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pommedepersephone · 5 months

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You Say Potato, I Say Excellent! Or blocking, accents and legacy of morality tales in ‘The Resurrectionists’ minisode PART II

Alternate title: how Aziraphale’s naivety in this episode was supposed to make you a bit outraged

I have to shout out to @bowtiepastabitch for their AMAZING historical analysis of this minisode - it prompted me to finish this long ramble that has been drifting in my notes. Anyway, I have a major obsession with the ways blocking and dialogue interplay in Good Omens - you can check out my analysis of the blocking in the flashbacks in S1. But The Resurrectionists is really something special. This got so long I am splitting it into two parts.

What we see in this minisode is a morality tale - a genre of children’s literature that was extremely popular in the early 1800s where the minisode is taking place. Catch up on the historical background in Part I.

When looking at this minisode, it is really important to look at two complementary narrative tools - Crowley’s accent and the placement of Aziraphale in relation to Crowley. Through the minisode, Crowley switches between his standard English accent and a delightful Scottish accent. But the switching isn’t random!

Scottish lines = character Demon Crowley, who moves the plot of the story along

English lines = Crowley, the moral guide leading Aziraphale

Additionally, the two of them swap sides in their blocking frequently in this episode. Their standard placement is A/R + C/L but the swap to C/R + A/L is almost the norm in this minisode.

Analyzing Blocking and Dialogue

We open in the graveyard, with Aziraphale and Crowley in their standard placement, observing the statue of Gabriel. But then they notice Elspeth, digging up a corpse. When Aziraphale approaches Elspeth to inform her that her actions are Not Good, he actually ends up swapped with Crowley and finds himself on the left because what he is doing - making moral judgments on the actions of Elspeth with no understanding of what led her here - is doing Good, not good.

The next scene finds Crowley helping Elspeth cart the corpse away from the graveyard, while the trio debate all the other ways Elspeth could make money - Aziraphale suggests running a bookshop, farming, weaving, giving the standard Good party line about hard work blah blah blah. Aziraphale remains on the left - after all, those supposed options are completely unrealistic, unobtainable professions for someone in Elspeth's socioeconomic position. They aren't remotely helpful suggestions.

Aziraphale only finds himself back on the right when he and Crowley are introduced to Wee Morag, and have some time to listen and observe the reality of their situation.

Then, off we go to complete our journey to sell the body. Aziraphale and Crowley find themselves having a debate about morality, but Aziraphale is again ON THE LEFT as he waxes poetic about the virtues of poverty - doing Good, not good again. What I loved here was you saw the clear purpose between Crowley’s two accents as he switched mid-line -

Crowley: (SC) Oh, I'm down with wicked! (EN) Anyway, is it wicked? She needed the money.

Upon reaching the lodging of Mr. Dalrymple, FRCSE, Crowley and Aziraphale take their standard places but this scene has one really important moment that I want to highlight. When they open the barrel to find the rotted corpse, the look on Crowley’s face is so telling. He often finds Aziraphale’s machinations amusing even when they are annoying, but here he looks decidedly disappointed. Aziraphale might have done Good by rendering the body unsellable, but what good did it do? The body is still been un-interred. Elspeth has wasted her energy, and has made a terrible first impression of the surgeon whom she needs to pay her for her services. It looks like Crowley wants to say something, but he stops himself and clenches his jaw. The PATIENCE he is showing to Aziraphale - this is a quality that Crowley has in SPADES but we really see him exercise it here.

After the discussion with Mr. Dalrymple, in which Aziraphale realizes the importance of dissections for educating medical students and thus leading to better care for the living, he asks the right question - why should the poor have to risk death to obtain bodies? But he let's himself get sidetracked by a blatant appeal to his emotions...

