#clueless conscripts

[news4dzhozhar]

#IDF incompetence #military industrial complex #clueless conscripts #the us is complicit in genocide #genocide #israel is an apartheid state #apartheid #ethnic cleansing #collective punishment #illegal occupation #gaza under attack #gaza under siege #snipers #hamas #free palestine 🇵🇸 #save palestine

[aedesluminis]

Marat's critique on scientific academies

"Even though the following letter does not come from the same quill, I felt obliged to include it here anyway, because it reveals some piquant facts that are perfect to show the uselessness of scientific societies and to reveal the shameless charlatanism of their members."

Letter XII "It is not true, Monsieur, that the academies have never made some discoveries, although their members have often stolen those of others. On the subject, I could mention one hundred traits of infidelity of Messrs. the academicians of Paris; one hundred cases of misuse of funds; one hundred inventions publicly claimed by their authors, and what is even stranger, one hundred mémoirs that have been made to disappear and then carelessly published again under the names of these shameful plagiarists, but I do not want to demoralise you. Thus, I will limit myself to clear your doubts with two anecdotes that you will find amusing and of which you can find proof easily, since they happened before our very eyes.

You remember the enthusiasm about the rise of the first aerostatic globe and the craze of the public for this kind of exhibition. You remember the wonderful discoveries, of which this new experience was the source; you also remember the multiple as well as vain attempts done to steer the balloons. Well? Some fools, who believe that genius resides in the Academy of Science, gave it twelve thousand livres to figure out a way to control [the balloons]. What happened to that money? Do you think it reached its destination? Do not fool yourself. Do you think it was used for some useful research? How naive you are. Just know that our savants shared it among themselves and that it was all squandered at the Rapée, at the Opera and with women. You blush for them, but this is just a small thing, listen to this other bolder courtesy of theirs. Some months ago, a deputy, prompted by the work of an author, proposed in the National Assembly to proclaim the equality of weights and measures through all the reign. The proposal was well received and sent to the Academy of Science in order to decide how to proceed. It only took them the time to puff themselves up, to put their scribes to work and to rush to the senate that Messrs. the scientists were ready to announce that the Academy had found the best method to fulfil the expectations of the Assembly. It was to derive all the measures from the one of the circumference of the terrestrial globe; a method that some venal quills have immediately presented as a superb discovery by our doctors. But where do you think that this sublime method comes from? From the Egyptians. It was to pass it on to future centuries that the famous pyramids were built, which many clueless travellers took for eternal monuments of the greatness of these people. Eh! And where do you think that our academicians took this magnificent system from? They took it word for word from the treatise on weights and measures of the Ancients, published by Romé de l’Îsle, a distinguished savant, whose name they have taken care to overshadow since his death, in order to steal from him, after having persecuted him his whole life. But the best is yet to come. Under the pretext to measure a degree of the meridian arc - already well determined by the ancients and of which it would be impossible today to alter the measure without overthrowing this admirable system - they have been granted by the minister one hundred thousand écus for the expenses of the operation; a gâteau that they will share among their associates.

Judge for yourself the usefulness of the academies and the virtue of their members. The academies of the capital, which have never done anything for the progress of human knowledge other than persecute true men of genius; those will be preserved by conscript fathers, for the fact that the nation is in charge of [the academies] and that they consist of vile supporters of the despot, pavid advocates of despotism." —from Jean-Paul Marat's "Les charlatans modernes ou lettres sur le charlatanisme académique", letter n° 12, p. 40

Highlights in italics are mine. I thank @pleasecallmealsip for helping me with a couple of words I didn't know how to translate.

#spoiler: the “prompting” plagiarist author is Talleyrand #marat #jean paul marat #frev #french revolution #metric system #history of science #rome de l'isle #my translations

[starseers-garden]

@nullvoidface Good question! I don’t think I’ve actually picked a legion for him yet.

Snuggles is far too clumsy and clueless for Iron Legion—Can’t really understand complex machinery, or even follow complex instructions that well. Very likely to break, drop, or lose things.

He’s too embarrassing for Blood Legion—Likes cuddly things, soft things, dressing up, and moths/butterflies. Keeps going to watch bees and flowers during drills. Also a terrible combatant. He can swing a greatsword, but not really well. He can follow orders, but he’ll usually look ridiculous doing it. Blood Legion would probably only like him for his potent healing and amusement.

Ash Legion could actually probably make use of him—He’s so unassuming they could probably wire him and people will just talk around him thinking he's too stupid for them to worry about him. They would have to be careful to not let him get ahold of any intel, verbally or physically, though, since would absolutely innocently blab/lose it/drop it/give it to someone who asks.

Also Snuggles loves you all for loving him

Whichever his birth legion was, Dominion still conscripted him into their ranks when the civil war broke out after the All-Legion rally. He didn’t stay there, though, since he got distracted by the pretty flowers and butterflies around them around the western waterfalls when he spotted the very ill Commander, Feilim of the Stars, sitting under a tree. He really liked their antennae, came up, and healed them, confusing them greatly.

Feilim asked why he was fighting, he said he didn’t really know, and he ended up following Feilim around bc their antennae are just like the pretty moths’. Feilim ended up bringing him back to the Legions’ camp, where a bunch of people, especially Smodur, wanted to kill him for being a spy and a traitor. But Feilim, having grown nice and sick of Smodur’s shit by now, got into a public shouting match with him and said he was staying (Feilim wasn’t only spiting Smodur, their intuition told them Snuggles was indeed fine. He was still searched for bugs/wires though).

Snuggles didn’t like all the arguing, but he saw hurt and sick people and started healing them bc that’s what he does, and he eventually got his own bodyguards that watched him for treason but also protect him from his new, more distrustful allies. Being on the winning side, complacent, and irrefutably helpful meant Snuggles wasn’t punished as harshly as most other Dominion soldiers.

#snuggles mothchaser

[2n2n]

Thoughts on the last chapter? Do you like it, Hate it? Why do you think Sakura wants to tell Yashiro what she want to know? What is she after? And about what she said about Tsukasa. "Though there is little time until the boundary collapses… the eyes of that boy cannot reach us". Does this confirm your theory about Tsukasa and while the boundary is collapsing he cannot see a thing because he will be unconscious while getting the power of the destroyed yorishiro back? Because the panel showed him to be somehow unconscious and Sakura said she wants to use this particular time. What do you think?

LOVED IT so on board extremely jazzed really really really idealistic and honestly 'went further' both with its messaging and romance than I ever thought it would. Made me really feel the fear of God about the ramifications all of this has for romance in this manga. THE RAMIFICATIONS FOR THE SHINJUUUUUU!!! Didn't think it could get so raw. Would lay down my body for AidaIro to use as a bridge or something if they needed…. I'll lay in puddles for them to crosss..... art… poetry….. romance….. it couldn't get better for me. All of my chickens are coming home to roost. I trust the process.

I think as with the teaparty chapter, that Sakura feels a kinship with Nene as a result of being a similar sort of person to her. If Sakura really does have 'special powers', then she's just like Nene-- and maybe just like Nene, has a history of being manipulated or exploited by others due to those powers. I'm sure having any sort of 'powers' just leads to you becoming conscripted into other's service and obligated to certain tasks… people like Nene or Sakura are very rare (Teru calls Nene special...).... I doubt Sakura's has had much opportunity to ever meet another girl like herself, and nobody but her is ever going to understand the position Nene is forced into, the burdens they share, as a result of being born different.

So… even if it's all necessary… I think Sakura doesn't like Nene being left clueless, with no agency, and wants to at least offer her some context, so that she's not so helpless and confused. Maybe Sakura's been helpless and confused, before, or wasn't explained all the ramifications of whatever her position entailed, in this school. I don't think it's to undermine Tsukasa, as much as it's just to help Nene feel more in-control or, like, able to understand anything... to treat her with respect, maybe a respect Sakura was not granted in her time. Must be hard for a girl with special powers, to watch another girl with special powers be strung around. Nene is reduced to her Kannagi status in proceedings. I'm sure Sakura's experienced equivocal dehumanization. Da girliez relate.....

