile at them. “Well, I look forward to meeting all of you after the concert! The security guards will be guiding you all backstage for the meet and greet,” you said.

In a trance, the men nod their heads, watching you walk back up the stage. Fans are tossing stuffed animals and flowers on stage, trying to get your attention after seeing what Pantalone has done. You chuckle and shake your head, looking over in the men’s direction.

“Oh my gosh, they just looked at us,” Heizou gasps, shaking the person beside him while refusing to take his eyes off you.

“We’re the luckiest fans out of everyone in the stadium; it’s official,” Venti says, crossing his arms over his chest with a big smile on his face.

When the concert is coming to an end, you stand in the middle of the stage and sigh sadly. After this concert, you’re not sure when the next show will be. This performance was the final concert of the tour all over Teyvat, and you did not want the moment to end. You have been touring all over Teyvat to perform in seven different regions. The final concert is held at a huge stadium that is built specifically for your concert alone. That stadium is located on an island outside of Mondstadt and Liyue but a few minutes out of Inazuma.

Because the concert is the final show of the current tour, many people from all over Teyvat traveled to this island just to see you perform. Even if it’s for one night, people are willing to travel far to see you perform your last concert until your next tour, which hasn’t been in the talks yet. The only thing your fans know, so far, is that you’re going to be releasing a new album soon and that you’re going to be making appearances on many shows.

“I don’t want this concert to end,” you sigh sadly into the microphone, sitting in the center of the stage. “I don’t want the fun to end, nor do I want to see you all leave,” you frown.

Loud cries and whines echo throughout the stadium, the fans expressing the same emotions as you. They didn’t want the concert to end and didn’t want to see you go down in the stage trapdoor, leaving them for who knows how long.  

“I’ll be back soon, I promise,” You reassure the audience with a small smile, “I’m releasing a new album soon. Will you all listen to the new songs when they’re released?”

The audience screams, making you laugh and slowly stand up. You stretch your arms and sigh, walking over to the wooden stool, picking up a towel, and wiping your sweat. You have been performing for almost two hours, and now it’s time for you to wrap up the concert. You have a fan meet to do after, and you want to freshen up a little bit before meeting your VIP fans. 

You said your goodbye while standing on the stage trapdoor, waving to the fans as the platform below you descended. You’re ushered to the dressing room to freshen up for the meet and greet with the twenty-five VIP fans you have spoken to before the concert ends. Emilia fixes your makeup while Yue restyles your hair, making sure the flyaway hairs and your baby hairs are flat on your head and not all over the place.

“You’re phenomenal, as always,” Emilia says, lightly squeezing your shoulders.

You smile at Emilia. “Thank you, Emilia. What do your niece and her parents think of the concert?” You ask, closing your eyes and letting Emilia lightly brush your under-eye with powder.

“They enjoyed your concert as usual,” Emilia grins.

You smile and press your lips into a thin line, trying your best to remain still while Emilia fixes your makeup to make you look put together. The concert is successful, as always. You’re glad that nothing went haywire on the last show.

“Are you excited to meet your fans? I saw you interacting with them before the concert ended,” Yue murmurs, putting more tinsel in your hair and brushing your hair. 

You chuckle and nod your head, cracking your eyes open to look at Yue and Emilia. “I’m pretty excited to meet them! It’s nice chatting with them towards the end of the concert, but with everything going on, it was hard to hear what they’re saying,” you reply. 

“Too many people trying to interact with you at once, or was it something else?” Yue asks.

You hum and lean back in the chair, reaching for the hand fan to fan yourself. You purse your lips and think for a moment. 

“Yes, that would be one of the reasons. They were all piling up against this black-haired man with glasses, practically squishing him against the stage barrier,” you chuckle. “I feel bad for that happening, and I’m hoping to interact with all of them without any of them getting hurt or squished by the other,” you add. 

“I don’t know, [Y/N]. Your fanboys…. They have familiar faces,” Emilia chuckles, applying lip balm on your lips. “A few of them are Fatui Harbingers, and others are diplomats or archons! Overall, these men are important figures of some sort,” Emilia says, gazing at you with wide eyes.

“Important figures as [Y/N]’s biggest fanboys!? Wow! You’re truly amazing, [Y/N]!” Yue squeals, jumping behind you with glee. “Would you, perhaps, date any of them?” Yue teases, wiggling her eyebrows at you cheekily. 

You feel your face heat up at Yue’s question. You? Dating a fan? Does she not realize how scandalous that is? You turn to Yue and lightly bat at her arm. 

“Yue! Me dating a fan is scandalous! Do you know how upset people will be if I start dating a fan of mine?” You ask, looking at the Liyuen woman with wide eyes.

Yue pouts and crosses her arms over her chest. “Oh, come on, [Y/N]! You can’t be single forever! Plus, there are not many famous male idols in Teyvat. You usually see women that are given this sort of attention compared to the men,” Yue says.

You purse your lips and shrug your shoulders. “I don’t know, Yue. I don’t think about dating much because of how busy I am with my career as an idol. Not only that, but I don’t want my significant other to deal with hate and tabloids,” you sigh, tilting your head back and closing your eyes.

Emilia pats your head. “That’s fair, but you can’t be single forever. Especially when you have attractive fanboys,” Emilia jokes, poking you in the ribs lightly. 

“How can you see their faces clearly when colorful lights were strobing in the stadium?” You ask.

“We ran into your fanboys before the concert began. You weren’t at the stadium yet. You were on your way here, and these men were searching around for a restroom, and maybe they were hoping to run into you, but they ran into us instead,” Yue explains, snickering to herself. 

You chuckle and shake your head. The more you think about the fanboys you interact with during the concert, the more you become intrigued with them. Not going to lie; you’re kind of nervous about meeting them backstage. While they admire you and the things you do, you hope that the interaction wouldn’t make them like you any less. 

To put it into perspective, you’re not much of a social person, and having to interact with almost thirty people after a huge performance is a bit nerve-wracking. Ironic, right? You performed in front of thousands of people, and yet you find interacting with twenty-ish people personally is more intimidating than performing in front of thousands of people. Maybe it’s because of your past interaction with a celebrity, but you don’t want your fanboys to be disappointed to see that you’re not the perfect idol they see on billboards, posters, TV shows, album covers, and magazines.

“And we’re done!” You hear Emilia say.

You blink and realize that Emilia and Yue are finished helping you freshen up. You get up from your seat and stretch your arms in the air, groaning. After this meet and greet, you’re going straight to the showers, and you’re going to take a nap right after. 

“So, do I just wait here while the security guards assist the VIP fans to the meet and greet room?” You ask, grabbing the water bottle from the vanity.

Yue shrugs her shoulders. “You’ve been in the dressing room for a while. I’m pretty sure your fanboys are already in the meet-and-greet room,” Yue says, packing up the tools and cleaning the station around her.

“Aw man, I hope I didn’t keep them waiting for too long,” you mutter.

You quickly bid the two women goodbyes before walking out of the dressing room. When you step out of the dressing room, you see Alice and a security guard waiting for you outside of the dressing room. You give the two a brief smile before letting them know that you’re ready to meet the VIP fans.

While you, Alice, and the security guards were on your way to the room where the meet and greet was being held, the room was filled with chatter. Very loud conversations from your twenty-five fanboys.

“Take that off. You look ridiculous!” Diluc sighs, shaking his head at Kaeya.

Kaeya snorts. “Oh, please, brother. You’re wearing the same shirt as I am. Although, white doesn’t suit you at all,” Kaeya says, looking down at the shirt Diluc is wearing.

“Who designed all of [Y/N] concert merchandise? I want to speak to them and give them some advice on how to properly design merchandise without making it look tacky,” Ayato says, holding your concert t-shirt up with a neutral expression.

Thoma clears his throat and crosses his arms over his chest, covering the concert t-shirt he’s wearing with his arms. “I agree with you, my Lord. Although, I believe the person should be fired instead, and a new merchandise designer should be hired,” Thoma says, scratching the apples of his cheeks awkwardly. 

Kaveh sighs dramatically. “As much as I love [Y/N] and their flawlessness, I believe that their only flaw is hiring the designer,” Kaveh laments, tossing the t-shirt back on the pile of shirts on the table. 

“Yeah, of course, you do. You say that while having another t-shirt stuffed in your back pocket,” Al Haitham snorts. 

Al Haitham reaches behind Kaveh, yanks the shirt from Kaveh’s pants pocket, and waves it in front of the blond man with an eyebrow raised, the corner of his lips quirking up with amusement. Kaveh gapes at Al Haitham and begins to stutter out excuses.

Tighnari pats Kaveh’s back with a smile. “It’s okay if you like the shirt, Kaveh. People have different tastes in clothing. You don’t have to follow the crowd in hating the design of the merchandise,” Tighnari says.

“Exactly. I don’t understand why people would follow along with what others think. If you like something, then you like it. Don’t pretend to dislike something only because a group of people doesn’t like what you do,” Cyno says, walking up to Kaveh, Tighnari, and Al Haitham while wearing your concert merchandise. 

Baizhu lets out a chuckle and props his hands on his hips. “I see that you’re trying to show others that you’re [Y/N]’s biggest fan,” said Baizhu, looking at Cyno from head to toe.

“I disagree. I’m [Y/N]’s biggest fan,” Gorou says, walking over to the group with various concert merchandise in his hands.

Kazuha pokes Gorou’s back. “I think you should get a bag for [Y/N]’s concert merchandise. We wouldn’t want you to drop them on your way out,” said Kazuha.

“How much longer do we have to wait?” Xiao mutters, leaning on the edge of the merchandise table to stretch his aching legs out. 

Dainsleif hums. “They can take as long as they like. They did perform for almost two hours and have to tolerate everyone crowding the barrier to talk to them,” Dainsleif says nonchalantly.

“And by crowding the barrier, you mean crushing me against the steel stage barrier because [Y/N] looked in my direction and talked to me,” Pantalone huffs, rubbing his lower abdomen where the steel barrier dug into while the twenty-four other men crowded around him just to get your attention.

Albedo shrugs his shoulders. “You sort of did that to yourself, Pantalone,” Albedo says. 

Dottore snickers behind his hands before nudging Pantalone with his elbow. “He’s not wrong there, Pantalone. You tried to find a way to get [Y/N]’s attention, and you were successful! However, every action has consequences,” Dottore smirks.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but it seems like [Y/N] is about to make an appearance very soon,” Zhongli speaks up.

Everyone turns to look at Zhongli quizzically. Zhongli sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose before gesturing towards the entrance of the room. Everyone in the room falls silent; they can hear three pairs of footsteps approaching the room where the meet and greet is being held. Not only can they hear footsteps getting closer to the room, but the voices are getting louder the closer the footsteps get. 

“They’re in this room, right?” The group of men hears you ask.

“Yes, the meet and greet are being held in this room!” They hear a woman say eagerly.

The door is opened by the security guard. The security guard makes eye contact with each man and nods his head before turning around to gesture for you to enter the room. The men in the room panic and begin to fix their clothes, making sure they look presentable. You walk into the room and smile at the men in front of you. 

“Hello! It’s great to see you all again after the concert! Our interaction was cut short due to the concert and the concert coming to an end. I hope I’ll be able to talk with each of you without any interruptions,” you joyfully said, clasping your hands together in front of you. 

