#Based on the way that people talked about this encounter (having little context for the actual dialogue bc I'm still avoiding spoilers)

[a2zillustration]

:)

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[meanbossart]

What is it about Astarion that DU Drow fell for? Which traits/habits/quirks/whatever were the ones that he first noticed/piqued his interest?

Oh boy, I mean, at first DU Drow didn't care for Astarion at all. He was extremely on edge around all of these people and Astarion's rather invasive strategy only put him off further - his insight checks may be awful, but he can still tell when someone is trying to suck up to him a little too hard. DU drow thought he was attractive, of course (see.: the narrator's comment about the quote-on-quote pretty corpse) but otherwise didn't think very much of, or very highly of him.

Once he got his confidence back, and after Astarion caught onto the fact that he needed to play hard to get to string him along, there would have been a little while where DU drow only saw him in the context of a trophy or conquest - but admittedly, he also thought Astarion was funny, and he thought he was smart - even someone as dense as him could see that the guy had read him perfectly, and proceeded to adapt as necessary to get what he wanted out of him - and DU drow fell right into it, willingly so. There would have been some mutual respect there between them from understanding each other's games.

Their ritual of letting Astarion bite him definitely planted a little seed of something too. I've talked about it plenty of times so I won't dwell on it, but DU drow enjoys the intimacy implied in allowing someone to hurt him. This was far from an emotional turning point in the relationship, but it did prompt him to start seeing Astarion differently (not better or worse - just differently.)

(I'm a little drunk and went on and on, enjoy LOL)

Then, after one or two intimate encounters, the Urge would have started taking too much of a toll - violent lust turned into lustful violence, and hence DU drow didn't want to have sex anymore out of a fear of losing control during the act; yet, he had learned to trust Astarion by then and would seek out his comfort and companionship all the same. Faced with the situation where sex is no longer an option, I imagine Astarion would have been caught off guard and let the mask slip more often than usual. Pair that with the fact that DU Drow is a surprisingly affectionate (in private) but highly withdrawn person, left him in the role of leading their exchanges. Astarion, I think, would have felt the need to talk; if for no other reason but to fill the air whenever they were alone together. Eventually DU Drow would have started talking back.

These were long nights of just looking up at the sky and going through things that happened that day, what led them here, what the companions are doing, talking shit about whats-his-or-her-name, often just straight up gossip. Astarion eventually realized he could say whatever he damn pleased in front of DU Drow and nothing seemed to phase him, and vice-versa. DU drow enjoyed his bluntness, his earnest impulsivity that matched his own, he laughed at his jokes (as well as some things that weren't meant as jokes) he enjoyed his teasing and his reactions when he said something putrid in return, he liked the way he smelled when he was clean and he liked his stink when he was filthy, he watched him fidget with his own clothes and hair until Astarion gave him a weird look and aggressively asked what he was staring at. He enjoyed when Astarion got angry at something he said, because it felt very genuine - and he didn't use to think of him as a very genuine person.

Astarion was the first to notice something was wrong with him - so DU drow felt comfortable talking about it openly. On the other hand, DU drow never pressed Astarion about his past unprompted - instead just letting him talk about it if he so wished and without trying to milk it for more details when he did choose to do so. Because they spoke a similar language of violence and operated under the same hedonist-based beliefs, it was easy to talk to each other even when there was friction between them - similarly, they were both always willing to move past and quickly "forget" when someone said something truly hurtful.

I don't know if there was a key moment where he realized this had turned into love; that was probably a word DU Drow dropped quite unabashedly sometime after they got to Baldur's Gate, and before they faced-off with Cazador (to no reciprocation or acknowledgment then, not that he minded). But sometime during act 3, DU drow simply assumed that after this was all over they would still stick together.

[embrosegraves]

𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕥 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤

2233 words (request) Daniel Ricciardo x Reader  based incredibly loosely on Moonlight by Ariana Grande (I tried lmao) Childhood Friends-to-Lovers "Are they dating or not?"

Warnings: Mentions of Jules Bianchi, platonic use of pet names, partial smau, grammar mistakes

To give a bit of context, you and Daniel had pretty much known each other since you were both in nappies. Every typical experience people had growing up, you experienced with each other. So for you guys, being platonically romantic with each other was normal. He called you Darl, and you called him Babes. That’s just how it was with you two. 

Apparently, that wasn’t obvious to the people around you. 

Everyone thought you guys were the classic Childhood Sweethearts trope. Everyone you encountered thought you were dating but had yet to announce it. And why wouldn’t they think that? It was obvious that’s what was going on right?

It’s not like they saw how you could cheer Daniel up with just a hug and a kiss to his forehead after a bad race. How whenever Daniel had placed within the top 5, the first person he ran to was you, just so he could pick you up and spin you around. You followed Daniel to every race, literally every single race, even if he wasn’t driving. You were almost always right next to him, the exception being when his mother was also at the race and you would be seen with her. 

Even the other drivers were convinced you were dating. Max and Lando were always talking to each other about how they thought it was a little cute how long you guys were being secret about it, even though it was obvious to everyone. They never would’ve thought that they had the wrong idea about it the whole time. How could they when they saw Daniel get you a bouquet of Gladiolus and Aster flowers and a box of Favourites chocolate every year for your birthday. 

Lando had brought it up to him later that night when you were all out celebrating. 

“Mate, why the box of Favourites?” He asked him. “And why not get her roses?”

Daniel just smiled his winning smile and said to him, “She likes being able to have different chocolates without buying ten different boxes, and she hates that roses are everyone’s first thought for flowers.” 

Before Lando could continue his questions, you came up to them stumbling and giddy. 

“Babes! They’re playing our song, come on!” You had grabbed Daniel's arm and began trying to drag him to the dance floor. 

“Lead the way, Darl!” And he let himself be whisked away. 

-~-

The next person to try and subtly  get you to confess you were dating was actually Charles. He had known you both for a while, considering that Daniel had raced with his godfather, Jules. 

“So how long has Daniel been doing that for you?” He asked. The thing in question was Daniel braiding your hair so it was out of your face. Daniel had been on his way to his media duties when he noticed that you were constantly blowing bits of hair out of your face. Charles had just finished his own duties when he saw Daniel finish off the braid and tie it with the hair lucky he always kept on his wrist. When Charles had started to approach you both, he saw Daniel give you a quick kiss to the cheek before going to do his duties. 

You looked up from the email you were reading on your phone and looked at him, thinking about when exactly he had started braiding your hair for you. 

“I believe he learnt how just before exams got really tough in high school. So probably since we were around 16? Maybe 17?” You scratched the back of your neck as you spoke. “How come?”

“Just seemed very domestic. Like he’d been doing it all his life.” Charles shrugged. He was trying his best to be nonchalant about the new bit of evidence he could add to why you were already dating. 

You had laughed and thrown your head back. You made some offhand comment about how true it was because you and Daniel were getting so old before you each said goodbye and went your separate ways.

-~-

-~-

Daniel would never admit to anyone but himself that he loved you in more ways than you probably thought he did. He had admitted it to himself when you were both fresh out of high school. But he wasn’t sure if you also thought in the same way about him. So he acknowledged his own feelings but promised that he would never act on them unless he got cold hard confirmation from you. 

However his resolve was wearing thinner and thinner the longer he spent time alone with you. 

It was a calm night. One that had you and Daniel on the couch bundled up in a mountain of blankets and a plethora of snacks and cool drink in front of you. You loved the nights you spent with Daniel. 

The credits rolled for the movie you had just finished watching. You had fallen asleep just as the movie had ended so Daniel wasn’t worried about you complaining about missing the end of it like you usually did. He gently removed himself from the mound of blankets and set about tidying up  the mess around you before carefully lifting you and placing you on the bed in his guest room. 

Making sure that you were comfortable, he paused in the doorway. He loved how calm and secure you looked. Like there was nothing in the world that could possibly make you feel uneasy. 

These were the moments that he whispered to the world just how much he loved you. Hoping that one day, he wouldn’t have to whisper and that instead he could yell it from the top of his lungs. 

-~-

You took a bit longer to realise that Daniel was the one for you. You had already come to terms that wherever you ended up in life, Daniel would be right next to you throughout it all. You had known that ever since you were little. 

It took you until your mutual friend Jules, had spoken to you about Daniel. 

“So when will you tell him?” 

You were confused. Who was Jules talking about? And what were you supposed to tell him? “Who?” 

“Daniel.” was the only answer she got from the Frenchman. This made you more confused. 

“What do I need to tell Dan? I’ve already told him everything important.” 

He had the gall to laugh at you. “When are you going to tell him that you love him? It is obvious he loves you.” 

Everything he said added more and more to your confusion. What did he mean you needed to tell Daniel that you loved him? You always told him that. You and Daniel had been telling each other ‘I love you’ since you were little children. It was just something the two of you did as best friends. 

Taking pity on you and how clueless you seemed to be, Jules told you all about how he had noticed that you and Daniel did things to and for each other that people don’t ever do for someone that you claimed as your ‘best friend’. 

