#val greaves

[gaiuskamilah]

six fanarts (again) with choices ladies ❤️ ty to everyone who suggested characters!!

#playchoices #my art #it lives #it lives in the woods #ilitw #ava cunningham #valax #blades of light and shadow #bloodbound #kamilah sayeed #eleanor waverley #the haunting of braidwood manor #vera reimonenq #nightbound #val greaves #the crown and the flame #tcatf #only 5 were actually suggested so i decided to add val bc i love her and realized i never drew her lol #six fanarts

[babylovestruck]

I’m sure this is done before but this is all I could think about when Val introduced Bubbles:

I love too with barley knowing each other Val already fully understands bubbles.

They needed more screen time

#the crown and the flame #playchoices #bubbles #Val Greaves #Valentina Greaves #kenna rys #Dominic Hunter #choices #pixelberry #is screen the right word I should be using?

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

“You’ve become a legend, my queen. A legend worth fighting for. A legend worth dying for.” - Gabriel Amarne (TC&TF)

#playchoices #the crown and the flame #the crown and the flame 2 #badass prompts #kenna rys #gabriel amarne #val greaves #severin cale #will jackson #leon stirling

[queenofthegaylions]

#val greaves #Whitlock #the crown and the flame #playchoices

[playchoicesconfessions]

Sent by @manlyviking

'Can we please get more female li's with some muscle 💪'

POSTS/CONFESSIONS DO NOT REFLECT MOD'S PERSONAL OPINIONS!

#val greaves #the crown & the flame #tc&tf #choices the crown & the flame #choices tc&tf #aisha bhatt #bachelorette party #bp #choices bachelorette party #choices bp #imtura tal kaelen #blades of light and shadow #blades #choices blades of light and shadow #choices blades #choices love interests #choices lis #choices female love interests #choices female lis #pixelberry #pixelberry studios #choices #playchoices #choices stories you play #confessions #mod kamie

[shenseea]

#playchoices

[theluckywizard]

WIP WHENEVER

I've been working on this pun battle for an upcoming chapter of my longfic In the Shattering of Things the last few days (after it sat stewing in my brain for a solid month). I researched by watching pun championships and got some help from fellow DAFF writers, @kiastirling, @bluewren, @nirikeehan and @warpedlegacy and finally it is DONE.

WC: 916

Rating and CW: Gen, puns and utter torment

Rose Trevelyan POV

Scene is they are on the road to Crestwood and trying to keep Rose entertained for *reasons*.

It's truly cringe, so proceed with caution below.

Excerpt:

On the second day I find myself sandwiched between Varric and Hawke who busily share tales of their exploits in and around Kirkwall, keeping my attention captive and forcibly restraining it from chasing misery for an hour or so. Hawke is eager to set the record straight for me, although Varric points out that his version invariably has significantly more panache.

“If Sebastian hadn’t had his bow trained perfectly on the Wyvern’s eye, Hawke wouldn’t have made it,” sighs Varric, the memory a twinkle in his eye.

"I remember it was an arrow escape!” says Hawke, a grin of pure triumph breaking across his face. As I drop my head back in amused torment, Varric’s head jerks side to side with sudden vehemence.

“Oh no. Oh no no no,” says Varric, a weak look drifting over to his best friend.

“Yes.”

“I… can’t.”

“You will,” says Hawke with certainty. “Topic: weapons. Go!” A sudden effervescence bubbles up inside me as my mind immediately grasps for the next play. I glance apologetically at Varric and then at Hawke and unleash my worst.

“This sounds like a sword spot between you two,” I remark, my smile twitching well into my cheek for the first time since we left. Hawke’s brows pop up and he grabs a fistful of his hair in shock and delight. 

“If you don’t fight back, Varric, she’ll pommel us both!” he counters, leaning around me to regard the dwarf. The energy shifts around the three of us, craning to put eyes on the brewing chicanery, muttering to themselves about how terrible it all is.

“Fine, fine. I’ll take a stab at it,” grumbles Varric, rapidly losing his grip on his smirk.

“And I shall saber the experience,” grins Hawke. I hear Cassandra’s rumble of agony somewhere behind me.

“Spear us your groans, Seeker!” Varric calls.

“Like the dregs of the worst theater company in Val Royeaux,” scoffs Vivienne into her horse’s mane. “Wordplay is the lowest form of comedy.”

“Cleave us alone already, will you? We love edgy humor!” gripes Hawke, hamming it up for the audience around him.

“Cutlass some slack, Iron Lady,” says Varric.

“Come Madame Vivienne, surely you enjoy wincing until your face hurts like the rest of us?” says Dorian. Vivienne merely lifts her chin, thinly veiling her disdain for it all with a distance gaze ahead. 

“Shield get used to it. Eventually,” says Hawke with a shake of his head, directing his obvious glee at me again.

“Oh, wipe that dirk off your face,” I swipe. He clutches at his chest dramatically.

“You stagger me, Lady Violet. You axe too much of me!”

“Amateurs. You’re making a mace of things,” calls Bull, glancing over his shoulder with a wide grin as he falls back to ride closer to the chaos.

“Terribull,” Hawke strikes back. “Truly Terribull.”

“Like I haven’t heard that one a thousand times before, Champignon. Weak jab.”

“True, but I still think I prefer Prose. Your punnery impales in comparison,” says Hawke.

“Thrust me, we’re all well aware of your preference,” says Bull with a laugh. Laughing, Hawke steals a pointed look at me that prompts a momentary surge of heat to my cheeks.

“It would be a greaves mistake to underestimate me, Bull,” I call ahead to him.

“Ha! Knife one.”

“Sad how you flail about for such low hanging fruit. You don’t haft to say them maul, for Maker’s sake,” Hawke says, his triumph provoking hollers and aching moans from the lot of us. He takes a slight bow over his horse’s ashen mane. “Shank you very much.” My laughter slips out at last, breaking free from the ache that hasn’t left my ribs since that awful morning.

“They’re words but they’re the wrong words,” mutters Cole, suddenly appearing at a jog alongside Varric.

“But they’re almost the right words and that’s why it’s funny, kid,” explains Varric.

“Hawke uses a lot of wrong words,” observes Cole. 

“A true rapier wit,” says Dorian, testing the waters, earning a cheeky grin of approval from Hawke and another exasperated sigh from Cassandra.

“Maker, don’t encourage them,” says Vivienne, believing that she and Dorian are a sort of team above it all. 

“Ah, you think you’ll cuirass of our affliction?” Hawke continues over his shoulder, his eyes practically glowing with delight.