Pierro smiles at you and bows at you, his right hand placed over his chest. “It’s nice to meet you, [Y/N]. Your performance is flawless and enchanting, as always. I’m honored to be able to watch you perform live,” Pierro says, straightening his posture.

You giggle and tuck your hair behind your ears. Your little gesture made the others subtly raise their eyebrows, jealousy beginning to simmer inside of them.

“I’m glad you enjoyed the concert! It makes me incredibly happy to know that people enjoy the performance!” You said, smiling at Pierro. 

“You needn’t worry about what people think of your performance. You’re a world-class performer, a very respected idol, and a huge inspiration and role model for all,” Capitano says gruffly.

You cover both of your flushed cheeks with your hands. “Oh, stop! You’re making me blush!” You said, covering your face.

Archons, can you get any cuter? You’re so cute! The way you cover your cheeks with your hands to hide the blush on your cheeks, you try to keep your professional facade while treating them like an acquaintance. However, they wish it was more than a fan and idol interaction); you speak to them casually instead of the conversation being tense and awkward. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, have you eaten anything yet?” Zhongli asks.

You shake your head. “Not yet! But I will be getting something to eat after the meet and greet! Although I’m not sure where I’ll be going,” you trailed off, pinching the fat of your chin with your lips puckered. 

“You don’t have to worry about that, [Y/N]. Mister Zhongli over here is generous enough to send a food stall to your concert for you personally. As the creator and founder of the biggest [Y/N] Fanclub of all of Teyvat, Zhongli is the one that sends the gifts, food stalls, and does many things for you and the fans,” Childe says, patting the funeral consultant’s shoulders with a big smile on his face.

Aether looks at Zhongli with wide eyes and points at Zhongli with an accusing finger. “You’re Interstellar Idol!? The one that is at every single fan event that is hosted for [Y/N]!?” Aether exclaims in disbelief. 

“He’s also the one that goes all out when it comes to [Y/N],” Heizou whispers, staring at the flustered ex-Archon with wide eyes.

Itto raises his hand in the air. “Hold up! I thought he was broke! Like, borrowing other people’s Mora and never paying them back kind of broke,” Itto says, fiddling with his thumbs while looking at Zhongli skeptically. 

Al Haitham rolls his eyes. “He’s not broke, Itto. Zhongli just forgets to bring his wallet,” Al Haitham corrects Itto, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“As if that’s any better,” Kaveh mutters under his breath. 

You stare at Zhongli with your mouth agape before making your way to the flustered archon. You stand in front of Zhongli, pointing at him. “You’re running my biggest Fanclub, did you know that?” You whisper.

Zhongli clears his throat and nods his head shyly, cheeks pink, the tips of his ears just as pink as the apples of his cheeks. You’re very familiar with the Fanclub called Interstellar Idol; they’re your biggest fanbase of all Teyvat. How can you not know them? They’re at every milestone of yours and have been at your side since the beginning of your career as an idol. If it weren’t for the Fanclub, Interstellar Idol, you wouldn’t be as known as you are now. 

“Is it okay if I give you a hug?” You whisper shyly.

Zhongli looks at you with wide eyes before slowly nodding his head. A big smile appears on your face, and you hug Zhongli, your arms wrapping around his waist. “Thank you for being there with me every step of my career. I appreciate the support, and I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for you and the Fanclub, Interstellar Idol,” you murmur, looking up at Zhongli.

“Hey! I want my hug, tooooo!” Venti whines, stomping his foot on the ground playfully. 

You pull away from the hug and laugh. “Alright, I’ll give each of you a hug or a handshake. It’s your choice! Then if any of you want to take a picture, or want anything signed, let me know after!” You said. 

“Just to let you know, Zhongli may be the creator and founder of your biggest Fanclub; all of us,” Thoma gestures to the other men in the room, including himself, “are also well-known [Y/N] fanboys,” Thoma says proudly.

You prop your hands on your hips. “Is that so?” You ask, looking at them curiously. “Care to tell me what each of you does as fans of mine? I’m quite curious,” You said, tilting your head to the side.

Diluc clears his throat loudly. “Let’s discuss this later,” Diluc interjects, looking away with red blossoming on his cheeks.

Kaeya leans toward you while pointing his thumb at Diluc. “Diluc collects your albums and posters. However, he doesn’t have as many as I do,” Kaeya snickers behind his hands.

Diluc narrows his eyes at Kaeya and grabs him by the shirt collar, pulling him back. Kaeya looks over at Diluc with a smug smile on his face. Diluc’s face was almost as red as his hair after Kaeya exposed Diluc’s secret hobby to you, the biggest idol of Teyvat and their celebrity crush. 

“You didn’t hear this from me, but Cyno writes fanfictions about you. His stories are very popular throughout Teyvat,” Tighnari whispers to you.

Cyno looks over at Tighnari, his eyes wide. “What did you say?” Cyno demands, stomping over to you and Tighnari.

“Oh, Cyno. There’s no shame in writing fanfictions! I used to write them myself as well,” you reassure General Mahamatra with a smile on your face.

Ayato looks at you with interest. “And who did you write about?” Ayato asks, raising an eyebrow at you in a teasing manner.

You gaped at Ayato and cleared your throat, rubbing the back of your neck and looking away from the Kamisato heir. There’s no way you’re going to expose yourself even more when you have already revealed your “secret” to the men in front of you. 

“As you said earlier, there’s no shame in writing fanfictions!” Baizhu sing-song, smiling at you innocently.

You pucker your lips and shake your head. “We’re not close enough for me to expose my secrets even more,” you joke. 

Dottore slides his arm over your shoulders. “I’m sure by the end of the meet and greet; we’ll be closer than ever for you to tell us who you wrote fanfictions of,” Dottore chuckles, smiling down at you.

You squint your eyes at Dottore and look at the other men. “We’ll see about that,” you stroke your chin.

You walk over to Xiao, who’s quietly observing you with curiosity. Despite being a massive idol in Teyvat, you’re still humble, and you interact with your fans like ordinary people instead of putting up a wall between you and your fans. You’re grateful for all of the support you have been receiving since day one of your career as an idol, and you continue to be thankful for your fans, your manager, and everyone around you that made your career happen. 

“What’s on your mind?” You ask, pulling Xiao from his thoughts.

Xiao blinks at you and clears his throat, the apples of his cheeks turning bright pink. “It’s nothing,” Xiao says.

You look at him curiously. “If it’s nothing, then how come you weren’t answering me when I called  your name a couple of times?” You tease.

Xiao clears his throat, his face turning bright red. “You know my name?” Xiao asks, his eyes almost as wide as dinner plates.

“We told them your name,” said Gorou, giving Xiao a small smile. 

Scaramouche sighs and shakes his head. “Don’t mind him. This is his first time going to your concert, and I think his mind is still trapped at the concert,” Scaramouche comments, a small smirk appearing on his face. 

Kazuha shrugs his shoulders. “Hey, you can’t blame him for that. [Y/N]’s concerts are always mesmerizing and memorable,” Kazuha says, patting Xiao’s back.

Xiao hesitates for a moment, his face turning a darker shade of red. How is he going to talk to you when he can’t get the words out of his mouth? Xiao feels like he’s running out of time with you, and he wants to cherish every moment with you before having to deal with reality again. The reality of having to deal with his karmic debt, the reality of having to watch over Liyue, the reality of you being so far from him performing all over the world while he’s stuck in Liyue. Your music and your presence ease his mind and worries. Zhongli looks over at Xiao, a faint smile appearing on his face. He lets out a chuckle and shakes his head.

“He’s a big fan of yours,” Zhongli says, placing his hand on Xiao’s shoulders. 

Xiao’s face continues to grow hot; he nods and scratches the back of his neck shyly. You smile and press both of your hands over your heart. 

“It makes me really happy to hear that you’re a fan of mine, Xiao! With every love and support I receive from my fans, I really do appreciate it. I appreciate each of you,” You said.

Alice walks up to you and stands beside you, locking gazes with Albedo. She smiles at him and nods to him. “Hello, Albedo! How are you doing, sweetheart? What do you think of [Y/N]’s concert?” Alice asks.

A small smile appears on Albedo’s face. “Hello, Alice. I’m doing well! I really enjoyed [Y/N]’s performance. Seeing them perform in person makes me realize why they earned the title ‘world-class performer,’” Albedo says. 

Dainsleif nudges Albedo. “You know [Y/N]’s agent?” He mutters to the light blond-haired male.

Albedo nods his head. “You can say that she is a family member of mine. However, I see Klee, Alice’s daughter, as a little sister of mine. Alice insisted that I call her mother,” Albedo briefly explains.

Pantalone lets out a thoughtful hum. “Then that means you know [Y/N] before their career?” Pantalone asks. 

“We’ve met a few times, but we barely spoke to each other because of how busy the chief alchemist is,” you answer. “It’s nice to see you again, Albedo. Thank you for coming to my concert. Your support means a lot to me,” you said. 

Albedo gives you a shy smile and looks away, his face almost as red as Xiao’s face. You laugh to yourself before turning to the next person beside Albedo. Itto, who is wearing all of your concert merchandise with the sign in his hands and a bandana with your name on it wrapped around his forehead. When you make eye contact with Itto, Itto looks like he’s about to pass out right on the spot.

“I’m assuming you’re my biggest fan?” You ask.

Itto nods his head, gulping. “I love your music so much. I have posters of you all over my wall, I collect every album you have released, along with magazines you’re on the cover of, and I try to go as many fan meets as I can along with your concert,” Itto rambles. 

Childe snorts and leans toward Zhongli. “Simp,” Childe mutters. 

Zhongli rolls his eyes. “As if none of us are that as well,” Zhongli mutters to the ginger-haired Harbinger, nudging Childe. 

“So, are you implying that Itto is a bigger [Y/N] fan than you?” Dainsleif asks, raising an eyebrow at Childe.

“Of course not! [Y/N] knows that I’m their biggest fan because I show up to every meet and greet they host throughout Teyvat! I also go to every single one of their concerts if I get the chance to go!” Childe huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Diluc rolls his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that,” Diluc snorts.

“If you’re confused, Diluc is implying that he’s a bigger fan of [Y/N] than you are,” Kaeya says, pointing his thumb over at Diluc.

Venti laughs and pops up between Kaeya and Diluc. “You may be a big fan of [Y/N], but do any of you make covers of their music? I don’t think so!” Venti huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Covering a song? What does that mean?” Ayato asks Thoma.

“Venti sings [Y/N]’s songs and posts them for people to see. I believe that Venti has a lot of views on each cover he has posted,” Thoma explains.

Venti props his hands on his hips with a proud smile on his face. Itto hands you a pen with shaky hands, asking you to sign the album he has brought with him. Itto would have you sign every album he has owned, but it would be too many, and Itto doesn’t think he can carry it all with him even if he makes Gorou assist him. You grab the pen from Itto’s grasp and begin signing the album. Your handwriting is elegant and legible; seeing you sign the album in front of his own eyes is a memory he will cherish forever. Speaking of cherishing memories, Itto quickly pulls his Kamera out from his bag and takes a quick picture of you signing the album.

“Itto! You just can’t take pictures of [Y/N] while they’re signing your album!” Gorou hisses, smacking Itto’s biceps.

“It’s okay! I don’t mind getting my pictures taken. After all, I am used to it,” you said, smiling at Gorou.

