#Gale gen 2

[miraplayssims]

The day of Benjamin and Theodora´s wedding had come. The bethroded hadn´t talked or even seen to eachother since their parents told them about their planned marriage and Benjamin felt it was high time to do so.

Leaving his parents and future in-laws talking outside, Benjamin walked in to the church where his sisters were waiting for the ceremony to begin.

He walked up to his Magdalena and cleared his throat, "Magda, do you know where Theo is?"

“I believe she´s getting ready in the sacristy," she said, giving him a sympathetic look, "how are you feeling, brother?"

"I´m fine," he sighed, "thank you."

Benjamin knocked on the door and heard a quiet "come in" from inside. When he entered and saw his childhood friend dressed in all white, silently sobbing with her face buried in her hands, his heart sank. My dear, dear friend, he thought, how I wish you wouldn´t be crying on your wedding day.

Benjamin kneeled down in front of the crying girl, "Oh Theo," he mumbled, "it´ll be all right."

Theodora looked up at him, wiping the tears from her cheeks, "yes," she nodded softly, "I´m being dramatic."

He grabbed her cold hands and squessed them thight, "no, you´re not. Cry if you want to, God knows I have," he whispered, "listen Theo, I swear to you I´ll try my best to make you happy, as a friend or as a husband. We don´t ever even have to share a bed, if that´s what you wish. We decide how this will work, no one else."

Theodora had stopped sobbing, but tears still trickled down her face, "I know you´ll be good to me, that´s not my worry. It´s just-," her voice thickened, "well, it´s just that I wish to have children some day. But as you said, perhaps we´ll never share the marital bed."

"If you wish to have children, we´ll have children," he reassured her.

Theodora stood up, smiling bleakly, "thank you," she whispered and embraced him, "you´re my dearest friend."

They stood there for a while in a silent embrace before Benjamin finally broke away, "come now, I think it´s time."

[payte]

After introducing Itsuki and Pierre - and the obligatory card-game-smack-talk between Pierre and Winnie was out of the way - Gale got Winnie and Itsuki positioned in front of the camera.

Gale: Alright, a little closer together and pose!

Winnie came up with the first one, something she had seen in fanart of their characters - and something that wouldn't make her heart race too quickly despite their closeness.

[emdotcom]

Hisuian Zoroark is one of the sickest designs in pokemon, but the model on that bloke is FUCKED. It's really bad. If they bother to port her over to other games, you know they ain't changing that model, either, 'cept to make the textures paler & duller.

I continue to despise pokemon, despite being a pokemon fan, I fucken guess. At this point, I gotta go all in on summat else, like Cassette beasts.

[mapsontheweb]

Pokemon world map.

via u/disconnectedmadafaka

Here's info on some area you might not be familiar with:

Ransei - Pokemon Conquest

Pokelantis - Anime and was combined with the one pokemon ranger movie

Ryme City - Detective Pikachu Fiore - Pokemon Ranger

Almia - Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia

Oblivia - Pokemon Guardian Signs

Holon - from the TCG

TCG - Pokemon Trading Card Game (video games)

Ferrum - Pokken Tournament

Carmonte Island - Pokemon Duel

Guyana - Pokemon Movie

White City - Pokemon Stadium 2

Orre - Pokemon XR Gale of Darkness

Faraway Island - Gen 3 special event

Decalore - Anime

Orange Islands - Anime

Sevii Islands - Firered/ Leaf Green post game

Pasio - Pokemon Masters (Was changed from artificial island to artifical lake)

Tokyo City - mentioned in an anime novelization

Milote Town - I misread. It's Mintale Town from the Pokemon Channel

Pokemon Island - Pokemon Snap

Lental - New Pokemon Snap

[tagfer]

so for a bit of Pokemon culture history that actually could be lost to the times, I'd like to briefly mention Female Shadow Pokemon.

When Gen 3 first started with Ruby and Sapphire in 2003, all 386 Pokemon were programmed into the game. (flexing on Modern games tbh.) But because RuSa only had like, 200 available to catch in it, and gen 2-3 transfers weren't a thing, this means 186 pokemon simply weren't available without cheating. One of those? Ditto. Yeah, the daycare slut wasn't a tool we could use. This made female pokemon incredibly valuable because that's how you could breed them. Want more of your starter? Hope it was female! Fossils? Same!Luck out and find a Feebas spot? Be sure to get a female! etc etc.

Then Pokemon Colosseum came. And while now it's mainly remembered for its story's gritty tone and the slightly higher difficulty for a Pokemon game, at the time it released a good number of the shadow Pokemon weren't available in RuSa! for example, the Johto starters & legendaries, but also Pokemon like Tyranitar, Shuckle, Houndoom, Furret, and Togetic. So just a silly assortment of newly available monsters!

But still no Ditto. So that meant when getting these new Pokemon in the game, you'd want to be resetting their (often one and only) encounter to make sure it's female so you could breed more. And Colosseum is not a quick game, and you have to view the credits before you can trade. So it was a pain in the neck if you needed to go back and get a female.

This of course changed a few months later when FireRed and LeafGreen released, which DID have Ditto in it, as well as the remaining missing dex entries. (Well, they made Lugia an event for some reason, but then Lugia got his own game with Gale of Darkness.)

But yeah. You wanted to catch female Shadow Pokemon in Colosseum. This brief and now antiquated bit of strategy would likely never occur to a person who wasn't there for that very brief period of time. like 5 months tops. and looking at gen 3 holistically and in retrospect, why would it matter? Ho-oh was the only Pokemon that you needed Colosseum for, everything else became available elsewhere, and future gens would make significant enhancements to breeding anyways. But at the time, it did matter.

