#like religion and the whatnot. you know the deal

[squuote]

realizing that maybe I am just some crow who does not like labels. or at least using too many

[aglaias-blog]

"Kindred Spirits" Chapt. 4

Aemond Targaryen x Reader

Author's note: in this chapter we see Aemond prepare for the dinner with his family, and more details on what happened during dinner and what he thinks of children. We get some more details on his inner workings and maybe Aemond slightly warming up to the reader? Feedback is welcome and appreciated! <3

The reader's perspective can be found in Chapter One

TW: afab!reader, soulmate AU, talk about religion/piety, arranged marriage, Aemond being an arrogant and insecure dick

Summary: Being a highborn lady, a love match is out of the question for you, much less a match with your soulmate. You're not even told about the intricacies of what meeting your soulmate entails. When you are tricked into a betrothal to Aemond Targaryen by your parents, you don't know how to handle things. The Prince's cold demeanor is off-putting, but he is also the only one who is willing to help you, the only one you can depend on. Just how is all this going to play out?

Kindred Spirits Masterlist

-

„Get out!“, were the words Prince Aemond’s body servant was met with, the moment he stepped foot in his master’s bed chamber. In three quick strides, the Prince was at the door, ripping the garments his servant was carrying from his hands, and then closing the door in his face – before flinging it wide open again.

„Wait! Tell me!“, he demanded, letting the servant enter now, closing the door behind him. Jorran seemed positively forlorn in the big room under the strict gaze of his master, like a rabbit caught by the serpent. „About her“, the Prince elaborated impatiently.

The report followed, brought forth in a slightly jittery voice - she had been in her chambers after their talk, never leaving them once. She had been kind to the servants, and when they had come in to light the candles in her room she had been asleep, The Seven-Pointed Star next to her on the bed. Prince Aemond smirked – maybe she really was as pious as she had been described to him. Though he found it hard to believe that an unrestrained lady such as herself would be able find sense in the calm the Gods provided.

Finding the sight of Jorran fidgeting with his hands rather pitiful, the Prince finally released him. „You may leave now!“

He didn’t have the capacity to deal with any distractions now. Gathering his thoughts was his primary concern.

The plan was rather simple. Lady Barryn would be left no choice but to accompany him to dinner. If he waited for her outside her chambers, he would also have the opportunity to talk to her once more, before supper with his whole family. Well, thankfully not with his entire family. Just the thought of his half-sister and her bastard children incensed him enough that he pushed it to the back of his mind again.

He quickly changed into the finer garments he was expected to wear for an event like this.

„Seven Hells, how many damned clasps are on this godsforsaken jacket?“, he cursed under his breath, frantically fidgeting with the impractical decorative closures. Brushing his hair also turned out to be an almost impossible feat today, he was sure that he had never had that many knots before in his life. This was what servants were for! Smoothing down the fine black leather of his jacket and adjusting his eyepatch, he took a deep breath.

Then, without another look in the mirror he left his chambers in a hurry.

-

It was common knowledge that ladies took longer to get ready, with their hair and complicated dresses, and whatnot. Though Aemond couldn’t fathom the eternity it seemed to take Lady Barryn. At this rate they would both be late. Surely, she wasn’t doing this on purpose?

Just when he went up to her door to knock, it opened suddenly, and the lady he was waiting for crashed right into him.

Stunned, she stumbled back, holding the side of her face, though he caught her by her shoulders quickly.

„My apologies, Lady Barryn!“

Right, almost blinding his betrothed was just what he had been missing today. He bent forward, trying to see where she was hurt - and most importantly, if it was serious. It was only when she abashedly turned her head that he noticed how close he had gotten to her. Quickly, he lowered his gaze, praying ardently that she wouldn’t notice the blush that was creeping up his neck and onto his face. But this only made his gaze fall on the deep red dress she was wearing. Targaryen colours. Hm. Clever. It suited her well. Very well, dangerously so -

„My Lord, what are you doing here?“, she asked then. As much as he tried to fight the dumbfounded look on his face, he couldn’t help it.

What, like he couldn’t go wherever he damn well pleased? He was a Prince of this house, surely the hit she had taken to her face hadn’t been strong enough to make her forget that.

„I was waiting for you, dinner is to begin soon“, he said coolly, hoping to cover up his previous embarrassment.

„I thought it to be a good idea to go in together…“, he explained further, when no reaction came from her. Certainly she hadn’t thought of going in there alone?

She still hadn’t reacted. She wasn’t slow-witted, was she? Surely his mother wouldn’t commit an injustice such as betrothing him to somebody like that.

„Seeing as we are – well, this is the first time we will be seen together.“ This should make her understand. It should also be in her best interest to make a strong first impression. The wolves at court would eat her alive, should they notice any weakness about her.

„Alright, we shall go then“, she said finally.

Lady Barryn seemed intent on not making it easy for him. He had told himself that he wouldn’t cause her anymore unnecessary discomfort after what happened at their introduction, but she was making it a very difficult task, indeed.

„Lady Barryn“, he called out after her, „the hall is in the other direction!“

Yet, he couldn’t fight the amused grin on his lips when he saw her flushed face as she turned around and stormed off, in the right direction this time.

Always a few steps ahead of him, she had found her way to the imposing entrance to the lion’s den.

He stopped next to her, staring forward, trying to prepare himself for this theatrical performance that they were about to put on.

„You might want to take my hand.“ He couldn’t believe that he had managed to bring himself to say that.

„I shall do no such thing“, he heard her say. Of course not, what did he expect? For her to be „pliable“, like his brother had said?

His patience was wearing thin at this point.

„Look“, he said, more cuttingly than he intended. Aware of the guards’ gazes on them, he gave them an appraising glance, before continuing in a quieter voice.

„I know that you are not simple-minded, I saw how quickly you caught yourself in front of my mother, and I know that you know that this first impression is crucial.“ Why did she have to be so vexing? They both just needed to put on a display of – well, not love, but at least not hostility. It was simple, really.

„The people at court will wait for any opportunity to take advantage of this situation the moment they sense any sort of disagreement between us“, he tried to get through to her.

„So you would do well to play along, and -“, he couldn’t believe that he was actually saying this, „for the love of the Seven don’t tell my brother about what happened this afternoon.“

Aegon would never let him hear the end of it.

„The King will be in there, as well as his Hand, Ser Otto Hightower, my grandsire. My whole family is in there, which in itself is a recipe for desaster, but the Lords from court aren’t really helping the situation either. If at any moment you feel that someone is asking you questions that go beyond common pleasantries, remember their name, and tell me afterwards.“

Was she even listening to him? Her enraptured expression told him otherwise. She looked like she was dreaming with her eyes wide open. If this wasn’t so important, he wouldn’t have minded looking at her a little longer. Usually, young ladies avoided looking him in the face, and when they did, they certainly didn’t look at him like Lady Barryn did right now.

No, he had to focus on his plan now. There was no time, this was urgent.

„And you might also like to call me by my given name, as will I, this will give an impression of us being much closer than we actually are“, he finished his lecture.

She still hadn’t shaken her daze – if he hadn’t borne witness to what she was actually like that afternoon, he would have said that she almost looked peaceful like this.

„Of course“, she answered finally. Thank the Seven, apparently he had actually managed to get throught to her!

„Alright then“, he said amicably, now better tempered than before. Maybe she had changed her mind now, he thought as he offered her his hand.

„Absolutely not.“ Well, apparently she hadn’t.

-

Never would he have thought to see his thorny bride get along with his family. Of course his mother had a hand in this, he was sure that she had had a word with the younger members of the family, telling them to be on their best behaviour. Hopefully she had said the same thing to Aegon, too.

