#Red Lighthouse and Lady

[smolavidreader]

You know what my Nier Replicant playthrough has taught me?

You can’t have shit in Seafront.

[astrxealis]

nier replicant has made me sad sooo many times it is unfair af

[talesofesther]

ten reasons not to kiss her

➥ Ch five: The fifth reason

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Reader/fem!OC

Series Summary: Natasha slowly adapts to a life by your side, all the while thinking of all the reasons why she shouldn't kiss you.

A/N: This chapter is one of my favorites from this series. <3

Masterlist | Previous chapter

The hour was late. Natasha didn't know how late, but the moon loomed high in the dark sky, and the streets were empty.

Natasha dragged herself back to her apartment. With each step she took, a new part of her began to hurt. There were no broken bones, but even if there were, she wouldn't have stayed at the medical bay of the compound. Natasha craved a kind of peace that only her little apartment could give her.

Bad days at work happened often. When you're taking down secret military bases of a rogue organization, things hardly go according to plan. Today, Natasha took the brunt of it.

She knew her skin would be all kinds of black and purple under her jacket, and one of her legs hurt more than the other when she walked. There was a considerably deep cut on her lower lip. The red of her hair mixed with the red of blood because of a gash on her forehead.

Natasha clutched at her stomach when the ding of the elevator announced her arrival at the floor she shared with you. Breathing was difficult; each intake of air felt like a punch in the gut. Natasha kept it shallow.

The cheap light of the hallway blinked lazily tonight. For once, an eerie quietness engulfed the air. The old lady across the hall didn't have her news channel on at the max volume. The single father and his kid, who lived a floor down, weren't playing games and laughing with excitement.

It was late. The night felt heavy with silence.

Natasha huffed through her nose, her eyes pooled with tears because of the pain, or something else. She stood alone in the middle of the hallway, stalling. She kept holding her bruised stomach in a sorry attempt at self-soothing. Her only company was the blinking yellow light above her head.

Natasha wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. A tightness ran up her throat; she tried to gulp back the feeling, to no avail. Natasha realized she didn't crave the comfort of a place. She craved the comfort of a person.

Just like all the others, the door to your apartment was closed. In front of it, lay a beige carpet with 'welcome' written on it and a darker print of two dog paws.

Sometimes, Natasha was a selfish person.

Her feet carried her to your door, instead of hers. She grimaced when she wasn't able to lift her left boot off the floor as well as she did for her right. She thought of how she had been trained to operate in the shadows, not on a battlefield. She also thought of the red still dripping from her ledger and how it shouldn't be painless to clean it.

When she raised a clenched fist to your door, Natasha hesitated. Blood coated her knuckles, stuck between the ridges of her skin. A single tear fell past her defences and rolled down her cheek, leaving a clear path between the specks of dust there—she had been so desperate to get back; Natasha forgot to wash her hands, her face.

She felt tainted, she felt wrong. You deserved better than wrong.

Natasha didn't knock on your door. She didn't need to. You opened the door for her anyway.

The sharp breath through your mouth and the widening of your eyes had been enough of a tell for Natasha to know she probably looked even worse than she felt. You took her in slowly; gaze moving from the blood on her lip, to the hand holding her bruised side, and to how she favored one leg while standing.

Natasha remained silent while you observed her, taking notice of the white cardigan you were wearing atop your pajamas with the little sheep on them. You looked like a lighthouse in a tempestuous sea, and Natasha was a lost ship finally finding solace.

As your eyes found hers again, Natasha pursed her lips, causing the cut there to bleed a little more. Mere hours ago, she had fought soldiers and battle tanks head-on. Now, she lowered her chin for you and hoped you'd catch her if she fell.

"I- I heard you coming in. But I didn't hear your door." Your voice, still hoarse from sleep, dropped in concern. You took a step forward, one hand reaching towards Natasha but stopping short of touching. As if afraid to break her. "Natasha… What happened to you?"

The walls were thin. You had seen Natasha a couple of days ago, when she left the apartment; she wondered for a moment if you'd been waiting for her to come back.

Natasha shrugged, with the nonchalance of someone who was holding back tears. "Bad day at work." Her quiet voice burned with rawness.

You sighed, eyes becoming impossibly softer under the cheap yellow light. You reached for Natasha's free hand and took it into yours. Your fingers shook; it was the most unsteady she'd ever seen you be. A permanent line of worry pulled your brows together.

"Come on." You squeezed Natasha's hand with the encouragement you knew she needed. She followed you inside, and you closed the door behind her. There was a tenderness to how you handled Natasha, as if her skin were porcelain. No one had ever treated her like she was someone worth taking care of.

The dimness of the apartment came as a relief for Natasha's tired eyes. The fairy lights hanging by the living room had been the only ones you had turned on, engulfing the room in a cozy and warm glow.

You didn't let go of the spy's hand as you guided her to your adjacent kitchen. Fingers loosely tangled together, Natasha's thumb drew shapes over your knuckles as a silent mantra of gratitude.

It was a dangerous thing to be this attached to something that none of you had dared to label. The thought of being only your friend made Natasha's stomach drop with anxiety and loss. The thought of crossing the line to be something more made her heart race with fear.

All she knew was that she wanted you to stay. Natasha gripped your hand tightly. In a moment of boldness, she raised your fingers to her lips and ghosted a kiss over each of them.

The cut on her mouth stung. Natasha didn't care. Her full lips brushed over your skin, and she bit back a sob. Wetness clung to her eyelashes. Natasha wanted all of you.

Your touch on her forearm brought the redhead back. She lifted her gaze in your general direction but didn't look you in the eyes.

"Alright?" You whispered. Startled by the sudden fragility of the woman in front of you.

Natasha clenched her eyes shut. "Yeah," she sighed, chest tight, and cleared her throat in order for her voice not to come out as tender as she felt. "I'm sorry."

Her body was tired and hurting. A moment of vulnerability that Natasha knew you wouldn't hold against her. What she didn't know was that you wanted to kiss her, too.

After a beat of hesitation at the thought of leaving her alone even for a second, you finally went to your bathroom, searching for a first aid kit you hadn't used in a while and hoped was still there.

Natasha sat down on the stool by your kitchen counter. She had shrugged off her black jacket, leaving only a dark green shirt that did little to cover the galaxy of bruises blossoming on her skin.

Something approached to sniff at her boots then. From the side of her eye, Natasha spotted dark fur and a wagging tail. She smiled easily while leaning down to take the dog's face between her hands. Fingers disappeared in between black fur as Natasha scratched his chin. His tongue lolled out happily.

Brooklyn, you had named the dog. From the looks of it, he had settled in well in your apartment. There was a plush bed just beside your TV, a generous bowl of food, and squeaky toys scattered around. Lucky indeed.

You came back to her, and Natasha turned to you again. You didn't speak much as you took gauze, antiseptics, and painkillers out of the first aid kit.

You filled a cup with fresh water and handed it to Natasha. She gulped down the painkillers obediently.

Tension weighed heavily on your shoulders, you held yourself stiff. Natasha could notice it with nothing but a glance. It dawned on her that while a walk in the park on a sunny day had been novel for her, treating your neighbor who had just fought a small army alongside Tony Stark and Captain America was novel for you.

Natasha felt an overwhelming need to apologize for something that probably wasn't her fault. She held her tongue. She could already picture how you'd roll your eyes if she spoke.

There was a slight tremble to your fingers when you motioned for Natasha to make space, and you came to stand between her knees. You took hold of her chin between your thumb and pointer finger, holding her steady while you cleaned the blood coating her lower lip.