I hadn't at all thought of that Tsukasa panel as literal, actually! It's hard for me to sayyy, 'cuz Koku-Joudai was extant and chilling during Yako's yorishiro destruction. Koku-Joudai seemed perfectly capable of spying and existing in the boundary during events…. but I don't really know what that means for Tsukasa, if his body itself could have been deep in his shrine or whatever while the orbs do stuff? I have no idea how much those orbs are a part of them…. I mean, the body was too 'weak' before to leave at all, while Koku-joudai could do the crane thing, so.....? Maybe the body and the orbs can carry out distinct different functions during a yorishiro peeling?

I'd wanna just say something like "well, within a boundary you're obliged to the rules of the person running it, like Shijima-san removing Hanako's Tsueshiro, so maybe Hakubo and Sumire are capable of creating privacy", but Tsukasa gets to fling Shijima-san around all that he wants despite being in her shrine, and poofs himself around it as he pleases, presumably because he himself is more relatively holy at that point than the shrine's master.

We have no idea what Tsukasa is up to for the latter half of Picture Perfect. I don't know if he has the ability to poof himself out of there whenever he wishes, if he started waiting in his boundary for Nene to peel it, or, what. We don't see him after he's sent Shijima-san away. Clearly if he can send her and Nene anywhere, he isn't shackled to Shijima-san's strict 'no leaving' policy which applied to everyone else. While Yashiro peels the seal, Tsukasa isn't seen, and walks into her art room some time later, not immediately after. So…. I don't …. know …. he could have been waiting in his shrine once things were set in motion, or he could have been hanging out in the PP world while Nene peeled it, who knows….?

… So anyway, based on all of that feeble knowledge: No idea why he can't see the boundary during its collapse. Not something we have enough information on for me to comfortably say anything, no idea where he was at for previous collapses…. I don't know if it's the nature of this collapse, it being a slower/gradual proceeding, or No. 6 being a substantial mystery……? Or… if you're right, and he's always been powered down for power re-absorption, and we just haven't explicitly seen it. I think Koku-Joudai being present in Yako's boundary pre-and-post-collapse is my biggest confusion, but we don't know wtf those things are, yet, so… maybe they don't need to be there for whatever is going on ….. maybe Tsukasa is in a big basket like a kitten snuggled around his radio receiving all that God juice every time.

#avvy's JSHK

[hythlodaeus-mynewoldfriend]

A confession

Hi there! Thank you for asking. Sorry for the delay but the piece was a bit too long to format the way I like on mobile and keep my sanity. But have one of the bigger revelations in Sib's life. Also a bit of an unrefined piece. Endwalker spoilers though they're a bit vague, so just in case.

Siberite nods, following to the main meeting hall of the Baldesion Annex, her parents sitting around a small table pulled to the center of the room. Khutula locks the door as she meets her mother’s eyes hoping for some indication on what this whole thing was about, instead finding her looking just as clueless.

“Siberite,” her father greets, “good you’re here.” Lord Akagane’s right shoulder moves forward in a move that once would have his arm gesturing to the chair that sits empty on his right. He glances down at the missing limb with a frown, “Have a seat will you?”

She nods, back straight and hands folded in her lap, Khutula sitting next to her, Siberite and her mother sharing a curious look. “Please don’t take this the wrong way Khutula, but I thought you said this was a private family matter?”

Her father nods, sitting, “It is, but Khutula can help in filling in the details.”

“Details about what exactly, dear?”

The old auri sighs, looking down at the table, the lighting bringing out the grey hair that Siberite is sure has doubled since she’d last seen him. “I didn’t go to Doma for business, I went hoping to find Palladium.”

Siberite inhales sharply, having never heard her brother’s name pass her father’s lips since she was a young girl and ordered to not speak of him. She looks at Khutula sitting still, eyes cast down, her mother taking a deep breath, jaw tightening, “What do you mean, ‘find Palladium’?”

“I-. I lied to you initially about what happened with him,” her father shakes his head with a sigh, “I’m sorry.”

“Why,” Lady Akagane grinds out.

“Grief, anger, some combination of the two.”

“What happened to him,” she snaps, voice cracking, “What happened to my boy!”

Her father looks up at Khutula and then to Siberite, frown deepening seeing she has yet to change her position in any way. “Siberite you might remember this, but Khutula came back in the middle of the night bruised, bloodied, and with a broken bone or two.” She doesn’t and even if she did she wouldn’t want to, she considers it luck that the Echo hasn’t taken over. “He came begging for help, wanted me to get a few more capable fighters and go back to Doma as soon as possible.”

“The Garleans were establishing the power they came to hold, we got caught in the crossfire,” Khutula adds, “I started to fight out of self defense, Palladium worked on getting people to safety.” Lady Akagane’s eyes go wide, glazed over with tears, hands clasped to her chest, “He-. He should have stayed where he was, unlike you Sib he was fairly useless in a fight against military men.” The warrior doesn’t look up from her lap, Khutula exhaling slowly, “There was an auri family being separated, the man must have looked like he was good enough to serve in their army or do manual labor, the little girl with him clung to him so fiercely. I guess Palladium worried for the girl, because next thing I saw he was trying to fight with the soldiers.”

“They captured him after that,” her father interjects, “From what Khutula told me he tried to break in and get him back himself, only to be barred by gates that were impossible to get through after the beating he had already taken.”

“So….so he….he was alive,” her mother asks, knuckles growing white, “and you did nothing!”

“The Empire had him! They were making examples of some of their conscripts, even if he was one of the lucky ones he was as good as gone to us. No one ever came back from the Empire.”

“Until Lord Hein,” Siberite whispers, her father nodding.

“After seeing the woman you’ve become and knowing how much you looked up to him, I let myself hope that maybe he was stronger than I gave him credit for.”

“He was,” Khutula says, “He wasn’t the strongest, but he was smart and stubborn, the former saving him from the labor and military.”

“That’s right, my Palladium had just gotten his Archon tattoos,” her mother sniffs, “I had never been prouder of him.”

“From what I was able to find when looking for him, they brought him to the castle to assist in the young prince’s education.” He shakes his head, the ghost of a smile gracing his lips, “It was there his stubbornness….” Khutula glances Siberite’s way wanting to reach out and comfort her as he’d done time and again, “I heard tales you know, of how he still stood up for those he could, helped in messing with plans for a few weapons, even if it only delayed them a few days, and how he refused to teach a young Hein the propaganda the Empire wanted him to learn.”

“The conscript I talked to was in the same legion as him,” Lord Akagane continues, “Sent to the front lines after he got the wrong commander on a bad day. The more I heard about him the more I see how alike you two are….were. He hated fighting and would drop his weapon as soon as he could and help civilians.”

“And let me guess, he died doing just that,” Siberite’s mother stands quickly, eyes shut, “Don’t you dare try to tell me he died a hero when he shouldn’t have died at all,” she hisses, shooting her husband a glare. She clears her throat, smoothing out her dress, “Thank you for your input Khutula. Will you be joining me for breakfast tomorrow Siberite dear?” Siberite stays silent, her mother’s frown deepening, “See that she and Mister Waters join me tomorrow, Khutula.”

He nods, “Of course ma’am.” The woman leaves, turning on her heel and slamming the door shut making the men wince. 

Her father turns to face her completely, “Say something, Siberite. Please just talk to me.”

“And say what exactly? You were the one to dictate that Palladium was never to be spoken of, but now you choose to talk about him? After all this time?”