Gorou feels his face turn hot the minute you smile at him. Gorou covers the lower part of his face with his hand and looks away, his tail giving him away. You finish up signing Itto’s album and begin signing Itto’s sign that he brought to the concert. When he receives your signed album and his sign with your autograph on it, Itto squeals loudly and tackles you into a hug while blabbering about how much he loves you and how you make him so happy. 

“Hey! Let’s not tackle [Y/N] into a bone-crushing hug now, Itto!” Baizhu says, laughing nervously as he tries to get Itto off of you. 

Aether snorts. “Listen, Itto may have the abs, but he doesn’t have the biceps to crush [Y/N] and their bones,” Aether says, poking at Itto’s arms.

“I call dibs standing next to [Y/N] when we take group pictures!” Heizou announces, raising his hand in the air with a triumphant smile. 

Kaveh lets out a loud scoff, crossing his arms over his chest. “You can’t call dibs! It’s not fair for the rest of us!” Kaveh protests, glaring at Heizou.

“Yeah, Heizou. If you were to call dibs on standing beside [Y/N] in the pictures, it wouldn’t be fair for the rest of us,” Al Haitham says. 

You chuckle and walk over to the center of the meet-and-greet room after Itto has released you from his hug. You watch the men debate on who should stand next to you (spoiler: all of them said themselves). In the end, you end up taking a bunch of group pictures because each man wanted to stand beside you in the picture, which you didn’t mind at all! They’re all hilarious and sweet about it, plus you didn’t really have anything else planned after the meet and greet other than get something to eat. 

“I’m going to cherish this picture forever,” Tighnari says, staring at the film in his hands with a faint smile.

You feel your stomach growl; now that you think about it, Zhongli did say something about renting a food stall for you after the concert. Perhaps you can invite them to keep you company while you eat. Maybe they can get something to eat, too, since you’re unsure if they had anything to eat prior to the concert. 

Before you can ask the men if they want to join you, you walk over to Alice and the security guard. You need Alice’s thoughts (and permission) first before inviting the men. Alice gives you a thumbs up, making you sigh in relief. You walk over to the men, who are still bickering over who should’ve been the first one to stand next to you in the group picture. 

You tap on Cyno’s shoulders, grabbing the white-haired man’s attention.

“Do you guys want to join me at the food stall? I’m about to get something to eat, and I would like all of you to join me. If you’re hungry, you can get something to eat at the food stall, and if not, you can just hang out and chat with each other,” you said.

“I would love to!” Cyno says, smiling at you. 

“We would love to keep you company,” Pierro says, nodding.

“I’m starting to feel famished, so why not?” said Scaramouche. 

Kazuha holds his arm out for you to take. “Shall we go and get something to eat at the food stall?” Kazuha asks.

You link your arms with his and nod. “We shall.”

“Hey! I want to lock arms with them too!” You hear Childe whine.

You hear Capitano scoff. “Quit your whining, and let’s get something to eat,” Capitano says, looking at Childe.

You all walk to the back entrance of the stadium venue. Outside is a long line of food stalls rented by Zhongli for you to eat after the performance. There was so much food to choose from, and you’re not sure where to start!

“Zhongli, you’re a godsend,” you said, walking to the nearest food stall with excitement. 

“It’s funny because he’s actually the Geo arch— Oof!” Childe groans when Zhongli elbows him in the gut with a straight face.

“I believe we should get food now,” Zhongli states nonchalantly, shooting a look over in Childe’s direction. 

Childe pouts and nods his head before trailing after Zhongli while the others go to grab food from the stalls to eat. Usually, this isn’t how your meet and greets end, but a little change is nice sometimes. Who knew your career would take off so fast and land you in this situation, surrounded by your fanboys while eating food in each other’s company? 

Note: I have another AU coming out next week! I have no idea why I've been getting a lot of AU ideas, but I think the upcoming AU should be the last one for now. Other than AUs, I do have some ideas for mini-fics as well and I'm really hoping I can type them out and get them posted. I've been busy with school and my winter schedule has been keeping me out of my house for hours until early evening 😵‍💫 This next part is copied and pasted; For those who want to be on my new taglist, here is the link to the taglist [Genshinluvr Updated Taglist Form]! Please make sure that you allow people to mention you/tag you in posts, or else I won't be able to tag you in any future fanfics! And as usual, I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Taglist for my Isekai'd!Reader one-shot series and my overall taglist: @alhaitham-scribe, @xyji, @kazuhasmuse, @chirikoheina, @yoru-trash, @kaoyamamegami, @kwelibeeery, @yumakj, @deartoru, @luminarymoonlight, @toobytub, @ins4nebish, @bokuto-kinnie, @honeybedo, @exhaustedcommunist, @jadedist, @mompt2, @living-my-best-life5, @chalksdreams, @rinswriting, @thelost-in-time, @mxn14, @ventisweetheart, @unwantedsleep, @kattythesimp, @hispasian-otaku, @Orah-s, @juuuuuj101010, @nxns3nse, @sickly-falling, @alteeeeyang, @wind1y, @wh0-ta0, @samarill, @testsubject0012, @irisxiel, @HistoryNerd™️, @kazuhaprnt, @lunarapple, @emilymikado (If your name has been crossed out, it means that your account did not show up when I try to tag your account. Please make sure to allow people to mention you and tag you in posts and make sure the spelling, symbols, and numbers are correct)

Read more of my works on my Masterlist | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^ I will also be posting exclusive fanfics on Ko-Fi as well very soon! You can also tip me on Tumblr if you'd like as a way to show support! ^^

[bcacstuff]

Hi! Love your blog / posts / insights! I’m new to Outlander and loving it. Learning more about Sam (love him) and Cait and I see why the shippers want them together so desperately. The chemistry is just nuts.

But clearly they aren’t a couple and I hate that they have to deal with this still. But curious if you think perhaps they might have been together early on (season 1)? They were so touchy-feely in press appearances. Was it just for show to sell the Jamie/Claire romance?

Also I’ve seen clips/gifs of an interview with Sam (LA Times?) where he mentions being with someone he works with and it going well. When was that and any insight / context?

Thanks for indulging me, as I’m sure this has been covered extensively in the past.

I really don't think they ever have been a couple. Yes good chemistry and they hung out together (more than today). So yes, fortunate for them they've become good friends as well. They've experienced a live changing thing together with the show and all the craziness around it. But that's all there is and ever has been.

The clip you're mentioning I think is the one that starts with the interviewer (Yvonne Villarreal) asking, because the fans were concerned Sam an Caitriona didn't do this interview together. The interview is a series interviewing Emmy contenders.

Anyway, Sam jokes a bit about not doing the interview together with Cait, but then says 'We are together, and we do work together and things are pretty good, she's just very busy'. Which as you can imagine was immediately used as a huge receipt for shippers. Other would say, he could have said it differently, but imho it would not have matter how he would have said it, it's the way people hear what they want to hear in the way they want it. Which isn't always what it actually is.

Also, take into account, this was the start of the 3rd season, where half of the season Jamie and Claire are separated, so filming would have been apart as well.

On another note, I'm glad you asked, as I (re)watched the complete interview while looking for it. And what struck me is the differences between then (2018) and now. More authentic, less just hanging out the clown and showing he really studied the character he's playing and sharing the thoughts he had about it.

Here's the interview

[forthesanityofstorytellers]

The Room of Maps

(I'm working out a new WIP idea focused on Lyra and decided I might as well just post as I go. No idea how far Imma get but ya'll can be along for the ride, lol)

Context: Lyra learns more about one of The Five Kingdoms, called Geshon

(Previous)

--------------------------------------------

The room of maps was a huge cavernous chamber, with shelves carved out for each specific map related to the five kingdoms. The islands and the surrounding areas were ruled by her family, and had the most extensive collection of connected shelves in the room.

But thanks to the deals made across the kingdoms during Rmeak, a time of exploration, every kingdom had a map of every other kingdom, and updated maps were created and traded regularly to ensure everyone was on the same page.

Small alcoves were carved out to the sides, some more like minor rooms than anything else, and tables of hardened matter had been grown and sculpted in place in various locations around the room. Some of them were always in use, surrounded by Aimlita, ones who dedicate their lives to the study and upkeep of the maps here.

While she respected the ones who studied and kept the maps…she did not envy their lives. To see the world but never with your own eyes felt like a particularly cruel way of living. Like being allowed to paint a bowl of fruit but never taste the flavors. It would drive her mad.

She kept her decorum as best she could, however, walking into the room as her tutor decided which maps they would look over today. He counted off the connected shelves while muttering to himself before selecting a midrow section of maps that contained the inner-sides of a kingdom known as Geshon. He pulled out the map of the main city and laid it out on the corresponding table, spreading it out and weighting down the edges with small lumps of mineral designed to hold the parchment in place.

Lyra waited until he was finished before taking her place next to him, sitting with her wings tucked and her hands in her lap as he began his lecture.

“Geshon,” he stated. “The main structure. The outland itself is known to stay in one place, unlike these islands. The base is said to be anchored to one of the roots of the world. They’ve developed an interesting method of both travel and agriculture, two things of which they are heavily known for and which you will need to familiarize yourself with–”

She realized he had cut off so early in the lecture and looked up at him. “What?”

“Princess. You are looking at the wrong part of the map.”

“Because I already know about the main stem. I want to hear about the little bits and pieces. Like this,” she pointed at a cluster of buildings at the edge of the map. “What are they? Why are they here, far from the stem? What do they do?”

“Ah,” he sighed. “That would be one of the markets. They are similar to our waterfront areas; trade and exchange happen there so the high family does not have to go too far out and visitors do not have to go too far in.”

“A market!” she said with a smile, leaning in. “What’s it like?!”

“Oh…” he made a grumbling noise and waved his hand. “Nothing special. You won’t be spending much time there anyway, not if they’re the ones that take you on. The high family usually doesn’t even visit the market. They send someone down to represent them. Similar to your family here.”

“Is it guarded?” she asked with bright eyes. “Is it loud? An exchange of goods and services sounds like it would be just bustling with life!!”

He gave her a look and she frowned. “What?”

He took a breath. “And here,” he said, pointing to a cluster on the opposite side of the market, closer to the stem but still away, “is the Moh, the place of stories and myth.”

“The…” she paused. “The what?”

“It is said that the land of Gesh is ripe with legends, myths, and tales. The speakers of such fables gather here,” he said, tapping it again. “You’ll find stories on every subject, from the way they think the Great Tree was created to the end days, from the legend of some chosen king against evil to the stories as to why the stars fall during certain cycles.”

She stared at where his finger was before looking back up at him. “Qwakas…do you know the legends?”

He smiled a little, small and mostly to himself. He sat next to her and hmmed a little to himself. “Well. I might have heard one or two in my time. I wasn’t always a Qwakas, you know. I spent my time in the world, as we all must do. Now let’s see…” He tapped a finger to his chin in thought. “The easiest one to remember is the story of the king and the supposed evil that he fights.”

“Fights?” she asked, tilting her head. “Not fought?”

“Oh no,” he said, shaking his head. “No, this legend is supposed to be some sort of future-telling. You’ll find they like to fancy themselves as future-speakers in Geshon, but don’t be drawn in. Most of it is either read from you or a glimpse into probability. Now.” He tapped his chin again. “Let’s see. Ah yes. I remember.”