“I’m not engaging with you,” she answers, fixing her eyes firmly on the road ahead.

“Don’t be bashful, Vivienne, it’s just a friendly gauntlet of sorts,” I say and my snort pops out so suddenly that I fail to clamp it under my hand, a joyful tear collecting the corner of my eye. Maker, I’ve needed this. 

Vivienne’s eyes flutter and roll.

“Ouch. A parry of puns no less,” says Hawke and my pained look is clearly the reward he seeks.

“Maybe we should claymore gently around her,” says Varric. Cassandra cries out in indignation.

“I agree. Perhaps we should break for lunge?” I inquire. And then we see it. The barest little twitch of the corner of Vivienne’s lips. We all trade sudden looks of astonishment.

“Let it be known that the Iron Lady smiles!” declares Varric. “At lowly wordplay no less!”

“An insect alighted on my cheek, nothing more,” she says, her smirk sneaking away from her again and the roar of approval is immediate. 

“Admit it, we’re pretty stunny,” says Hawke.

“Knife one!” shouts Sera, having listened to all of this and waited for her moment.

“Sera— just— no,” says Varric. “You never steal someone else’s pun.”

Tagging others for WIPs, even on this, the last day of the weekend!

@skyeventide, @effelants, @about2dance, @melisusthewee, @monocytogenes, @rowanisawriter, @smutnug, @breninarthur AND YOU

#dragon age: inquisition #the whole crew #dragon age fan fiction #very punny #pun battle #punnery #rose trevelyan #theluckywizard #in the shattering of things #sorry not sorry #i hope it hurts #i have descended into the comedy gutter #wip whenever

[eyesteeth]

i don’t think it’s gonna happen at this rate but my pipe dream for the next tsv ep is that at some point in the carpenter-hayward-shrue conversation the river faith and the deal for the withermark gets brought up and there’s a very brief instance where carpenter believes faulkner gave it away before greave is mentioned, at which point it Clicks for carpenter and it becomes just another Thing for her to roll over in her mind

and also i think val might just fucking snap this episode lol

[lizzybeth1986]

opinions on lena rys? (sorry if this has already been asked LOL! I'm just interested to see your take)

Thank you for that question @elusetta! It's a pleasant and lovely surprise to get a question like this one... though idk if you'll actually like what I have to say here.

(Also lmao half the fandom will probably hate me for this essay, but everything I've written here is the truth. If y'all want to cling to your biases instead, fandom, be my guest and skip this essay)

I have two kinds of opinions regarding Lena - Lena as an individual character, and Lena in terms of what the writers wanted narratively.

As an individual character...eh. She's okay. On paper she could be promising, but on the whole she starts from one tangent and lands somewhere else altogether midway (and while one can say this of any character in the series, the fact is that, in her case, those inconsistencies all co-exist in the same book!).

Lena is an incredibly self-contained character. Sure, she is both the key to the VI's takeover of Cordonia and the weak link that facilitates their downfall - but there is very little she has to give the story or the other characters, and far more that they are constantly expected to give her. She is first presented to us as more of a loyal soldier to the VI, but mid-story she would have us believe that she'd be a better monarch and had always wanted to be queen. She is part of a cult that claims to be anti-monarchy, yet decides she must be queen and operates under a cult filled with monarchs. And there isn't enough pushback against the notion that a glorified puppet to a murderous cult would make a good monarch, and Lena gets away far too easily with her own crimes at the end (thanks to the brother she had spent the whole book mocking). Most of our time is spent coddling her and pampering her and convincing her that we genuinely like her, and very little on her actually self-evaluating. Like Olivia before her, she's there simply to be cosetted by us (by her brother Liam in particular) before she can afford us even a tenth of the grace she's been given.

And while I'm sure a horde of Lena stans may land on this ask to bleat about her tragic childhood and Sigrid's brainwashing, I'd like them to ask themselves one thing. Even the most conditioned person will find themselves questioning beliefs they grew up with from time to time. (Hana had done that on her own - several times - during the original TRR series, and this same fandom had no problem calling her "weak"). It takes Lena forever to even question Sigrid's weird logic. Yet I'm supposed to believe she'll make a great queen just because she's got military skills? Even though her critical thinking is...barely there? (And believe me, enough people in fandom were celebrating the notion of Lena replacing Liam and what the VI were doing for a portion of the story).

There are possibilities to make such a character compelling - someone who believes they have agency and independence only to realize they are lowly pawns can make for a good inner conflict, and could provide the core group with a good contrast as well - but not with this team, or this fandom. Not with a head writer who will simp for the Val Greaves/Olivia Nevrakis character type against all logic, not with a fandom that is forever desperate to make Liam their personal scapegoat. Not with a team and fandom who are uncomfortable with acknowledging their own favourites' actual flaws. Both of these groups only saw her armor, snark, gun skills and hatred of Liam, and decided she was a great character based solely on that.

Personally and out of the larger context of this story, I don't particularly mind Lena as a character. In a better story that had more balance, I'd probably be more sympathetic. I prefer some of the sweeter and softer female characters, or the characters that represent diplomacy in a series like this. I'm a lot more protective of them nowadays because they tend to be looked down upon most of the time (especially if they are default WOC!). And that happens more often than not with this series!

--

On a narrative level...well. Buckle up coz I have a real bone to pick with the writing team and the fandom on this specific issue.

Narratively, Lena is the most obvious sign of the TRR writing team's cravenness and shamelessness, and the biggest sign of their disdain for the character that gave them the whole premise of this series.

Mind you, I cannot blame solely Lena for this. She is just a culmination of what the team was already doing to Liam. Kneecapping Liam was a process that began early and went on for six books, with fandom encouragement. Liam, contrary to the fandom's claims (and the Drake stans - whose favourite was himself eating up other characters' space on the regular - complain about this the loudest), was already being disadvantaged in several ways.

Here are just a few ways that events that happened to Liam (or storylines that should have been his) but were instead centered on other people, including the MC:

1. Traumatic events:

The assassination attempt that left Liam so traumatized that he could barely eat, and made him shut himself off to everyone, was never incorporated for his benefit. He never gets to talk about it, the MC herself never bothers to ask him about it. It only exists so Drake can sound less whiny about staying in a place that he hates.

The assassination attempt that kills Constantine? At a time when Liam had to grapple with questions about his own rule? Guess what Liam gets. A solitary tear at the finale, and a small scene for the Heir about growing apple trees two books later.