Aemond had accepted that Aegon talked to Lady Barryn by the fireside before they had sat down at the table. But the moment they had been called to the table, he absolutely refused to let him sit beside her. So, Aemond had been the one who had to suffer his brother’s drunken company, wedged between him and his bride - his betrothed, who seemed to have changed character entirely. Her interest in his sister, Helaena, who was seated at her other side, looked truly genuine, and when he heard her laugh, he realized that it was the first time he had heard that sound come from her. What was it about him, that she couldn’t be like that in his company?

Maybe it was because he wasn’t a child, he thought humourlessly after dinner when he saw her with his brother’s children. Lady Barryn seemed to have a natural gift with them. She had knelt down on their level, making conversation with them as though they were grown - making them giggle, their little voices trying to tell her all kinds of stories, desperate for her attention - wanting to show her their little world. Though their laughter had died the moment he had come near. His stature was too imposing for his niece and nephews to be as open with him as they were with her.

He was close to leaving them to themselves, and finding another partner for conversation, when she picked up the youngest boy, Maelor, and went the few steps to where he was standing. The two year old child shyly hid his face in her neck, playing with the neckline of her dress - peeking up at his uncle with innocent blue eyes. Aemond didn’t know what to do – he didn’t often deal with children, even if they were related to him. He sceptically mustered the small child, who had put his thumb in his mouth in the meantime.

„Maelor“, Lady Barryn cooed gently, „say „Hello“ to your uncle.“ The boy only smiled at him playfully, not daring to say anything yet. She simply waved at Aemond then, encouraging the child to do the same, and looking at Aemond to gauge his reaction. The Prince simply stood there, bewildered at the scene in front of him, unsure of what to do. When he caught her threatening glare though, he brought himself to smile and wave at the boy, amazed at the immediate giggles that came from the child, as his nephew waved back instantly.

However, it was her laughter that made him freeze. The warm light of the fire playing on her face, the child tucked into her side, giggling to himself, her joyful smile at his response - it made him catch himself thinking about a family scene - it was much too early to think about these things. He couldn’t allow himself to forget that this was all a farce – meant to fool everybody around them, but not the Prince himself.

-

Lady Barryn’s introduction to his father had been acceptable, though Aemond was unsure if the King was concious enough to realise what was happening around him – or if he himself even cared that his father wasn’t aware.

The Prince was much more interested in what his grandsire thought of Lady Barryn. The conversation between her and him seemed to have gone nicely though, judging by the approving look Otto Hightower had given him. The Queen and Lord Barryn also seemed content, mostly with themselves and their matchmaking skills, of course, but still they seemed convinced.

That left the Lords who were invited to witness this farce of familial harmony. They had tried to get to her the moment that dinner was over, trying to engage her in conversation. To Aemond they seemed much too interested for their own good, as they tried to draw out their conversations with Lady Barryn – they immediately cut them short though, when they caught his cold stare that he gave them behind her back.

It was the conversations that they would have to face together that the Prince had been most worried about. But it had to be done – the couple wouldn’t fool anybody, if they wouldn’t talk to others – together. They had to let those dogs close – close enough to let them think that they could sniff out the sincerity of their union. Aemond had thought that they wouldn’t be able to convince anybody with their plan – well, his plan, really. However, his betrothed had chosen to truly play up her charming side. This was how he had imagined her to be, back when he was staring at her portraits, reading her parents’ missives – candid, gentle, feeling, eager to connect with others. And he didn’t care then if it was contrived, if she had just put on a mask that she would take off at the end of that evening. She had a warmth about her that drew people to her – completely unlike him.

Ever since he had his eye taken by that detestable Strong bastard, there was a darkness about him that he couldn’t shake, a coldness that pushed people away. He wasn’t doing it consciously at first, it just happened naturally. Of course, it had also served him well, over the years. Nobody had dared to come close to him, to seriously challenge him, to make a mockery of him – at least not publically. This coldness had allowed him to forge his own path, keeping those lowlifes who were trying to exploit his position as Prince at a distance. It had allowed him to stay focused, to go his own way without any distractions. In the end he had made his peace with it, recognising it as a strength. Yet, in his heart he knew - it was a double-edged sword.

Chapter Five

Taglist: @fan-goddess

[countmothra]

More misc. Abbey operation thoughts because I’m insane.

• There is an Infirmary of sorts within the abbey that will deal with the populations more minor to moderate health problems. But for anything severe like broken bones and serious and chronic illnesses they go to the nearest hospital for licensed medical attention.

• The abbey also has a Nursery/Daycare area because there are obviously kids living in the abbey because some siblings of sin come into the church already with kids or choose to have kids.

•Speaking of which, and going off an old headcannon of mine. Children in the abbey are raised communally, sure they know who their parent(s) are but everyone pitches in regardless of if it’s their kid or not. Only exception is Emeritus kids, they are raised ONLY by their immediate family (parent/s, siblings, grandparents) to make sure they have as much exposure to their future role as possible.

• Some of the siblings plan activity nights. Be it making crafts, watching a movie or playing board games, it’s all meticulously planned with sign up sheets and a suggestion box.

•Every six months there is 100% a day where EVERYONE in the abbey is tasked with deep cleaning. Nobody is safe from cleaning day. Ghouls, siblings, papas, higher clergy member, everyone is put to work scrubbing every last stone in that abbey until it shines. The chapel of ritual stinks like dead human sacrifice and Sister Imperator is tired of it.

• Old lady knitting club. Just a bunch of the oldest sisters of sin knitting and talking shit. Imperator goes on Fridays to decompress and gossip.

•there are secret passages in the abbey that some of the teenage inhabitants of the abbey hide in to do the typical rebellious teenage things like smoke weed and drink the wine they stole off the altar.

•BIG! LIBRARY! Books, lots of ‘em! All over! Just a whole bunch of physical media meticulously stored in a library for anyone to use for any purpose. Books? Hell yeah! Vinyl records? Of course! Cassette tapes? You bet! CD’s? Whole section of them! Film reels? They may not be pristine but they got those too! VHS tapes, DVD’s, they have it all archived.

•jobs for each and every sibling and ghoul are posted on a bulletin board outside of imperators office, just in case anyone forgets.

•piggybacking off my last batch of headcannons, they definitely sell some of their excess produce when the Papas aren’t actively touring. Money is still coming in from albums and whatnot, sure, but it’s nice for the ministry to have that little extra cash.

•The papas teach some of the religion classes and it’s a gamble on who they teach because their class could be made up of adults just entering into the fold or literal toddlers who can’t even spell “cat” yet.

Which brings me to silly scenarios that have 100% happened because I said so.

• Primo had to teach toddlers once. They did not care about the simplified version of how Lucifer fell, all they cared about was the sick new monster truck in the toy chest. Primo did have to admit that this monster truck was pretty cool as it was one of the cars where you pull it back enough and it goes forward on its own. (You know what I’m talking about)

• The old ladies in the knitting club are old enough to remember when each of the Emeritus boys were born. So whenever a rumor spreads about one of those boys, they are the first ones to discuss it. “Did you hear that Nihils youngest boy got drunk and started doing the most bizarre things to the furniture?” “Terzo?” “No! The younger one! Copia I think his name is… oh I remember when he was just a tot…” these devolve into wandering down memory lane.

• When Imperator goes, it’s mostly to gossip and drink wine. She’ll maybe knit a scarf…maybe…

• Terzo taught a class of teens once, and never again. Two teen girls pointed out how damaged his skin was and that he did a shit job covering his grays with box dye. He never wants to do that again.

• During those big cleaning days twice a year, it’s never the chapel that’s the filthiest, it’s the ghouls quarters. It’s always the ghouls quarters.

