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absolutebl · 4 months

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Best 23 of BL 2023 - Quirky Awards

SHOCK & AWE AWARDS

1. Biggest BL surprise of 2023:

The last 3 months of 2023 in general got my biggest WTF award.

GMMTV fielding OffGun AND TayNew in the same quarter while also airing Last Twilight (arguably one of their best BLs ever)

That they ALSO optioned 3 JBLs

That there's a high heat omegaverse BL staring Pavel

That there were 20 BLs airing and none of them Korean.

With 5 VAMPIRE BLs announced for next year

But my prize in this category goes to My Dear Gangster Oppa.

It's just crazy:

Thai talent, Korean money + IP (this is adapted from a manwha) airing on a Chinese channel (iQIYI). Plus it was GOOD and made smart reuse of a pair who richly deserved it. I'm delighted by the eclectic insanity of this production. And wonder if any other film genre could even do anything like this.

2. The “that country did WHAT?” award:

The 8th Sense from Korea?!

I mean, seriously?! Dealing with metal health, suicide, darkness, therapy, age gap, & first time love BUT FROM KOREA? And then openness and casual boyfriend physical affection? What's next? An actual hard fought coming out narrative with an HEA? Gay domesticity and families?

Careful Korea, you'll strain something. Possibly your own culture and film industry.

I should stop having expectations of Korea, they keep surprising me.

Runners up: Korea letting OnlyOneOf do Bump Up Business not to mention that OmegaX thing. AND Korea adapting Why R U? What are you up to, Korea? Qua? Is this a coded message? Should we send help? Do you need snacks?

3. Biggest casting whoa! where did you come from? award:

GeminiFourth in My School President.

Seriously? Babies what? How did GMMTV find you? How do you exist? How is BL this lucky?

4. That studio did WHAT now? award:

GMMTV putting EarthMix into Moonlight Chicken.

And then doubling down with G4 as the damn sides.

Fucking genius.

5. I’m sad you were ignored award:

Destiny Seeker.

It's just a really fun little Thai pulp, the pairs were good, silly dialogue, plus consent and other good rep. I enjoyed it. No one talked about it AT ALL.

6. 2023 BL That Actually Made Me Lose My Mind Award?

Laws of Attraction. -The casting, the crazy story, the soapy drama! But specifically: Film playing Charn - the range of his smiles alone. GLORIOUS

I mean I Feel You Linger in the Air also sparked something in me, but LoA drove me actually nuts.

NARRATIVE AWARDS

7. Best story 2023:

La Pluie

I know, you're surprised, right? At the time I didn't chat much about it but I really enjoyed the discourse others were having. I love anything that really examines the fated mates (soulmates) trope and the idea of "the one". What a clever way to do that. (This is one reason UWMA is my favorite Thai BL.)

This one reminded me of the way Color Rush approached allegory and that's no bad thing. Such an impressive little piece.

8. Best narrative structure 2023 award:

Unintentional Love Story.

I know this may seem a simplistic pick. But I love the tidiness of this no frills contemporary romance, how the culture of work and personal ethics and corruption fight against the main character's affection and integrity. Poor baby boy is driven into a corner and then punished for it. But it is punishment he feels he deserves, and so it is up to his (now) ex to figure out what went wrong and why.

It's just great. I love it when no one is stupid or wrong, it's just impossible circumstances and unintentional love deeply felt.

9. Best 2023 dialogue (script) award:

Jun & Jun

Never before has Korea laced a BL with that much perfectly executed innuendo. It was a master class. I didn't know you could be that lascivious in Korean, quite frankly. Plus the way the 2 Juns constantly seamlessly transition between formal register (work, public - where they are boss/employee) to informal register (when they are alone and age mates + childhood sweethearts).

Beautiful to hear and watch.

10. Favorite scene 2023:

The dub con scene in I Cannot Reach You because I AM TRASH for an out of control seme. I'm sorry I just AM.

I have said it before, I will say it again, NO ONE DOES THIRST like Japan. And when that thirst bubbles over, it is heart-clenching and very hot.

11. The most rewatchable BL of 2023 award:

Our Dating Sim

That scene where they lie on the floor + the stolen kiss + giggle? Come on, it should be on comfort repeat in war rooms. It could bring world peace.

ACTORS & CHARACTERS AWARDS

12. Best performance of a queer actor in a leading role, 2023:

Fluke in Make a Wish.

It was fun to see him as an irreverent immortal and while I love OhmFluke I also really enjoyed this new pairing. It was a genuine pleasure to watch.

13. Best pining 2023:

The moot pining in Tokyo in April is...

Boys, seriously? Japan must you destroy us like this? Hurts so good.

14. Best wingman 2023 (The Namgoong Award)

Tiw from My School President

I mean, come on, of course it's him!

(Also can you believe Mark went on from this to do fricking Only Friends!? To Last Twilight! Come on GMMTV GIVE HIM A LEAD!)

15. Biggest OMG I LOVE you boys together, YAY!

Dimpled McMafia & Feral Bunny Foo Foo from Kiseki Dear to Me.

They were feral for each other.

We were feral for them

It was a whole delightful THING.

16. Most unexpected return of a BL pair? award:

The Private Lessons pair showing up in Love Class 2.

I know it was only a cameo, but SERIOUSLY? Thank you SO MUCH Korea! A big studio picking up a Strongberry pairing? I love you.

Seriously tho between them, Taiwan & Korea tried for ALL THE CAMEOS this year.

17. Well aren't you two just the prettiest? award:

NetJames in Bed Friend.

Need I say more?

18. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Bah Vinh in Vian & Mr Cinderella 2. I did like either show but I loved him in them. Especially the make outs.

Yes you have chemistry with all the boys in Vietnam and you kiss beautifully. But it's okay now honey, you have the crown. Relax, you're stressing us out.

RANDOM PICKS

19. Favorite Linguistic Moment of 2023:

Our Dating Sim

Caught in the act by the elevator scene. OMG it's so funny. They're being such boyfriend shits to each other, and to be caught in the act by THAT character, and try to manifest formal language whole cloth? Hilarious.

Honorable mention to War Peanuts in Destiny Seeker.

20. Biggest disappointment of 2023:

You Are Mine

Seriously Taiwan, AGAIN you disappoint me with an Office BL? You're Taiwan, land of offices and suits. This should be YOUR SETTING TO WIN. And yet... argh. I mean it wasn't bad. But it wasn't good either. Stop it Taiwan, do better.

Runners up? Between Us, Chains of Heart, Dangerous Romance - this was a HOTLY contested category.

+ 2 Winners in the sub-category of FUCK YOU FOR THAT ENDING award:

The Director who Buys Me Dinner - I mean this nicely but: you have your lane now Korea, stop hurting us, that's Japan's responsibility and they do it better.

I Feel You Linger In the Air - I'm just hugely disappointed. Thailand ALMOST got its second 10/10 from me, but that damn ending.

Argh.

21. Best Wardrobe/Prop Use 2023

The shower of packaged bedsheets in My Personal Weatherman

Amazing. Brilliant. No notes.

22. Best Queer Rep 2023

Chot in Step By Step

In fact, all the queer characters in this show were treated with great integrity.

AND props to this cast for refusing to do fan service. GOOD FOR YOU! Fuck those sasang wankers.

Runners up? The found family cast of Love in Translation and the Rainbow Rice Cakes in The New Employee.

23. Best Meta Trope call out

Tin Tem Jai

Come on, what a zinger, but at themselves (and Taiwan)

Final question: which of the 23 was the hardest for me to pick?

Honestly? Question #1 this year. But also question #20.