White gauze steadily became pink, and then red. Natasha barely felt the sting of the antiseptic on the open cut on her face. Because you were so close. Closer than you had ever been. Natasha could count each freckle on your skin, each speck of color around your blown pupils. Her breath fanned over your lips in shaky puffs.

Your hand was warm where you held her, thumb gently guiding her chin down and to the side. You inspected the gash on her forehead, and a frown appeared on your features. A new gauze became red with blood. You absentmindedly pushed a few loose strands of hair behind Natasha's ear when you were done.

Natasha would not tell you, but there was no one else on this earth and beyond who she allowed to touch her the way you do.

Subconsciously, Natasha's hands reached out to clutch at the fabric of your white cardigan. She thought about the blood on her knuckles staining its fabric in red, too. You didn't seem to care. Your touch was gentle and grounding, your hand had moved to hold her jaw, thumb stroking the corner of her lips.

Natasha's eyes became half-lidded as she lost herself in you. Your warmth. Your perfume. Your tender touch against her skin. You, you, you.

Natasha wanted to kiss you.

You touch her like she's fragile. Maybe for you, she is. And if she breaks, she won't be able to put herself back together again. For the fifth time, she knew she could not kiss you.

⋆* ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Next chapter will be out soon.

Natasha’s taglist is open, let me know if you’d like to be added. Or you can follow @talesofesther-library and turn notifications on to know when I’ve posted a new story/chapter.

Thank you for reading this chapter. Feedback and reblogs are literally what keeps me motivated to continue posting here, so I’d appreciate it if you could take some time to reblog and comment. <3

You do not have permission to repost, copy, or translate my works on any platforms (even with credit), please respect.

[stevesgother]

Little Red Lighthouse - S.H

Pairing - Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Warnings - exes to lovers, second chance romance, angst, slow burn, hurt/comfort, idiots in love, so much pining, cursing, alcohol & drug use, mental health themes

WC - 1.3k

AN - this was originally gonna be a super long oneshot, but in typical emma fashion I'm making it into another mini series

Divider by the amazing @strangergraphics <3

The Alcott. That was your favorite bar in Hawkins; and it was all you could think about sitting outside this shitty bar in Chicago. A mere few hours from home, and yet entirely too far. Just having finished school; it was an education completely orchestrated by your parents. A college you didn’t want to attend, a degree you had no enthusiasm for.

This was how you seemed to be spending most of your days post-undergrad: sulking and ruminating. Everything you could’ve had, but don’t.

–

“Steve, this is insane. That’s like a 15 foot drop!” 

You say as you peer over the bridge, shivering slightly in just your underclothes. It was only the cusp of Spring, the weather in Indiana hardly what you would consider “warm”.

“Oh c’mon. You said you would!” He barked a laugh.

“I told my mother that if you jumped off a bridge that I would too as a hypothetical.” You deadpan, even though a smile still tugs the corners of your mouth.

He looked lovely, always did. Moles adorning his cheeks, scattering their way down his back and into his boxers where your vision couldn’t reach. He shot you a grin only reserved for you.

“3..2..1 JUMP!”

“Wait!-”

Steve gripped your hand, pulling you down with him into the icy water below the bridge. Unable to decipher if the sinking feeling in your gut was from the rapid fall of his skin on yours. The shock of the bitterly cold water knocked the wind out of you.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” His smile gleaming at you. Water dripped from his eyelashes, beading on the apples of his cheeks.

 “It’s freezing!” you gasp as you surface. He starts to grip your shoulders in his warm hands, then pauses. A sudden nervousness settled and he was staring. You nervously wondered if there was something else in the water with you both. He never broke his stare. Your best friend for a million lifetimes, beautiful as ever. Looking at you as if you hung the moon just for him.

“I think I'm in love with you.”

–

When Steve finally peeled open his eyes and glanced at the blinking red of the alarm clock it read ‘3:00 PM’. His breath tasted of stale liquor as he slowly rose from his unmade bed. Skull pounding, he blindly reached for the painkillers he had made a habit of keeping on his nightstand, for afternoons like this.

Your old friend group planned a ‘welcome home’ party in anticipation for your return to Hawkins. Where you had gone to college out of state and made a new life for yourself, Steve hadn’t seemed to be able to keep his ahead above the violent current that was the trauma he endured here, in your hometown.

--

As you rested on the train back to Indiana, walkman in hand, you felt an air of nausea.You had started to regret leaving your car at your parents house 4 years ago; unsure whether the knot you felt in your gut was the result of motion sickness, or the thought of having to face him again.

Admittedly you were excited to see your friends again. You hadn’t come home for Christmas, for Thanksgiving, not even for summer breaks – always opting to stay as far away from that living nightmare as possible. You told yourself little lies. That it wasn’t because Steve Harrington still resided there, and with him, everything you lost. Everything you know you can never get back.

--

The air in Steve’s office was stiff and smelled of stale coffee. Robin sits in a less than lady-like position across from him in a chair unofficially designated for her. A plaque that reads “Chief” sat crooked between them from where Robin had set down the paper bag containing their lunch.

“You’re going to have to face her at some point, Steve.” Her voice snaps him out of his dissociative state.

“Yeah, I got it.” He sighs irritably, all traces of enthusiasm drained from his tone.

“I’m just saying,” she starts, “it's been four years. I’m sure she’s moved on, man. No bad blood.” It’s meant to be reassuring, but she doesn’t understand that that's entirely the problem. He gives her a skeptical stare. “Look, we’ll all be there. You have a ton of buffer people. Just stop by for a few minutes? For me?” The childish pout she gives in an attempt to guilt-trip is enough to push him over the edge.

“Rob- okay, fine. Stop making that face. For an hour. Not a second longer.” He points a finger at her, not unkindly.

–

As your car crunches over the gravel in the parking lot of Robin’s apartment complex, you can’t help but notice it’s already filled with cars despite you being perfectly on time. All the windows you knew belonged to her unit were lit a glowing yellow behind sheer curtains, allowing you glimpses of mingling silhouettes. You wonder briefly if this was intentional, or if in your never-ending brain fog, you managed to jumble the times.

A quick glance around the lot reveals that your friends still have the same cars they did all those years ago. Jonathan’s Ford LTD, Nancy’s Volkswagen Cabrio, and an achingly familiar maroon BMW 733i. Your heart jumps to your throat when you see it, accompanied by a sharp twist of betrayal in your chest as you don’t recall Robin ever mentioning he would be here. You suppose you can’t blame her.

You stop to take several deep breaths at the front door. You can hear the bass of an old, classic tune bumping inside and you try to time your breathing with it. In three, hold three, out three, and repeat. You raise your fist to knock before thinking it silly, so you just give the knob a tentative twist and walk in.

The room erupts in ‘Hey!’’s and ‘There she is!’’s. It’s a relief to realize they don’t hate your guts, even though they’ve always made it clear that they don’t. A nauseating guilt settles over you as you’re reminded of how long you’ve left them with barely any word from you at all– the pain of this town and everything that happened in it just too much to bear; even if they were your best friends.

Back then, talking to them sounded like long, mucousy vines that strangled and trapped. It sounded like the bitter cold and emptiness of your hometown mirrored just beneath your feet. It sounded like watching chunks of flesh be ripped from the stomach of the boy you loved. It sounded like his screams for your help and you just couldn’t– you needed time.

