...and now onto the much belated second part of the roster! It’s been on the backburner until literally 15 minutes ago when I made Siri and decided to cave in to publish the whole set. The first part, AKA my Dragon Age blorbos, are here.

Left to right:

1) Jedi Exile Siri, Kotor 2, they/them, from Peragus with love,

2) Corinne Varyn, Wayfarer, she/they, getting the post-Wayfarer beach holidays they deserve,

3) Juliander Strzygomski, ShoH, he/him, threatening anyone who dares to disturb the sleep of his kitty cat,

4) Bogumiła Niepołomska, ShoH, she/her, inviting Red for outside reading and chill.

Corinne Varyn in their Valentine’s Day’s date outfit because a tiny profile picture doesn’t give it justice.

@aylaaescar inspired me so here's "Who's Barbie and who's Ken?" featuring my main blorbos at the moment.

Barbie: Emerald Aeducan (DA:O) Serena Amell (DA:O)

Ken: Corinne Varyn (Wayfarer)

Whatever crime they committed, they regret absolutely nothing: Kallista Tabris (DA:O) Juliander Strzygomski (Shepherds of Haven)

If you think this is enough to make them panic, think again - they'll be getting out of this mess: Bogumiła Niepołomska (Shepherds of Haven)

Corinne/Sidane obvi 😌 okay here's a fun(ish) one: Jul and Bogusia swapping bfs lol. could Bogusia go on a date w Chase without getting mad at him. would Red and Jul lose a their money buying old books from Chandry. the important questions, here.

Corinne: Time and place, gorgeous? 😉

I need not to say that it's a yes. Sidane is handsome and full of gender swag, Corinne would definetely be up for flirtation (or possibly more). A tragedy that they get separated by their respective universes, but we both know that it was only because they would be too powerful together. 😔

ooh, this is a fun one! thank you for making my brain cells rattle! 💕

(mild nsfw behind the cut)

...so, I'm surprised to say, Bogumiła WOULD be more than able to go on a date with Chase IF 1) Chase managed to convince Bogumiła that his attraction to her is genuine and not a joke, 2) if Red hasn't been recruited to the Shepherds and is generally out of the picture. Bogumiła seems to have certain issues with perceiving herself as desirable. She's convinced that Red only fell for her brilliant mind and sparkling personality - or rather, that they've been friends long enough that his love for her as a friend made up for any shortcomings she had in a love department (like her appearance). This is obviously not true, but the time distance since their break up and general miscommunication shenanigans of exes!Redmance cloud her judgement. Having Chase confess that he's into her largely because of her appearance would shake her opinion of herself AND of Chase (whom she considered, a bit rightfully, a shallow flirt - one who flirts with everybody and mostly doesn't mean his words) in the best sense. And if Chase was otherwise a good friend to her? If he ended up hearing about her being ditched by her fiance before joining the Shepherds? If he suggested sleeping with him as a way to rebound, to one up the loser by getting it on with (in)famous Chase Trinaeste? And for stress relief, obviously, a much needed side-effect in their line of work? And if he suggested it at the exact right moment when Bogumiła's judgement gets a little, shall we say, unhinged? She could end up getting in fwb with him. Yes, I know, I didn't expect it either.

(Gosh, I need to see Red, Pan and Neon's faces when they learn that Bogumiła Niepołomska is in fwb with Chase Trinaeste.)

They wouldn't be a perfect match. I can't see Chase falling romantically for Bogumiła or vice versa. They would end up separating sooner rather than later and their arrangement would hit quite a hitch when Red inevitably appears, but I think that they would have a mostly good influence on each other and they would come out of this wacky scenario as genuinely close friends. And Bogumiła could use more such friends. Bonus points for Chase possibly matchmaking between her and Red, once he realizes that they're actually both idiots.

Okay, back to a predictable match.

Juliander and Red? Have them do a $10.000 Shein haul together except it's all second hand books and they'll experience a platonic high they never knew existed. And then they'll experience a platonic low they never knew existed - once they realize that they encouraged each other to go in debt over books and don't have a penny to their names for the upcoming month. Thank goodness that the Order provides free food and shelter. Bogumiła is going to look SO (un)impressed by this.