(Last year: 2022's Version)

Remember I only pull from shows that were completely finished by the end of 2023. Or The Sign probably would have taken multiple categories. But it will fall into 2024 offerings.

(source)

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meggannn · 11 days

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hades 2 conversation dialogue my sister and i found interesting

SPOILERS obviously. my sister has been failing her runs on purpose to get more dialogue out of people. this post discusses dialogue that was not in the developer stream.

on hermes (mel and hecate are speaking about hermes and artemis at the start):

on melinoë, artemis, and the olympians:

on why mel is the only one who can kill chronos:

on hecate & mel's relationship:

on a secret order that mel is apart of:

on mel's job at the crossroads:

tension and secrets in the crossroads!!!!

when you give hypnos nectar:

(i wasn't fast enough to get his reply. hypnos says something like "zzzz... welcome to the.... zzzz"), then mel says:

other things i didnt screengrab:

hypnos: mel can remark to charon that hypnos is still asleep, charon says "arrghhh," and mel says "wait, he's of more use this way...?" possibly implying hypnos's sleep is not what it seems

nemesis: is uhhh kind of really mean!!!! she says something to mel along the lines of "you're upset you lost a family you don't remember? i KNEW my mom, all you did was be born"

moros: you can invite moros to the crossroads and he stands near the fated list far from everyone because nobody wants to talk to doom incarnate (odysseus in particular makes a point to say he'll stay away). iirc he introduces himself as "the bearer of bad news" which i find kind of clever but also a bit sad. if you give him nectar iirc he says nobody has given him a gift/offering before. aphrodite also notes that moros has made mel's acquaintance and calls him good-looking.

hephaestus: he criticizes your weapon's workmanship when you first meet him, then later takes it back and compliments it as very good, and says "just don't go spreading it around" to the olympians.

takeaways:

hermes is "missing" but he's on a mission for the war to find out what chronos is scheming

artemis (and hermes) didn't tell the olympians hecate has been raising a titan-killer (mel) and the olympians don't really believe she can do it but send her boons anyway, presumably figuring why not

only mel can enter the house of hades to challenge chronos, so that's why she needs to make this journey alone

hecate is rather sweet and mentorly with mel, but she gets exhausted and irritated when mel doubts herself. i didn't grab it but there's a bit where mel says if hecate had not held back, she knows she would've lost, and hecate snaps "you know?" asking mel why she puts limits on herself

mel, hecate, selene, and artemis are part of a secret order called the silver sisters that hermes also supports. olympus does not know about it. all these gods (save hermes) also have moon iconography in their designs

pretty sure moros will be romanceable. i think his and mel's interactions are very sweet, and aphrodite notes he's arrived and calls him good-looking, which reminded me of how she commented on thanatos to zag. no idea who might be a female romance option yet (i'm assuming there is one)

hephaestus boons are a lot of fun, per my sister

the big one: HECATE AND NEMESIS KNOW SOMETHING WE DON'T??? hecate maybe knew an attack was coming and didn't do anything?? nyx is also confirmed to basically be not around though we don't know where she is. and hecate is something called a handmaiden??? is she meant to serve nyx? it now seems like the children of nyx are meant to serve hecate, and eris isn't doing that, but nemesis is playing guard duty begrudgingly. so maybe nemesis thinks hecate let the house be captured/destroyed for her own ends, possibly also to get nyx out of the picture, so nyx's children would serve her(?). maye nyx is also a silver sister and hecate is now in command at the crossroads/on earth, second only to selene?

#hades 2

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leosxrealm · 3 months

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002 — ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛ

★— pairing(s): Max Verstappen x Male! Leclerc! Reader

★— warning(s): none!! except google translated French and Dutch, and possible grammar mistakes

★— (a/n): once again, idk a lot about karting so... the reader's missing a few teeth bc he's 8, that's why it says somewhere that he has a gummy smile. and dialogues have intentional grammar mistakes bc they’re both kids who’re learning english.

★— character information | series masterlist

08-11

"Max, right?" he hears the voice before he sees who says it.

You plop down next to him, shooting a smile his way. He just blinked at you, slightly confused as to who you were. You stare back at him, without saying anything. His eyes widen the slightest and you can see the exact moment he recognizes you.

"You're...vanaf die dag," he mumbles, more for him than you. His expression soon changes and you can't tell if he's confused or irritated or both. (...from that day.)

"Hm?" you tilt your head, not understanding what he said, but it seems like he had recognised you. Your innocent gesture reminded him of a small cat he had seen a few times around his mother's house in Belgium. He scowls at you, this time speaking in english, "What do you want?"

"Your name... Max, right?" you re-iterate your question from before. Max just looks at you. Genuinely confused, why the hell were you so adamant about talking to him?

"You are?" he asks a question of his own. you smile at him, maybe you are getting somewhere with him. "y/n," you say pointing to yourself just like you had a year ago.

He nods. Did this kid not know about stranger danger? Nevertheless, the least he could do was tell his name in return. "Max," he says, although you already seem to know his name. "Where from?" you question him, tilting your head once again.

"Netherlands," he shrugs, looking forward. You didn't think his behavior was rude, you were happy that at least he was indulging you this time. Maybe he was just in a bad mood the other day. Who knows?

"Where that?" you ask. He looks back at you, not knowing how to answer that, so he only says the only answer he could think of, "near Belgium."

He gets up and starts walking away before you could ask him where Belgium was. This time, you're left to watch his back as he walks up to an older man before the both of them leave together.

You leave them to their business, getting up to find one of your brothers to bother next.

---

"Kat?" you jump at the sudden voice, dropping the ice cream you were eating. Eyes wide and mouth open in horror, you turn around to be face to face with Max?

You straighten up your back, quickly wiping your mouth to hide the evidence. Clearing your throat you ask him, "Why you here?"

He narrows his eyes slightly leaning over you (screw him and his tall ass) "Why are you hiding your ice - cream?"

"What? That not mine. I did not eat ice - cream?" you say, jumbling your words a little suspiciously too quickly. And Max, ever the smart, was quick to catch up on it.

"You not allowed to eat ice cream." He says, not as a question but as a statement. "I'm a big boy! I do what I want!" you scoff turning your back on him. Now looking at the ice cream on the ground, a frown etched onto your face.

You almost flinch when Max rests his hand on your shoulder. He slowly turns you around, a guilty feeling washing over him after seeing your sad expression. You looked ready to cry. "I will buy you new one," the words leave his mouth before he could even think.

"Huh?" you look up at him, confused. "Wha-?"

"I'm sorry," he says fumbling with his fingers. He didn't know what else to do. He wasn't trying to scare you and make you drop your ice cream. So, he did the only thing that felt right to him.

"Oh... It- It's okay," you try to refuse his offer but Max is already dragging you by your hand to the vendors.

---

"Which one?" Max asks, pointing toward the different popsicle options they had. "That one!" you exclaim in glee, looking up at him with a gummy smile. Max pulls out his wallet, taking out the last few bills he had in there.

He looks back at you once again. You're taking the popsicle from the vendor. He heaves out a sigh, damn that smile. He gives the money to the vendor, walking out of the line for the others to order.

He looks to his side, to you. You're excitedly tearing open the wrapper. He huffs out a breath, stuffing his hands in his pockets, walking next to you. It was worth it, he thinks.

---

Max doesn't know where he is. The only one he knows here is you. "Come on!" you say taking his hand in yours. He did it before, surely he wouldn't mind if you held his hand, right? He doesn't pull back.

"Kat?" he questions as you drag him to a bench.

"Kat?" you question, as you sit down next to him. "Uhh..." he mutters, trying to find words to explain it to you. "Kat?" he says, you tilt your head again. You shrug, not understanding him at all.