We find out in TRH1 that Godfrey was involved in the plot to kill Eleanor, and in TRH3 that Bartie Sr was his partner in the crime. We center the children of the murderers for the rest. Liam gets barely 10 seconds to attempt to banish Godfrey (the book ends on the latter's successful escape, and the MC conveniently goes into labour at that moment), the next two books require us to pamper the everloving shit out of Madeleine, and Maxwell - who, might I remind you, emotionally blackmailed his brother into giving Bartie Sr his title as Duke and made his father's coup possible - spends more than half of TRH3 playing the betrayed victim.

What does Liam get? A few seconds of the MC mouthing platitudes when they find out, and one scene where Liam is allowed to gaze sadly at daisies. Maxwell gets to weep about his traitor father ad nauseum while barely acknowledging the friend who lost his mother thanks to the same man, Madeleine gets to spend most of TRH2 and 3 expecting us to treat her with kid gloves otherwise she will help Bartie Sr kidnap your child. Honestly, Drake Walker got way more time to moan and gripe about his sister living safely in Paris on Beaumont money!

Most times we hear about something tragic that happened to Liam, it serves to benefit other people - notably team favourites like Drake, Olivia, Madeleine or Maxwell. The entire base of TRH is the mystery of Queen Eleanor's murder, yet the person whose feelings matter least in this story is Eleanor's own son.

Most times when something horrible happens to Liam, or when he discovers something disturbing about his past, the MC hardly pays much attention to him, while showering whiter characters with sympathy and diamond scene moments for less horrific revelations. The same MC who can tell Olivia that it's okay to seek support, or comfort Drake with a drinking game, or convince Bertrand to go easy on Maxwell...has barely any time or interest to support Liam, even when she's married to him.

A Drake stan I'd spoken to around the time of TRH3, once claimed that the narrative may have been trying to balance things between "prominent" LIs by "giving Liam the plot elements" and "giving Drake the emotional baggage". This is an argument I have seen often in the fandom - that "the story makes sense only with Liam as your spouse" ergo he has the biggest advantage of all the LIs. This is directly related to Liam's role as king. Let's take a minute to explore how that is dealt with in the story.

2. Power and Monarchy.

Often Liam is considered PB/TRR's "golden boy" because he is the "royal" spoken about in the title and featuring in all the covers. The popular argument is that the story makes sense only if you married Liam and became his Queen.

However, this argument misses (perhaps deliberately) one very important thing. Even this is mostly centered around the power Liam gives the MC. Liam's attention or even power doesn't increase within the narrative by giving the MC power - in fact it is pushed so far back the narrative often seems to forget who he is, and tosses his role to the MC, Queen Consort or not. His being king hardly seems to benefit him narratively - it is only used to benefit the MC.

People forget that even on a level of being Queen Consort, she shouldn't be having the kind of power she's been given in the narrative, or replace the king. Yet that is exactly what the narrative does.

One of the arcs that was promised for Liam was about the kind of king he hopes to be. As a Crown Prince he grapples with this question, and as a King he faces constant doubt and fear over his capability to rule. When he discovers that his father masterminded the plot against the MC, that moment was written as if it could be a turning point in how he views ruling. At the TRR2 finale he vows to never let fear overpower him the way it did Constantine, and before that in NY he tells the MC that she inspired him to take the reins and have more belief in what he wanted to achieve.

In TRR3, the writers barely bothered to address this conflict at all, besides a line (said in passing, only in his playthrough) about his plans for compensating the Applewood farmers until the new crop could harvest, and a couple lessons on diplomacy for the MC's benefit. Even his role as a king was viewed more in terms of how the MC could use his knowledge, not really as an important aspect of his character. The writers spent far more time forcing Liam to look sadly at the MC that wasn't marrying him, just to appease certain nonLiam stans who missed the love triangle. He was essentially given no real plot of his own in TRR3. This definitely didn't track with the promises made for his storyline in the TRR2 finale in any way or form.

TRH is far more brazen in this respect. From the point that the MC becomes Champion of the Realm/prospective Mother of the Heir, the narrative cedes so much power to her...that it almost treats Liam as a noble rather than the literal King of that country! The royals at the first Ball she hosts in Valtoria address her as if she's the only "monarch" that counts. Isabella questions her about Eleanor rather than Eleanor's actual son. Amalas stalks her constantly. Nobles directly address her as if she's the only one ruling (eg: Kiara's comment about "reactive ruling" elicits a response from the MC, rather than from Liam who is actually standing there).

Even if the MC was the consort ruling alongside the rightfully-appointed King, it still didn't make sense for the narrative to replace him with her in discussions that were meant for the actual person in power. In addition, the narrative itself views her - across playthroughs - more as the Duchess of Valtoria than the Queen of Cordonia - we see her duchy more often than we do the Capitol, there is very little reference to what she does as Queen Consort or any duty she may have to perform on that score, and King Liam himself is made to behave more like a Duke (eg. The only time he's allowed to push back independently against Bradshaw and Isabella in TRH2, is a ballroom duel that is proven pointless by the Auvernese drone attack that they framed Monterisso for).

Most of the power to make decisions is taken out of Liam's hands and given to the nobles who run the Royal Council - and once those decisions turn out to be bad ones, the blame is placed solely on his shoulders even though it was made jointly. Half the characters talk over Liam and directly to the MC about "her rule", even though she is a Queen Consort at best and a random new Duchess at worst.

The MC - who is never really shown doing any actual work for the country or thinking about her people. The MC - whose only political act outside of the shenanigans she gets into with her friends, is a line about contributing to charities. This woman has a wholeass library in her duchy and access to endless resources before that...and still needs to be spoonfed information about neighbouring places by the likes of Hana Lee. This woman started out working in a bar close to a rat-infested dumpster yet never shows a lick of concern for the average commoner in her duchy - forget her kingdom if she is the Queen. She is literally given all of Liam's power, while hardly having to do any of Liam's work (and if you're going to pretend he doesn't do any work? I suggest you read this essay to see what you missed!). And all that is fine - but if this fandom is alright dragging Liam for "being a sucky king" and "partying all the time", I'd better see you guys hold everyone else - including your favourite characters who rule over entire provinces, and your darling MCs - to the same parameters.

By the time we get to TRF, this is the amount of power the narrative gives to the MC:

Not only is Liam's role nerfed to that of a Duke, the narrative itself has no qualms saying the quiet part out loud: Liam isn't the one that matters, the MC is. Liam's decisions and opinions mean nothing, the MC's does.