At this point, Aziraphale goes all in on body snatching being Good. Which... it still isn't because it is based on a broken system that disadvantages the poor? FOCUS, angel. He even goes as far as to offer to help Elspeth and Wee Morag in obtaining another corpse but note that again, he is on the LEFT -

Remember, Wee Morag is deeply conflicted about the morality of body snatching, and instead of explaining anything to her (like, that having your body dissected won't keep you out of heaven would be start) Aziraphale just sort of joins Elspeth in pressuring her to join in - which is pretty awful and coercive, but gee if that isn't just heaven's playbook for doing Good, not good.

So we return to the graveyard, and this is where everything goes sideways. Aziraphale spends basically this entire sequence on the left. First, he notices the ingenuity of the grave guns but fails to acknowledge the travesty of so much energy being spent on protecting wealthy corpses while the poor suffer. Then, the tragedy strikes. After Wee Morag is shot, Aziraphale wastes time justifying saving her, resulting in her dying before he can act. And after all this, after the heart break of seeing her partner die, we see Elspeth come to the logical conclusion. If body snatching is Good, then might as well take Wee Morag off to Mr. Dalrymple, right?

What shouldn't be overlooked is what takes place when Elspeth gets Wee Morag's body to Mr. Dalrymple. Because while Aziraphale is very clearly illustrating the dangers of black and white morality through religion, Dalrymple is showing that black and white morality through science is just as bad. Dalrymple has unshakable belief in the power of science and knowledge to alleviate human suffering and sees his work at Good. He cares about preventing illness, but ignore his role in perpetuating poverty - an unfortunate side effect of rigid belief systems of all shapes and sizes. He is downright cruel to Elspeth.

This is already getting real long, so we won't go into the absurdist comedy of the scene in the tomb - suffice to say that the surreal nature of Crowley's bargaining with Elspeth smacks of a fantastic tales of pacts made with the devil. It's delightfully unhinged.

The one line I think worth pointing out?

"Do I sound like a goat?"

I think this line is key in the narrative connection between the three minisodes in S2. All three flashbacks show Crowley and Aziraphale engaging in acts of deception, but they all have important differences:

In A Companion to Owls, the two work together, and they manage to pull off the trick and evade punishment.

In Nazi Zombies from Hell, Aziraphale comes up with a plan and Crowley goes along with it, and they barely manage to evade punishment.

In The Resurrectionists, Crowley comes up with a plan and Aziraphale goes along with it, and Crowley is sucked down to hell.

I think it's worth noting just how silly Crowley is in the first two minisodes. Bildad and Scottish Crowley are FUN even when dealing real heavy shit. Just a complete joy to watch. And we never see that level of silly from him again. Whatever happened in hell was clearly really bad since the next time we see him in St. James Park he is asking for holy water. He may have moments, but he is never the same.

Questions, comments, additional thoughts? Lay them on me. I'd love to dig into new lines of inquiry on this minisode because I just love it so much <3

#good omens #good omens meta #the resurrectionists #just theatre kid things #history is my jam #look the blocking has me feeling things #shades of gray

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ozzgin · 8 months

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Here's a complete list of all my Baki works to date.

Character x Reader

Yandere! Pickle x Reader

Yandere! Kaiou Retsu x Artist! Reader

Yandere! Hector Doyle x Reader

Yandere! Yuujirou Hanma x Fighter! Reader

Yandere! Katsumi Orochi x Student! Reader

Baki Hanma x Feminine! Male Reader

Musashi Miyamoto x Reader

Headcanons (Multiple Characters)

Yandere! Baki Headcanons

Yandere! Baki Headcanons (II)

Yandere! Baki Characters x Pregnant! Reader

Baki Characters x Yandere! Reader

Baki Characters x Tall! Reader

Baki Characters x Struggling! Reader

Baki Characters x Sick! Reader

Baki Characters x Hanma Yuujirou's Daughter

Baki Characters x Dragon! Significant Other

Baki Characters x Cute! Bratty! Reader

Baki Headcanons: Protective Reader interrupts a fight

Baki Headcanons: Valentine’s Day Special 💝

Headcanons (General)