Ditto was never unavailable in a game after gen 3. Genius Sonority, the company that managed to make a whole 3D Pokemon RPG that released on the GameCube in the one year between RuSa and FRLG, still works with The Pokemon Company. They do Cafe ReMix. You'd think they'd pick GS over ILCA to make BDSP, considering they still work together, but apparently not!

There's no greater point here, I was just reminiscing and realized most people who weren't neck deep in the 2004 Pokemon scene probably wouldn't ever know about the weird situation. And I know y'all like niche situations.

[fullmoonandstar]

Baldur's Gate 3 Masterlist

Common interests (Gale x gn Reader/ Tav)

Shield you from the Rain (Gale x gn Tav)

I can't let you go (Gale x gn Reader/ Tav x Astarion)

A Strange Duo (Gale x f!Tav x Astarion)

Nine Days in Hell (Raphael x f!Tav/Reader) Part1 || Part 2

Devil's Den (Raphael x afab!Reader)

Little Spoon (Raphael x gen!Reader)

Evening among Wolves (Raphael x afab!Reader)

[athena43633]

“Professor Dekarios” 2024

Digital Painting NO AI

Procreate on a Gen 3 iPad

MaxPack’s Gouache brush set

@galedekarios beautiful shots as references

Hello everyone!!

Thank you so much for looking at my work :) This started as a photo study from @galedekarios and was also my first piece using MaxPack’s Gouache brushes. I have been looking for a brush set like that for a very long time, they’re the closest thing I’ve found that lets me replicate my traditional painting style and experience.

I put Gale in green because I often think about whether or not he actually likes purple or if it’s just something he’s always defaulted to because of Mystra. I also used the design of the Blackstaff for his earring because 1. I didn’t want him to have Mystra’s earring and 2. I wanted this to very specifically be him a year or two after the game settled into his position as a professor. I also think he looks gorgeous in green 😂

I wanted a wave-like pattern for his robes to symbolise Waterdeep, and the quilted leather shoulder I wanted to be reminiscent of armour but look more like a plush leather chair one would find in a library.

I really hope that you like my work :)

[major-mads]

100th Bomber Boys: Major Robert 'Rosie' Rosenthal: Pt. 2

If you missed part 1, you can find it here!!

Following the Munster mission in October of 1943 that decimated the 100th bomb group, Rosenthal took on a leadership role among the men. With Egan and Cleven gone, the men needed someone they could look up to for strength and guidance. Even though the Münster mission was only his third, he and his crew were sent on a week's leave. Following their leave, the 100th was one of the first to bomb the capital city of Berlin.

The next objective for the 8th Air Force was to achieve total European air supremacy in order to prepare for the D-Day landings. Their job was to take out the Luftwaffe, starting with the factories and plants that manufactured various parts for various MEs and other German fighter planes. The introduction of the P-51 Mustang, a long-range fighter plane that could accompany the B-17s to their targets. These planes ended up changing the tide of the air war.

The Mustangs were taking out Luftwaffe planes at an astounding rate with small loss rates. This development led to the B-17s essentially being used as bait for the Luftwaffe planes to attack so that the Mustangs could swoop in and destroy the withering German air force. The Luftwaffe was losing its veteran pilots, making the force less lethal than it was at the beginning of the war.

(pg. 281: Don Miller's Masters of the Air)

In May 1944, two months after completing twenty-five missions with the crew of Rosie's Riveters, he took over the 350th Bomb Squadron of the Hundredth, whose morale and efficiency had slipped badly, and began to restore the unit to peak performance. "After the first Berlin raids, we had men who were banged up mentally, and a few of them didn't want to fly anymore. I told them they had a moral obligation to fly, and that I would fly with them. We were here to beat Hitler. I also told them that if they didn't fly they would be letting down friends who had helped to keep them alive up to now. The appeal to their pride and respect worked better than the one to their patriotism." Rosenthal knew that without group loyalty-the responsibility that fighting men feel to the men next to them - wars would be impossible. Gale Cleven and John Egan "gave the 100th its personality," wrote Harry Crosby. "Bob Rosenthal helped us want to win the war." In the end, however, Eighth Air Force morale improved markedly only when casualty rates declined. That began to happen in May 1944, after American fighter pilots had reduced the Luftwaffe's effectiveness. "We did the bombing-the dirty work," said Rosenthal, "We were the decoys, and they took care of the bad boys that had been beating us up. They were guys who made D-Day possible?""

In early May, the 8th took the war to synthetic oil refineries in Germany, knocking a major blow to the Nazi war machine. The Germans did not have much natural oil in their territory, and even when they invaded Poland in '39, they only had enough oil reserves to last the army, air force, and navy for a few weeks. With their addition of conquered territories, the shortage became less of a problem, but in a military that mainly used oil (instead of coal like the rest of Germany) any shortage was a problem. In response, they began manufacturing synthetic oil in hydrogenation plants using the Bergius process, named after its inventor, Nobel-Prize-Winning Friedrich Bergius (that I am not smart enough to explain). This oil was keeping the Nazi military going, and striking it made a huge dent in their war-making capabilities. Unfortunately, Gen. Carl 'Tooey' Spaatz's bombing offensive was put on hold to prepare for the Normandy invasion. This time, the 8th and 15th Air Forces would be bombing Germany's important industries in France.