[dragon-communion]

So the most recent ask unlocked my academic brainrot and I've gotta say Thiollier is SLACKING.

For the record my area of expertise is ancient Mesopotamia, so I probably have more relevant things to say about the Uhl civilization that predated the Nox, but I digress. A temple was, essentially, a house. The priests were house servants to the god. And I mean that very literally- body servants, musicians, cooks, you name it. There would be a very intricate statue that the priests washed and dressed and symbolically fed, and on holidays they'd put that statue in a symbolic boat or whatnot so the god could go on a little jaunt around the town.

So that's the main perspective I'm coming from when I enter the Lands Between. Marika's whole situation as god-queen makes perfect sense to me, no notes.

TRINA, however. Trina baffles me. Most of the information I can find on her involves people searching for her in dreams and indulging in sleep, which gives me a lot to work with on the practices surrounding her cultus and mythology, but gives me VERY little on how she was actually honored.

Based on some information I got about her name being a Japanese pun on the word tree, I'm assuming her sites of worship are sacred trees. Which would make sense. There's a very constant through-line in the history of the Lands Between of tree worship, from the ancient Uhl ruins and the real-world worship in Mesopotamia of gods manifest as cedar trees, to the obvious Shinto influences in the game. Hell, there's an argument to be made for Christianity as a tree religion.

Regardless, in-game, trees are a Big Deal so a tree being a sacred site is par for the course, and there are at least two trees in Elden Ring that 100% belong to Trina in some capacity. The one in the Albinauric Village, and the one in the Apostate Derelict.

What confuses me about that though is I've been to the Albinauric tree. It's dead, drowning in poisoned water and surrounded by crabs. It is, admittedly, kind of in the center of the Albinauric village- the ravine under the rope bridge- but. Considering the fact that the albinaurics 100% shoot St. Trina's Arrows, and thus know and respect her, it seems weird that there's just nothing around the tree to indicate any kind of worship or even basic maintenance. Just the circle of flowers. And poisoned water.

I'm currently fighting my way towards the Apostate Derelict, so I'll investigate that tree when I get there, but like. There's not a single church or chapel in St. Trina's name. She has no house. She's the saint of sleep, why haven't I found any lilies next to a bed or something? Where's the hospitality??? Where's her HOUSE.

So the fact that Thiollier literally has his living goddess Right There and she looks like she needs five kinds of medical attention (or maybe botanist's attention) just seems Bizarre to me. Where is your devotion, my guy. The hospitality, the chivalry, the acts of service. Water her or something, I don't know. Make her some kind of memorial? Make her cozy. Get her a pillow, come on, this is a travesty.

[metanoiamorii]

Looking for Roleplay Partners

I'm Morri, or Mario. I'm twenty-three [23] and I've been roleplaying on and off for as long as I can remember. It's gone hand-in-hand with writing. It's around time I try to start to meet new roleplay partners and expand my network again. I was previously on Wattpad before it met its timely end for most of us. I moved to discord but it went quiet and I have only been in a small circle since. What to expect and know from me? I am honestly bad at replying steadily, but I am ALWAYS talking about the roleplays and making ideas and headcanons with my partner(s). I will reply with lengthy messages for a week, then struggle to form a basic response for a few weeks, then the cycle continues. But I am always dedicated to the roleplay(s) I am in, even if I struggle to show it. I'm also extremely literate. I will give you novella-length responses. I can't do small responses even if I tried, to ask any of my roleplay partners. But I don't expect anyone to match my length! I just ask to not be given one or two sentences to work off of. I LOVE knowing what is going on inside a character's head, or how they're feeling. It really helps to build everything up. I also do third-person only.

And I also ask for 18+ only, please. I feel awkward talking to minors unless it's to basically mentor them.

I also love tropes. Tropes are great. Especially if you break away and add twists to them, and get creative!

I play a vast array of characters. Almost all ocs. The only ones that aren't ocs are based on gods or divine beings. Either way, all my characters are queer, that explore different mental illnesses and backgrounds. I could not play a character that's cishet to save my life(no hate for anyone, it's just something I have struggled with). That's not to say I don't do m/w relationships, because I do. My characters are just not cishet (they're either bi/ace/pan/demi/enby/etc).

I also enjoy mature themes. But I ALWAYS discuss boundaries with my roleplay partners. The dos, the don'ts, the boundaries, the triggers, the likes. A lot of my focus is on fantasy, for the most part. Dark, romantic, historical, epic, horror, you name it. I overall enjoy just about anything? EXCEPT, I stay in my comfort zone. Which is one of the two universes I've world built into existence.

The first is entirely fantasy, with different realms/worlds to explore. A vast array of plotlines to explore. Crime/mafia, piracy, eldritch horrors, kingdom diplomacy, witches. You name it, I have it. Probably too much. I've been told it's overwhelming when I gain a new roleplaying partner.

The other is one I've just recently started to build. It's a bit like POJ and Everafter High met. A bit of fantasy, a bit of history, a bit of religion. Every character is either a demigod, a god, a divine being, a fae, a human, or another being...

It's going on late for me after being awake for seventeen hours, so I'm not doing a lot of justice for my stuff. But I really want more roleplaying partners and friends! I have cute little servers for both universes, building into small communities. And I also have adjacent servers for the novels I'm writing that deal with the plotlines and whatnot.

I don't know what else to say at the moment except please, please, please I am begging you to message me. We can talk here in dms and I'll send you, or you can send me your discord tag so we can move over there and start to plot! I should probably get to bed now. Thank you for reading this far.

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders Viewers' Choice: Mash 2, the Sequel to Mash

 today on Grailfinders, we’re finally heading back to where it all began, and rebuilding Mash Kyrielight one last time. in the three years since we started this thing, we learned a lot about building characters in D&D- and the biggest lesson was that shields suuuuuck. “but Mash is a shielder!” you say, “she needs a shield!” to that, I scoff. Mash needs no shield. she needs to shield. to shield without a shield, this Mash will train her body like never before, and become a Kensei Monk. we also need some extra magic for the ultimate in shields, and for that we need to make a pact and become a Genie Warlock. her dad’s girlfriend has like, three, I’m sure she can give us one.

check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Ancestry & Background

good news, sports fans! since the days of the original build wotc has in fact added Eternal Ray of Sunshine as a race! if you’re very generous with how you interpret Custom Lineage, at least. because of that, this Mash gets +2 Dexterity to start, as well as Survival proficiency for camping and the Fighting Initiate feat for Interception. now you can react to an incoming attack on an ally and reduce the damage they take, as long as you’re wielding a weapon. that’s right- shielding. without shields.

Mash is still a Cloistered Scholar though. you don’t have to worry, your History and Arcana proficiencies aren’t going anywhere.

Ability Scores

Mash’s highest ability this time around will be Wisdom. I’m sure most of her foresight comes from scanners or magical whatnots, but when half your dialogue in a singularity is “hey, there’s enemies coming” your passive perception is pretty damn high. second, Charisma. I dare you to look me in the eye and say you wouldn’t give Mash a kidney if she asked. third, Dexterity. that’s how you don’t get hit, and Mash’s giant freakin’ shield tells me she doesn’t get hit often. third is Constitution. I’d love for this to be higher, but everything else on the list is need for multiclassing first and foremost. it’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work. that’s also true for Intelligence, though in that case at least we’d only want it for skill checks. finally, we’re dumping Strength. yes Mash can lift cars, but in terms of servants she’s not offensively powerful. also, we don’t really need this for anything in-build, and we can cover everything strength can do through other means pretty easily.

