#those two can discuss and compare the most random things

[keferon]

(I love the dichotomy between the entire rest of the reverse mecha pilot au and swerve/blurr so I am here to contribute)

Blurr is clueless about organics, so imagine if he has a hard time distinguishing between passive and hostile mobs?

Like the first time he sees a zombie he's like "oh you can give hugs in this game?" and either gets got or is horrified when swerve kills his friend

He would NOT understand why Skeletons are “obviously” evil and cows aren’t???

Zombie is literally just another guy with different pose. It looks friendly! While squids definitely should be evil because they resemble Quintessons.

The only mob he would instantly read completely right would be the Dragon hahah

ACTUALLY NO WAIT. HORSES!

Blurr: oh I know this one! We have them too but they colored differently and have the thing.

Swerve: the thing?

Blurr: You know like. The horn.

Swerve: ………DO YOU HAVE MOTHERFUCKIN UNICORNS AT WHERE YOU LIVE????

[kelstey]

mattheo riddle ☆ confess

mattheo riddle x reader

❃゜・。. ・°゜✼ ゜°・ . 。・゜❃

he hadnt taken his eyes off of you once.

mattheo's gaze lingered on you the whole time you were on the dance floor, not going unnoticed by you. you continued to grind against some random gryffindor, acting oblivious to mattheo's death stare.

less aimed at you, more at the boy who clearly got too excited. mattheo tried to control the urge to absolutely tear him apart then and there but he couldn't. he didn't fancy getting into trouble.

it was even worse that you were wearing a slightly provocative dress - mattheo didn't mind, he could fight. but he did mjnd the fact that someone else's hands were all over you, not his.

you felt grossed out as the gryffindor's hands trailed down your body, wishing they were mattheos as his touch was the only thing you craved.

mattheo finally tore his eyes away from the scene, going over to the drinks table to join his other slytherin friends.

"when are you going to tell her?" enzo asked as he noticed mattheo's arrival.

"what?" mattheo looked at enzo confused.

"don't act stupid, you're in love with the damn girl. you do realise she's one of the most beautiful

- if not most beautiful girl in hogwarts, and other guys are most definitely plotting," enzo sipped the torturous alcohol mixed punch.

"what if she doesn't feel the same way?" mattheo said before taking a shot of vodka, the burn of the liquor tore down his throat.

"don't be silly. you both look at each other like you're the only other people in the world, everyone can see it. but id hurry cause looks like that boy she's dancing with has some other plans," enzo motioned his head to where you were dancing up against a boy.

mattheo's jaw clenched as the other boys hands made their way around your body, a desperate look in his eyes along with a clear bulge as your ass grinded on him.

without thinking, mattheo walked over to you, ripping you away from the boy. "mattheo what the fuck?!" you slurred.

"what the fuck are you doing?" he asked as he held your arm.

"having fun, what else does it look like?" you replied.

"really? cause i can see the disgust in your face as you dance on this twat," mattheo said angrily.

"what's your deal? it's not like we're dating," you said. what you didn't realise is that those words felt like multiple stabs going through his heart.

he knew you weren't dating, of course. the two of you were just best friends who clearly had feelings for each other but were far too stubborn to ever admit it.

"fine, be like that then," mattheo said and let go of you before storming off.

a week had passed since that party, an awkward tension laid amongst your friend group every time the two of you were there that didn't go unnoticed by the others.

neither of you had spoken a word to each other, once again your stubbornness and pride were both far too high to break the no contact.

"for fucks sake! cant the two of you just make up?" draco threw his hands up in the air. the boys were all having a discussion in the slytherin common room about the whole situation between you and mattheo.

"no way, if she wants to speak to me, she can speak to me. i am not talking to her," mattheo rolled his eyes.

"the two of you are literally two little kids, grow up and get over it," blaise added in.

"i agree, mattheo you have no problem getting with other girls so why is it so hard for you to do that with her?" draco said.

mattheo pondered for a bit. why was it so hard? maybe due to the fact that he was purely and utterly in love with you compared to the other girls in hogwarts who were really only used for his pleasure.

"see! you not speaking says so much, get a grip and tell her," blaise said.

"suck my dick," mattheo said before storming off to go to the black lake. he liked the peace; and even better that it was raining so no other students were likely to be there.

apart from you of course. you were sat feeding a squirrel with some trail mix you had in your bag. you were slumped at the bottom of a tree, reading peacefully before spotting a red squirrel.

it made its way over to you and you remembered the mixed nuts you had. you were in awe of the small creature, how it had no fear being cradled in your hand as you fed it.

a twig snapped which scared the squirrel and it ran off. "are you fucking joking me?" you stood up and turned to the source of the noise.

and of course mattheo was stood there. "what are you doing here?" he asked.

"i wanted some peace and quiet," you mumbled before picking up your book and tote bag, ready to leave.

"what's your problem?" mattheo stepped in your way before you could walk past him.

"you!" you shoved his chest and he stumbled back.

"me? right, and what have i done?" he raised his voice.

you grew frustrated, you didn't actually have much of a problem with mattheo. and it didn't help that he looked amazing as the rain soaked his hair and part of his shirt, just enough for you to see his toned abs.

"you know what you've done!" you raised your voice back, you didn't give a reasoning due to the fact you didn't have one, of course you could not lose this argument.

"yeah? why don't you tell me then?" mattheo walked up to you, his large frame towering over you.

"just get out of my head! fuck! every single day you're just there, and i can't help but think of you all the time. do you know how annoying it is seeing you have a new girl sit on your lap almost every time we eat at the great hall? how you want every girl in hogwarts but me? cant you see i fucking love you mattheo?" you shouted, tears welling in your eyes from the overly raw emotions and the fact you just poured your heart out to him.

"so you think ignoring me is going to solve the problem?" mattheo asked.

"yes - no - i don't know?! i want to stop loving you but i can't! i've loved you since second year and i always will!" you confessed.

"what the fuck? i've loved you since second year!" mattheo confessed back.

"then why the fuck aren't you doing anything about it?" you questioned. your question was quickly answered when mattheo grabbed your face and pulled you in. his lips smashed onto yours and things quickly escalated into a very intense make out session.

the anger and annoyance you had from the past week quickly disappeared, you couldn't help but now feel completed and happy. your arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him even closer. mattheo's hands snaked around your waist, somehow getting you even closer.

the two of you broke the kiss, gasping for air.

"why didn't you do that sooner?" you asked.

"i'm doing it now, and i think that's all that matters."

❃゜・。. ・°゜✼ ゜°・ . 。・゜❃

[lu-is-not-ok]

Since full stop hong lu has been released, is there anything about his voicelines and such that intrigues you?

Funny you ask about that, because yesterday I was going positively insane over his voicelines! :)

First I'll start with the more 'normal' thing that hit me, before moving on to the 'voice acting autism' parts.

This fucking line. Oh my god. This not only continues Hong Lu's thing with death and its meaning, but I believe it's also a reference to this line from Liwei in Ruina.

And well. Guess what. This is the two in one blog. This is where I make everything about two in one. And Full Stop Hong Lu's line combined with this context? It feels like a Daiyuism to me. Very Flower Burial, musing on the inevitability of death and how in the end it doesn't really matter. Flowers fall. People perish. And neither of them know.

...Okay now we get to the insane parts.

I don't talk about this often, mainly because it's hard to discuss in a text format, but I really, really enjoy picking apart the voice acting in Limbus. Like, not only is it Really Fucking Good, but some of the deliveries genuinely feel so nuanced that I can't help but see if I can dig deeper. And the following bits are thus more about the voice acting behind the lines rather than the text itself. Bear with me here. Tumblr doesn't like .wav files so I'll be linking directly to them in the Organized Assets folder.

First, there's the Afternoon Greeting line.

Note how in the last sentence, Hong Lu's voice has a moment where it wavers. A nervous laugh-like tremble. I don't speak Korean so I can't tell what exact word is being focused on with that moment, but it's notable since I don't believe any other ID has anything like that happen in a random casual voiceline.

I find that tremble interesting because it implies there's some sort of rising emotion behind that. Something about the realization that in reality Hong Lu's wealth means things that are considered expensive to some are really more than affordable to him makes him briefly stumble verbally.

We know that most Hong Lus, to put it bluntly, try their fucking hardest to ignore their reality. So I can't help but wonder if this admission of awareness, this forced lack of ignorance, is what's throwing him off? He can't exactly pretend like what is normal to him is normal to everyone when the chasm between him and others is staring him right in the face.

Ok, now for the thing that's been making me properly lose my mind for the past. Uh. However long this fuckass ID has been out for SFGHHGF.

There is a very, VERY notable difference between Full Stop Hong Lu's voice lines out of combat, and the ones in combat.

Compare his Deployment voiceline (casual, out of combat voice) to his Stage Entry voiceline (in combat voice).

This is, yet again, a voice direction choice exclusive to this ID.

Full Stop Hong Lu's out of combat lines keep the same traits as his voice in most other cases. Higher register, with a notable lilt to his speech. Hong Lu's voice tends to subtly shift at ends of his sentences, usually rising, and there's often a rhythm to how he speaks, causing his voice to have a sort of sing-songy quality to it that adds to his innocent and unaware vibe, as if he's got his head in the clouds.

This changes completely with Full Stop Hong Lu's in combat lines. Not only are they in lower register, said in a much more assertive tone, but the lilt in his voice is completely gone. The delivery for these is comparably monotone, methodical. It makes him sound like a completely different character, doesn't it?

Now, Full Stop Hong Lu isn't the only ID that has a voice line with that kind of delivery shift. Yurodivy Hong Lu's Skill 3 and K Corp Hong Lu's Commencing Attack voice lines are very similar if not the same kind of voice. However, unlike Full Stop Hong Lu's case, this shift is not consistent for those two. Full Stop Hong Lu however sticks to this tone for the entirety of his in combat lines, and I find that fascinating.

Man really just fucking Locks In.

[another-lost-mc]

On the subject of your latest world building post: fallen angels…

Can we talk about what happened when Azra fell? (If we wanna chat AU - Meta as well POOR SWEET BABY META) And how when the brothers fell it impacted Azra’s relationship with Lucifer (especially where it concerns Meta if we’re talking AU)? We got so much to unpack here with the fallen angel OCs. 😭😭

Firstly, I love exploring fallen angel lore because it's like the perfect way to view all sides and history of the Celestial Realm and Devildom. They're perfect if you want to explore the perspective of someone that has lived in both realms and who loves and hates them for different reasons.

We got a peek at old timey Devildom history when we got to see how the realm reacted after Lucifer and his siblings fell. The problem is that the game doesn't really go into a lot of detail exploring the history before that happened, and some of those new additions to the story weren't explored in much detail. That means I have a lot of gaps to fill with my own world building while I cherry pick the stuff from Nightbringer that makes sense and disregard the stuff that doesn't fit.

The fact that angels and demons have insanely long life spans also means that social norms and attitudes probably shifted over time. "Older" fallen angels and "newer" ones (like the demon brothers) would have completely different experiences that shape their perspective. We got to see the Devildom through the eyes of Lucifer and the others as they adjusted to life as demons - we have no idea how other fallen angels managed to cope with their own personal hardships or trauma from the fall. In general, I think most fallen angels (that survived the fall) think the demon brothers had it easy.