They would make each other worse. Juliander's finances are already in shambles and I can assure you that with Red by his side they would be absolutely broke. Juliander spent his entire monthly salary on a single book and didn't consider himself scalped (I did, I cried while purchasing it). Red would assure him that he absolutely wasn't, in fact, it was a steal because the book in question turned out to be super rare or something (I don't care, I love you, Red, but this pixel money wasn't worth it). Books to this two are sad puppies left in the rain. You simply have to get them a good home and let's face it, when you say "a good home" you mean "your home" because who else will cherish this book so much as you do? They're incorrigible nerds. Red would ramble about his obsession of the day until his throat ran dry and Juliander would listen to him adoringly, and maybe even take notes. They would be mostly key words to look up in the library later because he's not on Red's level of nerdery, having been raised by Belnus Farplane, but they would be notes nonetheless. There would be absolutely NO checks and balances - Juliander is Red's brain's no. 1 fan and when I say that he would listen to whatever Red was rambling about with the utmost admiration and adoration, I MEAN IT. They're bad enough as friends, now imagine them without the insulation of their other friends, imagine them as lovers. I shudder.

They would be an absolute mess. Red cannot function without a dozen books strewn around him, while Juliander strikes me as a bit of a neat freak. I spoiled myself that Red's biggest turn on is MC being smart and while it works for Bogumiła who would react "Damn right I'm smart, let's make out", there's no way you would pull Juliander away like that from his research. Taking aside the fact that his research time is sacred and he's most likely in the zone, hearing an affirmation of his genius by Archmage Liefred Antiqua would up his research enthusiasm incredibly. "Wait, are you sure that I'm right? Aren't we forgetting something? Tlatou's Law, for example? Maybe we should ask someone for a second opinion? Maybe Bogumiła? Wait, I need to write it down!", while poor Red is peeling off his shirt like "Tlatou's Law doesn't apply here, Jul. I'm sure that's fine. Let's ask her tomorrow".

Let's all say thank you to Chase Trinaeste who had Juliander Strzygomski so in deep by Ch3 that Juliander had his eyes only for one person. And to Bogumiła Niepołomska who took upon herself the task of wrangling Red Antiqua (affectionate).

Would Corinne and Kallista get along? I think they're both amazing characters and even though they're in completely different universes I'm so curious if they would match or not!

(the answers would be a bit different for Corina Brianta - the variant of Corinne I play in WTS - but I'm still figuring her out so here's the main Corinne!)

Romantically? Not at all. Kallista is just not someone who Corinne would feel attracted to and/or would want to pursue a relationship with. Kallista is very young (21 y/o to Corinne's 31 y/o), a baby queer only starting to come into their identity and navigating their first relationship with at least double the expected awkwardness. She looks for a more stable relationship and someone that she could introduce to her family from the get go. Corinne… technically wants a similar thing but needs quite a bit of therapy to reach that point. As it is, she's quite scared of vulnerability and mostly engages in relationships only to bolt at the prospect of actual commitment. Moreover, Kallista is quite femme, without the gender swag that would entice Corinne, and she's sex-repulsed, whereas to Corinne sexual intimacy is important.

BUT if faced with a perspective of a duel (whether just a friendly exercise or a serious one), you bet that, having heard about Kallista's skills as a swordsman, Corinne would up her charm to increase her odds of success, since she wouldn't have any chance otherwise. And Kallista would definetely have a bit of a crush on Corinne, even if it was the kind of a crush that you have on your cool older colleague and that you don't really act on, if that makes sense.

Platonically? It's… complicated. They would definetely get along on the account of both them being Emerald-critical and despising rich people in general. However, they don't have any interests in common (and since Kallista is very fond of swordfighting, she would probably feel a bit annoyed by how much Corinne wants to coast on their charm alone), they're not the type of an introvert/extrovert mash up that naturally just works, and, well, Kallista would be really put off by how little Corinne cares about an actual societal change in the treatment of magianis, especially since Corinne, as a successor of Brissa Varyn, would be more than equipped to at least try to change things, so I can't imagine them ever becoming close friends.