He looks around him, before tapping your shoulder to grab your attention. "Kat!" he exclaims pointing to a girl wearing cat ears headband. You look to where he's pointing. You scrunch up your face and turn back to him. "I'm not girl!" you say angrily, angry that your new friend was calling you a girl. Girls have cooties, and you didn't!

"Ha?" he lets out a confused noise, before understanding the situation. He shakes his head. "No no. that not- I meant-" he starts before giving up and using hand gestures to explain instead. He makes cat ears on top of his head using his fingers, similar to what the girl was wearing. Your mouth forms an "o" in understanding.

"Meow?" you question "Meow," he nods.

"Chat."

"Hm?" he turns to you. "Chat?" he questions, trying to say the way you had, failing miserably. You laugh at that. Before saying it again, this time slower. "C,h,a,t," he says, slowly, finally managing to get the pronunciation right. (pronounced- sha)

"What's chat?" he questions again. "Meow," you reply before going back to happily eating your popsicle. "What language?" he questions. "French!" you say excitedly, happy to talk to your new friend.

"You're French?" You shake your head, "No." He was really confused now, he doesn't know another country that speaks French.

"Then?"

"Monegasque! Fro- from Monaco," you reply with a big smile. Truth be told, Max had never heard of that country. He wasn't really interested in geography at the moment, too busy trying to make a career in motorsport. He makes a mental note to search for that country later.

He breaks out of his thoughts when he hears a squeal next to him and a body colliding with his. He looks down to see you hugging him. Before he could do anything about it, you push yourself away from him, holding up your ice cream stick to show him the words imprinted on it in bold letters.

ᴡ ɪ ɴ ɴ ᴇ ʀ, it read. You laugh, a toothy smile present on your face, "Free ice cream!" You hug him again, joy practically radiating out of you. Yup, spending his last bit of pocket money was worth it.

(a/n): this was supposed to be chapter 3 or 4. but i had some trouble with ch- 2 so i decided to post this instead. school's been killing me and i haven't been able to write anything this week. next chapter will definitely be more interesting (hopefully) lmk if you wanna be added to the taglist :]

HC: max started learning more about geography bc of lil y/n

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ (ᴏᴘᴇɴ): @miloformula123fan @its-ares @fangirl-dot-com @wolf-knights @zyonsay @1obsessedwithfictionalmen7 @fevndue @erinpiastri @v3lnys @woozarts @sebastianstansblog @badblondebisexualboy @lovecarsgoingvroom @kurating

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arrenkae · 9 months

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Some final thoughts on the Emperor:

I fucking love the guy. He is SUCH a manipulative asshole. He straight up catfishes you and when you find out about his true nature he just goes ahead and proceeds to be all like

"No dude you can still trust me, I'm just like you. I totally have Normal Human feelings. I never lied to you (except when I did). Go look at my basement with all the sentimental trinkets I keep there. I had a dog, does it make me sympathetic enough? Let's have another Heartfelt Convensation, but I'm shirtless now. Will you trust me more if we bang? Yes good so are you ready to turn into a mindflayer yet"

And boy he is REALLY good at this and sounds very convincing

But if you refuse to fall for is act he gets SO pissed off and changes his tune instantly and straight up shows you that this woman he told you about? How he cared so much for her and he is so totally sad that she's dead and do you feel sad for him as well now

Yeah he totally mind controlled her all this time

(which tbh I picked up on way too early because duke Stelmane having brain damage from being controlled by a mind flayer was a big plot point in one of our d&d games and I knew that it was a canon thing in forgotten realms lore even before bg3 came out)

And he's like WELL AREN'T YOU GLAD THAT I AM NOT MIND CONTROLLING YOU

(and by the way I reloaded my save to try those dialogue options; but in the end I played my character as someone who leaned into trusting him, maybe being just a bit wary but still considering him a necessary ally)

But you see

The best part is

That he is SUCH an asshole and keeps giving off more and more sinister vibes and when he asks you to give him the stones to control the elder brain it 100% feels like "oh yeah. this is it. this is the part where this obviously evil guy betrays you"

And then he just

Doesn't

Idk I fucking love it

Because yeah he is totally manipulating you. To do the same the same thing that you also want to do, which happens to be something that is good and beneficial for the realms

But still all he cares about in the end is self-preservation

This game really does well to show that a mind flayer doesn't have to be "evil" in the usual sense but they are beings that are fundamentally different from us and they feel and see the world differently, even being released from the elder brain's control and having some semblance of their old personality and memories doesn't make them just misunderstood humans with tentacles

I would totally kill him, but unfortunately Lae'zel died in my playthrough (the roll for saving her was SO HIGH and I just. decided against savescumming. it is what it is)

And without her my character didn't care enough about saving the githiyanki prince

Maybe next time. And of course another playtrough with a different character, who would stuff all the tadpoles into their brain and become a half-illithid and romance the guy because this is way too amazing not to try

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #playing bg3 #my screenshots #the emperor #txt

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eastern-lights · 3 months

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Ok so we all know how amazing Baldur's Gate 3 is. I could talk for hours about everything it did perfectly.

But rn, I want to talk about what I think Dragon Age Inquisition did better. And this is not to judge which game is better overall, but what still makes DAI so special to me despite its flaws.

1. Voiced protagonist

Yeah, starting off controversial. I know some people prefer silent protagonists, but I just find myself wishing we could have a fully voiced Tav, even at the cost of fewer dialogue options. I'm sorry, but Tav's silent indifferent face just always breaks the immersion for me, especially when contrasted with the award-worthy acting and animation of the characters they're speaking with. In DAI (and DA2, although to a lesser degree) your character could be heavily customized, but they were always an actual person who fit in with the rest of the universe and flowed seamlessly with the story.

2. Mystery and dread.

BG3 is full of heavy, scary, traumatizing stuff hidden all over the place (or in plain sight). But it can always be explained in some way. There are dreadful things in Faerûn, but we always know what they are (mostly due to most of them having to have precisely given stats as the result of being based on DnD). We know what happens after death and what we can do to bring people back from it. The closest you get to truly dread-inducing mystery in BG3 is "Do Illithids have souls" and "where do illithids come from" and (at least in Act 1) "who is the Absolute".

In Dragon Age, the whole world is made of existential dread. What happens when you die? Dunno. Is God real? No idea and if He does, He hates you. What is the Blight? Are all darkspawn capable of independent thought? What is lyrium singing about? What happened to the titans? What happens when all of the Old Gods die? And this is just the Big Questions. There's a myriad of small things, small mysteries you encounter that just have no answers. Stuff that reminds me of those creepy Goldshire children forming a pentagram in World of Warcraft. While having an explanation for everything makes for deeper worldbuilding, a world full of mysteries without answers makes for a much scarier and, in some ways, exciting experience.

3. Group dynamic and party banter

I enjoyed the party banter in BG3. Hell, it had some of the funniest lines in game. But it didn't do enough to make the group dynamic feel any less Tav/Durge-centric. You hear the companions exchange banter, but you never get beyond stuff like "Karlach and Shadowheart both enjoy wine" and "Gale enjoys Lae'zel telling him about the Astral plane". The protagonist forms amazingly written relationships with each of the companions, but they never seem to have such a bond with one another. The closest we come to what I'd like to see is Karlach and Wyll's friendship, but even that's kind of shallow, I feel. The companions do comment on the others' personal quest, but it's always one sentence reaction, before going right back to being mostly indifferent. DA2 had the same issue, if to a greater extent (srsly, the companions had the same attitude about one another over the span of 10 years)

The banter in DAI was superb. It told a story. It had arcs. You could watch in real time as Solas and Dorian became friends over their shared magical nerd-dom. You could even take part in it, such as when telling Blackwall to stfu about jousting for a moment, or telling Sera that what you and Solas do in private is none of her business. You could see Dorian and Bull fall in love. You could watch Varric slowly chip away at Solas' worldview until he arguably came closer to changing his plans than Lavellan ever did. The relationships grow over the course of the story and by the time of Solas' betrayal, you're not just sad because he betrayed you, you're sad because he betrayed Varric, Dorian, Bull, Cassandra and everyone else. Because you saw how they cared about him, each in their own way.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than Varric's "Chuckles, what have you done?"