Pickle Headcanons: A collection

Baki Headcanons: Hugging Pickle

Baki Headcanons: Pickle meets Baki's s/o

Baki Headcanons: Pickle meets Baki's s/o (II)

Baki Headcanons: Fighter! Reader snuggling Pickle

Baki Headcanons: Pickle's preference

Baki Headcanons: Pickle has an older sister

Baki Headcanons: Pickle's Daughter! Reader

Baki Headcanons: Pickle's Daughter hunts for food

Baki Headcanons: Professor Payne finds Pickle's daughter

Prehistoric Reader

Baki Characters x Prehistoric! Fem Reader

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Pregnant Reader

Baki Characters x Prehistoric! Fem Reader (II)

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Mother Reader

Baki Characters x Prehistoric! Small Reader

Baki Characters x Prehistoric! Small Reader (II)

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Clumsy Reader

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Reader meets Ryuuji Tokura

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Reader sees Katsumi with a stubble

Baki Headcanons: Daddy Pickle takes a fight too far

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Reader moves around silently

Baki Headcanons: Meeting Pickle & Prehistoric! Reader’s baby; sparring with the Prehistoric! Child

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Reader finding out about Baki's mother

Baki Headcanons: Jealous Pickle & Prehistoric! Reader

Baki Headcanons: Pickle & Prehistoric! Reader are childhood friends

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Reader goes Trick or Treating

Baki x JoJo Crossover: The Pillar Men meet Pickle and Prehistoric! Reader

Baki Headcanons: Prehistoric! Reader meets Modern! Reader

Misc & Fanart

Baki Crack: Yuujirou Hanma single father AU

Baki Crack: Oni! Reader slapping Yuujirou

Baki x (Y/N) Doodles: Big boobs vs Small boobs

Prehistoric Reader concept doodle

Pickle holding his and reader's newborn doodle

Yandere Baki Simulator concept

Pickle in Chiharu's uniform doodle

Scarred Prehistoric Reader & Hanma Yuujirou comparison doodle

Baki explaining Halloween to Prehistoric reader doodle

Prehistoric Reader's twins doodle

Jack Hanma watching MLP with Pickle's Daughter doodle

Oni! Reader concept doodle

Yandere! Baki Fanart

Yandere! Kozue Matsumoto Fanart

Kaiou Retsu Fanart [Halloween]

Yuujirou Hanma Fanart

Kaiou Retsu Fanart [Festival]

Pickle x JoJo Fanart

Baki x Monster OC Fanart

Baki x Corpse Party Crossover Fanart

Work in Progress

Yandere! Baki & Yuujirou Hanma x Reader

Yandere! Baki & Pickle x Reader Love Triangle

#baki masterlist

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fuctacles · 6 months

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Making moves the nerd way

"Halloween" for @steddieholidaydrabbles Part II of the previous warm-up but can be read alone

G | 1k | no cw | almost getting together, slightly oblivious Eddie

next up

Eddie was sitting on the kitchen floor, painting empty pizza boxes while Steve was trying to focus on making dinner. Despite the newspapers spread around him, he managed to stain his surroundings with grey paint.

“How much do you have left?”

"I'm making a graveyard, Steve, not a random burial site with three corpses. It would go faster if you helped me, you know?”

“Well, do you want to eat? Because I can’t cook pasta and paint tombstones at the same time.”

Eddie grumbles something under his breath.

“Point taken.”

So they resume their activities, a weird mixtape of Metallica, Queen and Tears for Fears playing in the background.

“Okay, little Picasso, time to eat," Steve announces eventually.

"Don't call me like I'm a toddler," Eddie scolds him, but the fact that he's peeking over the table while on his knees, eyeing the plate put there, does nothing to help his statement.

Steve smirks at him, at the half-tied mop of hair surrounding his eyes over the counter.

"Wash your hands before eating. Kiddo."

"I'm older than you!" he protests but hops up anyway to do as he was told. It's good Steve reminded him though, he'd probably just throw himself at the spaghetti like a savage, paint stains or not.