Anyway, to explain why that's the case, I should probably explain some of the fundamentals. I don't think the demon brothers were the first angels to be cast out to the Devildom, and I don't think they were the last. I do think that Diavolo being in charge shifted the realm's attitudes and treatment of fallen angels to some extent, but angels who fell before that time were at a clear disadvantage.

(Some of the discussion below contains vague references to violence/blood and other demon-typical behaviours.)

The Devildom was far from welcoming. Why would it be? It felt less like a mutual agreement that the Devildom would give fallen angels a home and more like Father ruthlessly discarding his disgraced angels to a place that didn't want them either. not me comparing it to Dumbledore abandoning baby Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep and ignoring the years of abuse and neglect that followed as the boy was clearly unwanted For world building purposes, Purgatory isn't the realm that separates the human world from the Devildom, but the realm that separates the Devildom from the Celestial Realm. Falling isn't stepping through a portal and being greeted safely at the Demon Lord's Castle, it's plunging through a no-man's-land plane of existence, the metaphysical barrier that's supposed to keep the two realms apart, and crash-landing at some random location with no promise of survival (or safety should they live that long).

Before I get to that, I should probably clarify how the various OC stories overlap and connect to each other. Even though I originally wrote most of them so they could be independent characters in their own version of the OM narrative, they all have the potential to coexist in the same world. While some of them know each other personally because of their shared history, some of them don't - but the potential for them to live in the same universe is there, because I've tried to write the missing lore for the Devildom in a consistent way for all of them. They all do things that directly or indirectly affect each other and don't even realize it.

I probably need to do a timeline/order of events in another post but to give you an idea of how their stories intersect:

Azra, as my first OC, has the most connections to other characters. A lot of the world building relates in some way to his experiences living as an angel in the Celestial Realm and his life as a demon in the Devildom. The angel OCs (Metatron, Seraphiel, Gabriel, Uriel, Habuhiah) and the demons Belial and Zekhan are all important to his backstory, and in a small way, he also interacts with the Demon King.

Belial, who would become one of the most powerful demon lords, has directly and indirectly shaped a lot of the past Devildom history and continues to influence the realm's social structure and economic sectors. At one point during the Demon King's rule, Belial is responsible for creating conflict with the Celestial Realm and shortly after, Azra falls. However, the outcome of his interference has direct consequences that affect Tenebris' own story as well.

Tenebris and Bathin's history share the most overlap and influence. It's mostly told from Tenebris' perspective because Bathin is...well, he's dead for most of it. But his death is an important part of that history (and Mephisto's own character/story, especially once Bathin is reborn later on).

A lot of the events leading up to the demon brothers' fall is overseen by the Demon King, Diavolo's father. Tenebris and Belial have the most direct, personal interaction with him above all the other OCs, but it's actually through the Demon King's eyes that the shared history across nearly all the OCs is consistent. The last part of the story I had to flesh out was how Diavolo came into power and why the Demon King appointed the Avatars of Sin, an act of such significance that practically all of the Devildom (including the different OCs) were affected by it.

I've talked about Azra's backstory in detail now (a very brief TL;DR version of it is on his biography page) but I should probably explain Belial's history a bit too. Even though he and Azra have some similar opinions about Diavolo and the demon brothers, their experiences as newly-fallen angels were wildly different and that affects their opinions later on.

BELIAL

Belial wasn't the first angel to fall, but he's one of the oldest. He's also one of the first ones to make waves in the Devildom considering how ruthless he would later become. He wasn't too badly injured after the fall, all things considered - if you ignore the missing wings - but he was furious when he realized what happened.

I've mentioned how previous demon rulers had their own eccentricities and way of governing things. Some of them were fueled by the chaotic nature of their sins and the realm had periods of unrest and instability because of it. Unhinged rulers encouraged or even participated in things like "hunting" fallen angels for sport, for no other reason than their existence and misery were fun to exploit.

Anyway, Belial fell during a time when that sort of thing was accepted. Angels falling to the Devildom were visible to the naked eye, like a comet plummeting from the sky. Observant demons simply had to travel in that direction. Part of the fun was catching disoriented or wounded angels off-guard. Belial was found by one of those hunting parties but he still had his wits about him, and thankfully he was armed when he was cast out. Most angels aren't given a chance to pack their things when they're forced to leave and whatever they have with them - their clothes, maybe some weapons if they're lucky - is all they're left with. Belial's worst crime, aside from his last explosive argument with Michael, was being a powerful warrior that was too arrogant and prideful for his own good. The demons that found him never stood a chance. Belial made a mockery of them all by pledging his loyalty to the Devildom's ruler at the time. He offered the heads of his slain would-be murderers and grinned manically as their blood stained the throne room floor. He was able to walk away despite the insult because keeping him alive proved to be more entertaining than killing him outright.

That's how Belial got his start. After earning his initial windfall - inherited from the first demons he defeated - he set on a reckless path of overthrowing weaker demon lords than himself and creating an unbreakable foothold in the realm. Stories of his deeds were still exaggerated beyond imagination and he had a reputation for being bloodthirsty, power-hungry, and insane. He was considered aggressive and wildly unpredictable, but that's only partly true: he hides his intelligence and manipulations behind the guise of being chaos incarnate. He became a demon lord that was respected and feared almost in equal measure, and that's why it was important for the Demon King (and Diavolo to a lesser extent) to manage his temperamental behaviour while ensuring he remained loyal and kept his legions in line.

AZRA (and META's AU)

Azra falls partly because Belial is a manipulative bastard. Unlike most fallen angels that are alone and left to survive on their own in the Devildom, Azra has the unique advantage of having Belial's assistance. Even though their relationship is tense at first (since Belial wanted Azra to fall and worked hard to make that happen) it's still beneficial for both of them in the long run. It's ironic that Azra and Lucifer share that parallel that they're both protected by a powerful demon benefactor where most other fallen angels struggle without one.

Still, Azra faces a lot of hardships that the demon brothers can't relate to. Even though Belial helps Azra, that help isn't free - he wants something in return, and with nothing else to do but to try and make a name for himself, Azra feels obligated to obey him. Meeting Zekhan makes it easier for Azra to forge an independent life so he doesn't have to work for Belial long-term. Azra works hard to quickly stake a claim in the Devildom for himself. It's no surprise that the fallen angels like him, who were literally stripped of their former identities and forced to start new lives in such a hostile place, would want to gain enough power and security so that their lives can never be broken like that again. Azra's goal isn't fame or wealth, it's the power to ensure his own survival and live the life he wants.

In the AU where Metatron falls with Azra, their beginnings in the Devildom are very similar to Azra's story where he falls alone. However, Azra's motivations shift slightly because he has Metatron to care for, and despite his best intentions, things aren't easy for them even if they're in the Devildom together.

Meta's experience as a demon is also significantly different from Azra's. Where Azra is a rising socialite and quickly gaining popularity after opening The Fall, Meta's presence is much smaller, almost to the point where most demons don't know (or forget) that he even exists. It's almost a complete role reversal from their lives as angels where Metatron was popular and one of the most powerful Seraphs and Azra was just an ordinary angel in comparison.

Azra's reputation and social standing in the Devildom does protect him from some criticism and anti-angel sentiment that still exists, but unfortunately, Meta faces a lot more ridicule and criticism. He's treated almost like a leper because he struggles to blend in and play the part of a "real" demon - there's still something Celestial about him that rubs a lot of demons the wrong way at first. The fact that he was a Seraph doesn't help much. Azra fails to notice this and it's actually Solomon's appearance in both their lives that causes things to change, for better and for worse. The next shake-up for the status quo doesn't happen until they learn about the demon brothers coming to the Devildom, and that causes a lot of new problems for both of them.

WHEN LUCIFER FALLS

Nightbringer gave us an idea of what it was like in the Devildom in the aftermath of Lucifer and his siblings being cast out. A lot of uneasiness, a lot of prejudice, and they were protected by Diavolo who took them into his personal care and helped them acclimate to their new lives as demons.

Angels that fell before them have a lot of complicated feelings on the matter, some of which aren't positive. Some of them are downright hostile because of it. From their perspectives:

Lucifer is a hypocrite. He probably helped condemn a lot of them personally. None of them were worth the fight to save, until it came to one of his siblings, and he was willing to start civil war to defend Lilith from persecution.

Related to that, a harsh but unspoken feeling amongst fallen angels: Lilith knew the rules and broke them and should've accepted the consequences like they all had to. Nothing made her more special or deserving of another chance, except that one of her brothers just happened to be Lucifer who seemed willing to bend the rules when it affected someone close to him.

The demon brothers had an easier time after the fall because of the Demon King's actions and Diavolo's interest in them. They all suffered injury and trauma from the fall. They all lost their home, they all lost someone or something they loved. That shared pain is universal, but the demon brothers were coddled through it.

Some of the demon brothers didn't deserve the power the Demon King bestowed upon them. While Lucifer, Mammon and Beel were uniquely powerful in their own right, the fact that the other less powerful siblings were elevated to such an extreme rubs some of the fallen angels the wrong way. Part of it is petty jealousy, but they see it as another form of nepotism - their relation to Lucifer gives them an unfair advantage in the Devildom as much as it did in the Celestial Realm.

Belial's mostly baffled by the hypocrisy of it all and pretends (badly) that he's not bitter about it. He was one of the Cherubim before he fell, he wanted to be a Seraph - he was well aware of the formal rules and intricacies and hidden politics involved with governing the Celestial Realm. He also doesn't share a lot of sympathy regarding Lilith's fate either. A lot of his earlier interactions with Lucifer and his brothers are met with condescension and and contempt.

Azra's anger is mostly directed at Lucifer for very personal reasons. As an angel, Azra asked Michael and Lucifer for help (with a situation regarding Metatron) and neither of them did. Michael acted like there was no problem, and Lucifer reinforced that by refusing to get more involved. As far as Azra's concerned, their disregard forced his hand and ultimately led to him falling; seeing Lucifer willing to rally against Michael for his own personal problems feels like a slap in the face.

When Azra and Lucifer meet, a lot of that bitterness comes out. Lucifer sees the sort of demon Azra has become (in order to survive a situation he never wanted), and Azra sees Lucifer as a hypocrite who was willing to risk everything to protect his siblings and couldn't even do that right. So yeah, they're not on great terms.

In the AU where Meta and Azra fall together, some of Azra's bitterness is gone because at least in that story, he and Meta are still together in the Devildom even if their circumstances are...not great. Because Meta's made it more obvious that the Devildom's treatment of fallen angels was sorely lacking in the past, it's implied that Diavolo makes more of an effort to help the demon brothers adapt so they can avoid the same difficulties Azra and Meta experienced themselves.

Another consequence of Lucifer and his brothers coming to the Devildom is the almost instantaneous outrage among some of the demon lords and the legions they command. Many of them had to fight Lucifer or his siblings in previous wars with the Celestial Realm, and some undoubtedly lost friends or loved ones during those conflicts. Having your former enemy and his family being treated like royalty by the newly crowned prince, who is controversial in his own right, created a huge social upheaval. Anti-angel sentiments grew among the demon lords that were upset that the Demon King established the Avatars of Sin and gave them so much power. The lesser demons who were part of the realm's armies were furious that they suddenly had to obey the whims of the naïve prince and his pet angels.