I made a little Valentine’s Day dating profile (using the lovely pattern from Freepik as a background) for myself, AKA @aeducanka, and my friends, @etoilebinaire, @aylaaescar, @bluekaddis and @bitchesofostwick to use!

Here’s my second profile in the series - for my Wayfarer (from @idrellegames‘s Wayfarer), Corinne Varyn! Feel free to comment which one of your OCs would match with them. 👀

WHAT FORM OF LOVE DO YOU EMBODY?

Continuing the trend of taking this lovely quiz for my OCs - this time for two iterations of Corinne, the original Corinne Varyn and their modern AU, younger and messed up in different ways equivalent, Corina Brianta.

CORINNE VARYN, romance route undetermined, Wayfarer:

love as being known [ love is knowing all of someone and loving them anyway ]

when tim kreider said "if we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known" and when joe wright said "The idea that these two people know each other, knew each other when they first saw each other. That they recognized each other from their future" and when micah nemerever said "it was a relief and a horror to be known so perfectly"

CORINA BRIANTA, romance route undetermined, WTS:

love as being known [ love is knowing all of someone and loving them anyway ]

when tim kreider said "if we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known" and when joe wright said "The idea that these two people know each other, knew each other when they first saw each other. That they recognized each other from their future" and when micah nemerever said "it was a relief and a horror to be known so perfectly"

(specific answers below the cut)

CORINNE VARYN:

the tip of a dagger pressed against your heart

the shade of freshly spilled blood

My church offers no absolutes / She tells me worship in the bedroom / The only heaven I'll be sent to / Is when I'm alone with you ("Take Me To Church")

“Intimacy” by Angelica Alzona

“Because the sunset, like survival, exists only on the verge of its own disappearing. To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted” (Ocean Vuong, “On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous”)

graciously. everyone makes mistakes. to love truly is to look at another person, witness every part of them, good and bad, and love them anyway

profound nakedness, deeper than flesh and bone

in the kitchen

i wake up in your arms and watch you breathe, marveling at the fact that you have not left, that you are still here with me

hold me, but not too tight. see me, but not up close. i cannot bear to be loved otherwise

like you are at a revel, getting drunk on the heady wine of their lips, their flesh. sweet and languid, you drink them in and let yourself get whisked away by affection and quietude

CORINA BRIANTA:

a kitchen fragrant with freshly made food, though a safe place, whether it’s a person or a building is implicit here

love is every color that has ever or will ever exist

Don't take this the wrong way / You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you / Only blue or black days / Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose ("Someone New")

Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi

“Because the sunset, like survival, exists only on the verge of its own disappearing. To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted” (Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous)

graciously. everyone makes mistakes. to love truly is to look at another person, witness every part of them, good and bad, and love them anyway

a burning ache in the pit of my stomach, never satisfied, coloring my vision red

in the heart

i wake up in your arms and watch you breathe, marveling at the fact that you have not left, that you are still here with me

i would rather die drowning in your love than of thirst for it

like you're memorizing the taste and feel and scent of them, like they are the night sky and you are an astronomer, mapping constellations on their body

@bluekaddis linked me this picrew and I couldn’t resist to make myself and all my main OCs at the moment!

Left to right: - myself (I swear that it was a coincidence that I started this blue trend), - Siri (they/them), Jedi Exile from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, - Corinne Varyn (she/they), Wayfarer from @idrellegames's Wayfarer.

I also posted the second compilation with myself and my two main DA OCs which you can see here!

Tagging @etoilebinaire, @gingerbreton, @lavampira, @lotrificationer, @visionmarred and whoever wants to do it! No pressure, of course.

Ok, I have an important question - would any of your OCs want to start a romance with Aeran? Like, before the drama. If yes/no - why? Me curious 👀

Ding ding dong, we have a winner! Congrats to @bluekaddis for sending the most difficult question so far!