How a best friend wouldn’t be constantly worried about you catching a cold when it was barely sprinkling with rain. How a best friend would not let you cut his hair and tell people it’s because he trusts you the most. Jules told you that a best friend wouldn’t normally plan a fancy, private, and most importantly, romantic dinner for your birthday. 

And then he told you about things that a lover would do for their special person. How a lover would hoist you over his shoulder and walk around for everyone to see how in love he was with you. A lover would give him a hug from behind, your arms over his shoulders, whispering reassurances and comforts in his ear while giving him the occasional kiss to the temple. 

A lover would do anything and everything that you and Daniel did for each other. 

Hearing it from an outside party made you realise that you had been in love with Daniel for years. Thinking back on it, you had begun to fall in love with him when his career had started taking off. Of course you loved him before that, ever since you had met him, but that was when you found yourself in love with him. 

Jules could see the realisation dawning on your face. He smiled and patted your back, wishing you luck before walking off to find his family. 

-~-

You, Daniel and almost all of the other drivers were sitting around the backyard of Daniel’s Monaco home, playing around and watching the sunset. 

It had been years since you had that fateful chat with Jules. Everytime you thought of it, you had an indescribable urge to just lay everything out for Daniel to see. Looking over at where Daniel was, you saw him laughing at something. Lando had probably spit out his drink again. He never learnt that he could stand the taste of a mojito. 

You felt the wind breeze through your hair. You could just tell that it was Jules trying to encourage you. You closed your eyes and let out a deep breath. Giving yourself a quick pep talk, you got up and walked towards Daniel. 

“Could I quickly steal away from you guys? Won’t take long I promise.” You said once you got there. Receiving the OK from the others, you guided Daniel to a more secluded part of his backyard. There was an area that was sectioned off by some bushes he’d had planted when you told him years ago that you always liked the idea of a secret garden. 

“You okay, Darl?” he asked. His voice was gentle as he tried to figure out how to approach the situation. 

“Yes. Everything is great, I just need to tell you something away from all the others.” You had stopped in the middle of the little garden, facing him. You took his hands in yours. 

“What’s up? You’ve got me nervous.” He chuckled a little to ease the pit in his stomach. 

“Babes, we’ve known each other for so long now. It’s been so long that I literally can’t imagine my life without you in it. And I should have told you this years ago, but I guess nerves got the better of me.” You paused and took a deep breath. “Years ago, I promised Jules that I would tell you this. Not because I told him first either, because the bastard was too smart for his own good, he found out before I did.” 

Daniel’s face twitched the slightest bit at the mention of your late friend. Jules had meant the world to you both and you were heartbroken when you were told he had died. Daniel squeezed your connected hands in reassurance. 

“I’m in love with you Daniel. I think I always have been, but was just too oblivious to notice. I feel so safe when I’m around you and you are unbelievably understanding of everything I’ve ever gone through. I can only hope that I’ve managed to give you the same amount of safety and understanding that you’ve given to me. 

“I know that what I’m saying is probably going to throw you for a loop but I promised Jules that I would tell you and so this is me, keeping the last promise I ever made to him.” 

You were glad that that was the end of your big speech that you had come up with on the fly because no sooner had you stopped talking, Daniel had removed his hands from yours and cradled your head before leaning in to kiss you. 

You were slightly breathless when you parted, Daniel’s forehead leaning against yours. 

“I’ve been in love with you since we left school, Darl. It would make me the happiest I’ve ever been if you would let me call you my girlfriend.” This time you kissed him. 

-~-

Instead of rejoining the others, you and Daniel made your way to his garage and got in one of his many beautiful cars. You both had one destination in mind that would seal this new development in concrete. 

Monaco Cemetery. 

The moon was high in the night sky when you arrived at the cemetery. You both got out of the car and quietly made your way to the headstone that marked the burial place of Jules Bianchi. 

You moved to sit beside the grave, but Daniel had stopped you before you could sit. You were confused until he took off his jacket and laid it on the ground where you were standing. 

“Thank you, Dan.” You whispered. 

“Don’t wanna ruin your pretty dress, Darl.” 

You both sat in front of Jules grave in silence. Neither one of you wanting to break the peace. Eventually it was you who spoke in a soft whisper. 

“I did it, Jules. I told him. Just like I said I would.” You leaned your head on Daniel’s shoulder and he moved his arm to pull you closer to him. 

“He always knew it would happen, didn’t he?” Daniel whispered. 

“Jules was always smarter than we were, let’s be honest.”

The wind blew past them. If you asked them years later, when they recalled the night, they would tell you they heard him. Heard Jules laughing at them. 

“We should get back.”

“Yeah."

-~-

-~-

Liked by youruser, landonorris and 381,674 others

danielricciardo Good things come to those who wait <3

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[bonefall]

so are wild boar still considered “extinct” locally by the humans? given that wild boar in england are currently considered extinct, even though there are pockets of population

(context: i was looking up animals that england has driven to extinction with my partner last night because we were both feeling Some Kind Of Way about species conservation, and how england is basically the worst monster historically in terms of driving entire species to extinction, and continues to be hugely negligible. then i remembered boars in better bones i was like “aren’t there boars?” and then saw that they were also considered extinct, which surprised me)

Yeah England is a fucking monster in terms of bad conservation, and its colonial influence in how OTHER places view conservation can't be understated. But anyway I'll save that for another time

(But like it fucks me up that you guys only have one protected river in the whole UK and it's mostly in Wales. What the fuck. It's been 30 years and they're just now thinking about adding another. Brits in the audience who can i kill for you? If we throw someone in the thames maybe they'll dissolve)

Here's the thing I have in mind; England is so fucked that people don't even know how fucked it is. Do you know how important hogs are to a mixed-oak woodland? What types of moors need burning, grazing, or being left alone? That the entire island of Great Britan is supposed to have a thriving freshwater pearl mussel population? That England isn't supposed to have pine forests?

There is so so so much here to cover and talk about, AND I'm telling this story from the perspective of cats! They have to have encountered the things to know about them, even if it was culturally!

And what that means is that I am willing to bend a couple of things SO that I can include them as part of the story! Things that SHOULD be here, that should be or ARE being reintroduced, especially when they're lesser known.

(In fact I think your boar thing is a perfect example. You're telling me the story I want to hear-- that you heard something offhand, went "woah arent those in this work I'm a fan of?" And then you learned more. Goal accomplished!)

In my head I file boars and mussels under the "Eagle Exception." Something that, with a bit of alt history, could be seen in this environment.

It's based off the canon eagles (which ironically I'm massively downplaying in my rework of the BB!Tribe). The golden eagle has been extinct in England for a very long time, but it's right there in canon, so logically there could be similar animals or reintroduction projects.

List so far;

(Also BB!Great Britan is called Albion to mark that it's a little different.)

Freshwater Pearl Mussels (extinct in White Hart, populated in Sanctuary Lake)

Boars (rare in White Hart, populated in Sanctuary Lake. Replacing the majority of deadly badger and fox encounters because badgers arent bears and foxes arent coyotes, Erin :/)

Golden Eagle (exclusive to Tribe mountain)

Beavers (Being actively reintroduced to parts of Albion in the 2010s)

Wolves (extinct)

Lynxes (suspected extinct; there may be some around specifically because I want to make an example of how non-domestic cats in this universe are non-sapient.)

Salmon (uncommon in White Hart, populated in Sanctuary Lake)

Atlantic Sturgeon (exclusive to Sanctuary Lake, rare even there)

Medicinal Leech (dying population in White Hart since Chelford expansion, extinct in Sanctuary Lake)

Additionally I'm keeping my eye on the European Buffalo (wiseant) reintroduction, but that's not in my modeled region and I don't want to jump the gun on it. Last I checked the project JUST managed to get its bull this year after a long 2020-induced delay

[rongzhi]

Could you explain the (Royal) I? I haven’t really learned/encountered a language yet with different forms of the same pronoun. I heard a little of it with the Sans is a bumpkin scandal(?) when undertale was translated for the switch but I was curious if you could explain at least for the Chinese side of the pronoun stuff.

If you don’t have the energy or my ask was unclear, then have a great day anyway and feel free to delete this ask.

Idk about the Undertale thing, but I can talk briefly about a few royal "I"s (there are much more royal/noble honorfics from olden times but I'm not gonna go that deep).

I'm kind of inconsistent about pointing out when there are other pronouns being used as I/you/he/she/they/etc in my translations, but I know I definitely will just sub in pronouns based on context either if there's not one there (you can usually exclude relative pronouns in Chinese so sometimes there's a bit of ambiguity and translators just have to make a decision based on context) or if there's a noun being used as a pronoun type situation (which would be clunky to translate and would generally put the sentence into third person if translated directly).

People now don't use the royal pronouns except as a joke obviously. Wang Qiye, who I've translated a lot, often uses 本王 for "I", for example.