“Siberite, I-. I was upset, mourning, filled with grief and worry for you.”

“And I wasn’t! Dad I was just a child, a child that was told to forget he ever existed. How do you think I’m going to react?” 

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t this quiet, stoic, and emotionless daughter in front of me. You’ve always had something to say.”

“Even if I did, would it really matter to you? Or are you just trying to justify the way you handled your grief while living with the guilt that you could have done something and didn’t?” He looks at her with his mouth agape, “I don’t know what it was that you found in Doma that prompted you to tell the truth finally, but I wish you hadn’t.”

She stands, looking to follow her mother out with Khutula just behind her when her father slams his hand on the table. “I wasn’t the only one who lied to you, Siberite. I wasn’t the only one to fail him. So I shouldn’t be the only one treated like the bad guy.”

“If you really believe that mom and I are being unfair, then I suggest you take a look at your actions again.” She walks out the doors, Khutula following as she makes her way outside and towards the library. She can feel the chill on her cheeks when she finally stops at the gazebo with a heavy sigh, “You know it's both hard to believe and easy to see my brother using this same spot to study or discuss ideas with others. When you told me that one of his papers was still here in the library I stood here and tried to see if I could hear him like I did on the Steppe.”

“He gave a lesson here once, thought the student would enjoy and listen better while outdoors.” Her lips turn in a small smile, “It didn’t help. He would let me practice with weapons when outside  and the kid had more interest in those than aether sciences.” He looks down at her, “You can blame me if you’d like Siberite. I could have done more, could have easily done more.”

“What happened?”

“He begged me, ordered me to come back to you first.” Siberite shuts her eyes, jaw locking as the fuzzy images come that match Khutula’s story, “He grabbed my arm, looking more determined than I had ever seen him and told me to go home. ‘If they find out who I am they could go after my family. Deciding that they have the right information to try and come for Thavnair next, dragon allies be damned. I need you to make sure Sibby is going to be okay.’, he even made the argument that if I went back and got healed up we could get more people out and back to their families. I really didn’t want to leave him behind, but he kept insisting, telling me that he would be okay. I needed to take care of you.”

“You think he knew that he wasn’t going to make it?”He shrugs, shaking his head, “Maybe. I don’t know. I think he just believed that so long as you were safe then he would be and could make it back to you.” “If you’re safe then I’m safe”, The words she once said to her mother when the skies burned red over their home have her echo with the question on if he said them to her once before or if it was merely an inherited belief. “He truly wanted nothing more at that time than to be the best older brother he could be. Wanted better for you, to see you thrive. So much so that when you were about two he made me swear and promise that should something happen to him that I would watch over you until I felt like you could stand all on your own.”

#listen keep in mind that they are 1%ers they had much at their disposal #but sad day for those women truly #siberite akagane oc #the akagane family #my wip tag #endwalker spoilers #ish just in case

[dreadfutures]

TLDR: Dead Pasts, Dread Futures

Decided to put something together for All The People who will never read DPDF but may actually be interested in Ixchel for other reasons. tw mental health, past suicide. She gets better. If you read all of this you’d be all caught up on Dead Pasts and Dread Futures and (probably) be ready to jump into The Brave Guide, though you’d be missing a lot of nuance. Like 600,000 words of nuance. But.

tldr: Ixchel is the Inquisitor and main protagonist of my resurrection/time-travel/fix-it Bloodied & Broken series of fics. Her story is #hopepunk and deals with her upward journey finding hope for herself & for the people around her. But she starts at rock bottom. She was an orphan of unknown partial-elven origin, eventually adopted in Clan Lavellan, and first became Inquisitor as a clueless teenager and fucked up a lot. She had no romance arc, but she loved all of her friends dearly. Her entire life became the Inquisition and when it ended she had nothing left. She died by suicide a few years after Trespasser when she's ~ 25-27ish. Dorian ((and Solas)) used the power available after the Veil fell to return her back in time to the Conclave to do it all over again.

Early Life

The nameless half(?) elven orphan grew up fending for herself and sheltering in ruins in Ferelden prior to the Fifth Blight. No Dalish Clans she encountered took her in, either because of her not-fully-elven appearance (unlikely) or because times were tight and dangerous due to the encroaching Blight (more likely). She believed it to be due to her not being fully Elven and developed a complex about wanting to belong. She stowed away on a boat to the Free Marches and ended up wandering the countryside. After the Archdemon's defeat she returned to Ferelden, and in a ruin there she discovered a word she'd found written on a wall: IX CHEL. She encountered a mysterious traveler (Halevune Mahariel, HOF), who translated the inscrutable runes into Ixchel, and she thought it was pretty so she took it as her name.

She eventually did return to the countryside outside of Markham calling herself by this new name. In 9:37 Dragon, a particularly harsh winter drove the Lavellan Clan to seek out the orphan and took her in to teach her to hunt and fend for herself better. She remained with the clan for a short time but wanted to "prove" herself, so she volunteered to go to the Conclave as a spy, due to her ability to pass as a human and travel unnoticed. She was roughly sixteen years old.

Some traits inherent to her upbringing are that she has a nearly photographic memory and can memorize things pretty well be repeating things to herself, which is how she would "learn" things from ruins growing up. She has no terrible fear of demons -- no more so than bears. Demons are predictable creatures of habit and will eventually give up chasing. But Darkspawn have always terrified her.

First Inquisition

She fucked up a lot like I said. She tried to please everyone but that always meant someone disapproved of her choices. She slowly developed her own moral code mostly through saying "oh, shit, I actually hate how I feel after making that decision." Her advisers were pissed at her when she formed an equal alliances with the Free Mages. So when she had to choose for the Wardens, she conscripted them. Which pissed everyone off because they wanted her to exile them. And so on.

She tried the make the Inquisition welcome to everyone and thus decorated and incorporated aspects of many different cultures in it, but she worried that she just ended up making everyone feel uncomfortable, and it only highlighted to her the fact that she didn't really feel like she belonged to any group. She butted heads with Sera a LOT in these regards, due to Sera's scorn for how much Ixchel desperately wanted to be "an elfy elf."

Her first Inquisition lasted a very long time--many years, in fact--as she criss-crossed Thedas and fumbled so much and tried to figure out who and what Corypheus was.

Solas

Ixchel has special relationships with everyone. Her closest friends were Dorian, Solas, and Cassandra. Dorian as an older brother/best friend, Cassandra as a sister/stern tutor, and Solas as a mentor and nurturing figure. She was endlessly curious, good-hearted, and quick to learn. Solas saw a lot of himself in her desire to do good but the constant mistakes she made. He afforded her the forgiveness and support that he never offers himself. She had no biases of the Chantry or Dalish upbringings and absorbed everything he had to teach her about history, war, politics, elves, spirits, dragons, you name it.

But part of this curiosity and openness meant that Ixchel picked up on certain inconsistencies and evasions and became somewhat suspicious about his origins. After the encounter at the Temple of Mythal, she figured out not only that he was an Ancient Elf...but that he was Fen'Harel. He admitted as much but did not fully explain his history, his role in it, or his agenda. They grew even closer as friends and she asked him ever more questions about the past.

But Ixchel did not end up adopting his *philosophies* and in the end the student would surpass the teacher in many ways. In other ways, she was shaped very much by him and Dorian's insecurities and flaws of Pride and fatalism.

Gaining Her Vallaslin

She lost her Clan during this time and definitely blames her advisors in part. With her clan's death, her self esteem took a massive hit and she didn't think she *deserved* to be welcomed as an elf because she thought she hadn't done enough for them. She had learned about Celene's burning of Halamshiral *after* she saved Celene's life. Sera was constantly mocking her. And her advisers were constantly exasperated at her. After a very hard-won "victory" at Adamant, Ixchel had a bit of a spiral. Solas and Dorian and Cassandra picked her back up out of it and started building her up as her own person, growing from her mistakes, and finding worth in herself.