It was the last week of May, and the time had arrived to soften the Germans up for D-Day. The plan was to hit the main points of German transportation in occupied France, including railroad marshaling yards in Northern France and Belgium. This was supposed to delay the enemy's ability to bring reinforcements, tanks, and other supplies that would be needed to fight the Allied invasion on June 6th. The offensive turned out to be a major success. "Allied heavy and medium bombers almost completely dismembered the rail network of northern Belgium and France, choking off the main supply channel that fed the German army (Miller, 2007, pg. 291)." Bridges over the Loire and the Seine were also smashed, "cutting off most of Normandy and Brittany from the rest of France (Miller, 2007, pg. 291)."

Then on June 6th, 1944, the 100th was tasked with bombing the German strongholds along the beachheads. They were not very successful, but their earlier missions were the things that made the invasion possible.

(pg. 294: Don Miller's Masters of the Air)

For nearly every Allied airman who flew that day, it was the greatest experience of the war. "I briefed the crews of the 100th," recalls Rosie Rosenthal, "and I had never seen such a reaction from them. They stood and cheered and roared. This is the day they had been looking toward. I led the group on the third bombing mission of D-Day, toward dusk. We had a rule. No one could talk on the intercom unless it was absolutely necessary-radio discipline. But as we passed over that vast armada and headed over the beaches, a member of our crew started to say a prayer for the people down below and we all joined in. It was one of the most emotional moments of my life."

tag list: @luckynumber4 @footprintsinthesxnd @georgieluz @sweetxvanixlla @coco-bean-1218

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[kafus]

okay well i guess i didn’t need my alarms cause i can’t seem to sleep more lmao. it’s 5 am

soooo pokemon presents in a little less than 4 hrs huh? realistically i’m expecting something either johto or unova related and since they’re apparently lighting up NYC today, which is not usual for pokemon day, i’m kind of leaning unova. i have mixed feelings about this since as much as i actually did enjoy my time with BDSP, i was dually disappointed by them and i’m still sad that sinnoh isn’t going to get the HGSS or ORAS treatment ever - if unova remakes were to be of a similar caliber of bdsp, i’d rather them just not exist at all frankly. nostalgia bias and my immense love for sinnoh aside, i think the unova games, especially bw2, are some of the best games in the entire franchise, and if they are remade, or get bw3 sequels, or whatever, i want them to be GOOD. lets not spit on the legacy of gen 5 now!! but. i remain cautiously optimistic. i’m not a super cynical pokemon fan and like i said i did enjoy bdsp despite everything. also a legends kyurem or whatever would be awesome btw i wanna see the og dragon lol. johto would also be cool but i’m having a lot less thoughts on it for some reason. i’m sure if they announce anything johto ayano will have incredibly passionate thoughts about it

now i’m not really one for predictions, the above talk is maybe the most obvious outcome since they usually do remakes mid-gen. instead i’ll just talk about some things i would WANT even if they’re a pipe dream and i don’t necessarily expect them:

a new PMD. not an explorers remake, a new PMD with a fresh story and everything. we haven’t had a proper new PMD story since 2015 and i MISS IT. i’d also enjoy explorers remakes but frankly i want a new game the most and i wanna play as sprigatito SOBS THE PALDEA STARTERS WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR PMD

gen 3 on NSO with full online capabilities and also connectivity to NSO ports of colosseum and gale of darkness. i 100% do not think this is happening but it would blow me away if it did. the amount of gen 3 that so many people were never able to experience as children, especially me… could finally be done online!!! it’d be cool if they removed all the dumb trading restrictions too but unlikely. (as an aside if they released gen 1/2 VC again with stadium compatibility that’d be epic but i somehow expect that even less)

some sort of new stadium-type game with home compatibility that provides single player trials similar to that of the old gen battle frontiers. i just REALLY really miss old singleplayer battle challenges. i want a new one to spend a bazillion years on making wacky teams and winning w them. i enjoy VGC but sometimes that singleplayer experience hits different

i really am a spinoff enjoyer. surprise me with something new! that isn’t a mobile game with gacha elements! just a whole new standalone pokemon idea. no idea what genre just excite me

MAKE A COMFY FRIENDS SPRIGATITO PLUSH OR SO HELP ME GOD (this is barely related to the presents im just thinking about it i want one soo bad 😭)

and those r all my thoughts i think. these presentations r always a treat because i wake up early and watch them with my friends. i probably won’t be liveposting it on tumblr bc i will be lost in the sauce of discord w the besties. i’ll provide my thoughts later though!

[welcome-to-the-end-of-eras]

Live Reading: The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

Some initial (spoiler-free) observations for now:

1.) desperately missing the style of publication from twofs and tbs, book covers that come off are my biggest opp

2.) Edward Cullen lookin ass cover I kinda love it

3.) absolutely love the fact that The Bedlam Stacks is officially part of the Watchmaker series even though Mori is in like 3 scenes, he’s so powerful

Off the bat, it's really interesting to see the way January interacts with what is our present like it's something ancient. The way he describes the "ruins" of London and various places around that people today may even live in, as if it's centuries old. Idk what year this takes place in but I feel like it's going to be like 2030 or some shit lmao

I already read the leaked chapter so I'm just going to skip it, all in all though I like January so far. He's a little less...I don't want to say compelling, but he doesn't have as much of a distinctive personality off the bat as Valery or even Flint, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Plus he's like. Actively in crisis, so I'm going to give him a pass

He does have the gen Z tendency for nihilism tho, moreso than the other mc's, and I really like it

Oh wait no he's not even gen Z he's like. Gen Theta??? This is farther into the future than I thought, which is good bc it was a lil depressing to think it was this close to the present and everything was flooded (I mean we're still boned but I was expecting the time period to be like. A very likely 2027 or something.)