ANYWAY, the "(Royal) I" that probably showed up in one of my translations may have been:

朕; zhèn — imperial/royal "I"; quite literally the royal "we". Historically, this was for the emperor's use only, and began being used in this way with Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin State (i.e, unified/imperial China). The empress dowager (the emperor's mother or widow) could also use this (I think). Before that, it was one of the several ways to say "I" (in modern day, it's mostly just 我/wǒ).

本王; běn wáng — royal "I" typically used by princes and dukes, etc. Princesses would also use this historically. A king or queen pre-imperial times would have used this too, as 王 means "monarch". When Wang Qiye uses it, she's basically saying "I, the queen".

Side note: "本" means "inherent" so it's basically like "___ themself" or "I, ____". I add this because you might hear people say "本 [noun/identity]" as a joke, sort of to the effect of putting on airs.

寡人; guǎ rén — royal "I" that was used basically from the very beginning, since before imperial times. This would be used by princes and nobility, too. I don't remember this one ever being used in a douyin I've translated but maybe it has idk. The more you know.

[magnetothemagnificent]

Ok a bit of an oddball question for you. Feel free to ignore this it’s pretty asinine outside of creative discussion.

Would Jewish Vampires have any wards like Christo vampires do?

For context my partner is in the very beginning steps of his conversion and so Judaism is on his mind a lot. I have just a goofy little story that I’m never going to do anything with about a hive of five vampires in which I introduce the concept of “Old World” Vampires. Which is essentially the idea that vampires that predate Christianity would have no reason to be affected by any of the traditional Christian wards you’d see in media such as crosses and holy water.

We were talking and he mentioned that one tumblr post where someone asked their rabbi how a Jewish vampire could keep Kosher and that it would be interesting if vampires from different religions would be effected negatively by symbols from their own religion. So a Jewish vampire unable to walk into a household with a Mezuzah.

I debated that the idea of vampires being punished by religious symbols in the first place is very based in soley Christianity and the idea that even Athiests do actually know deep down that Christianity is the one truth and therefore are applicable to Gods punishment. So that’s why vampires are affected by religious symbols because it’s from the point of view that nonbelievers are secretly hateful theists. Therefore it wouldn’t make sense for a Jewish vampire who was raised to not fear ultimate judgement and sin in their religion not to have any negative reaction to the symbols of such.

What are your thought’s?

(Also just wanted to put that as a Goy with no desire to convert currently, I don’t think I’d ever be comfortable writing a Jewish Vampire due to how based in antisemitism the original concept of Vampires themselves are. But I thought it would be an interesting theological discussion and my partner has me curious.

I think it's important to understand that the cultural idea of vampires being repelled by Christian paraphernalia is directly due to antisemitism and antiziganism. Vampires in European were often metaphors for Jews and Romani people, two groups of people who were associated with non-Christian culture and everything anti-Christian, and outsiders who blended in with "normal" society. So you have to understand that the only reason vampires in pop-culture are repelled by Christian objects is because vampires were the personification of Jews and Romani people, who were seen as the cultural anti-Christ.

Now that we've unpacked that, let's discuss what vampires are in Jewish folklore and what they're repelled by.

Vampires in Jewish mythology and folklore become vampires not by being bitten by another vampire, but from regular humans just happening to become vampires by being possessed by a malevolent spirit. Humans succeptible to becoming vampires after death had extra measures taken as burial, such as stuffing the mouth with dirt. There are also many different kinds of vampires in Jewish folklore.

The way vampires are repelled in Jewish folklore is similar to how demons are repelled- since pregnant people are most susceptible to being targetted by vampires, amulets were often worn by pregnant people to protect against all kinds of malevolent forces. Once a vampire was encountered, it could be killed just like a human- stabbed or decapitated, and humans suspected of being vampires were buried with dirt in their mouth. Vampires in Judaism aren't areligious, regular people could be vampires and partake in Jewish life, so religious iconography wouldn't really repell vampires.

Demons, however, could be repelled by children learning Torah, but vampires are just....scary creatures that prey on vulnerable people. Nothing about them is anti-Jewish, so Jewish symbols wouldn't repell them.

I think you have to understand that your perception of vampires and how they're repelled is deeply influenced by Christian European ideas about vampires. Many cultures around the world have ideas similar to vampires, like Judaism, but they're not exactly the same. So the idea that religious iconography repells vampires is rooted in Christianity, and thus doesn't apply to vampires in Judaism.

I think in order to understand how vampires "work" in Judaism and Jewish folklore, you need to stop thinking about vampires in the context of Christian European vampires.

[vraieame]

Astrology Observations (Mutable Rising Sign Edition)

Below are my observations based on personal encounters with people who are a/an xyz rising.

1. For those who have Gemini as their rising sign. I could definitely say that none of them are not fast learners. Somehow they always know what’s up about an information (not necessarily everything) but they just know some things and it just fascinates me that even the things they aren’t aware about, they still have something to say. One thing I adore about them is that they’re very aware of where they should stand and that’s why most of the time, I find them constantly passionate about one thing and before you know it that one little thing we thought of in the beginning could be something so big in the end, we just didn’t know it yet but gemini risings did. they’re just ahead of us in terms of information we don’t really see coming or something like that. I think that’s why people think of them more as calculative than strategic but either way, they’re really smart. On top of that, most of the gemini risings I know are surprisingly private. Despite them being out and about, they mostly protect themselves from the public because they know how things escalate from 0 to 100 so that’s why they have a certain circle around them to feel vulnerable or secure.

2. I only know one Virgo rising in my life and they have been my personal favorite. From the get go, I knew we’d be able to click. We are not close or less than what best friends are but somehow where we are in between is perfect. We are just so chill and it’s mostly because of how that friend tries to make the environment around her grounded and principled. Though it can be quite intimidating or uncomfortable for some but it’s honestly cool. The stereotype about them being clean freaks or having ocds is debatable because I think most of them are just misunderstood. There certainly are things we have to organize—whether that could mean inside our outside. For this friend, when things inside her head are messy, she tries to get a hold of it by noticing her environment and taking control of it through cleaning. That way, it helps her not collapse the world inside her head. I think this behavior is pretty relatable to some even if they’re not virgo risings but that’s just basically how I relate her to the stereotype but with a bit of context. On top of that, she’s really great at giving advice. She’s someone you’d want to approach when you want a logical or practical answer but do prepare yourself for some critical response as she can get really personal given that she’s observant. But that’s why I love her lol.

3. There’s only one Sagittarius rising I know in my life who’s now I have not talked to in quite a long time. But anyway, when I first saw them my impression was quite comparable to when I got to know them. They’re honest, bubbly, and adventurous. They’re also an ambivert. Before we became friends, they were an open book but be wary that they can be playful about some things. They say the most unbelievable stories yet get people to still listen to them lol. I think it’s because their fun and bubbly side just takes over how they interact to others. If you want them to be serious, they can be but it would be 10x better. And what I mean by that is they’ll be brutal with you, whether or not, you are close to them. Their transparency needs some work though because not all of the time their true intentions successfully gets across so they can sometimes have people bad-mouthing them. Despite that, they just continue their day like they just didn’t offend someone haha. Either they’re really just real people or tone deaf, but they can be both. I’m not generalizing this for anyone who has this as their rising. This is purely based on my personal experience.

4. Lastly, Pisces risings. There are in total of 3 pisces ascendants I know in my life but aren’t that much close with so most of the things that I will say can be offensive and may prompt people to think I’m assuming that every pisces are like this but let me just remind everyone again that these are my personal observations; they’re written based on my perspectives. Anyway, this person 1 stood out most to me in life because we had this silent bad blood against one another and for some reason, they did not like me. When I first saw them, they looked very approachable and gentle but days has passed, their attitude and behavior came through far differently from what I had expected. But when we interact, they somehow show a two faced personality and it was odd because I seriously did not even do anything to provoke them. About their appearance, this person had a curly hair and sparkling eyes. They were conventionally attractive. And for Person 2, they were the same but without the bad blood thing. They were surprisingly another person when I got to know them more. They were quirky but can be really deep at the same time. They always seem to look tired too even if they got an enough amount of sleep. In terms of their beauty, their eyes were mostly mesmerizing and their hair looked as if it’s just meant to slay whatever they do. For Person 3, I got close to this person but we aren’t talking anymore because we lost contact. Anyway about them, they were very chill and friendly. They’ll always have your back but do be careful of breaking their promises because they’ll stab you back harder. It’s like when you go low, they go lower—simply because they can. They had a lot of people either wanting them or disliking them. Either way, they’re just surrounded by a bunch of people they don’t even like lol but they few best friends who they consider genuine and when they really like you as a friend, they’ll start caring for you whether it would be through her own love language or yours, just so you’d feel loved in general.

[box-architecture]

CKAU: Part One of ???

I often find myself struggling to write the first chapter of the Communication Knife AU.

When I first started writing awesamdream, it was me spitballing ideas in the dreblr minecraft server when it first opened, and trying to have fun with a ship that, at the time, wasn't considered A Big Thing, or was purely for whump purposes. And while writing for an AU, Sif was also there, poking and tormenting lovingly as a Sif does, and mentioned the concept of Auspisticism, a homestuck relationship, in regards to Dream, Sam, and Punz. And then one thing led to another, and now I have this big thing that makes me happy and had grown a lot bigger than I expected it to, and there's so many little drabbles and snippets and smut pieces that came out of it, that by the time new people started asking what the hell I was talking about, I realized that the context wasn't properly put together and hard to explain.

