A thing that people always forget when chastising vivienne for being so apathetic to cole is the fact that she is a circle mage. People whom are forced to learn that you should not trust demons nor spirits or else they’ll put you down AS A RITE OF PASSAGE. Think back to what Mouse says in DAO. “Keep your wits about you, mage; true challenges never end.” She knows that for the rest of her life, demons will tempt her and try to possess her. She has seen mages turn into abominations, knows how they get them- of course she will support templars who have the skills to subdue them. And now to have a spirit scurrying around without supervision what is the last bastion against a Tevinter Sidereal… I too would be worried as hell if i were a circle mage.
EXACTLY!
not only is vivienne a circle mage, but there are also a few other factors that play into it that make cole so untrustworthy to her. vivienne underwent her harrowing when she was young– in fact, she was the youngest mage to have ever gone through a harrowing and survived it. we don't get to learn much about what she went through during her harrowing, but we DO have this banter between her and cole:
harrowings on their own are already traumatic enough, and with the added insistence from the circles that all spirits and demons are dangerous (which we see vivienne repeat above, "all it can do is harm."), it makes complete sense on why vivienne would be so put-off by cole! especially given how kind he is! she thinks that kindness is a ploy, and why wouldn't she if her harrowing was anything like the warden's in DAO?
and then that's not even acknowledging the fact that cole isn't just ANY spirit. he's the ghost of the spire. he's killed mages before and admits to doing so. and even though he was wrong to do so and realizes that what he did was wrong, that does not mean that vivienne automatically has to suddenly be okay with what cole did. of course vivienne takes cole being the ghost of the spire harder than everyone else in the inner circle. she is the only circle mage there. it is entirely plausible that she sees cole as a threat and views herself as being the person most able to recognize that threat because of what she was taught. it's why she struggles so much to empathize with cole on any level.
ive already talked about this briefly on another post, but cole is also fairly antagonistic to vivienne as well. it's easy to look at their dynamic and think that, well, cole is just trying to help vivienne but he... isn't? his version of helping her is prying into her thoughts without permission and continuing to do so even after she has shown clear discomfort with it.
cole drags her worst memories and thoughts out publicly in front of not just vivienne, but the rest of the party and anyone else who may happen to be standing near them. it's DANGEROUS, what he does, because vivienne is a player of the game. her position at court is a precarious one, and to have someone like cole who can just pick into her brain whenever he wants with no repercussions? it's scary! it's scary because vivienne has no defense against it, especially if the player supports cole and downplays the harm he does. and what can vivienne do about it? she's an ally of the inquisitor, and that makes her cole's ally by proxy. telling cole to stop doesn't work, insulting him doesn't work, trying to get the inquisitor to intervine doesn't work– nothing seems to deter cole.
which is why THIS piece of dialogue is so important to me:
despite everything i've said above, vivienne still cannot help but care about cole. no matter how dangerous he is, no matter what she was raised to believe, she still cares about him and worries for him. their dynamic is SO interesting to me and i really wish people dug into it a bit more rather than just dismiss it as vivienne being needlessly cruel to cole. it's so much more than that.
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Musician Age Gap AU Pt 13
With two back-to-back shows in Paris, with a new song added to the set list, Kara expects to largely watch Lena sleep. But somehow, the morning after the first show, Kara is woken early by movement beyond the shared door of their suites.
Upon knocking, she receives a bright "come in!" and opens the door to find Lena bustling around the room. She's dressed in leggings and spandex top, complete with brightly colored sneakers on her feet. Her face is bare of makeup, but retains the dewey vibrancy only youth can give.
"Good morning!" Lena greets, bouncing to Kara with more energy than she has any right to have. "Did you sleep well?"
"Sure," Kara returns drolly. "But not enough--- how are you even awake? We only got back at 3am!"
Lena laughs. "I've got to get a workout in before the meet and greet later." She lifts one of her earbuds in one hand, nestling its pair in her ear with the other. "Wanna join?"