(Diavolo was right to shield the demon brothers within the Demon King's Castle until he could ensure that public tensions had died down and they could live safely on their own. Fallen angels such as Belial and Azra were popular and strong enough that most demons wouldn't dare attack them, even if they insulted them privately. In the AU where he falls too, Meta doesn't walk away from that ordeal unharmed.)

[majaloveschris]

However, I don't know if leaking the contract would be bad for both of them. I think most people would be happier if this turned out to be PR rather than him being married to someone like her. And I mean her and her friends' personalities. You know the racist, pedo, and Nazi stuff. Maybe some people would be angry because he's lied, but I think most of us probably would be relieved he wasn't actually in love with someone like Alba. //

Logic anon coming in, people have to understand the fandom although it feels big is very small especially compared to the rest of the world. The general public doesn’t care about these two and many think she looks like she’s his daughter. Now, If this fandom were like the fandoms with “names” ie the Swifties, Belibers, etc This shitshow would have exploded publicly to the point the truth would have came out and there’d be no debate. The world would be aware of her and her friends and many would probably defend her, it would be team pr vs real on a bigger level. But technically something similar yet small did happen….. remember the “crazy” fan article in the beginning because the fandom was calling out the bs.

This stunt wasn’t for the fans, but I assume they thought this fandom would jump whenever Chris said to….wrong. The fandom went into detective mode so much to the point they kept having to keep up with the lies that so many called out. Remember all the holes in the cheese they tried to fill. If it were real, why the need to do that.

But yeah the point for whatever reason was to make this appear legit to the world, not this fandom. The fandom got involved because of how stupid things got. Had Chris and team learned that he had a MO that ONLY his fandom was aware of and had her and her little racist friends not trolled, things might be different.

Too much has happened for me to assume any of this is legit unless Chris has sincerely lost his mind, is going through a midlife crises or willingly thought being married might help his career/image? Idk 🤷‍♀️

In terms of said contract being leaked, that would be awesome for the fandom and possibly those who think he’s a red pill fool, but for the overall public…. I don’t think so. He’d be a liar and how could anyone trust someone who lied about being married, but again it’s Hollywood and business so who knows, it could be a shock factor, people discuss and then move on and he’s able to reinvent himself or something or people would crack jokes and never let him live it down, etc.

If a contract got leaked and had specific details it could help him and people would go omg look what Hollywood forced Chris Evans to do and I knew he’d never marry anyone that young, etc. ya know the “poor Chris”, coddling scenario he’s use to. 🙄

At most, a divorce could be announced and TMZ can state they were never legally married and leave people to question whatever. Chris moves on, focuses on his career and learns to keep his private life private and no more PR shit.

I think they thought Alba would get much more recognition and fans because of Chris. That the fandom will like her, that they will start following her and start her career. The why is beyond me, though. I wouldn't say even his real girlfriends were that liked by the public, so why would a fake one with whom they look so distant and who is a worse person than the others be? I don't think they thought this through.

I wouldn't say this wasn't for us; most of the time, a PR relationship is. A random person who's watched a few projects of yours won't start following or supporting someone's partner. A fan would. Like how many people have started following Travis since they went public with Taylor? A lot. I assume they wanted something similar to happen to Alba, but they didn't succeed. As you said, the general public cares more about the age gap and the appearance. They don't have to sell them anything because they don't care. They have to make it look legit for the fans, because they are the ones following all of their steps. They will be the ones who start following the partner or check out their works. When it comes to a PR relationship, the fans need to like the partner or accept them in the close circle. The general public just doesn't care enough to make someone's partner more famous; fans could do that. Chris's fans could've started liking Alba and watching her projects, making her more wanted in projects. That's why they wanted to sell the happy relationship; that's why they filled the holes. They need fans to do their parts, not the general public.

I still think leaking something would be the best. He's lost a lot of fans, and I'm not saying that would get him everything and everyone back, but this PR wouldn't still be better than him actually being in love with her. I think it would be. Obviously, that doesn't take away the stupidity of this whole thing and that he got involved in this. It wouldn't make everything okay, but it would make it better. General public doesn't care enough about this. They would forget about him being in a PR marriage after like a day, especially right now, when a lot of much worse things are going on. This wouldn't be the worst thing a celebrity did. Right now, they should care about fans, not about the general public. Those people who've left are the important ones. They're going to go and watch all of his movies, not the general public.

I just hope that if this is truly PR, they all learned from this and have already realized that this whole thing was a mistake and will never try something like this.

[elainsgirl]

this has been said all around but I seriously do think the acotar fandom would've been different if sjm engaged with us. I know plenty of authors who engage with their fandom even if some are still toxic like boys of tommen. But I still believe more people would've stuck around and didn't have to deal with ongoing problems due to an author that neglects her fandom.

People are calling Elriels weird and delusional for thinking of a rejecting mating bond which the author literally talked about! how is that delusional for thinking the next book could be that? Elriels aren't stupid. Elain is literally uncomfortable around lucien. "Did elain tell you that?" that really pisses me off. she's clearly uncomfortable around lucien, anyone can see that from a mile away. And the thing with gwyn, I believe its due to the hatred everyone has with elain so they create this image of gwyn to replace elain. its so odd.

The only way the fandom would have been less toxic, is if Mass gave us insight on how SHE wanted the books to be read and the narrative she was trying to spin instead of everyone going wild and having random interpretations that don’t make sense and are clearly not what Mass was going for. That and if she had been giving some teasers from the next book here and there as well as telling us what we should expect from Acotar 5. If think this would hVe definitely calmed the shipwars down and actually create excitement for the next book. If you look at how chloe handled the fandom after T7, she left completely and now has a social media manager running her account whose been engaging w the fandom by posting snippets from previous books. Ofc BOT had its own shipwars and arguements as well as characterwars but how was that taken care off? The spotify playlists which confirmed couples, plots and whose getting which and how many books. Was there backlash? Sure, but chloe was far from it and eventually it died down and people began getting excited for the upcoming books and what was about to play out. Now when you look at her recent announcement, as far as I’ve seen there hasn’t been any negativity. Even those that don’t like the next couple haven’t created a fuss because they knew it was going to happen so could brace themselves. So if only Sjm had used the same technique but then you can’t really compare the two authors and their fandom considering one is significantly less popular then the other. The Mass fandom is so huge and despite the fact it seems like everyone is online - the truth is there are millions of readers across the world who aren’t online. They dont care about the ship wars or characters wars. They just want the next book. So I think it doesn’t register to BB or sarah that there’s so many polarising discussions taking place bcs its only a small part of this massive fandom taking part and creating these arguements. They’re going looking at the fandom as a whole - and many just dont care. So their silence & neglect make sense especially considering that I dont think Mass had any acotar content to share as she hadn’t written the book, Since acosf, CC was her focus. Not acotar.

Elriels being called delusional? What else is new. For an author that is suppose to be strictly “fated” mates - there wS no need for her to talk about bond rejection and what if two mates aren’t right for each other. “What if the forces be, put you with the wrong person?” 🤝 “what if the cauldron was wrong? What if that (Azriel) is what she needs?” Antis are quite confident when Sjm wrote “why not make them (elriel) mates?” Like, you cannot get more obvious then that. Elain has told us she doesn’t want her mate. Are antis respecting that? No. See, most people are able to clock on that when a woman is losing her boldness around a man she is uncomfortable and not interested. As for Gwyn - she’s a self insert for elain antis and someone better they can replace Elain with. Its a mess.

[snkgay]

Expanding upon this piece a little. Levi does eventually go on to find love, but it's the slowest slow burn of all time. He is hard pressed to feel like he doesn't deserve it, and for a while he is content with his slow life of taking it day to day and coming to terms with being disabled.

The companionship he is offered in Onyankopon over the steady course of years grows to something more, so much so, until neither of the two can deny it.

Levi spends an awful lot of time fighting it because he ultimately feels like he doesn't need nor deserve love due to his sordid past. Coupled with the fact he feels like he hasn't quite yet let go of Erwin, and it feels wrong to him to entertain the idea of seeking anything more than companionship with Onyan, when his heart still feels for Erwin.

I think it takes a lot of late-night conversations with Onyan for Levi to finally hit that ah-ha moment that him caring for Erwin still is fine and quite normal. He assures him he doesn't feel slighted and admits he could never compare to such an honorable, headstrong and intelligent man. He laments never getting the chance to meet him but feels indebted to him that he took care of Levi all those years prior, and now he pledges to step up and do the same.

"I can't promise you the world, but I can promise you that as long as I move through this earth, I can keep you company, fed, dressed and sheltered."

I like the idea of Levi taking to journaling to process his feelings. Maybe he starts out by writing letters to update Erwin on what happened. Things he might want to know. When he gets comfortable with the idea, he allows Onyan to read some. Sometimes he reads them aloud to him before bed. It kind of expands beyond that. He wants people to remember his family, so he writes it all down. He writes everything he can remember.

I adore the idea of Levi becoming a writer in his older years, given he had the time to fully process and is ready to share. Perhaps he picks some pieces he wishes to have published so he can keep the memory of the ones he loved most alive. It's a family effort of course. He consults Onya first who suggests reaching out to Armin. Armin would know, he's such an avid lover of books. He consults Jean for art. Finding out that Jean picked the pencil up again and has gotten so good. He commissions him. Jean refuses payment, but Levi won't allow him to work for free! He wouldn't admit it to Jean, but the first meeting where they discussed and Jean showed some sketches, he had to leave the room for a bit. Seeing Jean's art reminded him of Moblit, which reminded him of Hange, which reminded him of Erwin. Ah grief, she creeps up on one in the most random of times.

[theblueprinxe]

I will find you in every life Ch.3

Super long chapter but lots of spiciness at the end 👀🖤

Prinxe was currently sitting next to Astarion who was sitting crossed legged on the velvet loverseat. It seemed he had changed out of his previous outfit, and was now dressed in a similar ruffled shirt she had drawn him in before and a simple pair of black pants. The two of them were currently watching as Gale scolded the feline creature known as Tara.

"Tara, you can't just go sneaking around people. You could have given her a heart attack." He scolded, which only made Tara hiss in annoyance.

"Mr. Dekarios, she should be the one being scolded. She was eavesdropping on you and Astarion's conversation. I was merely remaindering her that it's not polite." She replied, eyeing Prinxe with annoyance which made her shift uncomfortably.

The scene replayed in her head as the two went back and forth.

She had just made it down the stairs, trying to listen in on the conversation, when Tara had accidentally frightened her.

Both Gale and Astarion had rushed out of the room they were in to see what was going on and caught Prinxe right next to the opening of the door.

Her face was still burning from embarrassment.

"Enough bickering." Astarion finally spoke up, clearly annoyed with the back and forth between Gale and Tara. "Now that our guest has woken up, we can just ask them." He said, shifting his gaze over to her.

Gale nodded, moving away from the long table he had been standing next and over to one of the black arm chairs next to the sofa, she and Astarion were sitting at.