They eat and discuss the acceptable damage to Harrington's lawn to prop up the gravestones. Eddie's devastated to hear he can't just put holes in the ground.

"We can prop them up with sticks. Or weigh them down with rocks. We'll figure something out," Steve shrugs and that placates him for the time being. He helps with the dishes but is quickly shooed back to his art station. Steve joins him later, with a hand in his hair.

"How is it going, baby?"

Eddie grumbles, not looking up.

"I know you mean it in like, a kid way, but maybe don't call me that?" he says, double-focusing on the cardboard in front of him.

"Okay, kid, sorry," Steve amends, petting his hair, and scratching his scalp gently. Pretends not to see Eddie fold under the treatment. "Does my little artist need help?"

"Your little artist has been asking for help for the past two days."

Steve snorts, detangling his fingers from the long hair.

"That's fair, sorry. I guess you wore me down," he says, sitting down. "What do I do?"

Eddie finally turns away from his work, considering him.

"You can paint them over," he decides, handing him the grave he's been working on. "I'll cut them up." He grabs a new pizza box for himself, the needed shape already drawn on it with a Sharpie. His scissors follow the outline slowly and jaggedly, struggling with the thick cardboard.

“How many do we need?” Steve asks, dipping the brush in paint.

“At least ten. I don’t have stuff for more anyway, figures I can just make extra later when I have time and supplies.”

Steve looks around.

“We have like, three,” he observes.

“Well, chop chop then, my little helper.”

Steve sighs and gets to work.

While he’s happy to indulge Eddie and help him out, he’s been imagining their evening together differently. Getting one-on-one time in their little traumatized family was a rare thing unless you're already an established couple. Or him and Robin, but that's because they work together. Needless to say, it was hard to make a move on someone. Even with something already brewing between them.

“So, are we putting our enemies’ names on them?” he settles on learning more about Eddie instead. Hopes he doesn’t mind treating his graveyard project like a shared effort, that Steve says ‘we’ instead of ‘you’.

“Oh, I’m totally absolutely putting Vecna on one. Other than that I think I’ll keep them fantasy-themed. Maybe use all the NPCs my Party killed throughout the campaign. I think we’ve seen enough of that in real life.”

“You said it.” Steve mentally kicks himself in the ass. Just his luck to start a topic that goes straight into the trauma of their Upside Down past. How is he supposed to make a move now?

He shuts up and starts painting the cardboard more angrily while Freddie Mercury screams his lungs out in the background. He doesn’t notice when the cardboard cutting ceases.

Not until their hands brush when they both reach for the paint. He looks up to see most of the boxes cut up and shaped, waiting for paint.

“My hand started to cramp from the scissors. And you looked so peaceful, I wanted to join you,” Eddie explains. Steve watches him bite at his bottom lip, mulling something over. “I’ve always liked working with someone on projects like that. Help out with school play scenography, make Halloween costumes with Wayne…” He shrugs, like it’s not a big deal, but the soft, genuine smile tells Steve otherwise. “So uh, thank you, for letting me do this here. For joining me, too.”

And Steve realizes this could be a date, too. He could make a move like this, on his kitchen floor, fingers stained with paint.

“Of course. I have this weekend off, we could work together some more,” he offers. Then frowns at Eddie’s stunned expression. “What?”

“You want to spend your time off with me, playing with paint?”

“Well, I was hoping you have something more planned. We could work on our costumes, maybe?”

He’s alarmed when Eddie makes a pained noise.

“You’ll take Aragorn from me!”

“What?”

“We’ve been fighting over Lord of the Rings characters for Halloween costumes and if you join us there’s no way Henderson will let me keep him.”

“I don’t need to join in, I’d rather just help you with your costume.”

To this, Eddie turns suspicious.

“Why?” he squints.

“Eddie,” he sighs, staring fondly into his eyes, and grabs his wrist for good measure.

Eddie’s eyes go big like saucers when it hits him.

"Holy shit. Do you want to have a nerd date with me?”