I tried to keep it as spoiler-free as I can for the benefit of Loes and Sierra who may be lurking, but I still recommend not reading anything below the cut, if you haven't finished Ep 2 of Wayfarer.

Okay, to sort things out - a bonus question "Which Wayfarer master would my OCs get?"

Jedi Exile Siri: Amali Sero Emerald Aeducan: Brissa Varyn Kallista Tabris: Rindan Cenric (though I could see Amali Sero being tempted) Corina Brianta: Brissa Varyn Juliander Strzygomski: Rindan Cenric (though I could see Amali Sero being tempted) Bogumiła Niepołomska: Amali Sero (though I could see Rindan Cenric being tempted) Malve: Rindan Cenric

Based on that we can already exclude Emerald Aeducan and Corina Brianta from the dating pool. While I'm not judging any Varyn apprentices who fell for Aeran, to Emerald Aeran would have the same appeal as Gorim, which is to say, none at all, and Corina Brianta, much like her Wayfarer counterpant, would see Aeran strictly as a brother.

Kallista Tabris is excluded from the competition on the grounds of being a lesbian, obviously.

That leaves us Siri, Jul, Bogusia and Malve.

You know too well that I genuinely have no idea how to get along with Aeran. My only experience is with Corinne Varyn and goodness knows that Corinne cannot stay in Aeran's good graces for longer than 5 minutes. It's a constant hit-or-miss with him. Therefore, I genuinely don't know whether I - and by extension any of my characters - am capable of romancing Aeran.

HOWEVER, I can always speculate!

I feel that Siri could possibly be Aeran's closest friend out of all my characters - both as children and as adults. Their energies just seem to match. As children, they would be wild and carefree, as adults, they would be clearly Trying Their Best but also Burdened with Their Pasts. Whatever Aeran's deal, there's a chance that Siri's done something worse… so Siri Gets Him, they wouldn't pry, no matter their former closeness. I also could actually see Siri seeing the deeper reason for him lashing out in Ep2 and being the bigger person, and pushing for a reconcilation with him in Ep3 or maybe even earlier. Siri is generally very chill, it's not easy to push their buttons, and in Kotor 2 I'd say that they spend a lot of time listening to podcasts about psychology while tinkering, so if anyone could reconcile with Aeran without triggering a couple of red flags within me, it would be them. However, I just can't see Aeran and Siri as a romantic match. They strike me as ~platonic buddies~ only. It doesn't help that teenage's Siri crush was a cool guy a couple years their senior so generally quite a difference from a fellow classmate Aeran.

As for Juliander, we both know that he's a human magnet for familial connections and based on that, I'm pretty sure that Aeran is bound to become an instant brother figure to him. It doesn't help that Aeran's master is Varyn and Juliander's master is Cenric, and they're kind of together (on and off) so it's pretty much a family already (or at least they would be in Juliander's eyes - again, no judgement to any Cenric apprentices who fall for Aeran). I just can't see Juliander being attracted to Aeran romantically... which is a good thing because their relationship would be complicated enough already. I feel that Juliander would be quite hurt by Aeran's commitment to secrecy. While he's pretty much the most understanding and not-noisy person you can meet, he believes that relationships should be equal, with both sides showing vulnerability and being honest with each other, and it would hurt him how, despite all these moments where their relationship is almost the same as in the older days, there's this huge chasm between them and apparently Aeran isn't as... serious or committed to this relationship as Juliander is? At least that's roughly the way I understand him.