And this isn't something the MC herself is against, canonically. She enjoys having that power. She revels in it. No matter how badly the fandom wants to make a victim out of her and a Rumpelstiltskin out of Laim - this is a role she accepted wholeheartedly and enjoyed, while not having to work much for it. As a reader you may assume that your vision of the MC wouldn't be comfortable with this role, but canon in no way depicts your assumption as true. So it's not even as if - contrary to fandom's claims - these were roles Liam forced on her.

To revert to what I said at the beginning of this section - the plot runs because Liam is the king of the country and was the reason we came to Cordonia. But in a context like this, that is not at all an advantage. The farther into the story you go, the clearer it is that Liam's role benefits the story more than the story will ever benefit him.

3. Family

Another thread that runs through all the LIs' stories is that of their families. Most of the mystery surrounding the past revolves around Liam's, Drake's, Maxwell's, Olivia's (and briefly, Hana's) parents and their histories - but it would be helpful for once to look at how the narrative frames these stories, and how these characters benefit from them. Are the LIs' themes explored adequately through the inclusion of these stories? Does the LI's feelings get validated by the group, or dismissed? Does the narrative try to downplay the pain they may have endured in childhood, depending on which LI/prominent character the writers preferred?

A prime example of how the narrative uses the family background to their character's advantage is the Drake-Savannah story. Savannah is constantly viewed from Drake's lens, even when it is revealed that she's actually living a comfortable life thanks to a pair of nobles. Drake is STILL allowed to use her "experience" as an example of the "bad, no-good, dastardly nobles", is allowed to look down on the one noblewoman who befriended Savannah, and is allowed to punish Bertrand all the way into TRR3 for perceived slights.

While Savannah likes Bertrand enough to want to marry him, it is Drake's judgement of him that is centered - Savannah brings what he said about Bertrand up whenever she wants to badger him into doing her bidding, and Drake himself is allowed to humiliate Bertrand just to give his agreement to their match. Savannah's wedding is literally the wedding Drake described in a TRR3 diamond scene as his dream wedding (Ice Palace, TRR3 Ch 11), even though canon had her aspire more to the noble life than her brother. That wedding lasted half the book, and involved Bertrand being further humiliated by Drake's family. Despite her many flaws, canon chooses to view Savannah as "perfect" primarily because that's how Drake views her...and Drake can never be proven wrong on anything (even if the team has to do a retcon to make it so). This extends to the rest of his family as well. Canon attempted to create Leona out of whole cloth so that Bianca could appear less of an asshole (an attempt that failed), and Jackson is depicted as a close friend who Queen Eleanor trusted with the news of her pregnancy, yet somehow he never did anything nor asked any questions after she was dead and there was a potential child out there. His father is still the innocent among innocents, the best person and friend that ever existed. Drake is centered in most stories surrounding his family, and so is his perspective.

Maxwell gets something similar to this treatment later on in the story, specifically with the way Bartie Sr's coup and Bertrand's perceived betrayal is handled. The coup itself begins with Bertrand handing over his title and responsibilities to his father - a move facilitated directly due to Maxwell's lies and retcons about Bertrand in his book. Maxwell spends more than half the book clinging to some weak hope that the man - who is literally staging a coup of Maxwell's friend's throne, and later kidnaps a child - is a good man. His tirade against Bartie Sr being a bad parent, in Valtoria, hardly acknowledges what Bertrand had to suffer. As mentioned earlier, when Bartie's treason was revealed Maxwell centers that truth around himself even though the son of the woman Bartie killed is right in front of him (there's a vague promise about how he'll do anything to bring his father to justice, but that's about as far as his communication with Liam on this goes). And finally, even after it's been made clear that Bertrand was secretly supporting the core group, Maxwell and the group still behave like he did something wrong and continue to mistrust him, to the point of expecting him to apologise and suspecting him in the next book to be in the VI (though Maxwell does initially stage a weak protest to this). All this, while never having to acknowledge Maxwell's own role in getting Bartie Sr closer to power!

The team pretends to do something similar for Hana, but with egregious retcons. While in TRR her parents' motives are tied to Hana having a beneficial marriage and furthering their fortune - and they come close to disowning her for wanting to follow her own path - in TRH the narrative aggressively retcons their story so that their motives are attributed to affectionate worry and protection, rather than control. While it is great that Hana still isn't required to forgive her mother, the narrative forces her to soften Lorelai's motives in a way that is insulting to her original story. I won't speak more on how Hana's story was handled, as I do so in detail here. Olivia, while not an LI, was given far more grace from the narrative; she was given an entire holiday book to ruminate over what to do with her traitor aunt's necklace. Throughout TRH, she is involved in and heartily lauded for various "spy missions", most of which culminate in nothing because all she does is sit on that information and not tell anyone (with very few exceptions, like the reveal about Bartie's murder of Eleanor). That story is wholly centered around Olivia and her comfort. Ergo, even a side character can get plenty of space for their story if their writers actually give a damn.

Which brings me to Liam.

There were problems already in the way Liam and his family issues were explored, even before Lena came along. Stoicism and the pressure to show a sense of calm at all times was an accepted trait of Liam's, and it was one that his fans had hoped he would emerge out of as the story progressed. Yet the narrative only allowed him to show strong emotions when it was centered around protecting the MC (see: Liam's confrontation of his father in TRR2 Ch12, or fighting Anton in TRR3 Ch 21). The MC was far, far less proactive in this respect, even as she acted as counselor and teacher and guide and angel of mercy to numerous white characters in the same book.

When Liam's father dies right in front of him, the narrative forces Liam to deflect and keep it moving, only allowing him to shed a single tear at the end of the book. TRH finds Liam hit with reveal after painful reveal of the plots behind his mother's death, and he is allowed barely seconds to even show an emotional response to this - much less be comforted. In each case he is meant to move ahead as if this wouldn't affect him, as if the next mystery is more important, as if he didn't deserve support.

A support that the MC doesn't mind lavishing on Drake, Maxwell, Olivia, Madeleine, Penelope, White Noble no. 1, 2, 3, 4...the list is endless.

Into this already-skewed situation, enters his sister Lena, who hates him. She spends half the book verbally shitting on him and the group, calling Liam weak, claiming without any actual experience (besides heading a company) that she could do a better job leading and fending off coups and plots that he and his friends already managed to thwart. The narrative uses Liam's love for family and need to reconnect to this unknown sister to make sure Lena is centered in whatever reveal comes forth about their mother.