She completed Jaws of Hakkon during this time. When she discovered Ameridan's identity she of course wanted to bring that information to the Dalish. She ended up taking it *personally* to the clan on the Exalted Plains lead by Keeper Hawen. He had originally called her a "flat ear" and a "shem" but then she went OUT of her way to help them, and then this: she brought not only the news that the first Inquisitor, Ameridan, was Dalish and a mage -- but also presented the Clan with the Suledin Blade -- and gave them the original copy of the Tale of Red Crossing found in Din'an Hanin.

For this effort, Hawen--who had already started to see her as "a Dalish elf standing for all Thedas" offered her the vallaslin of Dirthamen, the Secret Keeper. She was to take this honor as "a lore-seeker, secret-keeper, and finder-of-kin." Solas took her aside at this point and told her the truth about the vallaslin. She had her first real fight with him about it and insisted she would take the vallaslin because of what it represented to her and to the modern elves. I wrote a oneshot about their fight. :sadcat:  He ends up telling her that he respects her decision and admires her but she feels like there's a hollowness to it.

Post-Corypheus & the Exalted Council

Ixchel's entire personhood was built around the Inquisition. Her first and only real taste of family, of *home*, came with it. And after Corypheus's defeat, her found family began to drift away. Solas left first, of course, without saying goodbye. :sadcat:  Cassandra became Divine. Leliana was often busy helping Cassandra. Dorian went back to Tevinter. Thom began his travels to preach and support the imprisoned across Thedas. Cole, who had become more human, went with Varric to Kirkwall. Her armies began to return home. Etcetera, etcetera.

During the time between Corypheus's defeat and Trespasser, Ixchel travelled with Morrigan and Kieran. They spent time with the Avvar and Chasind, and they traveled all over via eluvian and on foot. Ixchel started learning ancient Elvhen from Morrigan, who had the Well of Sorrows. She and Kieran grew close. Mahariel returned from the West--having failed in his endeavors--and stayed with them for a time. But then Mahariel started to get sick.

Ixchel returned to Skyhold alone. By the time of the Exalted Council she was in a pretty dark and lonely place, ||which was only made worse by Solas's revelations -- and his refusal to let her join him, or to kill her.||

In the aftermath, Ixchel disbanded the Inquisition entirely.

Cassandra wanted her to stay in the grand cloister where she had come to live, but Ixchel didn't want to take up her time and concern. Cole offered to come back to Skyhold to stay with her but she thought his work was too important. Cullen wanted to stay with her but she essentially kicked him out, because she believed in his lyrium rehabilitation clinic. And so on, and so on, until Skyhold was left with no more than thirty people in it at the time. Her anti-Solas efforts were essentially comprised of herself, Charter, Lace Harding, and Jester, and Sutherland and Sutherland's company. Ixchel tried for a while to find a way to defeat or disprove Solas's plans, but she had a harder and harder time motivating herself.

After the events of Callback, where Solas's frescoes are destroyed by a demon who fed on Solas's Regrets, Ixchel's story starts to end.

**Dead Pasts and Dread Futures**

Starts with Ixchel's death, her literal rock bottom. Solas succeeds and the Veil comes down. Magic floods the world. And Dorian uses his gifts and this limitless power to reforge Ixchel's soul out of the distant Fade, reforge her body out of his memories, and sends her back in time. Solas meddles.

Ixchel isn't the kind of person who can turn her back on people in need and her story is thus about how empathy sometimes leads to an overwhelming sense of responsibility and how and when to set boundaries for her own sanity and health. She jumps into the Inquisition all over again, relying on her foreknowledge and her regrets to lead her decisions this time. As her power grows, she begins to question too how much she SHOULD meddle, and how much should be left up to the free will of people around her. Her relationships with *every single companion* (except Sera) are explored, and the dissonance between what she knows and loves about them & what they know and understand about themselves is highlighted.

And she finds herself empathizing and loving and wishing better for Solas every step of the way. They have a romance that's overshadowed by feelings of guilt and grief that are at once related to the person in front of them, and also not at all. They are broken in a lot of the same ways. They are mirrors for each other. And in loving the other they learn to love and forgive themselves.

The thesis of Ixchel's story is this: "Hope is a choice you make every day. Belief is a state of being." The question is when, if ever, hope can become belief.

Ixchel convinces Solas to choose hope. And to help her continue to choose hope, too. They can pick each other up when they stumble or waver on this path. They don't support each other, or follow each other--they walk *with* each other in parallel as equals.

**DPDF Major Events** (spoilers)

Ixchel saved both the Mages and the Templars and recruited them into the Inquisition

Ixchel convinced Samson and Calpernia to defect from Corypheus's ranks

Ixchel killed Corypheus's red lyrium dragon

Ixchel recruited the Wardens after Adamant

No one (....sorta) was left in the Fade

Ixchel can hear the Calling, and lyrium, for some mysterious reason, though she is not Blighted herself

Ixchel is developing mild magical ability independent of the Anchor

Cole chose to align more with his Spirit side

Dorian, Cassandra, Solas, Cole, Morrigan, and Kieran all know the truth about Ixchel's past and the circumstances of her resurrection

...though no one but Ixchel and Cole know that Solas is the Dread Wolf.

Ixchel reunited Briala and Celene. Gaspard is dead. Briala and Celene are having some Issues ™️

The Halamshiral Alienage was burned a second time by Gaspard's Chevaliers and malcontents, with some string-pulling by Corypheus

The Halamshiral Alienage formed a labor union comprised of disenfranchized humans, alienage elves, and other nonhuman merchants and bargained with Celene and Briala with the neutral support of the Inquisition

In the wake of what happened in Halamshiral, Ixchel is viewed as a leader of rebellions for equality, named "The Brave Guide."

Alienages all around Thedas have begun to demand their walls to be torn down, to integrate with their cities with equal amenities or be allowed self-governance.

Mythal is meddling in her life again, though Ixchel and Solas cannot figure out why.

Ixchel has discovered that a key ingredient to her resurrection was the Old God Soul that Mythal took from Kieran, though it is now dead or dormant within Ixchel

Ixchel and Solas are in a loving, trusting, and very communicative relationship. #battlecouple

He has abandoned the din'an'shiral to instead walk with Ixchel on a path of hope -- to work with the world as it is, rather than to change it by force

Ixchel has begun to incorporate spirit channeling/partial temporary possession into her battle style, the way the Avvar do. For this she was named 'god song' instead of the canon 'first thaw.'

Anders and Justice separated with the help of the Avvar, and now Anders wants to volunteer to be made Tranquil expressly so that Cassandra can try the Cure on him, and make sure the Cure is made safe for others, so that any Tranquil who wants to be cured can be cured safely and rehabilitated safely.

Ixchel personally intervened in Wycome to Save Clan Lavellan and Protect Wycome's Alienage, and thwarted the Venatori's red lyrium plot

Anti-Elven sentiment across Thedas is threatening to boil over

She met the mysterious Marquis de Serault, who has discovered red lyrium growing in their Marquisate

Corypheus attacked Skyhold but Ixchel thwarted him and stole the Orb of Destruction, which she now keeps below Skyhold. Corypheus escaped.

And there we have it, 600,000 words summed up!

As of January 2022, you’d be all caught up.

The questions dealt with The Brave Guide are more about dissonance between how one is perceived and how much control one has over it, and what to do with the image you have in the world. Where DPDF was about Ixchel vs. Herself more often than not, RGL is more about Ixchel vs. The Image of Ixchel -- as well as Solas vs. Himself, because hope isn't easy.