Class Levels

1. Monk 1: since we got that fighting feat, we need to start off as a monk to qualify. on the plus side, that gets us Unarmored Defense right away, adding our wisdom to our AC as long as we’re not wearing armor or holding a shield. so no problems there. mechanically, our “shield” for this build will be any simple melee weapon (or shortsword) as those all qualify as “monk weapons”, so our Martial Arts work on them. this means they deal a minimum of 1d4 damage, which grows as we level, and you can use your dexterity instead of strength to wield them. also, attacking with your action with either a monk weapon or your fists lets you make another fisting as a bonus action. again, as long as you’re unarmored.

(I know Mash is one of the few servants with actual armor, but tbf it’s missing some pretty key components. also, you can be summer Mash!)

also monks get proficiency in Strength and Dexterity saves, as well as Athletics and Religion checks. now you have all the skills needed to ID servants, and your piddly strength score won’t be too much of a hinderance.

2. Monk 2: second level monks learn to harness Ki, and you get a pool of it equal to your monk level every short rest. you can spend one ki point per turn to dash, dodge, disengage, or attack twice as a bonus action, with dashing and disengaging also doubling your jump distance, again covering for your strength. Mash too is a fighting game character, and is not unaccustomed to sick combos.

she also gets Unarmored Movement, so as long as you don’t put on plate mail you’ll be faster than the average player.

3. Monk 3: at third level you set down the Way of the Kensei and learn the Path of the Kensei. the kensei are good at weapons, not naming things. now you can pick two kensei weapons, a ranged and a melee one. these will become the bedrock of later features, so hopefully you’ve picked out a “shield” by now. while holding a kensei weapon, you can attack with your bare hand to perform an Agile Parry, adding two to your AC for a round. almost like. your weapon is… shielding you, or something.

(you can also use Kensei’s Shot to add more damage to ranged kensei attacks but who cares about that)

finally, you can Deflect Missiles. if you’re being attacked by ranged enemies, you can use a reaction to block their damage- if this prevents the damage entirely, you can then spend a ki point to throw the arrow back. let’s see lancelot bring down a plane on you now.

4. Warlock 1: now that we have the basic functionality of a shield, let’s get ourselves an NP. since you’re kind of family with the Queen of Sheba, you can probably pull some strings and get a Genie to come help you power the Ortinax. right now, that gives you a Genie’s Vessel, a funky lil trinket you can swooce right into as an action. you can stick around inside it for a couple hours, but we’re using it as your invincibility- when you think a big attack’s coming, hold your reaction to bait it out, then let your vessel eat the damage. when it’s destroyed, you pop out like nothing happened. you can enter once a day, and you can make a new one by spending an hour to do so.

while it’s around though, you can use it once a turn to add the Genie’s Wrath to your attacks, adding your proficiency bonus in bludgeoning damage to one of your attacks.

you also learn Pact Magic, spells that use your Charisma to cast and recharge on short rests. Blade Ward is another kind of shield that gives you resistance to physical attacks for a round, and Minor Illusion is an easy way to play a hologram from Chaldea. for your leveled spells, Protection from Good and Evil will protect guda from being possessed, something that’s been happening with disturbing regularity. you can also shield someone with a Sanctuary, forcing a wisdom save on anything that tries to attack them as long as they don’t attack first. it’s a weird shield, but it’s still a shield. I mean Mash’s defense boosts still work if you put her in the backline, so ranged shielding is canon.

5. Warlock 2: second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations, ways to customize your pseudoservant hell year and come away with a nice goodybag of stuff. you get two this level, but we’ve done this song and dance before- pick whatever you want for #2, it’s getting swapped out next level. still, do make sure you pick up Eldritch Mind now for advantage on concentration saves. tanks need to take hits, and your spells are about damage mitigation so it would be really bad if they went down from the first punch.

you can also Detect Evil and Good now, so you can find any gods or demon god pillars within 30 feet of you. Guda fights a lot of gods, and they’re typically the kind of enemy you don’t want to be ambushed by.

6. Warlock 3: third level warlocks gain a pack boon, and if we want Ortinax running at full capacity we need the Pact of the Blade. now you can summon just about any weapon you want out of the ether as an action, or you can store a specific weapon away for when you need it. speaking of, you can make your shield an Improved Pact Weapon now, an invocation that adds +1 to all your shield’s attack and damage rolls, plus you can use your shield to cast your spells. if you’re going to carry around a giant freakin’ shield, it had better be good for something, y’know?

speaking of shielding, you can now cast second level spells like Ray of Enfeeblement, halving damage from a specific enemy’s strength-based attacks, and making your interceptions and deflections all the more useful. it’s also a cool laser from your shield, so I guess this is the prototype black barrel?

7. Warlock 4: use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Dexterity and Wisdom for a much stronger AC and better attacks to boot. you can also Create Bonfire as a cantrip for camping, and you have Warp Sense, letting you detect nearby distortions in reality. this is only supposed to work on portals, but if your campaign revolved around finding seven macguffins from outside of time that were warping the fabric of history to the breaking point I’d say it should work on those too.

8. Warlock 5: fifth level warlocks get third level spells, and now we can shield against even the strongest of spells with Counterspell. if you use a spell slot equal to or greater than the spell you’re blocking, it automatically shuts down whatever nonsense they were planning. otherwise, you’ll need to make a check.

you also learn how to use your bunker bolt, or Eldritch Smite, as the game’s so insistent on calling it. spend a spell slot while hitting something with your shield, and you can send them flying with 4d8 extra force damage, that bonus only growing bigger as you level up.

9. Warlock 6: at sixth level Mash can finally summon supplies from Chaldea, letting her Create Food and Drink. it’s a spell, it creates food and drink, what do you want from me.

less self-explanatorily, your Elemental Gift gives you resistance to all bludgeoning damage to improve your tankiness, and you can spend a bonus action to fly for up to ten minutes. obviously Mash can’t fly, but she can jump good, so it’s practically the same thing.

10. Warlock 7: seventh level warlocks get fourth level spells, and you can finally start killing gods with Banishment sending them back to their home planes. if it’s good enough for Arjuna Alter, it’s good enough for Mash.

you also get a weird shield thanks to the invocation Sign of Ill Omen letting you cast Bestow Curse once a day with a warlock spell slot. that sounds out of character, but the spell does give you the option to enforce disadvantage on attacks against a certain target, so it’s just barely a shield in my book. it also uses a different save than ray of enfeeblement, so it’s a type coverage thing.

11. Warlock 8: now that we’re halfway through the build I can finally nitpick the series a bit. I love FGO, but why does everyone speak the same language? it’s not like Mash could cast Tongues and understand everyone… oh, I guess it is. never mind.

also use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for stronger spells.

12. Warlock 9: ninth level warlock equals fourth level spells. Wall of Stone is a wall… of stone. this is the closest to the classic Lord/Mold Camelot we’re getting, but it’s still a great way to block damage, enemies, or even cross gaps.

if you’d rather leave the gap after you’re done, you can use the invocation Otherworldly Leap to cast Jump on yourself whenever you want- by combining jump and monk’s step of the wind, your 8-strength ass can jump better than a 20-strength barbarian could. sometimes you want to fly, but this way’s practically free.

13. Warlock 10: I’m sorry for sticking extra attack this late into the build, but I thought it was vital that we get Mash to the tenth level of warlock as fast as we could- this is the level you learn Sanctuary Vessel as a genielock, allowing you to pull up to five willing creatures into the vessel with you when you enter it. this means that now you can save the entire party from a noble phantasm by yoinking them all out of existence in a move that would make Teferi proud.

also if they stay in the vessel for ten minutes they get a short rest, which, given how much you rely on those, is a godsend.

I also want Mash to use her sword at least once, so your last cantrip of the build is Sword Burst. why have a sword if you won’t use it.