I honestly really like the way January isn't content with the small things in his life that make him miserable like the other mc's. He's a Complainer. He's literally me-

"It was fine as icing sugar." ??? Girl are we getting some freaky future ghost shit again??? Please???

I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T-

MORI AND DAUGHTER??? I'M GOING TO PASS AWAY-

I will be crying about this forever

Six taking over the shop but keeping her dad's name attatched...BEING CANON??? We STAY winning

"There are moments when you come so close to another future you can taste the air in the courtroom." GIRL SHUT THE FUCK UP RESPECTFULLY I'M ABOUT TO START SCREAMING-

Wait these exoskeleton things sound cool as fuck, I wonder how hard it would be to make one for cosplay purposes??? Probably pretty tricky (and knowing myself I would never finish it) but it still seems really fun to make

Damn he's really scared of not wearing that thing, my poor baby :((( ugh I really do like him a lot so far

Ohhh wait I thought wearing the suit was to protect him, not to protect others??? I misread

But he's still really that scared of hurting anyone else :((( he's my baby I've decided

I feel like I'm not going to like Gale much off the bat bc they're going to be rude to him, but I'm sure I'll grow to like them more. I mean I didn't much care for Shenkov off the bat but I adore him now so

Not to get Prentious-English-Major-y, but it seems like a running theme in this book is getting over the shame of taking up space in the world. January is constantly being reminded that he needs to stay in his place and not cause trouble for others, and it's so engrained into him that he can't help but panic over a simple mistake that could've been corrected with a gentle warning. But it also wasn't a gentle warning; the guy in the elevator fucking yelled at him!!! Immediately!!! I get the notion that it was a matter of safety for him, but January was far away from and couldn't have possibly hurt him, and he still yelled. Coming from the lense of a queer man, it's very reflective of the homophobic idea that queer people can't even be trusted in public because they're "sexual deviants" and the like, or even going back to the 80s when people thought that AIDS was transmitted through just skin-to-skin contact. Idk. Food for thought.

Honestly??? The way his thoughts keep circling back to the way everyone was horrified of him on the elevator is the most accurate way I've ever seen someone describe anxiety attacks

What tf is up with the pink elephants??? New tattoo idea just dropped???

Ooo interesting monetary system for the trains. I went into Boston to get my copy and they started doing a similar thing on the green line (the only train system that runs above ground, so they can't really stop people from not paying to get on) and it kind of reminds me of that. It's definitely not that similar, but it's enough that I made the connection

Creepy Government Programs Meant To Completely Cripple Minorities Just So They Can Access Slightly Worse Basic Rights They Should Already Have...totally not realistic...haha...not at all...

Only a year??? January...buddy...you've been here for 600 days...

Oh wait no I just looked it up, a year on Mars is actually about 687 days, nvm, fuck me I guess

The whole conundrum of naturalizing vs just using the cage is vvv interesting, and is also reminiscent of the way disabled people are encouraged by society (and warned by medical professionals) to undergo drastic surgeries to cure their disability

Damn so going on the train cost him a half hour of work??? That's kinda nuts. Although if it's a longer distance train it's not as bad, but it seems like it just went from one part of the city to the other

Oh??? Hello??? He has a crush on his boss??? Honestly she sounds like a milf I don't blame him-

I feel like the release button of his suit being over his heart is going to be important and dramatic and it's going to make me cry

Idk how to word this properly but like. January being motivated to eat more and train for ballet again bc he's just overall happier with Gale may just (happily) destroy me, the same way tlfop describes Thaniel getting a lot stronger over the course of four years bc he's eating more and started boxing and that, but I feel like it'll be different bc him being married to Gale will offer him the privilege to do that kind of thing while others aren't awarded the freedom

The group physical therapy before work is kinda nuts, we should honestly do that at my job too

Honestly the way they're describing these work suits is kind of a serve, especially with the cool skeleton lookin thing around it, that would make such a fun cosplay

Senator Gale in the mix too!!! Vvv excited, even though I know January is going to do some fuckshit on tv with them

I KNOW January is pretty af I know it in my soul

"Great power to be had from ogling." I'm love Val sm-

Love that she included how to pronounce Mx bc it always throws me for a loop. Also...McWang??? Girl-

I really do not know what I expected from the woman who managed to get the word "octopussy" in three of her books

"...so that he wouldn't think about how much he would have loved to see someone shove Audrey bloody Gale off a cooling tower." DAWG-

He really fuckin hates them wow, their public persona must suck

Oh also random thought I forgot to include a bit earlier, but is it like. Genuinely illegal to assume people's gender in this society??? That's kinda based actually. Fox News would have a field day. "ThIs Is CoNfIrMaTiOn Of ThE fUtUrE tHeSe LiBeRaLs ArE lOoKiNg FoR." Ugh I hope someone shows them, that would be fucking hilarious (obviously no one should tho bc I sincerely believe there are some idiotic people who would start sending Natasha death threats over it and I don't want that).

"...and do everyone a favour by turning immediately into goo." Jesus fucking Christ dude-

I hope January beats the shit out of some of these people I really do-

Hehe puffweens

Ooo the Mars citizens fashion seems fun

"Thirteen year olds were, of course, terrifying monsters..." thirteen year olds are extremely lame when you get to know them but I do get the anxiety (I say as someone who worked with them for over 5 years)

He doesn't want to scare anyone :(((

First he's comparing Gale to the devil, and now he's saying they look like a god??? Make up your mind dude

"He followed the news like a bloodhound when it came to Gale." My good bitch you are so definitely into them-

The fact that Val has to bribe January with chocolate to not throw a brick at Gale is so...I'm love them so much

[suitetarts]

cloud nine (part 1)

Astarion x Original Female Character, Dark Urge Tav (Good) Angst, Comfort, Fluff, Eventual Smut (Link to AO3) A much needed discussion about freedom and what it means for two rebellious spawns (Bhaal and vampiric, respectively) in the aftermath of Lorroakan's defeat. They are both free to discover their own desires, and Delilah really wants to fuck Astarion in running water while she still has the chance.