Steve chuckles.

“I guess I do.”

#steddie #eddie munson #stranger things #mine #steve harrington #ff #st #stranger things 4 #steddie fanfiction #steddieholidaydrabbles #i like nerd dates #i dont get them #but i like working on stuff with friends

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mr-payjay · 2 months

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feel free to complain to me about the ii finale <3 i'm all ears

thank you ellie :)

fair warning for ii neg, especially on the latest episode.

prefacing this with saying: I LOVE INANIMATE INSANITY!!!!!! inanimate insanity is my favourite show in the world and every episode leaves me full of joy and excitement. i adore criticizing it not out of hatred but out of genuine love. i enjoy every single episode i watch.

however, i find that iii19 has been the worst episode so far. it has gotten me the least hyped out of any episode in the series, which is saying a lot because i bounce off the walls at every episode no matter how much i end up criticizing it later. there are. so many problems i have with it. im gonna try and organize them the best i can, though i'll probably(?) edit this post later to insert anything i missed or forgot to say.

starting off positively: oj!!!! personally i am so glad he didn't talk in this episode. i was terrified of the idea of him having a new va. the spin was adorable, i loved his signature thumbs ups, and every time i saw him i squealed with delight. him voting for balloon also made me really happy! despite the grudge he's had against him for so long, he still sticks with him on this part. even after laughing at his death the episode before that

in general all the seasonwunners voted for balloon!! which makes me happy!!! paintbrush, nickel, balloon, and oj have all been there for the very beginning of season 1, three of them being there for every season. i love the inherent connection the contestants from season 1 have with each other. they've been together since inanimate insanity began and they're there for the end of season 3 too. very sweet.

onto more negative stuff! I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE WHAT THEY DID WITH SILVER SPOON AND CANDLEEE they set up something crazy in the last episode and then did NOTHING with it!!! they had silver spoon beat candle unconscious the second she said something that wasn't coddling him like the manchild he is and she STILL voted for him. where even was she for half of the episode?? they just left her lifeless corpse on the ground in iii18 and then she eventually got up in this episode and just. went back to the competition??? dogshit writing

okay now i wanna talk about cabby. I Don't Like Cabby Anymore. so from the very beginning i have loved cabby. she was extremely similar to me in fact! i have really bad memory issues and i tend to keep files on people and on things that i might forget about, as well as just to organize my thoughts and ideas. i loved her confidence, obsession with knowledge, and analytical personality at the start. i was pretty upset when the characters (mostly test tube lmao) started relentlessly bullying her, and i HATE the whole thing in spring on the breakfast where they try to demonize her files. it was kind of annoying when they tried to remedy it really quickly after that because it was clearly because of the backlash, but i was glad they at least tried to fix it. however, over the course of the series, she just felt like she was... becoming sadder? pitiful, honestly? she went from an awesome smart character who loved taking notes on people's behaviour and using that information to get better at the game into some kind of Sad Little Bullied Victim. she doesn't even feel like a character anymore to me, just a mouthpiece for the creators to write dramatic "cathartic" speeches through to prove they're Definitely Not Ableist. also what was the deal with her parents lmao they never brought that up again

aaaand this episode was generally written really badly. super fucking corny for one. they literally had a little dance party at the end like people make jokes about for stereotypical Kids' Shows. but my issue is more with like... the weird super fast character development? and the way they wrapped everything up as quickly as possible? something that bothered me was the tonal whiplash between zuwie voicing springy super hysterically and dramatically and then springy being fully redeemed within like the next 5 minutes and dying for mephone. Why did they even die for mephone. like as a character why would he of all people die for mephone. thats so fucking stupid. the rest of the voice acting felt completely different from springy's as well so it just made the effect worse. everyone's lines were really corny and felt so manufactured, like they would pull characters to mephone's side (losing my mind over all the contestants rooting for mephone like cmon man that guy sucks i just know oj at least would want him dead) with a short Cathartic Speech and everything would be fixed and lovely and peachy keen. its just painful to watch. everything feels really weirdly disjointed and badly put together, the flow is awful, the "danger" doesn't feel like there's any suspense to it at all, and every character gets fully redeemed for no good reason. even walkie talkie chats casually with mephone at the end as if they're good friends after they were HYSTERICALLY INSISTING ON MURDERING HIM? AND MAKING HIM WATCH HIS OWN DEATH?? idk if this will get explained in s2 but we still don't know who walkie talkie is, what their motive is, WHY they got redeemed, etc. we know nothing about them. and even if it will be explained later, i think it's shitty writing that NOTHING was explained in this season.