#dead pasts dread futures #ixchel lavellan #warrior lavellan #buff elf agenda #teenage inquisitor squad #solavellan #but not solavellan in her first life #dragon age fanfic #suicide #mental health #past character death #important post #remember this #for myself

[spidermilkshake]

Lousewort and Sneezewort

A pair of rat horde soldiers who very much give the vibe of "clueless conscript possibly just barely of adult age, and we really don't know/aren't really into what we're doing here!"

Despite this, they're not really considered often among the "Good Vermin" lists because despite not having a permanent snarly-torture-face on and generally acting like pretty normal-dispositioned characters in their situation, they do end up following orders of their noxious Rapmark and Firstblade masters... which mind you, if they didn't, they'd be murdered so you can't really judge a rat's moral potential on that!

The last seen of them in The Long Patrol is them running off into the night, deserting the Rapscallion horde and hoping their absence will be ignored due to the upcoming battle. I secretly hope these two ended up among like-minded company and they lived out long and fulfilling lives--though given how hostile Mossflower Country is to rats, that's a tall order.

#redwall #fan art #traditional media #rats #rat #The Long Patrol #Lousewort #Sneezewort #grey characters #anthro #anthropomorphic

[banghwa]

genuinely it's one thing i noticed lurking in the bts fandom before i got involved is that a lot of iarmys from non conservative countries internalise aspects of korea's conservatism (generalisation obviously) like around idols not dating, scandal if they do sthn slightly sexual (and don't get me started on forced conscription discussions which they praise them serving their country...) like good on hoseok i think he's a king

really its soooooo weird like. and they really generalize it like "oh all korean people are so and so" because of a general interpreted or assumed social climat from the perspective of someone with no experience with korean cullture. or acting like someone can understand and comment on the korean socio-political context just because they've watched a couple episodes of some kdrama. it's embarassing and racist and also makes it real transparent that they don't actually care enough to look up the social issues they're talking about through more than a quick read through of a koreaboo article if it doens't directly concern their kpop boy. like nearly everywhere else in the world there is so much activism and so many discussions around sex and gender and stuff happening in korea stop acting like ur kpop boys are clueless and passive just because you can’t conceive of non-western experiences having nuance !!!!

#💌 #anonymous

[heartscfvalor]

Introducing: Alistair Theirin

All is undone Ash in the sun Cast into darkness The light we had won

Alistair Theirin is a half elf royal bastard -- literally. 

Born illegitimately to Fiona, an elven mage, and King Maric Theirin of Fereldan; their romance had been intense but short-lived, resulting in Alistair’s conception and birth. Fiona, unable to raise her son in a world where elves were treated unfairly, went to see Maric to give him their child and request that he be raised fully human with the thought that his mother had been human and died in childbirth. Maric promised to do so, eventually handing Alistair off to Arl Aemon Guerrin of Redcliffe. While Alistair could declare his life with Aemon was happy, some of his more questionable comments have hinted that it wasn’t always so.

When he was older, Aemon’s wife, Isolde, convinced Aemon to have Alistair trained as a templar, and while Alistair showed exceptional skill as a warrior, he was miserable under so many rules and having the weight of his looming vows crushing him into the dirt. Weeks before he was due to take his vows, Duncan, a Grey Warden who had been friends with Fiona, found Alistair at the Monastery, and he used the Right of Conscription to recruit Alistair into the Wardens. There was some brief resistance from Alistair’s former commanders, but they had to concede, and Alistair was all too happy to follow Duncan into the sunset.

Among the Grey Wardens, Alistair felt like he had finally found himself some kindred spirits. Everyone was exceptionally fond of the orphan with the silver tongue, and he was fond of them in turn; he dreamed of eventually becoming a Grey Warden Commander to make Duncan proud, as he quickly began to see the man as a secondary father figure.

Things, however, took a turn for the worst when the Blight finally arrived. Whilst at Ostegar, Alistair helps the newest recruit -- the Warden -- with lighting a signal at the top of the tower of the fortress for Loghain Mac-Tir to bring his forces forward to overwhelm the darkspawn; instead, Loghain turned traitor, abandoning King Cailin, Alistair’s half brother, and retreating with his armies; Cailin and his own armies, including the Grey Wardens, were all slaughtered; Alistair and the Warden only survive due to Flemeth turning into a giant bird and rescuing them from the top of the tower in the nick of time.

This Alistair is a clueless bisexual himbo; he can reunite with his half sister Goldanna, but it won’t go well, and it will hurt his feelings. However, he doesn’t have to be King -- he clearly doesn’t want to be King -- as he much prefers to be a Warden and trying to rebuild their cavalry. However, if he has no other choice, he can take the Throne rather than let Anora have it, after executing Loghain for his treachery. With Morrigan, he has one son, Kieran, who he doesn’t meet for at least eleven years.

#no one would give him to me so i made him my damn self #regarding;; alistair #musings;; alistair #introducing;; alistair

[sharkfish]

late summer recs in the endless year of our lord 2020

masterpost of rec lists /// yeah it’s october  but i’m in texas so it’s still basically summer! 

*~*~*~if you like the fics, give love to the author via kudos and/or comments!!*~*~*~*~ 

under the cut to prevent endless scrolling~ 

8 Reasons by Threshie ***WIP***

Space pilot Dean is caught trying to break Sam out of prison, and ends up tossed into a cell with a half-man, half tentacly monster alien.

Adagio by noangelsinthegarrison (6k)

“His name’s Dean," Cas sighs, "And he’s really stupidly attractive, and when he dances, he feels it, you know? And it makes me feel like I know him, even though I don’t. He makes me feel like… like he’s dancing just for me.”

Gabriel rolls his eyes, “Wow, you’re over-dramatic when you’re horny.”

And He's Oh So Good by @jemariel ***WIP*** - completed, 10/13 chapters posted

Dean Smith is a man of routine, and it's been working very well for him, thank you very much.

Then Castiel walks into his life, and suddenly there's a splash of color that reveals just how gray everything had been before.

Can Dean let himself step out of his comfortable shell and experience the good things in life that he's forgotten about?

A Thousand Lies by @goldenraeofsun (73k)

Dean Winchester is the best con artist in the continental US. Conscripted into the life after a stupid mistake as a teenager, he works for a man only known as the Lightbringer. He specializes in the marriage con, tricking his marks into falling in love with him and bolting after the honeymoon with everything they own.

But the morning before his meticulously planned meet-cute with his newest assignment, he runs into an adorably clueless accountant named Cas in a coffee shop, and Dean’s entire view on life implodes.

Christmas Treats and Angel Heats by @malmuses (20k) 

Angels don't have a sex, or gender, nevermind a secondary gender—right? At least, that's what the Winchesters have been led to believe.

It's Christmas, and Dean misses his angel friend. He's been AWOL for days, and the Winchesters are worried.

When Cas returns to the bunker on Christmas Eve, very clearly in heat, a few of their assumptions are going to have to change.

Oh, and Dean is going to have to hide his feelings for Cas in the face of the news that the angel is an unmated omega, who desperately needs their help.

Merry Christmas, Dean!

Cliché Bingo by noangelsinthegarrison (3k)

Sometimes, Castiel thinks that if he were playing a game of cliché bingo with his own life he’d get a full house within seconds. He’s the smart kid who wears glasses; he’s the Christian who wears sweater vests; he’s the quietest, youngest son in a family of seven and, oh yes, he’s in love with Dean Winchester.

Who just happens to be his best friend. And his neighbour. And a jock. So that’s three in one right there.

Blaze And Fall by @casbeanwrites  (13k)

Dean's not handling his best friend and ex-roommate's "kinks" very well.

Until he learns how to handle them.

Dean Winchester and the Patron Saint of Blind Dates by @goldenraeofsun  (18k)

Dean Winchester's friends are a bunch of traitors. So he had a bad breakup two years ago and hasn't gotten back on the horse. Their intervention - a series of blind dates - can't be the solution.