The intention was to just write beach smut where my OC Delilah and Astarion get sunburns but it completely went off the rails. So here's part 1, the angsty lead up to a smutty smutty part 2. You can go to the AO3 series for the other gen one-shot fics I have for my OC, or click here and there.

The second floor of the Elfsong was scrambling to quickly don armor, fill bellies, and otherwise prepare for the day’s events, which happened to start with chasing Aylin through the city streets during the small hours of dawn. The aasimar’s whereabouts were no puzzle to solve, however; she had rather loudly announced her plans to storm Ramazith’s Tower and confront Lorroakan under the spell of her mother’s moonglow. The logistics and planning blur into Delilah’s memory of the fight itself – the crackle of her storm magic piercing through the summoned elementals like a hot knife in butter and the Sword of the Moonmaiden cleaving the wizard’s torso from shoulder to hip.

All at once with earth shattering speed, the tower was quiet, save for heaving chests and the sheathing of weapons.

Once the adrenaline of battle wore thin, Aylin appeared to lose her strength and resolve. A numbness falling over her that even her darling cleric could not mend. The sudden loss of her inner fire seemed to cast a gloom over the party, although the others did their best to move past it. Gale accepted Rolan’s thanks to the party, trying to leverage some assistance in retrieving artifacts he desired. Karlach and Shadowheart mulled about on the promenade and gossiped in the passing clouds. Astarion, though…

Where was he?

A half smile pulled at Delilah’s features as a location came to mind, tempered only by the mood at the top of the fallen wizard’s tower. She immediately made the executive decision to take the rest of the day off even though the sun had not yet reached its highsun crest. The others barely noticed her slip away to the portal, and if they did, they must have thought little of it.

The vampire and drow were rarely apart, if not constantly on top of one another. If one wandered off, the other would not be too far from their heels. And for the rest of the tadpoled adventurers, they were better off not having to be subjected to the constant public display of sickening and often off-putting affection.

Her boots raced through the Basilisk Gate and through Wyrm’s Crossing, down the path winding around Ilmater’s church. The fresh air caressed her like fine spider silks as she found her way to the bay, a markedly more welcome scent than the dead fish and industrial waste of the main city port. She veered away from the visible shore onto an animal’s path snaking through trees and eventually approached a stone wall overlooking the churning waters where the fresh muddy Chionthar met the salty clear Sea of Swords. With an incantation and a wave of her hand, she floated over and down to her favorite secret: a small sandy beach, far away from the stink of Baldur’s Gate.

Delilah looked down as she flew, the two pairs of crimson red eyes locking together as Astarion smirked up at her through the flapping of her skirts. Blood rushed to her face as she made a show of it, swinging her knee out in a curtsy motion and flashing him with what she hoped would be a better glimpse of her underclothes.

“Don’t you think it’s rather early to be so forthcoming?” His usual flamboyant and chiding tone did not match his body language as he caught her gently by the waist. He recognized the incongruence, and so to compensate, shifted his grip around to her ass as her feet met the ground.

“Saer, I’m just being polite. What are you implying?” She played along with his temperament, her arms twisting loosely around his neck to pull him close. “That it's forthcoming to offer you my respect and deference?”

He genuinely laughed, a hearty singular ‘ha’ escaping his chest. “When have you ever been deferent to me, my dear?”

Delilah faltered for a moment, the response to their banter withering on her tongue. When had she been deferent to him, indeed?

Her tadpole writhed against her eye as flashes of her other life splattered across her vision like so many bloody victims of her gruesome crusade. She had previously obeyed her “mother” and the Spider Queen, her true father, his dreadful blood coursing through her veins, and, to some extent, apparently even Gortash. The memories she could recall of them were surely a drop in the ocean compared to what she had forgotten, and she knew she was better for it.

More specifically, when it came to Astarion, nearly every suggestion of his was taken with a grain of salt. Not for a lack of love and care, he was just consistently not thinking things through and seemed to overall acquiesce to her preferred methods without too much complaint. But… Truly the one thing he ever seriously asked of her, to help him complete the ascension ritual for himself, and she basically said no. The pinched fury in his brows and the way he tensed around her in Cazador’s grand chambers in the immediate aftermath still haunted her. He later insisted that he was grateful for her clarity, for saving him from himself. But anxiety chewed through her resolve and made her question herself.

She sighed around a bitter smile as she returned to the present, shielding her eyes from the morning light as she looked up at him. “I can’t recall, my love.”

The jesting tone between them had evaporated in the bright sun, which drenched the small stretch of sand in a near blistering heat if not for the breeze coming off the harbor.

“Yes, right,” he said, clearing his throat. 

The pair of rebellious spawns stood in silence, neither of them sure how to start the inevitable post-battle discussion that was sure to cause more painful memories to bubble to the surface. 

“Astarion… Why did you leave us in the tower?” she asked tentatively, cautiously, as she took a step away from his embrace and pulled him down to sit on the warm sand with her.

“To be dramatic, of course.” 

He waited for Delilah’s eyes to roll before softening, combing through the granules of sand with his hands as he avoided her gaze. 

“It’s just… It’s hard to see someone go through that. It’s unfair, to feel so empty after finally getting what–” He cleared his throat with a purse of his lips. “What Aylin wanted. Like justice denied.”