Now though, as they wrap you in hugs and you smell the homey scent of your best friends apartment, it feels less like then and more like now. Over Nancy’s shoulder, slightly obscured by her usually wild curls, you catch the eye of the one person not dogpiling you, and fight the grimace threatening to surface. You don’t hate Steve, not by any sense of the word– you just can’t look at his stupid, beautiful face without remembering what you did to him.

When everyone disperses, satisfied with their greetings, you can really take in Steve’s appearance in front of you. The years haven’t been unkind to him, but he looks tired. Day old, maybe two, stubble shadows his usually bright face. He fills out the red sweater and light wash Levi’s he wears nicely. You think he’ll always have that boyish Harrington charm, but he looks more like a man than when you left him.

You walk towards him hesitantly.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

[dereks-unrelenting-heart]

Top 10 SFTH Characters

I told y'all it was coming, and here it is; my Top 10 favorite characters in the SFTH universe

10. Peter (The Milkman)

This kid knows how to twist a fucking knife, huh? He doesn’t even know what’s going on and somehow he manages to metaphorically stab David 37 times in the chest /ref. Peter is also my favorite example of Tom playing a traumatized child, he just does it so well here. I genuinely love the scene where David tells him his mom's not happy and he immediately apologizes and wants to go Go-Karting with her. Idk how Tom can portray that kind of character that well, but I'm glad we get to see it so frequently- Plus it was iconic of him to sing 'Tomorrow' twice, once while he was running for his life.

9. Mario the Sheep (The Lighthouse)

Everyone’s favorite inbred, part-human, cocaine using sheep that loses his mind (alongside Sam) throughout the storyline. There's not much to say about it other than the fact I love comic relief characters and who's more comic relief than this guy? It was also fun to watch Sam slowly die inside once the sheep was made a main character, that was great-

8. Marty (The Evil Make-A-Wish Kid)

Another instance of Sam’s portrayal and delivery making his character memorable as hell. The smirk and the voice he chose to use for all of his lines make Marty one of my favorite villains in their plays (OLM doesn’t count, I see her as more morally grey than anything). He's a great combination of being played for laughs and genuinely doing evil things. This kid lights his mom on fire and all he has to say about it is "I'm gonna miss games when I'm dead." It might be my favorite line in that play tbh, along with "Congratulations. You killed the kid"

7. Andrew (All Eyes On Nigel)

Along with the Janae type nerds (spoiler for later 🤫), I also have a soft spot for the naive/inexperienced characters, especially when they get a little fucked up by the end of their storyline. Andrew is a prime example of this in the SFTH universe, being all excited about his job as an officer, before being taken hostage and being given drugs starting to sound like a favorite character of mine from a different fandom...

6. Donnie (The Detective v The Christmas Tree Bandits)

THE ADHD icon. He’s far from the only SFTH character with diagnosed ADHD and idk about you but he’s the representation I wanted fr- and now he’s dead :( Even if his death wasn't as emotional of a scene as y'all made it out to be, it still makes me sad and I will be living in denial about it with the rest of you for while.

5. Janae (The Neighbor's Under The Bed)

Janae is the textbook definition of the ‘character way too smart for their age to an unrealistic level’, therefore she has to make an appearance on my favorites list. She also has the line "My Seismogram IS TRUE" which is such a good quotable line, I'm never getting over that-

4. Jimmy (Toby’s Secret Pocket)

Ah, the Fan Favorite Tom character who can’t get through a door if his life depended on it. Who can blame the audience for latching onto him? "I was just gonna say it's the racism" "I get lonely sometimes" "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW" I mean, how can we be expected to not love him?

3. Old Lady Marjorie (The Unrelenting Aubergine)

I think everyone knows why she’s here. 1) She's another villain/morally grey character from Sam, 2) At least half of her witchery is just drugs, and 3) She slaps AJ- I mean James- 3 times, causing Sam- I mean Marjorie- to turn bright red from laughter. Absolute Cinema.

2. Amanda (Clarissa's DIY Wedding)

Tom’s other hopeless romantic gay character, I’m sensing a pattern in my favs- I've mentioned how much I love that Tom went straight for 'yearning lesbian' with this one in my other post, but I'm gonna talk about it in more detail because I can. She loves Clarissa so so much, but because she doesn't think the feelings are reciprocated (true or not-) she will make sure Clarissa and Mark have their wedding and that, above all, Clarissa is happy. This fact makes me love her more, but also makes me so very sad..

There were a few characters that didn't quite make it to the Top 10, so before we go to Number 1, here's a few:

Honorable Mentions

Scottish Robin (The Midnight Mystery) He would've been #10 but I had to add Janae so he got demoted

Aside from the general chaos he is, I love Robin from a meta standpoint, because it’s one of those moments that shows that Luke and Sam have the same exact sense of humor. Luke 100% did the “WE’RE GOING DOWN TO CHIPPY” bit purely to make Sam laugh, and boy did it work. Also the joy in Robin/Luke screaming “BATMAN” at the top of his lungs is great, he is in his element lmao

Caravan Brothers (No, I Always Loved That Caravan!)

Before I realized they’re called the Caravan Brothers in the fandom, I fully just called them the incest brothers because I think that gets the vibe across. Technically, I think the O’Hands Brothers would also be accurate. Weirdest fucking brothers I’ve ever seen, but in an iconic way. Besides, I always love another chance for Luke to go gremlin mode for a character.

Big Hans (Oh My God, Is This A Joke?)

So he might've made it to the main list, but something about putting a nazi character in the top 10 wasn't sitting right with me, so he’s in the honorable mentions instead (At least it's not Xavier-) To be clear I just like how he was immediately introduced as a 'pocket-sized aryan' that was absolutely fucking Ze Blackberry, then in his next scene his vibe had shifted and he was oddly fond of the French accent/language for some reason?? “Don’t make friends with them!” “Why not? :(” Bro was literally just happy to be there.

1. Derek (The Unrelenting Aubergine)

Surprising no one, Derek Gangles is everything to me. I have no idea what makes me like him more than any of their other romantic characters, there’s just something about how Tom plays him that makes him so endearing. I think part of it is how he seems to be constantly in awe and admiration of Titch, loving him in such a (relatively) innocent way. “Are we gonna have kids?” I can hear the puppy eyes in his voice, are you kidding me??

[sadjestergirll]

SONGS THAT REMIND ME OF WELCOME HOME CHARACTERS ‼️

Barnaby B. Beagle

Fat funny friend - Maddie Zahm

Sucker - Jonas Brothers

How long - Charlie Puth

Candy - Robbie Williams

Cake by the ocean - DNCE

Perfect to me - Anne-Marie

Sorry - Justin Bieber

Rude - MAGIC!

I can’t decide - Scissor Sisters

Louise - TV Girl

Julie Joyful

Call me maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen

Your Reality - Dan Salvato

Jump up, Super Star! - VGR, Jenny

Falling for ya - Grace Phipps

FANCY - TWICE

Sally Starlet

The Man - Taylor Swift

Girls - MARINA

I / Me / Myself - Will Wood

Alejandro - Lady Gaga

Take a hint - Night Inn

Superstar - Toy-Box

Judas - Lady Gaga

Eddie dear

Heaven knows I’m miserable now - The smiths

Two Time - Jack Stauber’s Micropop

Love Grows - Edison Lighthouse

Boys Don’t Cry - The Cure

Head over heels - Tears for Fears

Good old fashioned lover boy - Queen (2011)

Frank Frankly

Eddie my love - The Chordettes

Your stupid face - Kaden MacKay

Despair - leo.