Bogumiła is just the funniest person to come with his question because she seems to match Aeran's type too well. She's fallen both for her childhood friend (Zori) and her adolescence friend (Red). In the very brief (scrapped) worldstate where Caine survived and she didn't spend Ch1 very mopey because of it, she's got a bit of crush on Trouble who, newsflash, was her first friend in the Shepherds. Her trend of falling for her first friends wherever is just too well established. She'll pine for you wordlessly, but since you're her friend, if you don't pick up on that AND you aren't receptive to that, she won't ~ruin your friendship~ (or embarrass herself for someone who'll obviously turn her down) by confessing. If she fell for you deep enough, her feelings will survive a decade apart and start flourishing wildly with every second you spend together from then on. She's 100% the type to confess her feelings to you during a shouting match after you get yourself seriously injured or otherwise push her buttons in a very specific way. If there's this one character of mine that statistically wouldn't have "Eww, platonic only" feelings towards Aeran, let's face it, it would be Bogumiła. It doesn't help that kid!Aeran just... seems like somebody that she could crush on. He's nice, he reminds me of Zori a little and Bogumiła responds well to braver, more adventurous types who'll push her out of her comfort zone. Obviously you can nitpick that Bogumiła's type skews towards kindness and nerdery, and not only Aeran is NOT much of a nerd, but also his dramatic backstory most likely goes back to his childhood, but I feel that the odds speak for themselves and she would fall for him anyway.

~Spoilers commence, please skip this bit if you haven't played Ep2~

Since she's a bit of a caretaking type, she would do her best to be understanding and considerate of Aeran's trauma, even though it was hurting her how he's been constantly pushing her away. However, if she got injured in late Ep1 and Aeran ended up confessing his feelings to her on the ship, only to keep ignoring the topic throughout the voyage... oof, it would sting. Again, Bogumiła would try to be understanding - he's got his baggage, he doesn't feel ready to start a relationship, he confessed to her only in the heat of the moment... but gosh, haven't they been having plenty... not-so-platonic moments together already? Why can't they just seal the deal and get properly together with her?! He's not ~choosing~ to fall in love with her, he's in love with her already, the choice is only to let himself act on his feelings! And then all the hot-and-cold moments throughout Ep2... they would definetely mess with her. I think that she would be able to connect the dots, see that Velantis has a bad impact on him, but still... she would feel bad for being seemingly left hanging after his confession (that's the moment where, ideally, they should be sharing a kiss by the sunset! enter a romantic relationship together!). She would try to push all the romantic drama away and be a supportive friend to him, though. Aeran's words during their fallout in Ep2 would hurt her badly. While he would be true in that she was depending on him a little too much (or at least Bogusia and I can both see his reasoning here), him calling her a pathetic Wayfarer who always needs to be rescued? That would be UNCALLED FOR. Saying that he regrets reuniting with her, that he regrets his confession? Well, personally I would call it unforgivable, though other people's mileage here may vary. While I don't think that Bogusia would be the type to end a relationship in the heat of the moment (starting-changing it, preferably with a makeout session, is fine, ending it... generally requires a calmer head, in her opinion), she WOULD storm off. She would hate being a nervous wreck at the gala - she's not the subtlest when it comes to masking her emotions and she doesn't need to be Varyn to know not to trust anyone there (which would only make the anger at Aeran leaving her like that stronger) - but she absolutely wouldn't return to their room quickly. Thankfully, she would find some solace with Melchior. While I don't think that she would sleep with him, he would give her a safe space to be mopey in and there are other questionable choices that you can make during an afterparty... like not sleeping well because you're tormented by the direction in which your life is going. She would spend early Ch3 giving Aeran a cold shoulder (an even colder one if, having heard that she attended Melchior's party, wanted to know whether she cheated on him... "Maybe I should have", she would tell him coldly, feeling a bit angry at herself for not having done just that, for not being the kind of person to do something like that), somewhat revelling in his asking for forgiveness OR very aloof if he ignores the matter and doesn't even go for a single sorry. If he doesn't try to apologize, their relationship is done for and it's non-negotiable. If he does apologize, then, whatever he says, Bogumiła can't forgive him just yet. If he wants to keep her in his life, despite believing her to be such a burden, he needs to work for it.

~No more major spoilers, feel free to resume reading~

As for Malve... neither I, nor Malve have the faintest idea. While they fell for Oisein who was also their friend, they don't know what specifically made them fall for them. They're very new to the concept of romantic or sexual feelings, they have never experienced them before. However, they're very curious about this newfound aspect of themselves. They want to know the answer and they would be willing to try! Thank you, Malve, your commitment to science is truly impressive. I guess I have a new Wayfarer MC now?