This wouldn't even have been as big of an issue if every other instance where Liam bore immense loss wasn't pushed aside as less important. If they didn't restrict the MC's concern to lukewarm platitudes and the occasional causal question. Lena getting this moment all to herself wouldn't have mattered as much if Liam wasn't constantly forced by the narrative to push his hurt, pain or anger aside when he discovered his father's illness...or when his kingdom was under attack...or when his father died...or when he discovered his mother had hidden a pregnancy...or when he discovered his mother's first attacker...or his mother's second attacker...or the King Guard who betrayed his family...or the cult that clearly wanted to kill his mother and keep him away from his sister...you get the picture.

In fact, the lack of care extends to the way the core group deals with the Lena situation as well. When Lena is first revealed to be both The Fist of the VI and Liam's long-lost sister, the core group callously scoffs at Liam's suggestions to communicate with her, rather than trying to comfort him. Even Hana, who has to sympathize and speak positively about the likes of Madeleine and Olivia - women who have harmed her and have regularly undermined her - is made to sound like she has no patience for Liam's obvious internal conflict. If anyone could understand how hard it would be to let go of family whose motives can be harmful for you, it would be Hana. Yet the team has her place timelines on Liam's emotions in a way the group never bothered to do to Maxwell in a somewhat similar situation, in the previous book.

Of course, once the MC decides it would be a good idea to win Lena's trust, the group magically sees this aim as legitimate. For the rest of the book, Lena is pampered, cosetted, coddled, shown around Cordonia and treated with kid gloves, all while trashing on Liam without much significant pushback. The entire story revolves around her journey from a skeptic of the group to realizing they are genuinely good people. All while her brother who gave us this series languishes in the background - his own power snatched from his hands and passed to the MC, his own traumas and tragedies forgotten, his own emotional baggage thrown away so Lena and Drake can take centerstage.

At the end of the book, when the group gets closure from Sigrid over VI and her multiple betrayals, it is Drake who gets the most space to react out of the group alone. The book begins with his discovery of Bastien's involvement in the VI, and allows Drake ample space to grieve and ruminate over it (btw, let's forget entirely that Bastien has been King Guard this entire time, and that meant that for all five years of his rule and for many many years before that, Liam and his family had a walking talking security risk "protecting" them. Coz who cares if the King of Cordonia dies, amirite?) When it is discovered that Jackson died while working undercover to expose the VI, it is Drake who gets the most time among the group to confront Sigrid, and it is Drake who gets to give a lengthy monologue to his dead parent, for which the MC and Liam are required to stand there and comfort him. In contrast, Liam gets just one line in a scene about the person who masterminded his mother's death. It is Lena instead, who gets to react emotionally to that - because the Sigrid story itself was created specifically to pander to this one just-created character.

Lena wasn't created to add to Liam's story like Savannah was. She wasn't meant to share their joint history like Bertrand and Maxwell initially were, or sidelined for the sake of another side character related to another LI like Bertrand was. Lena was created to replace Liam as the center of a tragedy that happened to him, that affected him, that haunted him for years, that had repercussions on his life...that he was never given any real space to emotionally explore.

Drake's story benefitted from Liam's trauma, to the point where only he was allowed to talk about it and where his perspective was the only one given value. The MC's story benefitted from Liam's power, to the point where she damn near replaced him narratively in that role despite never doing the work, while the fandom laid the entire blame on Liam ad nauseum and not her. Over and over, in plots and coups and murders that hurt his family, other people were allowed to talk, allowed to think, allowed to feel...while Liam got maybe one teardrop per parent.

In the same trajectory, one can clearly see why they developed a character like Lena in the first place. The writers spent 6 whole books heartlessly picking at parts of Liam's story and giving those bits away to their actual favourite characters. Bit by bit, from his experiences to his work to his role, they whittled away Liam as a character until he was left with practically nothing. Do you think they would seriously just stop that process with TRH3? I mean, the head writer is someone who likes "mean characters who speak their mind" and her disdain for characters who represent diplomacy and peace isn't even thinly veiled. Of course they'd go further!!

Lena was created with the sole purpose of ensuring Liam never got adequate closure for himself. They simply passed on that luxury to her, and the fandom who hid behind "Liam gets everything!!111" while never speaking up once about the gross favouritism directed towards their own beloved LIs and side characters, cheered the same team on in this.

I can say this with complete confidence: had Liam been a default white man, like Drake and Maxwell were (or like Ethan Ramsey in OH or Ernest Sinclaire in D&D were), Lena's story would have looked very, very different. In fact, I highly doubt she would even exist.

#the royal romance #king liam #princess lena #anti drake walker #anti maxwell beaumont #anti lena rys #if i ever write an essay series on liam i will call it 'king liam and the single sexy tear' #that's all he's ever allowed to shed #one tear per parent 🥲

[nirikeehan]

Pravin wingmanning for Cullen, platonic sentence starters: ❛ no offense, but you look terrible. ❜

oH BOY DOES HE.

For @dadrunkwriting

WC: 1433

Rating: E-ish for some sex tips between bros

---

“No offense, but you look terrible.” 

Cullen’s eyes widened at Pravin. “Is… is it my hair?” 

Pravin stood by the door to Cullen’s room, arms crossed over his doublet. “No, your hair looks fine. It always looks fine. It’s the rest of it. All of… this.” He gestured to Cullen’s attire — the heavy metal cuirass and greaves, accompanied by the scarlet overcoat and fur collar. 

“What do you mean? I wear this every day.”

“Exactly,” Pravin said. “No woman wants to go on a date with a man in his work clothes. You traveled here in those. You’re in armor, for Maker’s sake.”

“One never knows when he might need protection from attackers,” Cullen protested. 

Pravin let out a long-suffering sigh. “I’ve lived in Val Chevin for many years, Commander. The bistro where you’ll be taking the Lady Thalia is perfectly safe, I assure you.” He crossed the guest room to the standing wardrobe, which he threw open with a flourish. “Let me see… ah. Here we are.” He picked out a clean white tunic, tossing it onto the bed between them. He grabbed tan breeches and a matching jerkin, laying them out beside them. “The weather is to turn warm this afternoon; I suspect that’s all you need. If you think you’ll find it chilly, add the brown doublet. You look good in earthen tones.” 

Cullen stared at the clothes on the bed as if afraid they might come to life. “And you’re certain… Thalia would like to see me like this?”

“Without a doubt.” Pravin smirked. “I even got her to wear a dress.” 

Cullen’s cheeks flushed. “You did?”

“Of course I did.” Pravin slammed the wardrobe doors shut in exasperation. “Of the three of us, one has to be invested in nurturing your budding romance.” 

“Oh, trust me, it’s not that I’m not invested. And not that she isn’t, either. At least, I hope not.” Cullen let out a flustered sigh. “Neither of us have much experience with this sort of thing, that’s all.”