In BG3, the relationships are mostly left to your imagination, which has its perks, but still, the group dynamic feels more like a wheel with Tav at the centre rather than a web.

4. Having limits on the romance options

Let me start by stating what I am not saying: I am not saying that bi and pan people shouldn't be represented. Far from it. But I don't think making the whole group pan is the way to go about it. I can't help but feeling it is, in a way, pandering to players, making every single companion interested in them as long as they have a sufficiently high approval.

Making some companions explicitly bi, pan, gay or straight made for a more real experience. Getting rejected by Sera on the grounds of "We have a lot in common - we both like women" felt disappointing, yes, but also real. This also allowed the writers to make the characters' sexual/romantic preferences a part of their, well, character. We got Dorian's personal quest, which I think is great. Limiting Solas' options to just Lavellan allowed the writers to make it about him realizing that his people are not mere shadows. It allowed them to write the Vallaslin scene. None of this could have been done if he were romanceable to all races.

When you have diversity in romantic attraction among the companions, suddenly the pan and bi characters (in Bull and Josie respectively) feel like their orientation is part of who they are, rather than a game mechanic to prevent players from missing out on content.

#baldur's gate 3 #dragon age inquisition #this is all just my opinion #i am still salty that the devs didn't get more time to do DAI properly #imagine DAI made with the love care and time that BG3 had #we could have had another masterpiece

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runawaymarbles · 1 month

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Would you be comfortable sharing that flow chart you mentioned in the tags about different ways Black and white people start conversations? It seemed really interesting and practical, but of course no worries at all if not! Thanks!

it wasn't about Black vs white conversation starters specifically: it's about making small talk at work without starting off with assumptions or putting them in an awkward position of having to explain something they shouldn't have to. (E.g. I do not outright ask people where they're from, what they do for work, etc.)

Context: I photograph newborns for work.

Example: Grandparents are usually good for at least three minutes of conversation, but you cannot ask about the baby's grandparents, because there's a non-zero chance that they are deceased (worse: recently deceased) or on bad terms with the baby's parents. So instead I'll say something vague like "is everybody very excited about the baby?", which gives the parents the choices of saying something like "Yes, all my friends are texting me for updates" (inference: they do not have close family; I might follow up by asking if many of their friends have children already) or "I didn't tell anybody I was pregnant" (got that once, it was fascinating, we had a good time discussing how she planned to spring it on people) and "Yes, she's the first grandbaby on the dad's side so his parents are thrilled"

The last one unlocks dialogue options like: oh do the grandparents live in town? No, they live in Nevada? I went to Reno as a kind and it blew my tiny mind. Is that where you grew up, or did they move there later?

Then they'll either say "yes that's where I grew up" and I can ask what brought them here (potentially opening such topics as: their jobs, if they say they came here for work; whether they miss sunnier weather, and so forth) or they can say "no, I grew up in Scranton but my parents retired to Vegas" or just "they moved later" and not mention where they grew up, if that's not information they feel like sharing. Then I can ask if their parents are enjoying wherever they've moved to, possibly fall back on some vague and unoffensive personal anecdote about said place, or go on to my next pre-programmed question* without anyone feeling awkward about it.

Some people are happy to tell me about how they grew up in Ethiopia and where their family is living now and how they came to the US to study microbiology and whether or not they like it here and if they'll be getting the baby dual citizenship and so on and so forth: some people do not, and this usually lets me skip around that without sticking my foot in it. (I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't want to say that they're Russian, for example, which makes me sad.)

The TL;DR is that I try to ask vague/open-ended questions that people can narrow down themselves, if they choose to, or make sure that a question is sort of an either/or so that they don't feel like there's a wrong answer. And I try not to assume anything about them whatsoever: sure, 99% of my clients with Indian names and Indian accents are in fact from India, but once in a while they're not. *"Do you guys have any pets? if yes: Do you think your pet knew you were pregnant?" [Most people think their dogs noticed the pregnancy, and some suspect their dog was the first one to notice they were in labor. It's fascinating. Alternately they say "no my cat's an idiot," and I can tell them about the time my aunt's cat stuck his face in a candle twice, and so forth.]

#my job #first person shooter #asks #op #sorry i think i lost the thread here a bit #anyway like I always say: when you assume you have to kink tomato out of telepathic space vampire mindfuck noncon

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murdockbarnes · 1 year

Text

What a feeling to be right here beside you now

pairing: rafe cameron x fem!reader

summary: rafe cameron navigates grief and maybe, possibly, love?

wordcount: 1.76k

warnings: fanon rafe, mentions of drugs (very brief), death, rafe is very lovesick, fluff and pining, so much pining.

A/N: i haven't written anything in well over a year, but the words consumed me on one of my sleepless nights and this was the result. i'm not very good with dialogues, can you tell 😭

any feedback would be greatly appreciated. have a great day!

*not edited, all mistakes are mine*

the smell of old books and polished wood unlocks a trove of memories he had buried deep inside - his mother's gentle fingers in his hair as she read to him about dinosaurs and space and the constellations, when all was life and it seemed like life was perfect, through golden-hued glasses. when it felt like there was still someone who believed in him, loved him.

but with his mother's passing, games of tag turned into fistfights and into downright brawls on the playground, the sun reflected halo of blond hair making him appear every bit the kook prince he was. spine straight and air of confidence and commandeering presence not often expected from an 8 year old on a playground. and as he grew older and retreated deeper within himself, and the anger driven by sadness in him magnified, his hobbies turned into vices. the library was no longer a place he frequented as there was no reason to any longer, not without her.

grief was a fickle thing; it changed his father too, colder and more volatile, harsher whenever rafe made a mistake. it seemed, in an instant, his whole world came crashing down and took him down with it.

his eyes snap back to the girl as he came out of his mind and registered his surroundings, timid smile on her face as her lips formed around the words again.

"would you like some help? you look a little lost."

and he could say he didn't really need the help, the directions ingrained in his memory from all his visits with his mother, how the sunlight streamed through the high arched windows, the polished wood warmer and lighter wherever it touched, but her smile was sweet and she seemed genuine, and the lingering air in her wake tinged with vanilla and sandalwood made it hard to breathe, let alone part his lips to say otherwise, to tell her that he knows the way. it clouded his senses, encompassed him in every way as he followed her down the aisles, rows upon rows of books beside them.

he was out of sorts already and he'd barely spoken ten words to her. he looked at how her hair reflected the sunlight and rafe had to make a conscious effort to focus on his feet, lest he do something that made him look stupid in front of her, like reach out to find whether her hair was as soft as it looked, or what it smelled like.