Delilah was tempted to say that she understood, but truly she didn’t. She wasn’t sure if it was even possible to get a chance to face Bhaal the way that Astarion and Aylin were able to face their tormentors. She was honestly a touch jealous, but she also couldn’t begin to imagine what it must be like to bring upon the end of those who hurt her so deeply. At least it made sense that an entity as untouchable to mortals as the God of Murder would be difficult to extract closure from. And yet, on the other hand, it was so impossibly unfair for someone like Cazador to die swiftly in the face of multiple human lifetime's worth of suffering.

Instead of speaking, she simply leaned into him as they watched the crystalline waves lap at the shore. He mirrored her, resting his ear against her shoulder.

The biological warmth of her pressing against his head mixed with the radiant, near overwhelming heat from the sun and its reflection off the sand felt like a drug, the anxiety and numbness sloughing off of him like molting snakeskin. The manifestation of his greatest desire, for Cazador’s death at his own hand, had not been what he dreamt of, but it still happened. His sire was still dead, while he was now richer than his master had ever been, even with the entirety of Baldur’s Gate at his gilded fingertips, thanks to the tadpole’s gift of the sun and his friends and lover at his side. He and Aylin were still free.

“Still,” he said after a minute of rest, his tone steady and composed. “The Nightsong’s fair-haired fool is done. That’s what matters.”

Her thoughts lingered on her predicament with her father. 

“Is it?”

Astarion’s brows pulled together in confusion but kept his head tucked under her ear. A mocking tone entered his voice as he spat, “Surely you don’t think that charlatan twig could possibly come back to life after being cut in half.”

“No, not like that. I…” Delilah’s words trailed off as she began to lose the nerve to give her thoughts weight by speaking them aloud. She set her jaw and pursed her lips. “I don’t know. Whatever.”

He made a frustrated sigh. Even after all their time together, he found that she still took him too seriously at times. “My love, you know I didn’t intend to silence you.” 

“I know.”

“You make it so easy to give you grief.”

“I know.”

He pushed more of his weight into her for a moment, allowing the two a brief sway. “Go on then.”

“Fine,” she said with a heavy sigh. “You said Lorroakan is done. And that’s what matters. So is killing what matters?”

Astarion waved his hand with a non-committal yet affirmative, “Well…?”

“I– I don’t know. Aylin looked so tired. And I’m tired. Killing is what I’ve always done, endlessly. Even now that I’m trying to change and be better, I’m still killing. And I’m still enjoying it. I don’t want killing to matter to me anymore. I want what happens afterwards to be what matters.”

Delilah emphasized her final point by taking his hand, intertwining their fingers with a firm grip. 

Astarion’s involuntary response was for his heart to jump into his throat at her implication, before it dissolved into a warm fuzziness spreading from his chest to his toes. In his old life, there was never an “afterwards” worth having. After they’d used his body up for all that it was good for, if they weren’t already drained of their blood by Cazador or left in some dungeon to rot for centuries, who could possibly want him after finding out what a monster he was? 

But everything was different thanks to the tadpoles. He began to think about it all, became overwhelmed, and deflected. 

“I really do think you’re making a stink out of what I said. Killing and revenge can be mutually-exclusive actions, but they are so delicious when served together.” 

“Perhaps,” she murmured, letting out a small breath from her nose.

Taking her response at face value, he continued. “Honestly, don’t worry about all these Dead Three worshippers. Enjoy their blood if you want to, I sure am.”

She slowly stilled, her breath light enough to not disturb a feather.

His voice dropped as he doubted himself, “Listen, with–”

“I put on a good show, Astarion, but I’m tired,” she interrupted him softly as she laid her head on top of his, wiping her smudged eyeliner into his white curls.

His lips pulled to a taut line, unsure of how to best respond. His first choice was always to make a joke, and she was morbid enough to enjoy his humor, but definitely not at this moment. He could offer to do all the killing for her; he wouldn’t mind, although the battles to come as they approach the Absolute may prove overwhelming without her participation. 

Or, going against his learned nature to please above all else, he could tell her hard truths.

“We’ve got at least two cults and an elder brain to contend with before we’re done with all of this.” Astarion took his other hand to cup their conjoined fingers. “But we’re so close. Don’t give up just yet.”

“Who said anything about giving up?” She bristled, her voice rising as she spoke. “I’m just looking forward to a morning where I leave my trance without being terrified I’ve hurt someone again.”

“Being tired, giving up. Six of one, half dozen of another,” he retorted, meeting her volume as his hands pull away from hers to gesture, only to return to her hold as his voice lowered. “You can’t lie to me about this… I know it far too intimately.”

She hummed, a light airy thing that contrasted heavily with the tense hold of her muscles.

Silence. 

Neither made an effort to disentangle from the other as they sat in their anger. 

Until he twitched.

“Gods, I hardly need a reflection when I’ve got you,” Astarion breathed, the affection in his voice strong enough to choke him unconscious. “A complaining, stubborn, impatient little wretch.”

He always knew how to make her smile.

“I promised that we will get your freedom, like you helped me get mine. We’re close. Just be patient,” he asked, petting the back of her hand. A twinge of guilt threatened to churn his eternally empty stomach, as it did every time he told this sweet lie of a promise that he knows he can’t guarantee. Her freedom wasn’t as simple as vampiric chains between sire and spawn.

“It’s hard to be patient when there’s so much to look forward to.” Delilah pulled him in closer by his waist, the words turning sour as she said them aloud.

When did imagining the future become so painful?