"Hello there, I am Gale of Waterdeep. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance" He took her hand in his giving a friendly shake as he smiled at her. His style was very warm and simple compared to what she previously saw Astarion in. He wore a dark purple sweater that had some embroidery on the white neckline, and paired it together with similar coloured pants. She couldn't explain it but she felt safe with him.

"I'm Prinxe, it's nice to meet you as well...." She paused for a moment, looking over to the notepad Tara was currently laying next too on the long table, not paying mind to the conversation the group was having. "But if I may ask, why am I here and why are you both talking about my drawings?" She asked, which made Astarion and Gale look at one another in silence unsure what to say.

With no response from either of them, she decided to continue, getting up from her spot on the couch and picking up her drawings and dropping them in Astarion's lap. "I've dreamt of you my whole life and assumed you were just my imagination. Something or someone I made up but couldn't stop drawing" Her voice was shaky as she spoke. Most of her life she had felt like something was missing and the man she use to refer to as the Pale Elf was at the center of it all.

"Then today, when you saw me you said you had been looking for me your whole life as if you knew me." She began to pace back and forth in the living room trying to process everything. Stopping to stare at Astarion whose eyes watched the other with a pained expression.

"And then finally, I find out your name. Astarion." She repeated his name out loudly as if she didn't want to forget it. "Now, I wake up here in this random house and you two are talking about me. Why?" She hadn't meant too but her voice came out in a shout causing both Gale and Astarion to tense up.

Gale moved from his spot on the chair and over to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "Come sit back down and we will discuss those matters." She wanted to leave this place but part of her needed to know more about her dreams. She followed his lead back to her previous spot next to Astarion, who seemed ready to finally talk.

"After I had told you my name in the ally, you started screaming in pain. I tried to talk to you but you weren't able to respond and then suddenly you passed out. So doing the only thing I could I picked you up and brought you to the Underdark" There was a slight hint of worry in his voice as he spoke, placing the notepad down on the coffee table that was in front of them. "I brought you here because I needed Gale to take a look at you. He isn't the greatest healer but I knew he would prove more useful than me and I also needed answers just like you do."

Gale nodded joining in now. "Astarion had me do a check up on you and nothing was unusual. But..." He paused eyeing the drawings. "You said you've been dreaming of Astarion since you were a child?"

Prinxe nodded and Gale continued to speak. "I don't mean to worry you or frighten you but those dreams may not just be dreams. They seemed to be your previous memories." He said, moving his hand in the air for a moment. A image of Prinxe appeared before her. Though the image had some small difference such as hair and clothing, she knew it was her. Astarion also seemed to intensely stare at the image as well taking in every detail of the mirror image.

Gale's hand closed, the image quickly disappearing. "When Astarion told me about you I assumed it merely had to be a coincidence. After all, it's been centuries since we last seen one another but after looking at her drawings. It seems like it could be true."

Before she could ask anything, the sound of the front doors slamming open filled the house and a women voice called out. "We came as soon as we got the news."

A groan escaped Astarion's lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Does she seriously forget her manners..." He mumbled, the sound of two sets of footsteps making their way into the living room.

Prinxe eyed the pair that entered. There was a women about her height with long white hair that she had tied up into a braid and next to her was a taller women who appeared to be a tiefling, who had shaggy dark hair that was shaved on the side.

"Hells it really is you." Without saying another word, the tiefling woman raced over to Prinxe, immediately pulling her into a big hug. Astarion and Gale both got up from their seats, trying to get the tiefling to set her down.

"Karlach, I know you're excited but you need to set her down. She still is recovering from her earlier fainting spell." Gale said taking a more friendly approach. While Astarion on the other hand was more demanding. "If you don't release her this instance I'm going to send you back to the hells."

The white haired women quickly made her way over to the group trying to assist. "Karlach they are right, we don't want to break her especially after just finding her."

After a moment, Karlach placed her down giving her the biggest smile. "Sorry solider, I hadn't seen you in ages and got excited."

Prinxe looked at her confused trying to gain her balance back after being sat back down. "Do I know you?" She asked, both Karlach and the white haired women looked at Prinxe in confusion as if she should know who they both were.

Realizing the air of confusion filling the room, Gale quickly moved over to Karlach and the other women moving them back to the main hall. "We will be right back." With those last words, Gale and the women disappeared leaving just Astarion and Prinxe by themselves

There was a very long moment of silence between them both. She was unsure what to say or even ask while still processing the idea of her dreams being the memories of her previous life.

"Do you only ever dream of me?" Astarion asked, making her a bit embarrassed.

"Y-yeah...." She picked leaned forward sorting through the drawings before pulling out one of them and handing it to him. He took it, his crimson eyes studying the drawings.

The drawing had him standing in front a small tent, holding a book in his hands and reading it.

As quickly as they disappeared, the other three returned and seemed to have a better understanding of the situation. The white haired women made her way over to Prinxe putting her hand out which Prinxe took, both sharing a handshake. "Sorry about that, Karlach gets easily excited." She said, giving her a warm smile as she contained to speak, "I am Shadowheart and this is my partner Karlach."

Karlach moved to take her turn in an introduction. "Hello Solider, it's nice to see you again" With introductions done with, the couple sat in a love seat across from Astarion and Prinxe.

Gale slapped his hands together. "Now that we all are acquainted we can continue."

Everyone's eyes were on her, filling her stomach with uneasiness which only made her feel more uncomfortable.

"Now do you only ever dream of Astarion?" Gale asked, gaining a nod from her.

"Do you remember your last dream?" He asked. She began to think and remembered her dream from that morning. Her cheeks began to heat up not wanting to tell a group of strangers about her dream involving Astarion saying he loved her and them kissing.

She could feel Astarion's gaze on her, knowing full well he was close enough to notice the faint redness on her cheeks. She quickly needed to say something before he asked about what she was thinking about.

Remembering the dream from a little bit ago. "I did have a dream where I met Astarion but it wasn't like the others." She said, the group seeming to closely listen to every word she said.

"I was in some weird place that had a few broken barrels, bodies and a brain like creature?" The other's didn't need to say anything, she could tell from their expressions that what she was saying wasn't strange but familiar.

"I walked up to a cliff area where Astarion was calling out for help and when I tried to help him he held a dagger to my throat. So I head butted him and then something odd happened were our minds fussed together?" She said, the room still again not surprised by what she was saying.

"Then he introduced himself and I woke up." She looked over at Astarion, who seemed like he was embarrassed.

"Gods, I almost forgot that's how you both met." Shadowheart spoke up seeming to reminiscing about the moment she had just described.

"Then it must be true....You are dreaming of past memories." Gale said, placing his hand under his semi bearded chin to rub it as he got lost in thought.

The group suddenly got quiet hearing a phone go off , all looking at Prinxe whose pants pocket was vibrating. She quickly pulled the phone out of her pocket, seeing Damon's name and picture pop up. He was calling her.

She hesitated for second remembering earlier events. If she didn't answer he would just keep calling or show up at her house looking for her, but if she did answer it she'd have to pretend like she didn't hear him trash talk her.

Letting out a long sigh, and pulling herself together she decided to answer. Trying not to focus on the group who watched her every moment.

"Hello?" She answered, immediately being asked numerous questions by the other.

"Are you okay?" He asked, which only made her roll her eyes. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"Because you didn't show up to your shift today at the Sorcerous Sundries and someone said you were here earlier during the surprise attack."

"Oh yeah...I wasn't feeling well so I didn't go and I don't remember any attack. Is everyone okay?" She lied, knowing full well she had been there and the person responsible was sitting a feet away from her seeming to not care about the conversation she was having.

"I was the only one who got hurt. Someone casted darkness and gave me a rather hard beating." Prinxe's eyes widened as she looked back over to Astarion. The blood he had on his hands earlier belonged to Damon. "Someone attacked you?"

She intentionally said this loudly, Astarion tried to hide it but he had his devious little smirk across his face. The group slowly caught on to everything and eyed Astarion who just shrugged.

Annoyed, Prinxe quickly cut her conversation with Damon short now needing to scold someone. "I'll talk to you later." She could hear Damon trying to say something but she immediately hung up.

"How could you just attack my boyfriend!" She shouted, Astarion wincing at the word 'boyfriend', and looking at her with annoyance. "Darling, he deserved it." His brows furrowed and his jaw tightened as he continued to speak. "He's lucky I didn't cut his throat."

Prinxe realized what it meant. He had also overhead the conversation Damon was having with the other frontiers and he had attacked him because of it.

Karlach nudged Shadowheart, who looked over at her with amusement from watching the other two. "Did you miss seeming them argue."

Astarion's shot both of them a pissed expression which immediately made them both pretend they weren't listening to the conversation that was unfolded in front of them.

Gale decided in seeing as the atmosphere was getting a bit heated. "Is anyone else hungry because I sure am."

The group all just turned to him as he clapped his hands together. "How about I make us a nice meal. Something I use to eat in Waterdeep as a child?" Karlach immediately got up excited of the thought of food. "I thought you'd never mention it. LET'S HAVE A FEAST!" She yelled, grabbing Gale by his hand and pulling him out of the room. Shadowheart followed after giggling as she watched Gale be dragged away.

Astarion got up from his spot on the couch making his way towards were the others ran off too, stopping in the doorway to look back at the other. "Are you coming?"

She couldn't explain it but somehow this situation felt normal to her and it wasn't like it was going to pass up the opportunity for a free meal.

~

Prinxe sat at the large dinner table with everyone else, enjoying the very delicious meal Gale and Karlach had prepared. They all were all reminiscing about the past, drinking and laughing it felt nice.

She almost choked on her food when they started talking about the Elder Brain.

"W-Wait you all were at the battle of the Elder Brain." She said, all of them nodded and Karlach added onto it.

"We weren't just there Solider, you were too." She said, shoving a couple potatoes in her mouth. "You were a monster in battle."

Everyone nodded in argument adding onto to it. "You even had some impressive spells that I taught you." Gale added, taking a sip of his wine.

"But how is that possible? I mean why don't I remember any of it?" She asked, all of them seeming to be as confused as she was. She remembered Astarion and had vague moments of dreams of battles but she always played it off on her active imagination .

Gale took another sip of his wine before speaking. "I am not sure, but I'm certain I have more than enough books on reincarnation that would help us understand."

Prinxe pushed her food around for a moment, could she really be a reincarnation and how was she able to remember only small part of her past. Suddenly the thought hit her. "Wait if your all still alive then how did I die?" She asked, everyone immediately getting quiet and tense.

The once happy and warm aura was now replaced with sadness and awkwardness. Everyone looked from one another then over to Astarion who was currently gripping his goblet with all the strength he had. He was angry. Without saying a word, chugged the wine and immediately got up. "It seems we ran out of wine, I'll go fetch some more." With that, he made his way out of the room.

"Did I say something wrong?...." She asked, looking at the others who seemed still unsure what to say.

Shadowheart cleared her throat deciding to be the one to finally speak. "You didn't do anything wrong....your death or well her death is a very hard topic for him." She looked over at Gale seeming like she was asking for approval before speaking again.