"here we are. i'm right there at the desk if you need something else." and with another polite smile, she was gone. rafe was equal parts relieved and disappointed.

he picked up one of the books closest to him and read the synopsis. he'd started to think about picking up reading again, in a bid to better connect with his mother's memory that he was worried was slipping from his grasp. this book looked like something she would have enjoyed, rafe thought.

he settled down at a table and began to read, without any interruptions. he didn't really see many other people, for as big and beautiful the library was, the inhabitants of kildare were too busy to even consider going to the library an option. the teenagers were too busy boating, surfing, golfing and partying, and their parents with more or less the same.

rafe became a permanent fixture at the library that summer, always occupying the same table he and his mother used to in days long past. the girl from the front desk would sit with him sometimes, when the library had no one other than him and her and the cold airconditioned air between them. he'd gotten to know her a little by then, her name, the kind of books she liked, that they had shared 6th period history, shared acquaintances and circles and hobbies, the way her perfume was different every day; somedays vanilla, sometimes sandalwood or some flower he couldn't put a name to. the way it was citrus whenever she was happier, smile warmer and truer than the sunlight that streamed through the windows, more coveted as it was few and far between. and his heart would thud so hard against his chest that he feared it'd land right at her feet. his hands ached, gripping the delicate library books harshly so that he didn't do anything to embarrass himself; the tips of his fingertips would burn like ice, pinpricks of aching longing that almost consumed him whole.

it confused him and scared him. rafe wasn't sure love was supposed to feel this way, if it even was that. but her laughter glides along his back like honey and melts into his bones, drips down to his fingertips and to his toes, and he feels warm all over. his hands feel clammy and his cheeks hurt from smiling. he'd blame the drugs if he didn't go off them weeks ago. it terrified him, rattled him to his core, because he wasn't certain he could handle losing much more. but the heady high was too addictive and it made him feel alive in a way the drugs had never done.

he still had his bad days, days where his hands would shake with the effort it took for him not to reach over to his keys and drive out to barry's. days where he'd snap at the smallest things, when the jittery feeling would take over his chest. but he'd bury it deep down, occupy himself with something so fully that the only thought at the end of the day would be how fast he could hit the bed and go to sleep.

on the few days of the week he didn't go to the library, he occupied himself otherwise with golfing, surfing, maybe even a little photography. photography brought in him a sense of appreciation for beauty everywhere that he didn't have before.

rafe had just finished surfing and was walking back towards his beach towel when he heard someone calling his name. he turned, eyes scanning the beach until it landed on her, waving her hands to him with a big smile on her face. he allows the feeling to wash over him as he walks over to her and her friends, an involuntary smile of his own taking over his face as he hugs her back, hand against the expanse of her back. warm sand stuck to warmer skin, the salty sea air bringing him a whiff of her coconut conditioner this close. he was certain that he was drowning and it didn't bother him a bit. he snaps out of it as the hug ends and she introduces him to her friends.

"are you enjoying that book i recommended?" she asks him after her friends tell her they're going for a swim.

rafe just chuckled. "yes, i am. although, i didn't really peg you as someone who enjoyed those kinds of books."

a quirked eyebrow. rafe gulped. "and what did you peg me as, mr. cameron? solely a romance girl?"

"not solely a romance girl, but romance yes." rafe considered how much he should reveal. "you're beautiful inside and out, you're good and kind and you were nice to me when no one else would be nice, and rightfully so. i haven't deserved someone being nice to me in a long while. you belong right there in a romance novel. or a disney movie"

her eyes turned glassy and she gripped rafe's hand, their fingers slotting together. "everyone deserves that, rafe. what matters is that you're making a conscious effort to change. you're good and you have been nothing but good to me, cameron. i hope you see that."

a flash of warmth, and then it was over, too brief for his liking. clearing his throat, he diverts the topic. "my friend kelce is having a party tonight. are you coming?"

"will you be there?"

"i might if you are."

"consider me already there then." she replies with a smile.

rafe tugs uncomfortably at the collar of his green polo that he definitely did not deliberate a long time over. it's not like this was a date, he was just picking her up for the party. he sweats a little as he sends her a text indicating that he's here and debates whether he should ring the doorbell or not when the door opens and reveals her, clad in a yellow sundress.

he's short for breath, mouth hanging slightly open. he's just about to tell her how beautiful she looks when his attention is pulled by the sound of her voice.

"you look very good in green, cameron." she says, cheeks flushed and shy smile on her face - identical to the one on rafe's when hears that.

surprising to everyone but rafe, he spent the entirety of the party after greeting his friends standing by a wall talking to her. neither the drug and alcohol scene, nor the girls obviously vying for his attention for less than innocent intentions, none of it was appealing to him anymore. it was like a dark, heavy fog had been lifted and he was seeing things clearly for the first time in a long time under the sun's light.

unaware of when they had escaped the party to the nearby park, rafe found himself sitting next to her on a bench, leaning back to look at the twinkling stars overhead. he wished he had brought his camera so he could capture it and look back on it later.

the bench is small, and their bare arms brush again as she shifts to get comfortable. and even though the night is warm, goosebumps appear up and down their arms, from where their shoulders brush, down to their fingertips. wordlessly, they turn to face each other, their eyes flicking down to the other's lips.

silently, a question is asked; and silently, it is answered.

their lips meet in a tender kiss, unbearably soft and sweet, breaths tangling together, hands gently cupping faces. there was a warmth in their hearts, unbeknownst to the other, spreading outwards, engulfing them and warming them from inside out. lips curve into smiles, eyes closed and basking in the each others presence.

rafe felt like he was a king at that moment, like he could conquer anything. he wished he had his camera now to always preserve this moment forever, to capture the stars in her eyes.

he never wanted to stop kissing her. he just hoped she wanted the same. she did.

#ara writes #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron #outer banks #rafe cameron fanfiction #rafe cameron fluff #rafe cameron fic #rafe obx #outer banks fanfiction

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traumxrei-archive · 2 years

Note

Can I please request

#3 - They just told him they liked him but they get shy and say “never mind, forget it” …and he wasn’t letting them dismiss it just like that

With Idia Shroud? (≧▽≦)

i like this prompt BSJKSHSOW

Thank you! Remember to take care of yourself

【 till we reach the happy end 】

prompt #3: They just told him they liked him but they get shy and say “never mind, forget it” (ft. idia shroud)

gender neutral! reader, spoilers for ghost marriage + suitor suit idia's vignette, 600 followers event (closed!)

author's note: uuu lyzaaaa i wrote this for you bb <33 honestly the most fun thing i've written in a while. i read his vignette n i scrapped the initial idea i had for this fic and,,,,well the rest is history. i hope you enjoy !!

Idia was having a terrible, horrible, no-good night. Emphasis on the horrible. He was literally just seconds away from being ghosted, and in quite the literal sense too. And he was about to get married against his will! If it was to one of his favorite characters, then maybe Idia would've said yes, but this was to a literal ghost who threatened 'eternal love' for him despite having just met him.

He shivered, feeling better now that he could actually move around. He really needed to get out of this getup. And quickly. Before someone made a comment about him being a tokusatsu villain or a cringy cosplayer...

"Ugh, this cravat is literally choking me, no cap," Idia muttered to himself as he slipped into NRC's darkened hallways. "Thank goodness the protag group were busy taking care of the rest..."

"Idia-senpai!" The call of his name made him flinch, though he instantly recognized it to be their voice.

"W-what's up, Prefect-shi...?" Idia hoped his voice didn't betray his nerves as he spoke. It was hard to think straight when he was literally right in front of his c-cru...cru— oh Idia really didn't want to think about the c-word right now.

"I saw you leaving and I wanted to ask if you were okay," The warm smile they gave him had his heart doing somersaults and Idia could almost forget about the bad things that happened that evening. Such was the life of 'Idia the Simp', who was simply happy that the object of his affections cared about him. How sad and loser-like, was he right?

"I'm fine. I mean, aside from my legs literally turning into jelly from standing for so long," Idia mumbled before raising his voice. "That ghost must've been grinding his stats real hard to be able to fight like that."

"I guess so," They mused, falling into step beside him. "I'm really glad that the others made it in time."