She sat, staring at him as her Qwakas began to recite the future-story.

[aceofwhump]

A thought just occurred to me. I was looking through the Tumblr trending page today and saw "bisexual" was trending. I scrolled through and saw an interesting infographic on what % of LGBT adults identify as, like 58% bi, 1.3% ace or something, whatever.

I identify as asexual. Way back when, I thought I might be bi because I didn't know what asexual was and, as Jaiden Animations says: zero = zero. I guess I like both, but also neither at the same time?

Anyways, I kept scrolling down on "bisexual" and I start to see like sexy bunny drawings and half naked girls and blah blah. "Sex sells" is completely lost on me. The appeal of boobie pictures or muscular dudes is completely over my head, always has been. I think you, Ace, probably get what I'm talking about here. So, I keep scrolling past thinking "who cares about this shit, literally who would want to look at this? .... Well I guess according to that infographic, like 98.7% of people probably understand this sexy lady crap more than I do". Then I think "whatever, I'm going to go back and look at some whump. There are some LOTR gifs that Ace posted recently that come to mind as well as some super whumpy fanart in my likes. Good shit.

All of this to say: Is how I like to look at, read, watch whump kind of like how people like to look at sexy bunny art? Is "sex sells" kind of like how I watched all of Graceland because you posted a gif of Mike handcuffed on the bed going through withdrawal? I completely understand "whumperflies" I caught the whumperflies from a single gif enough to watch that entire show, which I had never even heard of until seeing that gif. I got completely sucked into the Sonic fandom because of a collection of screenshots of Sonic carrying Tails. It happened to me with Teen Wolf, Outlander, others? (Now that I think about it your blog got me to watch a bunch of shows I don't think I normally would, so thanks!)

Is this somewhat what allo folks experience? Is whumperflies akin to sexual attraction in a way? I do wonder and I never thought about it this way until today.... I'm curious of your thoughts on this, Ace?

I also know that a large chunk of the whump community also identifies under the asexual umbrella so if anyone else has opinion?

Hi nonny!

Lol yeah I too do not understand the sex sells thing in society. I look at commercials like that one Rally's burger one where it's just a half naked woman sitting on a car eating a burger and I'm like "how does this shit work on anyone? Why would this make anyone want to eat a burger??" It genuinely makes no sense to me. But this is actually a theory I've seen once before on here! That our interest in whump/whumperflies is our version of "sexual attraction" which is definitely very interesting. I can see the connection very easily and there definitely are a lot of similarities in the feelings. I do wonder if how we feel whumperflies is how allos feel when they experience sexual attraction but who knows lol. Personally in my brain the two things are separate and I like to keep them separate. I don't like thinking of my whumperflies or my interest in whump as a sort of replacement for sexual attraction. Just feels super weird to me to think of it that way. I don't feel sexual attraction so I don't know what that feels like but I do have a sex drive and feel arousal and it's never happened with anything related to whump and it feels physically different to me than my whumperflies so it's all been kept separate for me. Just my own feelings though!

The sex sells/whump gifs thing is SO INTERESTING! I never thought about that but yeah you're right! For us it's definitely "whump sells" and not "sex sells" lol. Nothing gets me to watch a show faster than a good whumpy gifset lol. Sex? Sexy poses? Absolutely nothing for me. Actually it's much more a turn off than anything. Whump? Hot damn sign me up. I'll watch the whole damn thing for whump. Sidenote I love that you watched all of Graceland because of my mass posting lol.

It's fascinating and a very interesting theory for sure! Totally okay if others feel differently. Like you said there are a lot of aspec whumpers so I think there's definitely something to the theory. I don't know though! Very interesting idea!

[inkla-kirisame]

Theory: Baizhu is...?

Disclaimer: this is a theory, it doesn't have to be true, if its false, don't blame me, I warned you beforehand

Also, take this with humor and not to seriously

And spoilers of Liyue's or Xiao's lore

Ok let's begin with this

It seems that Baizhu is an outlander like Albedo or Amber's grandfather (just examples, they had nothing to do with this) but he does have a vision, a Liyuan one, but Zhongli didn't seem to know about him... So he is probably of Liyue or he has more than he looks like

So either Baizhu is a snake like creature (like a lamia), or is he an Adeptus?

Exhibit 1: let's take a look to his face

Author, more close

His face seems familiar... Were did I see it? Oh wait-

They had the same make up, and believe me when I said that almost all the Adepti use the same make up (only Madame Ping and Mountain Shaper (I think)) use that type

Also, Xiao and Baizhu have the same pupils

Ok, maybe I'm wrong but as I said before, don't take this seriously, but if it's true I f-ing called it

Exhibit 2: Baizhu's sickness

If you have Qiqi or talk with Herbalist Gui, you'll know that Baizhu has a sickness that made him frail, Qiqi mentions that even tho she's a zombie, she's much better than Baizhu

So why this is important?

I don't know what sickness he has but if this is true, I may know were he got his sickness

'Some of the archons' souls were filled with bitterness at their fate, and refused to suffer it any longer. Their bitterness materialized and became evil monsters. The monsters' rage manifested itself in the form of diseases, monster infestations, and all kinds of other strange occurrences' is a little extract of the book Yakshas: The Vigilant Adepti, you can see were this is going

So, I think Baizhu was a Yaksha, to be more precise, Bosacius

If you did the Yaksha's wish, you'll know that Bosacius was the missing Yaksha, and is presumably dead

In this quest you encounter his statement, were he leaves his wealth to the one that's fated to it, in simple terms, you

So, this is my theory, Bosacius was contaminated by the corruption and disease, so once his duties were done, he would end his suffering, but he might failed and/or was saved by Changsheng

If this is true, Changsheng might be like Qiqi, someone who has Adeptal energy or because an Adepti, but my only exhibits with this are that she can speak, that she's been with Baizhu for a very long time and that she's diurnal

But hey, before you said 'BuT oZ iS-!' Oz is probably a manifestation of Fischl's vision's powers

Either way, at some point, Bosacius changed his name to Baizhu and at some point meet Changsheng, later open (or began to work at) the Bubu Pharmacy, he took Qiqi in, while trying to cure his disease, hint why Herbalist Gui tell us that he's ill since they first met til today and hasn't gone better

And if you look at Baizhu for the very first time, would you tell me that he's sick? Because for me, he isn't

Now this could apply to Rouran but we 'haven't' met him nor have a model of him, neither more information about him other than he's male, the owner of Pearl Galley, we meet him without noticing, and that he is physically frail

So that it, that's the theory

I'm going to admit that I was planning on taking about his medicines because they mentioned that they are traditional, and I thought 'oh! Maybe Guizong showed him how to made them?'

Anyways, sorry for not posting here (I decided to work on many oneshots and never finished them), many things happened but I got a Diluc (in Zhongli's banner (yay!)) a Jean, Wolf's gravestone and another Mona (got one earlier) on the Wanderlust Invocation while trying to get the Primordial Jade-wingded Spear for Xiao and thanking Paimon that I don't need any 4 star of Ganyu's banner nor their constellations, and I don't want Ganyu honestly (for now) I waited since the beginning for Xiao and I will get him

Have a great day/night, stay safe, take care of your self and good luck with your pulls

And for the Xiao's simps or stans, keep going! We only need to suffer for like 20 days before his banner (if he goes first (which I hope so))

Edit 1 (18/1/2021) (don't know how many edits this will have):

Thanks for the likes, this literally blew up, and I really wanted to say that I appreciate it

Anyways, this edit is short because I just saw Baizhu's vision and a little thought I had so

Exhibit 3: Baizhu's vision

That vision chain thing and Xiao's shoulder pad (?) look so similar (for me) that I actually suffer through an Mandela effect (I thought that Baizhu's vision chain was identical to Xiao's shoulder pad)

This doesn't add to much but I kinda find it curious (if you want, picture me with the clown wig and make up, I don't blame you)

By the way, the daughter that Huixin mentions she has is Yaoyao? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me, someone tasked Ganyu to take care of her, and that someone is working in the Ministry of civil affairs, and the first thing that comes in my mind if you ask me of someone who's Ganyu's underling, the first thing that comes to my mind is Yaoyao, if it's true tho... I called it!

[ashmarie1687]

Amused at the comments on this pic, posted today on its 4th anniversary. One of my personal favorite photos of Sam and Cait (partially due to them matching).

1. Are they a couple: this person doesn’t follow Sam, Cait, or anything Outlander related from what I could tell, except for the Outlander Forever page. When you have random people commenting “are they a couple?” on old pics, who seem genuine in not knowing their history, that says a lot.

2. The very last comment, wanting to see him standing next to another woman who is not his costar, after six or more years. Sound the 🚨 for six years! Because while he has taken photos with women who are not Caitriona, you will almost 98% of the time find a photo of him with Cait, and not another woman, in your google searches. And I’ve said recently, how many times has Sam brought up another costar, male or female, that isn’t Cait, in interviews? Hardly ever. Not Sophie, Rik, Lauren, or even Romann, who we know he still sees from time to time after all these years. No, it’s always Caitriona that he would share a burger with, be the first person to hug after quarantine (or take selfies with inside your work trailer without a mask but anyway...), who he word associated to Sassenach but could only get the “Ca...umm” part out, and then Graham mentally said eff it, its Caitriona, and who is the only person who can make his periscope stand at attention by just being in the same room as him. So for the antis, onlies, and anons who lurk on shipper pages, when you wonder wtf is wrong with us and why we ship them, remember there are millions of people in the world who don’t know jack squat about Sam and Cait and see these photos and can only assume they are a couple and and ask “why doesn’t Sam take pics with more women who aren’t Cait” when searching him out, I have an answer for that, do you?

[outlanderfandomfollies]

Foolish tvuckic believed an anon without doing her “research” first 😂🤣😂

Earlier today, I reblogged a two year-old post from my primary CO blog. I didn’t mention to whom I was referring in the post, but clearly a recent anon on tvuckic’s blog figured out it was tvuckic. 

I reblogged the old post to provide some background for my comments on a different post about a troll on C’s sister’s blog. In my old post I explained that in tvuckic’s attempt to “prove” that T was “bankrupt,” at least some of the information she had found on the Internet was for the wrong T (a man with the same name but a different birth date and place of residence). 😂

Anyway, tvuckic also appears to be too lazy to bother to research whether anons are telling her the truth (because we all know how truthful anons are 🙄). Someone sent me this screencap in DM:

That Wasn’t My Quote

Well, the problem is I didn’t say what the anon said I said. The anon sent tvuckic a two year-old comment left on my old post by another Outlander fan @centamilesva:

I don’t even know who centamilesva is. But she isn’t me. Tvuckic, go look on my old post and you will be able to see the comment for yourself. You aren’t blocked on my blog, so you can see it--that is if you get past your own blocking of me.

I Am Not Your “Stalker Tony Defender Anon”

Since you have me blocked tvuckic, I am most certainly not your “stalker Tony defender Anon.” Yes, I can get around the block but it is way too much of a hassle to do so and your commentary is so inane most of the time, it wouldn’t be worth my time to read it. Furthermore, if you say something particularly outrageous, someone usually sends me a screencap in DM. So there’s no need for me to “stalk” your blog. 

