#they don't look their age - right?

[sunderwight]

Reverse transmigration bingqiu except instead of Bingge turning up in Shen Yuan's world, it's white lotus disciple Binghe who does.

Shen Yuan, currently in his last year of high school, finds him and thinks he's a troubled homeless kid who has latched onto a character from a web novel as an intense form of escapism. He's initially just going to hand him over to some authorities of some kind but the kid seems so lost and scared, instead he ends up deciding to personally use his family's connections to help him or at least find his actual family or something (of course, doesn't turn anything up).

Baby Binghe is brand new to Qing Jing peak in the timeline he left from, so he doesn't have any idea of cultivating. With his demon blood still locked, he's a normal kid. But he's smart! He figures out basic appliances and picks up other modern facilities pretty quickly, wins over SY's family, and eagerly decides to keep living with him when SY moves out for the first time. SY's almost feeling bad because he definitely got the better end of this deal. His family manages to enroll LBH in school and they get him a bunch of lessons on things he seems interested in, and even so this kid still finds time to do a better job cooking and cleaning than SY, whose schedule is less packed.

A couple years pass. SY is beginning to accept that this is a permanent situation. So is LBH, who is kind of sad that he won't be able to fulfill his mother's dream of him becoming a cultivator, but actually really likes living in the magic shiny future with Shen Yuan and wouldn't change it now even if he could. SY is looking at long-term things for organizing Luo Binghe's further education, travel, etc. He's come out of his shell, is more active in the world and with his family because he needs to make sure his young ward gets proper socialization! (SY's family think LBH is the best thing that ever happened to him, and don't point out that they're actually only a few years apart in age; except Shen Meimei, who is the same age as LBH.) Meanwhile Luo Binghe's life plan is veering towards "housewife" aspirations, but he's still too shy to mention that to the object of his crush. It's okay though, he's got time! He'll get older and then figure out how best to approach the situation! (And in the meanwhile run off anyone else who tries to date his future husband...)

Of course, that's when it turns out that the system sent him here as an emergency measure to get him out of the way while it resolved a major issue with the actual setting. When the issues are repaired, it yanks LBH back. He finds himself returned to the exact same moment he left, in the same physical state, the years he spent living with Shen Yuan seemingly erased.

Going back to Qing Jing Peak after all that is difficult. No, worse, it's almost completely intolerable. Luo Binghe has been treated right and had a good life and now it's just gone. He has no idea how to get back.

But, that's why he has to stay. Because if there is a way to get back, then his best shot at figuring it out is learning how to cultivate, and devouring every single book in Qing Jing Peak's library, and then every other sect's library if need be. It is possible to move between worlds! He knows, because he did it! He just needs to find the way to do it again, permanently. So he stays and he deals with Shen Qingqiu's cruelty and the bullying of his sect mates, but he doesn't hold out any hope for them to improve. Instead he tries his best to hold his own ground, uses things he learned from Shen Yuan's world to steal whatever advantages he can, and pushes his way through any obstacles or competition.

He hates Shen Qingqiu, though. Especially because he has the surname Shen. Shen Yuan's family was good to him, so it seems like a cruel joke of fate that his shizun is so dead set against him. Something that could have been a comfort is instead a bitter twist of the knife.

But then a couple of years into this, Shen Qingqiu... changes?

After suffering a qi deviation, he stops beating Luo Binghe at the slightest provocation. He stops beating any of his students, in fact. He gives Binghe medicine, actually starts teaching classes, rescues Luo Binghe from a malicious skin-stealing demon, takes the blow of an incurable poison to save him from another demon, even gives him the side room of his own house to stay in. The bullying ends and the atmosphere on Qing Jing Peak changes, like night and day. Somehow he goes from being Shen Qingqiu's most hated student to being his clear favorite, even doted on disciple.

Luo Binghe is not going to fall in love with this new reformed Shen Qingqiu, though. He isn't! His heart is not so fickle that he will just fall in love with anyone who is kind to him! His love for Shen Yuan, that was real. And Shen Yuan would tell him that even though Shen Qingqiu seems to have changed, Luo Binghe shouldn't just forget about the past, because what if Shen Qingqiu returns to that behavior? It might not happen, but if it does then Luo Binghe must react accordingly.

But it's difficult, sometimes. This new Shizun, he's... he's really... sometimes he seems just like...

But Luo Binghe won't fall in love with him!