Pravin’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, that much is obvious. Now, out of that armor this instant. You’re not leaving until I’ve signed off on your wardrobe.” 

To Cullen’s credit, a life amidst the Templars seemed to have inured him to modesty when it came to undressing in front of other men. That was not the case with women, Thalia had shyly confided in him once, one of many hints that things on the romantic front between his cousin and his friend were not going as smoothly as they could. As he waited for Cullen to change, Pravin considered his next query carefully. 

“How are things going between you two otherwise?” 

“Otherwise? Rather well, I should hope. She’s still busy with field work, but she visits me every chance she can — though I’m surprised she acquiesced to this holiday.”

“Yes, yes.” Pravin was the one who had suggested it, and was putting the two of them up at his residence. It had taken almost all of his bardic skill to convince Thalia to agree, and was relieved to hear Cullen had agreed at all. It was a clear sign he wanted to make Thalia happy. So far, so good. “But I meant… otherwise.”

Cullen had rather deftly unlaced the heavy cuirass from his chest; he pulled off the under-tunic and stared blankly at Pravin, coiffed hair slightly askew. “Otherwise?” 

Pravin summoned his patience. “In the bedroom, my friend.”   

A flash of panic crossed Cullen’s face, and he turned away abruptly, feigning a newfound interest in the clothes laid out for him. “I don’t know what is considered polite conversation in Antiva or Orlais, but in Ferelden, we don’t speak of such—”

“If you’ve not done it yet, that’s nothing to be ashamed about,” Pravin said easily.

“It’s not that,” Cullen interjected.

Pravin raised his eyebrows, waiting him out.

“I just— I’ve wondered if perhaps she’s only humoring me,” Cullen said, red as a tomato. “And I’m not… well—”

“Pleasing her?” Pravin supplied. 

Cullen let out a mortified sigh that spoke volumes. He threw on the fresh tunic as if hiding under a blanket. This was going to be harder than Pravin thought; usually men of a certain calibre enjoyed the whetstone talk — a chance to speak of how well they polished their swords with the ladies, so to speak. 

“Well,” Pravin said gently, “how did it go last time?” 

Through the fabric, Cullen mumbled, “I might have apologized more than was wise.”

“During?” 

“Perhaps… near the end.”

Pravin pressed a fist against his mouth to keep from laughing. “Sweet Andraste. All right. Stop hiding under there, we’ve got some work to do.”

Cullen pulled his head through the shirt and took to putting on the jerkin, avoiding Pravin’s gaze. Pravin stepped in front of him, trying to make eye contact. 

“First question: are you making the mistake that every virginal man makes and assuming penetration alone will always get the job done?” 

Cullen’s mouth dropped open, then snapped shut again. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Pravin said, crossing his arms. “So you see, a woman has complex anatomy in that region, and you’ve—”

“Does it not bother you that you’re speaking of your own cousin here?” Cullen demanded. 

Pravin sighed. “Listen, I care about Thalia’s well-being, as I do yours. Every facet of it, in fact. So no, this sort of thing doesn’t bother me at all.” This wasn’t entirely true, but it became easy to speak about when he thought about the glorious creatures that were women in general. He had built quite a career that involved pleasing them; if he could spread the wealth to friends and family, what was there to be ashamed about? As long as he thought of those women, and not Thalia specifically. “Perhaps next time you ought to try using your fingers. Have you heard of that?”

“Well, yes, certainly one hears such things, but there’s a difference between battle strategy in a book and employing it in the practice yard, if you understand my meaning.” 

Relieved he wouldn’t have to explain all of the basics, Pravin launched right into demonstrations. Cullen stared slack-jawed at Pravin’s gestures as they grasped the air. “That won’t hurt her?”

“Goodness, yes. As long as you’re not violent about it.” He smirked. “If you’re worried, perhaps you could try using your mouth…” He trailed off, watching the uncomfortable confusion on Cullen’s face intensify. “You know what, never mind. It’s clear you’re not ready for that.”

Cullen narrowed his eyes skeptically. “And these… techniques of yours. You’re certain they’re successful?”

“Of course I am.” Pravin chuckled. “How do you think I convinced that spinster Minister Bellise to do a favor for Josephine? We went for hours. I think I pulled a muscle in my jaw.” 

Cullen stared at him, horrified.

“As I said, never mind.” 

Cullen huffed, turning away to lace up his jerkin. “Don’t you have any tamer advice?”

“All right.” Pravin tried to reframe his brain to think of information that might have helped him at, say, seventeen. “What sort of positions have you tried?” 

Another dead silence greeted him. 

“Please,” Pravin pleaded, “please tell me you know that there are more than one—”

“Of course I know there are,” Cullen shouted, surprised by his own volume. Lowering his voice considerably, he added, “I just thought maybe we should get really good at one first.” 

Pravin couldn’t help it; he laughed. “It’s not like there’s going to be an exam.” 

“Yes, well. I don’t know. We just haven’t spoken about trying anything else.”

“Is that because you’re too shy?” Pravin asked. “Or because you don’t know much about the options?” 

Cullen sighed. “Both, perhaps.” 

Finally, we’re getting somewhere. Cheerfully, Pravin launched into a few positions he found most effective with women. Cullen called doggy style “unromantic” (disproving at least one stereotype about Fereldans in the process), but seemed receptive to a few others. Pravin was feeling optimistic that he even seemed to be listening and taking mental notes without having to fight spontaneous combustion from embarrassment. 

When Pravin was done, Cullen asked, “And how exactly does one… bring up such things, in the heat of the moment?” 

Pravin felt a small bittersweet twinge in his chest. “Just ask her. She might be more receptive than you think.”

“All right.” Cullen stopped fussing with his outfit and smoothed out his hair. “So… how do I look?”

“Better.” Pravin shot him a lopsided grin. “I’ve every confidence Thalia will find you entirely charming.” 

Cullen let out a nervous chuckle. “Thank the Maker for small favors.” 

#pravinquisition #cullen rutherford #pravin talavera #thalia trevelyan #cullen x trevelyan #fics #dragon age drunk writing circle #based on a convo between me and monocytogenes #poor cullen's trying his best ok #cullen & pravin bromance is so good tho

[russeliarat]

Been slaving away all day to create the idea behind this. I’ll go more in depth in another post coz I need to make other characters for it to be explained properly, but basically, Link has to disguise himself as a Yiga clansman to infiltrate the hideout and find out about Yiga techniques and stuff coz the new master (Kogha fight has already happened so he’s been replaced) has ordered attacks on Gerudo Town and Riju isn’t having it. Yes, Link dyed his hair brunette for this. Yes, it is only temporary and is washed out after the mission.