I’ve Never Tagged Cait With “Tattletale” Tweets

I also haven’t ever tagged Cait with the nonsense you or other fans say about her husband, as that would be very hurtful to her (and possibly to T). Go check out my twitter account Redcait@samsoldersister. You won’t find any tattletale tweets to Cait. Actually, like my CO blog, my Redcait twitter account is mostly an American political twitter account now. I also have a second twitter account: All Souls Trilogy Musings@allsoulsmusings. I haven’t used that account since 2018. But you won’t find any tattletale tweets on that either.

I Post About What Others Find--I Don’t “Dig Up” Information Myself

BTW, I didn’t “dig up” information on T back in the old days. That was all P. I wrote posts defending T and debunking SC in which I used information that other people (including P) had found and had already posted about. In addition, since the information I posted was used to defend T, it was only positive information that I posted, nothing negative. So there wouldn’t be grounds for “defamation” (or more accurately “libel”).

I’m a busy woman and I don’t have time to be scouring the Internet for this fandom nonsense. You can ask anyone who talks to me in DM. I know absolutely nothing on my own. If people didn’t tell me things, or send me screencaps--or I didn’t see information on someone else’s blog--I wouldn’t have any idea what was going on with S, C or their SO’s. But when I do post, I double check the information that people send me or that I see on another blog to make sure it is accurate. 

“And the Antis are mad that Tony is not who they thought he was.”

Nope. I really don’t care what T has done or not done with his life. That’s because I’ve never “shipped” C & T. I have “shipped” S & C, and later S & Abbie, and even S & MM (after I finally saw “Forever” and liked MM’s performance as Abigail). I say “shipped” because I really liked the idea of those couples being together. 

I never felt that way about C & T. I think they look cute together, but I was never very excited about the thought of them being together. But I respect that T is C’s husband and that she has indicated that she has been upset by some of the things certain “fans” have written about him. That is why I defend him. I also think it is wrong for people to write negative things about the “civilian” spouse of a celebrity. 

[edited]

[inkofamethyst]

January 6, 2022

[November 1, 2020]

Started making a post only to have it destroyed by an updated tumblr page which is incredibly frustrating.

Basically, I was talking about how I’d come across a vintage ~lifestyle~ youtube channel run by a black woman and like,,, as soon as she started talking about vintage values I immediately thought of racism and this whole idea of protecting an in-group while abandoning all out-groups.  She talked about how she doesn’t watch/listen to modern entertainment because of the progressive and political messages (I suppose she must not listen to black artists because being black in america is a political statement on its own) including fornication, a lack of love, swearing, a rejection of traditional masculinity among other things.  There was another video about how to act more feminine where she talked about how women today are shamed for acting feminine while being celebrated for acting masculine, and she’s absolutely right!  The thing is that liberal feminism is meant to promote an ideology that allows women and anyone else to express femininity and masculinity as they so choose.  Like, vintage values would force me into a housemaking role and my husband into a breadwinner role, but that’s simply not feasible in the modern age, especially since I wouldn’t want either person in my marriage to feel as though they were forced into a role without any wiggle room.

Then I watched a video about how vintage styles were becoming trendy, and girl had the audacity to try and gatekeep her clothing style.  She says that vintage style comes with having vintage values, and that liberal people won’t really find happiness dressing this way.  But like,,, so what??  She’d already expressed her dislike with how fast fashion trends came and go and how she didn’t want to let the media and Hollywood bother her, so why does this bother her is the trend will apparently blow over so quickly?  I assume she’s referring to the cottagecore trend that blew up at the beginning of quarantine, by the way.  Like,,, I’ve enjoyed fashion history for years now, and 40s fashion is a decade I can actually wear without looking to tacky/costume-y, and I’m finally at a place in my life where I can sew my own clothes, and I think florals are pretty!!  But either way, I shouldn’t have to explain why my style is valid to anyone.

I should’ve known by the straightened hair with the bumped ends that she watches Fox News.  Just vote for Trump and go.  When she was showing vintage hairstyle examples, she gave only one example that had a black woman in the picture, and the woman had her hair straightened so it was waist-length.  You’re telling me you couldn’t find a natural-hair or even a straight-natural version of a chignon??  

It’s just kind of frustrating seeing a black woman talk like that, though I know she’s well-intentioned.  There’s nothing wrong with expressing femininity or being conservative with your own views, but gatekeeping a clothing style?  Sorry hun.

I’m not going to drop her name because I don’t plan to search her up in the future to watch any more of her videos and wind myself up again.

Maybe it’s just the raging liberal in me, but like,,, time moves forward.  You can’t expect us to look back on history and not be critical.  Also, she complained about how modern movies/shows are displaying mid-century 1900s in a way that deviates from fact which I mean,, hello?  I know she doesn’t watch modern stuff but she at least has to know that average people don’t necessarily watch historically-based entertainment to be educated.  I can get style inspiration (18th century, I believe) from watching Outlander (which I need to watch but haven’t lol [edit: apparently it relies pretty heavily on female trauma, so I think I might pass]) but it sure ain’t no documentary, and that’s not what I go to it for, anyway.

Oh boo-hoo, are there Black and Asian people in your historical drama about the early nineteenth century?  Grow up.

[August 7, 2021]

So,,,, this has been in my drafts for a while.  I was recently reminded of [redacted: different YouTuber], and I went on a mini hate-watch spree of some of her recent videos.  In early high school, I used to listen to her stuff a ton, but honestly it only ever made me feel bad about myself (not to mention that I, as a fifteen-year-old, was not exactly her target audience)?  Her point of view is... an interesting one to be sure, and nowadays I can’t bring myself to agree with half of what she says (and that’s okay!).  Idk, I think that black women have such an interesting relationship with femininity as a demographic that some things just aren’t so simply explained or understood.

[Today]

Time to remove this from the drafts once and for all.

(Though I will say really quickly to close out my last point-- someone commented on a tiktok about how unhealthy it is for people like that YouTuber to be analyzing the “dating market” with such scrutiny and then going on to offer advice based on their analysis.  It reminded the commenter of the guys over at r~dpill and I think they’re absolutely correct.  That specific kind of content from men and women makes me feel icky.)

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but hate-watching is interesting to me because it’s like... I can tell whether I like something pretty quickly most of the time.  That’s not a unique trait.  What’s weird is when I sometimes continue to watch things that are simply not positive or nice or helpful to me in any way and only fuels some kind of undirected anger.  I only hate-watch things to feel a strong emotion, essentially.  And some part of that must feel good to me if I continue to do it.  Kinda unsettling to think of myself as an emotional masochist.  It doesn’t seem healthy.  Wonder what I could do to prevent it in the future?

Today I’m thankful that I actually kinda know what a chord is after all.  I got from the beginning to the end of Drippy to the point where it was fairly recognizable and with a few extra flourishes in four hours.  I worked on little bits and pieces of it yesterday and it’s sounding adorable.  It’s not done, but it’s a remarkably quick job arranging it so far (though the 3/4 bit in the middle really threw me off for a minute).  I am still having trouble with the saxophones, naturally.  I have learned a lot though, just through troubleshooting, and that’s nice.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #53: Asterios

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re building Asterios, a truly a-maze-ing character. Asterios is a Totem Barbarian/ Brute Fighter mix, an expert in fighting and traveling underground.

Check out the build level by level below the cut, or look at the summary over here.

Race and Background

There’s a surprising number of races available for the aspiring minotaur and minotaur adjacent player. For this build we’re grabbing the Minotaur from Planeshift: Amonkhet. I know they’re technically ram-headed, but you can always fix that in post. This race gives Asterios +2 Strength and +1 Constitution and a Natural Weapon, horns that can deal 1d6 plus your strength modifier in bludgeoning damage as an unarmed attack. He also has Relentless Endurance, letting him drop to 1 HP instead of zero once per long rest if he isn’t killed outright. His Savage Attacks let him add an extra die to critical damage, and he’s Menacing, giving him proficiency in Intimidation. So yeah, this is pretty much Berserker: The Race.

For Asterios’ background, we’ll be modifying the Outlander background a bit. Grab Athletics and Survival as normal, but instead of the normal feature we’re getting Deep Delver from Out of the Abyss, letting Asterios retrace his steps in underground passages and forage in caves.

Stats

Strength is going to be your highest stat: those axes aren’t just for show. Constitution is your second highest; neither are those scars. Third is your Wisdom: it’s unusually high for a berserker; you’re great at finding your way in a maze, and picking out the noises of anyone trapped with you. Fourth is Dexterity, it’s just not something we particularly need. You’re nice enough, but people don’t really get the chance to know you thanks to your low Charisma. Finally, dump Intelligence. You lived in a maze your entire life, and now you’re stuck with a Madness Enhancement too.

Class Levels

1. Barbarian 1: Yeah I know, shocking. First level barbarians get Rage, letting you enter a state of madness as a bonus action, gaining advantage on strength checks and saves, a damage bonus to strength based weapon attacks, and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. You can’t cast or concentrate on spells for the duration, which is 1 minute, if you’re knocked unconscious, or if you fail to take damage or attack a hostile within a round. Your rages recharge on long rests.

You also get Unarmored Defense, giving you an AC based on your Dexterity and Constitution while not wearing armor.

When starting as a barbarian, you get proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two barbarian skills. You’re already part animal, so Animal Handling is an easy pick, and hunting down prey in a maze requires pretty good Perception. 

For your weapon, we’re going with Battleaxes. We would’ve gone bigger, but we need some dual wielding, and we’re already cutting it close with these. Use one for now, we’ll take care of it later.

2. Barbarian 2: Now that your weaponry is fully online, lets get good with it. Second level barbarians can perform a Reckless Attack, gaining advantage on all attacks for one turn at the cost of all attacks targeting you getting advantage for a turn as well. You also get a Danger Sense, granting advantage on dexterity saves against effects you can see.

3. Barbarian 3: Third level barbarians set down their primal path. Totem barbarians become a Spirit Seeker, letting them cast Beast Sense and Speak with Animals as rituals. It isn’t canon compliant, but you are 50% animal anyway, so why not?

You also get a Totem Spirit at this level. The closest thing to a bull on the totem list is an elk, but you could also make an argument for the Bear totem, which is why we’re going with that one. While raging, you resist all damage except for psychic damage. People go into your labyrinth expecting to deal extra damage to you because of your class, so lets flip that on its head and really make them work for it.

4. Barbarian 4: Use your first ASI to grab the Dual Wielder feat, letting you dual wield weapons even if they don’t have the light attribute. Your axes? Definitely not light. You also get +1 AC while dual wielding weapons.

5. Barbarian 5: Fifth level barbarians get an Extra Attack, letting you attack twice as an action. This means you can attack three times a turn with your bonus action. We don’t even have enough hits to match your buster brave chain yet, but we’ll get there.

6. Fighter 1: First level fighters get a Fighting Style. Two-Weapon Fighting lets you add your ability modifier to offhand attacks, perfect for the giant bull-man with his hands full. Second Wind lets you spend a bonus action to heal yourself. You don’t really have a healing factor of your own, but we can say Guda used a command spell.

7. Fighter 2: You can now Action Surge once per short rest, adding an extra action to your turn. If you think hitting people is good, you should try hitting them more, it’s awesome. For those of you keeping track at home, we’re now packing five hits in a single turn.