No matter what, he won't stay. He has to figure out how to move between worlds, and get back to Shen Yuan. Who he REALLY loves. Not Shen Qingqiu. He is in love with Shen Yuan and he is not falling in love with Shen Qingqiu.

At all.

#svsss #bingqiu #scum villain's self saving system #long post #meanwhile shen yuan was not having a great time over binghe's disappearance either #and now he's died and transmigrated into shen qingqiu #and this new binghe is just like HIS binghe and maybe... maybe it is? #but the ages don't line up #his binghe was younger than this the first time sy met him and older than this the last time sy saw him #maybe it's just a really unlikely coincidence? #like how he and sqq share a lot of weird similarities? #the system won't let him say anything anyway but at least he has some time to look after this binghe #at least this one can't just be snatched away from him to some unknown fate either #...right?

[marypsue]

So if you follow me (and aren't just stopping by because you saw one of my funney viralposts), you probably know that I've been writing a bunch of fanfiction for Stranger Things, which is set in rural Indiana in the early- to mid-eighties. I've been working on an AU where (among other things) Robin, a character confirmed queer in canon, gets integrated into a friend group made up of a number of main characters. And I got a comment that has been following me around in the back of my mind for a while. Amidst fairly usual talk about the show and the AU and what happens next, the commenter asked, apparently in genuine confusion, "why wouldn't Robin just come out to the rest of the group yet? They would be okay with it."

I did kind of assume, for a second or two, that this was a classic case of somebody confusing what the character knows with what the author/audience knows. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like it embodies a real generational shift in thinking that I hadn't even managed to fully comprehend until this comment threw it into sharp perspective.

Because, my knee-jerk reaction was to reply to the comment, "She hasn't come out to these people she's only sort-of known for less than a year because it's rural Indiana. In the nineteen-eighties." and let that speak for itself. Because for me and my peers, that would speak for itself. That would be an easy and obvious leap of logic. Because I grew up in a world where you assumed, until proven otherwise, that the general society and everyone around you was homophobic. That it was unsafe to be known to be queer, and to deliberately out yourself required intention and forethought and courage, because you would get negative reactions and you had to be prepared for the fallout. Not from everybody! There were always exceptions! But they were exceptions. And this wasn't something you consciously decided, it wasn't an individual choice, it wasn't an individual response to trauma, it wasn't individual. It was everybody. It was baked in, and you didn't question it because it was so inherently, demonstrably obvious. It was Just The Way The World Is. Everybody can safely be assumed to be homophobic until proven otherwise.

And what this comment really clarified for me, but I've seen in a million tiny clashing assumptions and disconnects and confusions I've run into with The Kids These Days, is that a lot of them have grown up into a world that is...the opposite. There are a lot of queer kids out there who are assuming, by default, that everybody is not homophobic, until proven otherwise. And by and large, the world is not punishing them harshly for making that assumption, the way it once would have.

The whole entire world I knew changed, somehow, very slowly and then all at once. And yes, it does make me feel like a complete space alien just arrived to Earth some days. But also, it makes me feel very hopeful. This is what we wanted for ourselves when we were young and raw and angrily shoving ourselves in everyone's faces to dare them to prove themselves the exception, and this is what I want for The Kids These Days.

(But also please, please, Kids These Days, do try to remember that it has only been this way since extremely recently, and no it is not crazy or pathetic or irrational or whatever to still want to protect yourself and be choosy about who you share important parts of yourself with.)

#also Kids These Days please if nobody's told you: you can't send cheques through email #and if somebody sends you one through email They Are A Scammer and Yes They Are Scamming You #that's not related I just am constantly tearing my hair out about how many people of ALL AGES don't know that #something something something invoking the fuck word in the hopes it will keep this poast from search #i love how the internet has created Magic Words Of Power #unfortunately most of those words perform the action of 'summon jackass idiots to comment on your post' #i am paraphrasing the comment that was left on my AU fic because I am too lazy to go looking for it right now but #it was very similar to that wording #this is just a thing that has been rattling around in my brain and it was finally smoothed out and polished enough to come out

[elvyn]

Cursed by the Past

#solas #fen'harel #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #my computer screen #phone and tablet have completely different colors #so I don't know which are the right ones #I've been staring at every drawing for a hundred years because of it #looks good on a tablet #terrible on a computer #I'm going insane aghhhr #my art

[repressedqueen]

okay, our boy has impeccable taste in men....