Somebody’s watching me - Rockwell

I do adore - Mindy Gledhill

Wally Darling

Posin - Glenn Gatsby

Oh Klahoma - Jack Stauber

Puppet boy - DEVO

Livin’ in the sunlight, Lovin’ in the moon light - Tiny Tim

The red means I love you - Madds Buckley

Honeypie - JAWNY

Another Believer - Rufus Wainwright

Poppy Partridge

Moral of the story - Ashe

Turn it down - OR3O

Home - Cavetown

Rises the moon - Liana Flores

Howdy Pillar

SPIDER WEB - Melanie Martinez

Please please please let me get what I want - The smiths

Charlie’s Inferno - That Handsome Devil

Somethin’ stupid - Frank sinatra, Nancy sinatra

Out of touch - Daryl Hall & John Oates

. . .

Another random post, I’m bored guysss, but yeah these songs honestly remind me of these guys 🙏

(All art not mine ‼️)

[someshakespearequote]

Okay, I don't want to give airtime to assholes, but let's unpack this a little.

On the left, for the sexy way things used to be, we have:

Concept art for a Qunari woman, which was shown next to a Qunari guy wearing about as little. This didn't look like how Qunari looked in DAO! Also, this isn't actually a character! I understand that the guys making this video would prefer that women be objects of their desire rather than actual people in any capacity, but this was just an example piece!

Art for Morrigan looking like Little Red Riding Hood -- again, not actually how she looked in the game.

Leliana with a ridiculous glow-up because this is how she looked in the Urn of Sacred Ashes trailer, not in the actual game.

Isabela, okay, you got me, this one is actually an in-game asset, except that no, do not cite the DA2 ladies to me, witch. I was there when they were written. I am old enough to remember when DA2 shipped, and the spiritual ancestors of this asshole posted comments on messageboards saying that DA2 had no attractive romanceable women, because Bethany was your sister, Merrill had elven features, and Isabela was, according to these sad incels, "too exotic." I remember this because I remember saying, "If the dirty-talking sexually liberated rogue with sun-kissed skin and a lip piercing who runs around with no pants is not up to your standards, your standards are bad."

Meanwhile, on the right, for the apparent current non-sexiness, we have:

Morrigan, who a) looks great, to the point where some people are saying she should look older (not me -- give Morrigan the Cate Blanchett/Rachel Weisz "inexplicably hotter as she gets older" treatment, you go, girl); b) isn't a romance option this time; and c) is actually an in-game asset, unlike Little Red Concept Art over on the left.

Neve, using concept art that was meant to show the costume and not the attitude. Because when you see Neve in game sashaying up to you after freezing bad guys, she looks great, and when I saw the bit of her in the lighthouse with her scarf untied and her blouse unbuttoned, I legitimately forgot what the conversation was about. (And perish angry, ableist haters. People with prostheses get to be sexy, too.)

Taash, looking great. We still don't know what's going on with the whole gender deal there, but as someone who was lucky enough to take one random college elective course the same quarter that half of the varsity women's volleyball team decided to do so, if your spectrum for finding a woman hot does not include women who are tall and have muscles, then that's a you problem, not a them problem.

One random chargen Qunari, which, whatever.

Notes about people being trans, which, as with the ableism, perish angry. Trans women are women. And if Taash ends up being non-binary or some other non-cis-woman option, and that is what turns you off and not the muscles, then again, that's a you problem, not a them problem, and those of us who can like boobs even when they're on someone who isn't a cis woman will be over here with Ruby Rose and Demi Lovato.

Oddly not present on the horribly unsexy right:

Bellara, who is adorkable and also giving Neve a run for her money at "most distracting collarbones in the Lighthouse."

Harding, whose smile lights up the room in the scenes we've seen so far and who was called out by fans as someone they wanted back as a romance option after people saw her in DAI, which was before her glow-up.

Like, I understand that the ideal right thing to do is to tell these jerks that the companions of Veilguard are deep and fully realized characters, and judging them just based on which ones you wanna bang is asshole behavior... but this is a Dragon Age game. It is, as the devs once joked, a dating sim with a small "save the world" minigame you do between scenes. And by those standards, the women of Veilguard (either including Taash, or and also Taash, depending on how that goes) look fantastic. I don't know who I'm gonna romance yet, because I fall for a character more while I'm doing quests with them and getting to know them, but this is a squad with many flavors of gorgeous. Sorry it has character art that includes, you know, character and not the creepy sex doll look of one of those Steam games that includes disclaimers about everyone being of legal age and none of the girls being actually related to you.

It's not a them problem, assholes. It's a you problem.

[the-writerwoman]

Plot twist: I’m not going away this weekend now.

Plot twist: I started writing the Lighthouse keeper Logan/ Marine biologist Wade, because I am terrible and it wouldn’t leave me alone 😆

The first bit is where Logan has been watching Wade a couple of days and interacted with him. He thinks he’s ridiculous….

The bit after is Wade being cute.

Logan frowned into his coffee.

Why couldn’t he stop watching this guy? There was something about the way Wade moved, the way he practically glowed with enthusiasm for something as small and seemingly insignificant as crabs.

Logan couldn’t wrap his head around it. He’d spent the last decade of his life by the ocean, and he’d never looked at it the way Wade did, like it was full of secrets waiting to be uncovered. He knew it for what it was.

Dangerous.

He sipped his coffee as he watched Wade move between two different pools, his bright red waterproof hard to miss along with his yellow wellington boots. He shook his head, muttering under his breath. “Ridiculous.”

In five minutes he had put his coffee down, grabbed his jacket off the hook and left out the door.

———————————

“Alright, see this little guy?” Wade pointed to a crab sitting half-buried in the sand at the edge of the pool. “And look at the size of that claw—it’s massive compared to the rest of him, right?”

Logan tilted his head, his curiosity getting the better of him. “Yeah, so?”

“So,” Wade said, his voice brimming with excitement, “that’s his courtship claw. He uses it to wave at females during mating season. It’s like his version of a pickup line. The bigger the claw, the better his chances of impressing the ladies.”

Logan frowns. “You telling me crabs flirt?”

“Absolutely,” Wade said, grinning. “They’re basically the Casanovas of the tide pool.”

Logan snorted.

“But it gets even better,” Wade continued, leaning closer to the pool. “See how he’s digging that little burrow? He’ll clean it up real nice and tidy, and if a female likes his moves, she’ll follow him back to check out his bachelor pad. If it meets her standards, boom—crab romance.”

Logan stared at the crab, then at Wade, who was practically vibrating with enthusiasm.

“Romantic crabs,” Logan muttered, shaking his head. “That’s a new one.”

“Hey, don’t knock it,” Wade said, jabbing Logan playfully in the side with his pencil. Logan surprised himself by letting him. “This is cutting-edge science right here.”

Logan smirked, glancing at the notebook in Wade’s hand. “You write all this stuff down?”

“Of course,” Wade said proudly. “Every detail counts. And who knows? Maybe one day I’ll write a bestselling book about the secret lives of crabs, and you’ll get to say you knew me before I was famous.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’ll keep an eye out for that.”

[readwritejayy]

Dinner Date

(Read on AO3 here)

“Darling, is something wrong?” Emmrich was gazing at her with that sweet, worried look. “You don’t have to drink the wine if you don’t wish.”

“No, no it isn’t that,” Rook said, waving her hand. “I just…I didn’t know this was a date.”

Words: 1,103

Notes: throwing my hat in the ring of “writing fanfic for something that isn’t even out yet”. yes i’m also smitten by the gentleman necromancer and his skeleton companion.