8. Fighter 3: Third level fighters pick their archetype. Straight from the Unearthed Arcana: Three Subclasses, the Brute gains Brute Force when they take the subclass. Currently, you can add 1d4 to any damage roll you make with weapons you’re proficient with. It’s not particularly strong yet, but it’ll grow in time.

9. Fighter 4: Use your next ASI to grab Keen Mind. This feat’s mostly for flavor, but knowing what direction north is can come in handy in areas with no point of reference, like underground.

10. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack, but sadly this doesn’t stack with your barbarian Extra Attack. After this one they will.

11. Fighter 6: Odd numbers give me hives, so use this ASI to round out your Strength and Constitution for more health, AC, damage, and accuracy.

12. Fighter 7: Seventh level brutes have Brutish Durability, letting you add 1d6 to all saving throws you make, all the time. If this is a death saving throw, and this would cause the total to go over 20, it acts as though you rolled a 20 instead. You don’t go down easy, and keeping you down is even harder.

13. Fighter 8: Maximize your Strength with this next ASI for more accuracy and damage.

14. Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, letting you reroll a failed saving throw once per long rest. I’m not entirely sure if that includes the d6 from brutish durability; just keep it consistent to minimize DM headaches.

15. Fighter 10: At tenth level, your Brute Force increases to 1d6, and you gain an Additional Fighting Style. Blind Fighting means you don’t have disadvantage on attacks against creatures you can’t see. One problem with minotaurs: they don’t have darkvision.

16. Barbarian 6: Sixth level Totem Warriors gain an Aspect of the Beast. At this level, the Wolf totem lets you track at a fast pace while traveling, and move stealthily at a normal pace. Depending on how big your labyrinth is, travel rules might come into play, so this can help you track down anyone who wanders in without letting them catch on.

17. Fighter 11: Eleventh level fighters get another Extra Attack at each action. Now you do four attacks per turn, and seven if you use your action surge. 

18. Fighter 12: Use your next ASI to increase your Constitution for more health and AC.

19. Fighter 13: Thirteenth level fighters get a second use of Indomitable per long rest. I’d save them for your death saves, you’re pretty good at those already.

20. Fighter 14: Use your last ASI to get the Charger feat. If you dash as your main action, you can use your bonus action to make one weapon attack or shove a creature. If you move 10′ in a straight line first, you can add 5 to the damage roll or push the target 10′ away when you shove. Honestly, you could really do most of this already with your offhand weapon, but I felt bad that I picked the one Minotaur race without a charge ability.

Pros

It’s really nothing you haven’t seen on the other berserker builds by now.

You hit really hard. Your normal attacks are almost as strong as a regular person’s critical, and your critical hits are almost at full barbarian level. Add to that the fact that you’re making four attacks per turn on a normal round, and you’re dishing out a lot of damage.

You’re also really hard to kill. The bear totem makes your 200 and change HP go a long way, your Durability makes your saves just a bit easier to make, and even makes you more likely to pull through on death saves.

You’re really good at fighting and tracking creatures in subterranean areas. You’d think that would be a niche subject, but half this game’s title is “Dungeons”, so I think you’re set. You always know your way, and you don’t need a light source to beat down monsters.

Cons

Like a lot of berserkers, you struggle with ranged and magical damage, unless your DM is generous with magic axes. This means high-level enemies can still be more of a threat than you’d like.

Your low scores in Dexterity and Wisdom mean you’re weak in some of the most important saves in the game. Your d6 and indomitable can help a bit, but if the enemy puts a lot of pressure on this, you won’t last long.

Next up: We’re going back to Roma!

[blueboxesandtrafficcones]

The Nuptial Necessity - Chapter 26

A 12xRose Human AU

Despite an unglamorous job description, Rose loves the work she does with The Thistle Foundation, a charity founded by her best friend’s great-uncle.  It doesn’t hurt that her boss, her friend’s father, is easy on the eyes.  With a great job, wonderful friends and a loving family, life couldn’t be better – except for having someone to share it with.

All of that is threatened, though, when the great-uncle dies – and sets a strange condition for his nephew to inherit, jeopardizing the Foundation and Rose’s future, sparking a chain of events that might just get her everything she dreamed of and more.

Chapters will be posted on Saturdays and Tuesdays.  Many thanks to my beta, @stupidsatsuma

Rated: Explicit, for eventual smut

@doctorroseprompts

AO3  |  Masterlist

—

Wednesday

Malcolm drove them along back roads to the distillery.  Curled up next to him, Rose watched the land fly past, rolling hills she hadn’t expected of the Highlands but had quickly grown to love.  He wasn’t speeding nearly as much as he had the day before, today driving with one hand on the wheel, the other on Rose’s knee.

“I expected more mountains,” she said apropos of nothing, glancing over at Malcolm.  “There aren’t as many as I thought.”

“Depends on where you are.”  He turned, heading for several low buildings not too far ahead.  “Generally speaking the mountains are north and west.  The further east, the lower the elevation.”

“Where’s Ben… Neville?”

“Nevis.  South, by several hours.  Roughly halfway between Inverness and Glasgow.  About… a hundred miles or so from here?  It’s beautiful down there.  You know those mountains in that show you like?  That’s Glencoe, which is just south of Ben Nevis.”

Rose’s eyes widened, turning to him.  “From Outlander?  Really?”

Pulling into a spot and parking, he grinned at her.  “You didn’t know they actually filmed up here?  What, thought it was all movie magic?  No, that’s Scotland.  And what’s more- speaking of pop culture filming locations…”

“Yeah?”  They climbed out, and he led her towards the entrance to the tasting room.

“Glenfinnan Viaduct is… oh, twenty miles?  Sounds a bit far, but it’s really right there, on the other side of the loch.  From Ben Nevis, not up here.”  He laughed at her scrunched up nose and tilted head.  “The curved viaduct, from Harry Potter.  Of course it’s been famous for long before that- the glamorous shot of the Jacobite train going around the curve.  Spectacular.”

She groaned softly.  “I suppose there’s no chance of us getting down there, huh?”

Malcolm let her walk through the door first, and she was so taken with the warm, bright room and the scent of whisky she almost missed his answer.  “Perhaps not this trip, but we can always come back.”

Perking back up, she went up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek, breathing deeply.  His aftershave was almost drowned out by the competing distillery aromas, but she was still able to find it, and it made her belly clench.  His arm around her back tightened, pulling her closer, but a delighted call of his name made them break apart.

“Jamie!” Malcolm replied with delight, warmly embracing the man as he reached them.  “It’s good to see you.”

“Aye, and you,” the man replied in kind, before bowing slightly.  “Lord Gallifrey.”

“Stop that,” Malcolm waved impatiently, glancing around.  “Don’t start trouble.”  Returning his arm to around Rose’s waist, he gently nudged her forward.  “Jamie, this is Rose- my wife.  Rose, this is James McCrimmon, he owns and runs the Gallifrey Distillery.”

Rose beamed, more in response to Malcolm calling her his wife than anything else, but reached out to shake the man’s hand.  “It’s a pleasure.  I’m a big fan of your product – it’s incredible.”

“Thank you, my lady,” he smiled back, taking Rose’s hand and raising it to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles.  “It is an honor.”

She flushed in response.  If one Scot flirting is good, two must be better.  He was good looking, roughly thirty, tall and well built without being overbearing, and he was wearing a kilt that showed off toned thighs and calves.  I wonder if I can get Malcolm to wear one of those.  He has to own one, right?  “I’m very interested in learning about your process, and what you do here.”

“Aye, a private tour, guided by yours truly.  And a tasting.  Are you ready to begin?”

They nodded eagerly in response, sharing excited smiles.

This would no doubt be the highlight of their trip – at least, of experiences outside the bedroom.  Or the hall closet.

She couldn’t wait.

-

Malcolm listened with one ear during the tour, lost in his thoughts.  It hadn’t taken him long to notice Jamie and Rose flirting.  After knowing her for so long he knew she wasn’t flirting with intent, that it was more her natural ability to connect with people, and Jamie had always been a flirt, but it had led him down a dark path to a somewhat disturbing revelation – they’d never kissed.

At least, not for the sake of kissing, or in greeting or parting- the only time their lips had met in the half-week (has it really only been four days?) since they first spent the night together was either immediately before, during, or after sex.  No goodnight kisses, no good morning kisses, nothing.

This had sent his world spinning, as he reconsidered everything that had happened between them – and more importantly, what hadn’t, namely those three little words that meant everything.  He’d never brought up their conversation from Sunday night, and neither had she, and he was seeing it all in a new light now, doubting everything.  What if she doesn’t love me?  He watched her peek into a still before throwing him a bright smile, leading him by their joined hands as she chattered with Jamie, the two so lost in conversation they didn’t notice his lack of reaction.

What if she knows I love her but doesn’t feel the same, but won’t say so?  That idea made him feel even worse, as doubt chewed away at the happiness in his soul.  He didn’t want her to humor him- if she didn’t want a relationship she should just say so.  After eight years of knowing each other, working side by side day in and day out, didn’t she know him well enough to know he would put her wants above his own?

As they stepped out into the sunshine, heading back to the tasting room for their samples, he concluded with a heavy heart, We need to talk.

Consequences be damned.

-

Rose forced her smile wider, nodding along to Jamie’s explanations, her mind a million miles away- and directly next to her, focused solely on Malcolm.  Almost as soon as the tour had started he’d shut down, and the longer it went on the more worried she grew.  As far as she could tell nothing had happened, nothing to trigger this.  It had just… started.

Accepting the small sample of whisky she took a sip, unable to focus on the taste (incredible, as always), instead watching Malcolm stare blankly at the proffered little cup for a long moment before accepting it, then throwing it back like a shot.

Jamie was frowning at him as well, gaze flickering to Rose who half-shrugged.

“Well, thank you for this, but we do need to be getting back to the house,” she said graciously; the other man clearly recognized the lie, but was kind enough to nod and play along anyway.

“Aye, I’m sure there’s much to do.  Thank you for taking the time to visit us,” he replied, guiding them back to the entrance. “I’ve already shipped another case to London for you, Mal, just ring me when you want the next.”

“Oh!”  Rose stopped dead, fumbling in her purse for the notecard she had prepared.  “Can you ship a few bottles of your best- absolute top of the line- to this address?”  She handed the card over.  “And can you send a bill up to the house?”

Jamie accepted it without hesitation, but shook his head.  “No need to bill-”

“No, I insist,” she said firmly.  “This place is lovely, and- just do it.  That’s an order.  Or a decree.  Or whatever it is you’re supposed to obey.  Alright?  Please.”

He pursed his lips in thought, glancing between them, but Rose just glared in response and Malcolm- Malcolm stared off into space, looking thoroughly unhappy.  “Aye, I’ll do it, but I reserve the right not to cash the cheque.  Fair enough?”

“Fine,” Rose nodded.  “Top shelf, right?  That’s for my Dad.”

“Yes, my lady,” Jamie sighed, smiling wryly.  “Thank you for your visit, it was lovely to meet you.”

With a last, tight smile, she nodded.  “Thank you!”

Once they were outside she let the smile fall, casting a worried look at her husband.

What happened?

-

“-At which point I decided what the hell, I’d hire the flamingos, they need the jobs, and we need new fishermen.  The unicorn wasn’t happy, but I said ‘Horny, be welcoming, I still need you to fertilize the garden’.  Malcolm, are you listening to me?”