14. Monk 4: now that we’re finally back in Monk, you can bump up your Constitution with this ASI. you also learn to Slow Fall, reducing fall damage as a reaction, but you can fly, so… yeah, sorry we took such a big detour.

15. Monk 5: with your Extra Attack in hand, you can attack twice in a turn, allowing you to make an unarmed attack to set up your shield, then switch to your shield for big dps. you can also turn any attack into a Stunning Strike, forcing a constitution save on your target or they’re stunned for a round. this both prevents them from making actions, and makes them easier for everyone else to hit. this isn’t in Mash’s usual kit, but if you got hit by a piece of cast iron the size of Rhode Island you’d be stunned too.

16. Monk 6: sixth level monks have Ki-Empowered Strikes, making your fists magical and avoiding a lot of resistances. you also become One with the Blade, making your shield magical as well (it already was), and you can make a Deft Strike once a turn, adding your martial arts die to the damage it does.

17. Monk 7: with your final level of Monk, you learn Evasion, which makes your failed dexterity saves block as much as most people’s successes (half of the damage) and your successes block twice that much (all of it). you carry a giant goddamn shield with you, everywhere you go. it blocks things.

you also get Stillness of Mind, rendering you pretty much immune to charming and frightening effects. you need to keep your wits about you to snap Guda out of them, after all.

18. Warlock 11: warlocks don’t get spell slots past six; instead, you get Mystic Arcanum, which work like regular spell slots from other casting classes, only working once per day. for your sixth level spell, Investiture of Stone grants you resistance to physical damage, and you can ignore difficult terrain made of rock, and also walls made of rock. servants are stupid strong, so walking straight through stone is completely on the table. if you really want to mess stuff up, you can spend an action to stamp on the ground (jump, jump, jump, jump) and move it all around, forcing a dex save on everything around you or knocking them prone. have you seen the FGO movies? it’s easier to list the stuff that servant fights don’t break.

19. Warlock 12: use your last ASI to improve your Dexterity for better attacks and a better AC. you’re a shielder, so those are naturally related. you also get one last invocation, and by now you’ve been using a cutting edge superweapon like a hammer long enough for it to start leaking bad shit everywhere- at least, that’s my explanation as to why it’s a Lifedrinker now. whenever you hit something with Ortinax, it deals extra necrotic damage to boost.

20. Warlock 13: our final level of the build will let us get rayshifting in the first place thanks to Plane Shift, letting us travel to other planes with allies. alternatively, you can weaponize this and try to send someone else to another plane. now even gods from the material world can get black barrel’d!

Pros and Cons

Pros

compared to the OG Mash build, this one has so much more offensive power than before, primarily thanks to the Ortinax coming with more damage bonuses and types to give us some flexibility in combat and a chance for burst damage when the opportunity presents itself.

you also play around short rests a lot, which means you’re never far from full power no matter how late in the day it gets.

the sanctuary vessel is hands down the most powerful defense we’ve ever given a build. when used properly, it can shut down practically any attack you throw its way. not only will it take all the damage from whatever is about to hit you, but it’s an extradimensional space, so arguably effects that only miss through planar shenanigans can be avoided this way. I think this could shut down almost everything I’ve called a noble phantasm in a build up to this point. almost.

Cons

that’s a big almost though- the cost of this extra power is less defense than the original, which admittedly does fit the character. while Ortinax is just as good, if not better, at fighting big singular attacks. however, it fails in two categories- your defense isn’t nearly as good at dealing with multiple smaller attacks, and your HP is so much lower than the original’s.

this is partially caused by the new classes not being full martials with d10s for HP, but it’s also because of how Multi-Ability Dependent this build is. even if we weren’t trying to be a tank, the multiclassing minimums for the build alone are pulling us in three different directions at once. this means that your spell saves are also pretty weak, so your magical blocking isn’t up to par.

when I said you were never far from full power earlier, that was true. buuuut it’s also true about being close to empty too. warlocks and monks are both famously bad at resource management, and if you go into two or more fights between short rests you’re liable to run out of resources no matter how carefully you play.

[bardic-inspo]

I would love to ask you a million of these but I’ll settle for three (if you feel like answering them, of course)! 🥤 🧃🎨

Thanks for participating!!! 💛

Ahh you are so sweet, thank you so much!! 😘💜💜

[Writer's Truth or Dare Ask Game] 🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

There are SO many massively talented writers out there, many of which are still on my ever-growing to-read list. I wanna send some love to @littlejuicebox's multichapter fic, Midwinter Carol, which I'm about halfway through and absolutely loving so far!

It has: Ascended Astarion! Pining for someone who's right in front of you! Divorced yearning! Beautiful, poetic prose! Just absolutely *chef's kiss* Astarion characterization! Such a compelling protagonist in Eirianwen. Girl has got backbone and I'm excited to get to know her more and see how she complements and challenges our boy. And just a the perfect balance of angst and flirty hopefulness.

The actual fic summary (below) is much better than mine. You can read the fic on AO3 or Tumblr:

Fifteen years after the Ascendant and his lover went their separate ways, they run into one another at Wyll Ravengard’s Midwinter Gala. One dance is all they share. A week later, a cataclysm of events, spurned by Eirianwen’s return, uproots the life Astarion had been building for himself. One thing is made certain: the elven sorceress is the key to any ounce of salvation he may have left, if only she stops slipping through his fingers like sand from an hourglass. But old habits die hard, and old feelings are pulled to the surface for both the elves. Astarion is forced to confront the wounds of his past and deal with the damage he's done while trying to run from himself. The Ascendant is forced to decide whether he will continue on his current path or forge a new one... perhaps one that leads him back to the love of his life.

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

Hmm, I think I maybe talked about this on Twitter once, but not here. Well, I'm now pretty firmly in the agnostic (if not atheist) camp, but my parents pushed me to get confirmed as a kid (we were Lutheran). And I went to a church where, part of the youth group program was performing a traveling mime show of the passion story. Like, full on face-paint, black turtlenecks, miming Jesus getting crucified. There was a super eerie soundtrack and narration that went with it. Lots of drama over whether any of the girls could try-out for the Jesus role. Whipping sound effects. Absolutely no disrespect to anyone finding religious insight through art and whatnot. It just feels a little weird and uncomfy to me personally in retrospect. But then, religion really isn't for me. Most of the other confirmation programs I heard about my classmates doing had like, community service projects instead.

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

My first commissioned piece of Astarion and my main Tav (Naomi) was just finished tonight and I'm riding a cloud about it. They're so soft with each other and the artist did such a lovely job 🥹

There is SO much incredible BG3 and Astarion art out there. This piece really stands out to me, too. I just love how they captured Astarion's tender expression here, and how lovely he looks in this lighting:

[azems-familiar]

some personal stuff under the cut (related to family issues):

so my cousin invited me to his wedding.

in the 6 years since i cut ties with my bio family i have had fairly little contact with my extended family, and in the 4 years since i went completely no-contact with my bio parents and set up a specific set of boundaries for how people could be expected to get in touch with me, basically no one has paid attention to that. mostly i think - or thought - my extended family has basically chosen to forget i exist the way they did with the kid my uncle had out of wedlock (i didn't even know she existed until she had a kid of her own when i was a teenager. and i'm even MORE of a black sheep than that). one of my aunts sends me a text every year on my birthday, which i ignore because if she wants to talk to me she's supposed to go through my gramma, but that's basically...it? i'm pretty sure one of my other cousins got married completely without saying a word to me

so it's actually a fairly big deal that Luke invited me. and not only did he do that, but he instead of reaching out to me directly he went through my gramma, asking her to send the invitations and things to me, and she told me that he mentioned he specifically wanted to include me. which is....it's been giving me a lot of complicated emotions. i have my own adopted family but these are still the people i grew up with and, you know, shit gets twisty sometimes.