"Ace-shi really came in clutch in this one! He was like a hero from some kind of action manga. Actually, weren't they all pretty hero-like?"

Idia continued to ramble excitedly. "I mean, the protagonist's friends arrived fashionably late— and they were all dressed to impress like princes in a dating sim! Riddle-shi being cool and unapproachable, yet shows his awkward and kind side to the protagonist. Epel-shi as the fragile character that you can't help but want to protect, yet also has a cool and alluring side. And finally Rook-shi, the prince of a neighboring country who secretly protects the main character, and instantly gains best boy status when it's revealed—!"

Idia realized just how excited he was getting over nothing— the tips of his hair turning bright orange— and he sighed deeply, "Augh, really, a loser like me could never compare to shiny princes like them..."

"Don't say that," They had stopped walking. The cool night air tickled the back of Idia's neck as he stood rooted in spot. There was quite a serious expression on their face and Idia wondered if he chose the wrong dialogue option somewhere along the line...

"If it counts for anything I think you look really cool— no, a better word would be absolutely dashing," Their nervousness showed in the way they shifted every few seconds, swallowing before continuing.

"Aren't you really prince-like too? The mysterious heir to the throne that no one ever sees who secretly helps the kingdom by masquerading as an inventor. He continues to provide the kingdom with advance technology whilst under the cover of the unlikeable hermit, and the main character is the first one to learn of his secret."

"Wow, that," This time it was Idia's turn to swallow, his own hair tinting a light pink. "T-that almost makes me sound like a good character to romance... You should become a dating sim writer."

They laughed lightly at that, "Thanks, but...what I really wanted to say was... That is..." They took a deep breath before starting again, "Because of tonight and what happened, I thought that life is short. And that I can't possibly control everything, so I should make sure to say what I want to say properly before it's too late. Idia-senpai. I...like you."

Idia could not believe his ears. Was he dreaming? Was this heaven? Did he dream up being saved by Ace and the others but actually he became a ghost and crossed to the other side? He didn't even remember paying the ferry to cross the river Styx!

"Eh?" was all that managed to leave his mouth, his hair fully turning as flushed as his face felt. The gears in his head were turning, but that didn't mean he wasn't losing braincells trying to figure out what was happening. In the first place, the genre of this day changed way too many times! From slice-of-life to survival horror to fighting game, and finally....a romantic visual novel?? Give him a break already!

"Actually. Just forget I said that." They turned around to quickly walk away but Idia grabbed onto their sleeve before they got too far. Oh Sevens, he really chose the most insanely noob-like dialogue option there was on the "Ranking of Things to Say if Someone Confesses to You" (made by Idia Shroud).

"W-wait, this is...way too much information for my brain to handle, I think I need to download extra gigabytes of RAM for this," Idia said under his breath before finally raising his gaze.

The pale moonlight washed everything in blue, and he couldn't help but think that they looked so...pretty even half-obscured in light. Their stare was pinned at the ground and he really needed to say something before they ran away and it was impossible for him to rewind the scene and fiz his mistakes.

"You..." Idia cleared his throat, the pink of his hair fluttering with the passing wind. "Could I p-please hear that dialogue option...once again? I-I promise to give a better answer this time! Or did I already raise a death flag for myself and hurtle myself towards the bad ending? Ah, Idia, this is why you aren't suited to be a otome game protag, you should just stick t—"

The breath was stolen from his lungs as warm palms urgently cradled his face, "Senpai... I don't like hearing the person that I like talking badly about himself all the time. Especially right after I told him how cool he is."

The words came out in a wheeze as he spoke again, "Y-you said 'like' just now? What k-kind of like is that?"

"The 'romantic' type of like," They said, a finger ghosting over his cheek. "The 'I want to play your route till the happy ending' type of like."

"Oh. In a positive way," He hastily added, his hair growing brighter by the second. "Y-you're really good at these...romantic words."

"Of course I am," They gave him a mischievous grin. "I learned from the best games on the market. So what do you say to my proposal?"

Aaaanddd Idia was back to feeling faint again, "T-that was a figure of speech right? I don't think I can handle another proposal so soon—"

"Senpai," They chided softly as Idia tugged at the ends of his hair. "A simple yes or no would suffice."

"Uhm. If you can't already tell by this," Idia pointed to his hair— which was now bright pink and flaming dangerously high. "I'd like to stay with you too. Till the happy ending."

"Till the happy ending," They echoed, smiling as they finally released his face. Idia found himself missing the touch a little....just a little though.

He didn't get the chance to wallow before his hand was being clasped in theirs, "C'mon! Let's get you out of those fancy clothes and play some games in your room already!"

"W-wait a second, Prefect-shi?" Idia flushed harder, if that was even physically possible. "Y-you're skipping too many chapters of the dating stage, you know? There's an order to things!!"

"I meant video games, senpai," They laughed as they skipped in front of him, Idia's own steps frantic to stay close to them. "Get your head out of the gutter."

"R-right," Idia nodded, absolutely mortified for the second— or was it third time?— that night. "I knew that."

And Idia was the subject of their teasings long after the night was over. He had to live through the embarrassment of them recounting the whole story to an all-too-curious Ortho. (Maybe he should've programmed him with less curiosity, but alas he can't go back on his own genius.)

But well, he really couldn't complain. Not when they held his hand so tightly as they watched his favorite movies with him. And especially not when they fell asleep on his shoulder— a cliché that was one of his favorites to date. Idia was sure of it now. No matter what hardships or trials would follow in the future, he would play this route till the happy end.

thank you for reading this very based idia take (pls help i've gamer-talked for too long bc of idia) if you did, please like, subscribe, and check out my masterlist for other works !!

[ mini idia dictionary bc pog ]

tokusatsu villain - tokusatsu refers to a genre of live-action shows that heavily use special effects. think ultraman or kamen rider.

death flag - an action or dialogue that foreshadows an untimely death for a certain character. raising one means to basically accelerate the death of a character, since you're adding more death flags to their roster.

bad ending/happy ending - referring to otome games, where there are multiple endings to different routes that are achievable by changing dialogue/actions throughout the story.

lmk if there are any other terms i should add bc i lost count of the more confusing ones after re-reading this 3 times jskfjdskf

#/trau writes #/trau fics #idia shroud *shakes cylumes*#i love this man #he's a disaster #we stan a fool in the face of romance #i wrote this instead of sleeping (real)#idia shroud #idia shroud x reader #idia x reader #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst fanfic #twst imagines #twst headcanons #twisted wonderland headcanons #twst phantom bride #twst ghost marriage

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on-stardust-wings · 8 months

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The Crowley taking shelter from the first rain under Aziraphale's wing scene is one of my favourites in season one. It said so much about this relationship already (all of it soft!), in the first scene where we see them interact, back when we all assumed this scene was a first meeting. And it still might be for Crowley, we can't be sure he actually remembers Aziraphale from before (he forgot many other angels after all), plus this is the first time Crawly the freshly fallen angel meets Aziraphale.

And yet, when Aziraphale lifts his wing, Crawly is already shuffling over to him. Like he knows the wing will lift for him. And I felt so much about this scene already when watching season one. Aziraphale protecting a stranger, a demon, from the rain (rain is water, and holy water is lethal for demons, they couldn't be sure rain would be harmless). And Crawly trusting him to be this close, letting himself be protected.

But now? With the new context season two gave us?