So I tried to put together a whole fic for it! And it hasn't been going well.

Because I really want to do the fic justice. I want to make it sound really lovely and use all the right words and explain very well all the things that made me insane so you can understand just the way it went when all this started! But in trying to do that, it's become so hard to write. I feel stuck, the words won't come, I overthink and overedit, and nothing is good enough.

But I still really, really do want to explain the AU so you can understand. And i know it won't be the perfect, well designed thing I built in my head, with all the write prose and all the little extra fancy things, but I'd rather you have it imperfectly than not at all.

Here you go, part one of ???:

(Sam: he/him

Dream: he/him

Punz: they/he

just to make sure.)

When things get bad for Dream in prison, he offers Sam sexual favors in return for better treatment, food/blankets/etc., and Sam agrees to this, regardless of the terrible ethics involved. Its not a great situation, for like, Obvious Reasons, and the consent is very much dubious here. Sam's possessive behavior is at its peak, and even if there ends up being less torture as part of the deal, it doesn't change that things are still fucked up.

When Dream escapes prison and finds Sam during Daedalus Arc, after scarring Sam, Dream offers to meet up to have sex again next week, out of a need to feel in control, to prove how he was Totally Not Traumatized he was and how he was absolutely fully capable of consenting to it, and the two continue their sexual activities.

However, Punz, who has been in a comfortably open relationship with Dream since before prison, bristles at the idea of Sam taking advantage of Dream, of the severe power imbalance still being a problem, and comes with him to these sexual encounters to protect him and keep Sam from pushing Dream's boundaries. They set up some rules, and if Sam breaks any or steps out of line, Punz will stab him with a special, gaudy blue knife that has 'Communication' engraved in its handle.

--

"He tortured you!"

"Technically it was Quackity who did the torturing." Dream corrected him, meticulously sorting his inventory. Their base felt suffocating, tiny, and he wanted to be done and gone already, but Punz seemed ready to fight him the whole way.

"Don't give me that shit," Punz snapped. "Sam let him in, he starved you half to death, for God's sake, Dream, he r-"

"It was not." At breakneck speed, Dream turned on his heel and hissed. "I said yes. Don't you dare say I didn't."

"You weren't in a position to say no." Punz said fiercely. Something dark and angry crushed their heart in its fist. "You didn't have any choice-"

"I had a choice!"

The world seemed to stop moving, the air stale. Dreams breaths were shaky, heaving, and Punz realized with a lump in their throat that Dream was trembling from stress.

"I had a choice." Dream repeated. "And it was mine. Not his, not anyone's. I'm going to see him again, and that's my choice too. Not yours."

They could stop him, a little voice in the back of their head murmured. They could stop him and- and keep him safe. Prevent anyone else from hurting him again. They could say the right words that would cause him to falter ("for me." Punz had once pleaded, and Dream bent, as he always did) and then Sam would never touch him. They could even kill the creeper hybrid, to be sure. They would destroy the entire server with the Plan, and Dream would finally be safe.

But.

Dream needed this. Whatever he said, whatever he thought, he'd been denied agency for so long. The thought of them being the one to take it away, his friend, when they were supposed to be the one person on the server who he could trust… it made them feel sick.

Dreams trembling faded, and he straightened up, before he throwing his cloak over his shoulder.

Punz made his decision. "I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"I'm your backup, and your mercenary, and your partner. If Sam has a problem with it, just say you rehired me."

--

At the very beginning, the rules are this:

No Kissing. Punz doesn't think Sam deserves kisses, and they're vicious about enforcing this. Kisses are for Punz alone, and Sam is incredibly jealous.

No marks. Sam has tried to leave hickies or bruises, but it was quickly shut down. When he argued this, Punz told him that he could leave marks when all the marks (torture scars) he already made on Dream were gone.

No cuddling or aftercare. Since Sam insisted that the sex didn't mean anything, clearly that means he doesn't need to be involved in taking care of Dream after. Punz will take him away and they can be the one to hold Dream. (Not that Sam longed for that. He doesn't feel more desperate each time the two leave him behind. Of course not.)

The most obvious one: what Dream says goes. Sam isn't allowed to Override Dream and insist his way is better, and he isn't allowed to take whatever he wants without asking. If Dream needs a moment, or would like to change positions, or even just say he'd rather not, Sam must listen. Punz will make him listen.

And so every week all three of them get together, usually at the prison, and have sex. Its a very complicated, unhealthy dynamic, for a lot of different reasons.

Punz, usually able to gauge what Dream wants/what would make him comfortable, is left blind, because Dream is always a little uncomfortable here, always stressed, and Punz can't fix that. They're trying their best, and they know that Dream could shut down and be unable to express himself if the wrong button is pushed, but in the beginning its a mess. At some point he micromanages where Sam puts his hands, pushing and arguing with him over whose allowed to say where Sam can and can't touch, and neither of the two argue that it should be Dream.

It doesn't help that Punz is jealous. They don't want to be, especially not in this situation. But Sam's possessiveness of Dream, the way he taunts about knowing Dream in ways nobody else possibly could- it sets off that part of Punz that has always been so self-satisfied with his place as Dream's most intimate companion, the other half of his soul.

(Its the server's second stupidest dick measuring contest where they accidentally objectify Dream in the process, while they also compete to see who Dream likes more.)

Sam, on the other hand, is constantly having to reckon with the fact that he wasn't actually as good as he thought he was. Punz doesn't let him get away with spewing the same lines of crap and insisting he's always right. Sam also considered himself A Good Lover and good at getting Dream off (the only one who knows him, who knows him Best), and his ego takes a fucking hit when Punz corrects him. When Punz points out that certain things were actually harmful/not enjoyable, its hard for Sam to accept because it means he fucked up and made assumptions in his head and Punz rubs each of those in.

Sam tries to defend himself by pointing out that Dream went along with it, and which leads to Punz pointing out that he didn't have much of a choice/wasn't in a good situation to make that choice at the time, and that's the one time it nearly comes to blows between them before Dream speaks up to tell them both to knock it off.

(Sam discovers One (1) kink that Punz doesn't know about and he's so fucking smug about it despite fucking up literally everything else.)

(No matter how many wins Sam thinks he gets during their weekly time together, Punz still gets to take Dream home, do aftercare and keep him safe. Sam hates how much he wants that too, despite the fact that according to his own weird moral code he shouldn't.)

And as much as this is most definitely causing more issues, it does leave Dream actually feeling more in control of his situation.

He gets so much praise now! This is basically therapy but better! He even gets aftercare with no torture. He's getting good dick and most of his kinks are getting hit, truly luxurious for a cDream. He's a lot more confident and content, and he isn't constantly on the defensive, because if Punz says he didn't deserve what happened to him, even if its just a single person, Dream doesn't have to fight to prove that he's a person deserving of basic human decency.

But the Most Important Thing That Makes All This Take The Turn It Does: At first, Sam thinks that the proper solution to all of this is to get Dream all to himself again in his prison where he belongs and not fixing his behavior any more than what he needs specifically to get there.

However, during an very short period of time where Sam is able to be with Dream without Punz there to scrutinize, Sam attempts to do stuff like how he used to before Punz, to prove he doesn't need him, that they don't need him.

But now he knows, he knows that Dream isn't actually into a lot of the things he was trying, or at the very least he likes other things more. He had it proved to him, and he's aware that things can be a lot better. Dream's clearly nervous, anxious, and not super into this, and Sam can tell, and now all he can see are all those little signs that he's fucking up, and it's getting into his head.

In the end, he can't even get himself to go through with it, because now it feels wrong and he can't ignore that. He makes an excuse, and he's frustrated and aggressive, but he doesn't try this again without Punz there.

Mentally he can justify it as Punz would kill him if he did. This is just a matter of self-preservation.

But quietly his plans adjust to not just needing to get Dream under his control. He'll need to get Punz too in order for things to be perfect.

[saras-devotionals]

Quiet Time 2/24

what am I feeling today?

Idk why but I’m just super tired and I can’t think of a real reason why I should be. I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me and a busy day and I think I just wanted a little more time to rest.

Campus Devo Notes

(at this devo we talked about the Pentecostal church/belief and all those who have emotional based experiences with God or base their belief on how they feel. These are just some scriptures and notes to offer insight)

how do you know a spiritual encounter is real?