some extra stuff

- SO FUCKING GLAD THEY DIDN'T BRING HOTEL OJ INTO THIS I WOULD'VE CRIED IF THEY PUT SEASON 3 CHARACTERS INTO HOTEL OJ OR MADE IT ALL SLEEK AND S3 STYLE

- the "you can do this" thing at the end was fucking stupid man that was so corny (btw corny isn't always bad but jesus christ... this episode was just awful with it)

- could not feel any emotion towards the Emotional Parts but laughter and secondhand embarrassment

- HOW DID THEY GET THE FUNDING FOR A LIBRARY? I THOUGHT THE PROBLEM WAS THAT MEPHONE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING FOR A PRIZE HOW DID HE PAY FOR AN ENTIRE LIBRARY

- speaking of, why isn't oj back at the hotel. doesn't he have to manage it. wasn't paper having a ton of trouble managing it. why are all of them still on that fuckass island. did the library take like 5 minutes to build what the fuck

- ALSO!!! Why did they build a library in the middle of a deserted island

- i liked the short nickloon scene because im a nicklooner

- glad yinyang and candle got to talk

- test tube saying nearly nothing at all the entire episode except for sitting on the ground in a really stupid pose and apologizing to cabby made me laugh

- weirded out by tt and fan not talking to each other at all? not as a ship thing but like they're best friends aren't they

- really fucking annoyed by the fantube family picture at the end i hate fantube family leave that grown ass adult (bot) alone

- glad they didn't canonize any ships i was so scared about silvercandle and fantube

- 4s scene and s1 flashback was cool i love s1 so i got excited

- aaaaand i think my misogyny thread is relevant again. i should update it sometime because ii has only gotten worse about it lmao

- didn't like them making clover stupid for some reason like "is he talking about me?" come on

- oj not talking in these last two episodes is so glaringly unusual because he's never been able to shut his fucking mouth for even a minute

#juice.txt #ii neg #ii spoilers #i love this show but jesus fucking christ #absolute dogshit writing its so embarrassing

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satoshi-mochida · 9 months

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Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion announced

Gematsu Source

Publisher MAGES. and developer Team GrisGris have announced Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion, a brand-new entry in the horror game series Corpse Party. It will launch in 2024 in Japan. Platforms were not announced.

“Production has been underway on Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion, an all-new entry and true sequel to the series,” said scenario writer Makoto Kedouin in a message. “In a new setting, new horrors await with a cruel laugh. I hope that it will become a source of encouragement for those faced against the harsh realities of the world. Please, stay safe…! I hope everyone will be able to enjoy the ever-expanding world of Corpse Party.”

Visit the teaser website here.

#Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion #Corpse Party II #Corpse Party #MAGES.#Team GrisGris #COLOPOL #Horror Game #Gematsu #It's been 84 years.#Judging by the hospital equipment it might be related to Dead Patient? Guess we'll see. As long as it's not mobile or NFT crap.

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murfpersonalblog · 1 day

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Carol Cutshall better get an Emmy this year, I ain't playin!

"Cutshall and her team had to embrace a new reality, one initially devoid of the first season’s material pleasures..... Free of their maker, an austere Louis and Claudia flee New Orleans for Europe in search of a coven of vampires to call their own. There they find themselves in the ravaged wasteland of World War II, where sorrow pollutes even the blood they drink."