anyway after a lot of thought and some discussion with my partner and my adopted parents i've decided to go, even though traveling with my current health is going to be super sucky, and today i made all the arrangements. and i am....stressed about it, honestly. my bio parents will be at the wedding (which is going to be kind of horrible), a lot of the family is ultra-conservative evangelical christian (i am in the process of converting to another religion and very visibly queer and, quite obviously, not conservative lol), i haven't seen these people in so long and i have no idea how they're going to react or how they'll treat me. but i guess some part of me is hoping that some of them will prove people i can stay in contact with? i've been talking to Luke directly when preparing for this to try to set up some contingencies and he's been very respectful and seems like he genuinely wants to see me, which is a good sign. i've never met his fiancee. i don't know what her family is like. i don't know how much misgendering to prepare for, i don't know if people will listen when Luke asks them to use my name, and i almost think that's worse than knowing it will be all horrible. i don't know what to prepare for.

my partner is going to go with me, and i am INCREDIBLY thankful for that support, but now that i have to actually let my cousin know i'm going to be there it's just a lot of [aaaaaa] all at once. i know i've gone through and set up contingencies and made emergency escape plans and whatnot but. yikes. big deal.

the point of this post? idk. just to type it all out and have the feelings exist in front of me before i go send that text, i guess.

[elvenbeard]

House party scenes 1/5: Misty and V (and Nibbles)

When I made that birthday shoot for Vince and his friends it got me thinking about who he'd invite in the first place obviously. Misty had to be one of the guests, right? He's known her in passing for a few years through Jackie, but they only really got to know each other after she and Jackie got together.

But... they didn't have the best start. To Vince, Misty always was "a bit much" (as if he isn't "a bit much" in regards to a lot of stuff, but you know, self-awareness isn't his strong suit sometimes). Even after he got to know her better, started to like her for her quirks and for how happy she made Jackie, they never quite managed to connect on a deeper level. He doesn't quite get her spiritual leanings, the tarot stuff and whatnot, because all of that is not his thing. He's not a spiritual person and didn't have the best experiences with religion growing up either, so everything that goes down that slightly esoteric path makes him skeptical at first.

After Jackie's death, feeling not necessarily responsible, but still dealing with major survivor's guilt for a long time, he has an even harder time to face Misty. She's the one cheering him up, always seeing the positive in even the grimmest situations, when he feels like he should be the one supporting her through Jackie's loss.

Throughout the whole mess with the Relic, Misty is there as a constant guidance, preaching positive thinking, holding on, fighting. I think her quote of "as long as your heart's still beating, there's hope" is one of my favourites in the whole game and surely something that sticks with Vince, too, even though it takes some time for it to sink in.

With how chaotic and messy and horrible everything is and gets, all over the course of just a few weeks, he realizes at some point that he never properly thanked Misty for always being there with advice and a smile and encouragement. He also sucks at talking about feelings though, keeps putting it off, longer and longer... until this moment. They just took a fun photo together, everyone's off mingling, and V catches Misty in a quiet minute as she's playing with the cat (she often volunteers to take care of Nibbles anyway when both Vince and Kerry are busy/ out of town). And in the best way he manages he thanks her, and of course, Misty strikes back again, right in the feels. Cause that's just how I see her, she just wants to be there for her friends. She's not doing anything she does because she needs recognition or thanks or whatnot. She only wants to bring some light into a dark dark world.

After that night I'd like to think that they become much closer as friends.

[moonsdeluluworld]

So I just want to post this and make like a little thread with more hilarious or funny stories about people having hangovers and dealing with organized religion.

So I came home like at 4-5 a.m. (pretty normal time to came back from a party where I live), I get in bed and sleep up until 11:30 a. m., someone knocked on my door. I was so out of it that I almost thought I was imagining things, then happened again. I get up, without my glasses (I'm practically blind without them) and I open the door.

There were two kind-looking older women and one of them ask me if they waked me up, I say yes and excuse myself to go get my glasses, when I ask why they were here they started speaking to my about climate change, at that moment I was like "wtf are you talking about, please someone make my head stop spinning", anyway they ask me what I thought about it and I say that I that believe humanity is able to fix all the damage if we start now, then they say something about salvation, heaven and whatnot, and I must have had the most "wtf please slow down I don't understand anything" face of all times because they repeated themselves and ask "you know" (I didn't know, I was so confused), and then they gave me a pamphlet of their church (JW if you know, you know), after a moment of silent while I was concentrating to read at least the tittle (I realized they were JW), I knew what to say. The following part of the conversation is so hilarious:

Me: Oh I see, so a website of your church?

They: Yes, do you believe in god?

Me: I don't, I'm a satanic. A satanic atheist, in fact.

(You can imagine their faces, between shock and disbelieve) They: I see, well we don't judge. But we'll like it if you check it up.

Me: Great! I don't either, I will, don't worry.

They: Good talking to you, but we have to go.

I say goodbye while I close the door and just tossed the pamphlet in the rubbish, and went back to sleep.

[hindulivesmatter]

But if they don't accept you as you are are they really your friends? You shouldn't have to hide an important part of yourself . Feels like cheating both them and yourself . If you are scared to express your own views because they will drop you if you do then what kind of friendship is this...

Yeah i can see your point. But honestly I'd just rather not deal with the headache of arguing with people I know wont get it. Very few people are willing to engage in healthy debate and leave political opinions aside. And also this us mostly why I have different friend groups. One is just to have fun and laugh, one is for my hobbies, one is for work and study, one is for discussing politics and religion and whatnot. they sometimes have overlap and I don't discuss sensitive topics because those friends aren't close enough to me for it. My best friends and family know my opinions and respect me regardless. I'm Hindu out loud and proud, no doubt. But running a blog like this in front of my full on leftist friends would probably destroy a friendship, and our friendship was never based on our political opinions.

[crossstitchbossbitch-blog]

Storytime: Believing in Santa, or "I bet you were a delight"

Yesterday on a lunch outing with 5 work colleagues, 3 of whom are parents of kids under 10, plus myself and another young-ish woman who are childless but have enough dealings with sprogs... the conversation turns to Christmas and belief in things like Father Christmas/ Santa, the Tooth Fairy and whatnot.

After general sharing of stories including the parents talking about when their kid stopped believing, or had it told to them by an older kid, I shared my story of having a debate in primary school (y5 or y6, so age 9 or 10) about whether Father Christmas was real.

I had read the Hogfather by Terry Pratchett by that age and shared his solution to the conundrum: that many of these beings can be described as an anthropomorphic personification, and the more belief people have in it, the more real it becomes.

I really like this notion: it gives strength to magic, superstition, beliefs and faith alike. This is how religions rise and fall, how supernatural phenomena won't occur around skeptics and how some things are just ingrained into our collective psyche, because somewhere in our subconscious there is a grain of memory or residual belief about it. It waxes and wanes with the power of collective thought and storytelling, and for those that have time for it, it is as real as you make it.

I didn't say any of that following paragraph, just said the first bit about using it in a primary school debate and it being from Terry Pratchett and the Hogfather; to which the other young woman retorted, "Oh, I bet you were a delight".

I don't know whether I'm meant to be offended. At the time I laughed, and the conversation moved on.

But honestly, I worry that it was meant in a mean way and that kind of upsets me. I have always treasured being able to circumvent the breaking of the illusion and the loss of innocence. I love the fact that reading, an activity always pleasing to grownups, had given me that gift of knowledge and terminology for something I wanted to understand.