If God/His word is behind the experience

Romans 10:1-4 NIV

“Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

About the church, the Pentecostal church is relatively new having been founded in 1901. They also have no hierarchy/structure (it’s not so how the people see fit in terms of operating and not all Pentecostal churches are the same)

What do they do right? Zeal/excitement/passion for God! + dedication to prayer

However, looking at this passage here we can see that even though they are zealous (which is a good thing) it is not based on knowledge and so they establish their own "righteousness" instead of submitting to God’s (Bible and what it says)

Acts 2:1-4 NIV

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

This passage is taken out of context (and it only happened twice in the Bible) -> there’s no way for this to be recreated in the modern age.

glossolalia -> speaking in tongues (not biblical) - will be covered by a later passage

baptizo - the original Greek meaning to be fully immersed (with the assumption that it’s in water)

everyone in the Bible who got baptized were done with water and were immersed. What baptism represents and why it needs to be immersion is covered by the following passage:

Romans 6:1-4 NIV

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

This shows that baptism is the participation in the death, burial, and resurrection, and for that action to be possible, immersion needed to participate. Here’s a visual example:

Acts 2:36-38 NIV

‭‭ ““Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭Example of how upon receiving the good news, people should repent and be baptized and then they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 14:6-12 NIV

“Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.”

This is the passage that covers speaking in tongues. This is Paul writing to the church in Corinth. He says what is it to speak in tongues? “Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. ” What people say must have meaning, it can’t just be random sounds or whatever covers out of your mouth.

Matthew 12:38-39 NIV

“Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

‭‭From my understanding, people of the Pentecostal background/those that practice their faith emotionally tend to have an execessive need for signs from the Holy Spirit but this can be seen as faithless. We’re not supposed to need signs, even Jesus states that a wicked and adulterous generation asks for signs? we should have firm faith without signs.

1 Corinthians 2:29-31, 13:8-13 NIV

“Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.”

‭‭ “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Paul mentions greater gifts in 12 and it’s answered in 13 which are faith, hope, and love with love being the greatest

Luke 3: 21-22 NIV

“When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.””

we get to see all three aspects of trinity here -Father, Son, Holy Spirit

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NIV

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

One more point to make, Satan can perform countefit "mirades". Let us focus on the details and investigate what we see. Decipher whether or not it is truly from God or a trick of the enemy.

Practicals/Instruction:

1) we have to teach everyone to respect God's word

Galatians 1:6-10 NIV: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

some are ‭‭preaching things other than God's word, but we have to respect it. Why would you change His word?! How can we or anyone else on this earth have a better idea of what’s right than abiding to what God has already said and made clear.

2) context brings clarity!

One of the most popular verses is John 3:16 -> “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

‭‭but context is important! Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and beforehand he’s talking about baptism and afterwards also says that we must “live by the truth” which shows that faith alone is not what saves us as it could be interpreted if you just read the single verse instead of the whole chapter.

3) experience does not mean salvation

Matthew 17:21-23 -> ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

‭‭we don’t want to be in this category, we don’t want to be people who say “Lord” but Jesus does not know us. Furthermore, the point trying to be made by this is just because you had an experience with God, does not mean you were saved. Think about instances in the Bible, the easiest being Judas. He walked with Jesus, he had spiritual gifts, but he was not saved.

Last point to make, let us be more stubborn about the truth (which is the word of God)

[hyperbolicreverie]

Some musings below the cut on the central conceit of how the plot in One Piece Odyssey works and the one blatant (grumpy and dramatic) exception to how that conceit works:

So the central conceit of Odyssey is that at the beginning of the game the Straw Hats have their abilities and strength removed via an NPC's (Lim) mysterious ability, and they have to go back into their memories to regain those abilities, by more or less doing the same things they did before, i.e. defeating the arc big bad. However, the game notes two important things about how this works:

These worlds they are going to are entirely based on their memories. Lim can't just reach in and fix the problem because they aren't hers. And because they're memories, and time has passed, they're not going to remember things perfectly, so events will be slightly changed. (Luffy's bad memory gets blamed for a lot of shenanigans).

The people in the memories are not real, and will see you as you were when the real events occurred. Basically, they're simulacrum.

We go through almost the entire game encountering familiar friends and enemies--and god, if you want a good cry, go look up Luffy's extremely subtle, heartbreaking reaction to seeing Ace in Alabasta--and no one ever questions the irregularities of what's going on. The Straw Hats, as one might expect, are not subtle talking about the fact that they're reliving their own memories with a slightly different coat of paint. But here's the thing: no one really calls them on it.

Vivi is a little confused, especially about where Lim came from, but she doesn't say anything. Kuzan wonders a little about things when they run into him in Water 7. And Kizaru comments on how fast they seem to have gotten back together at Marineford, considering he was pretty sure they were all separated at Sabaody.

But then we get to Dressrosa. And for a bit, it seems like the same sort of thing. Rebecca and Sabo don't really comment on anything, and it seems like business as usual.

And then Law falls from the sky, immediately starts trauma dumping about his reasons for being there, and passes the fuck out, and has to be carted around while Chopper yells at Luffy to leave him alone.

But here's the thing: Law, as far as we know, never elaborates on his reasons beyond "hey, Doflamingo's brother saved my life, and then Doflamingo killed him" in canon. And that's enough for Luffy, so he doesn't have to. But he's way more explicit in the game, about something he never told anyone, which means they shouldn't be able to remember it.

He also is immediately suspicious of Lim. He pulls a "what's with this sassy lost child" on her as soon as he's conscious, and she gets very defensive.

This Law is a memory. He's not real. Which means the Straw Hats collectively remember him (rightly) as a paranoid bastard with all of the Trauma Warning Lights flashing neon. And they remember he's smart enough to put context clues together.

And then he effectively just breaks the rules.

The memory Law has of Rosinante is so damn strong that Lim's memory magic goes haywire and effectively summons him from nowhere to fight Doflamingo. Lim explicitly comments that she's not doing this, he is, and that's insane. This isn't the real Law. This is a memory. And the memory of this memory is so strong it's able to summon a completely new memory that none of the Straw Hats have. They don't know who Rosinante is. They've never seen him before.

What do the Straw Hats think of Law to give his echo this much power? How much of an impression has he made on them in such a relatively short period of time? (This would also be nebulously chronologically pre-Wano, so nothing that happens there applies. Robin hasn't talked to him yet, even).

I dunno, I realize that this moment was probably more or less included as fanservice, but it opens up a lot of questions. Trafalgar "fuck your rules" Law, everybody.

(Also don't think too hard about how memory!Law got to thank Rosinante and that real!Law will never get that same moment of closure. Think instead about the genuinely astonished look on Doflamingo's face when his dead brother showed up. Or Lim calling Law out on the fact that regardless, Law will help Luffy again and watching him get all defensive about it, the grump).

[meanbossart]

Hi, just a warning for the following unhinged question. (I'm getting baby rabies.) I love seeing Dadstarion and Famstarionnstuff all over tumblr- AND of course that lil thing you drew with Drow and Astarion and fucking little Bhaalings into his belly sparked the question-

DOES DROW WANT KIDS SOMEDAY? UNCONSCIOUSLY? SUBCONSCIOUSLY? Like with the whole Sarevok, epilogue reveal, is it spoilers to ask how your Drow would deal with the new sudden urge to procreate? (Sorry if this is actually a spoiler for ANE future chapters) BUT If so, how does it manifest? Does he start nesting? Hoarding even more shiny crap and dirty rags than usual? Does he start adopting every mangy orphaned cub they come across? Does his dirty talk in bed just get progressively more and more disturbing and natally oriented that even he starts thinking "wtf" post encounter? Does he ever think about putting a round bundle under his shirt and pretending it's his and Astarions dhamphir love-child?

Also IF yes to any of the above, What would Astarion's reaction be?

TYVM

Unhinged fan of yours

First of all I love unhinged questions. Those are my favorite questions. This is an unhinged couple and It's what they deserve, so thank you for this LOL

This topic, at least in this context, never comes up in ANE so I think i can answer it without anything being considered a spoiler.

"Currently" I definitely don't think either of them consider the idea of children in the slightest, while both probably get on with kids relatively well, in their own weird ways (kids love weird people) they're strongly in the "don't want kids and never will" frame of mind despite any joking and uh thematic dirty talking.

THAT BEING SAID, they are both bound to exist for a long time. Depending on how things turn out for him, Astarion's lifespan is either a good 700 years or a big Ol Forever. Drows also live for up to seven centuries and I don't even know whether or not DU Drow's particular kind of Bhaalspawn-ness doesn't affect that, as you could argue he's some type of demigod. The idea that they may change their mind at some point is not out of the question.

In regards to DU drow getting a baby fever in the future, I do think it will be something they have to deal with. Obviously, him and Astarion can't procreate as they are, and even if magical options exist DU drow is still aware that it would be a bad idea to follow through with it. I have honestly no clue how a desire like that would externalize, but - and I hate to be a downer but I assume you want my sincere answer here - based on Sarevok's letter I don't actually think it would be as fun as the bedroom talk or the cracks he makes - it sounds like it would be a spiraling depression and state of unfulfillment that they would simply have to learn to cope with if he is to remain childless, peppered with a profound yearning for a More he can't quite pin down. Luckily I think Astarion's character has demonstrated time and time again that he has the ability to be extremely sensible towards that type of thing, and he would be pretty much the ideal partner in those circumstances (especially if we're talking an older, more mature Astarion). An adoptive child could sate that, or it could not, I have no idea, but I don't think he would ever just say "yeah fuck it lets have/get a kid" in response to it.

