wait wait I wasn’t in costume. comes to your door dressed like santa claus trickery or treating !!
Ooh! Hey it's Santa Claus! I suppose I must give you another treat
The world bends and shifts around you, the trees and grass falling away and in their place lies a breathtaking landscape
A frozen lake, the shores filled to the brim with proud evergreens, frost sparkling like jewelry on their branches
The air is cold and crisp, perfectly still, the fog of winter lying low to the ground and the clear sky above, brighter and bluer than you've ever seen it
The vision fades, and you return to fall
A sparkling gem of ice lies on a cord around your neck
"comes back wrong" lae'zel who returns from orin withdrawn, distracted, just not herself. shes jumpy, more aggressive/accusatory, generally mistrustful of companions she once would put her life in the hands of.
how does minthara handle this?
So yeah, one of the things that I do think is a huge missed opportunity in BG3 is having Orin kidnap your romance regardless of who they are/whether they're in your party. It would require a quest rewrite and restructuring, but it would have been - for me, at least - way more impactful. Since Orin is definitely riffing on the Bodhi plot from BG2 with her kidnapping, it just feels to me like they dropped the ball.
OK, soapbox over.
This digs into some heavy themes, so under the break it goes. Also, CW: sexual assault for some of the parallels I drew in this.
I think Minthara would be completely heartbroken, first of all, to think that Lae'zel might have gone through some of the same things she did. I also think that Lae'zel would either never tell Minthara about anything that happened, or she'd try to contextualize her own kidnapping as some form of weakness.
In her mind, she should have been stronger. It's a terrible, horrible thing to think, but think of how our culture in the real world can lead people down that tragic line of thought when they're victims of something like this.
Now compare that to the sorts of intense, highly rigid thinking that githyanki culture instills in its people.
Minthara would see right through that, not only because she knows that Lae'zel's strength never had anything to do with what happened, but also because she was in that exact same situation. In a romantic pairing, Lae'zel would have been the person that Minthara asked for protection from Orin, but in the end it was Minthara who could not protect Lae'zel.
Seeing her come back different like that would probably infuriate Minthara, but since Orin would already be dead, she wouldn't really have anyone or anything to point her vengeance towards.
Except Bhaal.
Maybe in the world where Lae'zel is changed by Orin's kidnapping, Minthara redirects her hate after the fall of the Absolute towards Bhaal. Whether that means trying to crush every one of the pseudo-god's little cults throughout Faerûn, or simply hunting what remains of the power structure that supported the Bhaal cult in Baldur's Gate, I think Minthara would react the only way she knows how: burn it to the ground.
joel joel joel joel 🎭💄😬😭😶 <3 (and also the anger one if u want. and also oli if you want? if this is too many feel free to leave any out sjdfklsdj <3 <3 <3)
JOEL JOEL JOEL JOEL !!!!!
it's NEVER too much i love joel and also oli <33
but i'm not doing every canon iteration i think i'd die /silly, so my au it is because i think that's predictable enough from me,
🎭 A headcanon about what they lie about
Ohh... lots of things...
There's a stream clip somewhere where Oli says Joel is a compulsive liar and I latched onto that. Man lies ALL the time about stuff just. because. he just does it, he doesn't think. it's usually harmless?? like "do you like x food" "ohh yeah! i looove x food! ^^" because... what if they get mad at him for saying the wrong thing :(
I dunno, man's got anxiety and he lies a lot compulsively because of it- also lots of "what are you doing?" "nothing!!" when it's literally. the most arbitrary thing. you don't need to hide man it's okay,
Oli lies to be funny. He lies to commit more to the bit. He also lies to repress his feelings and bottle them up so they never see the light of day <3
💄 An appearance headcanon
DID I NEVER POST MY MEZALEAN JOEL DESIGN,
I think I did. I change it a lot tbf. But I don't think I posted the one I'm thinking of- it's lots of bright colors!! He likes to dress nice but not too stuffy, look nice but feel nicer yk? And he likes his hair fluffy and bouncy and curly and ouhrghjg,,,
And he used to HATE his rainbow freckles bc he thought they were stupid, but Oli helped him change his view on them hehe <33
Oli's kiiinda the same way? But not really. Doesn't really care about how he looks when he's just hanging around, but if he can get Joel flustered by dressing up nicer, ohhh he cannot pass that up 😌🫶
😬 A headcanon about the worst thing they’ve done
The worst thing Oli ever did was talk to Joel. The worst thing Joel ever did was talk back.