#OOF #i don't know how anyone in their right mind would say Lou is ugly #he is simply older? #(and we all know buck has some valid daddy issues) #plus he looks great today as well #anyway Buck has great taste and i know he will be beautifully man handled by this big strong man #lou ferrigno jr #tommy kinard #buck x tommy #bucktommy #911 #911 abc #bi buck #edit/clarification: I NEVER WANTED TO EMPLY A 39 YEAR OLD MAN IS OLD. MIDDLE AGED MEN ARE NOT UGLY. #people (regardless of gender) can be hot at any age! #and Lou in particular is definitely hot at 39 as i am sure he will be at 49 and probably 59 etc

[mrs-gauche]

- “You weren’t wrong, though.” - “Thank you, Cole.”

#dragon age #dai gifs #solas #cole #heeey remember when I made gifs hohoho #very important banter right here <3 #sometimes I feel like my gif sets only work with the music I listened to while making them #which in this case was the soundtrack of unravel 2.. stray and blade runner 2049 lol #I'm pretty sure this set actually killed me 😀 #like I think I left my body at some point #capturing banter with the flycam is..... not easy #and I don't particularly mean the banter itself but more like how to position the characters in a way that looks good/cinematic #that shot of the Inquisitor took everything from me because I had to retry this so many times #because you have to push like ten different buttons simultaniously 😂💀 #seriously sometimes I feel like a friggin pianist while using the flycam lol #my gifs

[thebluelittlewitch2-thesequel]

Puberty hit her like a cannonball

#idk how to make aj look old #love wins! middle aged women in love #thought about giving twi fancier glasses but idk how to make glasses look fancy #mlp #my little pony #twilight sparkle #apple jack #applejack #i still don't know which one is right #twijack #blue's doodles

[explodingstarlight]

"who gave this child coffee?? WHO GAVE THIS CHILD COFFEE?!??" my reblogs cry

it was me, i'm not sorry >:)c

*taps microphone* yes, thank you for tuning in 😌✨ now go follow the creator of the Alpha Stage/de-aged!Donnie AU, @snailsnaps and consume their content (not literally /j)

#said with the most /lh of tone #but also no i will not repent 😌 #my extended family thought that giving coffee to my 6-year-old self was a good idea and now i can fight god /lh /j #look me in the eyes and tell me that you truly think you could keep a de-aged donnie away from coffee #im waiting 🤨 #all this to say tho- snailsnaps is the god of the de-aged donnie AU so only they can reveal his coffee consumption status #thank you for letting me play in this AU's sandbox :) #gremlin turtle tots with a sprinkle of angst hits just right #i just want to invite chaos is that such a crime guys??? 😩🖐️ /lh #oh! in case you don't have the brand: deathwish coffee is a brand of coffee with a very high caffeine content in the USA #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #turtle tot donnie #turtle tots #also works for de-aged donnie #i had him in mind while doodling #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt fanart #my art #explodingstar art #phone doodles #rise donnie #tmnt donatello #back on my #alphastage rise #BS /affectionate #de aged donnie

[brookheimer]

the one thing i feel pretty certain about for this episode is that america will not decide the election. a decision will be made, a president will be elected, but america will not be the deciding factor.

succession can’t mimic 2016 or 2020 point blank, that would be boring and have nothing to say. it can’t try to outdo trump because it’ll go too whacky and fall flat like veep’s last season (sorry conheads, no way he’s winning). but what it CAN do is illustrate the immensely corrupt, often arbitrary, and hugely influential nature of news media and conglomerations on political processes. i think probably jimenez will be in the lead, then atn/waystar does something to, i don’t know, discount votes or cast suspicion on jimenez or call the election for mencken early, and the tide will shift, even though the votes are already in. the votes don’t actually matter. the actual result doesn’t actually matter. that’s the power logan (and as an extension, billionaires and CEOs in general) hold. shiv says it herself to logan in s4e2: “just cause you say it’s true doesn’t make it true. everyone just fucking agrees with you and believes you, so it becomes true and then you can turn around and say like, 'oh, you see? see? i was right.'” but it doesn’t matter that logan’s “a human fucking gaslight,” everything he says comes true anyways. not because he was right, but because that’s how it works. he says things and then they happen, regardless of what the truth is or what should actually come to pass. that’s been one of the key throughlines since the very first episode of the entire show when, in response to kendall calling logan out of touch because times are changing and logan isn't changing with them, logan hisses that everyone always says you’re wrong until you do it and prove you were right: “you make your own reality.” you can't miss the bus if you're the one driving it. the election, the votes, the political process? none of that matters. it was always going to come down to the roys and their ilk (allies or enemies, just the top 1%) — that was the whole point of “what it takes” (the mencken episode) last season, after all.