"It was such a drastic change going into season two. We went from the height of glamour, which we last saw during a Mardi Gras party, to the polar opposite in the premiere. When you look at Louis and Claudia in their shearling coats in Romania and the amount of mud and blood on them, those looks are built for surviving and searching and starting over."

This what I meant when I talked about AMC intensifying the horror for show!Claudia vs book!Claudia. They're starting over, runaway slaves free at last from Massa Lestat's domestic terrorism; following the Drinking Gourd north to the promised land of milk & honey--but their exodus isn't some glorious adventure--it's Hell on Earth!

I adore the juxtaposition Carol makes between the obscene opulence of Mardi Gras NOLA vs the Grimm realities of war-torn Europe. Book!Lou&Claud traveled across Europe in a lavish carriage Claudia picked out, and had the luxury of taking their fancy coffins with them in it.

NGL I was hoping Carol would talk about these outfits in particular:

AMC's Lou & Claud look like they've been sleeping underground/in a battlefield, dressed in animal skins/furs--not the fancy furs PETA jumps folks for, but nasty Caveman Couture rags. And I can't help but think about the furs they wore in the film, looking rich AF, even as Lou complained about how sad he was. 🙄😒

So I am SO IN LOVE with AMC sending Louis & Claudia to WWII Europe. They're in Ploiești/Romania in 1941--in the book they're in 1800s Varna/Germany. Romania was a major ally for the Nazis in WWII, and the LAST place Claud should be--let alone Louis (a gay Black African American man)--let alone because Romania was bombed TF up in the early 1940s.

They're running slow AF like regular humans--no super vamp speed at their disposal to flee from the bombs--cuz they've been STARVING. They're eating the dead like a bunch of ghoulish necrophages (come through, Witcher 3 folklore!).

Like, in the film the big idea was that drinking dead blood could kill a vampire. But in TVL & Blood Communion we know that's not the case when Lestat drinks the corpses Armand gave him, and when Lestat gives the Vampire Court Rhoshamandes' corpse--it's not deadly, but it's not great, either. Drinking blood should be PEAK sensory pleasure; but this just shows what they've been reduced to.

So to see Louis & Claudia tearing into pieces of the dead to suck up what's left is like cannibalism at its rawest, basest & most primitive--straight out of a dystopian zombie apocalypse. There's no transcendent power in the dead like what Maharet & Lestat described. Lou & Claud are scavengers in as battlefield, fighting for scraps just to survive and endure, but not really live.

And I feel so much worse for Claudia, cuz she LITERALLY didn't ask for this mess! Unlike Louis--and unlike book/film!Claudia--she was Born into Darkness w/out her awareness or consent. AMC puts this poor girl through HELL. The things she's seen & experienced made her "built for survival;" but she's also "built like a bird," and just as ignorant about vampires & the Old World as Louis--though they're both bookish intellectuals who THINK they're ready for Europe.

So they have no effing idea, cuz Lestat never told them WHY Europe was such bad news. They're blind and completely in the dark!

And then they FINALLY arrive in Paris--a breath of fresh air after the war.

But glamour returns to their lives as the pair forge ahead in Paris.... Seduced by their habit of living loudly and proudly — at least at night — Louis relaxes into his post-Lestat life, taking up photography and exploring his sexuality in subtle ways. “The look I landed on for him was that of artists and café society, and French workwear with a little bit of a blue-collar look,” Cutshall says. “It’s not the finery that we are used to for Louis, but his fastidiousness in how he wears it — tucked and belted — is still there.” There is a visual hierarchy among these old-world vampires. Louis wears the costume of the common man, placing him below the coven’s creative director, Armand, the so-called love of his life"

The "visual hierarchy" of Louis being "placed BELOW" the Old World vampires had me vibrating in my seat, especially wrt Armand, the biggest baddest boogeyman vs fledgling vampires in the books.

"We want to break away from the disguise he had in season one, because he is the mega predator,” Cutshall says. “He's not threatened by anyone. So, in everything he does and wears, he can be like an animal who is not afraid to lie on their back and bare their belly."