"You were all of our friends but for Astarion you were his lover." Prinxe seemed to suspect this already. Her dreams sometimes were very intimate and now knowing they were her old memories it began to make sense.

Shadowheart spoke again, "I think it's best if he is the one to tell you about your death." Prinxe nodded, it was clear that however she died in the past effect him and only he would be the one to tell her.

"I'm going to go check on him." The other's didn't stop her but just nodded in agreement watching as she walked out of the dinning room.

She had absolutely no idea where he could be in the large home but she wasn't going to stop until she found him. She decided to check upstairs, faintly remembering the area from earlier and following it back to the room she had been in before.

She peaked inside to see one of the curtains had been opened to reveal double sided glass doors which seemed to lead out to a balcony. Making her way over to the area, she found Astarion leaning against the metal railing of the balcony taking in the underdarks beauty.

"Seems you had no problem finding me~?" He teased, giving her a playful smirk as he turned his attention to her.

It was like his mood switched completely.

"I mean, you did say you were looking for me your whole life so couldn't have you run away from me." She teased back, watching as his grin grew.

She moved over to him, leaning against the railing as well. She had never been to the Underdark but it was strangely beautiful. It also appeared a few people were out on a stroll.

"I'm assuming the others told you." Her eyes moved away from the people down below and over to him. He was eyeing her every moment.

"No, but they did tell me that I was your lover." His expression had a hint of amusement in it. She was unsure if it was from them not telling her or them telling her they were lovers.

Without saying a word, he moved over to her, gently grabbing her face and leaning down towards to her. "We were certainly the best of lovers~"

Her body immediately reacted to his words as if it had remembered every moment they had together, making her want nothing more then to close the space between them and feel his lips against hers.

"Astarion!" Gale's voice broke the moment causing Astarion to let out an annoyed sigh before moving away from her and back inside to see what the other wanted.

Prinxe took a moment to gather themselves not wanting anyone to see her flustered appearance. Feeling confident that she had calmed down, she made her way inside as well, meeting Gale and Astarion in the hallway.

"Shadowheart and Karlach have already left, so I'm going back home to study up on some books and we can figure out how to jog Prinxe's memories fully" Gale said, Astarion nodded watching as Prinxe joined in.

"And don't worry, we made sure to clean up the kitchen." He gave Astarion a wink, before grabbing Prinxe's hands. "We will figure this out, don't you worry!"

With that, Gale and Tara disappeared through a portal leaving the two alone again.

"Well.....I should be heading home now." Though she had zero idea on how to get back to Baldurs Gate from the Underdark, she did need to get sleep soon and also shower.

"You could always spend the night if you want." He replied, leaning against the frame of the bedroom they had previously been in and tilting his head to it. "This is an extra room that you could use and don't worry I won't try to make any moves~" Though it was a joke, she could tell there was a hint of seriousness in it. Regardless of their past, it was clear he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"I would but I don't have any clothes to wear." Hearing this, he motioned her to follow him, which she did. Watching as he pulled out some clothing from the chest that sat in front of the bed and plopping them on the bed. "These should be your size and there is a bathroom connected to this room."

Part of her wanted to go home but a bigger part of her didn't want to leave his side just yet. Even though she was more confused than she had ever been about her dreams, there was still a lot she finally knew about them and maybe being near him would help more.

"Where will you be sleeping?" She asked, causing him to eye her with curiosity.

"I will just be right down the hall...but if you prefer to join me I wouldn't mind~" His voice had that tone to it again which made her stomach flutter. "I just wanted to know where you would be.."

He just smiled taking in her flustered response, moving towards the door to give her some privacy. "Well if you need me just call my name and I'll be here." Her eyes watched as he closed the door behind himself leaving her by herself.

~

It had been at least and hour since Astarion left her to prepare for bed and she had taken full advantage of the bathroom. The bathroom had some older features but it had been fully upgraded with most modern faerun technology. A full bathtub with an attached shower head and was filled with almost everything she needed to wash herself. She was a bit surprised to find such a pleasant smelling body wash in the shower but took full use of it. It had a slight floral smell of roses and night orchard to it which made her smell amazing.

Once she was freshly showered, she pick up the clothing from the bed and give it a good look over. A black silk nightgown that stopped at her thighs. It was nothing fancy but would keep her comfortable while she slept for the night.

She slid the nightgown on, placing her old folded clothing on a nearby chair that sit in the corner of the room and made her way back to the bed.

She set her phone down on the nightstand, making sure to turn if off to save whatever battery was left and trying her best to fall asleep.

~

The forest was cloaked in a heavy blanket of the night, the trees becoming inky silhouettes against the star-dusted sky. The only sounds that could be heard was the crushing of leaves as she made her way into the forest knowing someone was waiting for her.

Astarion moved from behind one of the many tall trees, the moonlight dancing across his naked chest as he moved towards her. “There you are. I’ve been waiting”

“Waiting since the moment I set eyes on you” Every word that came out of his mouth drew her in and the way he knew exactly which words to linger on made her want to melt. "Waiting to have you” The familiar warm feeling of arousal was beginning to form in her lower abdomen as he moved closer to her.

“You don’t have me yet~” She teased, her eyes taking in every detail of his toned torso not realising how much of it had been hidden by armor. He hadn’t even touched her yet and she was ready to be his.

“Oh don’t I? You are here. And I don’t think you want to talk.” His hand slowly danced up her arm, cupping her chin with his fingers so he could fully gaze into her eyes and taken in every detail of her flushed face.

“I think you want to be known. To be tasted~?” He moved his free hand to her mouth, still cupping her face as he ran his thumb against it as if asking for permission which she happily gave. Parting her lips allowing his thump to gently press against her tongue making her whimper.

Hearing her soft whimpering only made his grin grow. The wetness between her legs grew, aching to be touched and needing nothing more than him in her. "Say please~" His thumb moved out of her mouth waiting for her to do as she was told.

"Please..." Happy with her response, his hand moved to the back of her dress, undoing it with ease and quickness allowing it to fall to the ground, exposing her and all of her bareness.

She was never embarrassed about being naked but the way he stared at her with hunger and want made her feel more exposed than she ever had.

Taking it as her turn, she closed the space between them and pulled him into a kiss. His tongue happily making its way insider her mouth and the faint taste of wine still linger on his tongue. Her hands ran down his chest taking in every detail of his torso as she made her way to the top of his pants, eagerly undoing them and allowing them to meet her dress in the grass.

Without a word, he picked her up his arms, pushing her against a tree, not breaking the kiss even for a second. She could feel his hardness against her opening and she couldn't help but move her hips in a teasing manner, gaining the sweetest but most breathless groan from the other. She was so close to having him and she wanted nothing more than to be a mess for him.

As if like clockwork, she immediately woke up before her dream and was now sitting wide awake with the intense feeling of arousal. Her eyes moved over to her phone, turning it on to see that she had only slept for two hours.

For a moment, she just laid there trying to think of anything except Astarion and the almost sex dream. But she couldn't. Her mind lingered on the way he touched her, his words and how badly she wanted him inside her.

Realizing she wasn't going back to bed anytime soon and needing to get her mind of the aching wetness that was between her legs, she decided to get water and her sketchpad.

Once in the hallway, her eyes couldn't help but wonder down the hall where Astarion said he'd be. The dream played in her head again and she had to fight herself on walking right into his room to continue where it left off.

Her body was craving him but she couldn't allow herself to sleep with him the same day she met him. Instead, she made her way downstairs to fetch her notepad.

Though, she hadn't excepted to see the white haired elf she had been dreaming off sitting right there in the velvet loveseat they had been sitting at earlier, patching up a pair of pants. She immediately moved to go back up the stairs but it was as if he knew she was there, and met her gaze.

"Trouble sleeping?" He asked, moving his attention back to the pair of pants that sat in his lap, moving the sewing needle in and out of the fabric, slowly mending the tear that was on the knee.

It was like her body had a mind of its own, moving over to the other with quickness. "I just had another dream that's all...." She paused for a moment, standing right in front of him and eyeing him with temptation. He still wore his white cream colored shirt and black pants but it seemed like he opened his shirt opening a bit more to relax.

He looked up from the pants in his hand, eyeing her bare thighs for a moment before moving his way to her obviously red cheeks. "Oh what was it about?" His interest now fully on her.

Just being near him now made her unable to think straight, and her body seemed compelled to move on its own. Without saying a word, she got to her knees, kneeling right in front of him and staring at him as if waiting for him to say something.

His crimson eyes watched her every movement, placing the pair of pants onto the sidetable and leaning back to fully take in the blue haired beauty that kneeled in front of him. "

"I've been waiting. Waiting since the moment I sat eyes on you. Waiting to have you" Each word came out of her mouth like honey, sweet and enticing just like he had said to her.

For the first time ever, Astarion was speechless. His own words had been used against him and coming from her just made them even more seductive. "So you had that dream~?" Gaining an embarrassed nod from her.

A smirk spread across his face as he pointed to her and then to his lap not needing to say anything. She understood, getting up from her spot on the ground and moving to straddle him.

She felt like her heart was going to explode from how hard it was beating. Never had she done anything like this or been under someone's power like his.

His cold hands moved up her thighs, dancing at the edge of the nightgown she wore watching as she shuddered under his touch. "Tell me what you want~"

"I want you to touch me." Her voice came out breathless as she spoke wanting nothing more than his hands to move further up her legs and to the spot that ached for him.

Doing as she asked, his hands moved under her nightgown giving her thighs a light squeeze before moving to her surprisingly bare butt. "No underwear it seems~?" He teased, lifting her up with one of his hands while the other reached underneath her. "And it seems your already wet for me too~"

A small moan could be heard from her, feeling his fingers tease her clit only making the need for him grow. "A-Astarion...please don't tease me." She said in-between breathless whimpering, gaining a very pleased look from him. "Of course, darling. I wouldn't want to keep you waiting."

With that, he moved his fingers inside her seeming to remember exactly how she liked to be played with and gods did she look beautiful as moaned out for him. Her hands gripped his shoulders, using them as leverage to push herself down onto his fingers meeting his movements with ease.

Though he loved watching her mouth move in pleasure, he needed them against his, leaning up and pulling her into a deep lustful kiss, which she happily returned.

Not wanting to be the only one feeling the pleasure she was, she moved one of her hands from his shoulders and towards his lap. Running her fingers over the bulge that seemed to be fighting for release from its confinements making him groan in response. She gently gripped his cock through his pants, rubbing it as they kissed enjoying the sounds he was making just as much as he was enjoying hers.

Slowly but surely, she managed to get his pants undone, taking his cock in her hand and gently stroking it as they kissed. His fingers moving quicker in response to her stroking making her legs shake as she tried her best to keep herself propped up in this lap. She could feel herself close to climaxing.

Suddenly without reason, Astarion pulled away from the kiss, removing his fingers from inside her and pulling her to sit in his lap. "We should stop." He said trying his best to steady his breathing as he spoke moving her hand away from his cock.

Prinxe's chest tightened as she stared at the other confused. "D-Did I do something wrong?"