i’ve seen lots of theories about what america will choose and how the candidates will respond and all that and i just don’t think that’s the show’s focus; i think the whole point is to demonstrate the lack of agency, the illusion of democracy. because, i mean, we’ve already seen the fall of democracy via fascist election and fascist election-denial, both in real life and in the countless (usually mid) satires created afterwards. it would be disappointing to see succession use the election to reiterate that same point of 'ohhh alt-right ahhhhh!!!' i don’t think it’ll be about ‘fascism’ at all — at least, not ‘trump-y’ fascism. it’ll be about fascism in the broader sense, the kind that doesn't sport a KKK hood (even when it keeps one tucked away in the attic). it's the fascism that every single roy (very much including shiv and kendall) aid and abet -- the fascism that so many succession fans don't seem to regard as fascism, despite it quite literally being the definition of fascism. trump wasn’t the entrance of fascism into our political process. he wasn’t the lone sign of the failing of american democracy. democracy in america has long been illusory, trump just made it more blatantly evident with his particular brand of hate-speech-ridden masculinist in-your-face fascism.

so i think that’s what this episode will hopefully focus on — america will not decide. corporations, news media, and the roys will. thus, the president will most likely become president not because the country supports his policies the most, but because he’s likely to agree to help block a business deal for a major media empire, and the other candidate is unlikely to. and this will likely come to pass due to said major media empire's interference and influence: they create their own reality. they say it, and everyone agrees with them and believes them, so it becomes true.

#WOOF okay here's my unnecessary ~thematic prediction~ for this episode #i have some more like random thoughts ab what'll happen but those r less thought out and more throwing shit at the wall etc #but i've been thinking a lot ab this ep n idk i just can't see any other way it could be done satisfyingly -- they can't just do 2016/2020 #again. the focus has to be elsewhere. i have some specifics thoughts on details but again those r kinda random n will be in another post #after bizarrely getting a lot of things right this szn i know a lot of people are looking to me to see what i'll say for this ep and let me #remind yall that I AM LITERALLY JUST GUESSING BASED ON MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE SHOW AND HOW NARRATIVES #TEND TO WORK PARTICULARLY IN SUCCESSION! if i am wrong which i very well might be please do not crucify me. i know literally #nothing more than anyone else i'm just a random english/gov major who likes speculating about media ! that said if i end up right again #somehow then yes i am a prophet i am jesse armstrong i have never been wrong about anything in my life. etc #watch this age so poorly tho. #LOL #also fwiw i dont think the Shock etc is going to come from the election results - maybe possibly from the way things happen (i could see a #line of miscommunication resulting in fucked up outcomes etc which i can get into in another post) or a roy sibs moment but i just #don't think there's any way the results themselves cld be surprising. it's jimenez or mencken. it's not gonna be connor guys. #succession #succession spoilers #except not really. just succession speculation more than anything else #long post #succession speculation #100

[blujayonthewing]

pitched battle inside my brain between the part of me that's desperately shaking myself by the shoulders going "YOU HAVE GOT TO ACTUALLY LIVE THE KIND OF LIFE YOU IMAGINE INSTEAD OF JUST SITTING AROUND IMAGINING IT UNTIL YOU DIE!!" and the part of me that's clutching my face going "is this allowed? is this allowed?? is this allowed???"

#trying to plan a solo cicada pilgrimage and getting brainworms about it yeehaw #'making a lot of plans and never actually doing things in real life' has been a problem for literally as long as I can remember #but I also feel like I've developed a learned helplessness over the last several years that's gotten worse as I've gotten older?? #me age twenty: I think I'm gonna take myself to chicago next week because I feel like going to the zoo #me age thirty: am I allowed to go camping alone. am I allowed to do a solo road trip. I need a grownup #to be extremely clear I am very much allowed and this is not justin's fault and I don't know where it comes from #like I'll run things by him lowkey seeking 'permission' that I don't even need and he'll be like 'yeah that sounds good to me' #and then I STILL won't do the thing because like. my brain keeps insisting there needs to be a grownup in charge?? HELLO I'M GROWNUP #anyway I'm doing cicada trip solo BECAUSE-- the drive is so long I want to do five days because two of them will just be driving #and he can't get that much time off work right now #AND because I literally only want to Be Camping and Looking At Bugs but he'd get bored of a week of that he likes Activities #me this morning getting insecure and weird: what are your thoughts... on cicada voyage.... #him after at first not even understanding the question: I'm SO excited for you?? you deserve to get to go absolutely feral??? #I do.... ;n; 💕 why am I so scared to be a person....... #about me #cicada journey

[dummy-morty]

on one hand i hate fridging and i hate how diane as a character basically only exists to provide rick with a crybaby backstory.

on the other hand i actually am going really crazy over the fact that rick prime truly and actually and for real killed her off in every single universe just to spite rick c-137 ("you're the only thing i can't replace" from the fear hole episode did something insane to me) especially since the rick we know is so used to hopping dimensions when shit goes south. in this case there are absolutely zero chances for him to try again and it's one of the few times he DIDN'T cause the problem he's running from in the slightest... i guess it does give some new insight as to why he's so attached to the morty prime and the current smith family, because in a lot of ways they kind of ARE his second chance, even if that wasn't his original intention...?

which just brings me back to being upset about diane's character only being used to further rick's development once she's dead... sigh

#i dunno. there's only so much you can do with a character who died ages before the events of the show #they crew did say that the diane in morty's fear hole sequence was basically Her.. as far as characterization goes #but i wish we could see her relationship with rick and beth. what they were like before everything happened #we know that rick loved her but we don't actually know what that looked like. so diane seems kind of flat #idk i'm just yapping and talking in circles right now. idk if any of it makes sense #anyway. regular tags for navigation -> #rick and morty #rick sanchez #diane sanchez #just chatting

[licorishh]

i love og soap too much. my stomach hurts. i don't feel good.

#artists on tumblr #call of duty #modern warfare #cod modern warfare #john soap mactavish #09 modern warfare #i am a soap and ghost girlie first and a human second. wahoo. #no thoughts only kevin mckidd's performance in cliffhanger uggghhh. “took the scenic route eh?" shut your MOUTH you beautiful man #“break's over roach. let's go.” what if i suffered cardiac arrest and died right now #you have the GALL to save me while i'm slipping off the iceberg. you have the GALL to grab my hand and throw me to the top so i won't fall #how dare you actually?? do you know what that did to me at age thirteen?? i bout flipped my lid and my dad looked at me like i was crazy #i need me a rugged scotsman and i need one now. i am no longer asking #sorry for exposing myself like this but you would understand if you played the dadgum game #lea shut up about fictional people challenge go #i hope i did him justice :( #i know he doesn't have the face paint for more than like two missions in mw2 but it's so iconic i can't leave it out #the oil rig + gulag getup remains one of his best i don't make the rules #that and the sierra leone one with the sleeves rolled up. real ones know #next time he will be awarded a shirt ^^)b need more anatomy practice for now though

[bumblingbabooshka]

Do you think Kes' ability to pick up on things so quickly is linked to her being an Ocampa? Like, since she's 2~ years old in canon (and has distinct memories of her father) I imagine her species doesn't spend much time as children and I wouldn't imagine they'd have formal schools (like entire buildings for schooling) and would instead learn from like, primarily parents or other elders. In that case learning things very quickly would be extremely beneficial for their survival. Kes: Oh yes, childhood...what a lovely few days~ Kes was a baby like for a day and then the next day she was up and ready to learn. Kes meets Naomi and every day that passes she becomes more and more amazed that she's still a baby. Wow! It's been like two months and she still can't do anything?? The doctor told her it was normal but wow. What I'm saying is they should have had Kes as a jack-of-all-trades character who could slide into pretty much any of the teams on Voyager. The Doc misses her when she's not in sickbay though!

#Kes: Doctor I'm sorry this is just the sort of wisdom you have when you get older v_v #Doctor: You're only 2 years old. / Kes: You're 'only' a few months old. #Can you imagine Kes learning that Tuvok's like a hundred? That'd be like someone saying they're over a million years old in Human aging #I'd imagine even Janeway's 40~ years is like a hundred to her #Kes gives Samantha Wildman a very difficult biology book and is like 'for When Naomi's.....(trying to guess)....4?' #'Kes is a child because she's 2 years old' boo - engage with the unused horror and hilarity of a humanoid species that is fully matured #before they are a year old. #I just think Kes is a very interesting character who had a lot of WASTED potential (like seriously she was SO squandered) and I wish she #wasn't only mentioned to like dunk on Neelix - she's a fun character in her own right even if the writers don't think so!! #Kes #st voyager #I wish Kes had stayed so we could see the makeup department try to make her look old or the writing team bullshit ways to keep her young #It would also have been emotionally devastating to see her die of old age (in the version of Voyager where she bonded with the crew and had #more episodes devoted to her personality etc etc) #Doc: What're you learning today?? / Kes: Lieutenant Torres is teaching me rocket science :)

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

I just had a whole actual married, mother of two adult woman be the first person older than about 21 to actually accept the fact that I don't want to get married and be willing to talk through what that means for me, instead of trying to convince me that I'll change my mind as I get older. I'm going to fucking cry

#I told her I'm lonely and why. and I told her that part of it is because I never want to get married #and so as the people I love move on to new seasons in their life I will always be left behind. because I don't ever want marriage #and she was just like ''okay. that just means you have to figure out what YOUR milestones are going to be #because that's going to look different than most of the people around you.'' #I've never had an adult woman. especially not a church one. just accept it before #it's always been ''ok but everyone feels that way at your age [a blatant lie. most of the people I knew in high school #got married RIGHT out of high school] you'll feel differently in a few years'' #or ''well don't shut yourself off from the possibilities!'' or ''oh but you'll meet The One'' #so it's like. earthshattering for someone like this to just accept that I know my own heart in it and help me figure out what that means #for the future #like. I'm going to cry. I'm literally in tears. #Lu rambles #sorry for swearing. it's for emphasis. I'm very emotional rn

[firstroseofspring]

b’elanna vs her mother at similar ages, plus some sketches!

#my art #star trek voyager #my very first deanna…. my original obsession. if i ever read as much about betazoids as i do klingons we’re all in grave danger #also wrt the first image b'elanna is. 12 years old and as such is about to go emo mode but not quite yet. the girly girl thing is a front #sometime in winter she'll chop her hair off without permission #what do we think? human girl look to fit into the image her father has while he's still around or after to try and get him back? #miral is also a little bookish like b'elanna but on different subjects.... likes to keep to herself naturally but is also loudmouthed and #got told she shared her opinion too often a lot in university. didn't stop her though she speaks up when she thinks (knows) she's right #what did she study? don't ask me my answer changes with the weather #botany....linguistics.....military strategy.....chemistry....... uhmmmm religious studies. or even better the klingon system doesn't have #starfleet equivalents and she spent ages 15-22 doing apprenticeships for a certain (or multiple) disciplines #anyway. #kessik 2352 b'elanna has trouble sitting still for photos until she gets a little older so all the pics from before 7 are of her father #physically holding her so that she won't wander OR off guard shots or super blurry. theres more videos of that time than anything

[trollex-is-gay]

I had an interesting conversation earlier with a friend about the movie, because they didn't understand why I was so intrigued by velvets character "when she's obviously just a villain"

Because that isn't how these movies work and both of the green noodles are stressed out TEENAGERS.

And I love Veneer, he's a sweet heart, but he was also part in using Floyd's essence to make his job easier.

There is obivous issues from home coming in to play with the twins (?wasn't clear) plans to further their career.

And based on their suits..... I wouldn't be surprised if what they where doing was COMMON among musicians of their people.

Because trolls aren't considered a major anything in their universe, listening to their arrest charges, it made it sound like they got arrest for PET abuse and substance violations

Oh no yeah I was thinking abt that a lot, literally in the middle of writing a post about them for the au as we speak lol. I am CONSTANTLY thinking about how the bergens treated trolls as nothing but little animals for god knows how long, EATING THEM every year, keeping them trapped there...and those guys made peace with the trolls. The trolls LOVE the bergens now! And it hasn't even been that long! But Velvet and Veener have the hammer dropped on them SO hard for doing something very similar to one troll. Sure, they were frauds, and sure, they hurt Floyd and what they did WAS incredibly wrong...but the same time they're teenagers. Like. 16 at the oldest. And their parents are NOWHERE to be seen in current day. If they're alive, they clearly don't give a shit about their kids. It wasn't even jail they got sent to, it was prison, which is much harsher in comparison. Veneer is a sweet guy, a very soft-hearted kid who is a very good character as well. But like you said, he participated. SOMETHING had to be up with their upbringing. Veneer hardly spoke and looked panicked when Velvet flipped the table...and Velvet, who was probably what, 10? 9 maybe considering how small they looked? She flipped an ENTIRE TABLE with THINGS ON IT by herself. There had to be so many events leading up to that even at such a young age to cause her to have that massive of a reaction to a question as simple as "how was school today?" Like no way they had good parents when Veneer is obviously afraid of speaking out and Velvet has a whole airport full of emotional baggage that turned her into the person she is now. And they're not even 18 yet! What the fuck! Someone help these poor kids!

#trolls #trolls band together #trolls 3 #I love them sm you don't understand #I think Velvet might be older as well? Idk the way she talked made me think she was a couple years older than Veneer. But they also look- #-the exact same age. Maybe she's older than him by like a year? #They make her out to be the older sibling from everything I've seen #but she also doesn't rlly look or act that much older than Veneer. I'd buy that they're twins #it would also make sense for them to be twins more than anything because they're nearly identical. Like if you styled Velvet's hair right- #-and took away her makeup she'd be like. A *slightly* taller Veneer. #y'know what yeah I could get on board with them being twins

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

This week on "CJ needs to gush about DAO": Morrigan's dark ritual.

I adore Origins because depending on how serious you take roleplay, every decision you make is a thread that leads back to your origin, and in this case of the ritual, who you choose to romance can have a major impact on how you handle this choice.

For context, my canon run is with a female Tabris who romances Alistair and keeps him as a Grey Warden, and is close friends with Morrigan. It's more in character for my Tabris to reject Morrigan's ritual and not even bring it up to Alistair, which would result in her leaving him behind while she makes the ultimate sacrifice in killing the archdemon... however, agreeing to convince Alistair to do the ritual with Morrigan is the only choice in the entire game where I break roleplay because I'm selfish and weak and I want Tabris to live.

I have a lot of strong feelings about the ritual, like it hurts me. It makes me want to chew on furniture. I can talk about it until I can talk no more. I so badly want to be strong enough to remain in character and reject the ritual.

Let me explain: Tabris survives an origin that deals with sexual assault. She gets kidnapped on her wedding day, she watches the other kidnapped women and her husband get murdered, and then is too late to save Shianni from being assaulted... and Tabris carries that trauma with her throughout the entire game.

If the way to save her life is to ask the two most important people she cares about; one being her lover and the other being her best friend; who she knows hate each other, to have dubiously consensual sex in order to make a baby to absorb the old god soul... she's saying no. The last thing Tabris would ever do is put someone into a sexual situation where consent is at all dubious after what she saw happen to Shianni and nearly happened to herself. She'd rather die than force that upon Alistair and Morrigan.

That's what I mean when I say origin affects everything; I know some will side eye that with "Really? Your warden would rather die than let Alistair sleep with another woman? It's one time, and Alistair agrees to it, so no one needs to die?"

Let me be clear in saying this isn't a "Morrigan slept with my man" issue. Sure, that part's awkward and it sucks, but that's not even breaking water tension, let alone diving into the deep waters to the core of the issue.

For my Tabris, this is about betrayal, consent, and accepting fate.

The person offering Tabris this deal is someone she thought of as a trusted friend who has actually been lying to her the entire time. It doesn't matter what Morrigan's intentions are now or if she genuinely wants to save the wardens. She knew from the beginning why Flemeth sent her with them, she admits as much. She knew a warden would need to make the ultimate sacrifice and then leveraged that to get what she wants. Morrigan waited until the night before, when Alistair and the warden learn one of them has to die to defeat the archdemon, and took advantage of the high running emotions and possibly the fear of dying to make the warden agree to her ritual.

At least, that's how my Tabris interprets this confrontation. She feels betrayed by someone she came to love like a sister and went out of her way to help Morrigan with her mother upon learning what's in Flemeth's grimoire. And then that someone tells her no one needs to die, she just needs to convince Alistair to sleep with her... which is a huge fucking problem.

The Alistair and Tabris romance is slow; it took a long time for either of them to be comfortable with being emotionally vulnerable and trusting each other with basic intimacy, let alone sex. Tabris is mortified at the idea of putting Alistair in this situation. Not only would it feel like a betrayal on her part to ask that of him, but she knows the last thing Alistair ever wants to do is father a bastard who then goes on to grow up without him. How could she possibly ask him to do that?

Then you consider that ritual or no, there isn't a guarantee that they'll survive anyway. Say they do the ritual and Tabris dies anyway; she made Alistair sleep with Morrigan in order to save her and then she died anyway. Or if Alistair dies then Tabris gets to live with the fact that the last person Alistair was with was a woman he hates because she asked that of him… and either way, Morrigan gets to walk away with what she wanted.

Tabris led the group, and she's accepted that if Riordan dies [which he does] then she'll be the one to make the sacrifice, even if it means breaking both hers and Alistair's heart.... except she doesn't because I'm a coward who doesn't want to lose her because my worldstate isn't good without her in it but I also refuse to lose Alistair so I just pretend it plays out differently in my head it's fine-

But... that's how I play Tabris and view the situation. My friend @pi-creates and I have discussed the dark ritual at length. While I play a Tabris who romances Alistair, Pi plays a Mahariel who romances Morrigan, so we have vastly different interpretations of the ritual itself and Morrigan's intentions.

Which yeah, it makes total sense that someone who romanced Morrigan with a different origin, and has the option to do the ritual with her rather than asking someone else to do it, wouldn't see this the way I do.

To quote Pi: "Playing as a male warden in the Morrigan romance makes the whole situation feel different, and maybe it’s because she’s presenting it differently due to the emotional connection, but it feels more like she’s opening up about her initial instructions (that she had been given by Flemeth) and offering a solution to avoid the possibility of death. And for my Mahariel, the constant threat of sudden death has haunted him from the start – he caught the blight and was ripped away from his clan (something he did not want to do in the slightest), got forced into a Grey Warden ritual that could kill him, was forced into a battle that could kill him, going on this whole quest that he never wanted but has now become responsible for regardless of his thoughts on the matter… the dark ritual may be one of the few moments where he is presented with an option to decide if he wants to walk into certain death, or take actions of his own volition to stop it.

"The idea of the ritual still feels like a dodgy thing to do since the ultimate outcome is unknown at that point, he’s taking Morrigan at her word that it will save the warden and that this child would be unharmed, just with an old god soul that she isn’t exactly clear on why she wants that and is determined to runaway immediately after the battle to secure it properly. It could be interpreted that it’s purely a preservation thing, but I’m biased to wanting Morrigan's intentions to not be power based.

"But also, taking part in the ritual isn’t as outlandish for my warden since he and Morrigan have already been involved in an intimate relationship. It’s the future of the ritual that is scarier – the idea of this old-god baby, and the idea of Morrigan insisting that she’s leaving afterwards when Mahariel and her have a loving relationship. He’s hurting, but he doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t want Alistair to die, he doesn’t want Morrigan to leave, he definitely doesn’t want pregnant Morrigan to leave on her own… it’s complicated, but for completely different reasons."

And I find that fascinating. I want to know how other players approach this part of DAO, what origins they play, and who they romanced. Seriously, this is an invitation to anyone reading to share their thoughts.

What about a warden who doesn't even have Alistair in their party because they made Loghain a warden? Is there anyone out there who has Loghain do the ritual with Morrigan and why? What about male wardens who don't romance her? Do you choose to do it with her anyway, or do you ask Alistair or Loghain to do it? Do you tell Morrigan to fuck off with the ritual? Why? Who makes the ultimate sacrifice in that case? And what about Morrigan herself? How do you interpret her intentions/motivations? I want to know.

I'm telling you, this is a discussion that gets me excited, as most discussions about DAO do.

#dao #dragon age origins #alistair theirin #dao alistair #dao morrigan #da morrigan #tw: sa mention #long post #i love origins so much #every time i replay i end up on discord having this discussion with pi because it makes me *emotional* #and yes this is why i was looking up alistair's dialogue about a dead warden before #also want to clear up that while i am harsh on morrigan based on how my tabris feels i don't hate her or anything i love her #morrigan's one of my favorite characters and that's why the whole thing hurts like... tabris was happy for her to come along with them #since she still didn't know alistair well and felt more comfortable with another woman around even though she never felt threatened by him #and for them both to be her closest companions like.... it's a lot to take in #and its not like tabris is totally in the right here- she doesn't tell alistair it's an option when it could be argued that she should've #but like i said i've never actually turned down the ritual because i love my warden too much... i just close my eyes #and pretend there's an alternate solution where Alistair and Tabris do the ritual and they have the old god baby instead sksksks #that way no one has to sleep with someone they hate and alistair gets to be there to raise his child. it's fine everything's fine sksksk #i don't care if it doesn't work that way okay it's the only way this works out better for everyone... except maybe morrigan but still