It had started in the wilderness of the Sword Coast, when she was at her most lost and before he even cared for her in the slightest, in part as an exercise to keep spirits high and hope alive. The first idea he had shared with her was an exaggerated tale of another loveless and passionate tryst, except in a feather bed with Cazador’s head on a spike. The dreams became less grand and more real as feelings progressed, and simultaneously more terrifying. 

She was the first person he truly cared for, the first person to truly care for him. And yet, mortal peril was stalking them both around every corner, snuffing out their dreams before they could even give them life as spoken word. Why would Delilah tell him that she will forsake every god on every plane to be at his side, on adventures or in domestic bliss or whatever else he wanted, for the rest of her days? Why would Astarion tell her that after a brief mortal life and 200 years of slavery, he had so many more firsts to experience and he wanted all of them with her? Saying such things would only cause them more pain should they fail.

She cleared her throat.

“But I will be patient. We’ll figure it out,” she stated with an impostor’s confidence. “And I’ll– I’ll do what I need to do.”

She pressed her ear further into his hair, holding onto his thigh for balance. “Once they’re all dead and we’re free, we’ll have so many nice mornings.”

“Ooh, interesting,” he sang, ever the opportunist, seizing upon a chance to shift in the mood in a less self-pitying direction. A dramatic grimace painted his elegant features as he continued, “I’ve heard the rumors. I don’t even want to think of what sort of hedonistic rituals come after a mass killing with you Bhaalist freaks.”

“I– What? Gods, just–” She thrusted her shoulder up in aggravation, hitting it against his ear rougher than she intended. He yelped and clutched at the side of his head, but even so he seemed proud of himself for riling her up. “Get your mind out of the gutter for five seconds, Astarion.”

“Five seconds?” After a brief moment of dramatized thought, complimented by a hand gesture and a flick of his wrist, he continued the countdown.

“Four…” 

He made a show of removing his gloves, an act that always got her undivided attention. 

“Three…”

Delilah generally had an even and intimidating poker face. However, at this moment, she was failing to keep her amusement and desire under wraps. 

“Two…” 

Astarion firmly grabbed her arms with his trademark mischievous grin.

“One…”

Don't fret, I've already got over 2300 words written for Part 2. Coming soon!

[miraplayssims]

Magdalena’s work days were getting longer and longer. The long hours didn’t bother her, however she knew her parents weren’t all that happy about it. Most days she’d have to run all the way from town to get home in time for supper.

"I´m home!" Magdalena exclaimed when she all but fell through the door.

Eugene threw a quick glance at his winded daughter before getting back to scraping his plate clean, "how gracious of you to finally join us," he teased.

"Yes, yes, very amusing," she said, kissing her parents hello before sitting down at the table, "so, what have I missed?"

After supper when Alice, Magdalena and Theodora finally were done with the dishes, Magdalena cleared her throat.

"I have something to tell you," she said, "I didn´t bring it up at dinner because, well, I don´t know how Marion will react."

Alice studied her daughter´s face, trying to figure out wether the news were good or bad "out with it then, lassie."

"I know I haven´t been home much these last couple months becuase of work, even though I promised you and papa I´d be able to help out just as much as before," Magdalena began, "I feel like that isn´t fair to any of you, especially know that you´re here Theo. What I´m trying to say is, Ms. Billingsley has offered me to move in with her. I think it´s a good idea, it´s one less mouth to feed, and it would give the girl´s more space in our room."

Theodora hugged her friend, "how exciting, Magda!"

Magdalena gave her an appreciative smile, "thank you. What do you think, mama?"

"I´m very happy for you, dear" Alice said, "I´ll speak with your father, don´t worry, I´m certain he´ll be just as pleased."

A week or so later, the day finally came for Magdalena to move out. And although everyone was happy for her, they were all sad to see her go, especially Marion.

"I´ll miss you terribly," the girl frowned, burrying her face in Magdalena´s neck.

"Now, now, it´s only a short walk from town. I´ll come visit all the time, and you can visit me as well!" Magdalena reassured her sister.

"I´ll hold you to that," Alice said when it was her turn to say good bye, "farewell for now my dear girl. I´m so very proud of you. It turns out your father was right all along, that typeweriter was a very smart investment indeed."

[payte]

Gale: Alright, next pose!

Itsuki: I've got an idea.

He turned to face her and silently took her hand, raising her knuckles toward his lips - careful not to graze them but enough to be a fitting pose for the picture. Winnie's heart stopped as she watched him, completely forgetting to pose herself - or even that there was a camera aimed at them in the first place.

[professorhawthorne]

An update and RUMBLE WEEKEND!!

Hey everyone!

Its been a long time since I've posted to this blog but that's because I've been buisy getting life stuff sorted! My post-grad work is chugging along, I got a new job in my field and I'm learning to drive about 10 years late! But I've been playing a ton of pokemon in the mean time! I've got some full odds hunts in generations 3 and 4 on the go to get some fun playthroughs in before bank shuts down (Maybe in April?).

Fig 1. Full odds hunts for Spheal/Snorunt in RSE and Chimchar in platinum!

My luck with full odds hunting has been atrocious until the day of writing this post though. I've put the gen 3 hunt on hold because I was overcome with an urge to play Platinum again and do some pokeradar chaining so I expanded out to 3 consoles and took up soft resetting for Wimpod on the side in Sun.

Fig 2. Triple hunting Chimchar (My resets for Wimpod were done on the black and blue 2DSXL in the pile) ((I also cleaned up my desk finally, feels good))

Unfortunately I passed odds on Wimpod and a soft reset caused my 2DS to freak out and delete the entire game install, fortunately I was juuust in the time window to redownload it from the eShop so I'll pick it back up again some day! Until then though, the hunt for Chimchar continues.