He ran his fingers through his hair trying to figure out what to say. "You didn't do anything...." He paused, trying his best to calm his arousal. "It's just I don't think I can stop if we continue and I don't want you to do anything you don't want too." His voice was full of seriousness as he spoke. It was very clear that he wanted her but didn't want her to push herself.

"I want you, Astarion and that's something I have known for as long as I could remember." This was true. Every dream she had of him made her feel complete and every time he disappeared this emptiness filled her. "Every dream you've came to me and in every dream I have known that I want you."

"Are you sure?" He asked, pulling her closer to him. "I have spent centuries looking for you and though I want nothing more than to have you under me, I can wait." He stroked her cheek with his fingers.

"I'm sure." She placed a hand on his chest, propping herself up again but this time moving to meet his cock, allowing the tip of it to meet her and showing him how needy she was for him.

A low groan came from him feeling how wet she was and he wanted nothing more than to thrust deep into her. “How about we move upstairs~? She eagerly nodded, moving to get up from his lap but he swooped her up in this arms “I could feel how shaky your legs were so why don’t I carry you~”

It didn’t take him long to make his way upstairs, gently placing her on the edge of the bed so her legs could hang off. “I think you want to be tasted~” All she could do was nod, unable to form a proper sentence hearing those familiar words from him

He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, gently pushing her thighs open for him and beginning to tease her again with his fingers. Taking in every little detail of her face as she moaned out in pleasure for him, not wanting to miss one moment of how she reacted. "Why must you tease me..." She whimpered, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"I can't help it darling. It's been too long and I want to enjoy every second of you~" He pushed her nightgown up, fully exposing her to him and he couldn't help but lick his lips at the site before him.

No one could compare to her. She was a goddess and the way she melted under his touch was enough to make any man weak. Not wanting to wait any longer, he got to his knees, placing kisses up her legs until he met her clit. "I promise you'll have all of me after I get my taste of you~"

He leaned forward fully, his tongue dancing across her clit making sure to taste every bit of her and gods did she taste delicious. Her hands instantly found their way to his white locks, gripping them as she pushed herself down onto his tongue. "A-Astarion..."

Hearing his name from her mouth only made him more hungry for her, pushing his fingers back into her again making sure to please her the way she always liked.

Prinxe's face was hot, covered in a deep shade of red as she felt his tongue move in and out of her, and the way he worked his fingers inside her at the same time had her closer and closer to reaching her climax. But she didn't want to finish this way. She wanted him inside her.

She gently pushed the other's head away, watching as his face was no longer hidden by her thighs. His cheeks had a red hue to them as well and if it was possible, his red eyes glowed instantly as he stared at her licking up every drop of her from his lips. "Yes, Darling~?

"I want you." Her voice came out in a soft whimper, his gaze only making her more flustered as she moved herself further back onto the bed and motioning him with her finger to come to her.

He stood up, removing his shirt and tossing it on the ground, doing the same with his pants before moving onto the bed. "I want to hear you say it"

"I want you to fuck me" As soon as those words left her mouth, he was onto her, gripping her leg and using them to pull her closer to him. "I'd love nothing more~" He pushed her legs apart, moving on top of her to meet her lips and placing a soft kiss as he pushed inside her doing his best to take it slow.

Her legs instinctively moved to wrap around his hips, pulling him deeper into her making both of them moan out in unison. She wanted him to make her body his and moved her hips signaling him to begin thrusting.

His groans grew louder as he followed her pace, sensing she wanted him to go quicker and doing just that. His lips moved against hers as he continued to thrust into her enjoying every little moan that escaped her lips in-between their kissing wanting to hear it more and more.

Her hands gripped his back feeling the groves and bumps of scars on it making her a bit curious. She had never seen his back in her dreams but decided it would be a later thing to ask about not wanting to ruin the moment they were in.

Each thrust was sending her closer and closer to the edge, wanting nothing more than to reach it. "A-Astarion...." His name came out so naturally as if it was designed to be said by her and he loved hearing her moan it. His thrusts becoming quicker and harder, making it clear he was also close to climaxing.

Everything in him was doing his best not to finish inside her but her legs and moaning were making it almost impossible. He could feel himself throbbing deep inside her and he was close.

He slowed his thrusting, using his hands to hold himself up as he stared down at her flushed face "Darling, if you keep her legs like this I will end up filling you..." His voice was breathless as he spoke almost finishing right there from how enticing she looked.

She wiggled her hips causing a few small whimpers come from him. "Then do it."

His aura changed immediately turning almost animalistic as he leaned down to give her a rough but passionate kiss. "As you wish."

Without warning, he picked up his pace from before, his hands gripping the sheets under them as he groaned out feeling her tighten against him.

Her screams of pleasure filled the room as she threw her head back finally reaching her much needed climax. She had sex countless times before but the waves of pleasure that were coming over her body were nothing like she had ever experienced. It was addicting and it had her wanting it more.

Even though his face was buried into her neck, she could hear every groan that escaped his lips from feeling her finish driving him to the edge as well. His pushed harder into her, the warm feeling of his cum filling her up and making her whimper.

For a moment, the two stayed in the position both completely satisfied and drained at the same time. Not wanting to part from the closeness they had just experienced.

Slowly he removed himself from her, taking one last look of her blissful appearance. "Gods your beautiful." He leaned down placing a kiss on her cheek before laying beside her and she took the opportunity to snuggle into him.

Both falling asleep in seconds.

Ahh sorry for the super long chapter but enjoy! Will hopefully be posting more soon :)

[jadeshifting]

Hi Jade.

This may be a little random but do you have 2 DRself's you think would be best friend of they met? Or 2 you think would hate each other?

(Also can i claim the 🦊anon?)

i totally get this and i would like to DISCLAIM—all versions of me are me and all versions of you are you, so basically discussing this is not meant to alienate myself or anyone else further from their DRselves. say we just hypothetically scripted a reality where we’re meeting one or two of our DRselves as separate people so we could compare !! i got a little carried away cause it's so fun to think about me meeting myself over and over and over again ( self love guys )

so i've got four main fame DRs ( they're all different i swear. ) i don't think me in my NYC MODEL DR and me in my 2006 FAME DR would get along, because i'm messy asf and the center of attention in both of those DRs, so if i existed as both celebrities in the same reality i think i’d be beefing and trying to one-up myself.

but on the other hand, i think me in my ACTRESS DR and me in my POPSTAR DR would get along fine, because i'm a lot more level headed and focused on my craft in those DRs, and there wouldn't be any competition or career clash because i do acting in one and music in another

i think me in my HOGWARTS DR would get along with me in my SIX OF CROWS DR really well because i'm kinda overpowered in an annoying way in both of those realities, the kind of overpowered that sticks me with a lot of responsibility and expectations. i feel like the oldest daughter syndrome would bond us. me and me would be sitting sharing a bottle and lamenting all the pressure that's always on us

i also think me in my SUPERNATURAL DR and me in my THE BOYS DR would get along. i'm perceived as a total freak who gets kept around because i'm wayyyyy way too useful to get rid of, and the people around me eventually warm up to me cause i grow on them ( like mold. ) i have kinda strange hobbies and i think i could bond with myself over like collecting weird things and liking dead stuff

me in my CLUELESS DR and me in my SMALLVILLE DR have toooooo much in common not to get along. southern, gigantic hair, getting underestimated even tho i'm really smart. i'm a media fanatic in both of those realities ( and this one ) and super fixated on film or print media or something similar. i also have a really nice friendly unproblematic all-American boyfriend in both of those realities so i could giggle with myself about how nice my boyfriends are to me YIPPEE

as for who wouldn't get along i have to wrack my brain for that a little bit cause me is me at the end of the day, but then again, if i met a clone of myself in this reality i'm smacking tf out of her forsure. the most obvious thing it could come from is lifestyle differences. me in my BOARDING SCHOOL DR might give me in my WALKING DEAD DR a crazy look for being covered in dirt all the time, and me in my BRIDGERTON DR might be totally scandalized by me in my KARDASHIAN DR because those are just totally different time periods !!

thanks for the msg !! this was rlly fun to explore :^)

[oscargender]

Fucking can't believe I check tumblr at random one day after completely revamping my follow list and blog, and I discover someone who not only loves the Rose of Versailles, but is currently reading Golden Witchbreed. I was familiar with the author from reading one of her novels a couple of years back and enjoying it, picked GW up from an antique store at the start of this year, read it over the course of a few weeks then stayed up until 2am to finish it. Promptly bought the sequel and spent every spare moment over the next two days reading it. I'm fascinated by the worldbuilding and culture, and I love most of the characters. No spoilers because I don't know how far through you are, but for me the friendship between Christie and Ruric is the heart of the story. Am looking forward to seeing what you think of the rest of the book, and the sequel! (btw sequel is available on kindle- it's called ancient light.) Also I agree with most of your thoughts on the RoV movie, but that's for a separate ask.

OH MY GOD???? I think we’re destined to be friends forever (we would find each other in any timeline, etc etc) because what are the odds?? I picked up Golden Witchbreed at a used bookstore on a complete random whim—the author’s name caught my eye because the username I use for most sites has the word “gently” in it lmao, and then the reviews comparing it to TLHoD convinced me to get it. I finished it literally yesterday (another sign of our intertwined fates IMO 😂) and I am 100% going to track down the sequel ASAP.

Overall, I thought it was fine! Not my favorite book I’ve ever read, but I liked it enough to finish it and still feel interested in the sequel. There were parts of it that I really enjoyed (Ruric and Christie’s relationship, as you mentioned), and I immediately become obsessed with any older piece of scifantasy that fucks with gender and/or sexuality (which I imagine is at least partly why we’re both #RoVPilled and also fascinated by Golden Witchbreed). I also kind of love Christie as a character??? She’s hauntingly relatable to me. The way that she navigates social situations and got obsessed with Ruric right away… all I’m going to say is that if I were 14 when I read this book, I would be kinning the fuck out of Christie. I haven’t connected so deeply with a character in a really, really long time.

On the other hand, I didn’t like how many characters there were to keep track of (even with a character guide, I still didn’t have a great sense for the side characters’ personalities by the end, and I was constantly forgetting that Dalzielle/Suthafiori/the Crown were the same person 😭), and I thought it was CRAZY how fast the narrative moved on after giving all of her memories to the Hexenmeister???? The intimacy of that as a concept is staggering to me, and I think it’s wild that Christie just picks up, moves on, and is able to live her life without constantly ruminating on the connection she has with him (and every single Hexenmiester that will follow him until their line goes extinct). I feel like there’s more more for me to unpack/understand about the book’s themes wrt memory and ancestral continuity, since those are things I didn’t really pay much attention to this time around—I was too focused on all the gender going on 😂 I think I’ll probably end up rereading it at some point now that I have most of the characters straightened out in my head so I can pay more attention to everything else going on.

I’m still absolutely GOBSMACKED that you found my blog lmao. We’re probably the only two people on tumblr who have read/watched both RoV and Golden Witchbreed, and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration (unless someone else wants to sound off in the notes of this post??). I will 100% hit you up when I finish Ancient Light, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the series as well!! I never thought I’d get to discuss this book with someone 🥺 let alone someone who shares the RoV mind virus????