He wasn’t.  Gaze fixed firmly on a spot on the wall roughly six inches to the left of Jack’s head, Malcolm stared ahead without seeing, still utterly lost in his thoughts.  The longer he spent scouring his memory for any proof of Rose’s love, the less he found, each precious memory reexamined and found lacking until he was left with nothing but a large, gaping wound in his chest where his heart had once resided.

“Huh?”

His cousin sighed, tossing the paperwork he held onto the desk and leaning back.  “What’s wrong?”

They were in Jack’s office, going over the budget for the last few years and adjusting the upcoming ones- or at least, that was the meeting’s purpose.  He hadn’t heard a word of it, though.

Not bothering to play dumb, Malcolm merely groaned and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees as he hung his head.  “Do you think Rose is in love with me?”

“Your wife?  Yes.  What kind of bullshit question is that?”

“Forget that she’s my wife, just in general- do you think she’s in love with me?”

He waited for an answer that didn’t come, eventually raising his head to find Jack staring at him in incredulous disbelief.

“Mal, what in the name of fuck is going on?  What are you asking?  Why?”

He groaned, slumping back on the sofa.  “If I tell you, it doesn’t leave this room.”

“Deal.”

“That includes Ianto.”

His cousin made an exasperated sound.  “Obviously.  Would you just tell me?”

“Wallace changed his will, and said that I can only inherit the property after his death… if Rose and I got married.  That if we didn’t, everything would go to the government, and the Foundation would have to close.  So… we got married.  Only, I’m absolutely arse over teakettle for her, and have no idea if she feels the same,” he explained sadly to his folded hands, unable to meet Jack’s eye, not wanting to see the disgust or pity he would likely find there.

Silence reigned for a long moment, before a strangled noise came from the other side of the room.  Looking up, he found Jack clutching his stomach, bent in double and softly wheezing.

“Jack?”

“You numpty,” he gasped.  “You utter bampot.  How could you fall for that?”

Malcolm blinked, jaw dropping slightly as he realized the other man was laughing.  “What’re you on about?”

Something about his expression apparently broke Jack, for he fell out of his chair and began rolling on the floor holding his stomach, howling in earnest.

“Jack.  Jack.  Jack!”

Jack utterly ignored him, too wrapped up in his laughing fit to pay him any attention until Malcolm nudged him in the side with his foot – hard.

“Ow,” Jack wheezed, sitting up.  “You don’t have to kick me.”

“Well, you weren’t stopping on your own,” he grumped.  “Now, get up and explain yourself.”

He did, taking his grand old time, still snorting and snickering as he got himself situated again.  “Right, you realize that can’t be legal, to start.”

“What?”

“I don’t think you can leave a title to the government like that,” Jack chortled.  “Now, maybe if he had disinherited you if you didn’t marry her, that might be legal, but then it would pass to me.  He can’t just skip us.  I think you’ve been punked.”

Malcolm shook his head in denial.  “No, I talked to his lawyer-”

“Listen to me.  How could he skip me?  Why would he skip me?”

“To punish me?”

Jack gave him a look.  “How would that be a punishment, exactly?  You haven’t been here in what, fifteen years?  Sure, you manage the Foundation and see to the Townhouse, but that’s not really the Estate.  Purely from a practical side, I should be the Lord.  Now, I’m not begrudging you that, and am happy to serve as your proxy- and heir- but why would he punish both of us?  What did I do?”

He had several good points, but Malcolm was still unsure, finding it hard to believe Wallace would use his will to lie to or trick him.  “I suppose we’ll never know.”

“Eh…”  Leaning to the side, Jack opened a drawer and pulled out a sealed letter.  “Here.  I wasn’t supposed to give it to you until after you two sorted out your shit, but…”

He handed it over, and Malcolm accepted it gingerly, noting his uncle’s handwriting on it.

“What does it say?”

“It’s sealed,” Jack shrugged, before smirking at Malcolm’s skeptical expression.  “Just… read it.”

Oh, boy.  Wally, what did you do?

[crqstalite]

A YEAR IN REVIEW: 2019.

Oh wow it’s two hours to midnight. I’m about to enter my fifteenth year of existence and second decade turn I’ve been alive to witness. Guess it’s time for my first annual year in review of fanfiction <3

WORD COUNT:

This year in total I wrote 150,065 words! Not even including the fanfictions I wrote for other fandoms throughout the year. This was all in a few months too. Damn, can’t wait to see where 2020 takes me if this is my writing prowess now.

The Breakdown:

Bloodlines took the cake at 71,593 words. Makes sense, I wrote that first and actually had it going a bit before I got the idea for Shadow of the Sith. It’s not obsolete just yet, but is currently on hiatus. Still one of my most written for projects. Means I’d been working on that since August. Startinglingly, the latest chapter was in October. That means that whole endeavor took two months to write 71.5k.

Shadow of the Sith is close behind at 47,995 words. With how I went from writing 2k word chapters to the latest being 7k words, it’s valid how the number jumps so much chapter-to-chapter. This one I’ve been working on since early November, and the most recent one was added today. That’s a month and some days worth of writing 48k words guys :0.

The Heritage prompts roll in at 15,657 words. I posted rather sporadically for this because most ended up being abandoned oneshots while I worked on Bloodlines and later, Shadow of the Sith. Still, it’s nothing to sneeze at and I’m rather proud of the work I put in.

The Made of Star Dust universe is at a haughty 11,777. Given this was written long before I’d even gotten the privelege to play Shadow of Revan, so some stuff is inaccurate but other than that a very ambitious project that I intend to pick up at some point. For now, it remains on hiatus.

The oneshots round us out at 3,043. This includes Hierarchy for the time being because it consists of a Khaak/Lana oneshot and that’s it. Not disappointed here, and I’m rather happy it even reached that. 

NEW THINGS I TRIED.

I tried Star Wars the Old Republic out again, and obviously I flourished here. The community is so kind and compassionate, not to mention inspiring. I tried out the Jedi Consular storyline, fell asleep halfway through, and then my Consular was the Barsen’thor.

Oh you mean writing wise.

I definitely extended my writing. My word counts shot up this year from 500 words in 2018 to 8k words just a week or so ago. I’ve improved my storytelling to include characters and personalities I’ve never encompassed before. Took my hand at writing more romance, and successfully.

I visited the TrollHunters fandom for a period of time and rather enjoyed it, I have one 8k fic going on it’s fourth month on hiatus on my AO3 page. I joined my first actual hate for a show and that materialized in Voltron: Legendary Defender.

I joined AO3. Didn’t find immediate success but I found some of my favorite authors there. My account is here: euphoria_starrs.

I joined tumblr for the first time. Had never experienced it before but now it’s my main media. Other than the problematic side of tumblr, I like the people here.

FAVORITE THING I WROTE THIS YEAR.

Definitely Shadow of the Sith. I accomplished so much with it already and it’s not even near done but people enjoy it, and it’s been one of the biggest succesful endeavors I’ve ever done. Thanks for taking time to read it guys <3

FAVORITE FIC I READ THIS YEAR.

*Takes a deep breath* Well here we go I guess.

@cavalier-life‘s Collateral Damages. It’s so artfully written, and for a ship I definitely didn’t think I’d grow to love as much as I do now. The characterization is beautiful, and the conflicts are real and believable. I adore Selirah with my whole heart, thank so much for writing it! Have definitely binged chapters repeatedly until the words are swimming on the page at two in the morning.

@cinlat‘s...whole library. Particularily Howl In the Night (I intend to get to reading Heart on a Trigger, just haven’t had the time yet) because of the untouched territory it delves into. I love the way you handled the story, and it’s truly heartbreaking at the end. Your oneshots are to die for as well. But Our Own pulled at my heartstrings. I’d lie if I didn’t say I was rooting for Nahir the whole time.

@melissagt‘s Not Afraid Anymore. I think I already commented on it but I’ll do it again. Yet another ship I didn’t think I’d sail but as I got deeper and deeper into Andronikos, Theron and Lelu’s relationship I just let the sail go. I love the story and how they get accustomed to each other and just how gritty it is. I definitely stayed up late at night to finish reading it.

@lumielles​‘s Guilt By Association, Outlander Day and Need a Minute. I haven’t had the time to read much more of Idan’s story, but Aramys and Theron break my heart with every oneshot and story of yours I read. I love it because it’s so tasteful, and absolutely bittersweet at the best of times. I look forward to learning more about this family :)

@greencrusader13​‘s All Were Innocent Once. I adore this story because it was one of the first ones I read in the fandom, and it was beautiful. Cirak and Tyar are such three-dimensional characters, and I can’t wait to learn more about the others present. 

Any others I found but for those who don’t have tumblr accounts can be found on my Fic Recs Page. Flirting With Desire (Sirius Ordo), and Someone To Fight For (Bamfbugboy) always tear at my heartstrings whenever I read them. If ya’ll like to cry, here they are.

WRITING GOALS FOR 2020.

1. Definitely finish Shadow of the Sith. Mellena and Theron’s story desperately needs to be told, and I will go down with this ship! There are a bunch of other characters worthy of their chapters in here as well, and I really want to write for Knights. Just have to get through Shadow of Revan and Ziost and we’re in the clear.

2. Start Shan. You guys are so infatuated with this post that I figure it deserves to be written. I was going to anyways, but goddamn ya’ll are still reposting it so I’ll see if I can do the plot justice. Currently, the PC is a sith inquisitor named Liv but that could change soon.

3. Finish Bloodlines? I’m not sure if anyone’s particularily enjoying it, but I started it so I’ll finish it. I think. Maybe.

4. Start love interest specific stories. I tend to meander into whole stories of a bunch of OCs and their love interests (see: Bloodlines/Shadow of the Sith), but in 2020 I think I’ll try to appeal to smaller fanbases with certain stories. I’m looking at writing a Mandalorian-centric Ba’shira/Torian fic, a slight rewrite of the Trooper story for Hakiojkl/Aric, a Sith-centric one for Lana/Khaak, a shorter one for a currently unnamed female Sith Warrior/Pierce, shorter one for a currently unnamed female Sith Inquisitor/Andronikos, short one for Bisauur/Zenith and a short one for Naji/Felix. Maybe one for Koth, but goddamn there isn’t a signal fic I can find on him.

5. Write Bad Girls Club. I don’t know why I made this a thing, but goddamn it’s a thing now and I love it. Kind of love the idea of some younger female bounty hunters running around the galaxy and causing chaos.

6. Possibly write a Theron/Outlander/Lana story. Why? I’m not sure but no one has done it yet and with the chemistry Theron and Lana have in-game already plus the chemistry they have as friends if you romance them can’t be easily passed up. Not high on my list of priorities, but it shall be done.

WORD OF THANKS.

My thanks goes out to this list of wonderful people:

@the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond​, @greencrusader13​, @oakstar519​, @a-muirehen​, @shabre-legacy​, @starstrucknerdbatkid​, @swtorpadawan​, @elaphaemourra​, @theherooftython​, @anchanted-one​, @sheyshen​, @roguescarlett​, @insufficient-focus​, Dragonheart on Discord, Sidhe Vicious and Necril on Discord!! You guys are so great for believing in little 14 year old me and taking a chance on roleplaying with me and reading my fics. You’re so appreciated <3

HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND GOOD LUCK ON YOUR NEW ENDEAVORS!