But if this'll get his friends to stop, Dean can choke down over-priced spaghetti, make forced conversation, and drink whatever random cocktail the blue-eyed weirdo bartender makes for him next.

At least Cas has his back. One nod from Dean, and he'll swoop down from behind the bar and make excuses for Dean to bail. It would be a perfect system - except Dean can't stop trading knowing looks with Cas and focus on his damn dates instead.

From Ashes by kradarua (12k) 

“You’ll be able to use your legs again,” Sam rushed, “just...well, it might take a while.”

Dean exhaled sharply, frustrated, but forced himself to raise his head and take a look.

OR

Dean gets injured on the job, and Castiel falls in love with him by mistake.

Head Down, Walk with Reason by @goldenraeofsun (63k)

As an omega, Castiel is ineligible for the throne after his father dies. When his uncle takes the crown, Metatron's first order of business is to arrange a betrothal with King John for the hand of his firstborn son, the Crown Prince of Terra.

So Castiel flees.

On his first night on the run, Castiel stumbles into a band of outlaws just at the border. Injured and wary, he has no choice to stay with them. And although he had planned to return to his own kingdom once it was safe, home might not be the place he left, but instead with Dean, their alpha leader that took him in.

Russian to the Altar by @malmuses  (144k) 

“I need you to marry Castiel.”

They weren’t the words Dean expected to hear from his business partner’s mouth before their bakery-slash-chocolate shop opened for the day. He’d been quite happy being single—and who the fuck was Castiel, anyway?

It turned out that Castiel was a Russian erotic novelist in need of a ticket to America, and Dean… well, Dean was a last resort.

Save the Drake by VioletHaze (@scones-and-texting-and-murder) (33k)

Encouraged by his best friend Meg to create more connections in his life, Cas jumps into an online discussion surrounding the closing of the Drake, an independent and historic theater in his neighborhood. If nothing else, the confidence Cas gains as he makes a new online friend helps him to be less awkward around the guy in his building that he likes: Dean Winchester.

It’s not like Dean Winchester needs help meeting people, but a hasty decision to comment on a local news article leads him to make a virtual connection. It's a new sort of relationship for Dean, but soon the two of them are chatting all day long. He only wishes getting to know his downstairs neighbor Cas was this simple.

Sparks by vipjuly (21k)

The creepy house on the corner has been abandoned for years, everyone says. It's ramshackle and decrepit, the yard overgrown, the wrought iron fence bent and broken in some places. The adults in the neighborhood have asked the city to do something about that eyesore for so long, but the city insists that someone is paying property taxes on the house, therefore they cannot do anything about it.

So, everyone ignores it and pretends it doesn't exist. They definitely don't go anywhere near it, either.

Dean, though.

Dean is drawn to it as if by gravity.

Little by little, Dean repairs what he can. The monster inside the house ain't so bad, either.

Y'know. For a monster.

Such Familiar Magic by @saltnhalo (26k)

When solitary witch Castiel finds an injured dog unconscious in his garden, he takes it in. He's expecting to heal it, look after it for a few days, then perhaps return it to its owners.

He's not expecting it to be one of the strongest familiars he's ever met.

Sugar Stages by VioletHaze (6k)

He heard Dean before he saw him. It was like he brought an energy into the test kitchen that crept under Cas’s skin, an awareness of his carefree attitude that was equal parts calming and infuriating. Still, Cas resisted the urge to turn and look over his shoulder. He knew damn well how the internet talked, the way they “shipped” them, always zeroing in on what they considered lingering looks. He’d seen too many gifs of himself with his eyes photoshopped into hearts not to be aware of the way his every word and action with regard to Dean were being scrutinized.

You Shook Me All Quarantine Long series by @goldenraeofsun (4 fics around 10k each)

A series of quarantine-based one-shots with Creature Cas and Human Dean.

#sharkrecs #destiel

[news4dzhozhar]

I love this guy's content. As a former soldier he provides a military perspective, procedures, tactics, weapons - you name it. And he's a smartass. His name is Greg Stoker and he has accounts on both Instagram and TikTok. www.instagram.com/greg.j.stoker is his account if anyone wants to check him out. He's got dozens of videos on alot of different aspects about this whole mess.

In this video he responds point by point to an IDF conscript and debunks the BS.

#idf lies #idf incompetence #military industrial complex #clueless conscripts #the us is complicit in genocide #genocide #israel is an apartheid state #apartheid #ethnic cleansing #collective punishment #illegal occupation #anti zionism isnt anti semitism #stop weaponizing words to prevent debate #gaza under attack #gaza under siege #mass murder of children #save palestine #free palestine 🇵🇸

[theyregoodfics]

on the edge of my seat. grade: 120%

A Thousand Lies by @goldenraeofsun

Rating: Explicit

Words: 72,610

Tags: Con Artist Dean Winchester, Accountant Castiel (Supernatural), Dubcon Kissing, Non-Consensual Drug Use, not cas/dean, Unrequited Crowley (Supernatural)/Dean Winchester, Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Human, Dean Winchester Has Self-Worth Issues, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Pansexual Castiel (Supernatural), Past Dean Winchester/Other(s)Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending

Summary:

Dean Winchester is the best con artist in the continental US. Conscripted into the life after a stupid mistake as a teenager, he works for a man only known as the Lightbringer. He specializes in the marriage con, tricking his marks into falling in love with him and bolting after the honeymoon with everything they own.

But the morning before his meticulously planned meet-cute with his newest assignment, he runs into an adorably clueless accountant named Cas in a coffee shop, and Dean’s entire view on life implodes.

_______________________________

if you love the fic, please give the writer some love via kudos/comments/reblogs. your support matters!

#50 to 100k #angst with a happy ending

[dyaus-pita]

Speaking as someone who likes both Ingrid and Hilda, I find the discussions around their prejudices to be cancerous.

I'll be blunt: I really dislike how the game handles both the Tragedy of Duscur and the relations between Goneril/Almyra, and a large part of it is because they feel so...mechanical, for the lack of a better word.

The part about Goneril having indentured Almyran servants seems to exist purely to explain how Cyril got to Fodlan while trying to add more "gray morality" and make Almyra more sympathetic; outside of the paralogue, which explains Cyril's backstory, it's never mentioned, which seems like a pretty glaring thing to miss in a route where Fodlan/Almyra relations is supposed to be important. The attempt at making Almyra sympathetic backfires because 1) it's confirmed that they attack the border just for the lulz, and 2) there's no reason why they conscript kids. Generally when a country employs child soldiers, it's a last resort and not the default behavior. In fiction, it's used to either depict a country as extremely evil or extremely desperate, and neither of those cases apply to Almyra.

Another issue with this particular plot point is that the game doesn't give any details on Cyril's time with House Goneril, which ties into third major problem which is that it creates character inconsistencies. Both the Goneril siblings want to make peace with Almyra, and they're both supposed to be rather compassionate individuals; Hilda's support with Cyril also says that everything she knows about Almyra is what people have told her, and it's not clear whether or not she's even met one before. So if House Goneril does have indentured servants, are they kept by relatives? Are there many of them? Are Holst and Hilda even aware of how they're being treated, and if they're not, is it a case of willful blindness or complete ignorance? These are important questions, but none of them are even acknowledged.

Claude looks worse too, since he just seems to ignore all of this. He doesn't acknowledge Almyra using child soldiers, his best friend's family using the captured soldiers as servants, or the fact that there are pointless raids happening in the first place, so his talk about opening borders and eliminating race issues just makes him look like a clueless knobend. Which again, would not be an issue if that was by design and if it was a part of the story, but it's not.

The worst part is that this wasn't even necessary to explain how Cyril got to Fodlan; he could be a survivor of a village on the border that got destroyed in the crossfire that Rhea just happened to find. If the writers didn't want to address the elephant in the room, that's probably what they should have gone with.