Either way, as I mentioned above I believe it's not out of the question (if not inevitable?) that they could come to become someone's guardians someday regardless, especially if they ever become more firmly settled in life and the people they are. I doubt it's something they will ever actively seek out (I don't really see them ever completely retiring from a dangerous lifestyle of their own will) but maybe they stumble upon an orphan or, more likely, kill some kid's actual parents and out of guilt keep it for long enough to develop a bond. Lets say this happens out on the road - maybe they want to at least drop it off at a city somewhere where the thing would have a better chance, but ultimately decide against it for whatever reason... Yeah I could see something like that happening lol It's a cute thought, and funny enough I don't think they would make the Worst parents, assuming their character developments continues in a generally positive direction.

[binarystargames]

Removing/Reducing Dice in ANOINTED, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Token

I had been thinking about the topic of randomness when writing entries for Regions for ANOINTED23, but Spencer Campbell (GilaRPGs, creator of LUMEN/RUNE/etc) wrote two blog posts (with a third on the way) that got me thinking about it. Specifically, I'm wondering if I could/should just remove dice almost entirely from ANOINTED, my GMless or GM'd/group or solo soulslike game in development.

The current situation

In the interest of not assuming people have any idea what I'm talking about (and also to have it in one handy place for later) I'm going to list out the random/non-random parts of the game.

Random

Determining memories from a table in chargen and play (though this one's optional, you're allowed to just pick one or make something up, will ignore this as a result, you do kind of need some kind of randomization to roll on tables after all)

Attribute checks (the game has 4 attributes, Prowess/Skill/Conviction/Knowledge, which add to a few derived stats, act as weapon/spell prereqs. To do various things, you roll that many dice, FitD/LUMEN style (take the highest, 1-3/4-5/6 fail/partial/success).

Disposition checks (you can use a specific kind of Attribute check with custom values for enemy groups to change how you interact with them, like a Skill check to make them Unaware instead of Aggressive if you want to sneak by/ambush them, that sort of thing)

Dodge and Parry (you spend Stamina or Focus respectively, roll dice equal to your current Stamina or Focus and take the highest: Parry needs a 6, Dodge needs a 6 but lets you spend more Stamina and reroll on a 4-5). Enemies can Dodge/Parry but it uses a different mechanic (roll under a number).

Not Random

Activating weapon/spell abilities just spends Stamina/Focus and an Action. No roll needed. (This is part of why I think it's a good candidate to try this.)

Movement.

Enemy actions, even in GMless. They're purely based off of distance from a PC.

Attribute/Disposition Checks

This was the thing that got me thinking about it before Spencer's articles: When making areas, I didn't really like how I imagined this would play out given the Souls-ish checkpoint design. I'm growing kind of lukewarm on success/partial/fail design without a good reason for it anyway but especially in the context of a solo game it feels like a weird fit. I'm bad enough at coming up with consequences for games as a GM, coming up with them solo is tough. It also doesn't feel very strategic at all, you either succeed or you don't, which isn't a great feeling of choice.

Instead, I think I want to use a token-based system for it.

You have a number of tokens for each Attribute equal to the Attribute's value. They restore upon return to a Sanctuary.

Obstacles, opportunities, etc that require something like this to proceed are looking for a certain number of tokens from a specific Attribute or two listed. If you don't have that many, you can't do it.

Right now I'm thinking 2, 3, 6, and 10 Tokens as like easy/medium/hard/nasty cutoffs. For example, something you have to climb that's a little tough might be noted Prowess 3, or if you can tough it out just by persistence, Prowess/Conviction 3.

This works as-is for solo or single+GM play. For multiple PCs, I think I'll raise those cutoffs by 1 per extra PC (so if you have 4 total, it becomes +3 for 5/6/9/13), but you can split any of them two ways as long as it's an even (or even+1 in the case of an odd number, so like 6/7 for a 13) split.

If you have a proper tool to do something - climbing tools for climbing, rope for descending, lockpick for picking locks - halve the number of tokens (round up). This is what makes those 10's more possible before like, endgame stats.

You can restore all tokens to one Attribute with a use of Grace (aka not-Estus), so it's harder to block yourself, but you're spending from Health Restoration to do it.

For Disposition, same thing. An encounter currently looks like:

Default Defensive, 4-5 Aggressive, 6 Wary

for something where you need to roll a 4-5 when trying to aim for Wary or a 6 to aim for Unaware. Whereas with this it might be:

Default Defensive, Aggressive 3, Wary 6

which indicates token costs.

Dodge and Parry

This one's a little trickier. The goal prior to this was to make it feel different than blocking and it needs to maintain that.

I think the play is to introduce a number of Reactions alongside number of Actions. (Right now characters have 2 + Skill Actions per turn, it'd probably be 2 + Skill Actions and the same number of Reactions to start with.)

A Dodge Reaction is always available. It negates all Harm* and you move a hex. You always spend 3 Stamina to do it but it takes 1 + Encumbrance Reactions (but you can overspend at no cost as long as you have at least 1 Reaction).

Enemy attacks with Slow require 1 fewer Reaction (min of 0). Makes it make more sense for "fat-rollers" to try that against really nasty slow stuff.

Enemy Dodge/Parry is probably just "number of times they can do this automatically in a round".

That * is because Undodgeable is probably going to be changed to "if you dodge out of the AOE, you're fine, otherwise you take Harm as if you didn't dodge". We're not doing I-frame stuff on tabletop, if you're in the shit you're just in the shit.

A Guard Reaction requires a piece of equipment with the Guard ability (shield, etc). It uses 1 Reaction but spends Stamina equal to Harm blocked, or 0 Reactions if it blocks half as much Harm as its Defense.

Enemy Guard works as it currently does, no number of reactions tracked, just boosts current defenses/poise.

A Parry reaction requires a piece of equipment with the Parry ability (shield with Parry, parrying dagger, etc). It negates Harm and the attacker is staggered. You always spend 5 Focus to do it and it takes 1 Reaction. (At 0 Knowledge, this is all of your Focus. At 5, you can do it twice. It's very powerful but costs a lot.)

Spell keyword works as-is.

Unwieldy adds 1 spent Reaction to this.

Notes:

Dodge/Parry lose the "roll dice equal to current Stamina/Focus" thing but I'm not terribly married to that idea honestly so that's probably fine.

This makes Skill a bit better, which is worth keeping an eye on, but also means Skill builds are way more dodgy, which was kind of the intention prior to this anyway.

We'll see how this works! Might mock out what a diceless approach might look like in APOCALYPSE FRAME at some point later, I've got some conversion ideas.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Bear with both me and this post please, as I know there's a lot of discourse posts going around and it may be annoying to see yet another one. However, as it's still a topic in circulation I'd like to add something as someone who directly reached out and talked on more than one occasion with the main person on the other side of all this.

On the IG side of things the main person speaking has been livvysonden, so I reached out to her as someone really active on the tumblr side of things to try and figure out where we were both coming from and find some common ground. We've spoken both in comments and DMs about the matter

From what I've seen, both sides of the fandom have been assessing and critiquing each other based purely on posts they saw, so please allow me to explain to the best of my abilities the perspective of each side and the conclusion livvysonden and I both came to throughout our conversation. I'm addressing this with both the tumblr and instagram fandom in mind because she said she may share this post with the ig fandom later.

I'm putting everything else under a cut for space because it's long, but hopefully this helps brings clarity to both sides of the argument and can be used for a more peaceful resolution than what we're currently at.

Livvysonden's introduction (and subsequently the ig fandom as a whole) to this situation was as an older fan seeing a young fan expressing discomfort over sexual content. They had no more context than that. That was literally it, which we know to be not the whole story, but they didn't. The tumblr fandom knows that we had no intention to see Fintan sexually and no desire to make anyone uncomfortable, but there's was no way for them to know that. Of course the natural response to that is to support this young fan and come to their defense. I'd do the same in that situation. On top of that, the IG fandom tends to run a little younger than the tumblr fandom from what we can tell. There are fans as young as 10 who ignore the rules of using IG, so that was the perspective she approached with. An older fan seeing an uncomfortable younger fan and wanting to help.

It was also possibly made worse by a history of other discourses on the IG fandom that people were relating it to. There was mention of adult/minor ships and something to do with Lady Gisela; those are things completely disconnected from Tumblr's experience and wouldn't factor in at all to how we understand the IG fandom's perspective because we had no knowledge of it. We once had one person join the fandom and mention an adult/minor ship who was immediately confronted and left, and we hardly talk about Gisela, so in terms of discourse history both sides approached it differently.

From the tumblr perspective, everything stemmed from one off-handedly mentioned idea. That idea didn't even have anything to do with stripping, it was about an outfit idea because we realized there's no official description of the Neverseen uniform and figured we could make it something silly like a leotard and neon leg warmers. Another article of clothing given was stripper heels, stripper being used to describe the style and height of heels they could be wearing. That's where the "stripper Fintan" name came from, using that term to refer to the outfit as a whole because it stands out. We could've just as easily called it leotard Fintan, but stripper is apparently what stuck.