I've also been slowly building up a collection of retro junk that's fun to tinker with! Meet my new CRT and VHS setup! (I'll get a tv unit for it the second I find an era appropriate one!)

Fig 3. He just wants his swamp back

While we're on the topic of retro tech, let me tell you about my favorite latest project! My roomie had a spare wii that he didn't want so I took it, soft-modded it and dressed it up in a pretty see through shell!

Fig 4. A top down view of the console and its first stickers!

Fig 5. A side on view of the transparent shell

I've been using this puppy to catch up on all of the gamecube and wii games I've missed, mostly Colosseum, Gale of Darkness and Resident Evil stuff! However there is one other thing I've been loving~ Pokemon Rumble and its fan mod, Weekend Edition! The mod adds in gen 2 and 3 pokemon that were missing from the base game and there's even a roughly quarterly shiny hunting event called Rumble Weekend where you only hunt in Rumble! The odds are roughly the same as the gen 3 and 4 games (1/8192) but the encounters fly by so fast that shinies feel relatively common.

I participated for the first time this weekend and after only an hour or so of playing I had my first two Rumble Weekend shinies!!

Fig 6. My first Rumble shiny!! A beautiful, healthy Manectric

Fig 7. My second Rumble shiny! A lovely Ourple Swampert!

I wanna try and play more next Rumble weekend but I'm so happy to finally break my shiny drought with two gen 3 gems!! I plan on posting more now that I'm transitioning to a new job with a much less chaotic schedule, see y'all around! <3

[tachvintlogic]

Overall Summary: The Links know about glitches. Hijicks ensue.

Chapter Summary: Our heroes face the final obstacle preventing them from reaching Gale Isle, but what do they find inside the Wind Temple?

Overall Word Count: 75,824

Chapter Word Count: 7520

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Category: Gen

Fandoms: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, Linked Universe - Fandom

Characters: Twilight (Linked Universe), Wild (Linked Universe), Time (Linked Universe), Legend (Linked Universe), Wind (Linked Universe), Warriors (Linked Universe), Sky (Linked Universe), Four (Linked Universe), Hyrule (Linked Universe), Farore (Legend of Zelda), Nayru (Legend of Zelda), Din (Legend of Zelda), Hylia (Legend of Zelda), Dark Link (Linked Universe), Vaati (Legend of Zelda), Ghirahim (Legend of Zelda)

Additional Tags: Glitches, Video Game Mechanics, Fishing, Actor Duping, Item Sliding, Superslide, WindBombs, Item Duplication, Attempt at Humor, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Infinite Sword Glitch, softlock, Game Crash, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Autistic Character, speedrun, Angst

[rolansrighthorn]

About Me📌

Want to join a BG3 discord? Join here! 18+ ONLY! (300+ users strong as of 02/08/2024! Link also updated!) Click here to join a BG3 Fanart and Fanfic server!

Like my writing? Help support me at my Ko-Fi here!

Click here to check out Durge x Gale clips I upload.

Click here to check out my Cameo video I requested from Mr. Taylor asking about Rolan's love language, ideal date, and pet names!

My Writings:

Click here to read "A Second Chance at Love", my Penelope (Tav) x Rolan chapters (3 parts)(NSFW)(FINISHED)

Click here to read "Only Together, With You", my Daryna (OC) x Rolan chapters (long fic, approximated to have 20 chapters when finished.)(NSFW)(ON-GOING)

Click here to read "Love Language", my Lotte (OC) x Rolan chapters (angst, fluff)(1/3 parts published)(SFW)(FINISHED)

Check out my Rolan headcanons here.

Check out my Dammon headcanons here.

Check out my Zevlor headcanons here.

Check out my tiefling headcanons here.

My et cetera:

Click here to view all of my own posts.

Click here to view my (slightly active) twitter.

Click here to view my Carrd (basically same info as here).

Welcome to yet another one of my sideblogs.

Basics: Cal| '94| MN,USA|

I follow/like from my main, felixschokehold. I have another sideblog for books, which is threshholdofescape.

But, you’re here to see which games I play, since it is indeed the theme of this blog. 

The Last of Us Remastered/Part 1

The Last of Us Part 2

Baldur’s Gate 3

Skyrim

Elder Scrolls Online

Red Dead Redemption 2

Detroit: Become Human

For more information, click to see!

I have played the TLOU series multiple times and replay them frequently. My favorite characters are Joel Miller and Abby Anderson. 

I have not finished Baldur’s Gate 3. I have done a slightly evil gen tav (Skotadi) playthrough romancing Astarion, which got to Act III. However, Act III is quite wonky and I was really frothing at the mouth to do a good gen tav (Elise) x Gale romance playthrough, which I have started and am currently in Act II (as of Oct. 21, 2023). Gale is my favorite, and I will delve deeper into my BG3 beginnings in a seperate post at... some point in time.

Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online are more casual for me. I have not been on ESO in a couple years, but if I find a group maybe I’ll hop back on! In both, I play a high elf mage. I have never married anyone, I am always content to have a happy, platonic love with Serana.

I have played RDR2 only once. I did a “good” playthrough and the story destroyed my soul in such a severe way that I have not been able to do another playthrough several years later. I love the game, I love the story, and I do plan to do another playthrough one day. My favorite characters are Arthur and Sean.

I have played Detroit: Become Human a couple times, but have tended to stick with the "good" choices. I would like to do a "bad" playthrough, but we will see! My favorite character is Connor, and everyone else is on the back burner.

This post will be edited and adjusted as time goes on. Thanks for dropping by!