[aspd-culture]

aspd culture is : goes into the aspd tag. seems someone claiming house md, (guy whos dxd aspd in the show im pretty sure lol) is actually hyperempathic instead of lacking it and avoids patients due to too much empathy. like ok just avoid the whole boundary pushing / whatever else ok. alright thats enough of that *turns off internet* ive had enough of prosocials damn why do they think the only aspd symptom ever is lack of empathy. god

The amount of people who take *any* ASPD rep - including but not limited to House, this was also EXTREMELY common with Wednesday Addams, who is also diagnosed with ASPD in the show Wednesday - and call it "hyperempathetic autism" is... disgusting honestly. I'm autistic too and I get the desire to have representation from non-infantalized characters, I do, but the erasure of ASPD from the very few sources who intentionally make ASPD representation is not how we handle that.

And, as you mentioned, many people intentionally overlook, ignore, or try to explain away any "bad" behavior (see also: ASPD symptoms) because it pushes against their point.

People are just... so desperate to not admit that anyone they like had ASPD that they will directly ignore and speak over the media's direct acknowledgement of ASPD just so they can see us as monsters and still have permission to like that character.

PSA to prosocials, especially those with no other experience with cluster b treatment:

When the therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist says the character "has antisocial traits" or "is antisocial", that's not a descriptor, nor does it mean they don't like people/avoid interaction with people. That's a medical professional using a different model of discussing a diagnosis with the patient by rephrasing it without the disorder attached. This is super common with ASPD because many pwASPD who are forced into treatment - like House and Wednesday - are resistant to admitting something is "wrong with them", so the professional will use the inital descriptor instead of the entire disorder name. In this case it's "antisocial" with the words personality disorder removed. It's also common to see in media happening for people with BPD, with the character being referred to as "having borderline traits" or "being borderline".

If the professional was referring to them or their traits as "asocial", then it would mean what you guys think it does - they avoid interaction, have a general dislike of socializing/social situations, and generally self-isolate. Antisocial and asocial are not the same, and while you can argue that anyone else in a show calling someone antisocial won't know the difference, their mental health professionals do. Evidently, House and the rest of the cast are also very aware in-canon of mental health, going by the DID episode which was done amazingly well imo. If House knows about Dissociative Identity Disorder, I assure you ASPD is not off of his radar. ASPD is significantly more prevalent than DID, with up to 4% of the US population having ASPD compared to 1% of the population having DID. While there is issues with under-diagnosis, those issues are the case with both disorders, so it's likely that the difference made by that would at most only slightly close the gap between the two. House also researches things purely based on the existence of stigma and/or lack of public knowledge on the subject, and frequently attempts to find out why he thinks and acts the way he does behind the scenes. If you google his symptoms, ASPD would be at least one of the things that comes up. So again, he is not misusing antisocial.

In fact, no one on House, MD would say antisocial where they meant asocial, as they are versed in psychology as a part of dealing with complex cases that have failed repeatedly to be diagnosed. That is shown constantly throughout the show. If you chose 3 episodes at random, I'm willing to bet at least one would show their experience in psychology as one of the team pushes the "it's just mental illness" angle.

All of this is to say that fuck prosocials endless refusal to actually acknowledge ASPD, both in likeable and notably unlikable characters!! Many of them HATE House, yet still can't admit he has ASPD. It's giving ableist, because it is ableist.

Plain text below the cut:

The amount of people who take *any* ASPD rep - including but not limited to House, this was also EXTREMELY common with Wednesday Addams, who is also diagnosed with ASPD in the show Wednesday - and call it "hyperempathetic autism" is... disgusting honestly. I'm autistic too and I get the desire to have representation from non-infantalized characters, I do, but the erasure of ASPD from the very few sources who intentionally make ASPD representation is not how we handle that.

And, as you mentioned, many people intentionally overlook, ignore, or try to explain away any "bad" behavior (see also: ASPD symptoms) because it pushes against their point.

People are just... so desperate to not admit that anyone they like had ASPD that they will directly ignore and speak over the media's direct acknowledgement of ASPD just so they can see us as monsters and still have permission to like that character.

PSA to prosocials, especially those with no other experience with cluster b treatment:

When the therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist says the character "has antisocial traits" or "is antisocial", that's not a descriptor, nor does it mean they don't like people/avoid interaction with people. That's a medical professional using a different model of discussing a diagnosis with the patient by rephrasing it without the disorder attached. This is super common with ASPD because many pwASPD who are forced into treatment - like House and Wednesday - are resistant to admitting something is "wrong with them", so the professional will use the inital descriptor instead of the entire disorder name. In this case it's "antisocial" with the words personality disorder removed. It's also common to see in media happening for people with BPD, with the character being referred to as "having borderline traits" or "being borderline".

If the professional was referring to them or their traits as "asocial", then it would mean what you guys think it does - they avoid interaction, have a general dislike of socializing/social situations, and generally self-isolate. Antisocial and asocial are not the same, and while you can argue that anyone else in a show calling someone antisocial won't know the difference, their mental health professionals do. Evidently, House and the rest of the cast are also very aware in-canon of mental health, going by the DID episode which was done amazingly well imo. If House knows about Dissociative Identity Disorder, I assure you ASPD is not off of his radar. ASPD is significantly more prevalent than DID, with up to 4% of the US population having ASPD compared to 1% of the population having DID. While there is issues with under-diagnosis, those issues are the case with both disorders, so it's likely that the difference made by that would at most only slightly close the gap between the two. House also researches things purely based on the existence of stigma and/or lack of public knowledge on the subject, and frequently attempts to find out why he thinks and acts the way he does behind the scenes. If you google his symptoms, ASPD would be at least one of the things that comes up. So again, he is not misusing antisocial.

In fact, no one on House, MD would say antisocial where they meant asocial, as they are versed in psychology as a part of dealing with complex cases that have failed repeatedly to be diagnosed. That is shown constantly throughout the show. If you chose 3 episodes at random, I'm willing to bet at least one would show their experience in psychology as one of the team pushes the "it's just mental illness" angle.

All of this is to say that fuck prosocials endless refusal to actually acknowledge ASPD, both in likeable and notably unlikable characters!! Many of them HATE House, yet still can't admit he has ASPD. It's giving ableist, because it is ableist.

[snickerdoodlles]

>:/ the frustrating thing about the double ep.40 isn't that Wen Ji and Lu Ji were killed off, the frustrating thing is that they were killed off due to bad writing.

ep.40 was just...weird. very, very weirdly written. the show's writing is a little rough in places, but overall it comes together in a very enjoyable way. but ep.40 is a complete mess. they absolutely blitz through the end of the coup in an anti-climatic way, then blitz through the aftermath even faster with several summaries and "oh, and this happened too."

then they realized they still had 40 minutes of episode left and instead of expanding or reworking any of that, they instead have Xiao Heng go off to war. which is totally fine, I like that narrative choice actually, but they had to simultaneously drag it out and blitz through it in 30 minutes because it's the last episode but they ended their actual story too quickly. so the show ends on 30 minutes of switching between him just fighting random battles and Xue Fengfei just...sitting. and waiting. and doing some more of that. and doing some more of that again. which is a complete reversal of what these two have been doing in the other 39 episodes and misses everything that drew us into this story in the first place, namely how clever they are and how much fun they have scheming together. and to keep the narrative from loosing steam or audience attention entirely, they still have to answer a question with those 30 minutes. and since Xiao Heng has to return home from war--the narrative can't allow anything else--they instead ask, "will he return home by when he promised?" and that's why Lu Ji and Wen Ji had to die, because there's no other way to establish those stakes in simultaneously the shortest and longest war narrative ever.

it's just. frustrating. >:/ the writers had ignored SO MUCH of the coup. they gave Xue Fengfei such a satisfying ending with Shen Yurong but with Xiao Heng's mountain of issues, he swung a sword and it just...ended. and we at least had that ending for her, but it's not like the episode was short on time, they could've reworked his final confrontation with Prince Cheng into something with comparable if not equal narrative weight. not to mention how much of the coup aftermath was ignored too! there's a ton of cleanup to be done and Xiao Heng is the only one the emperor can trust to go North-- there's so much promise in that premise for a finale wrap-up! they'd mentioned repeatedly before how Xue Fengfei could've been a force to be reckoned with in the official courts if she were a man during the emperor's court arc-- even if the narrative didn't want to tackle her defying law and tradition by becoming an official, they still could've shown her taking over Xiao Heng's information network or. idk, playing Go with the emperor as cover for him discussing issues with her or something. or a million others things they skipped right over.

I'm just. ugh, so annoyed that a show I really enjoyed spent the final 30min of it showing its very fun characters in the most boring way possible >:(

[alpaca-clouds]

So, the State of the Digimon Adventure canon...

So, I have a question for y'all. What the fuck is the current state of the canon of Digimon Adventure/02? I think this is a bit confusing ever since 2015 and the release of Digimon Adventure tri.

Until then it was fairly clear. Like, sure, we can discuss (as I did last week) whether movies 3 and 4 are canon or not, though in general it does not change a whole lot of about the canon, right? All in all: Yeah, the two adventures happened, and then there is the epilogue.

Now, I will openly admit. I am among the first people to criticize that epilogue. (Can you believe that this epilogue is happening in just three years? It is 2027. WTF. I am so old!) I hate that epilogue. I hate most of the jobs chosen for the kids (both for the sexism in the choices, and also in "everyone needs to be super successful - except the one stay at home mom"). I hate that everyone has kids. I hate that the kids look mostly like clones of their parents. And I don't think the "every person on the world has a digimon partner" is a good idea. However, I generally liked the idea of "more people have Digimon partners", and the "the Digimon stay with their humans" stuff.

Then of course came Digimon Adventure tri., that already did change around some stuff about this established canon. Most notably by introducing Meiko, and also the "original chosen children". While the later obviously had been referenced in Adventure before, a lot of it does not quite make sense.

More than anything, tri. very much feels like a Fanfic. Both in the way Meiko is brought in (I mean, c'mon, we all have read fanfics with OCs that were like Meiko), but also in other ways. Like the fact that the Original Chosen Children had this very random collection of Digimon partners for the most part, which happened a lot in fanfics, because most folks just did not have the time and patience to design original Digimon. But seeing this in official media was kinda... disappointing. (Just give proper evolines to the Holy Beasts, for fuck's sake.) The entire stuff with the Reboot and everything does not really fit with the established canon, though technically speaking... Based on the End State of tri., there is also not a whole lot here, that does outright contradict the ending of 02. If anything the beginning of tri., that sees the Digimon separated from the kids, is the bigger issue here, really. And of course the fact that nobody fucking wastes a thought on the 02 kids, which just seems so OoC. But yeah. It is still very isolated and because of that... is not that big of an issue.

I have never made a secret of my distaste for tri. As I said, to me it is a rather bad fanfic that got made into a movie through some miraculous circumstance. It is frustrating, but... Yeah, it does not really go to change the end state of the canon.

Then however we have the two other movies. KIZUNA and THE BEGINNING. Now, compared with tri. I like those a whole lot more. I actually had a lot of fun watching them in the cinema, and I kinda do adore them.

But these movies very much change the pre-established canon.

KIZUNA does this by saying: "Yeah, actually, once you are an adult, you will have to say good-bye to your Digimon partner."