Sir Pratchett's influence on the nerdy, the neurodivergent and the not-very-cool is profound and far reaching even after his death. Of course, he was a bestselling author and millions of people have read his works, so I assume neurotypical people have also read his books!

I don't know if I should be sad that this person who called me sarcastically, "a delight", just never got the memo about the wholesome quirky cool that is Pratchett's worldview.

Maybe I am taking offence where none was intended - I guess having a 9 year old use big words could be annoying to adults, but I think it's a good thing. I really wish I could read half as voraciously as I did when I was a child. I miss getting lost in fantasy worlds of literature and by gosh I miss Terry Pratchett. It's it just nostalgia? Maybe. But also if I lose this shit, I probably lose even more of my identity and continue down the slope of depression and anxiety that began around that age. I keep getting told I look so young (I'm 31) and I know that ADHDers do grow up slower than their neurotypical peers. It takes longer for our brains to develop. The ADHD / Autistic brain doesn't "prune" neural pathways and the overlap can contribute to positive and negative elements of cognitive differences. E.g. improved pattern recognition vs sensory overload. I would cite the studies I have looked at, but I can't be bothered digging through my browsing history.

This is one of those times where I overthink the interaction and realise I'm possibly at fault for being "too much", or reflect on a childhood memory and have it reframed as another example of me being neurodivergent and not fitting in. But at that point in time, age 9 or 10, the other kids on my debate team seemed fine with me sharing my point and explaining it, as a means to an end in completing the class debate. I thought I was welcomed.

It's only with this comment, I find myself wondering how much of my past conduct was actually too much or too weird or too different for other people.

Ironically, this lunch came after we had an hour long presentation from the EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) team at work... where they specifically outlined how feeling "othered" can negatively affect behaviour.

Cool. Cool Cool Cool.

[thecousinsdangereux]

Hi I love your bigger in the morning fic (or nuns can fuck au ) i was wondering if you could expand just a little on how other religions deal with the letter delivery origins? Either way the fic is amazing and I can’t wait for more

Thanks so much! I probably won't get too too much into this in the fic, just because... the story is already going to be long enough and I do actually want to focus on Avatrice lol (Though I'm never quite sure what a chapter is actually going to look like before I start writing, so who knows!) In general, religion is this AU is really geographically based, because religions sort of formed around Letter delivery machine locations. You can sort of assume that the major world religions follow a theology at least loosely based on their real-life counterparts, but there are some differences, as a result of the specifics of the AU (for example, since even the early versions of Letters """""legitimized"""""" queer folks in a variety of ways, the one man one woman stuff is not a thing).

To answer your question specifically, I can give a few examples of how I imagine a few different theologies incorporating/explaining Letters. If I was going to write about this specific part of the universe in great detail, I'd have to reach out to a lot of people to better understand the historical and theological implications (because I am definitely not an expert), but since this is just background info for a fanfic, these are more general, vague thoughts, so... grain of salt and whatnot!

AU Ancient Greek polytheism explains soulmates or Letters (such as they were, back then) in a similar way that Plato did in The Symposium, with humans originally being created with "four legs and a head with two faces" but then Zeus (bitch that he is) fears their power and splits them into two separate parts, which made up a match pair of soulmates. It was Aphrodite (with the help of Eros and others) who was working behind the scenes to deliver messages to help people find their other half.

AU Buddhism still does not believe in God/gods in the traditional sense, so they do not believe the Letters are God-ordained, specifically, but more a result of the universe recognizing individual connections that occur time and time again throughout multiple-lives. Basically, a soulmate is a relationship carrying over from one lifetime to the next. A lot of religions that believe in the concept of reincarnation state that it's connected to the creation of soulmates, in one way or another. There are people who never do receive a Letter, and these are considered new souls who haven't had a chance to form a connection with another soul.

For AU Islam, their equivalent of the Quran still includes the concept of 'of everything We have created pairs', including individuals. There is a heavy spiritual component to soulmates, as in, a soulmate is someone who a person connects with on a spiritual level. They still believe in the oneness of God, and Letter delivery still comes back to Him and the concept of His creating (soul)mates. In general, most monotheistic religions do claim that it's God Himself who is creating the Letters.

There's an off-shoot "religion"(/cult) in the US that states that the Letters that most people receive are government fakes and only 'true believers' (who have coincidentally donated hundreds of thousands of dollars) have cleared themselves and can access their True Letter, which is delivered by an alien lifeform. Rest assured, these people do not have access to a Letter delivery machine.

One major difference between the world in this AU and ours is that different regions/religions have to work together a lot more, simply for practical reasons. A person of one religion (or no religion) receives their Letter based on where they are geographically located, which thus may be from a different religion than what they practice, but that doesn't make their Letter illegitimate in the eyes of whatever their religion is, which means all religions sort of have to come to terms with the notion that their God(s)/Universe/etc. 'thinks' it's okay for these people to be thinking about Him/Her/Them in the way that they do, because they were able to create the machine in the first place, which can only operate under 'divine' instruction.

In general, Letter delivery looks similar in pretty much all religions because their machines are exactly the same in specs, and honestly, whenever one religion makes an advancement in standard Letter delivery (a delivery that doesn't require the OCS), the others tend to follow suit. There's a LOT more bureaucracy in modern day religions and a LOT more connection with government, just because of the collaboration/regulation needed to actually deliver like... hundreds of thousands of letters/day, worldwide. When it comes to the special cases, like we see Beatrice handling, things are obviously done a bit differently. In this universe, the OCS isn't actually attached to Catholicism (or the equivalent of it), because their purpose is to deliver Letters that don't have an easy recipient, which tends to take them all over the place geographically. You might have a Letter originate in England, but then need to be delivered in the US, for example. Or maybe a Letter will make it's way to Spain, but it ends up being delivered in Portugal. ;) There are a lot of reasons for why this happens, but I think they might be considered spoilers, so I'll leave it at that, for now. The OCS is still made up of holy women, but not just 'nuns' in the Catholic sense; holy women of various religions make up its ranks. Thus, the Spain branch of the OCS looks a lot different from the Thailand branch, but their purpose is the same.

[chaoticcherryblossombear]

I fucking hate Reddit

I mean, look at everyone defending Zionism and making us look evil.

Context: they have an Israel vs Palestine page on how Isr**l is obviously good and not evil and how they are just trying to protect themselves from "terrorists".

Also, my Dad is a fucking Z!0n!st so obviously I have multiple reasons to hate him. And he is a racist too. Like, when COVID-19 hit, he blamed Asians, aka Chinese in his eyes for causing COVID-19 but Japanese people were fine because at least they were cool. And when BLM was at its peak, he decided to preach his hate agenda on how black people were terrorists. Even trying to indoctrinate my brother into being a racist.

Anyway, back on topic.

If you wanna know what's going on, here are they assholes supporting !sr@3l and such.

Also, I know this is off topic, but I fucking hate that the most accepted form of gen z birth years are 1997-2012 because it TOTALLY makes sense for 1996 to clearly remember 9/11 and be 100% different from us 1997-1999 babies. Generationology is BS. We're almost 30 as well and will be by the end of the decade. What is their problem? And I was affected by 9/11 as well despite only having very vague memories of it. Eventually they will say that you don't need to remember 9/11 but be in a classroom on that day, which is what some people born in 1997-1999 were literally in (heard of a thing called preschool; wasn't that a thing in 2001 as well)? The media is literally run by you know who and we need to retire the millennial and gen z thing if it's run by those pro Z10n1st pigs. And we need to bring the term "zillennial" in effect. It's literally better than being a Z10n1st. If you are gonna call yourself a gen z or whatnot, fine. I HATE the label. I have always hated labels on what I can and cannot be as I had to deal with them for years because of my "loving" Mormon religion and whatnot. People SHOULD be able to choose labels for themselves regardless of what the media says.