Yes, obviously she felt bad for misunderstanding his request. In Rook’s defense, Emmrich had asked if he could “steal her away” for a night when the team wasn’t running left and right dealing with world-ending problems. And given Emmrich’s propensity for speaking so “proper” (which was evidently rubbing off on her a bit), that could have meant any number of things!

No it couldn’t.

Unfortunately she realized that too late, which was why Rook was currently seated in the kitchen of the Lighthouse in a full suit of armor, while Emmrich was dressed in a handsome white button-up, vest, and trousers. His usual coat was missing, but Rook wasn’t about to complain about seeing more of his slender yet poised form.

When she walked into the kitchen, expecting a quick conversation or something to do with Manfred, she was startled to find the kitchen had been transformed. The lamps were dimmed, the counters were lined with candles meticulously lit and arranged, and the little table now had a vase with a single embrium flower.

Emmrich stood beside one of the chairs, wringing his gloved hands together. When she had started to explain her attire, Emmrich just wore that lovesick smile on his face.

“Yes, you do look every bit as magnificent as you do when you’re wielding that axe and cleaving through darkspawn,” he’d sighed.

So Rook took her seat (after Emmrich had pulled out her chair for her, of course). Manfred walked over from his place in the corner. He wore a bow tie around his bony neck. As he walked, the two wine bottles nestled in his pelvic bone clinked together.

He pulled the two bottles out and waved them enticingly, tilting his head.

“Yes Manfred, thank you,” Emmrich replied. “White wine for myself, and a red for the lady?”

Rook shrugged and gave an apologetic look. “I’m not much of a wine drinker myself.”

“Then you could give it a try tonight,” he suggested. While he spoke, Manfred filled the glass Emmrich held, then the glass in front of Rook. “A nice red is a great place to start, but you’re welcome to a sip from my glass as well.”

The conversation flowed as easily as it always did in Emmrich’s presence. She hardly noticed when Manfred brought out their dinners—a pasta dish Rook was certain she wouldn’t be able to pronounce but would probably sound delightful coming from Emmrich’s lips.

It was lovely. And Rook couldn’t help but feel like she’d somehow tricked Emmrich into thinking she was the kind of person that was “wined and dined”. Yes she’d made a mistake in showing up in full armor, but even if she hadn’t misunderstood, it wasn’t like she had anything fancier to wear. The alternative was the casual clothes she wore under her armor with blood and sweat stains that still didn’t come out.

“Darling, is something wrong?” Emmrich was gazing at her with that sweet, worried look. “You don’t have to drink the wine if you don’t wish.”

“No, no it isn’t that,” Rook said, waving her hand. “I just…I didn’t know this was a date.”

His brow raised. Emmrich set down his fork and wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin.

“My dear, I deeply apologize for the misunderstanding,” he explained. “I should have been more clear. You must think me a horrible cad. I can walk you back if you’d like to go…or perhaps you wouldn’t like that—“

“No I didn’t mean…that isn’t what I…” Rook sighed. She rubbed her face with her hands; everything she said always came out sounding boorish next to Emmrich. With a clumsy hand, she gestured to her attire. “I was trying to explain, that’s why I showed up in full armor. I mean, not that I have anything better.”

“Ah.” Emmrich visibly relaxed and resumed eating. “You hardly need to explain yourself to me. I certainly wasn’t going to complain.”

“But you went to all this work! You lit all these candles, you decorated, you made dinner—“

Bones rattled angrily in a dark corner of the kitchen.

“Ah, sorry,” Emmrich said, holding up a hand. “Manfred made the dinner. I ran out of time while I was lighting all the candles. And…I’m not the best cook, though it shames me to admit.”

A breath of laughter escaped her lips.

“You put in a lot of effort,” she continued. “And I haven’t had that before. And I showed up in the same rusty armor I wear for days at a time. And I don’t know how to show you that I’m entirely out of my element but I really appreciate all of this.”

Rook drew in a long breath after her ramble.

“And I like you. A lot.”

Emmrich’s face lit up, his expression rivaling his excitement when they stumbled onto the ruins of a catacomb weeks prior.

“I admit I’m happy to simply be graced with your company. Perhaps I also…quite enjoy the sight of you in that armor,” he said. “But if I could dare ask for more, I’d rather like to walk you to home.”

After dinner, he did just that; he took her hand on his arm and walked her the whole fifteen feet to the door of her room. They stood in front of the closed door silently for a few moments. Rook shuffled from foot to foot.

“You know, you could come in if you like,” she offered. Then she made a face. “I guess coffee is back in the kitchen…I don’t know, it seemed like the thing people say after a date.”

Emmrich chuckled. “I’m afraid I have to decline; it would be improper after a first date.”

“Even if a lady offers? You’re nothing if not a gentleman,” Rook replied, grinning. “Very well. Could I at least give you a kiss?”

Before he could reply, Rook leaned over and pressed a kiss to Emmrich’s cheek. His face visibly flushed.

From the doorway of the kitchen came the sound of bones knocking together as Manfred clapped happily.

“Manfred, please,” Emmrich groaned. He turned his focus back to Rook, taking her hand and kissing her bruised knuckles. “Good night, my dear.”

She watched Emmrich walk away, Manfred ambling on behind him. She still wasn’t sure how she’d caught the attention of the handsome necromancer, nor how she’d managed to hold his attention long enough to convince him she had something worthwhile to give in return. But if he still liked her after tonight, she certainly wouldn’t argue.

She’d just…double check next time he invited her to dinner.

[thethirdromana]

Visiting Whitby with Mina Murray

Last year I illustrated Mina's description of Whitby a selection of modern photos. This year, I thought I might go one better, so here are some views of Whitby as Mina might have seen it in the 1890s*.

[*or as close as I could manage.]

"This is a lovely place. The little river, the Esk, runs through a deep valley, which broadens out as it comes near the harbour."

"A great viaduct runs across, with high piers, through which the view seems somehow further away than it really is."

[I don't actually know the age of this photo, but it looks about right.]

"The valley is beautifully green, and it is so steep that when you are on the high land on either side you look right across it, unless you are near enough to see down."

"The houses of the old town—the side away from us—are all red-roofed, and seem piled up one over the other anyhow..."

"... like the pictures we see of Nuremberg."

[this is Nuremberg sometime between 1890 and 1906]

"Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby Abbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the scene of part of "Marmion," where the girl was built up in the wall."

"It is a most noble ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits; there is a legend that a white lady is seen in one of the windows."

"Between it and the town there is another church, the parish one, round which is a big graveyard, all full of tombstones."

"This is to my mind the nicest spot in Whitby, for it lies right over the town, and has a full view of the harbour and all up the bay to where the headland called Kettleness stretches out into the sea."

"It descends so steeply over the harbour that part of the bank has fallen away, and some of the graves have been destroyed. In one place part of the stonework of the graves stretches out over the sandy pathway far below. There are walks, with seats beside them, through the churchyard; and people go and sit there all day long looking at the beautiful view and enjoying the breeze."

[this painting by William Lionel Wyllie is from 1922, so a bit later, but I thought it was too pretty not to include. St Mary's and the graveyard are at the top left, and you can see the steep descent below.]

"The harbour lies below me, with, on the far side, one long granite wall stretching out into the sea, with a curve outwards at the end of it, in the middle of which is a lighthouse. A heavy sea-wall runs along outside of it. On the near side, the sea-wall makes an elbow crooked inversely, and its end too has a lighthouse. Between the two piers there is a narrow opening into the harbour, which then suddenly widens."

"It is nice at high water; but when the tide is out it shoals away to nothing, and there is merely the stream of the Esk, running between banks of sand, with rocks here and there."

[from Horne's Guide to Whitby, 1897]

"Outside the harbour on this side there rises for about half a mile a great reef, the sharp edge of which runs straight out from behind the south lighthouse. At the end of it is a buoy with a bell, which swings in bad weather, and sends in a mournful sound on the wind. They have a legend here that when a ship is lost bells are heard out at sea." 

"The steps are a great feature on the place. They lead from the town up to the church, there are hundreds of them—I do not know how many—and they wind up in a delicate curve; the slope is so gentle that a horse could easily walk up and down them."

And a bonus - might Mina have bought one of these postcards for Jonathan?

[they are from 1903, so the answer to this is "no", but again I thought they were too pretty not to include.]

[nerdygaymormon]

Merry Queermas

I have a number of queer playlists, so thought I'd add one for Christmas.

Lesbians

Brandi Carlile - The Heartache Can Wait

girl in red - two queens in a king sized bed

k.d. lang - You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (with Glee cast)

Indigo Girls - It Really Is (A Wonderful Life)

Jane Lynch - A Swingin' Little Christmas Time

Joan Jett - Little Drummer Boy

LADIES - Ladies, It's Cold Outside

Mary Lambert - Christmas Cookies (feat. Wyatt Hermansen)

Melissa Etheridge - It's Christmas Time

Raven Symoné - My Christmas Wish

Tegan and Sara - Make You Mine This Season

Gays

Adam Lambert - Please Come Home for Christmas

Barry Manilow - (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays

Bearforce 1 - Christmas is Here

Billy Porter - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Calum Scott - White Christmas

Darren Hayes - Last Christmas

David Archuleta - Christmas Every Day

Elton John - Step Into Christmas; Merry Christmas (with Ed Sheeran)

Erasure - Make It Wonderful (Bright Light Bright Light Remix)

Frankie Goes to Hollywood - The Power of Love

Johnny Mathis - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Joshua Bassett - The Perfect Gift

Lil Nas X - Holiday

Luther Vandross - Every Year, Every Christmas

Matt Rogers - Also It's Christmas

Mister Chase and Chris Salvatore - Baby, It's Cold Outside

MNEK - Stopped Believing in Santa

Neon Trees - Holiday Rock

Pet Shop Boys - It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas

Queen - Thank God It's Christmas

Ricky Martin - Ay Ay Ay It's Christmas

Rufus Wainwright - What Are You Doing New Year's Eve

Sam Smith - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas; The Lighthouse Keeper

Todrick Hall - Bells, Bows, Gifts, Trees

Wham! - Last Christmas

Wrabel - First Winter

Bi/Pan

Anne-Marie - Think of Christmas

Crystal Bowersox - Coming Out for Christmas

Demi Lovato - I'll Be Home for Christmas

Green Day - Xmas Time Of The Year

Jessie J - Man With the Bag

Phoebe Bridgers - If We Make It Through December

Sia - Santa's Coming For Us; Candy Cane Lane; Snowman

Trans, Gender Nonconforming, Fluid, Nonbinary

Bebe Rexha - Count on Christmas

Big Freedia - Make It Jingle

Miley Cyrus - Happy Xmas (War is Over)

Shea Diamond -Blame it on Christmas (feat. Cyndi Lauper); Mrs. Claus

Drag Queens

Alaska - Everyday is Christmas; Let It Snow (Ivan and Peter Mix)

Alaska, Courtney Act & Willam - Dear Santa, Bring Me A Man

Bob the Drag Queen - Sandra Claus

Detox - This is How We Jew It

Ginger Minj - Winter Wonderland (feat. Gidget Galore)

Manila Luzon, Peppermint & Alaska - We Three Queens

Nina West - Calista

Priyanka - Sleigh My Name

RuPaul - Hey Sis, It's Christmas

The Divas

Amy Winehouse - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Ariana Grande - December; Santa Tell Me; Winter Things;

Ava Max - 1 Wish; Christmas Without You

Barbra Streisand - Jingle Bells?

Bette Midler - Cool Yule

Britney Spears - My Only Wish (This Year)

Carly Rae Jepsen - It's Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries; Mittens

Céline Dion - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Cher - DJ Play a Christmas Song

Christina Aguilera - The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting Over An Open Fire)

Diana Ross & The Supremes - My Favorite Things

Eurythmics - Winter Wonderland

Kacey Musgraves - Glittery (feat. Troye Sivan)

Katy Perry - Cozy Little Christmas

Kelly Clarkson - Underneath the Tree

Kylie Minogue - Every Day's Like Christmas

Leona Lewis - One More Sleep

Little Mix - One I've Been Missing

Lizzo - Never Felt Like Christmas

Madonna - Santa Baby

Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas is You; Oh Santa

Meghan Trainor - Holidays (feat. Earth, Wind & Fire)

Olivia Rodrigo - River

Taylor Swift - Christmas Tree Farm

————————————————————

Link to Spotify Playlist of these songs

Link to My Queer Playlist - Part 1 songs from 1939 to 1999

Link to My Queer Playlist - Part 2 songs from 2000 to 2015

Link to My Queer Playlist - Part 3 songs from 2016 to 2019

Link to My Queer Playlist - Part 4 songs from 2021 to present

Link to my Queer Disney Songs Playlist

Link to my K-Pop Queer Playlist

Link to my Queer Religious Playlist

[quibbs126]

Abyss Monarch/Octopus x electric eel

Got another one done today, this is Firefly Squid Cookie

I was gonna say that this one was the first to have a “new” character at the time, aka one that only existed after I started, but no, apparently that honor goes to the request for Scorpion/Prune Juice

Though interestingly enough you can tell that this was from the beginning of the Wandercrab update because the anon isn’t sure whether the name is Abyss Monarch or Octopus, since we weren’t really sure the name situation until the second half. I also vaguely recall saying this anon had foresight since this was before abysseel blew up

Anyways sorry, let’s get into Firefly Squid herself now

So Firefly here works as the lighthouse keeper in Wandercrab, as well as generally just checking to make sure the lights work. She has a particular affinity for light, possibly due to her own bioluminescence

She’s generally a very chill lady, someone you can just talk to about your struggles while she patiently listens and gives you advice. Plenty of residents go up to her while on the job (since that’s what she’s usually doing) to do just that. She’s not one of particular high energy though, choosing to spend her off time either relaxing over a drink or taking naps

However, you should never try to approach her when there’s a particular absence of light. You may see something you’d rather wish you hadn’t…

Anyways, now let’s discuss design

So Firefly Squid’s name comes from the firefly squid itself, which I got as a suggestion. It’s a cephalopod like Abyss Monarch, and it glows like Electric Eel (or at least the Cookie himself). I also learned today that it’s apparently edible, so I guess it fits in even more with being living food

The original name I was going to use was Blue Ring, named after the blue ringed octopus, because octopus, as well as yellow and being incredibly venomous. But I got the suggestion Firefly Squid and I ended up really liking it, so I switched over

Firefly squid:

I’m especially noticing now, she looks a LOT like Abyss Monarch and not much like Electric Eel. My bad I guess. If I ever make a second one (though I don’t know how likely that is since Electric Eel fankids tend to have a VERY limited available list), I’ll make that one look a lot like Eel

She originally had hair that was more zigzaggy, but it didn’t look right to me and I eventually changed it, and now it’s almost entirely Abyss Monarch. I did at least try to make the gradient lighter at the bottom more like EE and have the yellow of the tentacles be from his yellow, but it’s not that noticeable

Her hair was also red for most of the coloring process, since that was the color I could find firefly squids

I did eventually decide to change the colors, since Abyss Monarch and Electric Eel don’t necessarily adhere to the colors of their respective animals, but I still ended up going mostly blue. I did try to hue shift it to a more purplish blue though

I was kind of just messing around with her design. I’m not really even sure what that pattern on her pants is. Yeah it looks like just a pants design, but I only decided that at the end and the shape is on the same layer as the rest of the lineart, so that was a lot of fun trying to color so it doesn’t look like that

I also feel like relatively, she looks pretty normal compared to her parents. Other than her glowing rings on her hair she doesn’t really have much going on in her design, or at least nothing out of the ordinary. She just looks normal. That’s kind of why I added the eye thing on the sketch, to maybe imply that there’s more going on with her, but that’s probably more like an in post fix

I know I spent most of this design section complaining, and while on some level, her design has issues, when I look at it without thinking about them, I really do like how she turned out

And that’s it for Firefly Squid, I hope you like her!

[kemeticdevotee]

Isis/Auset, Goddess of magic, motherhood and nature!

Who is Isis

Isis, or in Egyptian Auset, is the Goddess of Magic, health, marriage, nature, motherhood, fertility, purification, and womanhood. She is the eldest daughter of the Earth God Geb and Sky Goddess Nut. She is the loving wife of Osiris, sister of Nepthys and Seth, and mother of Horus.

Her magic was believed to be so powerful that she could control fate and restore health to the sick. She also has many myths surrounding her, the most notable being the Osiris myth, where she brings her husband, Osiris, back to life after he had been killed by their jealous brother Seth. Another myth she plays an important role in is the Contendings of Seth and Horus, where she assists her son Horus in taking back the throne from Seth.

Isis is a goddess with many, many aspects and domains. Along with being a beloved Goddess of the Egyptians, the Romans and Greeks loved her too, and her cult lasted well into 500 AD, when the emperor Justinian I had her priests arrested.

She is a friend to slaves, sinners, the downtrodden, the protector of people in mourning, widows, orphans, children and single mothers, and she is a patroness of Artisans, weavers, and healers. She was also thought to be the mother of the King.

Her Symbols

Throne

Tyet knot/Isis knot  𓎬

Kite bird

Scorpions

Sparrows and swallows

Cobras

Sycamore and Acacia trees

Red Jasper (symbolizing her blood)

Green scarab

The moon, lighthouses and the ocean (Roman Period)

Offerings

Tyet knot which was used to prevent miscarriage

Gardenia, jasmine, iris, blue lotus, white lily, rose, saffron

sistrums

mirrors

bloodstone, moonstone, pearls, rose quartz, lapis lazuli, aventurine, red jasper, coral, carnelian

sweet wine, pomegranate wine, water, milk

pomegranates, honey, almonds, date figs, roast duck,

frankincense and myrrh incense

perfumes

Acacia and Sycamore

Epithets

Lady of the beautiful west

Queen of Heaven

Star of the Sea

Mother of the Gods

Lover of Silence

Keeper of Secrets

Auset the sufferer/mourner (Hebrew origin)

Face of Wisdom (Hebrew Origin)

Great Lady of Magic

Lady of Joy

She who mourns

[bestboyargos]

Heard a bit of banter I’d never got before so now I’ve written this instead of finishing up the latest chapter of my Rook story.

So here’s another little one-shot:

Life in the Lighthouse #2

Neve was down to the last two pages of her notebook, listing and ranking the best ways she had to get a message to the Crows when she heard it.

“What the fuck?” Rook’s voice. Raised in alarm and surprise.

She was on her feet and out the study door in an instant. He stood stock still at the bottom of her stairs. “Rook is everything alright?”

He ignored her, continued staring at the foundation’s underneath her room. Slowly, she made her way down the steps to him, calling again, “Rook?”

“You asked for a bath.”

“What?” Shit is he still concussed?

“You said you needed a bath a few days ago.”

I just need a hot bath and one night to look over my notes. Right. She had said that.

Rook started making his way down the floating rock path under her stairs. She followed his steps trying to stay upright. She stumbled a bit on the last jump and Rook held out his hand to steady her. Only, he was so baffled by what he was seeing he forgot to let go of her arm.

To be fair to him, a full on Tevinter open air style bathhouse definitely hadn’t been there when they’d all walked back from the dining room this morning. It was distracting.

So was his hand on her arm but she filed that away mentally under “deal with later / never.”

“You’ve got a full bathhouse. Under your study. I’ve never even seen the like. At Weisshaupt you’re lucky if you get a half a barrel of clean water. Forget about it being warm. This is, just…” He stopped abruptly, dropped her arm and walked out from under the ceiling to the edge of the stone floor. Cupping a hand to his mouth he called out, “Hey Bellara! The lighthouse is doing the room thing again.”

Neve winced as the workshop door crashed open as Bel burst through, her arms full of tools and artifacts she definitely hadn’t brought with her when she moved in.

What is this place? What’s it capable of?

Items scattered to the ground as Bel bounced down the makeshift steps. Something fell into the fade. Neve hoped that wouldn’t come back to haunt them.

“Oh! Wow! This is so nice!” Bel, apparently the kind of elf who preferred to find things out for herself, wasted no time in sticking her hand into the water. “It’s a warm! Perfect even!”

Face full of wonder and excitement she turned to them both, and pointed out, “Looks like the walls are still manifesting though. Oh maybe they won’t! I mean it kinda reminds me of the ones in Arlathan! They were open to nature…do we have towels? We’ll need towels.”

So not Tevinter style. Why invent when you could rip the elves off.

This thought was cut off by a loud squeak from Bel.

“Rook!”

Neve looked up from the water to see Rook, with his jacket half way off.

It’s not like she hadn’t seen his chest before and more besides. But the more evidence you collected the harder it was to shut file.

“What? Oh shit! Sorry! sorry! Used to bunking with other wardens. You sorta get over expecting privacy. Er, ladies first.” And with that he full on sprinted off. The dust he left in his wake may have been a trick of the Fade light.

She turned to Bel, whose red face wasn’t from the heated water and was about to ask about getting Lace, when for the third time, she heard Rook yelling in the distance.

“HEY! WE NEED AN ARMOURY TOO! FULLY STOCKED PLEASE!”

[misty--nights]

I'm working on another Dead Boy Detectives fic rather than work on my actual college stuff and it's got me thinking bout Niko and luck. Spoilers for the whole show, of course.

I find it fascinating how Niko keeps stumbling upon all these situations that seem like they have nothing to do with anything, only for her to find the key to whatever problem they encounter next in said random situation. It's a pretty consistent, too, that she seems to walk a line between bad and good luck. Like something bad will happen to her, only for that to be immediately offset by something really good that she found by chance. It's honestly kind of wild at times.

So, when we first meet Niko, she's being possessed by parasites that want to explode her, which doesn't seem very lucky. Except, that somehow the girl who moves across the girl just so happens to be with a couple of ghosts who can save her. Just in the nick of time, too. And at first that doesn't seem like that big of a deal. It's what the boys do, right? It makes sense they saved her just in time because that's what they do, and that's the kind of show this is. But this bad luck / good luck thing keeps happening to her until the end of the show.