This recently was brought up again and turned into drawings of Fintan in the outfit. Let me be clear: there have been no nude drawings. There isn't a bare butt drawing of Fintan or anything naked. He has always been clothed in these drawings, and all the other experiences people have had with accidental smut encounters are entirely unconnected to the leotard uniform joke.

Someone brought it up in the kotlc.confessions ig account where this all started and people started questioning the tumblr fandom. Screenshots of the confessions, comments, and stories have been circulating on tumblr.

The tumblr fandom's response to this was to say we'd done nothing wrong, everything was a joke, and that the character (an ancient elf from a fictional story) couldn't be harmed, referring to the IG fandom as purist, prude, and incapable of letting people have fun. Several memes were made alongside frustrated posts. I'm sure many of us have seen them on here, and several people have brought up good points.

However the jokes and responses, while not our intention, were interpreted as us saying "we don't care that you're uncomfortable and even think it's funny." Hearing that, we as the Tumblr fandom know we don't find it funny when people are uncomfortable, but none of that was coming across in the response. Livvysonden was talking to many people and seeing what people shared with her, which was mostly people rebuking the IG fandom. There's such a strange almost rivalry between the two sites, and from what I saw it seemed like no one was actually talking to each other and instead just brushing each other off with no deeper meaning or understanding.

I think I speak for the entire tumblr fandom when I say we don't want anyone to be uncomfortable; we're here to have fun and connect over a book series we've all grown attached to. If someone is uncomfortable, it brings us no joy. However, no one else's online experience is our responsibility. Tumblr is a website where you are directly responsible for what and who you follow and block. IG has an algorithm and statistics and shadowbanning and all that. Tumblr doesn't. If you don't want to see or interact with something, that comes down to you. If you don't want to see something, it is up to you to block the tags or people you need to; it's not something anyone takes offense to here! We encourage you to do so actually so that everyone can have fun.

This does require some action from us like ensuring we're actually using tags people can block to avoid the content. We each have our part to make tumblr work how it's supposed to. We've been doing our part and including key words and tags in the posts we make so they can be blocked if wanted. Saying we're not thinking about the people who can see what we post wouldn't be accurate; we've done exactly what is appropriate for the site we're on and the culture of Tumblr. And if people aren't tagging something you think we should be, that's the part where you have to let us know!

We can't help or address anything if none of us knows something is making you uncomfortable! I know there are several people in the tumblr fandom who can seem intimidating, but one of the big functions of this site is that you can send us anonymous messages. I personally always have my inbox open to anonymous messages, so if people who have been making memes and jokes about the situation seem more intimidating to talk to, please feel free to come to me instead and I can speak on your behalf, same as livvysonden is doing on the IG side of things.

This also applies to if you have any issues with anything I've said or done; I'm not claiming to be completely innocent. Please, if something I've said or done makes you uncomfortable or you don't like it, let me know or have someone reach out on your behalf to let me know. I have the anonymous function on on my askbox. As long as you do so respectfully, I am entirely open to reassessing my behavior and correcting if needed.

I do sincerely apologize if we have done anything in the past that has made you feel like you cannot reach out or talk to us. We all want everyone to have a good time here and knowing people may have been too uncomfortable to speak is awful. However, please don't place us with that blame if you have not reached out. We can't read your minds, as cool as it would be, so we need to communicate and work collaboratively to make fandom fun for everyone.

To summarize this all, I think there was a huge miscommunication in the introduction to all of this and it spiraled entirely out of control because of it. The IG fandom doesn't want fans to be exposed to things they don't want to be and wants people to feel safe talking when they're uncomfortable, and that's fair. We want that too! The tumblr fandom wants to make jokes with each other about the chaotic ideas we sometimes have, which sometimes are more mature in nature because we're people. As long as we accommodate to make sure those who don't want to see that have a way to avoid it (which there is) that's fine! There's no need to turn it into a huge thing

I asked Livvysonden if there was anything she wanted me to specifically communicate to the tumblr fandom, and she said she just wanted to mention that there may be tumblr users (from before this all started) that were too uncomfortable to say anything, and that that may be something we should keep in mind going forward. Which I think is entirely fair.

We both want this to come to a peaceful resolution, so hopefully some of this can help with all that. I know that was a lot of text but I'm notorious for being verbose, so if you made it this far thank you for taking it all into consideration. I don't want to have a tumblr vs instagram conclusion to all this if I can help it.

I hope this clarifies things going forward and that everyone has a good day/weekend!

[akitothemightydorito]

YES HELLO INFODUMP PLS AND THANK U I wish to know about reader design, and designs in general, and also all the other characters (very curious about u mentioning Gregory - how is the chaos gremlin gonna show up, I need to know)

Info dump pt.1

YESS FINALLY!!! I GET TO INFO DUMP RAHHHH!!!!

So I did mention that Gregory would be introduced and we do in fact have an early concept of him when the prologue and other chapters were fleshed out (by the way art isn’t mine!! It’s my co-writers !!)

Here are two drawings of him! The one of the left is one “before he was trapped on island” and “After a while he was on the island” 2 years before reader to be exact which doesn’t really show much other than he’s a sneaky little bugger when reader encounters him. And oh boy is he a nuisance! Before the main plot begins Gregory was stranded after Eclipse attacked the ship he was on that he sneaked on to get away from the orphanage he lived in and pretty much was caught in the unfortunate event of Eclipse taking notice.

You could say Gregory was in a similar boat to the reader (I’m funny I swear-) and was saved somehow he survived drowning. Gregory eventually comes across Freddy and long story short he gets adopted by the giant grizzly (I’ll show size comparison soon !!) and becomes the local menace. Like, bro literally now thinks he’s invincible with Freddy by his side!? Mess with Monty and enter his territory? Freddy is there to quickly deescalate the territorial croc and remove Gregory as soon as he gets word, Greg is given a stern talking to for the nth time now. Oh what’s that? Gregory is provoking Roxy and Chica again? DAMMIT GREGORY WE DONT NEED MORE FIGHTS (context: Roxy and Chica aren’t on good terms early on due to competing for the same territory for the open plains)

All in all I think you can guess a few ways Gregory might make a first impression on the reader >:3

Okay moving onto Freddy!! The father bear himself! So I don’t remember all heights of the characters off by heart and the part where I discussed them is waaaaaayyyyyy back in a chat so until I get it I’m gonna try and estimate on what faint memory I have! Freddy is based of a brown grizzly and has a human like figure but mixed in with bear with lots of fur! His lightning marks and stripes have been turned into scars from an old conflict, of what? We don’t know since not even Gregory can pry it out from him….maybe it’s reluctance??

Here is some of the concepts! I’ll show the size difference below separately!! But yeah I hope this helps get an idea of what he’s supposed to look like!! Freddy is also known to keep the peace’s between everyone (and to keep Gregory in check-). He’s a friendly fellow but…he wasn’t always so tame before…never mind!

HABSHEINEBSUW EVERY TIME I SEE THIS I WANNA JUST SQUEEZE WHATEVER IS CLOSET RAHHH-

Freddy is basically the best to give out cuddles and a great napping partner, rivaled by DJ Music man though!

NOW I’m just gonna quickly move onto the MC themselves, Y/n!! OMG I AM SO EXCITED!! as you have probably seen in the prologue of EOTE (eyes of the eclipse. Shorter title) then you know that reader is German in WWII but!! They aren’t exactly one to see eye to eye with the views on Jews and so they vowed to help any Jew they could escape the county and basically be a human smuggler for Jews! The design I showed where reader is in a trench coat actually is what they use to get around, find sources of where Jews are being transported etc. basically just a disguise out of their Dad’s cloths. Reader also worked in a factory like some people did wearing overalls since both men and woman wore them during the mid 1930’s! (Same can also be said for Gregory’s clothes but for the early 30’s)

Headcannon: since Y/n and Gregory are both from Germany and speak both English and German, they like to confuse the others on the island on purpose by suddenly switching languages mid conversation! They also say curses in German either as a reflex or accident if it makes sense

I just find my own little HC funny hehe.

Next up we have Roxy!!! She actually is one character I remember the height for exactly and the reason I can remember Eclipse’s as well lol. She’s actually an astounding 7’3 when on her hind legs. The reason for her very tall height is because she is based off one of these:

RED MAINED WOLVES BABY!!! this also makes sense as to why she’s alone and doesn’t want to have a pack as well as wanting to have the plains for herself as she feels more in her element in taller grass! He legs and paws also have that same gradient of black fur going on as well as her having a puffy mane and fur. I also may or may not have said she is able to run top speed when she runs on all fours thus being a good way to scare reader :p

Like I mentioned she is able to walk and run on all 4’s just like she can on two legs but she prefers going on all 4’s though. Makes her hunts more easier and keep that pesky bird out her DAMMN Territory!! >:/

Only have 1 rough sketch of her so far since reader is yet to encounter Roxy or anyone else haha but here take in the tall maned beauty in all her glory! :D

Her more early concepts. Might have more added to her soon though 👀 (shhh!)

