#but i ultimately decided against it because otherwise she would have ended up being the only character with filled in hair

[syrupyyyart]

you had a grape oc right? that design was my fav <3

Yes! Here's the final designs for the antagonists :]

[tastefulstars]

And I fell, I fell

Throw together a last minute cancellation, a helpful Robin and list of questions, and you've got yourself the romance of the century.

eddie munson x f!reader

c/w: 18+ only. MDNI. smut and fluff. so much fluff. mutual pining. eddie being a cutie. no y/n. protected sex. piv. oral (f receiving). not proof read.

a/n: eddie is a hopeless, gross romantic and u cant convince me otherwise and this is 7.6k of me proving myself correct.

masterlist

Your phone ringing startles you out of your daze, making you jump slightly in your chair. Reaching for it, you don't bother to look at the caller id.

"Oh you're alive, that's nice" Robin's voice cheerfully says, you blink rapidly at your computer screen.

"Why wouldn't I be alive, Robs?"

"I dunno! Maybe because you've been MIA for the past five days!"

You can hear the frustration and concern in her voice and you immediately feel guilty. You sigh softly and rub at your eyes.

"I'm sorry, Robbie" You murmur, "Work's been a lot."

"I worry about you" She confesses, "Like, have you even been eating? Sleeping? What's so important you've got to check out for nearly a week?"

You scrunch your face up because, she's right - you've been doing the bare minimum but you weren't going to admit that.

"I'm fine, really. Just been editing a few of the interviews I did last week and then this morning I had someone bail out at the last minute so I'm trying to find a replacement to do the interview at the end of the week."

Robin hums.

"I'm coming over"

She hangs up before you have a chance to respond and you shake your head. Standing, you groan as you stretch your arms over your head before you decide to just call it a day and have a shower.

The warm water feels heavenly on your stiff body, and you let yourself relax under the spray. You're just stepping out of the shower, steam filling the room and wrapping a towel around you, when there's persistent knocking at the door.

You debate for all of three seconds on whether to answer or get dressed, ultimately deciding to let Robin in first, knowing that she'd just knock harder and louder until you did.

She pushes her way in as soon as the doors cracked open an inch, she closes the door behind her and starts pushing at your shoulders.

"Get dressed, Jesus"

You roll your eyes and throw your hands up, muttering about bossy, annoying friends. You shuffle to your room though, pulling on soft jeans and a shirt and make your way back to Robin who's curled up on the couch and cradling a can of soda in her hands.

"Alright, sit" Robin says, patting the space beside her and you throw yourself heavily down next to her, resting your cheek against her shoulder.

"You okay?" She asks, pressing her cheek against the top of your head and you nod softly because yeah, you were fine, just busy and tired and overworked. She holds the can to you and you take it, sipping at the bubbly drink. An arm wraps around your shoulder and you feel yourself go boneless against her, relaxing for the first time in days.

"Work sucks at the moment" You admit, leaning on your friend, "I've got so much to do and now I'm gonna loose the venue for Friday because the person I was interviewing cancelled on me and like, I can't afford that you know? It's expensive and I just, I don't know what I'm gonna do Robbie"

"Anything I can help with?" She asks softly, "I can't really do much for editing videos and whatever but, yeah."

You feel a small smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

"You don't happen to want to be interviewed?" You tease, "Could start a new series where I interview my friends instead of like, famous people"

You're joking, knowing that Robin would kinda hate being in front of a camera while you ask her questions about herself but you could see it working - making it a silly little thing where you just have fun with it, rather than the serious interviews you've been stuck doing.

"God no" She laughs for a moment before pausing, "But, I could ask Eddie?"

"Hmm? What's Eddie got to do with this?"

"Eddie Munson, y'know Corroded Coffin?"

You scrunch your nose slightly, pulling back to look at her.

"You mean to tell me that your high school band friend Eddie is the same Eddie from that massively popular metal band? And don't they refuse to do interviews, like, all the time?"

"Yes and yes, it's something about wanting to focus on the music rather than them but he'd do it if I ask nicely."

You chew on your lip, considering it. It would be a massive help, having someone to actually interview and that someone being notorious for refusing to actually participate in interviews but at the same time, you don't want to put Robin out or Eddie.

"Look, I'll ask, the worst thing is he'll say no and if that's the case, I'll do the interview." She says and you feel a weight lifting off your chest, you lean back in to wrap yourself around her.

"Thanks, Robin" Your voice is muffled by her shoulder but she squeezes you back.

The two of you spent the rest of the afternoon watching shitty videos and snacking, and you feel more relaxed than you have in weeks. You murmur your thanks as you hug Robin goodbye and laugh softly at her stern warning of no more work today, her finger pointing at your face. You agree, considering ordering take out and having an early night.

You're wrapped up in a soft blanket on the couch, lights low and a movie you're not really watching when your phone buzzes.

Robin: Eddie's agreed to do the interview. send deets.

to Robin: You're an angel amongst men, Robin and I love you.

Robin: ur right, I am. love u 2.

You send her the address and times and thank her about five more times before you put your phone back down, and focus back on the movie and you're not too sure when your eyes slip closed and you're asleep.

The next couple of days fly by in a daze of editing and deciding the direction of the upcoming interview. You didn't want it to be stuffy, overly serious and god forbid, boring, so you pester Robin for little tidbits of information about Eddie and you find yourself racing around your apartment the morning of to get ready.

You've never really seen photos of Eddie from Band but you have seen photos and videos of Eddie from Corroded Coffin and you knew he's hot and while you didn't want to come across as unprofessional, you wanted to look good so you spend extra time styling your hair and making sure your outfit fit just right.

Loading your car up with your equipment and set-up took longer than you'd like and by the time you're pulling up to the building, you've only got thirty minutes before Eddie was due to arrive. You rush through set up and you wish you had an assistant for days like today.

A soft knock against the wall and your name being called startles you. You let out a quiet noise of surprise and whip around to see Eddie, smiling wide at your reaction, and your heart stutters. You knew he was handsome, you knew that, but the photos and videos didn't do him justice.

Tall and wrapped in black denim, cotton, silver chains and rings. His hair was curled to perfection, soft and silky, wide brown eyes and plump limps and you realize you're staring and not saying anything.

"Eddie, right?" You gesture to one of the chairs you'd set up, "Thank you so much for doing this, you and Robin have saved me a lot of grief"

He saunters over to you, smiling warmly before sitting in the chair. You almost get lost in watching him again but you force your eyes away, not wanting to be a creep.

"Ah, it's alright. Had nothing better to do today, to be honest."

And god his voice, you wanted to hear it all day. Wanted him to whisper nothings into your ear and you feel yourself flushing at the desire running through your veins.

You turn, scolding yourself for your reaction and get to work turning on the lights, camera and audio recorders.

"Still, I appreciate it. Will you be okay putting your mic on or would you like help?" You ask as you open the case, pulling out both sets of microphones.

"Hmm, might need some help"

You look over your shoulder and he's watching you intently, and you're really not sure how you're going to do this interview without coming across as desperate.

"Sure, here-" You step closer to him, holding out the microphone and wire, "This bit goes up under your shirt and clips onto your collar"

His fingers brush yours as he gently takes it from you, lifting his shirt slightly to feed the wire under it. You hold your breath and avert your eyes when you see a flash of pale skin before you do something stupid like telling him you'd like to lick him all over.

"Like this?" He asks, and you force yourself to bring your eyes down, nodding as he clips the little microphone to his shirt and smooths his hands down his chest.

"Yeah, um- I'll just clip this to your belt, if that's okay?"

He looks up at you from under his lashes and nods, smiling like he knows exactly what he's doing to you. You turn it on and see his jaw clenching in the corner of your eye as your fingers brush at his skin as you work.

"Alright. All set, I'll just finish getting ready - I'll just be a minute" You say in a rush, turning back to the table and putting your own mic on.

"No rush, honey"

And oh god, the pet name has your blood singing. Your hands shake slightly as you take a couple of deep breaths and scold yourself with a stern behave yourself, you're here for work not to hook up, he's doing you a favor so cut it out.

You shake your head slightly and move to turn on the camera. It's almost easier, looking at Eddie through the camera screen as you focus it and you suppress a shudder when you realize he's watching you closely.

You suck in a deep breath and pick up your notes, moving to sit beside him.

"Alright, you good to start?"

His smile returns and nods, shifting in his seat in order to face you. You do your intro, facing the camera and watching Eddie from your peripheral and then your turning, facing him and wanting to whine at how pretty he is. You let your work wash over you, focusing on the interview.

"Thanks for being here today, Mr. Munson. Tell me, how are you? What's been happening?"

"Eddie's fine" He says, laughing softly, "Mr. Munson is my uncle. I'm good, I'm good. Honestly? I should be working on some new songs but I'd rather not."

You nod, humming.

"Look that's fair - You used to play D&D, why?"

He looks a little surprised at your question, like he wasn't expecting anything else besides his music.

"Oh yeah I did. It was just fun, y'know? Like my friends and I got to go on epic adventures."

You try your hardest not to let the grin overtake your face but it's so, so hard.

"That's kinda nerdy but like what do I know? I make silly videos for a living. Do you still play or has that ship sailed?"

"Ah, I'd like to but I don't get as much free time these days and all my friends I play with are all over the place."

"Bummer. What's the best way to eat marshmallows?"

You keep the energy going, slinging more and more absurd questions at him without letting him gather his bearings but Eddie's grinning, enjoying the quick fire questions and your snide comments at his answers.

"Now. This is a serious question and I will judge you for your answer if it's incorrect."

He shifts, face serious and leans slightly towards you.

"Would you rather be eaten alive by a werewolf or have a vampire stick a straw in your neck and drain you like a capri-sun?"

Eddie breaks out into giggles and you feel your insides wobble and you school your features, biting your tongue and raise an eyebrow.

"Definitely being eaten alive" He wheezes between his laughter, "I might as well go all out if I'm gonna die."

You purse your slips, looking down at your notes primly.

"Correct."

Eddie laughs harder, eyes shining when you look back at him.

"Alright, last question - what's the plan for the rest of the day?"

He rubs the back of his neck, he looks at you and you think maybe there's something in his face, in his eyes as he glances at you.

"No real plans, might grab something to eat."

"Right on, free as a bird."

You close the video and slide out of your chair, turning off the camera and beginning the pack up. Your eyes flicker to Eddie and you smile softly, moving to him to help remove his mic.

"Thanks again for this, Eddie. I know you don't really do interviews much so I didn't want to make it awful for you"

His fingers find the soft skin of your wrist when he hands you the mic set, pressing against your skin.

"I had a lot of fun" His voice is low and rumbles and you feel your chest erupts with butterflies.

You shuffle back, throwing a smile over your shoulder and continue to pack away your equipment.

"Want a hand?" Eddie's says, right behind you and you can feel his warmth seeping into your back. You bite your lip.

"Nah, it's all good! It's not that much" You try to keep the tremble out of your voice, "I'll um, let you know when the video's up? It should be maybe a week or so."

You hear him inhale and then hum softly.

"Perfect."

You step around the table, putting a bit of distance between the two of you before you do something really really dumb and proposition him. Eddie shoots you a small smile, fiddling with his rings and you think he might be nervous.

"I'll, um, see you around then?" He asks, taking small steps backwards towards the door.

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you" You try to smile warmly as you say your goodbyes while all you'd like is to beg him to stay longer.

"You too, honey. I've heard a lot about you."

And then he's gone and you throw yourself down on one of the chairs, face in hands and you let out a whine.

"God damn it, Robin" You mutter before huffing and dragging yourself to load your car.

You're tired and sore when you finish unloading the car back at your apartment and you grunt as you throw yourself onto the couch, propping your feet on your coffee table.

Your phone buzzes.

Unknown Number: Hey honey, it's Eddie. I hope it's okay but I got your number from Robin.

Unknown Number: I just. I really had a good time today. I usually hate doing interviews but you made it a lot of fun.

You save his number and quickly respond, heart in your throat and fluttering in your stomach, hating how much you wanted his attention.

to Eddie: Eddie, hey! Yeah that's fine. I'm glad you had a nice time :)

Eddie: Very much so. Did you get everything packed and get home alright?

You start chewing on your lower lip as he responds almost instantly, not wanting to seem overly eager, you send a text to Robin instead.

to Robin: ROBIN what the FUCK????

Robin: ur welcome :)) he thinks ur hot btw and like ur both my friends so dont fuck it up.

to Robin: thanks!!!!! no pressure at all with that!!!!!!!!

Robin: :)

You start chewing on your thumbnail and open Eddie's messages again, responding with an affirmative and asking how his afternoon went before tossing your phone to the other side of the couch, kicking your feet.

You feel like a teenager, heart pounding and cheeks hot and chest feeling three sizes too big. You wander around your living room, shaking your hands and deciding to just go about your evening routine - making dinner and showering and watching a movie.

Your eyes drift to your phone every few minutes and you groan, giving in and picking it up.

Eddie: I ended up going straight home, been watching some of your interviews ;)

Eddie: What are you up to? Busy night?

to Eddie: Oh god, don't do that. They're all very boring.

Eddie: Ah but I get to watch a pretty lady tearing apart a bunch of dummies who don't realize they're being insulted.

Your face heats again and you place your face in your hands and let out a very embarrassing noise. You lift you head, staring at your phone and take a rough, deep breath. Eddie was going to kill you, you were sure of it.

You feel like a silly teen with a crush as you text with Eddie for the rest of the evening, his flirting making you want to screech out loud or melt or something.

You fall asleep with a smile on your face and butterflies in your stomach.

You're a little scared to check your phone the next morning, a whole bunch of what if's running through your mind, but a soft ding brings you out of your mind and you couldn't stop the lovesick smile if you tried.

Eddie: good morning, hope you have a good day

to Eddie: you too :)

You spend the rest of the day trying to focus on work, on finishing the editing of your previous interviews and starting on Eddies, but it's hard going when all you want to do is text the man. Taking a quick break, you lean over the bathroom sink and stare at yourself in the mirror. You frown at your reflection.

"Get your shit together" You snap at yourself, "You're not a teenager with a crush, you are a grown woman so act like it."

You sigh and pull yourself away, sitting back down at your desk.

"Alright. We've just got to finish these two interviews, we can totally do this. Totally, they're like ninety percent done already."

You nod at your pep talk and get back to work, newly found focus coasting you through the last few hours of editing for the day.

It's starting to grow dark by the time you save your work and shut down for the day. You feel lazily satisfied from finishing the task you set for yourself for the afternoon and more than ready to publish the videos and transcripts onto your social media sites. Stretching your arms above your head, you let out a soft groan as your back pops.

Picking up your phone, you bite your lip at the messages Eddie had sent you throughout the day.

Eddie: dont work too hard today but kick ass at work today

Eddie: im attempting to write new songs but i dont wanna y'know?

Eddie: i went to get groceries instead. saw a cat :)

Eddie: dont forget to eat lunch

Eddie: ok ok im gonna try to work wish me luck lol

Your stomach growls at you and you realize you did forget to eat lunch again, you groan and start dinner. Sitting on the couch with your plate, you send a message to Eddie.

to Eddie: Sorry, been pretty busy today but i managed to finish up a couple projects and im ready to start working on your interview tomorrow. Did you end up getting any writing done?

to Eddie: And what type of cat was it?

It doesn't take long before your phone is buzzing beside you.

Eddie: she lives! im glad you had a productive day, one of us needs 2 lol and u dont need to edit our interview its already perfect. I wrote like 4 lines of a song.

Eddie: i took a photo of the cat, i'll send it 2 u.

You laugh softly at his messages, his writing getting lazier the more you two talk, not that you mind. The photo comes through and you coo, the cat was incredibly fluffy and stretched out over a brick fence, fast asleep.

Your eyes burn as you look at your phone, a result from staring at a computer screen all day, so you take a deep breath and press call.

"Hey honey!" Eddie's voice filters softly through your phone, "Didn't expect a call to be honest, it was the cat right?"

You laugh and let your eyes slip closed, laying down on the couch and placing the call on speaker phone.

"Absolutely," You hum, "It has nothing to do with my eyes hurting-"

"Aw, you okay? Need anything?"

You can hear the concern in his voice and something inside you swells.

"Nah, I'm good. It's just from being on the computer all day, y'know?" You rub your eyes, "Anyway, what are you up to?"

There's a slight pause before he answers but then he's telling you that he's trying to decide on dinner, weighing up pros and cons of cooking verses ordering in and then he's launching into a tangent on life skills and capitalism.

You let his voice wash over you and you find yourself relaxing until you're almost asleep, drifting in the in-between.

"Still with me baby?" Eddie asks softly, his words not really registering but you hum at the sound of his voice, making him chuckle quietly.

"Go to bed, honey." He croons at you, "We'll talk tomorrow, alright? Dream sweet."

You sleep on the couch that night, dreaming of soft curls and warm brown eyes.

The next week passes in a blur of work, texts, calls and longing. You want to see him again, want to have his deep honey eyes on you, want to hear his voice without the filter of a phone.

You whine about it to Robin a lot, much to her amusement and annoyance.

"Just tell him you like him" She says one night as you recount the latest texting session you and Eddie had the previous day.

"Dude! No! I can't just tell him that" You feel your heart starting to race at the idea, Robin snorts.

"Why not?"

"Because!"

"That's not an answer" She fires back and you groan.

"Because, what if he only wants to be my friend? What if he's like this with everyone? I don't want to make a fool of myself and just because he talks to me doesn't mean he likes me, and there's also the fact that he's like, famous!"

Your words come out in a panicked rush and you breathe heavily while Robin contemplates.

"Y'know, I've been his friend for a while. I don't think I've ever seen him like this about someone, he really does like you. A lot. It's kinda gross."

Her voice is soft and kind and you feel your cheeks heat at her words.

"I don't know what you did to him at the interview but he's like, super gone for you. Pretty sure he's panicking about the same things you are, hun. Trust me when I say that Eddie's not the type of person who'd string you around like that."

"Alright, okay" You sigh, feeling better with her reassurance.

You sit on her advice for a few days, weighing up your decision, when ultimately, Eddie makes it for you.

to Eddie: Eds, I'm posting the interview video and transcripts today. Want me to tag the band's @?

Eddie: Yes, please! You're incredible.

Eddie: Would you like to go out with me? Dinner tonight?

Your heart leaps into your throat and you can't stop the childish giggles as you respond with an enthusiastic yes, yes please I would like that very much.

You don't remember doing much work, too excited about that night to focus properly but you do manage to get the video and transcript online, making sure to tag the band's socials as well as Eddies.

to Eddie: Alright, it's up. What's the dress code for tonight?

Eddie: I just saw and casual, whatever you're comfy in :)

Eddie: What's your address? I'll pick you up at 6?

You give him your address and start getting ready, wanting to look good but not wanting to look like you're trying. A very hard line to walk but you were determined to do so.

A few minutes before six, the doorbell rings and your stomach fills with butterflies. Opening the door for Eddie, your heart stops inside your chest.

He's got his hair tied up in a bun at the back of his head, a few loose curls framing his face. Black jeans and combat boots with chains hanging from the belt, and a faded, well-worn Dio shirt.

His entire face lights up when he sees you, a beaming smile gracing his lips and you're almost ready to fall to your knees and begin proclaiming your everlasting love and devotion to him.

"You look beautiful" He says in lieu of a greeting, eyes roaming your body. You bite your lip softly and his eyes darken, tracing your movement.

"Thanks" You feel almost shy, "Should we go?"

He holds his arm out for you to take and you laugh softly, pulling your door shut behind you and slipping your hand into the crook of his elbow.

He leads you to his car, opening the door for you and closing it after you. Sliding into the drivers seat, his fingers drum against the wheel as he starts the car.

"Where are you takin' me tonight?" You ask softly, turning to look at him as he drives.

"We, my dear, are going to the park"

He glances at you as he says it, the tips of his ears going pink when he realizes you're already watching him.

"The park?" You ask, surprise colouring your voice, "Thought you were taking me out to dinner."

He laughs softy and you feel like you've just won a competition, a prize.

"We're havin' dinner at the park" He beams, "I was going to take you to a restaurant but Steve said not to do that and Robin said you'd like something more personal anyway."

You honestly feel as if you could float, you scrunch your nose at the feeling.

"You talk about me to your friends, huh?" You settle for teasing, enjoying the way Eddie's ears and cheeks bloom with a blush.

"Of course I do" He admits, "I really like you"

You feel your own face heat at his admission and you inhale sharply.

“I- um. I like you, too” You stumble over your words, face flaming and chest tight.

You steadfastly look out the windscreen and miss the look Eddie throws you, like you just handed him the moon. You bite your lip when you feel fingers brush against the side of your hand and shudder when you shift, letting your fingers spread and tangle with his, your palms pressed together.

“I’m glad” He murmurs, giving your hand a soft squeeze before he huffs a laugh, “Would’a made all this kinda awkward if you didn’t.”

You glance over at him and he’s already looking at you, warm smile on his face. He winks, focuses back on the road and lets go of your hand to turn. It doesn’t take much longer for the car to slow to a stop, a comfortable silence settling over you both.

Eddie’s a whirlwind as he rushes out of the car, tripping over his feet as he races to your door before you’ve even finished undoing your seat belt. Laughter bubbles up your throat and you’re chuckling by the time he’s pulling open the door, his cheeks blushing sweetly and eyes warm.

“You’re a dork” You laugh, taking his hand as he holds it out for you, he just smiles wider.

“Y’know, I have been told that” He murmurs as he pulls you closer to him, your breath hitches, “Now. Stand there and look pretty for me while I get our picnic ready.”

You bite your lip and lean against the hood of the car, watching him as he takes out a cooler, basket, blankets and pillows out of the car and rushing back and forth to a nearby tree. It’s tall and old and he sets up the picnic between gnarled roots. Once it’s laid out to his satisfaction he moves to stand in front of you, his fingers reach out and brush against your forearm.

“Good to go?” You ask, voice barely a whisper. He nods, eyes flicking over your face and he gently takes your hand in his, leading you to the blanket.

It’s kind of perfect, honestly. Too many pillows and blankets and Eddie’s brought so much food and there’s soft drinks (I didn’t know what kind you like and I didn’t want to bring booze because I’m driving and like I didn’t want you to think - Eddie breathe).

It’s a lot perfect.

You ask each other questions, you learn anything you can (his favourite colour is, surprisingly, lavender - “it was my mom’s, she used to have this knitted cardigan with little lavender flowers all over it.”)

You talk and talk and talk and the sun slips past the horizon and washes you both in soft golden oranges and reds. You shift closer to Eddie as the night air begins to cool your skin, Eddie notices your shiver because of course he does - he wraps one of the many blankets around your shoulders, presses his body against your side.

"Eddie?" You murmur, resting your cheek onto his shoulder, the soft fabric of his shirt rubs against your cheek.

"Yeah, honey?" He's just as quiet as you, nose brushing along your hairline. Something inside you shudders and trembles before settling into a soft glowing warmth.

"Thank you" Your face turns, forehead pressing against his cheek, "This has been easily the best date I've been on."

He cups your cheek and raises your face to his, your noses brush and he holds you against him.

"Baby, I'm the one who should be thanking you," His voice is rough and sincere, his eyes boring into yours, "For even giving me a chance. For letting me text you all day, every day. For making our interview so fun."

Baby, baby, baby, the word rattles around in your brain and you think you could cry. You're not sure how you've ended up here but you are and you are so, so grateful.

"Remind me to thank Robin for suggesting I interview you." Your words brush against his lips and you're leaning in, pressing your lips against his.

Eddie doesn't hesitate, kissing you back softly, sweetly. It's perfect. The date, the kiss, him. You kiss and kiss and kiss. He keeps it soft and sweet, innocent almost, and you want and want.

You sit together, wrapped up in each other and blankets, trading little kisses until your eyes begin to droop and you're yawning more than you are kissing Eddie. He rubs his palms up and down your arms.

"C'mon, I'll take you home, sweetheart."

You let him help you up, let him guide you to the car, let him assist you into your seat. You watch as he quickly packs up the picnic and loads the car.

You watch, head turned to rest against the seat as he starts the car. You watch as his gaze drifts from the road to you every few minutes and watch his hands as they hold the wheel and you watch as he parks the car in front of your building.

He turns and watches you, watching him.

"You're really sweet, Eddie." You say softly, limbs tingling as his lips curl softly at your words, your smile turns into something more teasing, "Knew you were hot shit but sweet too? Talk about a whole package here."

Eddie's cheeks are bright red and he's pressing his lips together tightly, he shakes his head fondly.

"Bed time for you, I think," and then he's walking you to your door, warm hands holding your face and a kiss being pressed against your lips, "Goodnight baby, dream sweet."

You murmur a soft goodnight, get home safe, please let me know when you're home safe, and then you're in bed, clutching your phone and waiting for that I'm home text.

You fall asleep between one breath and the next.

You don't get to see Eddie for a while after that, but you speak everyday - all day if you can. Good morning texts and random anecdotes about your days, soft words and sweeter wishes, I miss yous and goodnights.

You're swamped with work, fielding emails because apparently you're super popular now - Eddie's video went viral and now everyone's trying to book you for interviews and the comments on every one of your social media's. It's exhausting, honestly.

You call Eddie to complain, and he coos at you, teasing you and taking your mind off the sudden explosion of work.

"That's not nice, you're mean," You pout, phone pressed against your cheek, heart fluttering at Eddie's smooth laughter.

"Thought I was sweet, baby" He teases, recalling your sleepy words on your date. You can picture his wide smile as he teases you, and you just want.

"Are you busy?" You ask on a sigh, expecting the answer to be yes - Eddie's been telling you that he's on a roll with new songs and music, said he's been inspired. "Wanna see you, like, a lot. I know it's only been a couple weeks but-"

"For you? I'm free as a bird" He sounds like an absolute angel, "Want me to come over?"

And, well. That sounds perfect.

"Please. I'll cook us dinner, if you like."

"Heaven sent, you." Eddie groans, softly. "I'll be there in like twenty minutes, baby."

It feels more like five before you're letting him into your apartment. You've barely got the door shut before his arms are wrapped around you, pulling you close to his chest and holding you.

"Missed you too, baby." Eddie says into your hair, arms squeezing you softly.

You go boneless against him, stress melting away in the safe circle of Eddie's arms. Eddie presses quick kisses to your hair, forehead, temples, wherever he can reach without pulling away.

You lean back, press your lips against his and you loose yourself in the sensation of being held close and kissed by Eddie Munson.

It's nothing like the sweet kisses you shared during your date. It's a little more. More intense, more burning and has you feeling weak in the knees.

Eddie's tongue brushes against your lower lip, and your insides light up like fireworks. Your lips part on a sigh and Eddie dips his tongue inside your mouth teasingly before he pulls away. Pecking you softly and smiling at you.

"Hey"

"Hey, gorgeous girl." His eyes go soft, warm, "No stressin' about work, alright?"

You nod, step back, tug at his hand, lead him to your couch and pull him down with you. You curl into him and Eddie wraps his arms around you again.

A kiss is pressed to the top of your head.

"What do you feel like for dinner?" You ask, cheek pressed firmly against his chest. Your stomach flutters at the feel of solid muscle beneath your skin, the warmth of him, the steady rise of his breathing, the beat of his heart.

His grip on you tightens and he's pulling you down as he lays, forcing you between him and the back of the couch. One of his hands grips your waist tight and the other is gently cradling your head to his chest.

"Anything. You could make me burnt toast and I'd be the happiest person alive," You snort and he tilts your face up slightly, "I'm serious. You're amazing, you really are. And I'm not just saying that because I like you so much, well, I mean, I guess I kinda am but you know what I mean. You're so, so smart, and funny and talented and passionate and caring, charming and so beautiful."

You're shifting so you're hovering over him slightly, face inches away from his as he talks. You've never been one to associate those things about yourself but as Eddie says it, you think you believe it. Your chest feels like it's going to burst and you slide your hand up from his side, resting against his own racing heart while he continues,

"Like, I was so gone for you even before we met. Is that weird? That's weird but I would see the photos Robin would take of you when the two of you hung out and like, sure I thought you were the prettiest person I've ever seen but then she would start telling us stories about you and oh man, you were my dream girl. Absolutely. And then Robin's calling me, asking me to do you a favor? I said yes so fast she laughed at me and hung up."

You're grinning now as he talks, it's a little embarrassing but you feel happy, adored.

"And then, then I was there with you and you were even prettier in person and so goddamn funny? My heart just about gave out and -"

You cut him off by kissing him.

You both melt into it. Eddie's fingers tangling into your hair, keeping you close. You press against his chest and slide your body over his, covering him completely as you slowly run out of air. You pull away, take a deep breath and press right back in. Eddie makes a small sound at the back of his throat and the hand that's not holding your head, slides down to the small of your back, pressing and keeping you firmly against him, like you'd want to be anywhere else.

The kiss quickly heats, gets messier, desire and fire and something a whole lot like love thrum through your veins and you want and need.

You shift slightly, rocking your hips gently down and oh, oh.

Eddie groans, his hand splayed over your lower back moves, grips your ass and pulls you down to him. He rocks against you and you feel him getting hard beneath you and you're moving. Slipping off him, getting to your feet as you fist at his shirt, tugging him up with you and then you're both stumbling to your room while trying to not break the kiss and feel as much of each other as you can.

Your arm slams into the door frame and your whine is lost in Eddie's lips, his hand gently rubs at your shoulder to soothe, and then you're on your bed, Eddie on top of you and pressing you into the mattress. His hair falls around your face, curtaining you both from the outside world and making you feel like there's no one else - time slows and stops and then its you and Eddie, the last two people on the planet.

His lips travel, moving from yours and down your jaw, your neck. He leans over and presses a few quick kisses to your shoulder where you banged it before he's at your throat again, doing his best to cover you in his marks, whether it's from his lips or teeth.

You hold him close and squirm, breathing heavy through parted, kiss swollen lips. His hand slips under your shirt, fingertips gently brushing along your side and coming to rest at your waist. You whine out his name and struggle to free your legs from under him, Eddie lifts slightly and you quickly wrap your legs around his hips, locking you together.

"Eds" You breathe out as he nips at your neck, he trembles and stops, lifting his head and looking at you like you were responsible for lighting the sun and hanging the stars in the sky.

"Eds," You sigh, fingers caressing his face, "Want you."

You see his expression shudder with desire and he surges up, kissing you.

"You've got me," He says, voice rough and deep, "You got me. Wanna make you feel good, baby, can I?"

You nod and press a soft yes Eddie, yes into his lips and then you're both pulling at clothes. Slowly revealing yourselves to each other, it's slow and lazy as you both touch and look your fill with each new bit of skin shown.

Desire is under your skin, but it's simmering, a slow burn that lets you focus on sharing yourself with Eddie rather than a desperate need to be filled.

He kisses and mouths at every inch of your skin, hands touching and caressing anywhere and everywhere. You've never felt so wanted as you do right now with Eddie pressing kisses along your chest and down your torso, with his hands gently keeping you from falling apart.

He kisses his way down until he's reached the waistband of your pants, eyes flicking up to yours. You hold his face, smile, give a small nod, watch as Eddie's eyes slip closed and he presses his lips to your fingertips, you burn.

Eddie slowly shimmies you out of your pants, then his own, and you're both naked together. He sighs quietly as he kneels in between your legs, fingers skating up your calf and thigh. His eyes are darting around like he's trying to drink you in and keep you, how you are right now, burned in his memory.

You do the same.

He's lean, pale skin stretched over wiry muscles. Years of lugging heavy equipment has toned his arms, shoulders, chest. You trace one of his tattoos on his thigh, the closest you can reach without moving - there's so many more than you thought and you want to catalogue every single one, with your fingers and lips and eyes.

"You're so beautiful." He whispers.

The moment feels delicate, gentle, and loud words don't feel right. You wrap your fingers around his wrist, gently pull.

"Eddie"

You're just as quiet, his name leaving your lips on a soft breath. He leans down and softly kisses you before he's moving again, settling down between your legs and your legs shake as you feel the first press of his lips against you.

He's slow about it, running his tongue along your folds like he's got nowhere else to be. It's gentle and soft and has you quaking. You bury your fingers in his hair and Eddie's gripping your thighs, bringing you impossibly closer. He moans so quietly you would have missed it if it weren't for the vibration shooting through you and stoking the fire building under your skin.

"Eddie," You moan, tugging on his hair, "Eddie"

You chance a look at him, and your eyes almost roll back at the sight. He looks blissed out, eyes almost closed and face slack as he eats you out like you're the best damn thing he's ever tasted.

It doesn't escape your notice that he's rocking his hips down, grinding onto the mattress, and that's oh, oh that's enough.

You yank hard enough on his hair that he pulls away, his lips swollen and red, his chin and jaw covered in your slick. You twist and reach for your bedside drawer, praying you didn't forget to replace your expired condoms. You almost cheer out loud when your fingers brush one.

You kiss him as you tear it open, fingers finding Eddie's cock and rolling it on, he whines as you touch him.

Eddie guides you into laying back on the bed, settling between your legs. He's covering you completely, arms and hair surrounding you and caging you in, and he looks at you, eyes finding yours.

"Eddie"

He brushes his nose along yours. His lips gently caress your skin. He hums, and soft words are breathed into your cheek - I've got you baby, you're perfect, so perfect.

Then he's pressing inside you.

He moves slowly as he fills you, trembling moans falling from both your lips. Your eyes burn, tears stinging and you struggle to breathe. You've never felt so full, so wanted, so complete.

"Shh, darling"

He rolls his hips against yours and you cling to him, fingers digging into his arms and back.

"Eddie"

He whispers your name and begins to gently thrust into you. It's heaven. It's rapture. You've never felt so connected to another and you're sure you're seeing your death, your life. Time slips away, it's just you and him, him and you, together.

Eddie keeps the pace slow, gentle, it makes you feel wanted and adored. Desired. You rock your hips up in time with him and he groans, presses his forehead against yours.

"Baby, baby. Look at me."

He's pleading, almost begging you. Your fingers grip him tightly and put your eyes open, find his. Something ignites and you feel yourself hurtling towards your climax.

"With me," Eddie moans, hips rolling faster, "Baby. Baby. With me."

"Yeah, yeah. Eddie."

Your fingers dig harder into his back and you tremble, keeping your eyes locked on his. Fireworks explode in your nerves and you're shaking apart, whining loudly as you drown in bliss.

Eddie's hips stutter and he groans until he's stilling, panting and boneless. He's still buried inside you and he settles his weight a little more firmly on you as you share oxygen, pressed so close that you can't be sure you haven't become one - melded together and fused.

You don't burn it, but you end up having toast for dinner.

[vigilskeep]

Considering DA protags are referred to by either title or surname, got any headcanons about that?

i’m going to be real with you i’m not sure i understand what this ask means or if it’s in reference to something i’ve forgotten but i’m going to give it my best shot anyway? and simply proceed to ramble. it’s late so i’m going to be very rambley

i’ve always taken particular notice of duncan’s codex entry saying it’s commonplace for wardens to drop their family names as a sign of abandoning their ties outside the wardens. so the warden being known by their family name is an act of defiance against warden tradition. it’s a good representation of how many warden codes they had to break to do the job, and what firm ties they tend to still have to their respective origins. reminds you that the warden is very often the ultimate anomaly. it can be something of a rallying cry for those whose names arent the type to ordinarily be heard across thedas

as for the ‘hero of ferelden’ title, there’s a couple great things about that one. firstly, it directly mimics loghain’s title, the hero of river dane, which is delicious. who knows how long yours will outlive the death of his, when the wheel of history turns once more! otherwise, i’m super interested in it tying the warden to ferelden especially if the warden is not from ferelden. if you’re dalish, how do you feel about nationhood being applied to you? if you’re a dwarf, are you paragon or hero first? if you’re a city elf or a circle mage, how do you feel about this being the moment they finally suddenly want to decide you’re ‘of’ the same people, rather than pushing you aside? etc

‘hawke’ is so great. love how it depersonifies them. love how they’re the one who doesn’t rlly get a nickname from varric; hawke is the nickname, the false persona carrying the story. love that malcolm probably went by ‘hawke’ too and they stepped right into his shoes. love the genderlessness. love the flavour it gives to the names carver hawke and bethany hawke, the twins who can never be the hawke and struggle to get out from under that shadow, but also are in some ways freer in getting to have their own unique names appended, not made into a lifeless symbol

i’m very fond of ‘champion of kirkwall’. there’s a great beautiful confusing dead tradition of referring to nobles simply as their place name, which would be like for example referring to sebastian himself as starkhaven or anora herself as ferelden, and i would love that to apply to hawke in this case. it’s more relevant if they go dark and become viscount but i think all champions should get it as a treat. you don’t even get to be hawke; you are kirkwall. you clawed your way up it and now it’s a part of you, caked under your fingernails. i like how kirkwall claims them as its champion no matter if they were just fighting for their friend. in da2 everything is narrative, decided after the fact

i wish we could get more into herald of andraste because to me it screams end-of-days cult. a herald arrives ahead of someone, a herald announces them. the implication of a herald of andraste is that they have been sent to cry that she is coming

[b0vidine]

Encore CJVerse Chatroom Post

Just a long post about the Encore au guys in the cjverse chat. I'll be explaining what they've been up to also just their general presence in the chat here. Sooo enjoy!

Due to events of the chat- that I will explain soon- the Encores are all humans again so I'm just going to quickly talk about each of them individually.

Mind is named King. At first he kept his distance from chat but overtime he got more used to it and is now mostly friendly with everybody. He rarely gets in fights, mostly only doing so when it's in defense of Hearts lol. Here's his current profile picture!

Heart's name is Paladin, he is also commonly called Pal, or even Padin by one specific individual. Back when he was a puppet he was called Dove but he will kill you if you use it now. Pal tends to be a lot in chat, he gets in fights easily but ultimately has more friends than anybody else in his psyche. He's the only one with different pronouns in the psyche using she/her and he/him. Here's her pfp!

Soul's name is Piper. When he was a puppet his name was Wander. Wander was much more active in chat and had a few friends but Piper mostly keeps to himself and doesn't talk much now. When he does talk he's mostly pretty awkward. Here's his pfp :)

Finally there's Whole also named Snare. He is not active in chat at the moment due to being murdered (he's fine). However when he did talk in chat is was mostly arguing with people. Pretty much everybody hates him. Anyway, here's the shithead himself.

Not too long after that Snare found out that Wander and King were off their strings and took Wanders memories before restringing the two. He took interest in the chat and had Dove keep an eye on it, acting like a spy, while he wasn't there.

Now onto the general stuff they've been up to.

Wander joined first and it was a lot of just him and King chilling and talking to people. I believe the first important thing that happened was King becoming friends with MP Heart, otherwise known as Elm, when he joined chat.

The chat clearly reacted poorly to this, especially Elm who ran off and caused quite a problem. Which lead him to being chained up in Stein's (MP Whole ofc) house.

Ennui eventually talks to Dove and mostly gaslights him into having some self worth lol. This conversation lead to Worm (A Heart made by Kai) sending Snare some unfriendly drawings. Which got Dove's phone taken away. Dove was upset by this and due to Ennui's gaslighting friendliness Dove decided to escape his cage and free King because he wanted somebody to talk to. King had the idea to made them a place to hide from Snare that they could put Dove's phone in so they can continue to use the chat.

When King returned to chat he heard that Elm had gotten hurt so he messaged Stein to try to help. Stein told him that Elm had cut off his hand trying to make a doll replica of King. So King removed his own hand to send to Stein hoping Stein could use it as a model to make a prosthetic for Elm. Stein had been lying about the situation and was only looking for a way to make a prosthetic hand so he could use it to build a Mind who was named Galvan. Elm did try to tell King this but Stein would pull his hair any time he tried to type out the message.

King did get his hand back but he had to make another plan with Dove to blame Wander for it as well as the fact Dove's old phone was now gone. King got put back on his strings after having his hand repaired and Dove let him go again, as a part of said plan.

King spent most of his time in chat after that, now having some hope that the chat can help them get out of their situation somehow. He ended up involved in a chat about saving somebody from the SCP foundation. The chat wanted to have somebody send him a tazer and they volunteered Stein, who agreed. King tried to argue against it for Elm and Galvan's safety, he was mostly dismissed other than being told Elm could be sent to live with him in case of an emergency.

Not long after that Galvan and Elm got in a fight and Stein reacted by electrocuting Elm. After being oh so inspired by the SCP Foundation. King tried to be there for Elm and comfort him through it and was reasonably pissed at Stein. About two days later Elm and King decide it would be a great idea to test the receiver to see if Elm could safely come to the Encore psyche if the SCP Foundation does try anything. Which results in Elm sending himself to the psyche when he wasn't meant to. King wasn't sure if it would be safe to send Elm back so he let him stay until Stein tested to see if the transmitter would be good to send Elm back. It didn't take long for Snare to find the two which quickly became a problem.

Snare attempted to tie up Elm with strings and Elm freaked out and hit his head into a wall trying to pass out. King had been hiding in Elm's pocket because Snare entering the psyche was causing him to have a panic attack but he climbed out to check on Elm after he got hurt. King got strung up and Elm got locked away in the Encore's storage room.

Wander's strings came undone because of this and he met Elm and freed him from the room. He also tried to free King but King didn't want to be freed worrying things would get worse. When Snare returned to the psyche he decided to turn Elm into a plushie to be easier to manage. Seeing Elm as a plush sort of caused King to have a breakdown, being worried that Elm had also lost his memories or was going to. Elm calms King down and Snare leaves the room, being made uncomfortable by the twos friendship.

When Snare returns he makes a deal with Elm that if Elm cooperates with Snare attempting to take his memories, he would leave King off his strings. Of course because Elm isn't a member of the psyche taking his memories doesn't work. Yippee!

Speedrun time: Dove's a bitch, they go to find Wander, Wander's missing, Elm takes a nap, Wander find them, they talk for a while, Wander runs off again, King naps, Wander shows back up with Dove, Dove and Wander play some games till King wakes up, the group plays games together, Dove and Elm get in a bit of a fight so King takes Dove back to his cage and talks to him, King comes back and has Wander sleep, and him and Elm take another nap.

While the three were asleep Snare returns to the psyche. When Elm wakes up he decides to go talk to Snare and King goes with him. The conversation is sort of ok and Snare sends Elm and King to go get Wander for him. They listen and bring Wander back to Snare , Snare uses the moment to attempt to make King string Dove and Wander for him. King refuses so Snare strings his hands to force him. Elm tries to stop him by rolling a stool at Snare so Snare uses his strings to retrain Elm squeezing him in the process.

Once Snare gets King to string up Wander the blue strings from King began infecting Snares golden ones. Which caused Snare to freak out and leave the psyche, freeing Elm. Being forced to String Wander caused King to disassociate which worried the others. Again more talking and a nap from Elm later Dove suggests King use the strings again. King says no at first and Dove yells at him until the other two agree with Dove, pushing King to try messing with the strings. As soon as he does the blue strings begin to take over the psyche and Snare comes back freaking out and threatening the group.

Heart turns human again first and King and Elm go to see what happened after he falls off Snare's desk, breaking it. Pal and King have a little reunion and Elm leaves again to continue having a moment in the other room until he passes out. Pal, King, and Piper talk a bit and catch up while King's strings basically destroy the theatre. Paladin and Piper bring King back to the house after finding it in the void again and leave him in his room. They take a moment to try to calm King before going back out to get Elm. Elm and King talk a little bit before falling asleep again in his room, Elm sleeping on the floor.

Snare threatens to put Elm back in the transmitter, King panics at that still not knowing if it would be safe for him to go through it. The strings in response turn Elm back to how he normally is and he murders Snare. Yeah remember when I casually mentioned that earlier? Anyway. Snare gets murdered for his crimes and King and Elm go cry on the floor together for a bit after the strings turn King human again.

From there they decided to have Elm live with them and they've all mostly been just trying to get better after everything. They recently changed the house to be better fitting for Elm and to give him his own room. Pal and Elm have been working on becoming friends, King has just been trying to enjoy life, and Piper has been rotting away in his room writing music.

That should be all for this post. There's a bunch of other things that have happened or are happening but this post can't go on forever. There may be more updates in the future, but for the time being, take this heights ref I drew of the guys!

[everybody-loves-purdy]

How did you feel about NightSun in Wind? I honestly was surprised to say they’ve grown on me. I LOVED whistlepaw and frostpaw’s little moment and how the authors have acknowledged their chemistry and tight bond. I wish they would take the leap and make them canon…

Also, do you think there will be a battle? I hope Leafstar finally dies so we can get a new Skyclan leader… who do you think will end up being Riverclan’s leader? Either Frostpaw or Icewing or a reformed Berryheart??? I have a feeling Berryheart will either die killing Splashtail or in the battle otherwise as a last ditch needletail-type redemption.

NightSun has grown on me so much, I hated it at first. But now I genuinely think they’re very healthy at the point they’ve gotten to and probably one of the most realistic warriors couples, especially with how messy them getting together was and how Sunbeam initially decided to give it a shot because she got turned down by Blazefire.

Erins please make Frostwhistle canon, it’s what the people want, wings of fire hasn’t crashed and burned financially for having gay couples so I’m sure warrior cats will be fine if that’s your concern. Anyway, given how many LGBTQ people are warriors fans it would probably be beneficial for sales in many ways.

I really hope there will be a battle, but at this point I think it’s probably 50/50 whether we get a full battle or not. Depends on how much control Splashtail retains over RiverClan. I hope he launches and attack on ShadowClan at minimum.

I still want it to be Frostpaw as RiverClan’s leader, I’m team Froststar all the way. Obviously we have the obvious other candidates of Icewing and Duskfur, but both have been specifically noted as old and on the verge of retirement by the narrative, I don’t want another old clan leader. Not to mention how many of Icewing’s clanmates begun to turn against her due to her co-operation with ShadowClan, I’m not sure how well her being leader would go down. I want Froststar to happen and I think either of them would make an excellent deputy to her, someone with a lot of experience to help guide her. Berryheart is an interesting choice but one I doubt that will be accepted by RiverClan, or even Berryheart herself given how pro ShadowClan she is. I can’t help but think she and Splashtail have a plan in which they invade ShadowClan, forcefully depose Tigerstar, and then have RiverClan do what ShadowClan did to them, and instate Berryheart as leader (obviously leaving once the clan accept her as such). She’s just so pro ShadowClan I can’t see her being the deputy unless it was to ultimately end up back in ShadowClan. Be funny if she gets RiverClan leadership by accident though. I hope her arc ends with her killing Splashtail, if she doesn’t die I can see her putting herself in a self imposed exile, realising the damage she has done and feeling an overwhelming guilt due to it.

[sparrow-in-boots]

okay so, I'm going to get to Lucy Stillman and the franchise's treatment of her, but i think I need to explain my own feelings about the portrayal of the modern brotherhood first. I do not buy the "brotherhood = conspiracy theory cult" angle. It's flawed and leads to terrible takes overall, by the lore and by the fandom.

It's a holdover from the fact that the game decides to run with conspiracy theories that we have in the real world, and assign them all to the Isu. they even poke fun of it in the earlier games with the whole lizard people and space wizards in tinfoil hats comments. now that's a whole can of worms in itself given how deeply racist and antisemitic the overwhelming majority of conspriacy theories are, but it's not a good way to portray the assassin brotherhood because that's not what they are. they are far leftists. they are anarchist cells, they are commune organizers, they are revolutionaries. that's not me saying it either, that's just canon, plain and simple.

but that would make the story too close to real-life politics and they can't do that cus it's not in their interests.

therefore, the brotherhood is coded as isolationist cultists, or at least as far as The Farm goes. in current year, i think we can all agree there's an inherent fallacy (if not outright disengenuous portrayal) of painting your leftist organization fighting against the capitalist neocolonial hegemony with the same strokes as the whacky people starting communes in the middle of nowhere to escape 5G towers, fluoride water and the [insert villanized minority group here].

i don't buy it, i don't appreciate it, and i think we could have had a stronger story without it, even regarding Desmond's backstory.

THAT SAID, let's take a look at Lucy. her's is the story of a girl who was forced into adulthood too early after being left to her own devices by a very sheltered and isolating community that failed her, and then inducted into a cult which ultimately killed her and then was promptly swept under the narrative. that cult is the templar order by the by.

Lucy was born and raised within the Brotherhood, and pretty much set lose on the world with no connectiosn to speak of. surely they must have given her a paper trail, fake parents and school enrollments, medical records, the works. she was told to infiltrate Abstergo and probably given a general path towards that, namely research that could be useful to them, but otherwise? she was on her own.

first thing that comes to mind is when Amish folks get their time away from their hometown to experience the world and choose to come back or not. i can't comment on their experience and general view on this so i won't attempt to draw a parallel here, but just that initial mental connection speaks for itself imo.

She speaks of having to wait tables to make ends meet, and while that's the socially expected experience of solo living for a young adult leaving home (work minimun wage jobs, go to college, climb the chain, start small, etc), she has no home to return to. In fact there's this looming tension that even opening up to missing her home or going into detail about it could blow her cover. Even in the privacy of being around friends and colleagues, there's this necessity of keeping up a front. She has to buy it so deeply it becomes her, inside and out, and doing that at such a formative age is bound to take it's toll.

You're removed from everything and everyone you've ever known. You don't know when or if you'll ever see them again. In fact they can die at any moment and you might never hear about it. Contact with them is a fraught and dangerous thing, and even the slightest slip could spell your doom and theirs. Connection is a constant swinging sword of Damocles over her, and who can take comfort and solace from community like that? No one, is who. So of course she'd seek that away from where she could endanger everyone.

So in comes Vidic. She knows he's a templar, of course she does, but he's kind and understanding, a bit frustrating and headstrong, but she can usually talk him into chilling out here and there. And of course, one can draw a parallel between him and Bill. Both are strict and charismatic (in their own way) father and mentor figures, but while Bill is cold and hard, Vidic feigns affection (as Haytham so eloquently put) and the worst part is, it works. Any affection and attention is good attention for the starved, and Lucy's been on the end of her ropes since she's been outside of the Brotherhood.

She knows and can see it's all manipulation, she's not that blind of course, but it chips away at her. That's what emotional manipulation does after all. And then, in come the agents to kill her, and Vidic stops them.

All her life she's heard how brutal and merciless the templars are, and surely she's seen it too while working under them, but right when her facade slips and she should be dead, she's not. Because Vidic spares her. Of course that leaves a deep impression on her, and further erodes her resolve. Slowly but surely, she opens up, and Vidic is an expert at what he does. She may hold quite a bit of guilt and shame at turning, but the templars were there when the brotherhood wasn't.

Bill says that of those they send to infiltrate the templars, they are either "too strong" and can't keep up the charade, or are "too weak" and turn. How is being a human being who needs connection and community "too weak"? How is being slowly lovebombed and manipulated into choosing the wire mother and then being foresaken the plush one when in need weakness?

Desmond says that she "seemed so sincere, like she really wanted to make a difference", and I truly believe she did. Her morals and belief were twisted through years of emotional torture and isolation, and she knew she couldn't return to the brotherhood after how far she caved under the pressure. There's no space for the nuances and endless gray areas of such an unbalanced war in the current brotherhood, and she knows it, so throwing in with the templars for her was the lesser evil. She's not fool enough to buy their propaganda wholesale, but it's a necessary concession in her mind so she can excuse her taking advantage of their attention and community. Again, as long as she's useful to them, she has a place among them.

However, the way she's treated by the narrative is... w o w. We never get the chance to hear it from her side, expect by a pathetically short email on the ACR dlc. While having the protagonists agonize over someone's beliefs after their passing and finding no solid answers, they really don't spend nearly enough time for that to carry much weight narratively. In fact, there's hardly much of a critique on the conditions that led her to that kind of fall from grace, and even less is done to fix it.

She, much like Clay, are the epitomes of how the brotherhood is mirroring too much the templar's and Juno's disregard for human life, and how that needs to change in order for them to turn the tides. But nothing comes of it, because our anchor to the modern timeline gets doomed by the narrative and now all those loose plot holes go nowhere. Her funeral, her burial, her memory, it all gets waved about like an annoying gnat on the dinner table, and nobody does anything but try their best to ignore it until it goes away. Her actress couldn't keep with their schedule, so they got rid of her in the most pathetic horrifyingly dismissive way possible.

Personally I'm not a fan of the templar turncoat plotline they gave her, but if that's what they wanted to go with, then it needed much MUCH more careful writing and it needed to fucking GO SOMEWHERE. But it doesn't. And it sucks.

[andarthas-web]

Wakanda Forever? More like Wakanda WTF!

I finally managed to watch Wakanda Forever and....WTF WAS THAT???

Who thought it was a good idea to center the movie on two BIPOC communities, both of which are threatened by neo-colonial and capitalist western ambitions, going to war with each other, because one of them can’t come up with a better solution to the dilemma they’re facing than murdering a black woman? I mean....Namor is several hundreds of years old and apparently an experienced and good ruler. It’s pretty clear Riri didn’t even know what was going on and would never have willingly put Wakanda at risk (which makes it likely she wouldn’t have wanted to put Talocan and its’ people at risk either). Also, if Riri could invent something like this, sooner or later some other scientist will pop up who can do the same, because people who are gifted like that are rare...but by no means a one-time-only-in-all-of-human-existence. So no matter HOW she’s taken out of the picture, that’s only delaying the problem, not solving it. And FFS!!! If he wanted to keep her out of reach of western ambitions, keeping her in Talocan (if he didn’t trust Wakanda enough) would have been perfectly sufficient, no murder needed. Then there’s the bit about firing Okoye. WTF??? First of all, Shuri’s an adult and a princess responsible for her people, fully capable of making executive decisions on her own and EVERYBODY was aware that this was a risky mission beforehand. Hell, it wasn’t the first time Shuri did risky stuff in her life either. So yeah, punishing Okoye for not being all-powerful and not being able to pull an unrealistic Deus Ex Machina move to save Shuri, and especially considering that it is up to Shuri to decide for herself which risks and actions to take? Doesn’t make one lick of sense. It makes even LESS sense, considering that from all the people present, Okoye is the most qualified where it comes to getting Shuri back. And EVEN LESS SENSE that Ramonda’s anger comes from “having lost ALL of her family” when at the end of the movie, we learn that she has a grandson AND that she’s met him. Doesn’t he count at all for her? Btw, fridging characters in order to motivate others to grow and take action they wouldn’t have otherwise? A really tired old trope that robbed Ramonda of her dignity and power. Never mind that we already lost T’Challa in this movie and adding Ramonda on top of that was just adding insult to the injury. Then there’s this bit about “oh, I had the Kimoyo beads bugged” from Valentina Allegra de Fontaine? Please. Since when is western tech and knowledge even remotely on par with the tech of Wakanda / with the tech Shuri built? All within the few couple of minutes it took Ross to get to the scene to boot too. Without any kind of explanation on how the fuck they pulled this highly unrealistic feat off, this bit totally undermined the competence Shuri and Wakanda’s tech are supposed to have and it seems like an utterly unnecessary “ha ha, see, ultimately white people are better than you” gotcha moment.

Also, Namor is supposed to put his people first...but in the end, after sending a LOT of his people to die in the fight against Wakanda, he decides to just call everything off, after stressing how absolutely and utterly NON-negotiable murdering Riri was, just because Shuri decided to spare his life. Yeah, that’s hypocrisy of the highest order. Nevermind that somebody who witnessed / is well aware of the violence of white colonizers against BIPOC women and who is obviously still angry and upset about it, should NOT be willing to murder a black woman that easily and without second thought, let alone without a DAMN good reason and only after much, much soul-searching.  Also, what did it get him in the end?

NOTHING HE COULDN’T HAVE EASILY HAD WITHOUT GETTING TONS OF PEOPLE KILLED ON BOTH SIDES. Riri is still alive and free (and not even been kept safe and out of reach in Wakanda, like Shuri suggested at first, but returning to her life in the US, where she will be at a higher risk of being abducted / forcibly conscripted by other powers). (Side-note: is it just me, or did her suit seem very shoddily animated when compared to Tony’s?) And Wakanda is now an ally? HELL, considering how isolated they were becoming on an international stage, they’d have probably been perfectly delighted to consider an alliance well before he started this whole shit-show. Overall, the plot of this movie makes NO sense and violates a lot of the characters’ integrity six ways to sunday, having them act like immature, stupid teenagers instead of the experienced, competent people they’re supposed to be. Somebody (or a lot of somebodies) took lazy shortcuts here in order to drive a plot forward that was all focused on a maximum of flash and bang and Celebrity Big Brother style drama instead of telling a meaningful, consistent story. Among the few bright lights here were Okoye, with Danai Gurira pulling off a small miracle to give the character dignity and depth despite the godawful script, Shuri, whose struggle with the grief over her brother’s death and with trying to find a path forward for herself really hit home hard, as well as Riri, who was fun to watch as she rejoiced in the tech she had created, but who was also willing to take on responsibility and do the right thing. And finally Nakia, whose heartbreak was still palpable and yet it was incredibly admirable and inspiring how she worked through that, nevermind how she was absolutely badass as she came to rescue Shuri and Riri, as well as M’Baku, with Winston Duke adding either a light-hearted or a serious note to the scene as needed.  Sadly, overall, it’s not a movie I’m going to watch again and it was a huge disappointment.

[tokiro07]

Was talking to a customer today about media consumption, specifically about the benefits and risks of binging

I've talked about this concept a number of times lately it feels like, but this particular conversation helped me realize a nice framework to look at it with: while binging is quick and to an extent feels good (i.e. "I finished this series in X amount of time!"), it greatly reduces the amount of anchor points that one can form to become attached to the media in question

For example, when I was reading Dungeon Meshi, I ended up reading all 90+ chapters in the span of three days; Dungeon Meshi is made up of a lot of small arcs, each lasting only a few chapters, and I ended up reading all of them in the same context (sitting on my couch at around the same time of day) with minimal exposure to outside factors (other readers, sharing what I was doing with my family or friends, etc.)

Aside from key moments, like those that were particularly funny ("an exact duplicate...?") or particularly emotionally impactful (the ancient magic, Senshi's youth, post-Dungeon Rabbits, etc.), I feel like I couldn't really relay the events of the story to someone else without missing a lot of the best bits because, again, by binging them I ended up mashing all of the events together in my mind. I didn't even end up reading it at a particularly noteworthy time in my own life, so reading it so quickly meant that it didn't end up connecting to my personal life either

Compare to say, One Piece, which I hadn't actually read in its entirety until Gear 4th was revealed; I realized that the significance of this moment may have been lost on me, so I decided that this would be a good time for me to fill in any of the gaps in my knowledge (i.e. Davy Back, Skypiea, Water 7, etc.) and read the full-color version

At just shy of 800 chapters at the time, this process took me approximately three weeks; some chapters I read lying on my bed, some I read sitting in a chair, some I read during breaks in college. Some I read while listening to Three Days Grace, some while listening to 10 Years, some while listening to Rise Against

Even though I was binging One Piece, the sheer amount of time it took me to actually do so ended up giving me a ton of opportunities to create anchors; I remember different contexts, outside conversations, and most importantly, the impacts that they had on me

Rereading Punk Hazard at the time was definitely the highlight, as it altered not only my reading experience but my involvement in the fandom and just generally how I lived my life. Because I was reminded of Monet, I started looking into the theories surrounding her, which led to me looking into other theories and finding forums like Oro Jackson. Monet herself became the ultimate anchor point for me, as she retroactively became the frame of reference that I have for my entire One Piece experience

Reading One Piece took so long that it ended up being a defining segment of my life in and of itself, whereas the time spent reading Dungeon Meshi was so small that it barely registers as a single event, despite the fact that I think it's extremely high quality and a story I highly recommend

It's like when you're studying for an exam - you can't just cram the night before, you'll wear your brain out and only really remember the first and last things you read particularly clearly; but if you space it out and give yourself time to rest, you'll have multiple beginnings and endings that you'll remember a lot better than you would have otherwise, both because they're each their own isolated incident that you can think back to while also giving yourself enough time to recover

So when you're consuming a new piece of media that you've really wanted to get into but you were too late for the live updates, please consider regulating your experience. Limit yourself to 10 chapters a day, or one arc per day, or whatever's the most conducive to that particular medium. Just resist the temptation of "just one more, it's so good and I've got time for it"

You may have the time for it, but like eating a bag of candy, you're going to end up overdoing it and regretting it because A) you don't feel as good as you would have otherwise and B) now you don't have it when you want it later

[fantasyinvader]

Regarding Heroes depicting Edelgard looking for pawns with a “low sense of self.” A sense of self, or rather an understanding of who you are, is something important to have. It allows us to be ourselves, as we know what comes from us and what comes from others. That I genuinely believe A, B, and C and therefore support those rather than supporting X, Y and Z because I see others supporting them. Or to use a literary example, this is rampant in American Psycho as it's characters are so caught up in appearances that they dress like buffoons because it's supposedly fashionable, eat foods they like because it's trendy, buy art they don't understand to look sophisticated and spout beliefs they don't believe because society tells them they are correct. This all leads to Patrick Bateman either being or imagining himself as a serial killer in order to feel like an individual in such a conformist society (with the novel having clues he's not the only one doing this.

Ironically, Edelgard says this to Jeritza who she uses for the Death Knight. She took Emile killing to save his mother and sister and twisted that, leading to a man with severe mental illness that is degrading his mind and a desire to die in order to stop his “other self.” Not to mention, her calling a man she's admitting to using a pawn. And considering that Edelgard is dressed up as the Flame Emperor in this, which is also her ending title, this likely reflects what her actual views are.

Jeritza, Hubert, Monica, even Byleth aren't friends or allies, as she continues to believe that she is all alone in this struggle and fails to see their contributions for what they actually are. Edelgard merely sees them as pawns, tools she can shape to do whatever she wants. That's her going after those will low senses of self. Hell, this is her attempt at consoling Byleth after Jeralt's death. Hell, if you think about it the decision to join Edelgard ultimately comes down to ignoring Byleth's default stance, the morality they would have otherwise gained in White Clouds, in order to side with Edelgard. We disregard Byleth's character by deciding to support Edelgard.

And this is something that really clicked. Remember Seteth's infamous line about how Edelgard is not merely a tyrant? I think this is what it's referring to. She is not a mere tyrant, she's something worse. She does something to people in a less literal manner than TWSITD, she turns people into animals.

Her path is called out in the Japanese text by Dimitri as the path of the beast, which relating to Buddhist terms means that it's a path of ignorance, delusion or foolishness. Animals don't operate on morality or reason, they operate on instinct where the strong prey on the weak and the weak fear the strong. We can see a reflection of this in the parley, where when challenged on the world she seeks to create only benefiting the strong Edelgard in turn blames the weak if her world doesn't benefit them. Meanwhile, the world of humans is where souls can exercise self-control, not falling prey to their instincts and instead act in a humane manner. And it's from the world of humans that you can start working towards Nirvana, but without control a soul can fall back into one of the lower realms. It's the route where Byleth spiritually regresses, and in Azure Moon we see Edelgard turn herself into a beast unit as supposedly the end point of her ideals.

Now think about the “low sense of self” in the context of this. By siding with Edelgard, Byleth loses their paralogue where Rhea leaves behind her shield because Byleth ended up betraying Rhea. On top of that, Ferdinand and Caspar lose theirs as well despite being native to the Black Eagle class. Those paralogues and their rewards are lost to the player, in addition to how Ferdinand can not be confronted with his father being blamed for Arundel's actions or Caspar can't prove his strength against the Death Knight he wanted to bring down. Linhardt supports a bloody war despite hating bloodshed, Bernie is so scared she resolves herself to kill others before they can kill her, Petra fights to enslave two nations to free her own from the Empire, and Dorothea will support Edelgard's fuck the poor mentality while blaming Sothis for the war Edelgard started. And that's not counting the optional recruits to Safflower.

They lose some of who they are when they side with Edelgard, and I don't think they're the only ones. When Edelgard sets up the Southern Church in Hopes with a wildly different gospel, it's noted in game that it appeals to people who didn't like what the Church of Seiros taught. And we also know that the Imperial army kills everyone who doesn't bend the knee, and according to the Japanese text go out of control while invading other nations post-war. Edelgard's influence is turning people into animals, making them lose whatever morality they had as well as their ability to reason. Like at the end of Safflower, some of the cast realize that Edelgard is lying to them and keeping things secret while blaming the Church for Arianrhod but they still support her to the end. Even characters who reject Edelgard's beliefs and instead still practice altruism still supported her in making Fodlan Ayn Rand's wet dream.

The last chapter being called “To the end of a dream” ending with the cutscene where Rhea is killed called “A world for humanity” though. I believe those are ultimately related to this. It's not that Edelgard kills Rhea and ushers in an era of humanity, it's that by killing Rhea and replacing Sothis's teachings with her own beliefs, Edelgard is ending the world of humanity as she pushes Fodlan back into the world of animals. That in doing so, Edelgard takes away teachings that teach morality or reasoning in order to impose her own will upon Fodlan. The will that would lead her to becoming the Hegemon Husk while still believing she's doing this for “humanity.” But her ideals are implied to have come from the Agarthans manipulating her into creating a world for them, and to the Agarthans “beasts” are anyone who is a non-Agarthan because they view themselves as the only true humans. But at the same time, they do not act in a humane manner or are self-aware enough to realize their fall from grace was a consequence of their own actions (much like Edelgard). In essence, the people calling others beasts are the real beasts themselves.

It's the subversion here. Much like how you need to rescue the dragon from the princess, the dragon represents humanity whereas the princess represents devolving into a mindless, immoral monster. And it took Heroes to help point it out because of the translation fucking things up.

[spartazia-blog]

Listening vs Obeying

Something I’ve been mulling over since seeing another round of discussion about Penelope and her choices specifically around the Marina and her children and Eloise LW publications is the notion of listening to someone vs obeying them. When we talk to people or provide advice, what is our expectation and goal in doing so? Are we helping and being a sounding board or are we trying to give marching orders? And, at the end of it, do we respect that ultimate decision maker in someone’s life is and should be them?

I ask because a common theme I see pop up is the idea that Pen “had” to resort to Whistledown because “no one listens to her.” But is that true? Did they really just close their ears and go “lalala” when she spoke to them? Or, is it that she was heard but she just wasn’t *obeyed*? And why do so many Penelope stans seem to have this absolute conviction that if she expresses something to someone or gives them advice, she is entitled to unquestioning compliance?

Colin listened to her about Marina loving someone else before him, he just didn’t go along with what she wanted him to do which was be horrified and cast Marina aside. In fact, he quite maturely expresses that it would hypocritical of him to do so given that he also has a past with other women. That’s really cool of him! It shows that he’s a solid and reasonable man who doesn’t judge others against a bar he wouldn’t use for himself.

Eloise listened to Penelope about she concerns (which Penelope was mostly lying about to outright gaslighting Eloise with to keep from getting caught as LW. Not to mention the hypocrisy over lecturing Eloise about going to ‘bad parts of town unchaperoned’ while Penelope was doing the exact same thing), Eloise just decided that her conversations and friendship with Theo along with expanding her mind at the rallies she was attending were worth the risk. Which, again, very cool. No matter how people try to spin Eloise as some selfish asshole, her pushing back against the box the patriarchal society she exists in and wanting to reach beyond the arbitrary barriers of class and gender placed on her is very brave and admirable.

Even Marina listened to Penelope about her objections to the Colin plan but was in desperate straits after Portia (whom the fandom never seems to want to blame for her part in that whole debacle or who does get to be applauded for doing whatever she needs for her children…hmmm…qWHITE interesting that point) locked her away, put the fear of God into her, and tried to sell her to a man who INSPECTED MARINA’S TEETH, so forged ahead. Marina’s choices are definitely murky and unfair to Colin but the idea that she was doing anything for some sort of diabolical and cruel reason and not out of desperation and fear driven by the terrible way society would treat her and, more importantly, her innocent children, is just not borne out by the narrative. And anyone trying to claim otherwise is not someone I can take seriously. Marina’s first choice being her children should be more admired than Portia’s choices but somehow, Marina is a villain while Portia is “complicated and flawed.” I cannot talk about Marina without wanting to wrap her in blankets and protect her from both the fandom and what I fear the show has in store for her. I admit this bias freely.

Penelope is never fully honest with people and then, when they don’t follow her marching orders on how she thinks they should operate, she goes nuclear and takes their choices away from them. Penelope is not the god of the people in her life’s lives. She is not *entitled* to being obeyed (even if you think she is 100% in the right when giving advice, this is still the case). People have their own minds, their own free will, and the right to make their own decisions and mistakes. Penelope needs to learn both to fully be honest and speak up as herself AND to accept that she is not the boss of the people in her life. There is no way she can be a healthy partner in her relationship with Colin (or anyone!) if she operates under the theory that if someone won’t take her advice willingly, she will just force their hand. And her stans need to learn the difference between being listened to and being obeyed.

I think she can. And I think, if her arc is done well, that will be a big point of growth for her. She will learn to use her words and her voice, as herself. She’ll learn to trust the people in her life - because she doesn’t really trust anyone right now - and she’ll learn to see the people in her life are entitled to autonomy. I just hope the fandom can learn the same.

P. S. This is all coming from someone who is a Polin fan desperately hoping their season gives me the growth and story I desire while dreading what I think is actually in store for them so miss me with the “hater” bs I can already sense coming.

[astarionancuninswife]

mother (a tav backstory)

I came across this post on twitter a few days ago of a writing challenge for the month of March, and I think not only will it help me be more comfortable writing, but also help me understand my tav(s) a bit more. I've decided to primarily focus on Luci since she's my first tav.

Today's prompt is "What are Tav's parents like?" There is a little bit of Luci x Astarion at the end because I couldn't help myself, but this is more so a bit about Luci and her backstory! I hope you enjoy!

Also, I've thought a lot about this and I imagine Lily Gladstone as the face claim for Luci's mom, Daphne. I'm just shit at descriptions lol

word count: 1663

warnings: I think maybe suggested child abandonment is really the only thing that's worth a warning? lmk otherwise!

ao3 || baldur's march || guidelines for requests || masterlist

Luci couldn’t remember much before her mother found her wandering the woods alone; not her name, or her biological parents, or why she was in the woods in the first place. All she knew was that in the last few years, she had survived side by side with the animals of the forest and built bonds with quite a few of them to the point of being able to become one. But then her mother came across her on her way back to Baldur’s Gate after a well-needed vacation away from the city. 

Daphne was horrified to see a frail tiefling child without any supervision to be seen. She had clearly been able to take care of herself, but she was still visibly unweight, and the elven woman knew it would be a miracle for a child to survive any longer in the wilds alone. 

“Hello,” she was careful approaching the girl, speaking in a hushed tone and keeping a neutral expression on her face. She wasn’t sure when the last interaction the child had with anyone beyond the animals of the forest, so she didn’t want to scare her, “My name is Daphne Hana, may I know your name?”

The girl with pale pink skin watched the woman cautiously for a few minutes before bursting into tears, trying to communicate back but not being able to speak through her sobs. She had seen others often on the trails and such, but it was rare anyone stopped and talked to her. They saw a lost child, a tiefling at that, and turned their heads as if they saw nothing. To be seen and spoken to in such a soft way was overwhelming for the young one. 

Daphne stopped a gasp from escaping her lips and potentially scaring the child more; instead, she kneeled down to her height and held her arms out to give the girl a choice. It doesn’t take but a second before tiny horns are clumsily nudged against the tan cheek of the older woman and little arms are clinging to her shoulders. The elf wrapped her arms around the girl protectively, gently petting her wild burgundy hair. 

“Would you like to come with me? I have plenty of room for a little one such as yourself,” she promised, leaning back a bit to see the child’s face. She watched as many emotions crossed the small girl’s face before being given a nod against her shoulder, “Do you have a name?” The girl sniffled again and shook her head, either not trusting her voice or not knowing how to use it properly. Daphne smiled softly, “Then we’ll have to find you one, won’t we? Now, come,” she stood up and held her hand to the girl, which is quickly grabbed by a tiny hand, “We’re still quite a way from Baldur’s Gate, but we’ll be there soon enough,” she assured the scared girl as they walked to the wagon Daphne had been driving beforehand. She allowed the child to pick if she wished to sit in the back, telling her she’d make a soft pallet if she wanted to sleep or simply lay down, or if she wanted to sit in the front with her. The tiefling took a second to decide, ultimately yawning and letting her savior pull blankets into a nest and securing the wagon canvas to mostly block the sun from her eyes. She also was handed a few rations, which she picked at between naps on their way.

It took the rest of the day for the pair to arrive at Baldur's Gate, the child admiring every structure and person they passed. Daphne happily explained what each building was for when a pink index finger intensely pointed at them, glad that the difference in woods and the city didn’t seem too overwhelming for the kid. It didn’t take long before she parked the wagon and horse in front of a home, which she informed the girl was her house. It’s a quaint little place in the middle of Lower City, two stories, but the second story was solely two bedrooms, while the bottom floor was the living spaces. In the entry room, the shelves filled with books quickly intrigue the young one. 

“We’ll explore tomorrow, darling,” Daphne smiled at her, “It’s late and we need to get you settled for the night.” She guided the tiefling up the stairs, which was a feat in itself since the child clearly had no clue what stairs were. Eventually, Daphne relented to picking her up and carrying her to the top of the steps before leading her to the spare bedroom. It had already been set up as a guest room so it didn’t take much to set it up for the child to be comfortable, “I’m right across the hall should you need me, don’t be afraid to wake me if you do,” she leaned over and kissed the pink forehead between the nubby horns after tucking her in, “Good night, sweet one.”

The night went surprisingly well, with only one incident of the child climbing into bed next to the elf. She didn’t complain at all, instead she made room and smiled at the trust she’s receiving. 

As the sun rises, so does Daphne. She carefully pulled herself from the cuddles of the child and went downstairs to make a quick breakfast. She pondered over what to cook, before deciding on a simple eggs and bacon meal. The girl she found needed protein and she figured that combination would both be easy on her stomach as well as hopefully help bring her some energy for this morning. She’d have to do some research later on tiefling diets, but she was sure meat would be welcomed. She brought the tray of food up to her room, almost dropping it when she heard sobs. She quickly placed the food on her nightstand and wrapped her arms around the child.

“Gone,” the first word spoken from the pink tiefling, and it broke the motherly woman’s heart. 

“No, no, I was still here,” she tried to calm her quickly, “I was downstairs, I was making you food.” She assured her, reaching over to grab a plate without letting go of the girl, “See, food.”

The tiefling child turned her head just enough to look at the plate before looking up at the woman who had taken her in, “F—Food,” She repeated as her tears slowed, “For me?”

“Yes, dearest,” Daphne laughed softly, glad her new little friend was warming up and able to use her voice, “Go ahead and dig in, I’m sure you’re starved.” The elf watched the girl hesitantly take the plate into her lap and pick at the food with her fingers, completely disregarding the fork handed to her. Daphne figured such would happen, so it wasn’t an issue. It wasn’t long until the plate was cleared, and they were set for the day to start.

“Luci? Luci, my dear, have I finally lost you?”

The pink woman looks up from the book she had found while snooping around a random empty house they came across, “Hmm? Oh, yeah, no, I’m… I’m still here,” She laughs with embarrassment as she sees her vampiric friend in front of her with his eyebrow raised. Her smile falls a bit as she looks down at the book again, opening to one of the first pages, “This is the book my mother always read to me as a child; the first one she read to me the day after she sorta adopted me actually. It’s… it’s how she gave me my name…” She runs her fingers over the weathered page as she remembers that night clear as day, “Lucille, a spirited adventurer with a passion for unraveling ancient mysteries, set out to explore the Whispering Woods.” She reads with a sad smile, she misses her mother so much right now, “Lucille Woods.” This is the first time she’s spoken her full name out loud to any of her recent companions, as well as the first time she’s given a bigger glimpse at her past and her life in Baldur’s Gate. And to the companion she was still fairly hesitant about, she’s definitely going to beat herself up later over giving him even a sliver of something to hold over her if he so desired… 

Astarion watches her reminisce and, for once, doesn’t have a smartass comment to make. Instead, he lets her have her moment before smirking, “You’re named after a ‘spirited adventurer’ and you became one yourself? That really does just describe you with a neat little bow, now doesn’t it, darling?”

Luci crinkles her eyes with a smile at his jest as she closes the book, stuffing it in her bag, “I feel like that’s your flowery way of calling me annoyingly perfect, to which I say a-thank you,” She giggles before slipping her arm around his and starting to lead him out of the house, “Come on, we should regroup with Shadowheart and Wyll and head back to camp; it’ll be getting dark soon, and Gale promised me breakfast for dinner tonight! I’ve been excited for eggs and bacon all day; I don’t think I can wait another moment!”

The pale elf resists the urge to yank his arm away from the touchy girl; he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to how physically affectionate she is even after their short while of knowing one another, but he needs her protection so he must pretend not to be affected by it for now. He thinks, as they continue to find the other two and start walking to their campsite, that maybe if he acts interested enough in her family life, she’ll start trusting him even more. She’s incredibly and stupidly sweet, so it won’t take much… and he must admit, he actually is curious about her upbringing and what exactly ‘sorta adopted’ means for her and her mother. 

[obfuscates]

Alright now that I've watched the finale, we can finally get to the part I arguably love the most about TLOU: the morality of the ending and it's implications.

As much as I love both game and TV Joel, I've always thought he is a fairly easy character to understand. It's simple: Ellie is his second chance at having a daughter. Throughout everything, he does get attached to Ellie herself but he does also love her because she reminds him of his daughter, reminds him of being a father. He not only doesn't care what Ellie wants, but his opinion is that she is incapable of deciding what she wants. You see this every time he's made a decision for her, how reluctant he always is to let her make a decision. Even when Ellie decided to stay with him at Tommy's, he still thought it was a poor decision because he keeps trying to get her to go back. He knows that Marlene was probably right about what Ellie wanted--otherwise he wouldn't have lied. Otherwise he would have said simply, "they were going to kill you." If he wasn't distinctly aware of his own hypocrisy, he would have said "they weren't going to give you a choice."

Marlene, on the other hand, is so much more interesting for me. Marlene knew Ellie's mom, was close with Ellie's mom. Promised her to look after Ellie. She was always in Ellie's life. It is/was a very popular theory that Riley was Marlene's daughter (there is only a bit of dialogue in a comic strip that goes against this). When Ellie got bit, Marlene chose to lock Ellie up for days instead of shooting her on sight. She doesn't WANT to kill Ellie. Despite all logic, all experience of 20 years, she chose to risk her crew for Ellie. After having killed Ellie's mom for the same. And yet, even though she risked everything and was so unwilling to give up on Ellie, she is completely willing to give up Ellie's life for a cure. Marlene is pretty certain she knows what Ellie wants (and arguably is accurate about what Ellie wants given everything we know about her personality and world views, combined with her survivor's guilt for Riley), and in the show her decision not to mention it to Ellie has to do with wanting her to feel less fear, as opposed to thinking that Ellie can't make a good decision. Marlene also reveals in both the game and the show that she essentially has always been waiting for Ellie to be taken from her--the scenarios she plays out in her head and gives Joel of Ellie dying in various ways. To Marlene, a certain death for a good cause hurts less than a sudden death for no good reason. Better to grieve her now than later.

Ultimately, you are Supposed to see them as two sides of a coin. You are supposed to criticize Joel and Marlene's actions. The father who turns his back on the world because he is not ready to let go versus the mother who has decided to hurt because the world is more important than her own grief. They both decided that the life they are deciding on is their burden to bear despite it not being their own--they both think it's too big for her in some way. Even in his explanation, Joel takes the burden of the truth without giving Ellie a chance to bear it herself--not even when Ellie makes him promise. It is both everything and nothing to do with Ellie herself.

[artbyblastweave]

The seven WITHOUT homelander

Vs

Team rwby.

Environment snowy cliff. Everybody is in character.

Who do YOU bet on

In any Seven vs another cape group match up, I tend to side by default with the non-seven group because the Seven are very pointedly from a universe where they have limited opportunity to accrue combat experience against other superhumans AND no real experience working alongside each other as a cohesive unit. RWBY (and the remnants of JNPR, who I sort of append as part and parcel) have good standing here because on top of their individual versatile semblances they've also got high-tier durability from their auras AND they're good at working together as a group.

Running through the seven to try and give them a fair shake;

Black Noir and Maeve: Dangerous combatants, he heals quickly and she might be able to one-shot someone's Aura. But they're both still vulnerable to massive trauma, and they have no real counter to intelligently-deployed AOE attacks, so any number of huntresses coordinating against them stand a decent chance. They might be able to kill Jaun if they're lucky; that'd probably leave them open to someone else nailing them, though.

A-Train: Hosed. His speed is as dangerous to himself as it is to anyone on Team RWBY; fighting seriously might just kill him. He might be able to Blitz Juan if he's lucky.

The Deep: No water he can exploit or sea life he can pull in that'll help; I don't think he's capable of closing the distance on most of RWBY. He might be able to kill Juan if he's lucky.

Translucent: My read on him is that while invisible, he's indestructible, and his "super strength" is really derived more from being made of an indestructible material than having super strength proper; Butcher was able to hold his own against him with just a crowbar for a little bit without Translucent having an immediate shutdown play. He's also massively vulnerable to electricity and he's opposed to Nora. He's likely hosed if he gets caught up in one of her charge-ups. He might be able to kill Jaun via ambush. If he's lucky.

Starlight: Actually not not a contender; her power charges up through exposure to light, she's up against dust users and Yang in particular, and she's one of the only AOE assets the group has sans Homelander. But a lot of her more impressive showings were enabled by the presence of modern infrastructure and this is a fight in the wilderness, so that's gonna be a point against her. She could probably kill Juan though.

Lamplighter: I think he's doomed; He's not even durable enough to be immune to the fire he manipulates, and was kept on the Seven I think basically because he was good at setting squishies on fire as an evidence-removal thing. I think his attacks would basically be just a feeder for Yang's semblance. I genuinely don't even think he could kill Juan.

Stormfront: Actually a contender. Strong, fast, smart, experienced, heavy hitter, AOE attacks, blaster attacks, flight. The deciding factor on this is gonna be whether Nora's power treats her power blasts as electricity, which I don't actually think they are; if so, RWBY wins, but otherwise it might be a bit of a struggle. She's end-of-volume boss material. She'd kill Juan

But ultimately I think that any power discrepancy gets washed out in the fact that the Seven are likely to not be paying attention to each other's movements, or even aware of what those movements look like because they simply never do teamfights; there's also the fact that they actively hate each other and might break ranks, hold back from the fight out of unsurety, attack each other while claiming friendly fire, or defect outright. You can't model the Seven as being more than the sum of their parts, or any combination of the sum of their parts; they get less effective around each other.

[violets-and-clawmarks]

All We Know Is Falling - Warriors AU Breakdown

Hey all! I wanted to take some time to go over my AU while I slowly but surely write out some of what’s going on with it, because it changes more than just the events around the characters.

Let’s start with the characters! I have changed up everyone to some degree, with Crowfeather and Nightcloud being the most obvious.

Leafpool: I think Leafpool is more similar to her book counterpart than Crowfeather, though her main reasons for leaving the clans are not just because of her crossclan relationship. She’s more like Firestar was when he decided to leave the clans, feeling like her life as a clan cat is less fulfilling than it would be if she could travel more and help more cats and other creatures.

Crowfeather: More different from his snappy book counterpart, Crowfeather’s personality is more built around feelings of inadequacy that spawned from the journey and the loss of Feathertail. Rather than just missing someone he loved, he feels like he was powerless to stop a tragedy from happening. Him jumping into the fray during the badger attack served as a way for him to redo the situation with the Sharptooth/Mountain Lion. The story will be focusing on his growth from that point.

Crowpool as a unit: These two are drawn to each other because of their mutual feelings of not belonging, and they confide in each other after Squirrelflight notices this similarity. They fall for each other after many moons together (something I want to write about) and their plans to run away were built around their belief that they would feel happier helping those outside of the clans since they felt like their places within them were flimsy at best.

Nightcloud: Also less snippy than her book counterpart, she’s similar to Crowfeather in not feeling welcome in her clan, though this is directly tied to the actions of the rebellion. She takes on some of what Crowfeather had, trying to do things to be more accepted by her clan but ultimately choosing to do things that she personally cares about. I’ll be showcasing this more when she finds and adopts this story’s Breezekit, going against her clan’s wishes for his sake.

Squirrelflight: This brings me to Squirrelflight, who’s biggest difference is who she lets into her life. I will be keeping her sassy, though possibly softer than in the books, and her affinity for going for the things she believes is right will tie her to Nightcloud who ends up doing the same thing. Brambleclaw will not be her mate in this, and Ashfur’s whereabouts are currently unknown. Because she no longer needs to hide the three, I’ll be working on what her arc will be.

Part of this is because I haven’t read the books in a long time, but another part is that the way I want this plot to go requires certain cats to have deep motivations than they had in the books.

Next is some minor setting changes to make writing it more comfortable for me personally.

Brackenfur is the Thunderclan deputy instead of Brambleclaw, which will be plot relevant as I develop things more. Otherwise I just feel like Brackenfur makes logical sense.

Medicine cats are now called healers.

The powers that the three prophecy cats have are not the same as before, and in addition, they manifest in the mothers first. I thought it’d be cool to have Leafpool have more of an active role in helping her clan as well as have the choice to leave be a choice she’s able to make.

On the topic of the three, I am still unsure of who will be part of the prophecy, but my current set up is that Lionblaze stays with his parents while Hollyleaf and Jayfeather come back to the clans.

That’s all I have so far! All of these details are subject to change, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to send them to me!

[starvingtongue]

While Anna can understand, in some ways, where Jyscal was coming from when he exiled them, she was very much against outright exile. She wasn't a fool, she knows the Guado were becoming increasingly hostile and dangerous, and that they were on the edge of a civil war, it would've been dangerous for Seymour to stay there with those attitudes around them. However, she always advocated for them to move to a place like Bevelle. Anna had family there, so why not stay with them until Jyscal smoothed things over?

However, that was never enough. The Guado wanted a full on exile. Did she like it? No. Did she agree with it? No. Was she heartbroken and angry about decision? 100%, yes. Would she have accepted nearly any other decision besides being exiled? Maybe.

But she still believed Jyscal could've done more to quash the uprising, the bad attitudes, the name-calling, that was happening. She knew he'd tried to quell the rising attitudes that came their way, but it never felt like enough. Whether it was him coming with them and reliquishing his position, by sending them away to Bevelle (a discussion they had multiple times) instead of outright exile, anything that didn't involve them, or at least Seymour, being exiled. I think part of it comes from her ignorance, I don't think she truly understand it, mainly because she's not a Guado, she can't understand the intricacies of their culture the same way Jyscal can, no matter how much she tries to learn.

Upon learning of Yuna's heritage (I like to think that maybe they chatted a bit after Yuna obtained Anna's Aeon), she wished Jyscal had done the same for Seymour, as Braska and Yuna's mother had done for Yuna. Did Yuna have the best upbringing due to her being half Al-Bhed? No. But, she had two loving parents that would've done anything to keep her safe. This isn't to say I don't think Jyscal didn't love Seymour, I'm sure he did (and maybe that's why he ultimately decided on exile, because even having them move to Bevelle would still cause issues for Seymour being half-Guado), much in the same way Anna loves him, but I think the fact that Jyscal gave into the pressure from the Guado speaks volumes. He gave in to the Guado's demands, at the expense of his wife and child, and I don't think it's something Anna will ever be able to truly forgive him for that fact.

Ultimately, I think both Jyscal and Anna both end up regretting the decisions they made, even if they were initially made with Seymour's safety, happiness, and eventually acceptance in mind. Even if Anna says otherwise ingame, that Seymour's at fault for what he became, she knows it's bullshit. She knows that her and Jyscal were partially responsible for how Seymour ended up.

[rwdestuffs]

In most media, the idea between a hero vs. villain where there is a notable wealth and class difference is that it’s often the hero who is from the lower class/income level.

Superman is a farmhand who ended up being a reporter, and his arch rival is Lex Luthor, a rich CEO who has massive xenophobic and darwinist ideals.

Spider-Man is a lower-middle class photographer who struggles to pay rent. His most iconic enemy is Norman Osborn, a CEO of a weapons company that produced a super soldier serum that made him a murderer.

Captain America is, in his own words, “A kid from Brooklyn” and he fights a fascist in charge of an army that has agents everywhere.

Now, when the hero is rich, it’s hard to make a villain for them unless it’s something that’s more of a clash of a greater scope villain or a clash of ideologies.

For example, Batman is a Rich CEO who declared war on crime after crime took his family away, his most iconic foe is the Joker, an insane (sorta) mass murderer who challenges his ideologies on order and his no-kill rule, which Batman has to grapple with as often as he does the Joker. Many of his other foes are merely challenges to his ideology, such as Poison Ivy and Ra’s Al Ghul being challenges to how industrialization can harm the planet, and that it makes it a clash of making industry jobs and manufacturing goods for people vs. saving the planet so that people can survive.

Iron Man is also a Rich CEO whose enemy is often a bunch of other more vile CEOs who manufacture weapons and don’t care whose hands they fall into. Sometimes he fights global terrorists or other people looking to turn his inventions against innocent people. Iron Man often has to grapple with the fact that he’s saving the world from the weapons he himself made, making it less of a fight against an enemy, and more a fight against his past self. Tony is atoning for his sins as a weapons manufacturer.

Now take Blake. Blake falls into the “Rich Hero” category. She may not be a CEO, but she still ultimately came from a rich family (no matter how much her backstory and dialogue in the first three volumes hinted otherwise). Another thing that the “Rich Hero” will often do is clash with a “Rich Villain” to contrast how each uses their money and/or position in the overall fight. Very rarely does a “Rich Hero” clash with a “Poor Villain.” And if the villain is poor, more often than not does the “Rich Hero” then use the points made by the villain to try and gain a new outlook on life.

Was Adam an extremist? Possibly. His final dialogue in Volume 2 indicated that he didn’t care about Faunus casualties during the Breach, and his attitude in the Black Trailer implied that he didn’t really care about civilians at all. A person who is reckless and is willing to hurt bystanders and their own people to get what they want is a legitimately good idea to roll with… That the writers didn’t do. Instead the writers decided that the “right” thing to do was to uphold the status quo and try to obtain equal rights through nonviolent, though explicitly ineffective protests.

And at the end, they got rid of the only member of the WF that was making sense. Blake said “Never fight back because it makes us bad” while Adam was saying “We should always fight because we won’t get anywhere otherwise.”

Sienna was saying “Defend yourselves, your fellow person, and your communities, but don’t actively seek confrontation.” Sienna was basically saying that doing things in such a way that would eventually point out that the fight shouldn’t be Faunus vs. Human, but Rich vs. Poor. Given recent political events, I think it’s safe to say that if a Faunus could have been someone exploiting other Faunus for the sake of profit, that they would easily and rapidly side with the racists.

The racism subplot was more than what the writers could handle, and that can be said until the heat death of the universe, but that isn’t to say that there was something there that could have been said.

In fact, the overall story could have been one of priorities. Do our heroes focus on the looming threat of Salem who is trying to destroy the world in one big cosmic attempt at suicide, or do they try to help the disenfranchised so that there’s a world they’re willing to go back to if they’re able to save it?

The story could have been one where Adam is a rich villain willing to use his position of wealth to get people to throw away their lives for the sake of revenge while Blake could have been one who doesn’t want to sacrifice people.

Blake could have easily been the “Poor Hero” wanting peaceful resolution in the name of her (honestly should have been deceased) parents, while Adam could have been the “Rich Villain” who just wanted to expand his wealth by merely pretending to be on the side of the Faunus.

There was no need for the racism subplot, but if the writers wanted to do something, they should have gotten information from somewhere OTHER than some white karen’s blog about how minorities “should” behave.

The main point of this is that the writers ultimately fucked up by making Blake the princess of Menagerie. This could have easily been a clash of ideals from two people on the same class. Adam, the one who disregards civilians, and Blake, the one who wants to save civilians. Both from the same lifestyle, but with vastly different outlooks. And making Adam be branded is also a massive mistake because there shouldn’t have been any kind of scars like that unless there was some on Blake as well. Put them both through the same ordeals, but come out with different perspectives.

There’s a quote from Justice League Crisis on two Earths that I want to put here that should have summed up the difference between Blake and Adam:

“There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back at us… You blinked.”

The story could have easily been Adam blinking in the face of oppression, turning into what he sought out to destroy; while Blake looked at it unflinchingly, turning into someone who wanted peace, no matter how hard it was to attain. Two people whose stories aren’t that different, ultimately coming to vastly different conclusions as to what their ideologies are.

Would it had been perfect?- Far from it. This sort of story is always hard, no matter who is writing it.

But would it had been decent, or dare I say… Good?- Probably.