THE BEGINNING meanwhile contradicts the established canon through: "... You guys? I think every person getting a Digimon partner is actually a really bad idea, isn't it?" (And of course also by retconning pretty much everything that was prior established about the Homeostasis.)

The ironic thing about those movies is, that it is not even clear how they relate to each other in terms of canonicity. Is tri. canon to KIZUNA? Is KIZUNA canon to THE BEGINNING? It is very vague how those movies relate to one another.

And honestly... I am mostly very confused of how we are supposed to read those movies in relation to canon.

Mind you, Japanese fandom culture generally relates differently to canonicity than western culture. Western culture tends to focus a lot more on what is canon and what is not. Japanese fandom culture just does not seem to focus that much on it - though then again, I never much interacted with Japanese fanfiction writers, who were not also very active in western fandom circles.

I mean, to me personally: While I like the two theatrical movies quite a lot, I will always ignore them in terms of canon. Like, I am sorry. I had 15 years to come up with headcanons to fill out that time, so this questionable canon comes much too late.

I will however also remain steadfast in ignoring the epilogue, because... as I said, I personally hate it.

Still, I really do wonder, whether Toei has some opinion on what is canon and what is not. Or do they simply not mind either way?

We know there is gonna be something new in January next year. And a part of me fears that this will be yet another Digimon Adventure related project. *sighs* (Just give me a new anime.)

[dorianbrightmusic]

Dyspraxia Things I Haven't Seen Discussed Often Enough

n.b. i don't have orofacial dyspraxia or verbal dyspraxia, so this post certainly doesn't reflect those experiences, which are seldom discussed or understood. nor can i speak for all motor dyspraxics; as such, please read beyond this little post, as this is just a sample or generalisations based on my own experience

'dyspraxia is a disorder of coordination'; yes, and also so much more.

-your visualisation skills may or may not be good, but your spatialisation is comparatively weak. you may or may not be able to see the cube in your head, but rotating it? nope.

-the same room looks like two separate places depending on which way you're facing. you might know how to navigate in one orientation, since you've been there before, but flip it around, and it's a new, confusing place.

-getting lost in your own home town because of the whole spatial orientation thing? not fun. again, the same street is four different places in four different blueprints depending where you came from. one wrong turn, and you're on a whole new map entirely.

-'where am i in space'

-'what do you mean, my shoe's on the chair. i can't freaking feel my shoe on the chair. what do you mean—' *looks* 'ohhh'

-balance? who's she?

-dyspraxia doesn't always mean hypotonia, but they go together very, very often. whether due to low tone or just coordination stuff, we don't tend to have very useful muscles.

-you lean on desks, on tables. anything to help support your core

-hand-eye coordination means that your hands don't work unless you're looking

-your eyes also just. don't work. any object that moves fast immediately blurs, and any object that moves at any speed, however slow, too close to your face, is blurry. the ball stops being visible by the time it's close enough to catch. dyspraxia tends to go with weak muscles, and the little ciliary muscles in your eyes are not exempt from this. as such, not only do you not have the coordination to catch a ball, but you probably can't see it in time to catch it, either.

-muscle pain. so much muscle pain. since your muscles are working so hard to do the same things most people can do without thinking, they get tense. they have to overcompensate without getting any break, and as such, static loading happens fast. dyspraxia is having random shooting muscle pains and tenderness everywhere, and just being achey all the time.

-also. the muscle weakness, again, will not spare you a single minute. for those with vulvas, it takes ages to pee simply because your pelvic floor is not going to collaborate with your other bits down there, and all the other muscles down there are just a bit wimpy. ever feel like you've never quite got an empty bladder? yeah. again, your muscles aren't making it easy for you

-digestive issues, since muscle problems also don't spare your colon.

-if you can tie shoelaces and use cutlery, it probably took you a long time to learn how

-Doc Martens take you a tenth of an hour to do up

-you almost certainly have tried to overcompensate for your clumsiness, and almost certainly have tried to overcompensate for taking 10 minutes to get dressed, or for an incident where you felt ashamed of how you wielded a knife and fork. and these memories will never quite leave

-inevitably, a little bit of your dinner is going to escape to the table before it makes it all the way from your plate to your mouth

-someone has almost certainly made fun of you for these traits, and it wasn't comfortable

[evedaser]

JUST FINISHED YVAIN!!! i really liked that i really liked that i really liked that

kay sucks. again. hes barely in this at all but i was laughing out loud reading him getting told off, getting compared to a literal pile of shit

you know sometimes i get so busy enjoying the book i forget about the racism. and the sexism. sorry shall we go over the ugliest most terrible peasant who ever lived being the only dark skinned person i can remember in any of the five romances, and yvain relying on the flightiness of a woman’s mood in order to MARRY HER. TWO OR THREE DAYS AFTER KILLING HER HUSBAND.

this author is fucking in love with gawain, and you know what i am too

ah yes. deadlines. the bane of my yvain’s life.

not him going insane then getting fucking domesticated by some random guy in a hut

WHERE DID THE LION COME FROM???

ALSO THATS NOT HOW LIONS WORK????????? training a domesticated DOG takes longer than that

suicide prevention via conveniently timed maidens in towers crying out to be saved from their impending executions, 100% effective every time

the sequence of the giant was pretty good except for the fact that the battle had an ongoing food metaphor. chrétien i don’t care if you were late for lunch i never want you to describe blood as sauce ever again, or the amount of flesh flayed from the body as enough to grill. in fact nobody ever should do this unless you’re doing cannibalism

“So the two of them rode along talking until they approached the town of Dire Adventure*.” - oh, a footnote! it’ll probably be a note on the translation cause that’s a dumb ass town name - the footnote: “This long episode… has been widely discussed as an example of social realism, with Chrétien protesting exploitation in the local silk industry;” (it then goes on to explain medieval monetary divisions. what the fuck just happened.)

“thank you for saving my town! marry my daughter and have my land!” / “no, sorry, in a bit of a rush + i can’t marry your daughter” / “i'm not letting you leave until you marry her” / “no really i have to go” / “well fuck you then!”

yvain and gawain should kiss actually. they basically did anyway

that resolution… sucked. worst part of the whole thing, easily. she didn’t want to forgive him!!! wdym they lived happily after!?!?!?

overall i really quite enjoyed that, and it’s quite clear to me that chrétien refined his craft dramatically over time. erec and enide was ok, cligés was… fine. then lancelot, then yvain, then perceval, each were so fun and each better than the last.

overall, i enjoyed the five romances quite a lot!! the action sequences were awesome, and the longer battles especially stood out. the battle with the knight of the sparrow hawk, alexander’s battle with the traitor of london, and yvain’s fight to defend lunette from the pyre in particular stand out in my mind but that’s also cause i read those recently. his writing certainly has its uh… stylistic features like his inability to saw anything with any level of conciseness ever, or his over the top personification of metaphysical concepts and the like that goes on much longer than it has any right to. i’m so glad to have read them, but i am also so excited to move on. finally.

[gaemms-chamois]

random unorganized darknights trio + paprika musings bc sometimes i'm hit with like a pang of Brief Worry that i'm completely misinterpreted blabla that usually doesn't last too long bc i then go back to my state of I'm Just Vibing but ig at some point i just gotta let it out publicly once and be done with it lol

this is messily written Please Understand this isn't meant to be a grand thought piece

fuuuck ok well this is like very specifically abt the w, ines & paprika part now

like don't get me wrong on this. i joke abt wines moms and stuff but i dont genuinely mean it in the way of wahh wow littol family for reals kinda deal?

less on wines 'adopting' paprika, moreso paprika imprinting on them like a duckling after she was saved by them. paprika adopted them lmao. i cannot possibly interpret either w or ines as Maternal in such a way.

it's moreso that i think it's nice that this little sarkaz merc became part of the story, a girl who all her life since she was infected at a young age, was presented with becoming a mercenary being basically the only option for her.

and then, as annoying as w can be, being shown that she does have different options.

i just think it's sweet that paprika, judging by her voicelines, clearly looks up to w and ines. which is just amplified by the fact that w and ines are notoriously not the most popular people on rhodes lol. and she calls w annoying but still keeps knitting stuff and wanting to gift food to her. like if she often seeks out w and ines to tell them how well she did on something, when they are on the ship, etc. that'd at least indicate that those two humor her.

ALSO IT'S UNOFFICIAL BUT SHOUTOUT TO THAT LITTLE CHUZENJI ART WITH PAPRIKA AND W, INES & TOTTER WEARING KNITTED HATS SO CUTE

OKAY WOO DARKNIGHTS MERCENARY TRIO AND STUFF

cool yeah obviously i fucking love them. i'm not very good at words though and i tend to keep my more elaborate thoughts to just discussions between friends who know how i tick djsfhdfs

just the other day i was smiling to myself during a walk bc holy shit all three are actually playable now and that's not just wishful thinking anymore. anyway chapter 13 also happened and more stuff with the trio happened and Cool Lots of things Happening and my brain is full

they're so found family to me, like in an utterly unconventional way. i mean c'mon with how they act sometimes like- ykno. but like have y'all seen the new furniture set and descriptions that came with hoederer's release it made me go insanse.

but i think especially in ines' case it just kinda highlights that best. considering ines' arts can figure people out (putting that in rather vague terms), it truly means something when someone with her capabilities and temperament has people she chooses to stick by and actually trust. even if she pretends she doesn't by verbally denying it.

like waugh Okay they have a lot to unpack and shit but with them being reunited (take that, W file that said W needs companionship but her friends aren't around anymore) and having a COMPARATIVELY more ""relaxed"" life than before (that one Hoederer file where he just has rather regular days on rhodes), it's just nice to imagine they can finally have something better and figure stuff out. as complicated as the three of them are.

with that said i think it's a given that i despise a nuclear family treatment of the three (aka mom ines, dad hoederer, daughter w).

for one with me being highly doubtful w was a kid/teen at the start of darknights (young? sure, but not that young), which just seems like such a...widespread belief that i really do not get? arknights always put a LOT of emphasis on when a character's story was about them being a kid, 0 of that with w. like something about her expression and big cloak just gave people some different impression, even though she literally keeps looking the same aside from a change of clothes. only instance of w being called a kid during that time i can think of is that one boiler worker in her files but that seems way more like any typical old guy calling anyone on the younger side a kid. hell, even hoederer was called young in darknights, like in a sarkaz's lifespan i can believe that.

and also...hoederer had somewhat of a mentor-like role for w, but if anyone tries to tell me ines ever acted maternal towards w i will chew through your walls. read through darknights memoir and actually pay attention to ines, both w AND ines were pettyass women and they made that so very clear. cannot fathom how anyone can see ines as having been motherly towards w

seriously just feels like a case of Well there is man and there is woman....and this other character so clearly these are mom, dad and kid.

that's not even me being biased towards w/ines, just how i objectively see it. hell, i even ENJOY ines/hoederer, but my enjoyment of it is limited bc for some reason ppl like to make it weird by shoving w in as some daughter. i promise it's completely possible to like ines/hoederer without trying to fit in w as a kid figure

anyways yeah like cool i like these characters I Guess. Look at them