[cityandking]

🌎💍❌🔮😍 for my besties minah & vesper

thanks tabby <3 // prompts I'd like to receive

[ 🌎 ] are there any aus you have for your muse? what are they like, and how is your muse different in them?

MINAH — I have vague thoughts about a high school au based on her Exciting Teenage Years, but nothing concrete. typically I hate high school aus but I think minah has the range. mostly I think she should get to dress as a mall goth and that's as far as I've gotten.

VESPER — a couple! a star wars au that is 99% vibes (god she'd make a great jedi knight). also an inquisition companion!au (I think she'd be a fun inquisition resource and would get a lot out of Not managing the inquisition by herself; and I especially like a companion!vesper in a world where one of her siblings becomes the inquisitor). I've also got an AU where she runs away instead of going to the circle and becomes an apostate which is like a 5k WIP in my drafts and probably always will be, but it's fun to think about her in Kirkwall and whatnot. most AUs are built around her Not growing up super sheltered and then taking on a massive responsibility to the entire world, and honestly she's probably better off for it.

[ 💍 ] does your muse have a “type” of people that they prefer to enter relationships with? is their type generally compatible with them, or does the dynamic tend to be toxic?

MINAH — she doesn't have a type. most her past relationships have been different flavors of toxic, but that's on her—she tends to hook up with people she knows aren't compatible so she knows it won't be a long-term thing

VESPER — likes broad shoulders and arms and the ability to keep up in a debate. in another world, she'd have gotten on Really well with the iron bull if ya know what I mean, but he was a little too forward when she was a little too skittish. as it is, she and cullen spent enough nights hashing out battle plans together to get past the logistics and into the ethics and realities and regrets, and they found they were a lot more alike than they might have imagined at first glance

[ ❌ ] is there something your muse struggles with that they might never overcome? what is it? why do they have so much trouble with it?

MINAH — haha yeah it's [redacted]

VESPER — well, there's her status as a mage, but she's pretty comfortably resigned to that reality and doesn't have a problem with it—it's more a struggle of other people having a problem, and she deals with it with unbelievable grace and patience. losing her hand (and the inquisition) is definitely rough on her, but she manages it by throwing herself into new problems. she doesn't like feeling like she isn't doing anything

[ 🔮 ] what is your muse’s relationship with religion and spirituality? were they raised in a certain religion? have they stuck with the same set of spiritual beliefs all their life, or have they changed over time? are they settled in their spirituality now?

MINAH — oh, bad. not good. she was raised staunchly andrastian but her parents' deaths really fucked with her faith, and she's dealt with the fallout by swinging wildly in the other direction. the maker doesn't exist AND the chantry is a force for corruption and hate AND they're annoying too. she's quite cheerfully opposed to their entire dogma and has no plans to change her views

VESPER — vesp was also raised andrastian and also had a falling out, but it was a much more drawn out and contemplative sort of severing tended by years in the circle. she's seen enough of the fade and magic to understand that some of their theories and teachings aren't inherently Wrong, but she puts no stock in the chantry itself—she's sort of the theodosian equivalent of agnostic

[ 😍 ] does your muse believe in true love? why or why not?

MINAH — no. she hasn't seen or experienced anything like that. it makes a nice story though—in her heart of hearts, she wouldn't mind being proven wrong about that one

VESPER — no. she thinks love takes work and choice and effort, but that's what makes it worthwhile—putting in the work and wanting it

[exoticalmonde]

Sweet Pool....... But all my friends were watching the entire time

I am a great fan of Visual Novels and that's no secret to anybody who has chatted with me for more than an hour. But I haven't played it all. Very recently I made use of a summer deal to get all of Nitro Chiral's games (At least those available at JastUSA) and I have been itching.

Naturally, it starts with scuff. Because my laptop is new it needed a DirectX update downloaded from the official website for MSFT and I spent... a pretty long time trying to deal with it on my own until I submit to misery and just

Me: "Pinkie, you were good with computers right?" Pinkie: "No, but continue." Me: "I refuse" Pinkie: "Okay. So what seems to be the problem?" Me, after trying to not say anything for 10 seconds: "My visual novel is giving me problems." Pinkie: Ends up fixing it within 5 mins after I struggled for 20 Pinkie: "So remember how you asked if I was good with computers and I told you 'No'?"

------------

That aside, IT PLAYS

And for some ungodly reason Pinkie volunteered to watch. Then Kryo started watching when Lundi joined in too. The whole crew is here to watch Eve's new fantasy horror gore love visual novel yaoi:

Sweet Pool

The moment I enter there are two things thrown at me. Religion. And a Choice.

Heart or Thought? Instinct or Logic?

Panko helped me and chose... I don't remember which one.

Which sparks the desire to talk about how unique the choice system is in this one. For a 2008 game it's really good. The music is very grating from time to time, the volume it started with almost blew out my ears.

I can tell that it's going to be very interesting because I found an old comment that I had made on a personal discord chat and it reads: "Cease, are you really going to start me off by asking which one to choose? How dare you offer a heartbeat in one corner and empty wind at the beach in the other? Which is reason, which is instinct? Stop playing with me, I came to watch two guys kiss."

"Hey baby, are you religious? Because I would fall on my knees for you like a nun for Jesus."

So I remember 20% of the beginning, because I did play it once somewhere. Somehow. I knew it up to the part where Zenya is having his way with the coconut water or whatever he was drinking. Everybody's first impression of him was... they want to avoid him.

Since we split up so everybody gets to make a choice when the option of a choice pops up, it was Kryo's turn to decide if we want to avoid him when he stopped us or not and he tried to ignore him. It didn't work, as we all know.

Like, look at him, he is a menace he is being everything and too much of it at the same time.

Meanwhile I assigned Tetsuo to Lundi because he looks like Executor and Mlynar and whatnot and that is her type of men it's stamped and mailed already and he is overall, I feel, the safe choice. Tired and emotionless too, he just manages to cover his eyebags by frowning hard enough the shadow of his eyebrows reaches them.

And he looks so cute and small???? He has the cutest ears ever.

...

Yeah it sure is escalating. Everybody took a turn and we're back to Kryo while my little sick woodland creature is having a panick attack inside the bathrub. He decides that he should go with instinct, using logic as a basis since... Yeah, what else are you supposed to do when you're supposedly bleeding out, right?

Wrong.

He.

That scene.

Good voice acting, but I had to start off with "Okay kids, look away now." so I can watch/read it in peace. I'm used to moaning and pathetic whimpering, however none of my friends have been struck witht he full blow of a yaoi scene.

The next day we talk about god at school, so naturally we all decide to share in on the trauma of religion.

---

Lundi: "I think the guy had forsaken god by jerking off in the bloody bathwater."

Kryo: "God said self-preservation and he chose self-masturbation."

---

I was so sure it was over... I didn't expect, call for or desire this scene and we were ALL surprised now. The last one was weird, but this one is just no-choice, no-doubt, just full-blown desire and lust. In the chemist's office. Touching chemicals and then himself, you know?

Here Kryo has provided the necessary censorship so I don't get annihilated for making the post.

Me: "That explaisn this entire game. He's just tired."

---

Our last moment before I have to hop off and Kryo needs to cook etc was during the scene in Zenya's room:

Me: "It feels like it wants us to think in that direction but I don't think there's anything between them."

Lundi: "It could be anything."

Me: "I'm sure they're going to make this go completely haywire from nowhere. I don't know what to expect."

The scene happens.

Kryo: "I need to go cook now and process what the f--ck I just witnessed."

They like it so far c: