#if parts of other fandoms are separated by gates than this one’s is separated by the GREAT WALL OF CHINA

[wickedholl0w]

An eternal bond pt.2

Part 1 👇

Fandom: Baldurs Gate 3

Pairing: Astarion/F!Reader

Rating: 16+

Summary:

Continuation of the one-shot An eternal bond.

In this story we see a little more of your pregnancy where you carry Astarion's baby, after his ascension.

From memories of a hot bath, to the vampire's troubled mind, separation and reunion after years apart.

Notes:

If you liked the first one, give a chance to this one. :D

warnings: mature content, unprotected sex, pregnancy, a lot of angst, fluffly?, bittersweet, labor, murder mind.

P.S: English is not my first language, I apologize in advance if I make any mistakes.

************************************************************************

As much as you wanted to deny it, the luxury of Astarion's palace was undoubtedly very good, even if you were restricted to the room with Scratch and the cub, even though the boredom was sometimes so great that you felt like running away... But, the luxury prison would soon disappear from your life, after all, your strength was regained, your baby was well and strong, growing, and you already knew very well how to deal with a pregnancy that was somewhat different than the usual one.

Sometimes he kicked nonstop, moved a lot during the night which always led you to take a hot bath while singing songs to make him calm down, and that night was one of those nights.

Sitting in the bathtub with your back against the edge, you hum a lullaby while caressing your rounded belly. The baby liked that, the hot bath, the cuddles and the song, which made you happy.

“Gods, don't you ever get out of the bathtub?” Astarion says standing at the bathroom door and you look towards him, surprised to see him covered in blood.

“What happened?” you ask.

“Nothing much, just a spawn that was being a bit...” he says, approaching while opening his red jacket embroidered with golden peacocks. “Rebel. So, he had to be used as an example for the others...”

“I don't want to know details,” you say, covering your belly with your arms and the baby father's red eyes hover over there. “He is calming down now, hearing one of your cruelties will not be beneficial.”

Astarion raises his eyebrows and clicks his tongue in an irritated manner.

“I imagine,” he says, taking off his leather boots. “Our little one should not be exposed to violence and in this,” he turns to you as he pulls down his pants, leaving him completely naked. “I completely agree, my dear.”

You look straight at Astarion's flaccid member, it didn't do any justice to its glorious form when hard.

“And what makes you think I'm going to allow you to come in here?” you ask, looking at him from under your eyelashes and Astarion gives a slight seductive smile, one that makes all your organs melt.

“I don't need your permission, my dear” he says, walking towards you, climbing the three steps to reach the edge of the large bathtub. “I command here.”

He doesn’t take his eyes off you as he bends down and sits right in front of you.

“Besides, I must enjoy your company and our little devil while I can, after all, I don't know how long I'll have you here” he says, running his wet hands through his white hair, combing the curls back.

You swallow dryly as you see his gaze staring into nothing, his face and hair still stained with the rebellious spawn's blood. You take a deep breath and take a bowl, fill it with water and approach Astarion who looks at you from the corner of his eye with a suggestive smile on his beautiful lips.

“Turn around” you say and he lets out a low laugh, turning his back to you.

You fill the bowl with water and then wet the white curls, causing the blood that painted it red to run down Astarion's shoulders and back. You take the scented soap and soap your hands and then start massaging the vampire's hair, who lets out a kind of hoarse purr of pleasure and leans his head back further.

You smile and slide your hands over the back of his neck, massaging the area and you can feel him smile, you slide your hands to his broad shoulders, massaging there and Astarion lets out a groan and leans back, resting his back against you,supporting  his head on your shoulder and turns his face touching his nose to your jaw.

“This way I'm going to keep you here forever”  he says in a sensual purr and you give a small sideways smile.

“You can try” you respond in a light tone of voice, but without hiding the threat.

Astarion laughs and then brushes his cold lips against your skin and you arch your eyebrow and push him forward. He protests, but you refill the bowl with water and begin rinsing his pale hair until there is no trace of suds or blood left.

“Okay, clean now, you can leave” you say, moving away and leaning your back against the edge of the bathtub.

The Vampire Lord looks at you over his shoulder, a vile, sensual smile on the corner of his handsome lips. He turns to you and crawls towards you.

“My intentions go beyond leaving my beautiful body clean again” he says, reaching your knees that were together and holding your thighs with his cold hands, squeezing them lightly and placing a kiss on each knee.

“I thought we agreed we weren't going to do this anymore” you say as he slowly separates your knees.

“Yes, after we had sex seven times” he says, kissing the inside of your thigh.

You feel your body heat up, your skin and nipples rise, your breasts begin to feel heavy and your breathing becomes unregulated, but most importantly, the baby had become quiet since Astarion's presence in the bathtub.

“And I'm not even counting the repeated times” he says in a low, hoarse voice, his mouth approaches your belly, gives a cold, long kiss there and moves up between your breasts, bringing his body closer to yours.

You sigh deeply, taking your hands to Astarion's shoulders, whose cold kisses go up to your neck and you turn your face away. The vampire gently takes your earlobe between his teeth and licks it.

“Even if you want to deny it, my love,” he says opening a wide smile. “You are mine; you will always be mine...”

The weight of his body against yours, his breath on your neck, his smell... You want to resist, but you can't, you grab his face between your hands and give him a kiss that borders on desperation, reciprocated in the same intensity way by the man who slides his hand down your right thigh, lifting your leg, making you place your foot on his back.

Yes, you wanted to deny it, completely, you told yourself over and over again, you ran away, but you couldn't deny the desire for him, the desire to be his.

***

Astarion was sitting in a luxurious dark wooden chair with red velvet upholstery, behind him the huge window that overlooked Baldurs Gate and the large, full, blue moon in the sky. The bluish light enters through the large window and illuminates the dark room, illuminating the woman lying on the bed dressed in his own simple white tunic.

The Vampire Lord's eyes shine like burning rubies with his face partially hidden in darkness, his hand resting on his jaw and his fingers covering his mouth. He watches her sleep, so beautiful, so serene, so... Vulnerable.

He gets up from the chair and slowly approaches the bed, his eyes never leaving his prey for a second. Astarion stops at the side of the bed, tilts his head to the side like a true predator analyzing its prey. He could seize the opportunity, could sink his teeth into her soft, fragrant skin and suck the last hour of her life away.

The only thought about this was so powerful in his mind that he reached out his claw-shaped hand towards her neck, but the woman moved on the bed, lying with her back against the mattress, her face facing the other side and the Lord's red eyes go to the belly marked in the fabric of the tunic.

The child had grown well, so much so that since the day the mother arrived there, her belly had almost doubled in size... He had to admit that listening to the rapid heartbeat of that insignificantly sized being was a delight and if he killed his mother, even if he transformed her to bind she to him forever, the child would not be able to survive and would die in the womb.

Astarion obscured the growls and grunts of the two animals that were hers, his eyes seeing that they were in an attack position, ready to defend their master to the death, but with just one threatening look the two lay down surrendered.

He looks at her again, at her beautiful face, something inside him seemed to scream, scratch a wall begging for her, to abandon everything and be with her, but Astarion had already come very far in his conquests, with his powers, he wouldn't give up everything for no one.

**

You had noticed him approaching that night, you felt his cold and murderous gaze on your skin, you knew you ended up barely staying alive and after he left the room to solve problems related to the new rebellious spawns, you saw the opportunity to scape, you grabbed your things and supplements and leave with your two companions.

On the way to your freedom you heard screams of pain and terror, but you didn't want to approach the place and find out, or what, Astarion was doing with his new spanws. You knew you couldn't stop walking until you left Baldurs Gate, you knew you had to keep going as long as you could and like that until the sun came up.

Astarion didn't show up, he didn't follow you, he didn't do anything, maybe he hated you more than anything, but it didn't matter, what mattered was that you were okay and needed to find a home for yourself, your son and your animals.

You searched for months, but villages and towns didn't seem safe, until one day while making your way through an isolated forest you found an abandoned hut filled with ravines in the middle of a clearing. It wasn't the best place, but a village was a few minutes away, you could survive on agriculture and have farm animals, the house definitely needed renovation, but nothing you couldn't do yourself.

There were difficult weeks, storms, scorching suns and hard work, with the little money you had left managed to hire a carpenter who helped with the final renovations and even had the good heart to make the crib and furniture for the baby's room at no cost.

And it was just in time for everything to be ready for you to go into labor, alone, sitting on the floor of the house's small kitchen, with a storm of lightning and thunder outside, the only ones with you were Scratch and the cub, who watch yours suffering with pain. Hours of excruciating pain, contractions, fear, exhaustion... but it was all worth it when your little boy was born and you picked him up, you quickly tied and cut the umbilical cord and wrapped him in a warm cloth placing him against your chest. You managed to expel the placenta without difficulty and to your surprise the owl bear cub ate it, and even looked at you with pride after the act, which made you laugh even in the midst of the postpartum pain.

You looked at the blood-stained baby in your arms, calm, peaceful, his eyes had just opened and swollen in a dark bluish tone, and his hair... Well, the few he had were almost transparent, white, like his father's.

You hadn't thought of a name amidst all the turbulent chaos during the pregnancy, but, looking at the healthy boy in your arms who soon began to breastfeed, you had no doubt what his name would be:

“Welcome home, Astarion.”

You say with a sweet smile on your lips and tears falling down your sweaty and flushed face, your animal companions slowly approached to watch the little dhampir that grabbed your finger while sucking hungrily.

A small miracle from the darkness.

***

Your son had turned seven years old, a happy, energetic, sometimes chaotic boy, who already understood that he was not like other children and had been instructed from an early age to keep his race a secret, for his own sake and to prevent this spread information. Not that his father didn't know where they were, Astarion was there a few years ago, when the little one was just two and a half years old. He didn't get closer, he didn't try to make contact, he just stood looking from afar and sometimes when you close your eyes you can see the scene of him standing at the edge of the clearing, his hand partially stretched towards you and the boy, the pained look he wanted shout I love you, no matter how much you doubt it.

Since then, all you received from the Ascended Vampire Lord was money, a lot of money, which wasn't bad, quite the contrary, you managed to make improvements to your home, your property, even hire employees to take care of your few plantations that they helped support the household. Everything was going well, but not everything.

Your son, Astarion, was starting to show signs that he wasn't comfortable drinking your blood, which he had been doing since the little fangs grew in his gums. Every time you offered him your wrist to take, the boy looked at you with remorse, guilt, until there was no other alternative than to teach him how to hunt animals to satisfy his thirst for blood.

Always in the company of the big owl bear and old Scratch, Astarion quickly learned to hunt, so much so that at the age of 10 you no longer had to worry about him going alone, because in addition, you made sure to train him from an early age with weapons, bows, hand-to-hand combat and he was an excellent student.

He was fine, the "vegetarian" diet was doing him good, human food was also satisfying him more, and that was what mattered.

“What's he like?”  Astarion asks while eating at the dinner table.

It wasn't the first time he asked about his father.

“You look like him,” you say. “In fact, it's almost a perfect copy.”

“Why almost?”  the boy asks with his mouth full and you laugh.

“Your skin color is like mine, the color of your eyes too, but the rest... It's totally him.”

Astarion raises his pale eyebrows and nods.

“And you loved him?”  he asks with a childish innocence that breaks your heart.

“Yes.”

“And he loved you?”  the boy's eyes shine with expectation, one that you need to break, unfortunately.

“One day, yes, but I'm not sure,”  you respond, making the sparkle in your son's eyes gradually disappear and he looks at the plate, chewing slowly. “But what matters is that he gave me my greatest treasure.”

He looks at you, eyes shining again.

“Me?”  he asks and you smile widely, get up from the chair and go to the boy, grab his face between your hands and give him several kisses on the face, making him laugh, you turn his face to yours.

“Absolutely, you.”

Astarion opens a wide smile and hugs you, filling your face with kisses and jumping into your lap, making you laugh and hug him tightly.

You never regretted your choice to leave the castle that night, not when your son is your most beautiful and purest existence in this world.

**

The boy had gone to sleep and you took the opportunity to take care of the dirty dishes and cleaning the kitchen and then you would take a well-deserved bath after a hard day's work, yes, that was the ideia, until you felt a threatening presence next to you. Outside, you hears the heavy footsteps of the owl bear who makes the security at your priority, you knows that old Scratch is already sleeping next to Astarion, otherwise he would have already barked a warning.

You waste no time, you go to your room and grab two short swords, whatever was out there you were going to kill and make the person regret even thinking for a second that it could threaten you and your child.

You open the front door and go outside, you see the big owl bear standing in an attack position looking at the intruder and when you stop next to the huge animal you get a surprise that you certainly didn't expect.

The woman, who looked completely crazy, wore a thin red dress, tight to her body with beautiful curves, black hair and red eyes that shine in the darkness like liquid fire, and her pale skin betrays that this woman is not a totally living being.

“What do you want?” you ask threateningly.

“Your head” the woman replies.

“Mommy?”  Astarion says at the door of the house, sleepy and wearing pajamas, old Scratch beside him. “What is happening?”

“Go inside, now” you order without taking your eyes off the enemy.

“Ah, the one I came to look for” the vampire says, looking at your son with eyes filled with madness.

“Inside now, Astarion!” you scream again.

“But I want to see you hit her!” the boy retorts.

The vampire laughs at the boy's speech.

“She won't even be able to get close to me” she says looking at you who gives you a mocking smile.

“For a little dog on a leash, you're being quite bold” you say and the vampire shows her teeth, getting into an attack position. “Bear, protect Astarion and the house.”

The great animal obeys your command.

The bloodthirsty vampire puts out claws, they look like blades and advances against you, your magic flows through your body and through the blades, an energy that has not passed through your body for many years, you smile at the sensation and receive the blow from the rival. No problem, you soon retaliate and she is surprised by your skill, you begin an arduous fight with exchanges of blows, sparks fly through the air due to the meeting of the steel of your swords with the opponent's claws.

“Get her, mom!”  Astarion shouts motivating her.

The opponent takes a swing to move away from you, away, she looks at you panting, teeth exposed, furious look.

“You are not worthy!” she shouts and you raise your eyebrow. “I will take your head off, take it to my master and take his heir to home!”

You give a small smile.

“Dream on” you say, sticking the tips of your swords into the ground, which for the vampire was a good opportunity, but it was nothing more than a trap when she advanced against you again with claws and teeth ready to tear your flesh.

Her mistake.

You conjure a huge ball of fire, cast the spell and throw it at the creature that had no chance if it even touched you and turned into a piece of burning coal on the ground.

“Wow...” your son says impressed.

You take your swords back and when you were about to turn around to go back to your house you see another vampire, a man with a human and common appearance if it weren't for the features that betrayed his true nature. He is standing at the edge of the clearing, mouth open as he holds a large bag of what you know to be gold, in fact, you recognize the vampire: Alec, Astarion's most faithful spawn and responsible for watching over you and your son.

“Tell your Master that we are leaving and that he will never find us again” you say and Alex lowers his head as a sign. He soon disappears into the darkness.

You then run towards your house, towards your son.

“Quickly, let's pack our things!” you say and the boy quickly enters, pulling Scratch with him.

You don't have time, you pack everything you can quickly, Astarion changes quickly and you also put on your old clothes from your adventure times. You blow out the candles in the house, placing it in eternal darkness, the next step would be to release the animals and then left as far away as possible.

You walk out the door with your backpacks full and ready to go, but you stop suddenly, your son behind you grabbing your arm.

“Well, not even going to invite me in and you're just going to leave?”  Astarion says with a evil smile on his lips.

You swallow hard, pushing your son further behind you protectively.

“We need to talk, love.”

Your heart jumps out of your chest, a doubt between attacking and surrendering, but you have one certainty and that is keeping your son safe.

#fanfic #oneshot #smut #astarion bg3 #astarion ancunin #astarion art #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 astarion

[kuaille]

I just love your opinions so much about samurai rabbit. I love your reason on why you gate it. I can't take it anymore with Leoichi. I keep seeing it in the leosagi tag. I then went to katanashipping tag and I got so fucking mad when I saw a post with Yuichi instead of Miyamoto

First: thanks! :)

Second: my problem with Leoichi is kinda separated of the SRUC. There's people who really likes it and okay, their right and their taste, but then... the part of TMNT fandom who doesn't neither the comics or the show (and doesn't want to know) just take a character that exists for over 40 years and other completely different and mix their personalities as an oc JUST for the shipp

I dare to say Leosagi/Katanashipping became more popular with 2003 TMNT (I'm not sure, but considering that at that time neither 87' nor the comics had developed their friendship, it makes more sense for me, also IDW and 12' are not as popular too) and so the ROTTMNT fandom (and I'll say this fandom is specific cause' we're not the first to complain the tags, besides I can count on my finger the times I saw Yuichi being shipped with any other than Leon) looked at 03' and said "ugh, look how weird is their age gap, i'm gonna make then better!" and it pisses me off

When I had just watch 12' and started in the franchise, I saw Yuichi everywhere with Leon and thought "Wow, this rise character must really be popular, can't wait for when he appears" imagine my surprise finding SRUC

For a last example of how they disrespect Miyamoto and Yuichi, I remember these two ROTTMNT fics: one where Miyamoto was a teenager fighting in Battle Nexus and GENNOSUKE WAS THE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIM BECAUSE HE'S A MENACE AND GEN IS THE RESPONSIBLE ONE; the other where Yuichi was a super serious and edgy samurai and JEI, FUCKING JEI, WAS A VASSAL TO LORD HIKIJI

Tldr; yes I'm also done with leoichi in the leosagi tag

#ask #usagi yojimbo #teenage mutant ninja turtles #sruc #miyamoto usagi #yuichi usagi #leoichi #leosagi #katanashipping #tmnt 2003 #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of tmnt #that's for the leoichi shippers who uses both usagis as oc #only for them ok

[agentsofmarvel]

i know i’m a marvel account, but i also post little things from other fandoms. as it is frozen’s 10th anniversary, ten frozen authors wrote “all is found”, a book filled with ten short stories that take place within different times in the frozen franchise.

so due to my hyperfixation of anything frozen, and my desperate need for more frozen content, i will be

over analyzing “all is found” and breaking down each story for details and references !! (part one!)

spoilers ahead ⚠️

Anna and the Silver Skates

Author: Diana Peterfreund

this first story takes place during anna and elsa’s childhood, probably less than five years after anna and elsa were separated.

elsa secretly leaves anna a pair of their mothers old ice skates as anna couldn’t find her own (and spent hours trying to skate with cloths tied to her boots).

this inspires anna to secretly leave the castle to enter a skating competition in disguise, as she hasn’t been to the village since before the gates were closed.

anna needs a disguise, but cannot find anything, so elsa (without anna knowing again) sneaks her some of her mother’s old clothes.

anna successfully sneaks out to the village and joins the competition. elsa, being so worried about anna sneaking out, causes problems with her magic, so iduna invites her to watch the festival with her from the royal carriage.

elsa agrees, hoping to distract iduna from seeing anna. but while they’re watching the race, anna’s disguise comes off and iduna catches her. instead of being mad, iduna lets anna have fun.

iduna later explains she feels bad that anna had to sneak out because she is so desperate for interaction, and promises to talk to agnarr about stopping the isolation.

we know from the movies that this never happens though, and i wonder what would have happened if this plan had actually went through.

other facts: this story claims that elsa never spoke back to anna when they were separated (anna would speak to elsa’s door, but elsa would never respond).

there’s no other big references i caught other than some quick nods to iduna and agnarr’s childhoods together in Dangerous Secrets.

my rating: 4/5 ⭐️

(this is going to be the longest story explanation, i didn’t know how else to write it)

Engaging Anna and Kristoff

Author: Jen Calonita (author of Conceal Don’t Feel & Polar Nights)

this story takes place after frozen 2, and tells the story of elsa trying to plan an engagement party for anna and kristoff.

she hires oaken, who tries to make the party fit for a queen, along with asking the trolls to help, who try to make it a troll engagement party.

so they go back and forth trying to outdo each others decorations and elsa finally convinces them to do a bit of both to represent both anna and kristoff.

meanwhile, anna and kristoff are trying to keep each other busy both thinking their distracting each other for different surprises.

they’re so many little details from other frozen novels and frozen properties!!

oaken’s party service is a reference from the arendelle dinner experience aboard the disney wish cruise ship

my favorite reference came from a list of bakeries anna and kristoff had to pick up cookies from as a distraction. blodget’s and the waffle brothers have both been mentioned in other frozen books, the olsen’s could be a reference from olaf’s frozen adventure, and tomally’s is a reference to the family that raised anna in Conceal Don’t Feel.

my rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

#frozen book #all is found #all is found frozen #frozen #disney frozen #anna frozen #anna of arendelle #frozen elsa #anna and elsa #kristoff bjorgman #olaf frozen

[superhaught]

Subterfuge

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Pairing: Shadowheart x Walker (OC/Tav)

Warnings: nudity but no smut

Word Count: 3700, Part 1/?

A/N: I've had this bad boy collecting dust for quite some time now. It was originally part of a longer piece but I wanted to just post this chunk. Walker is my first Tav. He's a half wood-elf Paladin. He's trans. He's everything to me. You'll also notice me provide some reasoning for always re-classing Shadowheart as a tempest cleric, lol. Anyhoo, please enjoy and lmk if ya wanna see more Shadowheart love!

Tagging @gothimp and @optiwashere in the hopes that y'all will enjoy this?? <3

Thunder rumbled through the area as heavy winds battered the walls of Shadowheart’s tent. This was the first storm they have had to weather on their journey and she was kept awake by the sounds. 

She was never one to be fearful of storms, but this particular storm felt imposing. Perhaps it was made worse by being separated from the elements with only a waxed canvas tent rather than the security of a building. While storms were in the domain of other gods, she always felt that the dark clouds were sent by her Lady Shar. She tried to channel that into her magic by calling upon clouds of darkness to send her Lady’s rage in the form of thunder, lightning and ice upon her enemies. 

It was in this moment of not being able to find rest when Shadowheart realized that their groups’ leader was likely still outside, unsheltered and keeping watch through the brutal storm. She sighed and mumbled out loud, “that idiot,” before wrapping a blanket around herself and peeking her head out of her tent. 

She was, unfortunately, right. Walker sat on the log by where they’d normally have a fire burning, but instead he was staring at a steaming pile of coal while wrapped in a drenched wool blanket. She could see that he was shivering though he would likely never admit it. 

She called out to him, “You donkey! Get inside!” 

He whipped around and faced her, teeth chattering and curly hair dripping wet, “I can’t! I’m keeping watch!” 

“We will survive one night without your vigilance, if you don’t come inside you’ll get sick at the very least and we can’t have that, or worse. Come on!” 

He stared at her indignantly. 

“Come here.” She demanded. 

Walker faced an internal battle between keeping watch as was his duty, and following orders like the good soldier he was. He eventually decided on the latter, “Fine. I see no reason to argue with you.” He began to stand up. 

“Good. That will serve you well in the future.” Shadowheart held the tent flaps open for him when he approached and then closed the tent back up tightly once he was inside. He had to duck slightly to fit his taller frame comfortably in the space of the tent. 

Up close, Shadowheart could clearly see the bluish tint to his lips and that he had been soaked through all of his clothing. 

“Strip.” She instructed simply. 

“What?” A flush appeared on his cheeks as he gave her a surprised expression. 

She rolled her eyes, “It’s not like that you fool, you can’t sleep in sopping wet clothes. Come on now.” She began to push the blanket off of his shoulders and let it fall in a wet heap to the floor. 

He nodded while shivering and began to shyly lift his shirt off. 

Shadowheart had meant what she said of course, she had no intention of exploring sensuality with him in this moment, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t indulge in a few glances at his body while he undressed in front of her. 

Her eyes followed the bottom hem of his shirt as he lifted it and exposed his abdomen. He was incredibly toned and honestly, too attractive for his own good. And, she wasn’t ignorant to how his endless humility only made him more desirable. 

His shirt came off and he added it to the blanket in a wet pile. 

Shadowheart cast a simple cantrip, producing a wisp of flame in the palm of her hand in an effort to warm the air in the tent. 

Walker undid the laces of his trousers and pulled them down, letting the wet fabric pool around his ankles before stepping out of them. He then bent down and gathered all of his wet garments in his arms and put them somewhere out of the way. He let out a sigh as he started to warm up. 

Shadowheart doused the flame in her hand and then moved tentatively to place her hand on his upper arm. He shuddered at the warmth that her palm retained from the spell and at the touch she gave him. 

Walker's eyes fell closed as he unconsciously leaned a little closer to her, “You’re so… warm…” he mumbled. 

“Come here, then.” 

Shadowheart reached for him more definitively now, pulling him fully into an embrace. He couldn’t help but let out a whimper as she held him close and he tucked his face into the crook of her neck. 

His skin was freezing. She considered her next words carefully, trying to strike a balance between genuine concern for his safety and a little bit of interest, “You know,” she offered, “hypothermia is best avoided by skin-to-skin contact.” 

Walker did not respond for a few seconds as his mind raced to understand this enigma of a woman. Then he just sputtered, “I… I…” 

“Calm yourself. It’s only an offer. Would you like to take me up on it?” 

All Walker could do was nod sheepishly. 

Shadowheart smirked but hid it from him. She let go of him and then began to undress herself as well. She sloughed her leather top off of her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. She relished in the feeling of having Walker’s eyes so obviously on her exposed torso. 

She gave him a sly smile and then hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her leggings and underwear and slid them down her legs before kicking everything aside. She watched as Walker’s gaze followed her movements. 

“Like what you see, paladin?” 

Her words startled him and he looked back up to her eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“You can say so,” she continued, “I don’t mind.”

He nodded, “You’re… gorgeous.” 

She stepped forward and placed her hand on his abs, sliding her fingers down over his muscles, following the trail of hair that graced the center of his taut stomach. He gasped and shuddered as her delicate fingers danced over a hip bone and teased as the very edge of his briefs. 

“You’re sweet… and not so bad to look at, yourself.” 

“Shadowheart…” he breathed, “Wha-… what is this?” 

She looked up at him, “Whatever you want it to be, Walker.” 

She watched the shy, nervousness leave him in an instant and the sweet thing standing before her was suddenly the confident man she had come to know in battle.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked. 

She smiled and nodded in response. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her body close to his and captured her lips in a kiss. It wasn’t the soft and chaste kiss they had already shared, but it wasn’t hard either. It communicated a deeper want without being overpowering. 

Gods how she loved when he acted on the things that he really wanted. 

The paladin had done nothing but surprise her since they first met. When he saved her life on the Mindflayer nautiloid she expected that he was good. She wasn’t wrong about that at all. He was, first and foremost, a good man. Sometimes to an irritating degree. He had insisted that they help the Tiefling refugees in the grove. Insisted that they involve themselves in the local hags’ business to rescue that girl, Mayrina. Insisted on rescuing Volo from a fate he simply brought onto himself. Insisted on talking with every animal they came across. And yet, she couldn’t complain because his focus on their larger goal of finding a solution to their tadpole problem never wavered. 

As a result of his good-nature, she expected him to, at the least, be wary of her faith in Shar once he knew the truth, and at worst, outright condemn her for it. But his reaction was neither. Where some of the other companions looked at her with doubt, he only expressed kindness and genuine curiosity. He asked her questions and graciously allowed her to correct any misunderstandings he had. He never pried. He never judged. He never insulted. It became easy to trust him after that, which surprised her. 

He surprised her in a myriad of ways as they dove into the goblin encampment. He understood her discomfort with being in a temple to Selune despite the fact that untold years had passed since actual worship of the Moonwitch took place there. She watched as the man got down on his knees and groveled to a filthy goblin just so that he could deftly sneak a lightly magical ring off of the creatures’ toe by kissing it. She watched as he stripped his armor off and submitted to a religious beating from a priest of Loviatar for truly, no good reason. There was a moment when she wondered if he only did it because he thought she might enjoy the spectacle, but she dropped that foolish notion from her mind quickly, surely he wouldn’t.

She used the tadpole connection to share a memory with him. Her only memory. The one thing she had left, wherein she was nothing more than a scared and vulnerable little girl. She didn’t know why exactly she shared it with him, she just felt… compelled somehow. She knew that he would be kind and honestly, she just felt like she needed that. When the playback of the memory ended, he took her hand in his and gave her a reassuring squeeze and thanked her for sharing, while giving her that sweet smile and an unspoken but nonetheless understood, “I’ve got you.” 

It was then that Shadowheart knew it would be hard, impossible even, to escape her attraction to him. 

But even with all of that, she expected him to fall for someone like Karlach or Wyll. Someone kind and soft, like him. But he surprised her in that regard, too. He had shared a bottle of wine with her one night and he kissed her for the first time. He kissed her. She was as shocked as she was elated, but she expected him to regret it the following morning. He didn’t. He just looked at her with those puppy dog eyes of his and said that he wanted more with her in the future. And who was she to deny such a kind request from their heroic leader? 

Sometime in between then and now, the most shocking thing of all occurred. The paladin broke his oath. Shadowheart didn’t catch when or how it happened, but one morning he awoke as an Oathbreaker and although she had a million questions for him, they hadn’t talked about it. He hadn’t changed, really. He was still the same, good man. Still a beacon of light and hope. Still respectful of life and nature, just a little… off. He offered a little less healing and a little more violence. He had something darker at his disposal, but he was still him. If he had simply made a mistake along the way in all of the chaos they were up against, she wondered why he wouldn’t just atone and immediately retake his oath. If something deeper had genuinely changed for him, like no longer aligning with the ideals of his oath, she expected to see evidence of that, but she never did. Regardless, she didn’t feel like it was her place to ask and she felt that he would tell her if he wanted to. Not knowing gnawed at her all the same, though. 

But now, here she was, naked in her tent, kissing this beautiful and confusing man, wondering why this attraction she felt was all-consuming and hoping against all hope that he wouldn’t change his mind about her. 

His hands moved upwards to hold her face. He kissed her more and more and she felt herself melting in his grasp. The storm outside and his touch clouded her senses such that any thoughts and anxieties left her behind. She could only feel his impossibly soft lips and his gentle, yet battle-hardened hands. She could only feel his pulse throbbing in his neck and his shiver as she traced the contours of his chest with her index finger. She could only feel him pull her closer and bury his fingers into her hair. 

He surprised her again as he effortlessly picked her up and then laid her down on the bedroll, hovering over top of her as he continued to kiss her lips. She would have given herself freely to him that night but he never took more. He only pressed his lips to hers in an incomprehensible number of sweet, adoring and reverent kisses, until he finally opened his eyes again and stared at her for a minute while catching his breath. 

“That… you’re incredible…” he said. 

She smiled, “Are you feeling warmer, now?” 

He chuckled and nodded, “Yes, very. Thank you.” 

“My pleasure.” 

His cheeks flushed. He was back to being awkward and not knowing what to do next. She decided to save him from himself and said, “Come here, silly,” offering her arms out. 

He nodded and laid down and embraced her strongly. They got comfortable beneath the blankets and snuggled. Shadowheart naturally found herself resting her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. Her heart just about burst when he placed a tender kiss on her forehead as he drifted off to sleep. This night was sweet and intimate and unlike anything she ever dreamed of experiencing in her life. 

She almost missed it. A poorly timed rumble of thunder outside obscured part of his sleepy, mumbled confession. But once she processed the words he had uttered, she felt a vice grip her heart. 

“I love you.” He had said. Quiet, half-asleep, whispered against her head. 

Shadowheart’s mind raced. It was so soon. Too soon. Less than two tendays of even knowing each other. He barely knew anything about her, how could he so easily say such a thing? 

She didn’t have to respond. He wouldn’t expect a response. It would be easy to pretend that she hadn’t heard him at all. The words can disappear into the night, no harm no foul.��

Her attraction to him was clear. She even felt affection, care, for him. She liked how good he was. She liked his kindness. His strength. But love? Did she love him? 

A crack of lightning lit the sky and the wound on her hand flared with searing pain. Shar. There she was. Using pain instead of words to make her point clear. Shadowheart tried her best to understand. She really did. That could not be denied. The proper conclusion was that the physical pain she felt now was a reminder of the emotional pain she’d feel later if she fostered this attachment any further. Exchanged glances were fine. Kisses in the night were fine. Even sex would be fine so long as it was meaningless. But anything more? Dangerous. Undoubtedly. 

Shadowheart stared at the ceiling of her tent and tried not to stir so that she wouldn’t wake him. She needed him. He kept her safe. He would help her complete her mission. He was the only true ally she had. The only one she trusted. So she couldn’t just walk away. But she didn’t want to lose this either. She didn’t want to break his heart by saying, “I think we’ve gotten too close, let’s just keep focus on the mission.” That would be a betrayal to herself, a lie. 

The wound seared again. She bit her lip hard to stifle the cry of pain that threatened to escape. If he knew how she was hurting over him, he would feel so guilty.

She could make this work, she thought. Subterfuge. Stealth. Stolen affections with this man wouldn’t hurt. Her mind would soon be occupied by learning more about the Dark Justiciar presence in this area, anyways. Lady Shar could indulge Shadowheart having someone to share a tent with for companionship when the rest of her, almost all of her, was so devoted to serving the Dark Lady. It would work. It would be okay. 

She made a silent vow then, that if she was ever capable of giving and receiving love, it would be with him. She would never let him go, no matter how badly it hurt. The pain she could take, but though she was loath to admit it, she didn’t know that she would ever be able to bear the loss of him. Not after knowing what having him felt like. 

Shadowheart finally let her eyes close as she snuggled in closer to Walker. With a few deep breaths, the pain was put away in a box somewhere in the back of her mind where she could ignore it. His scent. His heartbeat. His soft skin. All of that felt so, so much stronger than the pain.

-

She woke to soft kisses peppering her cheeks. For a minute, she just relished in it while pretending to still be asleep so that he wouldn’t stop so soon, but then his lips drifted closer to her ear and started to kiss along the edge of it and it tickled and felt amazing and over stimulating and she couldn’t help but squirm and giggle and she gasped, “Careful! Sensitive ears!”

He just smiled and whispered to her, “I know…”

She rolled over and cuddled into him and he started to massage her neck and back without her even asking for it and she immediately melted. She let out a long sigh and said, “Lady of Sorrows guide me… gods… what did I do to deserve that?”

“Nothing at all, love. You shall not need to do anything to deserve my affections.”

There was that word again. Now a pet name. The closeness. The tenderness. The love. It was all getting dangerously close to being too much for her to handle. She wanted it… gods she wanted it… but the doubt was in whether she really could get away with having it. 

“Walker…” she began. 

“Yes?” His morning voice was like the finest wine she could imagine. It was deep and rich. She wanted to drown in that voice. It was far too easy for him to knock her legs out from under her. That’s why it was so risky, she realized. If he ever came all the way between her and Shar…

No. She couldn’t think like that. Not now. 

“Nothing. Nevermind. Just… keep touching me like that.”

Their morning in the tent somehow simultaneously felt like it lasted multiple, blissful years, and less than a second. 

The shape of a one-horned Tiefling materialized outside and called out, “Hey Shads, the suns up already! Dontcha gotta commune or whatever? Also, we don’t know where Walker is, have you seen him?”

Walker was about to announce his presence when Shadowheart quickly put a finger over his lips to shush him and said, “I’ll be right out, Karlach. And, I’m sure he’s around, probably took cover somewhere nearby from the storm last night.”

Walker turned and looked at her with a confused expression as Karlach's sliouette shrugged and walked away.

“I’m not ashamed,” Shadowheart whispered, “I just don’t want the whole camp to get the wrong idea about the time we’re spending together. Is that okay?”

Walker nodded and whispered back, “Okay.”

“Also, they’re all idiots if they haven’t noticed your pile of clothes outside the tent yet. But, if they have noticed and they’re just teasing, I don’t want to add fuel to the fire.”

He nodded again. She didn’t know if she was making sense to him, but she appreciated that he went along with it nonetheless. She didn’t know if she was making much sense to herself, either. She just knew that she wasn’t ready to face the reactions of everyone else to their… coupling? Their courtship? She didn’t even know what to call it. But she felt that the more people who knew, the realer it became, and the more likely it would be that she’d have to put an end to it lest her Lady deem it to be too much of a distraction. For now, this was just for them and the four walls of her tent. She prayed that Walker could sense that without her needing to say it. 

Walker kissed her softly one last time and then slipped out of the tent easily enough. Everyone was gathered around the campfire enjoying breakfast so they didn’t notice him quietly get new clothes from the storage chest then dart into the treeline to get redressed before making a big show of coming back to the camp, acting like he had slept in the woods. 

Shadowheart had begun her morning prayers by then but she couldn’t help opening one eye slightly when she heard his voice again as he joined the others by the fire. She giggled to herself at his performance and watched as he fixed two plates of food. 

When he stood up and began to walk back to her, she sealed both eyes shut again while he quietly set the second plate of food down on the stool next to her. This had become part of his routine every day. She prayed, and he brought her breakfast while the food was still hot, even going to lengths to cover the plate with a silver lid that he found somewhere along the road. 

This time though, he added something new to the procedure. He stood in front of her and leaned down, placing a kiss on the top of her head, before walking away. 

She almost cried. She could have. 

But she bit down on her lip and batted away the pain in her hand and continued her prayers.

Blessed Nightsinger, witness our adoration. 

He had kissed her like she was something to be adored. 

See how we serve you, only you. 

He was so gentle…

We have emptied our hearts of falsehoods. 

I don’t love him. I don’t love him.

We have vanquished your foes.

He could light the darkest night… erase every shadow…

In darkness, we see your truth. Embrace us, your loyal warriors. 

Please, Lady of Sorrows… please… embrace me… I have only ever served you…

Cloak us in your shadow. Guide us to your victory. 

Just don’t make me choose…

Shar's will shall be done. As sure as night will fall.

#shadowheart #shadowheart fanfiction #shadowheart x walker (oc/tav) #shadowheart x tav #shadowheart bg3 #bg3 #bg3 fanfiction #oc: walker #cleric x paladin #cleric of shar #shadowheart fluff #shadowheart angst #my fanfiction #my writing #original writing

[otherworldlygate]

The Fascinating & Frustrating Experience of Writing AUs for Tales of Symphonia

You might have been wondering when I would type out some juicy meta for this blog instead of just reblogging art, so congratulations! Here.

Enjoy this "meta" about AU fics and concepts.

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The truly fascinating/frustrating thing about designing any remotely serious AU within the ToS fandom at large is dealing with the fact that the characters in the game are heavily—and I mean HEAVILY—ingrained into the world. I’m not necessarily talking about Sylvarant and Tethe’alla, but rather their universe at large. Aselia as a whole has so much going on, and the cast is firmly rooted in it. We can’t even separate the history of the world from our cast, because despite being 4,000+ years in the making, we have 4,000-year-old characters thrust upon us.

The world of Aselia is a deeply interesting place, and there’s a lot to explore there. This is probably why in-universe fanfiction is so incredibly popular.

I’ve been in many fandoms over the years, and something I’ve noticed is that most of them have a pretty balanced ratio of canon to completely AU fics. That is decidedly not the case for ToS. While there are AUs, quite a few of those continue to explore within the canon world using the rules the canon has given: for example, a semi-popular idea is Tethe’alla as the declining world where Zelos is the current journeying Chosen. We also have a handful of canon divergent stories (what if X didn’t happen within the story/what if Y happened instead of X?). Lastly, there are a wide variety of fics that explore the world or timeline at large: there are stories about the original Hero Group, stories that poke around in the rich concept of the Balacruf Dynasty, fics that utilize the Otherworldly Gate in interesting ways, and even stories that detail the lives of other Chosen, like Spiritua.

I shouldn’t discount the difficulty that comes with writing these kinds of stories, especially large sweeping concepts that require a lot of thought. The best example of this is Declining!Tethe’alla. At a glance it sounds so incredibly simple: all right, so…Zelos is the journeying Chosen, then!

I mean, yes. But you have to consider everything that comes along with Tethe’alla as the declining world, not just the fact that Zelos is the one making the journey, now. For example, I think it’s especially important to imagine the kind of world Sylvarant might have become, if the Balacruf Dynasty had never lost its seat of power (or if it had, but to another military force). Copy-pasting Tethe’alla’s particular brand of “flourishing” into Sylvarant doesn’t work; you have to put more thought into it than that! Colette, as part of the mana lineage in Sylvarant, would always remain there. But the Ranches would be in Tethe’alla now, so Anna wold have been there, and Lloyd should be, too.

Would Sylvarant send a team to Tethe’alla (via Yuan) to assassinate Zelos? Would Raine and Genis have gone through the Gate if they lived in the declining world, and if they didn’t, what kind of place would Sybak be in an impoverished world? Would they even be forced to go there? Would Presea have been experimented on? Would Alicia have followed after by circumstance? Would Alicia and Regal have even met when competition to work for a rich family would be so intense in the first place? (Would the Lezareno Company even still exist at this point? Would Regal’s father still be alive and heading the company? Would Regal have gone to prison?) Would you even place these characters in the declining world, or move them to the flourishing one?

Like, the easy road is just checking similar boxes to the canon to keep things familiar, but that isn’t always the right—or best—choice for a story. Like, if we’re here to read about Declining!Tethe’alla, I think most people are interested in how the world has been affected by that difference, as well as the characters within it, especially our main cast.

Even then, those considerations branch out: would Kate exist in this version of Tethe’alla? Would Corrine? Would Sheena’s fate be different or the same when it comes to Volt (would Mizuho be more cautious or desperate?). How are half-elves treated? What is the caste system like? What kind of village is Heimdall now, after 800 years of the world declining and everyone scraping by for mana? Is the king’s power tentative or is there even a king anymore? (Is he constantly in danger of being overthrown? How has this affected the way he rules and the laws he enacts? Does he have many children and wives to ensure the bloodline doesn’t end?)

Tethe’alla knows about Sylvarant in the canon, so with Sylvarant as the flourishing world, do they know about Tethe’alla? How widespread is this knowledge? Is the Otherworldly Gate even working in Tethe’alla when it’s declining? Is there perhaps a Gate to match it in Sylvarant that is working? Would Raine still be obsessed with history or language if she was not abandoned at a historical-looking site as a child? (What might their education look like in this world, if they even get one?)

Did Zelos’s father still die in the same manner, or did he die on his own Chosen journey? Would Zelos’s father have taken the role of Chosen more seriously if he’d grown up in the declining world, or would he have carried on with a lover anyway? What about Mylene? Knowing Zelos would die either way (trying to save the world or actually saving it) how would this affect Zelos’s relationship to his mother? Might she be able to love him? Would Seles even exist? Would Zelos want to save the world so that Seles would not have to?

Not every “Chosen” bothered going on the journey; many simply continued the lineage instead; what about a Declining!Tethe’alla story where that is Zelos’s responsibility and he does not have to journey, but will have to give up one of his own children to that fate?

This is just one semi-AU concept, and it even takes place within the canon world, so…we have the same magic system, expsheres, exbelua, familiar towns and cities, races, ranches, Desians vs. Renegades, summon spirits, seals, Chosen Journey, and so on.

It wouldn’t be difficult to flip the script if the characters weren’t so ingrained into the world, which, to be perfectly clear, here, IS A GOOD THING! It means the worldbuilding was well done.

--

Let’s talk about Presea for a second. She’s a great character, but a lot of what makes her interesting hinges on her backstory, which is firmly rooted in Aselia. If you popped her into a modern day AU, there’s no really effective way to build a story around her that works to the degree the canon one does: her backstory of being poor, experimented on, losing 16 years of time, finding out her sister died horribly and partially because of her, finding out her she’d been hanging around with her father’s corpse for a long time without realizing it, dealing with the fact that her emotions have been severely suppressed…and a multitude of other things, is…baked so far into the ToS canon that it’s hard to find anything that works in a similar way and doesn’t feel icky or insensitive.

Like, for all intents and purposes, canon!Presea is 12 years old. Her body should be 28 years old, but it’s not. Her mind should be 28 years old, but it’s not. She remained “frozen” at the age of 12 for 16 years and she logically knows it, but wasn’t mentally present for it. That’s a huge character bit. It’s integral to her story. It’s hard to just…throw that away and carry on in a modern AU where she’s sipping Starbucks and texting Colette dog memes.

When it comes to characters like Regal or Sheena, who canonically carry a lot of guilt on their shoulders, this issue is still quite difficult. I like to imagine with characters like this, their primary character traits are not the guilt they feel, but rather, the capacity for feeling emotion that deeply in the first place. Sheena is canonically a very emotional person, so this fits her easily, and Regal comes off a lot like an empath to me, so it works for him, too. Sheena’s story is about failure (and overcoming that failure); the failure doesn’t have to be “making a pact with Volt” in an AU. In fact, I’d argue that the game never really settled the score with Sheena’s issues regarding Volt in a satisfactory way in the first place, so in an AU there’s no real need to explore the guilt if you can’t find a place to put it where it actually works. (I also take some issue with the “solution” of the guilt surrounding Volt to be…more guilt. Yikes.) Far more integral to Sheena’s character is the depth of her emotions anyway, and her desire to make friends and form meaningful connections to people (even though she struggles with it). Obviously her situation with Volt did affect her, and deeply so, but since the game tied it up so poorly it doesn’t feel like it’s cheating to largely ignore it in some AU circumstances.

In the case of Regal, I think many fans believe his primary character trait is “man who feels too much unreasonable guilt” but that belief is wrong. It’s not that his story has nothing to do with guilt, but I think at its core it’s about compassion and empathy. I wish the game had gone a bit more into Regal and his family’s history, particularly his relationship to his parents, because the only information we get about them is from the drama CD (where his father functions as his foil: an unempathetic scumbag who does not care about the health or well-being of his employees). When Regal inherits the position of a CEO and eventually the title of President, he struggles with the policies his father put into place that actively harm his employees and the rules he was raised under that don’t allow him to have any time for himself (no friends, no fun, everything must always revolve around working). It’s very clear he’s miserable living like this. The drama CD has its issues, of course, but I do like how it goes into the boring way Regal meets Alicia, and how long it takes him to even realize he doesn’t know her name, which, in the drama CD, is an extremely important part of Regal’s initial character arc. Neither the game nor the CD make Regal and Alicia’s relationship about love changing someone: rather, Alicia says something that weighs on Regal’s heart (“I don’t expect you to know my name; you employee hundreds of people.”) and he realizes he doesn’t have to be like his father and so chooses to be different. He was always a compassionate and empathetic person, but he gives himself permission to take control of his own life and do things his own way. He starts pushing for employee safety and making an effort to appreciate and protect the people who work for him. He doesn’t do this just for Alicia—he does this for himself.

Obviously he falls in love with Alicia in time and then struggles with the guilt he feels over being forced to take her life, but part of what makes this interesting is the timing of it. He’s only recently taken control of his own life, and was then forced into doing something that felt out of his control. He’s supposed to be protecting his employees, not hurting them. He’s supposed to protect the people he loves, too, not hurt them. This is the core of the guilt he feels.

Anyway, while guilt does play a role in Regal’s life, it doesn’t define him; what does is his capacity to feel compassion and empathy for others. He’s a good businessman, and he’s smart, but he makes a very real effort to think for himself and do things his own way for his own reasons. This is explored a bit in the game when he does things like passlock the Toize Valley Mine, admit that his family’s wealth was had on the backs of Sylvaranti humans, and per his ending, funnel resources into rebuilding Palmacosta despite it getting him side-eyed by people within his own company. I think it cannot be overstated, either, how important it is that he is neither racist nor classist, despite his upbringing. This is the way he chooses to be.

Presea, on the other hand, is harder to work with. She doesn’t have a lengthy and rich history before her time was frozen for her, so her character feels very reliant on “being 12, but knowing she should be older and all the trauma that goes with that.” That said, I think one could explore Presea in an AU in the context of feeling like she was out of the loop for some years with her sister. It’s not the same as losing 16 years of life, and it’s not the same as realizing Alicia’s been dead for the last 8 years or seeing her father’s still-reeking corpse in his bed. But there is a similar “vibe” to, for example, her being separated from her sister for years and losing a connection she once felt to someone dear to her.

--

That said, this mostly just proves my point: most of the characters in this game are extremely hard to separate from the world they were written into. It means great things about Tales of Symphonia, but bad things for me, a person trying to write an AU.

Like sure, you an come up with ways to kind of “copy/paste” the traumas of the canon into a modern story; for example, instead of Regal and Kratos killing someone, maybe they’re driving the car when they’re involved in an accident that ends up taking the life of their loved one. In Kratos’s case, maybe it was an accident where a drunk driver hit them, to help spread the blame; Kratos’s guilt could come from being out on a night when drunk driving rates are notoriously high—for example, New Year’s Eve. But in Regal’s case, there’s just no real way to seriously mimic the canon while still remaining true to his character. The point of his guilt in the canon is that it’s not completely misplaced: it’s just taken to an extreme. If he goes to prison in a modern story for being behind the wheel of a car when one of his passengers dies, he has to actually be found at fault: under the influence of drugs or alcohol, neglectful in caring for the car to a serious degree, driving without a license/insurance, or failing to wear glasses/contacts when he needs them. However, doing this goes against his character because the point of the canon is that even though he feels guilty, he isn’t actually to blame.

Colette can be born with expectations of her (becoming the first doctor in the family, for example) but it’s impossible to carry forward the Chosen traumas without making an AU feel convoluted. Like yeah, med school and residency require a lot of sacrifice, but it’s not the same as ACTUALLY GIVING UP YOUR LIFE TO SAVE THE WORLD. The burden feels different and will affect the characters in different ways.

--

Anyway, all of this is not to say that I have anything against AUs, or that I think it’s bad that Tales of Symphonia works so hard to root the characters within the world of Aselia. It’s the opposite, actually. I think it’s fascinating how much work has to go into an AU of any kind in this fandom for it to feel natural for the characters. I love that the cast feels so “at home” in their own world that it’s reflected in the kinds of fics we see published on AO3.

It’s just hilariously frustrating that, if you want to include the entire cast in an AU, and not just the blorbo or two that you really love, you have to bend over backward to worldbuild a ton before you begin to write, lest you end up writing yourself into a corner… Or worse, you might shoehorn a character into a role because you need the role filled, even though it doesn’t work very well for the character in question.

Like, Zelos feels as if he’d be easy to transplant into a modern AU of any kind, and I would say he definitely is…but only if he remains on the fringes of the story and doesn’t play a major role. If he needs to matter to the story to any serious degree, you can’t ignore the fact that canon Zelos has so much going on in his life and world and head that taking only the easy parts of him into an AU doesn’t feel right.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of copy/pasting one big trait of a character into an AU to try to make it work, but what ends up happening is the whole thing feels flat and boring. A guilt-soaked Regal in a modern AU isn’t very interesting, for example; the guilt isn’t the trait that makes him feel whole: it’s his capacity for compassion and empathy despite his privileged position in society that does that.

I’ve toyed with a few AU ideas for Tales of Symphonia, and honestly just looking at the sheer amount of worldbuilding I would have to do is instantly overwhelming. The current one I’m turning over is a modern Aselia AU, so I can’t even come up with “similar” vibes from the canon or it instantly reads as if the characters are just on some kind of tragic hamster wheel, doomed to repeat the same mistakes of the past.

It was during my quest for world and character backstory-building for this AU that I realized the heart of what matters to me in any AU is not that the characters feel like a copy/paste of their canon selves, but like a believable version of their original self: one built not on the circumstances of their birth or life experiences from the canon, but rather, character traits they hold that feel ‘core’ to me. Lloyd and Colette’s optimism and trust, Regal’s empathy and compassion, Sheena’s emotional depth and search for connection, and Presea’s desire to be treated normally are all examples.

Still, it can be hard to apply these in a meaningful way when crafting a character’s backstory, especially in AUs that differ drastically from the canon, either due to a completely different setting (mermaid!AU), metaphor for something (werewolf!AU), or tableflip (Declining!Tethe’alla). If the setting is modern and we’re more concerned with core character traits and not putting them in Situations Similar to the Canon, does Alicia still need to die? Does Virginia have to abandon her children? Can Kate’s father just be a regular scumbag? Does Presea need to be deeply traumatized? Do so many parents have to be dead? Marble? Does Colette have to suffer so much? Can we allow the characters to live happier lives and still manage to write them in such a way that they feel naturally like themselves? Can we give them worse fates and still come out of it having written the characters well?

Things to think about!

#tales of symphonia #tales of symphonia meta #also huge thankyou to feluka for releasing the unhyphenated url for me!! ty ty #fanfiction

[copperbadge]

My folks just dropped me off at the airport, so I’m sat at the gate in Austin-Bergstrom with a protein bar and a bottle of water, waiting for the cue to board and considering life, as one does in an airport.

I didn’t discuss the ADHD diagnosis with my folks, not that I had planned to, but being medicated while there (and unmedicated, for some of it) was informative. I got to bring up some disability stuff with my mum; I don’t want to spill detailed family beans, but they didn’t give her a name for her diagnosis. It was mostly a net-zero gain but I’m glad I asked. With the benefit of a longer attention span and improved active listening, I suspect if she were a man she probably would have had an autism diagnosis, but I’m going to let that grenade sit unexploded, I think. I did get screened for autism, at least in the ways they can screen, and that came back a pretty clear negative as expected. 

There’s enough other emotional ordinance in my life right now to navigate around, anyway. The whole concept of “twice exceptional” is proving to be an issue to process, not so much because I’m gifted-and-also-disabled (still adjusting to that word) but because I didn’t think I was all that exceptional to begin with. I joke about being “clinically diagnosed as a real cool dude” but...in some ways it’s not actually funny. We none of us truly know what other people think of us, but I used to think I could gauge it pretty well and I’m beginning to both wonder in some cases, and in other cases comprehend that my assumptions of other peoples’ beliefs about me have been very, very wrong. 

And I don’t know what to do with any of that, in part because there’s a fine line between owning one’s intellect, one’s gifts, and being a real fuckin’ dickhead to people because you think you’re better than them. I never want that. So I’m just holding this information, trying to determine how to handle it safely. I don’t love ambiguity, so I’m not pleased with that, but I’ve learned to sit in a certain amount of uncertainty and it’s been six weeks since the diagnosis, two weeks on the meds, so I can own that I’m being impatient with myself. 

I’ve thought about building a separate tumblr to talk about all this stuff, since even for people who are interested I can comprehend some of this might be traumatic, and for everyone else perhaps not that interesting. A dedicated tumblr is on brand for me in some ways (the mustard blog, the louvre blog) but a bit antithetical in others, in that my blog has always been a weird swirl of personal life, fandom, and aesthetic, so I don’t know. Opinions welcome. 

I think I’m going to send the text of the horse metaphor post to my psych, but mostly so he understands how I’m interacting with the meds. He’s not meant to be my therapist -- neither he nor I want that -- but I really liked him when we spoke, so I do want to be as easy a patient as I can be. The rest will wait; it’s waited this long, after all. 

#sam has adhd #'copperbadhd' probably isn't taken but also looks like a Klingon swearword

[warlock-enthusiast]

"If you don't stop now…,”

Prompt number: 14 Fanfiction Fandom: Baldur’s Gate 2 Rating: M Characters: Anomen, Bhaalspawn Alhana Warnings: smut

She vaguely remembered drinking too much and enjoying herself for once. The wine granted her the confidence she lacked in every other aspect of her life and they finally found some time to celebrate. With Irenicus dead and his plans scattered to the winds, they could breathe for a moment or two before something else would come along. Alhana knew that most of them would part ways to find their own adventures and paths in life, but she needed to consider her own future and where to go from here.

The feast was over and she'd retired to her rooms, only to be surprised by Anomen a few minutes later. He'd looked so handsome with a slight flush to his cheeks and an easy laughter waiting on his lips.

"If you don't stop now…,” Alhana bit her lip to suppress another moan. 

Anomen had been surprisingly open with his attentions and affections, touching and kissing her, earning some rather snide comments from Imoen (promising a violent death, if he would ever break her sister’s heart). 

No holding back now though and his armor was gone and replaced with trousers and tunic and his skin felt hot beneath her touch. He knelt between her legs, fingers hooked beneath her silken undergarments. In this darkness, Anomen’s eyes seemed dark and only reflected the barest of lights. 

“I will not stop now, my lady.”

She groaned, because she had hoped that they were long past beyond such titles. “Anomen, please.” “Alhana.” Her name still sounded like a promise and she groaned as he made good on his promise and undid the last layer of fabric that kept them separated. With his ruffled hair, he looked a few years younger than he actually was and no longer than the honorable fighter that had kept her safe with his shield during their battles.

He looked ready to devour her whole and her body shivered beneath his. To be desired and loved and treasured. She’d always thought that not possible for her and only bathed in the embrace of the God that she followed. Now, her fingers grabbed Anomen’s tunic with no desire of ever letting him go again. 

“The others might hear something.”

“They’re asleep.” Spreading her legs apart, he pushed his body forwards and kissed her. Anomen’s beard scratched against her skin and she knew that she tasted of wine and so did he. 

His right hand roamed her body, cupping one of her breasts and letting his thumb brush her nipple. “You’re so beautiful, my love.”

Blood rushed through her body and her head started to ache. Alhana didn’t know whether she had to blame the wine or her own nature or how nervous he still made her. Her stomach was all butterflies and longing and the fear of waking up one day and finding him gone. Anomen swore to always be at her side, but the fear crept into her thoughts every now and then. 

“But I’m tainted. A spawn of Bhaal… I still have these urges. How could you…” Anomen silenced her with a kiss, clearly hoping to quieten her doubts with affection.  

“You’re so much more than your father.” Alhana’s heart hammered in her chest. His words carried weight, because he also became so much more than the tragedy of his family. Anomen rose from the ashes of a heritage tainted by abuse and too many drinks. 

And now he was hers and they’d be able to build a future together. 

Alhana moved her body and lifted her hips. An unspoken invitation for him to undo the bindings of his trousers and claim her fully. 

#fictober23 #baldur's gate #baldur's gate 2 #anomen #bhaalspawn #anomen delryn #alhana #headcanons

[lovelyyy-luna]

unhinged {pt.1}

this fic is going to have moon knight ep.6 spoilers so if you haven't seen it please don't read. you have been warned everything below will be at your own risk.----

pairing: (jake lockley x fem!reader)

fandom: moon knight

pronouns: she/her

type: idk violence??

warning: guns, killing

word count: 970

a/n: so the deity Apophis, from my research, is either male and female or neither, so I just use they/them pronouns for them. If any of you know more about this deity or know of a reliable website for egyptology, please let me know.

date: may 7, 2022

PART 1 | PART 2 |

masterlist

It was a cold night, well morning, in New york. You stepped out of the club for a breather, but you decided to call a cab.

The dress you were wearing was shorter than you liked, but your girlfriends convinced you to wear it. You didn't want to go out tonight, but they are pretty convincing. Clubbing for you was too overwhelming; you would have been happy just staying at home watching a lousy reality show. 

A white limo pulled up to the front of the building, and one of the bouncers from the club opened the car door for you.

You stepped in, and he closed it. The window that separated you and the driver rolled down.

“Where am I taking you, sweetheart?” His New York accent was rough and captivating.

“Oh, um, corner of Cooper square and East fourth, please.”

You sat back and just relaxed.

“So you live in NOHO? Must have a rich father, am I right?” he said, looking back at you in the rearview mirror.

You chuckle, “Yeah. I am the product of an affair of a super social elitist, and he bought me an apartment and gives me a monthly allowance as hush money.”

“Shit, really?”

“Yup, as you can tell, I have major daddy issues,” you say sarcastically.

He laughed at your comment, and the rest of the ride was quiet.

He pulled up to the corner, “Well, here we are, sweetheart.”

“Thank you,” you were bent down, shuffling over to the rolled window, and he was looking down your dress through the rearview mirror.

“Here you go,” you say, handing him some money.

“Nah, just keep it.” 

You give him a weird look, “Are you even from New York? What kind of cabbie does not accept money from his fare?” you shuffle through your purse and pull out some more bills, “Now you use this and buy the missus something nice.”

You reach through and put the money in his jacket pocket.

You exit the limo and walk to your gate.

“Hey sweetheart, I don't have a missus!” he yelled from the driver's side.

“Okay? Then go buy yourself something nice, sweetheart!” you yelled back, giving him a wink.

You walk through your gate laughing.

He was laughing as well, but the smile disappeared when he saw a man follow behind him before the gate door closed.

He quickly took action.

He went up the gate, took his gun out and his silencer, and shot it open.

He walked into the building and saw that the elevator door was closing. He saw the man standing next to you.

You looked over at the man and gave him a friendly smile. He gave one back.

You were on the 13th floor, and you exited the shaft as he did as well. You went down the hallway, and he went the opposite way.

You never paid attention to the other tenants in the building, so you thought nothing of it when we went to his door. You swore an older lady lived there, but you could have been mistaken.

You got your key out and opened the door. It all happened so quickly, he pushed you into your apartment, and you tripped over your heels, falling to the hardwood.

The man took out his gun and aimed it at you. You looked up at him and laughed, and he just gave you a strange worried look.

It was only 2 minutes later when the door to your apartment opened, and the cabbie was looking at you in awe; he had his gun drawn but put it away when he saw that you were covered in blood.

“Hey sweetheart are you okay?” he asked, very concerned.

In a calm tone, you answered, “Yeah, why wouldn't I be?”

“I saw the guy follow after you after I dropped you off; he didn't hurt you?”

“No, of course not,” you smile sweetly at him, “Aww were you worried about me?”

“Well, you're my fare, and I wouldn't be a good cabbie if I let you go home knowing you might get hurt.”

You walked towards him, stroking the outside hem on his jacket, “Do you do this for all of your fares?”

“Only the pretty ones and those that tip me a lot,” he chuckles, and you do the same.

“Well, you didn't have to come and try to save me. As you can probably tell, I can handle myself.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Are you sure you aren't hurt?”

“Yes, I'm sure.”

The body of the man was on the floor, groaning and twitching.

“Do you wanna do the honors?” 

He gave you a wicked grin, “You are absolutely unhinged,”

“So are you.”

“You know nothing about me, sweetheart.”

“Well, I know that a similar being tethers you and me. How good is your Egyptian mythology?”

He shrugs, “as decent as the next guy.”

“Well, in Egyptian mythology, there is a deity known as Apophis. They were known as The Great Serpent. They embodied chaos. And I am their avatar.”

“You're an avatar?” he asked with relief.

You nod.

“How did you know I'm an avatar?”

“The gods get very loud when there are others around.”

“You can hear them?”

“Yes. They are everywhere. If you open yourself to them, they can set you free.” you essay in a hushed tone.

You were close to the cabbie; the smell of cheap cigarettes and previous brown liquor stained him. Noses were barely touching when I asked him your question.

“Who are you?”

He looked deep into your eyes, pulled his gun out of his jacket pocket, and aimed it at the dying man on the floor, he pulled the trigger, and the only noise in your home was the man's last breath.

“I'm Jake Lockley.”

PART 1 | PART 2 |

♡please like comment and/or reblog♡

wanna be tagged? (X)

forever tags: // @fandomxreader // @mrspetxrs // @a-astxr // @alexxavicry // @livingandlivid // @goldenhxurs // @lovelyy-moonlight //

#lovelybean #marvel #marvel comics #moon knight #jake lockley #jake lockley x reader #jake lockley x you #jake lockley x y/n #oscar isaac #oscar isaac x reader #oscar isaac x you #oscar isaac x y/n

[ilikekidsshows]

"A deuteragonist has no narrative purpose outside of their relationship with the protagonist.

They may have a rich backstory, a compelling motivation for being involved in this specific plotline and an arc that is interesting in its own right but ultimately it doesn’t matter because this person exists solely so they can react to whatever happens in the life of whoever it is we’re really interested in."

Saw this on a website when I googled about "What is a deuteragonist" and among the answer and paragraph, I think this one fit Adrien the most.

Source : https://filmlifestyle.com/what-is-a-deuteragonist/#:~:text=A%20deuteragonist's%20role%20is%20to,are%20not%20exactly%20the%20same.

Sorry about not liking your sources, Research Anon, but this article is bad. Like, I know the term "deuteragonist" isn't very firmly defined in any official resource (it literally just means "second actor"), but this article can't even build up a case for its own definition of the term. It argues that deuteragonists are both unimportant and second main characters and all the examples it uses to showcase how we aren't "interested" in deuteragonists that I can recognize are arguably even more popular than the main character in many circles. Many people consider Han Solo and Obi Wan Kenobi more interesting than Luke amd Anakin and I know a huuuuuuge chunk of the Lord of the Rings fandom is far more invested in Aragorn over Frodo and do consider him a protagonist on an equal level.

Arguably all characters in any story are only viewed through the protagonist lense, because it's their story, so defining deuteragonists with this as their big attribute shows a lack of understanding of how storytelling works. Supporting characters only exist to flesh out the main character(s) more and are only important to the story through their relationship to the main character. What sets the deuteragonist apart from being a supporting character is that they do more, otherwise they wouldn't have their own term; they are meant to be as integral to the plot as the protagonist. In fact, some deuteragonists never interact with their story's protagonist, if a story is following two or more different story paths; one of those might be the main one, but that doesn't mean the others exist there just to reflect on the main one, even if those branching stories eventually combine, like the first Death Gate Cycle book does.

"Helping the protagonist" is also a very undefined character trait in the article. Cheering the hero on is helping but that doesn't mean the cheering classmates in a sports anime are deuteragonists. Again, if everyone helping is a deuteragonist, we wouldn't need a separate word for it. What the article fails to take into account is the multiple meanings of the word "actor". Actor means someone playing a part, true, but it also means someone taking action. A Deuteragonist needs to have agency in a story, they need to be able to influence what happens or they're not acting in a storytelling sense. This is another way to tell a deuteragonist apart from a mere supporting character.

The way I've always understood the term, deuteragonist can also be called "a secondary main character" for a reason; in many cases this character is meant to be second only to the main character (or the antagonist) in terms of story presence and impact. If someone outclasses your deuteragonist in these respects, then they're not a deuteragonist, they're a supporting character. From season four onward, both Alya and Félix outclass Adrien in story impact and importance, hence, he's being shafted out of his role as the deuteragonist.

If you're using this article to show a possible explanation for why the crew behind Miraculous can treat Adrien as the deuteragonist in promotions but write him as only a supporting character in the show, you might be correct. This narrow and lessened view of any character outside of the protagonist seems to be the exact attitude behind the show.

#ml salt #ml writers salt #storytelling #literary theory

[gaygoetia]

Vecna created the Mind Flayer (Theory)

I already touched on this in my post about what Vecna was up to during seasons 1-3 but I wanted to make a separate post discussing this theory in more detail.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON 4 OF STRANGER THINGS.

Dustin's Theory

In season 4 Dustin theorizes that Vecna is acting on the orders of the Mindflayer, and this seems to be generally accepted by fandom as fact.

However, I think there's a strong argument to be made that Vecna is working independently from the Mindflayer or is even controlling him rather than the other way around.

Firstly, while Dustin's hunches are usually correct, it's important to keep in mind that he does not know everything we as the audience knows.

When analysing Vecna's motives, Dustin and Lucas have the following exchange:

As far as he's aware, Vecna is just another monster from the Upside Down, albeit a particularly powerful one. So his assumption makes perfect sense with the information he has.

Why would Vecna want to gain passage to an alien dimension, if not to conquer it? And why wouldn't Vecna be part of the same hivemind as the rest of the monsters in the Upside Down?

Of course, what Dustin doesn't know is that Vecna was originally a human being with psychic abilities comparable to Eleven's, who she banished to the Upside Down before the rest of them even knew she existed.

With that knowledge, "taking over the world" is no longer the most obvious motive for Vecna opening the gates. Given he was originally from the home dimension it makes a lot of sense that Vecna would want to return there. It's much more pleasant and hospitable for one. For another Vecna might have sentimental attachment to it. And of course he may be out for revenge against the one who banished him.

Of course, all this alone doesn't disprove Dustin's theory. It's entirely possible that after being sent to the Upside Down, Vecna was possessed by the Mindflayer and absorbed into the hivemind.

But let's take a look at Vecna's history and see why this might not be the case.

The Philosophy of Henry Creel

There is so much to unpack in all of Henry's scenes with Eleven, particularly his monologue at the end of episode 7, but there are a few strong themes that come up over and over again.

1. Freedom and Control

Even before we know his true identity, Henry frequently discusses the idea of control, specifically in reference to Dr Brenner.

He constantly talks about Brenner's desire to control both Eleven and himself, as well as the other children in the facility, and describes both himself and Eleven as individuals who cannot be controlled.

Even more often than he talks about control, Henry talks about the closely linked ideas of freedom and imprisonment.

When discussing his childhood, he explains how trapped and suffocated he felt by society and the rules that dictate it, as symbolised by the grandfather clock at Creel House.

He describes humanity as enforcing a "deeply unnatural" structure which he is desperate to separate himself from and the very thing that drives him to murder his family in the end is the fear that his mother intends to "lock [him] away", forcing him to conform.

Given the strong value Henry places on freedom and his determination not to be controlled, I highly doubt he would submit easily to the will of the Mindflayer. While it's possible that he simply wasn't strong enough to resist, I'm skeptical that this is the case given that both Billy and Will were able to resist the Mindflayer to an extent, even without the powerful psionic abilities Henry possesses.

His strong desire for freedom also provides another obvious explanation for why he would want to leave the Upside Down (now we know that Eleven trapped him there.)

With the full context of Vecna's backstory I suspect he is VERY angry at Eleven for what she did to him. She could have easily just killed him but instead she trapped him (in one of the worst places imaginable), stealing the freedom he's been fighting for his entire life, just when he thought he finally had it.

2. Fixing a Broken World

Henry describes how discovering a nest of spiders gave him a "new sense of purpose" and reshaped his worldview. He relates to spiders as creatures that are feared and misunderstood but also describes them as "Gods of this world", upholding what Henry believes to be a perfect natural order.

With Eleven's help, he seeks to emulate this structure, reshaping the world to his will. He believes that humans have "poisoned" the natural order and that by enforcing his own rules he can "restore balance to a broken world." He tells her that together they can "reshape the world" and remake it as they see fit.

3. A Predator "for Good"

Henry seems to view the world as firmly divided into predators and prey, with himself and Eleven as the former, but insists that they could be predators "for good", working to maintain balance in a chaotic world.

He describes Eleven as "superior" to her peers, implying that this is why he chose for her to live and for them to die. If all this sounds familiar, it may be because the Mindflayer is described as having a very similar worldview (Steve even compares him to the Nazis.)

4. Truth ("Holding up a mirror" to reality)

Despite constantly lying to Eleven himself, Henry also speaks often about the "truth" and describes himself as "holding up a mirror" to reveal things as they truly are. He is disgusted by his parents presenting themselves as "good, normal people" despite having done "awful things" and expresses his own inability to "pretend" for the sake of appearances.

It seems that, as Vecna, he views himself as holding up this mirror for his victims, showing them their own weakness and forcing them to confront their mistakes and regrets.

His use of the word mirror is particularly interesting given that the Upside Down is itself a mirror of Hawkins - a mirror of the oppressive world he resents so much.

Just like the visions Vecna torments his victims with, the Upside Down is a disturbing reflection of a distorted reality.

Similarities and Common Goals between Vecna and The Mindflayer

It is apparent right away that Vecna and The Mindflayer have a lot in common.

Both view themselves as "superior predators"

Both desire to control others

Both want to conquer/remake the world

Both are able to enter the minds of others (both in and outside of the Upside Down)

Both are associated with spiders

Bearing in mind that every one of these traits applied to Henry before he entered the Upside Down and became Vecna, I don't think these similarities are a coincidence.

How and why Henry (may have) created the Mindflayer

My theory is that before Henry was sent there, there were no monsters in the Upside Down.

When we see him falling through the Upside Down, being repeatedly struck by lightning and slowly transforming into the being we now know as Vecna, we don't see any other structures or creatures. All that is visible (except for Henry himself) are red storm clouds and lightning.

It could be that he eventually stopped falling and landed in a version of the Upside Down that more closely resembles the one we're all familiar with. But, even if this is the case, when did that happen and why?

The reveal that the Upside Down is frozen in time from the day Will went missing there could suggest that it wasn't a dark mirror of Hawkins until that day (when the second gate was opened.)

If Vecna has some level of control over the Upside Down, he may have replicated Hawkins and/or frozen time there on purpose (given the distain he expressed for the concept of time in his talk with Eleven.)

Perhaps when Will and other humans began to enter his realm, Vecna saw this as his opportunity to "hold up a mirror" to Hawkins.

So let's assume that Henry was tossed into a version of the Upside Down with no buildings, structures or signs of life, only clouds and lightning.

What if Henry (now Vecna) found he could use his powers to manipulate this plane of reality and create creatures to occupy it? Isn't that just what he had wanted to do? To make his own rules? To remake the world? To be a God of it? To create a world free from the plague of humanity?

What if he created his own perfect ecosystem? And ruling over all of it? The superior predator: a gigantic spider-like creature with psychic abilities comparable to his own. A creature that controls all but cannot be controlled. A creature that does not pretend to be anything other than itself.

And now his world is exactly as he wants it, now Eleven is weakened and absent, now it is time for Vecna to return home, get his vengeance and conquer his home dimension like he did the Upside Down.

TL;DR

Before becoming Vecna, Henry Creel told Eleven that he wants to remake the world. My theory is that by banishing him to the Upside Down, Eleven gave him the opportunity to do just that.

The Mindflayer's spider-like appearance and belief that it is superior to all others aligns with Henry's own beliefs and his talk of "holding up a mirror" to society is reminiscent of how the Upside Down is a mirror to Hawkins. I don't think any of this is a coincidence.

I think Henry used his powers to create the Mindflayer and all the other creatures of the Upside Down.

As always I would love to hear other people's theories or their thoughts on mine. Please do reply, reblog, comment or message me to discuss!

#stranger things meta #stranger things theories #stranger things #stranger things 4 #st4 spoilers #stranger things spoilers #st4 theory #the mindflayer #henry creel #vecna #my posts

[miyamorana]

Miya's 2023 Fanfic Recs Part 4

Here are all the cool, complete fics I’ve read this year. Separated into 5 posts because there’s nearly a hundred of them.

PART 4: VIDEO GAMES, MOVIES AND BOOKS (16)

Back to the Future (3)

Baldur's Gate 3 (1)

D&D: Honor Among Thieves (1)

Dragon Age (6)

Harry Potter (2)

Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms (3)

Part 1: Boku no Hero Academia (33) Part 2: Other Anime and Cartoons (20) Part 3: Television (16) Part 5: Crossovers (11)

Fandom: Back to the Future Title: Muscle Memory Authors: irisbleufic, leaper182 Pairing: Emmett “Doc” Brown/Marty McFly Rating: Explicit Word Count: 62,600 Summary: “Then why were we kissing, Doc?” Marty demanded. “I think I’d remember kissing you before actually kissing you!”

Fandom: Back to the Future Title: it is the dawn; time has shifted Author: Edgebug Pairing: Emmett “Doc” Brown/Marty McFly Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 16,184 Summary: The flux capacitor shakes, screams, explodes. Marty and Doc deal with the aftermath.

Fandom: Back to the Future Title: A Matter of Time Author: breakaway71 Pairing: Emmett “Doc” Brown/Marty McFly Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 14,096 Summary: Marty is going to save Doc’s life, and if Doc won’t let him do it the easy way, if he’s so determined to stick to his damn principles and never read Marty’s note, well then, Marty’s going to do it the only other way he has left.

One day at a time.

-

(or: Marty returns to 1985 only to find that his best friend is gone and everyone in his family are strangers to him. Obviously, the only thing left for him to do is fix the time machine and go back to 1955. Easier said than done, of course.)

Fandom: Baldur’s Gate 3 Title: Devil’s Tongue Author: ushauz Pairing: Astarion/Wyll Rating: Mature Word Count: 6,554 Summary: Actor Feat: Your Charisma increases by 1, to a maximum of 20. Your Proficiency Bonus is also doubled for Deception and Performance checks.

A devil’s magic, as it turns out, involves a lot of lying to make it work. Wyll works overtime to perfect it.

Fandom: D&D: Honor Among Thieves Title: vicious mockery Author: andthentheybow Pairing: Edgin Darvis/Xenk Yendar, Simon Aumar/Doric Rating: Mature Word Count: 4195 Summary: “He doesn’t use magic,” Doric says, jutting her chin toward Edgin. Holga makes a noise that might be described as a grunt. Simon nods and takes another bite of stew. “Is it another tragic backstory thing?“

Simon looks like he’s about to speak through a mouthful of stew, then thinks better of it and swallows first. “Don’t ask me.” Doric gives him a look and turns to Holga.

“I don’t know,” Holga says. “Probably.”

Five times Edgin actually uses magic, and one time he doesn’t.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age II) Title: Paper and Cotton Author: calligraphypenn Pairing: Anders/Fenris Rating: Teen Word Count: 14,835 Summary: Over the centuries, there developed in the Circle of Magi a tradition of showing affection, regard and intent through the giving of small, practical trinkets. It became a way to dodge any suspicion from the Circle authorities–who could object to the gift of some paper, or a single coin? In which Fenris is a practical elf, and accidentally tells Anders through tokens that he likes him VERY MUCH. But (at first) Fenris has no idea, and Anders is daily more baffled and suspicious. As seen on Tumblr, and now with lovely art by AO3 user Prudabaga.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age II) Title: Chances Are Author: calligraphypenn Pairing: Anders/Fenris Rating: Teen Word Count: 9,065 Summary: Anders knows what it’s like, being hunted. When Fenris isolates himself in his mansion and keeps his health issues to himself, Anders puts aside their enmity to help him. As seen on Tumblr.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age II, Dragon Age Origins: Awakening) Title: All of Me Author: Nikki66 Pairing: Anders/Fenris Rating: Explicit Word Count: 135,099 Summary: When Fenris learns he possesses magic, his life is forever changed. His friends support him, but can he cope with becoming his own greatest enemy? Salvation is just a mage away.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Agee II, Dragon Age: Inquisition) Title: Overthinking It Author: Starla-Nell (Princess_Nell) Pairing: Fenris/Dorian Pavus Rating: Explicit Word Count: 25,513 Summary: Fenris joins the Inquisition and meets Dorian. Somehow, they don’t kill each other. Wait, they’re friends? Wait they -? Oh. Oh, my.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age II, Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age Origins: Awakening) Title: Paths Cross  Author: Starla-Nell (Princess_Nell)  Pairing: Alistair/Bethany Hawke Rating: Teen Word Count: 4,149 Summary: Written for the Prompt: Alistair/Bethany Would love fics about these two adorable people crossing paths! AUs welcome, fluff and sweetness strongly preferred. No non-con, please.

Fandom: Dragon Age (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Title: A Herald Named Desire Author: ushauz Pairing: Male Adaar/Iron Bull/Dorian Pavus Rating: Unrated Word Count: 360,894 Series: Part 1 of Tales of Desire (Words: 396,552 - Works: 3) Summary: In which ‘Adaar’ is totally not a desire demon from the Fade, because Haven is a camp filled with Templars. Also morals and mortals are both confusing, and he would really just like to go home now please.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Left of the Line  Author: JoWithTheFlow Pairing: None Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 18,646 Summary: It started, as many things did, with Cedric. They had been stronger when they worked together, a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor, embodying the best traits of their house each and using them to fight and win against the spider in the maze. It had been the seed of an idea that bloomed in Harry’s fifth year—the Houses were stronger together. To survive, he needed not just bravery, but hard work, wisdom, and resourcefulness too.

It wasn’t just about him, either. They all needed each other. 

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Forever, preferably Author: JoWithTheFlow Pairing: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 67,690 Summary: There was another student here.

Tom recognized him vaguely—while transfer students were not necessarily uncommon due to the war, they were rare enough to at least make an impression. This particular transfer student was in his year, sorted into Ravenclaw after an impressively long hat stall. He looked like he might be descended from the Potter line, but he did not share the surname so his lineage was of no particular interest to Tom. Nothing about him was of particular interest to Tom, in fact, and yet here he stood, holding the book that Tom had come here to find.

It would be a good time to turn away. The Restricted Section was restricted for a reason—only books documenting extremely dangerous or extremely advanced magic were stored here.

Tom’s feet, however, suddenly felt as if they were made of lead. It wasn’t magic keeping him tied down, but something far more mysterious like curiosity or even fate. In any case, the delay was all it took for the Ravenclaw to lift his chin and meet Tom’s eyes.

This Ravenclaw, Tom realized, had eyes as blindingly green as the Killing Curse.

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: Be Sure to Tip Your Waiter (For He’s On His Last Dime) Author: inkncoffee Pairing: None Rating: Teen Word Count: 4,515 Series: Part 1 of Three and a Half Stars (Words: 10,085 - Works: 2) Summary: Being a demigod doesn’t pay too well (or, you know, at all) so Percy gets a job at a local restaurant. When girls ask him to switch tables with them to escape getting hit on by creepy guys, he always agrees. He’s in for a bit of a surprise one night when he recognizes one of the creepy guys.

Fandom: Percy Jackson Title: Spare the Rod Author: GwendolynStacy Pairing: None Rating: Teen Word Count: 11,980 Summary: After the war against Kronos, Nico is cursed with obedience by Demeter. Unable to leave the camp or tell anybody about his dilemma, Nico’s only hope is for somebody to figure out what has happened. Too bad nobody at camp knows him well enough to tell that something’s wrong.

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: if you need, come build your home in me Author: yrbeecharmer Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 326,495 Series: Part 1 of so collect your scars and wear them well (Words: 344,991 - Works: 4) Summary: Even though the world keeps falling down around him, Will Solace can’t seem to help but keep growing up.

(A series rewrite starting with the events of Titan’s Curse)

#fanfiction #fanfic recs #back to the future #bttf #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #honor among thieves #d&d movie #d&d honor among thieves #dragon age #harry potter #hp #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #dragon age origins #dao #dragon age awakening #dragon age 2 #da2 #dragon age inquisition #dai

[maple-the-awesome]

Ackerman's Sister || Chapter 10

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Sister Reader (strictly platonic), Erwin Smith x Reader

Words: 2,259

Overview: For most of your life, you had never even seen the sky before, but now, you'll get to see the outside world, too, and you know what means: getting to encounter a titan for the first time.

Series Masterlist🤎 AOT Masterlist🤎 Fandom Masterlist

CHAPTER TEN: BEYOND PRISON WALLS

You expected to be more nervous than this. Based on the endless horror stories you've been told, most soldiers experience permanent chills down their spines and difficulty holding onto their horses' reins given how much their nerves shake.

You expected to be the same way even if it would seem out of character for yourself, but on the contrary. You're calm, maintaining a proper grip to the reins as you stare ahead in preparation, then again, it’s possible that the reality of the situation hasn't hit you just yet.

If you had to guess, you'd say Levi's feeling the same. He merely blinks at Furlan's own worry which bounces off your group, a hint of regret laced in his voice as he realizes there's truly no turning back at this point. Maybe that's the true reason as to why you're so calm right now. For you, the point of no return was stepping outside of the Underground for the first time; exiting the Walls should be nothing compared to that.

Advancing through that old gate was like drawing back a curtain to look at the morning sun. Despite it being day both inside and out, the world that greets beyond the bare safety of society seems vastly brighter. Here, there are no roads aside from the beaten down path worn into place by the hundreds of former Scouts whose footsteps you now trace. Aside from that, you can't spot a single sign of human touch. This land is beyond humanity's territory; from here on out, you're at the mercy of titans.

"It's so vast..." you feel the need to comment aloud, your newborn appreciation for this landscape feeling misplaced when considering the scared shitless expressions of some of the other soldiers around you.

"It's amazin'!" Isabell agrees, holding her arms out as if to embrace the sun shining over you all.

"...Yeah..." Levi's agreement comes in a hushed tone, yet with one glance his way, you know it's true. His own eyes glitter in astonishment, mouth parted slightly as he takes in the sight. To think neither of you had even seen the sun for most of your lives. Now you’re a part of the few people able to see beyond the Walls…

"Shit, this wasn't the plan, (Y/n)..." Furlan hisses beside you, the formation luckily spread out enough so that no one else will likely hear," we weren't meant to get pushed outside the Walls like this. We should've gotten those papers before this point."

"While I agree that putting ourselves in this type of danger isn’t desirable, no plan is without its setbacks, Furlan, and if we can't adapt to them, we can't expect to achieve our goals," you answer, narrowing your eyes towards the front of the formation," we also need to be willingly to make bets here. My bet at the moment is that Erwin’s been carrying those documents on him, possibly the whole time. If I’m correct about that, then that means it was unavoidable getting to this point. The chances of taking them directly from himand getting away with it were slimmer inside the Walls…but perhaps this new situation can actually play in our favor.”

You exchange a look with Levi who bows his head in understanding. Out in the fields of such dangerous territory, chaos can erupt at any given second. If Erwin happens to die after being separated in the haze from his squad, then who's to say it wasn’t by a titan’s hand?

"Don't worry about the titans. I can handle them," Levi announces, although that does little to calm Furlan.

"They're titans!"

"So? You don't trust me?"

"It's not that..." Furlan complains bashfully, gaining a teasing chuckle from Isabell.

"Poor Furlan! You're already tremblin' and we haven't seen nothin' yet!"

"I'm not trembling!"

"Well I'm not scared! I'd be able to take care of those titans licky-split-!"

"-Stop with the chit chatting!" All four of you glance over your shoulders, glaring at the dark haired soldier who dared interrupting. He's from your squad and has already proven himself a pain in the ass before.

True to such a title, he quickly gains speed to reach your group, his expression furious," the titans aren't to be taken lightly! Even the most elite veterans of the Survey Corps have been killed by them! What makes you think four Underground rats like yourselves stand any better chance!?"

"Be careful what you say," Isabell challenges, becoming rather serious in a matter of seconds," if we Underground rats end up makin' it back alive, that'll make us better than your 'elite veterans', yeah?"

Her counter only further angers the scout who opens his mouth, ready to curse the redhead, however he receives no time to even start. Levi is quick to direct his horse between the scout and Isabell, making him jerk back and give the four of you space again. For a second, it looks like he might just say something anyways, but his arguments die in his throat after receiving a single glare from your brother.

"Sairam, knock it off! Titans can appear at any moment! You wanna keep fighting like children or maintain the ranks like the soldiers we're expected to be!?" Squad Leader Flagon interrupts, inserting himself into the group," this is the real deal out here! From here on out, nothing will be like training so remain prepared!"

You understand his words are implied to all of you, although you've already assumed them to be the case. It would be embarrassing if the Scouts have been struggling this whole time against still targets like the dummies you tear to shreds back at camp. For their dignity, you're hoping titans prove to be more of a challenge, however with such a thought finally comes that small ounce of fear curling in your stomach.

"Levi," he looks to you at the sound of his name, his eyebrow raised," don't get too cocky out here."

He huffs his offense," now you're doubting me, too?"

"I'm not doubting you, I'm being a concerned sister who doesn't want to see her baby brother turned to mush against the grass," Levi clicks his tongue at this, his cheeks dusted in pink embarrassment," I'm only reminding you to be careful and think things through. We have nothing to prove at this moment other than we can stay alive."

Levi rolls his eyes, yet that's proof enough that he at least heard you. Turning, you look to Isabell and Furlan next," same goes to you two. It's not a race to kill as many titans as possible. All we gotta do is complete our mission and get home alive, got it? Then we'll no longer be those useless Underground rats everyone sees us as."

"Yes, ma'am!" Isabell salutes excitedly, Furlan offering a tired smile that shows he still isn't too convicted about the situation, but he'll put his trust in your command regardless.

"TITAN SPOTTED!"

Everyone's heads turn to the shout, many desperately searching around in fear of where the beast could be. Fortunately, it isn't too close when you spot it yourself, although you still can't help but stare. They truly are creepy, this one in particular standing at 15 meters with a sinister grin upon its ugly face as it struts out of the tree line towards the wagons of supplies, ignoring the first line of scouts who try to stop it; it’s an abnormal.

Some of the more 'advanced' squads immediately engage into battle with the monster, attempting to cut it down before it reaches its destination, but it doesn’t go well.

The titan has no issue grabbing one of the scouts from the air, coming to a complete stop while bringing the man to its mouth. His friend attempts to quickly make the kill and save him, however the titan suddenly begins swinging its massive arms wildly. This results in several scouts nearly being knocked out of the air, one being bitten clean in half after getting too close to the titan’s mouth and the man trapped within its grip being crushed to death. In seconds, the titan leaves behind the carnage and continues towards the wagons.

"We'll be screwed if we get hit by those arms when it's swinging around like that," Levi observes, riding alongside you as you both keep close eyes on the enemy.

"But it wasn't moving its legs at the same time..." you add, giving a hum of thought before coming to a swift decision," right then! I'll distract it from the front while the three of you remain behind! Furlan, Isabell, once it starts swinging at me, it should stop moving! Take the opportunity to slash its ankles and knock it off its feet! When it’s down, Levi will go in for the kill! We must work quickly without pause nor hesitation; don’t give the fucker a chance to respond to you! Understood!?”

"Loud and clear!" Isabell smiles.

"Why not..." Furlan tries to.

Levi is the only one not to answer, his eyes narrowing further when he realizes you're actually waiting for his reply. Finally, he grumbles," don't try to be some hotshot hero and get yourself killed."

You blink before smirking," well, well, look who's being doubtful now? Don’t worry. I’ll be just as careful as I expect the rest of you to be. We’ve got this!”

With the plan confirmed, you hit the reins, speeding to catch up to the titan. You can hear Flagon shout something behind the four of you, although seeing that he's been left in your dust, you can only barely make out his protests.

You're rookies, ill-prepared to take on a titan on your own, at least in his eyes. As you told the others moments ago, none of you have anything to prove here, but it'll still be nice to give everyone the idea that they’re wrong about you guys. Besides, you’re confident in this attack strategy; you’d never put your brother and friends in danger if you weren’t.

Circling to the side of the titan at a safe distance, you stand on top of your horse before shooting your hooks into the giant’s hip. From there, you propel yourself forward, not worrying about getting any hits in and instead focusing on being mindful of those arms. As you had predicted, the titan comes to a complete stop before swinging at you, but being prepared, you easily speed out of the way at the last second, reaching high into the sky which forces it to keep its head cranked upward, unaware of the scouts coming up behind.

Following your instructions, Furlan and Isabell both use the opportunity for their own counters. Having been trailing directly behind the titan, they leap off their horses and race forward to slice into its ankles, causing it to lose balance immediately and fall face first into the ground. Before it can even think of pushing itself upright, Levi passes by you, spinning himself in the air then downwards to deliver a forceful blow to the titans nape.

By the time you land, steam is already melting away the titan’s flesh and bones just as the instructors said occurs upon the monsters’ deaths. You watch this sight, the feeling of victory setting in your own bones alongside the pride you feel when catching up to the others.

Isabell bounces in excitement, giddy over the success while Furlan sighs his relief, managing his first chuckle of the day. Even Levi, despite how indifferent he attempts to appear, has a glow in his eyes that shines brighter when you set a hand upon his shoulder, giving him a smile that you extend to the others too.

"Excellent work everyone!"

"I wanna see them try comparing us to those elites now!" Isabell cheers, pulling on Furlan's arm," how's that for Underground rats, huh!? We didn’t die, not even a scratch!"

"Don't go jinxing us, Isabell! That was only one titan. There's bound to be more!"

"Then we'll cut them all into pieces, too! They'll be no match for us!"

"Stop shouting, you're making my ears hurt," Levi warns, stubbornly looking away when Isabell throws her arm over his shoulder, yet he makes no effort to actually pull away from her grasp.

"Aw, don't act so cranky, Levi! You looked so cool out there! You and big sis both! We all looked super badass! Like professionals!"

You chuckle at Isabell's fiery spirit, happy to see your family so uplifted during what most would consider a stressful situation. You’re not sure what caused you to intentionally look away from them. Perhaps a slight movement in the corner of your eyes? Whatever the reason, you end up looking over your shoulder, locking eyes with Erwin Smith.

He stands mounted on his horse several yards away, watching your group with a grin tugging on his lips. You almost roll your eyes at this, prepared to let him ruin your good mood. Is it a grin of mocking? One forced as he must begrudgingly admit you fared well in your first real fight? Then you dwell on his expression further, realizing neither answer fits...No, the blond doesn't mock nor resent your victory. Instead, he wears a smile dripping with awe.

If thinking clearly, you would’ve hated the way you feel the need to stare at him, cheeks warm yet mind conflicted. It's as if you can read his own thoughts suddenly, understanding that they disprove everything you've previously expected him to think of you ask, however you dare not admit this. What trouble would you be in if you admit there’s warmth invoked inside you by the idea of Erwin Smith's apparent attention and approval?

NEXT CHAPTER➡️

⬅️PREVIOUS CHAPTER

#levi ackerman x reader #aot levi #levi x sister reader #levi x reader #levi x you #levi attack on titan #snk #x reader #levi ackerman #attack on titan #attack on titan no regrets #reader insert #erwin x y/n #aot erwin #erwin smith x reader #commander erwin #shingeki no kyoujin

[at-thestillpoint]

Hi!! I love your writing! And I was wondering how you set a scene like the actual setting. I feel like my setting is always lacking and that the readers won’t understand the atmosphere i’m setting or wont know where the setting is taking place. Sorry if this makes no sense.

First of all, thank you so much! Secondly, this makes total sense! 

Response under a cut because this got very, very long. 

One big caveat before I begin my ramble: I am not an expert at all. Other than one intro creative writing class many moons ago and reading George Saunders’s A Swim in a Pond in the Rain more recently, I have not studied the craft of creative writing. Everything I’m sharing is based on me futzing my way through. 

Okay, with that out of the way, on to my ramble: 

I think it’s brilliant that you’ve named two aspects of setting: The fact of it (where it’s taking place) and the experience of it (the atmosphere). I’m going to take them piece by piece, because I think they are separate but very related steps. 

The fact of setting: I read somewhere once (possibly in relation to writing smut? lmao) to think about the five senses, and I’ve found that helpful for both smut and setting. Combine those with the five Ws and I have my recipe for determining the setting: Where are they? What does it look like? What does it smell like? What does it sound like? And how, and why?

Do I go through all of these steps every time? Not at all. But they’re helpful for me to picture things.

I also spend a lot of time on Google Maps Street View and Zillow and even Yelp. I do a lot of research, because I can’t seem to just make things up, and having pictures of a character’s house or the exact seven miles they run or the exact floral arrangement at a wedding helps me ground the description.

The experience of setting: Once I know where the characters are, I can now see it through their eyes, hear it through their ears, smell—you get the picture. For me, because I write almost exclusively in third person limited, what actually gets put on the page is (or should be, anyway) entirely determined by what the POV character is sensing, feeling, and noticing. If they don’t see it, hear it, smell it, touch it, or—most importantly—care about it, it doesn’t get described. 

For example, in the first scene of california sand (I’m sorry if you’re coming to me from a different fandom!), I describe basically nothing about the wedding reception. Because Jake doesn’t give a shit. He notices the people around him because he’s slightly worried about causing a scene, but before he’s even in the room, he’s 99.99% focused on Natasha. And the strange hands on her back. Later on, I spend a lot of time describing San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Dipsea Trail hike that I make them go on. This was partly driven by my own yen for California, but this was mostly Jake noticing things about Natasha’s hometown, taking time to see this place she loves. All to show he’s a big ol’ softie.

On atmosphere, specifically: Call me a close reading English major, but I think the second part of the experience of setting, and the part that is foundational to atmosphere, is the actual words: how the prose affects how the reader experiences the setting. There’s an incredible post floating around Tumblr about how (and I’m grossly paraphrasing here) sentence structure helps create feeling. (i.e. Short sentences are anxious. Longer, more meandering sentences take you on a different kind of journey, which could be soothing, or could be aimless, or are the thing that drills deep into the marrow of the character.) I think the same is true at the word level, though the extent of that is bound by the actual definition of the word. Small words are crisp. Melodic words create an entirely different feel. Though I love it immensely, I wouldn’t just use “diaphanous” willy nilly: only when describing things that are actually diaphanous or when I’m trying to create a dreamlike, whimsical, filtered feeling. So these are things I consider, especially when editing.

One piece of feedback I remember vividly from that intro creative writing class was to stay in a moment longer. So that’s what I always come back to. Have I stayed in this moment long enough, in a way that makes sense for the character? 

All of that said: Setting doesn’t come naturally to me, so I have had to actively think about how to create it, and I’m still not sure if I strike the right balance or integrate it naturally in my writing. I’m consistently awed by and envious of writers who manage to incorporate setting into their prose so naturally that I hardly notice it’s being described at all. I think I can still tend toward clunky and chunky (that is, I describe setting, then thought, then dialogue and action, etc. instead of it all being woven together). There are many, many, many writers who do the weaving well, but I’ll shout out @goddesspharo in particular, whom I consider a masterclass in what I’ll call woven prose. 

One last unsolicited note (sorry!): For the most part, trust your readers to get it! They’re going to miss things you intended (and that’s okay!), and they’re going to pick up on things you had no idea you were doing (and that, for me, is honestly the most incredible experience).

#asked and answered #800 words of me rambling about writing! #craft askaroni and cheese

[felixcloud6288]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 35

This chapter reminded me how fast-paced this series is. If this was a weekly manga, this chapter would have ended with Ed reading the article about Maria Ross being convicted for Hughes's murder and the rest of the chapter would be the next chapter.

How did Lin get separated from the others. He was literally sitting alongside them on the train and he somehow got off and snuck outside before collapsing from hunger ...again.

We get this shot of one of the gates to Central HQ.

Central HQ has four gates located to the East, West, North, and South. After cross-referencing this shot with other images of Central, I'm fairly certain this is the East Gate. I can't say this with 100% certainty though because the layout of Central HQ is highly inconsistent between chapters. In fact, none of the other chapters show any paths crossing at 90 degree angles of each other.

The main reason I assume this is the East Gate is because one image implies there's a path going from the South Gate and traveling North-East to the East Gate and one of the paths we see in this image matches that one.

Based on the next shot, it looks like the way to enter Central HQ is you have to pass through a gated enclosure at the base of any of its entryways and then walk up the pathway to the main entrance. Since Ed and co. were outside HQ, I guess that means the Court Martial Office is outside the main HQ fortification.

Roy did that eye thing again when Ed asked about Hughes. But he's terrified rather than angry. And then we don't see his eyes as he lies to them and admits to Hawkeye how soft he is. I wonder if he was struggling to keep his composure. He kept his back to them the whole time.

Al had to lean into this shot.

Here's a fun little fandom detail. The Ed/Winry fandom uses the number 503 to refer to that ship. This was started because there's a brand of jean called Edwin 503. I bring this up because...

Arakawa knew.

And then the big breakout heist. Maria Ross has been convicted of Hughes's death without a trial and Barry the Chopper decides to break her out. Along the way, he also breaks out Lin.

The guard who was interrogating Lin deserves a commendation. He was inside Lin's cell when Barry broke in and he made sure to lock the cell before fighting Barry.

There was an ocarina in the confiscation room.

The bit when Ed and Al bump into them just reminds me of that one Shrek meme template.

And Barry make his own chibi face during the encounter.

And when Maria Ross encounters Roy in the alleyway, we don't see his eyes in the first panel, but they're doing that thing for the rest of the chapter.

back

Spoiler Discussion

Let's talk about that heist!!

Obviously, Roy didn't kill Maria Ross and the details about the heist will be explained in chapter 41 with some additional info in 42 so I'll save that part for then. For this half, I want to talk about all the details that a reader could pick up to clue them in that there was more to what happened.

Just to start off, why would Barry break Maria Ross out to begin? If he were acting on his own, he'd have no reason to want to save her. At best, he would have broken in because he wanted to chop her up personally. And he also didn't kill any guards. His comment makes it sound like he's under orders to not kill anyone. Admittedly, one could argue he's still following Hawkeye's orders when he first went into Mustang's custody. And why would he be interested in Lin being from Xing?

Now onto the body.

Knowing how the heist worked, the clearly cut chain on the band should clue you in that there's something up. Alongside that, you'll notice the band is otherwise intact. Now I want to mention that the melting point of iron is higher than the temperature used to cremate human bodies, and the cremation process takes a few hours, but Roy used an explosive force that supposedly instantly incinerated Maria Ross to ash and bone. That band should be either slightly warped from the heat or the chains should have been blown to pieces by the force.

Now onto conspirators. Obviously, Roy and Barry were major parts of the heist, but what about the rest of Roy's crew? We can say Falman was definitely uninvolved since Barry knocked him out before leaving. Meanwhile, Hawkeye seems to be unaware of what Roy was doing. Maybe he told her on the way out, but she had no involvement in it.

And how might things have gone more smoothly if Roy had been upfront with Ed and Al when he met them? They might have all stayed in their hotel room to mourn or maybe spend the day with Elicia and Mrs. Hughes. But because they didn't know anything was wrong, they went about their evening like normal and Al ended up finding a newspaper.

Also, remember this image from the backside of the newspaper. It's relevant later.

#fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist reread

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia

🤗 for the kink meme please ! Thank you!!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Oh boy, I don't really know. I want to say something wise but I'm not that wise. Specifically to fanfiction authors I'd gently suggest these things:

It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but there are people out there who need exactly what you're writing exactly the way you're writing it. Even if one day you look back on the fic and cringe, there are still people who hold it tight in their happy memories.

Post it. Just post it. It doesn't have to be perfect. Polished. Or even anything more than your love letter (or 'fuck you') to canon and the characters. Fanfiction is great catharsis, it can be joyous, it can be community, it can be 'I'm sure no one else has ever felt this way' only to realise other people feel that way.

You get better at writing by writing. But also through reading, watching shows and movies, looking at poetry, enjoying nature, being with loved ones, and taking care of yourself. You don't have to burn yourself out on your craft to feed that well.

You are not alone. Every fear you have, no matter how paranoid, or how extreme, is shared by you and tens of thousands of other fanfiction authors, writers, and creators. Whether you're scared everyone is going to hate you, that somehow your life will be ruined if you post a fic, or that you'll somehow expose some flawed ugliness in yourself by sharing your art... you are not alone. And so many of those people posted their fics anyway and took the leap. And so many others never took the leap and just keep it on their computer. No matter what side you fall on, your fears make you part of this community, and not separate to it.

It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but there are people out there who need exactly what you're writing exactly the way you're writing it. Even if one day you look back on the fic and cringe, there are still people who hold it tight in their happy memories.

Post it. Just post it. It doesn't have to be perfect. Polished. Or even anything more than your love letter (or 'fuck you') to canon and the characters. Fanfiction is great catharsis, it can be joyous, it can be community, it can be 'I'm sure no one else has ever felt this way' only to realise other people feel that way.

Learn how to tag and warn on your fics! It helps draw the right people to you! Tags and warnings don't drive people away, they're just the gate that allow the right people in, and (generally) keep the people out that you wouldn't want reading your fic anyway.

Remember that it's supposed to be mostly for fun, and don't turn it into a hustle if you can avoid it. Let yourself have something be not about money, if you can afford to. Fandom's one of the best places to do that with like-minded people. (This is why I still write fanfiction too).

-

From the fandom meme

#asks and answers #memey goodness #pia on fanfiction #idk i really don't have anything wise or pithy to say #except ignore anything on this list that feels wrong for you #ultimately what works for me will not work for everyone #we're all in fandom for different reasons #administrator Gwyn wants this in the queue

[isastrxnd]

One of the many great things about the 911 Lone Star fandom is the lovely content creators who work so hard and always create the best things! So I thought that it would be nice if I posted a bunch of song lyrics that remind me of Tarlos to help content creators. To all the creators out there: thank you so much for all that you do, the fandom wouldn't be the same without all!

If anyone can think of any song lyrics that aren't on this list, you are more than welcome to send them to me!

If anyone uses these lyrics for creations, feel free to tag me! I track #isastrand ! And without farther to do, you can find all the lyrics under the cut💖

• "Your touch blured my vision, it's your world and I'm just in it, Even sober I'm not thinking straight."- Off my Face by Justin Bieber

• "Sometimes I think I overthink, And i start to feel anxiety, There were times I couldn't even breathe, but you never once abandoned me."- Unstable by Justin Bieber

• "I feel like you could save me now, When I'm suicidal, Don't let me spiral, You make my heart beat faster than adrenaline, You kiss away the pain of all the hell I'm in, You're gonna make me better than I've ever been, 'Cause you're my medicine"- Medicine by James Arthur

• "Wherever you go, I'll go, 'Cause were in it together, For better or worse, hold on, 'Cause it only gets better."- Deeper Love by Nick Jonas

• "There's a couple billion people in the world, And a million other places we could be, but you're here with me, Take a moment just to take it in, 'Cause every high and low led to this, I'm just so glad you exist"- Glad you exist by Dan + Shay

• "These memories have been toxic, I tried to wean and get off it, Through everything, you been my rock, I think you're the only thing I didn't get wrong"- Unstable by Justin Bieber

• "I get anxiety when your not with me, I'm a mess yeah I get so erratic, You know there's a part of me that will always be breathless when you speak"- Nervous by Nick Jonas

• "You could give me chills on a summer day, when we're laying still, but you make my heart race, gonna keep me young when we're old and grey, I know that time moves on, but some things don't change"-Butterflies by MAX and Ali Gate

• "I will take your pain, And put it on my heart, I won't hesitate, Just tell me where to start, I thank the oceans for giving me you, You saved me once and now I'll save you too"- Hesitate by Jonas Brothers

• "You're the reason why my heart beats out my chest, Looking in your eyes it's a blood rush right to my temple, Every night that you tell me you love me, it feels like the first time"- Nervous by Nick Jonas

• "Some people bring you a million blessings, Some people teach you a million lessons, All that I learned, it wasn't my turn, It wasn't thе right time, Some peoplе come in your life for a reason, Others they come in your life for a season, But baby, you are a lifetime"- Lifetime by Justin Bieber

• "I remember talking on the first night, Chilled me to the bone 'cause I realized, everything before was a waste of time, and this could be forever."- If I fall by Nick Jonas

• "If we never met, I'd be drunk, waking up in someone else's bed, I'd be lost in a crowded room of fake friends, I wouldn't even know what love is, If we never met"- If we never met by John K and Kelsea Ballerini

• "We can make it 'til the end, Nothing can come between you and I, Not even the Gods above, Can separate the two of us"-You and I by One Direction

• "There's nights we had to just walk away,And there's tears we'll cry, but those tears will fade, It's a price you pay when it comes to love, And we'll take what comes, take what comes"- Walking the Wire by Imagine Dragons

• "I wanna love me, The way that you love me, Ooh, for all of my pretty, And all of my ugly too, I'd love to see me from your point of view, I wanna trust me,The way that you trust me, Ooh, 'cause nobody ever loved me like you do,I'd love to see me from your point of view"-Pov by Ariana Grande

• "I knew I loved you then, But you'd never know, 'Cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go, I know I needed you, But I never showed, But I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old,Just say you won't let go"- Say you won't let go by James Arthur

• "I'm so in love with you, And I hope you know Darling, your love is more than worth its weight in gold, We've come so far, my dear, Look how we've grown,And I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old, Just say you won't let go"- Say you won't let go by James Arthur

• "You've got a million reasons to hesitate, But darlin', the future's better than yesterday, I wasted so much time on people that reminded me of you,Gave you a million reasons to walk away, But I'll build a house out of the mess, And all the broken pieces, I'll make up for all of your tears, I'll give you the best years"- Best Years by 5 Seconds of Summer

• "I wanna live with you, Even when we're ghosts,'Cause you were always there for me when I needed you most, I'm gonna love you 'til, My lungs give out, I promise 'til death we part like in our vows"- Say you won't let go by James Arthur

• "Show me that heaven's right here, baby Touch me, so I know I'm not crazy,Never have I ever met somebody like you, Used to be afraid of love and what it might do,But goddamn, you got me in love again"- Love again by Dua Lipa

• " We are runnin' so fast, And we never look back, And whatever I lack, you make up, We make a really good team, And not everyone sees, We got this crazy chemistry, Between us"- For Him. by Troye Sivan

• "I just wanna see how beautiful you are, You know that I see it, I know you're a star, Where you go I follow, No matter how far, If life is a movie, Then you're the best part"- Best Part by Daniel Caesar and H.E.R

• "You don't have to say I love you to say I love you, Forget all the shooting stars and all the silver moons, We've been making shades of purple out of red and blue, Sickeningly sweet like honey, don't need money, All I need is you"- For him. by Troye Sivan

• "I'm not afraid of anything at all, Not dying in a fire, not being broke again, I'm not afraid of living on a fault line, 'Cause nothing ever shakes me, Nothing makes me cry, Not a plane going down,In the ocean, I'm drowning"- Sidelines by Phoebe Bridgers

• "Watch the world from the sidelines, Had nothing to prove, 'Til you came into my life, Gave me something to lose, Now I know what it feels like, To wanna go outside, Like the shape of my outline"- Sidelines by Phoebe Bridgers

• "I'll never give you away, 'Cause I've already made that mistake, If my name never fell off your lips again, I know it'd be such a shame, When I take a look at my life, And all of my crimes, You're the only thing that I think I got I right"- Lover of Mine by 5 seconds of summer

#hopefully this helps #y'all are more than welcome to message me lyrics #tarlos #911 lone star