The leftmost set is named the ‘Yiga Trainee’ set because in order for this scenario to work, we need a baseline training Yiga rank, of which Link disguises himself as. Yiga Trainees rarely ever ambush Link and need to be talked to when disguised as NPCs to get offended enough to fight him. They’ve got quite low health, but the catch is that they’re always supervised by either a footsoldier or bladesman. The set is comprised of three elements; the Yiga Boots, the Yiga Armour, and can alternate between the Yiga Earrings and the Yiga Hood. The values were hard to work with seeing as the uniforms are made up of reds and greys, and occasionally yellows, but I got to a point were I liked the idea that trainees wore a mostly grey outfit and gained more red as they rose in rank.

The second set is named the ‘Yiga Hakama’ set, and is considered the clan’s informal wear for when off-duty. Other clansmen can choose to wear kimono, yukata, or a haori and hakama. The colours and styling of their outfit is the only freedom they have in their clothing, and are also free to wear whichever hairstyle they like, as long as it isn’t taboo (such as wearing a Sheikah top-knot). Oftentimes, Yiga visibly wear bandages under their clothes for many different reasons, including for fashion or for support of an injured friend. The set that Link wears is gifted to him by another trainee he befriends since Hylians have never wore such clothing. It is the only set of clothing Link cannot choose to put on or take off outside of the Yiga Hideout, and is removed from his inventory as soon as the mission is over.

If I were to give each item in the sets a description it would probably go something like this;

‘Yiga Trainee’ set:

Yiga Earrings ~ ‘Golden earrings worn by training Yiga clansmen. There is no clasp for these earrings, meaning the piercing techniques often leave ears bruised or stretched. They are more for intimidation than any functional use.’

Yiga Armour ~ ‘Armour made for the lowest rank of Yiga. Its flexible material is interwoven with lightweight metals that makes running far easier and supresses noise.’

Yiga Boots ~ ‘Boots favoured by low ranking Yiga. The metal within the boots double as greaves, making less agile clansmen favour them for their more defensive capabilities.’

Yiga Hood ~ ‘A hood made to conceal the faces of Yiga clansmen. Along with a painted wooden mask, it allows the wearer’s entire head to be hidden. It would be wise not to wear this in public.’

‘Yiga Hakama’ set:

Yiga Haori ~ ‘Patterned haori worn by Yiga when off-duty. The colour and style of this garment is the only liberty the Yiga are allowed to take with their clothing. This haori was borrowed from Val.’

Yiga Hakama ~ ‘A traditional pinstriped men’s hakama worn by the Yiga. It’s lightweight fabric allows for easy movement, even in such heavy shoes.’

#legend of zelda #loz #zelda #botw #breath of the wild #botw yiga

[valkury]

UNUSUAL MUSE ASSOCIATIONS

SPICE. Clove & vanilla.

WEATHER. Chilly autumn rain, and spring showers.

PRIMARY COLOR. Red, amber.

COLOR OF THE SKY. The sunset at dusk. Golden hour.

MAGICAL POWER. Ergokinesis.

SHOE. Combat boots, greaves.

HOUSEPLANT. Birdsnest fern.

WEAPON. Swords, shotguns.

SCHOOL SUBJECT. Astronomy, English.

SOCIAL MEDIA. Val has social media but she's following 0 people and posts once every 10 years.

CANDY. Rainbow sour belts & swedish berries.

ICE CUBE SHAPE. The jagged kind that end up just looking like ice shards that weren't blended entirely. Pointy. It's because they're pointy.

ART STYLE. Baroque, specifically the sculptures.

MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE. The Valkyrie of Norse mythology, the Morrigan of Celtic mythology. An omen of war and death.

PIECE OF STATIONERY. A letter opener, shaped like a sword.

THREE EMOJIS. ⚡️🔥⚔️

CELESTIAL BODY. The sun, doomed to burn out one day.

tagged by: @adaelus <3

tagging: @favltline @knnedy (again) @thomasrainier aaaaaaaand whoever else is feelin funky.

#tag. dash games. #these were so cute to think about... hehe

[merrybandofmurderers]

[ID: a banner with Work in Progress Wednesday written in white font on a background of light blue watercolor texture /END ID]

that time of the week again folks! here's some more from the tranquil oc fic, i'll be getting it posted soon :3c

~

It’s well into the evening when Wyeth finally finds Gwythren practicing their knife throwing near the trebuchets. He observes the several, neatly centered punctures in a post of spare scaffolding. Nearby, a pair of construction workers argue over nails and angles.

Gwythren adjusts their grip on a knife, not looking away from the post, but a twitch of their ear invites Wyeth to speak. “Got your armor from the blacksmith yet?”

The knife sings through the air, lands dead center of the mar of divots. “No.”

“Let’s do that now, then.”

They make their way in comfortable silence. Harritt is preoccupied arguing with a requisitions runner when they arrive, and Wyeth leans against the stone wall to wait. Gwythren looks over his shoulder, presumably at the Breach; their left hand flexes at their side.

“Feel ready?” Wyeth asks.

Gwythren doesn’t look away from the sky. “It is difficult to predict what may happen. We will simply have to be prepared to react as necessary to whatever occurs.”

It’s the conclusion Wyeth has come to himself, but it doesn’t provide any relief. These thoughts are interrupted by the abrupt arrival of Harritt, who has them try on the armor to ensure the fit. Wyeth’s is a proper set of plate and scale mail for his upper body, as well as an impressive set of greaves and sabatons.

Gwythren’s armor involves a fierce-looking leather coat over a scale mail shirt, paired with a set of sleek gauntlets and greaves. The boots reach Gwythren’s thighs, and a broad sash secures the coat. Wyeth can see the ambassador’s hand in the flashier details—serviceable, of course, but designed to make Gwythren stand out.

“It’s well-made,” Gwythren says, looking over the pieces with widened eyes. It is, in fact, likely the most quality outfit Gwythren has ever owned. They almost seem unsure about its place on their body.

Harritt huffs but looks pleased under his moustache. He makes some remarks about the process, points out places of note—which Gwythren will surely find superior to previous armor—and tips for care and keeping. Gwythren listens with rapt attention, which only seems to embolden Harritt.

While this continues, Wyeth liberates fresh sword and leather oil from one of Harritt’s workers. When he turns back, he finds that Harritt has produced a set of new blades which Gwythren is presently inspecting. Before Wyeth can get a closer look, one of Leliana’s agents appears in the entrance to the smithy.