"The meet and greet, or the workout?" Kara asks dubiously.
"Why not both?"
Why not both. She's here with the express purpose of supporting Lena, but now she's faced with the dilemma of deciding whether that included running. She hasn't seriously trained since she played volleyball in college... she'd probably trip over her own feet.
"Sure," she finds herself saying, before her brain can catch up. When it does, she hesitates. "Oh-- I didn't bring--"
"I've got some looser gear that should fit," Lena responds easily. She cocks a grin. "Or you can just spot me."
"Yeah... I should probably do that. I can run out and grab some gear later today. At least some sneakers."
She does take Lena up on the offer of her looser workout gear-- sweatpants that were more capris on Kara than not, and a tank top that would have sagged on Lena, but comfortably snugs against Kara's curves.
"Oooh," Lena says when she sees her. She trots over and gives Kara a peck on the lips. "I like this look."
"You speak of this to no one," Kara warns, more self conscious of her bare ankles than anything else.
"What happens in Paris, stays in Paris," Lena promises, then tilts her head towards the other room. "Come on."
Kara expects them to use whatever gym amenities the hotel offers its guests, but it turns out the suite of rooms includes its own exercise area, complete with treadmill, freeweights, and aerobic equipment.
"I prefer not to use the shared amenities downstairs," Lena explains lightly. "I don't want to hog the machines. Or disturb anyone else's workout."
Seeing Kara's curious look, Lena gives her a mysterious smile. "It'll make sense later."
Lena trains like a professional athlete. Kara is exhausted just watching, and almost an hour in, it seems like Lena is only getting started. At least, Kara reassures herself, the woman sweats like a normal human.
"What?" Lena pants as she pistol squats with a fifteen pound dumbell under her chin.
"You really like this stuff, don't you?" she asks. Watching from the weight bench, Kara can see that this isn't just a means to an end. She enjoys it.
Lena smiles. "Yeah, I do. I can't help it."
Her enthusiasm is infectious, as proven by the fact Kara is compelled to join Lena in her floor exercises. Core had always been her strong suit in college, but it's clear from her lackluster plank and crunch stamina that she's lost any and all conditioning she might have had.
Even so, instead of feeling discouraged, Lena's delighted giggle, Kara looks forward to her next attempt. The workout ends with cardio on the treadmill-- or so Kara thinks.
"I gotta put these in," she warns. "That okay?"
Kara nods. Lena's mystery smile returns for a brief moment, before the treadmill beeps on and Lena starts with a brisk walk. After five minutes Lena expertly keeps up with an increasing pace, until her sneakers are pounding out a heavy rhythm at a rate Kara can scarcely fathom. Only the most dedicated of players on Kara's volleyball team had been able to keep up that kind of pace for very long, yet there Lena is, strides long and even and surefooted.
Then the singing starts. Lena begins with a scale or two, then a few vocal warm ups. Kara recognizes the first song of Lena's setlist from the opening note, and from there can only listen in awe as Lena belts through her entire concert from start to finish.
It sounds as steady as any true performance, the notes strong and clear without any shortness of breath. It's... astounding.
When the treadmill finally slows to a walk once more, Kara comes around to rest her forearms on the rail. She looks at Lena expectantly, who is patently pleased with herself.
She shrugs with false modesty. "It's sort of my superpower."
In answer, Kara crooks a beckoning finger, prompting Lena to lean down and receive a kiss for her efforts. Lena doesn't even break stride, but she does fumble for the off button, slowing to a stop as the kiss persists, deepening.
When Lena hops off the machine, Kara has half a mind to press Lena up against it to kiss her senseless-- a temptation she fails to resist when Lena's hand slides up her shirt to run warm fingers over Kara's ribs.
"Jesus," Kara mutters, pausing for breath. "Lena, you... I don't know if I--"
"We go at your pace, darling," Lena murmurs back. "Just know that I really, really want--"
Kara swallows her next words with another, deeper kiss. Helpless to the attraction tugging under her ribs, Kara lets her fingers wander up Lena's side, until her palm cups Lena's breast. It earns her a heady moan into her mouth, and a tightening of Lena's arms around her neck, pulling her closer--
"Lena? We have two hours before the meet and greet!"
Jess' voice calls, innocent yet conspicuous behind a door that stays shut. Lena sags, the moment broken but not it's tension.
"Thank you, Jess!" she calls back, not bothering to unloop her arms from Kara's shoulders. "I'll be in the shower shortly."
Jess' footsteps pad away, but Lena doesn't resume their previous activities.
"We don't have a lot of time..." she starts conspiratorially, voice low. "Not enough to do *this* justice. But..." Her green eyes darken with desire. "Think we can make up some time by doubling up on the shower?"
Kara reaches up and grasps Lena's hand, bending to capture another kiss.
"There's only one way to find out."
They do not make up any time whatsoever.
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While we’re on the subject, what’s the weirdest party finder experience you’ve had?
Oh boy. So this one's a couple years old now, but I will never forget this guy.
We (my fiance and I) were going through MSQ for the first time and were in early Endwalker, I think, and our raid lead wanted to take us through an unsync of E12S. Enough of a savage fight to get a taste for if we wanted to do the real thing, but not too overwhelming for a newbie. At the gear level of the time, you had to do up to Titan phase in phase 1, and all of Basic Relativity/a couple mechs after in phase 2, so she was confident we'd be able to manage it. But we didn't have a whole group together, so we put up a pf for the last couple slots.
Enter Mumbo*.
Mumbo said they had watched a video and understood the strats. It immediately became clear this was not the case. For those who don't play the game or haven't done E12S, let me introduce you to Dwayne the Rock Johnson strat**:
You get a colored shape above your head and the diagram shows you where to go with it; this happens three times, and then you're (probably, depending on your damage) done and the boss phases into a cutscene. It's super doable but it also NEEDS to be done or else the party explodes.
Mumbo could not do this. No matter how many times we reset and tried again, or re-explained the strat, or showed them graphics like that one. Also, after a handful of pulls, our lead noticed something bizarre.
Mumbo was on black mage. Except they were ONLY using ice spells.
For those who don't know, the basic gameplay loop of black mage is: you spend your MP with more powerful fire spells, then get MP back with weaker ice spells. There's lots more to it than that, black mage players are more powerful than I could ever be, but that's the basics. When used properly, it's a pretty powerful job. When used like this...it was gonna be a long fight.
We did make it through phase 1, somehow, getting it just right enough to scrape people off the floor after getting exploded by rocks. Then it was time for phase 2, which you absolutely cannot do by vibes. Especially for the dps role, which is what Mumbo had to do.
At this point we regretfully had to part ways with our new friend Mumbo the Ice Mage. But he lives on in our memories***, to this day.
*not their real character name; it's been long enough that they may have mended their ways, so I don't want to put them on blast
**I don't know why it's called that either. FFXIV savage strats often have silly names
***and is referenced when we find someone else who similarly does not fundamentally know how to play their job; i.e. the two Mumbos the White we met in DT trial 2 who were curefishing for their lives
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Heeey! Could you do prompt 69 with Jamal Musiala (where he maybe accidentally confesses or something these are always cute)
BTW I LOVE LOVE YOUR WRITING SM HOW DO YOU ALWAYS GET ME INVESTED WHILE READING 😭
And thank you in advance ❤️
Oops?~Jamal Musiala
*Pictures are from Pinterest*
thank you for your sweet message, it means everything to me 💋💋
request from here
master list -> part 2
players/drivers I write for
69-"did you just say you like me?"
It was supposed to be a casual hang out between 'friends', but the tension in the air almost said something different.
Jamal and y/n were watching a movie, a comedy one to be specific, however Jamal's concentration seemed to be on something else.
What broke his train of thoughts was y/n's laugh at something that was said in the movie. He looked up immediately, watching how her eyes crinkled while she laughed, the sound being so soothing to his ears, to the point where he blurted out some words without even noticing.
"you have a really cute laugh" Jamal said, before he noticed what he did, causing his eyes to widen.
y/n's laugh faltered, looking at him to study his expressions. His face was in a deep shade of red, eyes on the ground and fingers tangled in each other on his lap.
"what?" she asked, wondering if what she heard was true or not.
"i meant you...laugh in a nice way?" he said awkwardly, clearing his throat while looking away.
"where is that coming from right now?" she asked, watching him squirm under her intense gaze.
"what do you mean, I didn't say anything wrong?" he said, his eyes still avoiding hers as he tried focusing on the movie again
"you're being really weird" she pointed out, reaching for the remote control to pause their movie.
She shifted her body in a position so she was facing him, her eyes searching his face for something...anything.
"tell me what's wrong?" she asked him, making him look at her for a second, before he turned away quickly.
"nothing's wrong. I don't know why you think there's something wrong" he mumbled, looking down at his hands.
"obviously there's something on your mind but for some reason you're refusing to tell me" she raised her eyebrows, crossing her fingers over her chest.
"it's nothing" Jamal brushed it off, reaching down for the remote to continue their movie.
Before he could reach it, y/n took the remote and put it behind her back.
"tell. me. what's. going. on" she said sharply, her eyes watching him so intensely.
"oh my god. nothings wrong. I mean I just like kinda have a crush on this girl but she's so stupid and she can't seem to get it and understand that I like her. i mean if I tell you your laugh is cute why don't you understand that I like you. isn't it obvious, I don't go around telling people they have nice laughs or whatever" he rambled, not understanding his own words as he felt the pressure of her gaze on him.
"hold on...did you just say you like me?" she asked, her eyes slightly wide.
Just then Jamal noticed what he had said, his eyes also widening as he cleared his throat.
"um...I did?" he said nervously, looking down at the ground once again
"yes you did" she said, a small smile appearing on her face.
"oh wow. I really did" he murmured, more to himself.
The awkward silence took over them for a while, both of them waiting for the other to say something. y/n got tired of waiting so she spoke again
"so you're not gonna kiss me?" she said, making Jamal look up at her with wide eyes.
"you want me to kiss you?" he asked, his forehead crinkling as his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"well obviously yes. if I didn't like you back I wouldn't be here would i? no offense Jamal but only people who really like you would stay around you for this long" she said, a bit of frustration evident in her voice as she spoke.
Jamal sat still for a second, trying to take in the words she had said. he didn't know if he should be upset about her words or just glad that she likes him.
"you're such a dumbass" y/n mumbled, before grabbing his face and connecting their lips.
Jamal's eyes widened, before he closed them and kissed her back, one of his hands reaching to the back of her neck to pull her even closer. their kiss was tender, full of all the admiration they have hid long enough.
They pulled away, both of them breathless. Jamal leaned back on the couch, his mind still comprehending what had happened.
He smiled to himself, his cheeks flushed as he looked at y/n with a tiny smile. Just then he remembered what she said, about "no one wanting to be around him"
"hey what did you mean no one would want to be around me?" he asked curiously, making y/n look at him with a look that says 'are you serious'
"we just kissed for the first time and now you're asking what I meant by that?" she said, her hand reaching up to cover her face
"I mean yeah" he shrugged, making her groan.
"you're so stupid oh my god" she mumbled, shaking her head with a small smile.
"but you like me...right?" he said, a boyish grin finding it's way to his face.
"yes you're lucky I like you" she said, making him chuckle a bit
"yes I am" he mumbled, smiling to himself at how their friendship has shifted in just one movie night.
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