That's a joke but. man. consequences or something, /silly
Nah the REAL worst thing Joel's ever done was probablyyy... let Oli stay the night that one time?? Like after the events of this fic- I'd imagine Joel's parents were Royally (hah) upset the next morning when they see that their child was sleeping with the son of their (now dead) political rivals ghjfgjf... like Joel feels 100% justified in the whole thing (and also rather enjoyed it, tyvm) but also,, he was probably grounded for literally a month if not longer afterwards hgjfhgjf.....
For Oli... I'm sure he's an absolute Joy to have in class if you know what I mean (/silly) like he is tormenting the halls of the palace and being a general nuisance but none of it would really be "worst thing ever" bc he's a prince and also just goofy so he's annoying but the staff loves him yk. I think what would be considered the "worst" thing though is gonna be in the next fic I post :3c
😭 A headcanon about the worst thing that happened to them
Gosh... I mean... I do kill them kinda. That's pretty significant. Joel dies horribly and Oli is trapped in stone for 200 years. That's pretty awful.
But that hasn't happened Yet and I dunno if I'll ever have the heart to write that particular scene ghfjgd... like I know how it happens in my head. but. I can't do that to them by putting it in writing </3
Besides that... Oli's parents did die too. Still dunno if it was political conspiracy or not. But either way, that's pretty awful and traumatic for him- and he couldn't be with his best friend for a few months before that and then afterwards he STILL couldn't be with him for a while... brutal for him :(
And Joel's upbringing is just kinda... sad. He's sooo lonely and then he FINALLY gets a friend and of COURSE it's the ONE PERSON he's not allowed to really talk to and his parents aren't supportive at ALL of their friendship but they gotta grin and bear it bc yaayyy alliesss and it's so tense and awful and makes him feel guilty because it's like he's gotta choose his family or his only friend but his family was always so neglectful anyway so why would he choose them but that's his Home and- anyways. Any event involving that whole dynamic is his worst, hope this helps ^^
+ A headcanon relating to anger
Hmm... anger is tricky. I feel like Joel is definitely the kinda guy to bottle it all up because he's not allowed to Feel those things or Show them yk. So every once in a while he explodes into frustrated growls (yeah. he definitely growls. but it's like if an ouppy was baby growling,) and hot angry tears and it's just..... oh sweetheart,
I think Oli's kinda the opposite?? Y'know the post that's like "life shattering tragedy = oh rip L" but "mild inconvenience = i want to kill everything dead forever !!!" he's like that. Gets Real Mad over all the small things but when something Big happens he's just. oh. ok 👍
Like he's still mad, but he just goes blank. What's he supposed to even do. His brain just Stops Working once the mild inconveniences pile up to be too high. Yes he is awful at dealing with stress how could you tell /silly
😶 A random headcanon!
JOEL. LOVES. SNIFFERS.
I'VE BEEN MEANING TO TALK ABOUT THIS FOR SO LONG. BUT HE LOVES THEM. SO SO MUCH.
Like it's a special interest of his but like unofficially. If given the chance he would 110% give up being royalty to go be a field researcher studying sniffers. But also not a field researcher because they're endangered :(
In my au I've decided sniffers are indeed still alive but they're (almost) all kept in one big sanctuary in Mezalea. Maybe there's a few wild ones left but like no one's seen em so it's assumed they're all there. I figured if this au takes place ~200 years before "canon empires" and also irl dodo birds were around in the 1800s... yeah sure, why not? Sniffers can be canon <3
Of course when Oli hears about this he absolutely learns how to shapeshift into one to impress Joel. Which absolutely works. Because oh my void sniffers,,,,
I can't really think of an Oli hc I've been wanting to talk about?? Just that 1) he regresses into small animals when things get Too Much, and 2) he likes to shapeshift into funny little animals to play with Joel sometimes ^^
i've never really thought about it so i dont have any sjdflksdj
💤 A headcanon about their sleep
he usually doesn't sleep unless someone barges into his house and personally tucks him in themself
that's when The Visions happen!! for the Copper King they were visions of the future and for the Archeologist they're visions of the past
💔 An angsty headcanon
the copper king is afraid of the dark and often lights candles to help with this- most folks outside of pixandria don't realize that not all candles represent death so they interpret the simple act of lighting a candle as a threat. pixl has lost allies this way, (it's partially why he lost fwhip hundreds of years ago), sometimes they don't let him explain, sometimes they do. sometimes explanation leads to ridicule, (a king? afraid of the dark?). he's afraid they'll think less of him. but the dark is where xornoth is, the dark is where the visions come, the dark is where he loses himself-
🫂 A friendship headcanon
him and fwhip are besties in every universe. it's inevitable.
he cares about people very genuinely. he isn't afraid to prank and make fun, yeah, but he's also very quick to rush to your aid if you need him !!