Aziraphale knows this is the starmaker he met in Heaven. He knows exactly what happened to make him Fall. This isn't a stranger, a random demon. This is an old friend/crush. Or is he? He can't be sure. Surely the angels were told about the demons, how they changed. Vile evil creatures and all. No longer the friends and colleagues they knew. Best be careful? This might be a stranger wearing the face of a friend! Aziraphale asks his name. His new name. And Crawly talks. And asks questions. And helps Aziraphale calm down. Is overall his lovable old self. Of course Aziraphale takes him under his wing! Even if he starts out on this interaction on the walls of Eden not sure if Crawly is still the person he knew, everything Crawly does is... just very him? Very in line with the angel he knew? I'm convinced Aziraphale ended this conversation feeling super conflicted about how unchanged from the angel he knew Crawly the demon turns out to be. And he keeps reminding himself that either way, he is a demon, an enemy, he recites the whole good and bad thing, punishment deserved dialogue, to a fallen angel who he knows Fell for suggesting a suggestion box and being sad his nebula is a fancy wallpaper. Consider the cognitive dissonance this has to be for Aziraphale! It's a dilemma he never gets over in the following 6000 years (and running). He believes Crowley is good and nice and didn't deserve Falling, but at the same time he has to believe in Heaven's doctrines, that demons did bad and deserved punishment and actually that punishment is good for you. And this dilemma, this dissonance, starts right there on the wall. Aziraphale's spoken words echo Heaven's dogma. But his actions speak his heart and soul: he lifts his wing to keep Crawly safe and dry under it.

And Crawly? He might not even remember Aziraphale. If so, he's coming up to a stranger, risking to be smited for the apple thing. And even if he remembers Aziraphale, certainly plenty of former friends have turned out to be against him recently, so that would be no reason to trust Aziraphale to be different. But either way, Crowley slides up to him. Needles him about the sword. Is promptly amazed at "I gave it away". No matter if he remembers Aziraphale, he comes away from this conversation with a sense of "this one's different, this angel is kind".

And then the rain starts, and Crawly shuffles over for shelter. Two options. One: He remembers Aziraphale, and remembers doing the same thing for Aziraphale when he started up the nebula. That would mean after this short re-evaluing the relationship conversation, Crawly trusts Aziraphale to return the favour, even though Crawly is now a demon, shunned by Heaven. That's a big thing!

Or, second option, Crawly doesn't remember Aziraphale, doesn't properly recall it was this angel he himself sheltered under his own wing when the meteor shower thing happened. (He remembers going to battle, but not Furfur being there, so he could remember the nebula starting, but not Aziraphale specifically being there with him.) He probably remembers sheltering someone under his wings, but that's neither here nor there, is it? Distant memory, unrelated to the current situation! But, Crawly starts to sidle closer even before Aziraphale's wing is up. He instinctively knows it will be lifted for him. Maybe he doesn't actively, consciously remember, but subconsciously? Instinctively? He knows he's safe with Aziraphale. He knows he'll be safely protected under this angel's wing from whatever this new stuff falling from the sky might be.

Like. I don't even know which version I find better. They're both so soft. Brb, gonna go scream into a pillow.

#good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens meta #eden #wings #good omens season 2 #gos2 #p+a

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stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage · 9 months

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It really gets me that since my canon Hawke is a mage, I'll never actually get to know Bethany.

Sure, I could just start an alternate playthrough with Hawke as a warrior or rogue and get to know her over the course of Act 1 before I have to decide if I want to take her on the expedition and make her become a Grey Warden, or leave her behind to be taken to the circle.

Except that's not my Bethany, just as it wouldn't be my Carver who died. My Hawke twins grew up with an older brother who was a mage. Their respective character arcs rely heavily on being the sole mage or non-mage of the siblings, so if my Hawke isn't a mage, they're not the same people... and unfortunately, we don't get to see the arc of the twin who shares Hawke's class. Y'know, because of the death.

The last time I tried doing an alternate run with a warrior Hawke, I had a conversation with Bethany where she said that Carver would've hated Kirkwall and probably would've gotten himself arrested the first day, and I sat there like.... I'm sorry? Are we talking about the same Carver?? Because the Carver I know would only get himself arrested for resisting and fighting back with any templars who tried to take his siblings away? He spent the entire first act being like, "Hey, don't do stupid shit or attract too much attention, or the templars will take you away!"

And that's when it really hit me that sure, I'm getting to know Bethany, but I'm getting to know a Bethany who grew up as the lone mage in the sibling group, and that's not the same Bethany that died in my canon run.

I want to know the Bethany who grew up with an older brother who also had the gift of magic but embraced it more than she ever did. I don't even get to learn much about her through dialogue, either. Carver doesn't talk about her nearly as much as Bethany talks about him when she's alive, and when someone does bring her up with him, Carver's usually super defensive about it.

I'll be running around and Bethany will just, "Yeah, my brother used to nail my braid to the headboard. I miss him so much. Hey, the Chantry, I lit a candle for Carver in there. Remember Carver's jig? He used to do that to make me feel better. I miss Carver so much."

Carver's just more reserved and defensive about his grief over losing her, and when he does willingly bring her up, you can feel him struggle to even get her name out; "These are blood mages, they're not like you or... Bethany."

That's why I love the Legacy DLC; Carver will talk about Bethany, and Malcolm, with Hawke without his guard up. At least he does with me, at that point I have his Friendship nearly maxed out so he's just softer in general.

But someone else brings her up, like Anders? Who was genuinely trying to be nice? Carver's response has the vibe of, "You didn't even know her, and you don't care about me, so you're only saying this because she was a mage. Just shut up, stop talking to me."

And I can't even bring her up to Carver in dialogue options the way I can bring him up to Bethany. You can ask her what Carver would think of Kirkwall. During the Legacy DLC there's a humorous option to do Carver's jib for her when she's sad. She brings him up in companion dialogue. It feels like there's more opportunities there, and perhaps Hawke just knows how Carver is and doesn't want to prod. Honestly, maybe it's just me, but my game always feels like that vine-

Hawke: Do you ever want to talk about your emotions, Carver? Carver: No. Anders/Fenris/literally everyone else in Kirkwall: We do! Hawke: I know, y'all. Anders/Fenris/literally everyone else in Kirkwall: We're sad! Hawke: I know, y'all.

I'm sure the differences in the starting Friendship/Rivalry also play into why Bethany's more open about it than Carver is in Act 1, and they're characters who have different grieving processes anyway.

I don't know, maybe you have an easier time merging them through different playthroughs, but DA2 is one that I struggle with deviating from my canon path, I can't do it... Which means poor Bethany's always dead, and I'll never get to be mage siblings with her or see the Hawke trio take over Kirkwall together because DA2 is just a constant "great, so what can we do this week to make Hawke extra sad?"

#dragon age 2 #da2 #carver hawke #bethany hawke #i am once again having feelings about the hawke twins #and yes i know there's that mod that lets both twins live but it's not the same... and also i don't play on pc so i couldn't do that anyway #i just want the hawke trio to be alive and well okay is that too much to ask?#also it sucks that we don't get to actually see carver and bethany interact with each other #they only have a few interactions and that's it...#ugh it's 'sad about the hawke twins' hour

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ramonag-if · 4 months

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Just finished reading chapter Eight and I gotta say, I absolutely loved it!!! I think one of my favorite parts in the chapter is when we're talking to Elora and she brings up how comfortable we seem at sea, and there's the option to bring up how similar we are to our father.

(I'm absolutely sobbing, especially after reading the letters he sent to Salyra. 😭😭 Rest in peace Alfh. Thank you for protecting us from the waste of space known as our mother.)

Anyways I have a few questions, now that I've re-read the story.

First question, In Chapter Seven, after we choose to meet with Rana & Dazon or not. We're able to go write a letter to our family and we have the option to tell them about Salyra. My question is, will there possibly be any consequences if we choose not to tell them about Salyra?