“Herald, Knight-Lieutenant,” she says with a bow. “The Nightingale wished you to know that Val Royeaux’s response has arrived. You will be leaving in the morning.”

The fear descends on Wyeth so swiftly it leaves him breathless. His hand finds Gwythren’s shoulder, garnering him a curious head tilt. “Thanks,” he hears himself say. “Let her know we’ll be ready.” He gives his thanks to Harritt as well, extricates Gwythren from their conversation, and heads back to their shared hutch. He can feel Gwythren’s eyes on his face. “Has Helisma got you packed?”

The corner of Gwythren’s mouth twitches. “Yes.” A pause. “Your hair has grown.”

The comment shakes Wyeth out of his stupor. “Hm?” He runs his fingers over the sides of his head that he typically keeps shaved. It has grown—and he hasn’t shaved his face lately, either. If Gwythren felt the need to point it out, he must look quite unkempt. “Help me?”

Gwythren nods.

After shedding their new armor, Wyeth readies his shaving kit while Gwythren heats water over the fire. Gwythren pulls out the chair, folds a towel over the top, and Wyeth strips out of his shirt and takes a seat. He leans his head back, eyes closed, listens to Gwythren’s familiar, methodical movements.

Gwythren rubs a damp, warm cloth over the unwanted hair. The caress of the brush follows, spreading lather over his jaw, up around his ears. Then the sharp whisper of the razor, flirting along his skin under Gwythren’s deft hands.

“The back,” Gwythren says.

Wyeth moves to straddle the chair, hangs his head forward over the top rung. Gwythren repeats the process with the back of his neck and head, then hands him the cloth to wipe himself clean.

“Thanks, Gwyth.” His head already feels clearer for it.

Gwythren dumps the used water out the window. “You should bathe, too, while you have the opportunity.”

Wyeth purses his lips but knows he can’t argue. Gwythren only comments on cleanliness if it’s especially noticeable.

~

@mrs-theirin, @gaysolavellan, @calicostorms, @fade-and-loathing-in-thedas, @transfenris-truther

#hopefully i'll have it posted sometime this weekend. very exciting #my stuff #my fic #fic: the revolt inside me #oc: wyeth (trevelyan) #oc: gwythren

[beaumontbasher]

seeking choices: stories you play rp

i'm a simple gal. this dumb app has me in a chokehold, and i dare to be somewhat creative.

i'm down for most things & i'm happy to discuss with my partner. i'm semi-lit to adv. lit, and i only really ask for decent grammar/punctuation and that you're willing to add fuel to the fire when it comes to building a rp plot.

17+ please. i can do platonic and romantic rps alike. some of my favorite stories (and characters i can write) are: (just ask if you have a specific character in mind)

the crown & the flame:

kenna rys, dominic hunter, val greaves, sei rhuka, raydan lykel, annelyse adair, whitlock, tevan drammir, etc

the royal romance/the royal heir:

mc, "liam" rys, maxwell beaumont, drake walker, hana lee, bertrand beaumont, savannah walker, olivia nevrakis, madeleine amaranth, kiara theron, penelope ebrim, lena rys, etc.,

bloodbound:

mc, adrian raines, kamilah sayeed, lily spencer, priya lacroix, gaius augustine, rheya, etc

immortal desires:

gabe adalhard, cas harlow, mc

guinevere:

arthur, lancelot, mc

most wanted:

dave reyes, samantha massey, pretty much any of the side characters

the royal masquerade:

"hunter" fierro, "kayden" vescovi, mc, annalisa, percival beaumont, theodosia nevrakis, cyrus vescovi, renza fierro, etc

if you have a book/character pairing in mind, feel free to ask! those were just a few of the ones that came to mind, but my rps aren't limited to them. i'm cool with canon compliant or divergent. we can also discuss more in dms. hope to hear from ya!

#choices #choicesstoriesyouplay #pixelberry #choices rp #choices stories you play #choices stories you play rp #play choices roleplay #bloodbound #bloodbound rp #the crown and the flame #the royal romance #the crown and the flame rp

[byneddiedingo]

Shelley Hennig in Unfriended (Levan Gabriadze, 2014)

Cast: Shelley Hennig, Moses Storm, Renee Olsted, Will Peltz, Jacob Wysocki, Courtney Halverson, Heather Sossaman. Screenplay: Nelson Greaves. Cinematography: Adam Sidman. Production design: Heidi Koleto. Film editing: Parker Laramie, Andrew Wesman. 

If physical space can be haunted, it stands to reason -- or at least the kind of reason one can bring to such things -- that cyberspace can be too. That's the premise cleverly articulated in Unfriended, a teen horror movie that takes place entirely on a computer screen. The computer belongs to Blaire (Shelley Hennig), a teenager who uses it to communicate via Skype sessions with her boyfriend, Mitch (Moses Storm). We see her first online with Mitch in a makeout session in which they vow to wait until prom night to go all the way. Then they're joined by other friends: Jess (Renee Olsted), Adam (Will Peltz), Ken (Jacob Wysocki), and Val (Courtney Halverson). They exchange the usual taunts and gossip and dirty jokes until they notice that the avatar of another person has appeared on their screens. Who is this lurker and what do they want? To cut to the chase, it turns out to be Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman), who committed suicide a year ago to the day. Anniversaries of deaths, as we know from other horror movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer (Jim Gillespie, 1997), are not to be ignored. Laura is back for revenge on those who posted the videos of her getting drunk and soiling herself that drove her to take her life. And so she wreaks her revenge, not only eliciting the guilty secrets of the others on the computer screen -- Blaire, for example, who has just promised to give her virginity to Mitch, has already lost it to Adam -- but also killing them one by one as the rest watch. The technique of telling the story is interesting, and the actors are up to the challenge of going crazy with terror. But the characters elicit no sympathy and the pacing lags enough that you can't help asking why they don't just shut down their computers and go for help instead of, for example, Googling for solutions. It's also a movie that works better on one's own computer screen than on either a TV or theater screen where the various windows and text boxes opening and closing are hard to read and follow. A sequel, Unfriended: Dark Web (Stephen Susco, 2018), was a flop. 

#Unfriended #Levan Gabriadze #Shelley Hennig

[zigsnose]

The Crown & The Flame characters in present-day Cordonia

Bonus below

#playchoices #the crown & the flame #kenna rys #diavolos nevrakis #dominic hunter #annelyse adair #val greaves #raydan lykel #tevan drammir #zn edit #tc&tf appreciation week part 2 when??? #i'm ready this time