🌟 A headcanon about their desires/wishes
uhhh
🥇 A headcanon about what they’re best at
he's really good at explaining stuff. that's not a headcanon i just like the way he talks and that he's super patient and is happy to explain game mechanics to anyone who asks
teehee i AT LAST got around to introducing the t*lou dears clowns with the one and only template from ash! so far i have tlou!olga and gianna <3 with this cutest coloring as well !
the VERY early stages of a piece for the dearest marta in honor of fh's release ! with orions cutest template!
another early stages but in honor of oc kiss week a piece for kenny and @griffin-wood's dear raylene with this template !
and now a bit of writing! moments before disaster if you will a piece for alva and rhaegy with a bit of rhaemion and enya lore connecting them to vanna and daemy and their babies !
Summerhal was beautiful at this hour. those fleeting moments before midday and after the morning when the sun was well off to reaching its zenith made even the hardest of hearts gaze in awe.
Alva descended from her horse, vermillion. To her left by a relatively small pond were the horses of Lord Rhaemion Targaryen of Starfall, the princess Elia’s dear longtime friend (and rumored paramour, he too a close and beloved friend of the prince as well, the nature of things was a topic for another morn). And the other of her dearest Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.
She recalls when Rhaemion spoke of reason for choosing his horse. The almost pearlescent mane of his chosen mount reminded him of the scales of his dragon, Parthunaax known by the histories as the Burned Overlord. The Targaryens of Starfall or the Amethyst or Dawn Dragons still possessed the ones belonging to the riders they were bound to during and following the dance. Baelor and Parthunaax, Calla and Nahvintaas (a ilmestian dragon of Vilemyr), and Valaerra who was Rhaemion’s ancestor and her she-dragon Numinex. Though the most notable among them was the Ethereal, the Violet Star of Starfall herself once bound to the mistress of mists Iovanna Dayne, Starspire. The two year old daughter of Rhaemion recently began to speak her first words and has declared her favorite word to be the name of the ethereal. If this is any prediction that the girl at two has already declared her mount will not be a horse, but Starspire herself, one cannot fathom anything else. She laughed when he mentioned he will have to tell the girl when she’s older that the dragons are not to be flown in westeros and she will have to have a horse as he does. Lest the Dragon of myth and prophecy see her end by scorpion bolt.
On leaving vermillion by Rhaemion and Rhaegar’s. She makes her way by the remnants of the stone walkway closer towards the ruin. The three spent a lot of time in summerhall, her and Rhaegar spending the most.
yes!! right now ima thinking about joel's post s2 finale au (ive been calling it ascending!au in my head, even though it doesnt make a tonne of sense outside of it being the first word of the title lol)
so, a quick lil explanation of the plot so it makes more than no sense :D
joel gets beamed up to lore sky/heaven/the aether as seen in the finale
its great for a little thennn it all goes downhill. theres denial and theres angst with a minimal amount of puns! (hopefully)
theres a mish-mash of past lives' in the labyrinth (?) god!joel is lost in, the possibly very same labyrinth the other joels are slightly less stuck in (the joels that appeared in the finale share their spot of heaven with god!joel)
oh wait and theyre all gods. all of em. i cant remember if thats canon or not. welp.
as said, a few of the joels share the same place of heaven, but the entirety of heaven houses all the other gods across the mcyt multiverse! (and angels, which are the less then remarkable mortals, but they arent really important to the plot) (thanks oli orionsound, im stealing some lore /silly)
and so, the actual recent thoughts, im thinking so far, in random rooms (?) in the labyrinth, itll have parts of the mezalean palace! both destroyed and regular versions :)
i would like to add other structures but i have no clue what to add as i haven't watched xlife sadge. or empires s1 but shhhhh /silly
oh!! and i can add things from stratos too! oh, this is gonna be fun!! :D
more asoiaf comparisons, parallels & antiparallels to the first dance of the dragons vs the second & final dance of the dragons (& possibly the sixth blackfyre rebellion): the blacks being daenerys i targaryen's supporters, the golds being aegon vi targaryen's supporters, tommen baratheon being a close equivalent to gaemon palehair & his mother essie & sylvenna sand which may be interpreted as a parallel with queen cersei lannister & taena merryweather of myr, trystane truefyre being a close equivalent to aegon/young griff & perkin being jon connington & the shepherd being the new high septon the high sparrow, dalton greyjoy being euron i greyjoy's ancestor & the latter surpassing him, alyn waters later alyn velaryon resembling aurane waters later aurane velaryon & finishing what their ancestors started. history repeats itself.
what is your favorite color palette? like are there any colors in particular that you see together and you want to swallow them whole cause they just look that nice together,
oh there's so many, too many to list, but lately I've been thinking about blue and yellow :)