She isn’t one for being all that social and is Gregory’s #2 target whenever he feels like causing issues and risking his life. She also sometimes accidentally stumbles across Chico’s territory a few times which leads to a few scuffles and chase outs between the two so no one’s really surprised, Freddy manages to stop them before things get rough tho!!

Okay I have some juice left to dump about 1 more character before I pass out! ITS DJMM!!!! AHHHH so, so…He is a HUGE Drider that lives in a cave deep in the forest of the island. I have a few sketches but I can’t find them at the moment but in my next info dump I’ll be sure to get them! So basically he gives the vibe a jumping spider would: Harmless and sweet! Which is true when he’s Docile and unthreatened but when that changes he can show off his huge venomous fangs that can paralyze and even be lethal depending on dosage. Did I mention he also has soft fuzz on his boddy but not entirely covering his carapace? No? Oh well yeah he does but that also plays part in his threatening stance! He has the ability to shoot out barbed hairs out just like a tarantula (I physically shivered when I typed that, ugh!) but also be wary for his webs! Not only are his fangs and fluff a problem but also his webs! They have the consistency of a Golden ord weaver: strong and resilient but also soft and silky so if you’re caught, you’re trapped there for good!

Another small detail I wanna mention is the mini Music man’s in the SB game that chase you through the vents have basically become a cluster of mini driders (perhaps some young MM adopted ??) and so he is basically a protective father over all of them so anything coming their way is a threat on sight! You enter the cave without him knowing and your done for pal, game over!! >•<. Also, Also MM doesn’t speak verbally but he does communicate through chirps and other vocal sounds he’s able to make like clicks as well!! (He’s so sweet!!)

Okay that’s part 1 of this info dump done but I got more coming this way!! I got Monty, Chica, Sun, Moon and Eclipse to do next!!

[rollercoasterwords]

Hi rae hello!

Firstly the new chapter of wfrau was amazing! The boggart part split my heart open like the worst nightmare of s is himself as a death eater?? And the hydra scene?? Also the pressure on my boy james :(( How s was worried about his little brother :(( How remus had to yell at s for him to leave :(( Also loved the riddle and how everyone was thinking about it then- boom remus does a dramatic entrance rising from darkness with the answer (i wanna hug him and put him on a vacation island)

Btw i quit my barista job bc they were like a month late to pay my salary so i was like bye see you never! And i had a lot of time for self reflection and deciding what i want from my future which led me to decide doing my master in gender studies (i have a major in psychology and a minor in social work and i think these areas compliment each other quite well plus i've always been rly into gender related subjects so i think i can manage it). You're probably the only person i kinda know who is doing a master degree on gender studies so i wanted to ask how it's going so far, are you enjoying it and what part of it you like the most plus would you recommend it to psych major etc!

Anyways have a good day and kisses to ur brain for the new chapter <3

hi thank u <3 glad u enjoyed it! boggart nightmare was def inspired by supernatural scene w dean talking 2 himself lmfao #herstory

rip 2 the barista job good 4 u 4 doing whats best 4 urself tho! def a red flag if they weren't paying u lmao. & that's so cool that u wanna go 2 grad school 4 gender studies! i def have a love hate relationship w it so far lmao like on the one hand i've really enjoyed what i've been researching + studying so far 4 like my own work but i HAVE encountered like. the most annoying fucking scholarship + people ever...having a degree/being an academic/etc does not automatically make someone insightful like it's actually been shocking how trivial & incurious some of the scholarship i've come across is. but also i'm a big hater so. that is my burden 2 bear as well...

& i have very limited experience w or knowledge of like...psych as a field but. i can imagine gender studies would complement it yeah but i also can imagine gender studies complimenting virtually any degree lmao like it's a v interdisciplinary field & a lot of it is abt broader analysis of social structures & power dynamics which is just. useful in many ways...it is def a lot of time & energy tho & i'd say the actual material benefits that come from getting a master's degree are largely conditional based on like. what kind of employment ur seeking etc. like u don't NEED a master's degree 2 learn abt these topics y'know so it really just comes down 2 a personal evaluation of like what resources u have & what u wanna do 4 work etc which i am sure u are already thinking abt so! happy 2 talk abt it more if u have any specific questions or decide 2 apply 2 schools in the u.s. (<- the only context where i really know anything abt the application process etc) & i wish u luck w any grad school endeavors! <3

[blackjackkent]

Doing some meta pondering on character arcs for future chapters of "Open Your Eyes and It Will Blind You" (x) while waiting for the dye to set in my hair at the salon.

(I find I feel weirdly embarrassed talking about this fic; the fact that Jaheira/Rasaad did not exist at ALL on AO3 as a pairing threw me for a loop and has convinced my brain that I am being Self-Indulgent and Weird despite the fact that literally all fic is Self-Indulgent and Weird and that is why we love it. XD So I am trying to push myself past that and allow myself to be excited about the thing regardless. #personalgrowth That said, this really is just me thinking out loud so feel free to ignore, lol.)

As I said to Springy when she was helping me beta the first chapter - one of the big challenges I'm encountering with this fic is that I think Jaheira and Rasaad would be good being together post-BG2, but writing/plotting them getting together is a little like pulling teeth - they are both people with very strong emotions who have lost much, but they are also both reserved as hell about actually sharing/showing/indulging those feelings visibly.

I have spent a considerable amount of time studying the romance dialogue both of them have with the PC in BG2, but it was no help because BOTH of them have a romance arc centered around the question "Oh gods, what am I doing, what if this is a mistake" and all of the conversations are "[has a feeling] [immediately backpedals]" until the PC basically has to whack them upside the head with their intentions. And Khalid says in Siege of Dragonspear that his original courtship of Jaheira back in the Harpers consisted of him slamming through a hospital door and pouring his heart out to her while she was injured and couldn't hide from the Feels, and it turned out she'd already been sitting on the same feelings for months. XD

So - the question becomes how two people who are BOTH that reticent about their emotions manage to get past it and reach an understanding.

My intention is that the next chapter will make clear that the feelings are there (probably helped on by some Avariel wine at Quayle's birthday party), which will spook both of them, with Rasaad's response being "time to run back to Calimshan, face the music, and die" (kicking off the actual plot as the squad demands to come along with him), because healthy coping mechanisms are a foreign concept in Faerun.

So they will both be sitting with that awareness from pretty early in the story, hopefully leaning into one of my favorite tropes: "The feelings are actually requited, they're both just dumbasses." But as for the actual incident that pushes them to acknowledge those feelings...hm.

Fundamentally, I see both of their character arcs in this story, even before the romance, as being about looking forward vs looking back. Jaheira feels stagnated with no battles left to fight and Rasaad is trapped by his regret over what the monks half a world a way think of him. Ultimately Rasaad's epiphany in going back to Calimshan is not that he is forgiven by the monks there (for something he didn't even do), but realizing that he does not need their approval because he has grown beyond who he was when he lived there and has people who truly care about him and know him. Jaheira's is a little more nebulous, but I see it as building off of Caden's comment in the first chapter that sometimes simply living is enough - that a grand purpose is not always required to live a worthwhile life (this is a topic I've been thinking about a lot in the context of my own life lately and feels like a worthwhile theme to explore).

(Obviously Jaheira is eventually going to get drawn back to Baldur's Gate and a life of purpose in the war against the Absolute, and based on her BG3 dialogue it's clear that she's regressed a bit in this regard from any progress she might make with Rasaad. XD But I don't think that negates the possibility of her being able to have some happiness for a while.)

However... I think I want any romance development to be independent of these epiphanies, because "I have realized I have something to live for because you exist" is a perfectly satisfying trope but feels like a lessening of these characters in this scenario. "I have realized I have life ahead of me, and consequently but unrelatedly am opening myself to you" has more appropriate depth, I think.

Honestly, there are two existing moments in BG2 that feel like they might make sense to build from that I might end up adapting into the fic...

First is a moment from Jaheira's in-game romance. She wakes from a dream where Khalid was watching her but she was unable to reach him; the PC can comment that perhaps Khalid is happy to see that she still has people to travel with and isn't alone, and she says something to the effect of "it wasnt the whole group, it was just you and me. But I think you may be right." It's actually a really sweet little moment, one of the more emotionally resonant bits of the romance line.

The other moment is a bit of banter between Rasaad and Aerie if neither of them are romanced. They're chatting and she makes some subtle comments about wanting to spend more time with him, and it goes completely over his head. The PC then had the chance to chime in and tease him about missing her signals. ("you have no idea what's going on here, do you"). Given the characters involved in this fic, it might make sense for Caden to get involved in playing matchmaker a bit in the late story after the feelings have been stewing for a while.

Anyway... again, mostly thinking out loud but I want to make sure my thoughts are in order. I'm not used to writing multi-chapter fics and it's a very unique challenge trying to make sure the emotional through-line is set up at the beginning and carries through to the end.