The Tragedy of Duscur has the advantage of being used in the plot, but just like with the servants in Goneril, the game only cares about it as a way to give something for the Lions to angst about and to serve as another mystery box. But the circumstances and details are barely touched upon and it's resolved by just having some random guy who doesn't even have a name say that he did it because Ideals before being just dropped altogether. To be honest, I find that even worse than the game forgetting about Goneril and Almyra, because this is something you're blueballed with for the whole game and the payoff is completely unsatisfactory, so it feels like game is wasting your time for getting invested in it.

So what does this have to do with Hilda and Ingrid? Basically when the topic of Ingrid and her racism comes up, there's often someone who brings up Hilda, often accompanied by "Hilda is the REAL CEO of Racism." Then there's a debate about who is more racist and therefore who deserves to be torn down, and these plot points will inevitably come up. I hate these arguments for several reasons:

It's pedantic as hell and it mainly boils down to which form of bad writing do you find more tolerable.

The arguments can get almost stan-like at times in the sense that one of the characters gets their lines read in the most uncharitable fashion, which is how you end up with takes where people claim that Ingrid and Hilda refer to Almyrans and Duscurans as animals - something that's not even implied by the text. It also involves people ignoring key parts of their dialogue, such as Ingrid apologizing to Dedue and Hilda's B and A rank supports with Cyril.

CEO of Racism jokes are unfunny cancer, regardless of which character is stuck with that label.

It's because of this that you end up with people talking about some weird, bastardized, one-dimensional versions of the characters, such as Ingrid being a homophobe because she doesn't let Dorothea sexually harrass her, or the Claude/Hilda ending leading to Hilda being some sort of oppressive queen, which is a take I've actually seen. It also has the consequence of stifling the discussion of certain character traits that don't get brought up often, but give them a lot of color.

tl;dr version: Ingrid and Hilda are good people with a pretty glaring character flaw that is not addressed properly because the writers are hacks; all the memes are reductionist garbage and I wish people would stop trying to tear them down.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #ingrid brandl galatea #hilda valentine goneril #fire emblem ingrid #fire emblem hilda #fire emblem 3h #3h discourse is cancer #fire emblem cyril

[goldenraeofsun]

A Thousand Lies

Rating: E

Word Count: 72k

Dean Winchester is the best con artist in the continental US. Conscripted into the life after a stupid mistake as a teenager, he works for a man only known as the Lightbringer. He specializes in the marriage con, tricking his marks into falling in love with him and bolting after the honeymoon with everything they own.

But the morning before his meticulously planned meet-cute with his newest assignment, he runs into an adorably clueless accountant named Cas in a coffee shop, and Dean’s entire view on life implodes.

Read the completed story here!

#destiel #destiel fanfic #fanfic #a thousand lies #slow burn #mutual pining #con artist dean #accountant castiel #unrequited dean/crowley #human au #criminal au #angst #for new followers #Oh haaaaay #all 5 of you #rae writes fic

[thessalian]

Molly!Warden (almost) vs Alistair

Alistair: You wouldn’t happen to be a mage?

Molly: ...Dude.

Alistair: Oh, come on; they sneak up on you!

Molly: Well, I mean, I did hear about this great kid in the Smith Caste who wanted to muck around with magic, so I guess?

Alistair: So! Any questions about this whole thing?

Molly: Sure. How come you don’t come down and fight the darkspawn while they’re still underground?

Alistair: You tell me! You’re the dwarf! I don’t know about why we don’t go down there much!

Molly: Ask Duncan. We agree that most of the answer is ‘rampant bigotry’.

Alistair: What? I mean ... you’re a fighter, and you’re down there ... where the darkspawn live ... I figured you must have fought a few to impress Duncan...

Molly: .........Okay. Little background on Orzamarr. See this mark on my face?

Alistair: It’s fetching ... in a ‘body art hurts’ sort of way.

Molly: It was burned onto my face the day I was born.

Alistair: ...wut.

Molly: It marks me as Casteless. Shunned by the ancestors. Of no lineage, no importance, no past and therefore no future.

Alistair: ......WUT.

Molly: Okay. Some people, in the Warrior Caste, they get fine arms and armour and backup and they go into the Deep Roads and clear a few paths so we don’t have darkspawn breathing down our collective neck. They won’t let me do that. Because I’m Casteless, and it’s an insult to the Smith Caste to let someone like me touch a weapon.

Alistair: Okaaaaaaaay...

Molly: Some people get into really egregious debt, or some other trouble. They can buy themselves out of that - or buy their families out of that, to keep them from losing their Caste status - by joining the Legion of the Dead. Your debts are forgiven, you’re declared dead, they throw a great wake that you actually get to attend, and then you join a group of other dead dwarves walking and fight out in the Deep Roads until you die.

Alistair: So ... your own version of Wardens. With more conscription and less ... other stuff I can’t tell you about yes.

Molly: Kind of. Anyway, they won’t let me do that either. Insult to the Smith, yadda.

Alistair: .........wut?!?

Molly: And then there’s really egregious crimes, like ... I dunno, regicide. For that, they’ll chuck you into the Deep Roads to die. ...They wouldn’t even do that to me. Apparently that death’s too clean for someone like me. So I dunno how they were going to kill me for being a better fighter than all of their Warrior Caste pretty-boys, but apparently it involved chopping off both hands and a public flaying, then probably beheading whatever was left. Because I don’t deserve a warrior’s death.

Alistair: ........................ *quiet meebling noises*

Molly: So I have never seen a darkspawn. I have not knowingly been within spitting distance of a darkspawn. This is the first time anyone has actually treated me like an equal that wasn’t my friend Leske, and everyone expects me to know all about darkspawn ‘cos I’m a dwarf. Not sure if I hate it because I look clueless every time someone asks, or love it because it means they don’t know or care what this mark on my face means. So please don’t expect me to know shit about the Deep Roads. Okay?

Alistair: ...One question.

Molly: Okaaaaaaaay...

Alistair: Can I just ... like ... hug you? For awhile? You need all the hugs.

Molly: ...Okay I am going to stop blushing I did not know I liked them this tall STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT MOLLY yeahokayfinesure.

#Molly!Warden #Thess liveblogs Dragon Age #All Molly All The Time

[danseru-kun]

Ancient and Android Chapter 1- FFVII and DBH crossover fanfic (Aerith x Connor)

Ao3 link: Ancient and Android

Genre: Friendship, Drama, Romance (?)

Rating: Teens and Up

Chapters: 1/7 (tentative)

Summary: At first it bothered Aerith how humanlike Connor was in appearance. Were androids like him part of the Lifestream?

For the past five years as a flower peddler, Aerith had only seen two kinds of people: those that weren’t affiliated with Shinra and those that were. She was particularly wary of the latter, being her captors in her early childhood and responsible for her mother’s death. From the typical office employee proudly showing their uniform to top executives in their fancy branded watches; from conscripted grunts to the esteemed elite force known as Soldier - Aerith knew them all. 

“Real flowers for sale!” Aerith called out to potential customers, as usual, pretending not to eye an odd stranger at the opposite side of the street.

Wearing a dark blue denim jacket with a Shinra logo on his left breast, with a glowing blue band wrapped around his right arm, a man took a long way and crossed through the pedestrian lane when everyone else ignored it. His gaze met Aerith’s for too long before his eyes landed on something else. 

He walked in perfect posture at a relaxed pace, opposing the flow of busybodies scampering towards the train station. Aerith observed his direction, wondering what office or establishment he may go to. Didn’t enter the cafe. Didn’t enter the theater. Didn’t enter the restaurant. Instead, he passed through the same spot in Loveless Avenue thrice, and in those next instances, he didn’t look again at Aerith. 