[bcacstuff]

After watching last night’s Waypoints launch in NY I understand why SH flew cross Atlantic for a 1hour presentation. This book is important to him. It was personal and in his own words. Once a book is published leaks are inevitable this was a way to get ahead of the conversation. I thought the venue, host and reading(an author reading his own words at a launch is pretty standard) went better than I expected. But as usual the bashing was fast and furious. After all these years he is still criticized about Wentworth. It was stressful and brutal to watch. Can you imagine filming 14h days essentially naked being beating and broken for ten days waiting for a director to yell cut. No way a mainstream actor with box office success would have gone through that. So yes in that way SH was green. Eight years later he is able to look back objectively both pre and post outlander. Book is a self deprecating look at his life as he remembers it. Let the fact checking begin. But as expected it became as much about his fans and this sort of codependent relationship with SH. Listen I can be a bit of a mean girl at times but today after reading some brutal comments in the fandom I see things differently. If women of a certain age can afford to travel, buy and support projects by an actor they…ahem..admire and happily posts pictures of themselves hoping to get noticed then more power to them. And some of the comments and emoji’s are funny many cross a line. Sure takes a lot of guts to be an anon. In the end this book will change no one’s mind or opinion but with two more events to go the fandom will live on this well after the holidays. Best seller anyone?

Hmm... it's your opinion, and you're entitled to it for sure. I'm not disagreeing, though on certain points not agreeing either.

I do still think that flying to NYC twice in almost a week is a bit overdone, and the way it all was organized, leaving fans that booked for the Uk events sort of disappointed. It doesn't really add anything, and I don't see it as a way to get ahead of the conversation. Now or next week doesn't really matter.

There are people bashing (I hope you don't mean I was), I did post several things I saw out there related to this event. Positive, negative, awkward, funny... I tried to be divers in my posts about it. Tried to give a more sided view on things.

Yes, I receive Anons, some very negative ones, that I'm not posting. I also think some people here (well Anons, apparently) read everything I post with a negative in mind. Like they want to read I'm a hater. I feel sorry for people that just are having one view on things. (not saying you are sop...)

About Wentworth, I can imagine that was a hard part to do. He's not blaming anyone though, tells it like it is. Most of the opinions I've read about watching that part, is that is hard to watch, but at the same time perhaps the most outstanding acting performance he achieved. And he should, is allowed, to feel honored by that all the way.

Fact checking everything in the book isn't giving any weight (positive or negative to it). In fact, I haven't seen or read the book yet, I haven't put any opinion upfront about it out here. I realize a good number of people did and do. I did gave some opinions about the event last night. That's not the same as already making up my mind about the book. I'm not even sure I will read it at this point.

Anyway, how important is it really to be a bestseller. I mean, anyone could write a book about his or her life, we all have stories to tell that forms us, that we think about from time to time and make us what we are. We just don't all have an audience or fanbase big enough to make a publisher gets interested in it. But we tell our stories to whom it matters, our children, our pupils, our friends... and listening to others might give you a deeper insight of the world around us and respect the things in it.

It's just not all black or white out there! (or here)

[breadknight-likes-things]

Bread’s Game Journal 06/28/20: Through The Dark Portal, An Outland Retrospective, Bonus 1: Isle of Quel’Danas

This post will probably be briefer than the rest of my Outland Retrospective (as will the other Bonus Post I have on the docket for tomorrow), as Quel’Danas doesn’t actually hold all that much content in the end, but the stuff that’s there is defintely a higlight of Burning Crusade.  “But Bread” you might say “Quel’Danas isn’t a part of Outland you’ve broken your own internal fiction with this series of posts”.  I understand this concern, but I can counter it with an absurdly pedantic fun fact: Quel’Danas, and indeed all of Silvermoon and the Blood Elf zones are actually in the same landscape instance as Outland, just separated out so far from each other than no amount of hacks or glitches could ever get you to cover the distance between the two.  That’s why, to this day, the BC race starting zones don’t allow flying mounts to be used, despite purportedly being on Azeroth, where those are allowed!

Alright fun fact time over!  The Isle of Quel’Danas was added in with the last patch of Burning Crusade and, to the best of my knowledge, was the first time a new landmass was added in with a patch as opposed to a full new expansion.  It was a big deal at the time!  If Blizzard could add in this whole new area with just a patch, who knows what other kind of content they could add in-between expansion packs!  Of course that’s so commonplace now that we get mad if patches don’t add some kind of new landmass, but it was really exciting back in 2008!  As I said before there wasn’t a whole ton to do on the island, it was mostly just a staging ground for Magisters Terrace and Sunewell Plateu, both of which contained the final threats of the expansion: Keal’thas and Kil’Jeaden.

Well, the top half of Kil’Jeaden anyway.

One very notable thing that Quel’Danas did give us however, was a normalization of daily quests.  I don’t know how many times I did that bombing run quest without really knowing what it was for or what I gained from it, I just thought it was a ton of fun!  Blizzard would of course realize the power of the things they had on their hands with Daily Quests, eventually evolving into their current World Quest form, and we’d all be doing them every day for rep grinds before we even knew it! Blizzard made full use of the impressive Silvermoon assets here to really sell this place as the land where the sunwell once granted it’s people unlimited power, but has since burnt out.  Like Silvermoon City itself, there’s a quiet tragedy that underlines all the impressive buildings, like they were built by a society that has no real means to do something like that again at the moment.  The bright, fantasy forest aesthetic is also put to strong use to sell this land as a place that magic fills every seep of.  I think the effect is stronger in the actual Silvermoon areas, because that fantasy forest is contrasted with the Dead Scar running straight through the middle of it all, but it works great here as well!  

Leave it to those Blood Elves, they sure do know how to make a garden look nice!

It’s hard to believe the final patch of Burning Crusade ended up being set here on this island.  Hell, it’s harder still to believe that Illidan was defeated in the first patch of the expansion, leaving us with stuff like Zul’Aman to tide us over until this big finish!  Still, it was a hell of a patch, and a hell of a zone....but it’s not the last one I’ll cover for this retrospective....lets just say we’re gonna get even more retro next time, and help an old friend get somewhere he needs to go.

Random Screenshot of The Day:

You know that feeling when you’re just running through an old raid to get some screenshots and a legendary weapon drops on a character that can’t even  equip it and get you the appearance?  No? WELL I SURE AS HELL DO AFTER TONIGHT!

Stray Notes:

- None!  Surprsingly!  Didn’t play many video games today (other than some TESO with my friend) so I don’t have anything to really touch on!  Thanks for reading anyway though!

[its-moopoint]

If Cait is flying to Toronto..A Major Outlander Cast is staying at a hotel...Bernice Barry Twitter.... Fuckery weekend??

Catalina already landed in Toronto according to her tweet. All ready to show the best PDA ever to her assistan now husband (”it would be hard to be together and work together” LOL LMAO laughs encore). 

As for your twitter writer (she’s supposed to be in London I believe), seems she has deleted her tweet which can mean:

- she got the wrong show (wouldn’t that be hilarious?!?)

- oops privacy, a few hours posted, right people sending it to blogs via anon message so we all see and know where to look at, then disappears (fuckery weekend if she meant S, and a writer again,like that time in Madrid, how original)

- she got overwhelmed by the 3 people asking her who it was

- must have been Berry, major OL cast almost rules out SC

Yesterday’s tweet:

Today when I checked on my cell, it’s there on display maybe because of the cache but it won’t load, I can’t see the comments that I read yesterday asking her who it was and it doesn’t appear at all on my computer. 

Anyway, now we will never know unless it was the first step on the fuckery weekend meal. 

[clairebeauchampfan]

That sinking feeling......

I came across a rather bathetic post today, a personal statement PSA  in bold justifying her continued shipping in the face of all odds by a by-no-means extreme shipper  ( certainly not one of those  toxic shippers,  those frightening women whose entire blog consists of exchanging bitchy remarks about Sam and Cait with the rest of her gang, and never mentions Outlander except to say how terrible the seasons were that they didn’t actually watch),  but  who nevertheless, like so many other disillusioned shippers, appears in this post  to blame Sam and Cait for gas-lighting her these last five years. 

And yet she still sails on.....  

Reading it I couldn’t make up my mind whether to laugh, cry or clap my hands to my head in despair.  You poor, sweet, naive , innocent summer child, I thought, to have been so gulled, not just by Hollywood and any acting couple’s fan-service (”yeah, Sam, Caity baby, lay it on with a trowel...look deep into each other’s eyes, make like you’re madly in love with each other....box office gold, babes”. Like this..) 

(oh look, Sam and er.... whassername..and THIS is what I know!.So much in love=so married! Another receipt! Take that, doubters!) 

.....but also conned by all those fanciful and fabricated ‘receipts’, the fuzzy photos, the wild and often tasteless speculation, the guessing, the half-truths pedalled as gospel....and all by your fellow shippers, that circle of self-reinforcing, self-confirming  group think where today’s desperate straw grasping is tomorrow’s canon. 

I’m not saying Sam and Cait haven’t had a close relationship...maybe , in the early days, a very close relationship....prior to the infamous IFH, and now the EFH, to put it in shipper speak terms.  Indeed, I’d be worried about them if they hadn’t. Can you imagine being stuck together for 6years as co-stars in a TV show if they hated eachother? I’m amazed they are still such good friends; hell, they probably share an apartment together! 

 But to still believe in a ship that definitvely sank back in 2017 and then to describe Outlander  as a shitshow? Come on, girl, get real. What on earth is the point of still shipping the stars of a show you now despise, especially if you now feel you’ve been ‘beautifully’ played by the people you ship? If you really feel you’ve been gulled, and that the show is as bad as you make out, why torture yourself with what might have been but probably wasn’t, wasn’t last year and certainly isn’t now, in the hope that things will suddenly change back to the dream you once had of unusual, perfect love? 

Puir wee lass, as Jamie might have said. I’ll spare you her blog name. Anyway, for what it’s worth, here  is a disillusioned shipper still proudly clinging onto the masthead, all that’s left of her sinking collander of a ship, when there are so many other good TV shows to follow and likely pairings to ship instead of clinging on ‘for no good reason’ except, perhaps,  the hope that one day cynics like me will be sorry we ever doubted you.

 “ I am still a shipper. I understand many people who formerly shipped Sam and Cait don’t do so for many different reasons. I think we feel we have been played for five years. That’s most likely true. “

(playing a fish:my gif insert)

She goes on: “I am not as clever at finding info, or at analyzing pictures. I don’t know the business as many do nor understand the supposed quirks of Hollywood players. I only have the same evidence to look at as you all do.I can see how each individual piece of evidence we have is deniable. If Sam and Cait were to go through each receipt we have (something they would never do), they could deny each one with a plausible excuse. But the volume of receipts is so huge they would need a solid reason for having played us so beautifully for five years.Many former shippers wonder why we still ship when there is nothing to ship. I wonder what is it they were shipping when they began shipping Sam and Cait. Was it the unusual love they saw? Of course unusual love mirrors Jaimie and Claire and that is exactly why we are called delusional. If these two people managed to pull that one off, they are the greatest two actors of all time.I still see that unusual love buried beneath the rubble of a shitshow called Outlander. I am still going to stay here and ship this love. I have no idea why they are doing this. I will be here until I find out or until they go their seperate ways.......

#shippers #SMH

“a new receipt! Look, over there...!”