My MC is truthfully very bitter and resentful toward Salyra. She's the kind of person who would willingly and purposely go out of her way to make Salyra's life a living hell if she didn't absolutely despise seeing her face. That being said, she absolutely adores Rana and would kidnap her if she could, (Sorry not sorry Dazon).

The second question does Alfh have any known or unknown living relatives? And if he does, do they know about MC?

Anyway, sorry if this is too long, I know I kinda rambled on a little bit right there. I absolutely love your story. I'm a little sad to know this will be the last public chapter released, but I'm definitely looking at joining your Patreon. Continue doing the amazing work you're doing and please don't overwork yourself.

Thank you for playing 💖😊

I'm glad you enjoyed that option! A lot of the journey takes place near or on the sea so it felt like something that would remind the MC about Ahlf and especially their childhood days of fish guts and their stoic father 😆

There won't be consequences for not revealing the truth about Salyra to the family other than some flavour text/change in dialogues. After all, the Vinia family won't hold it against the MC because they would still see it as Salyra's fault of not having contacted them herself.

Ahlf's parents are dead and he was an only child. Before he joined Erlan as part of the Blood Guard, Ahlf's relationship with his parents were strained at best and once he shacked up with Salyra, he was disowned by his family. He dies have distant cousins and relatives but I'm not sure if they'll make an appearance in game as yet.

Don't worry about sending long asks! I love reading them and answering them ❤ thank you for playing and ill be sure to take necessary breaks 😊

#answered asks #crown of exile #salyra #ahlf

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timothylawrence · 4 months

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it is a little sad that the game writers and the fandom are so blatantly in favour of astarion as the Designated Woobie, and then wyll, and even gale to an extent, get less content. and their stories get framed as jokes, or like they weren't ~really~ harmed because the person manipulating them was a hot woman... imagine the screaming if cazador was also a romance option and hung out unkillably in your camp? but somehow it's ok for mizora, and the writers themselves can say that gale is the most annoying companion and deserves to blow up. i feel like i usually get attached to the companion characters in rpgs with the least content, which is fine, but it's a weird energy when the writers themselves seem to dislike the character.

i think that's one thing from the writers that like. didn't surprise me at all in regards to them calling Gale annoying or that he deserves to blow up lmao. like, these are same writers who rewrote wyll based on racist ass fans feedback and gave final version Wyll his unfinished and weak story, with the least amount of romance scenes + dialogue of any origin characters. the writers also failed to give him a storyline that was strictly about him, not his father, not mizora, and not balduran lmfao. top it all off with the fact you can 'romance' his abuser and then be incredibly cruel and vile towards him afterwards... like the writers are racist as hell idk.

I'm not surprised they said these things abt Gale either when they have a very obvious favoritism issue going on with their writing and how they treat their own characters

#asks #sorry this is a big ramble but yeah. its kinda terrible. im annoyed and dont trust the writers at all #gale obviously has a more complete and concise romance + storyline thats not really debatable but . the writers treat him pretty bad too #i didnt really speak on the gale thing because hes not really a character i think much abt but it was definitely cruel and uncalled for #also gale is incredibly more popular than wyll is in fandom and 'dislike' for each is based on different components that arent comparable #wylls hate is racism and antiblackness. ppl hate gale because they fnd him annoying or something of the sort #<- i dont hate him but you cant really conflate the two in regards to their treatment in fandom #gale interview

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crossdressingdeath · 6 months

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In the post about the Nocturne-Gortash parallels, you state "clearly neither of them are happy that this person who means so much to them doesn't remember them." Can you explain more about Gortash showing he's unhappy with Durge's memory loss? I'm only vaguely Durgetash brained, but it always sort of bothered me that he's so willing to discard us even though we used to be close (like with the Baldur's Mouth article or if we give him the Netherstones when he asks). I got the impression he wasn't that sad, but I haven't played a lot of the dialogue options and missed some events. Would love to hear more about this!

I will admit, you don't necessarily have to read it as him being Not Pleased that his friend doesn't remember him, I am extremely Durgetash brained and tend to read everything through that lens. A lot of it is his tone; when he says things like "Then [Orin] didn't lie - the past is lost to you" it just feels sad. Again, my Durgetash brainrot might be causing me to read into it, but it's still a thing. A lot of it is also just... he's so damn delighted to see Durge again and so desperate to team up with them again that it would feel absolutely bizarre if he wasn't upset that they didn't remember him.

I think part of the problem is that there are a lot of places in act 3 where it feels like Durge should get unique dialogue and they don't. I mean, I'd like the opportunity to confirm that they and Gortash were lovers, but even setting aside my Durgetash brainrot there's things like how if you read Gortash's mind at the coronation regarding the alliance Durge gets the same "This one shows promise" line that everyone else does even though Gortash has known and worked with them for at least a decade (assuming he got the Steel Watch plans in the same heist where Durge recovered their family's torture racks, anyway). Some of his speed at abandoning them if they fuck up can be read as him deciding that Durge isn't the same person they were before and so he doesn't want to work with them (for example if you refuse the alliance or obediently hand over the Netherstones, both of which I think we can say with relative certainty are things the old Durge would never have done), but even then I feel like that deserves more of a response than just "Have you gone soft?" This problem isn't exclusive to Gortash-related scenes, both Nine-Fingers and Viconia have documents in their respective hideouts explicitly confirming that their organizations know Durge well enough to recognize them as a high-ranking Bhaalist on sight and neither of them say shit when Durge strolls in to chat with them, but Gortash's relationship with Durge was so close and apparently genuinely affectionate that it's really obvious when he switches to generic lines with them.

#bg3 #durgetash #durge #asks #anon

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yakool-foolio · 8 months

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Omg. I love how our interpretations of Yakou's and Yuma's relationship are similar because it's so funny to see it in game. Especially when most of the time it's like:

Yakou: Yeah. I like Yuma. He's growing into a great detective even if he keeps getting into trouble all of the time.

Also Yakou: I've only had Yuma for a day and half, but if anything happened to him I will kill everyone in this room and then myself.

(I'm honestly a bit sad we didn't get to see Yuma being a leash child in canon after chap 2. It would have been fun seeing him and Yakou hang out more and when Yakou is distracted for like one sec, Yuma is already gone, being dragged by Shinigami. Alas plot lmao)

Yakou really is the most dad that ever dad, even if he doesn't realize it. One of my favorite moments is the two different dialogues from Yakou when Yuma decides to turn himself in or fight the Peacekeepers. If Yuma offers to turn himself in to Yomi, Yakou steps up. He lived in constant fear of Amaterasu, avoiding them at all cost and believing hiding was the safest option. None of the detectives followed in that belief, of course, but he remained adamant about it. Who could blame him for wanting to keep quiet after all those years of ruminating about his wife's silencing? And yet, despite that instinctual fear, the urge to run away and return to the safety of secrecy, he tells Yuma he'll go with him. Even if it meant he'd be tortured in unimaginably cruel ways, at least Yuma wouldn't suffer alone. Yakou stood up to the physical embodiment of what he dreaded most, all for the sake of a trainee who he couldn't bear to leave behind.

If Yuma exclaims that he'll fight the peacekeepers, Yakou is reminded of what happened the last time someone he deeply cared for dared to go against them. He objects to the idea, afraid of losing more precious lives to Amaterasu. He compares Yuma putting Kurumi's life at risk to his own experience. It isn't worth the fight, he's seen how sorrowful and lonely those rash decisions can make a person. To allow the same fate to befall Yuma, he'd betray what he's learned since those four years have passed. Letting Yuma experience that same agony goes directly against everything he's fought for once the detectives were dispatched to him.

#love and you will be loved in return #rain code spoilers #rain code #yakou furio #yuma kokohead

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