Was he one of them? The men in dark suits that had followed her for years? Aerith sighed. One thing that had always worked was: never to let them know you’re actively avoiding them. Let them think she was clueless and an easy target, then send them empty-handed and humiliated. Aerith grinned and walked towards the person of interest. 

“If you’re wondering if it’s real, you can see it yourself.” Aerith gave her widest smile and handed one stalk to the brown-haired man. “I’ll give you three pieces for two hundred gil, how’s that?” the vendor winked.  

“Real and living...” He tilted his head slightly and accepted the flower reluctantly, eyes darting back to Aerith one more time as if asking for permission. Carefully he held the stalk between his fingers, twisting and turning it in all angles before he returned it to Aerith. “I do not wish to purchase. Thank you for your offer nonetheless,” his lips slightly curved and his deep, dark eyes were kind. 

A blue ring at the side of the man’s head glowed. “What are those spinning lights?” Aerith pointed to her own temple and drew circles with her finger. 

“It’s an LED to show my processing. It makes it easier for humans to identify that I am a machine. My name is Connor, I’m the android sent by Shinra.” He also pointed to a set of numbers printed to his jacket, the largest of which was RK800. 

“An android?” A robot, or a machine, a cyborg or whatever they were called. Aerith narrowed her eyes. She had seen some robots, trashed some, salvaged some, and sold them off, but she never saw anything looking so realistic. Most humanoids robots looked like mannequins with their perfect skin and plastic hair, their mouths opening and closing like rusty hinges. Connor looked nothing but human. His skin had freckles and moles, his jawline looked freshly shaved, his expression soft and calming. “They sent you for what?” 

“To detect and report defective power lines. I’m running scans on the area,” Connor clasped both his hands and rubbed his palms together, bending down to meet Aerith’s eye level.  “Do you have any concerns about our services? I can forward them to customer service right away and give you a special priority.” 

Aerith’s brows furrowed. Unbelievable. If Shinra really did send this guy to track her, she should commend them for something new. Should she play along?  “This is the first time I’ve seen an android act,” she said in a teasing manner. “Has it worked on other girls before?” Aerith twirled the edge of her curls, not breaking eye contact with Connor.

“Pardon? Are you implying that I’m pretending to be a machine?” The polite tone of his voice didn’t change, but his eyes were wide, inquisitive. 

“You can drop the act Connor, I swear I find it… amusing.” Aerith slouched and pouted. She would have played the game a little longer but she had better things to do. Besides, there had been worse weirdos. 

Connor was silent for a while. “Shinra designed me to look human and installed an advanced social integration program but we do not intend to deceive anyone. Apologies, I should have been clearer from the start.” He extended his hand to Aerith. From the tips of his fingers, his skin turned gel-like and retracted inside the white shell and joints that formed his hand. Aerith’s eyes widened as the skin continued to disappear up to Connor’s wrists and his neck, revealing metallic joints and glowing wires underneath. 

“You really are-” Aerith took a sharp breath, grasping her flower basket a little tighter against her body. She shook her head in disbelief as the marvel of technology unfolded before her. 

“I am indeed a machine, Miss…” Connor blinked and his LED ring glowed yellow, eyes twitched for a split second. “May I know your name?” 

Aerith paused and stared at the hand Connor offered. “My name’s Aerith,” she answered and accepted a cold, hard, and plastic handshake. 

Sometimes, when Aerith touched others, there was always this tiny spark. Humans, animals, and plants all felt different, but they all shared one thing - the flow of life she couldn’t quite describe in words. Connor had none. 

----------------------------------------

It was Connor’s most efficient day. Loveless Avenue’s hourly foot traffic allowed the android to exceed its three-day average volume by twenty-seven percent. From 5:06PM to 8:31PM, the android had added 638 faces in its memory and identified 453 individuals by cross-referencing their faces to Shinra’s database. 

IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS OF INTEREST SUCCESSFUL…

RETRIEVING AVALANCHE DATABASE…

MATCH: 2

Two faces matched the list of suspected Avalanche operatives, fitting their described age, height and sex: Charlie Sheridan and Lee Suyin. Based on Midgar records the pair forged birth certificate documents and were granted driver’s licenses. Connor submitted the sighting to the Anti-Terror Task Force. 

MISSION SUCCESSFUL

Connor waited for a recommended action.

INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED. DO NOT MAKE CONTACT WITH AGENTS.  

MAINTAIN COVER AND COLLECT DATA. 

“Affirmative,” Connor replied as it assessed its first success in identification. Shinra intelligence had only profiled 32 members but the actual number worldwide was estimated to be a hundred or more. 

Connor considered moving on to the train station when hundreds of people exited the Loveless theatre. A larger crowd rushed in while a long queue extended to the streets. Half the audience were children and not relevant information. Many had dogs of different breeds. The android’s optics quickly zoomed in to a child holding a white flower. Connor had never seen lilies outside the pictures in his memory. 

The flower did not match anything in the catalogs of registered gift shops. Connor stared at the flower intensely, the stress on its lenses forced a blink mechanism. It approached to investigate, reconstructing the path via the paw-prints of the child’s rubber soles. On the opposite side of the street was the vendor in question, a woman with long brown hair and a pink dress who stared back at the android. 

FACE SCAN ACTIVATED

MATCH FOUND

RESULTS: 0

Connor ran through Shinra’s database again. 

M@T^H FOU&%!

RESULTS: 1

No information followed. A glitch? System error? Database compromised? Connor kept its search active while it modified its main objectives:

[ENCRYPTED]

Identify and report suspected Avalanche members

Search for information about Avalanche’s hideout

Collect data for Shinra profiling initiative

Investigate the flower peddler

The opportunity presented when the vendor offered her products: real, living flowers. The woman reacted in disbelief with the information that Connor was not a human. 

“I am indeed a machine,” Connor received a surge of delayed information from its searches: the flower seller’s face partially matched a picture of a child in the Shinra database. They had the same emerald eyes. “May I know your name?” 

“My name’s Aerith,” she accepted the handshake, giving Connor the opportunity to collect her handprint. While DNA would be far more informative, there was no socially acceptable way to obtain samples in that situation and the cover would be blown. 

Aerith matched seventy-six results in the Midgar database, with nine different surnames. Three were deceased. One transitioned into a man. Only one Aerith matched a woman in her twenties: Aerith Gainsborough. She submitted her name in the Sector 5 annual lotto a total of fifty-nine times. Six months ago, she won the jackpot of 3,000,000 Gil split between 312 winners. Other than that, she had no government identification, school records, or hospital admissions-

“Hey watch where you’re going! Are you blind?” Connor barely dodged the cyclist who continued to hurl insults. The android continued his search of Aerith’s face in the Shinra database until the Science Department blocked him.  

ACCESS DENIED

ACCESS DENIED

ACCESS DENIED

Connor’s program recommended obtaining permission from the management. The suggestion was moved further down the queued objectives until it was deleted from its command logs. Too inefficient. Information required immediately. 

INITIATING BYPASS...

The department had sufficient firewalls and servers, but Connor was more advanced in breaching security undetected. It needed information on Aerith Gainsborough as soon as possible. 

More than pictures, Connor was able to retrieve a video showing Aerith as a child behind a glass partition. The footage was of substandard quality with a timestamp, but Connor’s facial reconstruction and analysis software were still able to process the image, estimating she was six years old. Another woman in the footage was her biological mother or relative based on shared physical features. Without a DNA test, it would be inconclusive. Several voices discuss her health and mentioned tests to perform on her. Aerith laid her thin, pale hand against the glass, her eyes downcast before she looked directly at the camera. Connor stared back. 

#Aerith Gainsborough #Connor #RK800 #Final Fantasy VII #FFVII #Detroit: Become Human #DBH #because why not #lmao #will people even read this lmao