In episode 4, she goes with the gang to the lighthouse and goes off on her own to talk to the gift shop lady. She doesn't find what it is that is drowning the people, but she does find information about the Washer Woman and about Lilith, which at the time seems to her and the others like just random information. She then goes to find the red sea glass and gifts it to Edwin on a whim, without knowing what it can do for them. She just finds it, like it's nothing, when later we see Tragic Mick spend so much time by the shore looking for one, and we see how hard it is. And I know they say in the show that only those who really need her can find the Washer Woman, but out of all four of them, Niko doesn't seem to be the one who needs the Washer Woman the most, as we see when Crystal is the one who receives a personalized riddle thing. Which, again, is something that will be super important later and Crystal gains that knowledge thanks to Niko just stumbling upon the key to finding the Washer Woman on accident.

Then, in episode 5, she just happens to stumble upon Jenny's secret admirer and manage to set up a date with them. Now, I know. I know Maxine is actually a stalker that ends up trying to kill Jenny, bad luck. Except nothing really happens to her there? @carpediemma has a post where she says that the floor was most likely dirty because she promised Jenny to clean the floors for a month if the date went wrong and Jenny was sort of banking on it being bad. With Niko's track record with luck, I think that is very possible. Again, bad luck / good luck situation. The date she sets up is ruined because Maxine tries to kill Jenny, but because she made the bet and Jenny fully believed the date wouldn't work, Maxine slips and fall.

Episode 6 might be a bit of a stretch. Technically, it's Crystal's decision to go to Tragic Mick's in search for some way to get rid of David, but it's thanks to Niko that she actually gets the heart gem thingy. So, bad luck there, because the gem takes away all of Crystal's powers. However, and this links back to episode 4 again, it's thanks to her finding the sea glass that eventually Crystal has the way to start discovering her real abilities.

In episode 7 she stays with the Night Nurse while Charles goes to hell and Crystal goes to find David. She starts reading the Night Nurse's book as a way to find something about her dad. Nothing she finds there would be useful for contacting, seeing or bringin him back. However, she does manage to stumble upon the exact passage she needed to buy Edwin and Charles some time after they get back from hell. And yes, maybe you could say that she read the whole book during the time Charles was gone, but I doubt it. We don't know how long exactly it takes Charles to find Edwin and return, but we do know it can't be that long, because the Night Nurse keeps insisting she can't keep the doorway open for long. I think at most he would have been gone 40 minutes, and that's me being generous. It's enough time for Crystal to confront David and come back. In any case, I don't think it's enough for her to carefully read the whole book front to back, no matter how good her reading comprehension is, specially if she was looking for something specific, like something about where her dad ended up in. I think it's more likely that she just found the page with the loophole she would need by chance, read it, filed it in her memory for a "just in case" and continued looking for what she wanted.

Finally, in episode 8, we have the whole Lilith thing that was set up in episode 4. She finds about her and files it as an irrelevant detail, until she hears Tragic Mick talk about Esther's deal and tells Crystal how she can contact Lilith, which ends up saving Crystal and the boys at the final confrontation. Besides that, though, there's the whole bear figure that Tragic Mick gives her and the explosion at Jenny's shop. In the explosion, Esther takes Charles and Edwin (bad), but neither her nor Jenny, the two living people in the shop at the time, are really injured in the commotion (good.)

And then the bear thing. In episode 7, she hears his story and tells him how they found the Washer Woman, and he can't find a piece of red sea glass of his own. Even though he is really desperate for a way to find her. (which, again, it's odd Niko is the one to find the Washer Woman when she wasn't that in need for the Washer Woman's assistance. The whole group was, but it was Niko who found her, but anyways). He gifts her the bear figure as a way to thank her for trying to help and they move on from that. And she accepts it and goes to Esther's place with Crystal, convinced of the protection of the bear, and then dies to save Crystal. Except she doesn't really? She's fine at the end, in some sort of frozen land, with Litty and Kingham, and by the way she holds the bear figure, it's implied that's what sort of saved her, even if she is no longer tied to the mortal plane.

I don't know, there was no real point behind this, just something I've been thinking about for a while. I think if someone has a shot at helping Tragic Mick return to sea, it's her, because she just has the luck to find solutions she wasn't even looking for. And I'm convinced if she ever makes it back to Port Townsend, that's just what she would do. On accident, but still. That's just the kind of character she is to me.

[nugromancer]

Veilguard Photodump (Spoiler Edition)

End Game Spoilers (mostly me gushing ab art direction (￣y▽,￣)╭ ) under the cut

I can't get over how stunning the light and colour design is in this game. Funniest thing I noticed was that, while treading through any area, there were a lot of very obvious "Photo Opportunities" where the map designer was like Hey. Hey. Come over here for this little bit of treasure haha. Oooohhh but maybe you can take a moment to enjoy the view? (we worked so hard on it please look pleasepleapspslelpeas) And it's banger after banger of beautiful scenery!

I want to get on this level where I can convey something so gd big. It's much more obvious how massive a Titan is when Rook is in frame, but even without, that's a big lad!!! Huge sucker for a good cloud cap that lets the sun peak through. Literal Silver Lining.

This shot from the end of the Corruption questline (and if you complete the Dreadwolf's Memories + Convince Mythal to help) is great. Like our lady's dragon form is beautifully lit, she's got a spotlight and everything!! And it looks natural. It looks like the sun managed to poke through the blight on this one place.

Also allow me to giggle and kick my feet because not only does Dragon!Mythal's design FUCK (look at that tri-crown horn formation like YEEESSSSSS THAT'S MY BITCH!!!!)

She's also PINK AND PURPLE?? LIKE HELLO??? The lighting is absolutely saturating her scales (plus she's breathing lightning, which glows violet/blue, adding to the effect) so it's brighter than it probably is. But what a fantastic coloration none-the-less!!

End-game Arc doesn't fuck around either. The gold ring from the eclipse against that eye-searing magenta is just. Augh. Ough. Foreboding has never looked so damn pretty.

(Also this general area is one of my favourite places in the Lighthouse. The lighting is just so on point. I have a dozen other photos of this section bc I always stop to admire it lmao.)

That magenta is striking. You'd expect it to be solid red across the board! But once we're in the "real" world we get those warmer tones you would normally associate with this sort of thing... But now that I think ab it, it's probably from the amount of smoke rising from the antaam encampment. The Crossroads don't have pollution! Of course it'd be more jewel-toned! I wonder what our sunsets would look like if there was less of that. Sigh. Anyways--

The Regret Prison. Probably my favourite sequence in the game. Yes I love colour, but let's not forget CONTRAST.

It's soooo easy it end up with a horrible clashing of shapes if you don't balance contrast. So you gotta Contrast the Contrast... by reducing the Contrast. Yes there's depth-of-field shenanigans (making lines blur the farther from the viewpoint they are) but there's also mist/dust/atmosphere. I love this shit.

Not to mention that subtle introduction of colour by incorporating greenery (still heavily desaturated, as to not be glaring/distracting) as you make your way through the map. Like. The starting area was desolate and devoid of life. Any plants you saw were dead. Bare-bone roots. But as your proceed you find Life scattered around. Hope.

I didn't get a proper shot/video clip of the end sequence for this quest, where you're walking across a barren expanse and can see the ritual sight erect itself piece by piece in the distance as you get closer. That sequence knocked me out it was so fucking good!!! To the person(s) who all made that happen, I'm sending them a big sloppy kiss on the cheek it was so elegantly executed. <333

Anyways I feel like I said a lot without saying anything at all but hopefully this was somewhat interesting to someone thank you for coming to my TEDtalk <3