Which is precisely what I said about Lestat in his Mardi Gras dress & his Matador pajamas. Cuz Lou & Claud are constantly put on the exact same level--at the BOTTOM of the food chain & the gendered/social hierarchies of vampire covens in both NOLA & Europe.

But what's interesting's that AMC diversified the Theatre--there's Black & Asian vampires, not the all-white coven from the books.

The Theatre has truly become a microcosm of the entire world, highlighting just how sheltered Lou & Claud were in the New World. The history of America is very black and white--or rather: white versus black. After the Native Americans were wiped out, American racism molded & shaped centuries of slavery & oppression specifically designed to keep Black people at the bottom of barrel, even when they were "freed/emancipated." But in the Old World, power & conquest was continental--Africa & Asia & Europe were ALL major superpowers at one time or another, kicking each other's arses. Race & racism still plays a huge part in European imperialism, OF COURSE, but WWII showed how white folk are just as prone to killing & oppressing each other, let alone anyone else. 😂 Louis & Claudia's problems w/ Lestat are radically different from their problems w/ Armand (now a brown Asian, as Russia & Ukraine are also globalized; dispelling the myth about Russians only ever being white people).

But Santiago's an altogether different beast--but eerily familiar.

"Her thirst for attention is surpassed only by Santiago, the extravagant emcee of the theater troupe. For Santiago’s big onstage entrance in episode two, Cutshall took inspiration from performers like Peter O’Toole and Laurence Olivier. “I started with Fred Astaire, but with a bit of a bondage twist for Santiago’s curtain look,” she says. “Who were the top dogs of the time that he would want to emulate? You can feel him striving for that."

What is fundamentally wrong with Santiago (and Lestat) is that he's a HUGE showboat, desperate for attention & validity, specifically from LOUIS, a vampire older than Santiago, attractive & new & interesting, who's approval he actually wanted & expected. But Louis's too mature/smart for Santiago, and immediately clocked him as a clown and a BUFFOON.

AMC dyed Santiago's hair blonde on purpose, ISTG, cuz the parallels w/ Lestat are hilarious. Armand's the coven master & creative director, but Santiago's the emcee & "show pony," just like Lelio!Lestat was back in the day. Les' pony on meth meme is SO apt!

And just like Lestat pulled the rug under Armand at Les Innocents, taking on a leadership role for the Children of Satan and ushering in their new era as vampires who'd join society via the Theatre, Santiago usurps Armand's position as the ringleader against Claudia & Louis. Even though Armand wanted all that to happen, he's more passive than Les & Santiago, far more active & dominant despite being significantly weaker & younger in the Blood than Armand. Wolf Killer Lestat and "top dog" Santiago are cut from the same cloth, down to the pinstripes--which Carol already said were supposed to symbolize cage/jail bars--"back in your cage, sweetheart."

CAROL! I desire you CARNALLY! ❤️

#interview with the vampire #justice for claudia #louis de pointe du lac #the vampire armand #male fashion #fashion statement #fashion history #read a dang history book #mind blown #must see tv #the hype is real #iwtv tvc metas

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moca-pz · 18 days

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CORPSE-PARTY II - Satsuki's Heart Demo is now available to download!

DISCLAIMER!

CORPSE-PARTY II Satsuki's Heart is a direct sequel to the original CORPSE-PARTY (1996) game. Playing CORPSE PARTY -Rebuilt- and achieving Ending Rank: A is recommended before starting Satsuki's Heart.

Furthermore, this is a derivative work of the Corpse Party games. Corpse Party and its characters are copyrighted by Team GrisGris, Team GrindHouse, 5pb., and MAGES.

Graphic depictions of blood and gore.

SYNOPSIS

A few months following the events of CORPSE-PARTY, Yuka Mochida’s friend Satsuki Mizuhara receives an eerie letter in the mail, inviting her to an old abandoned manor in her neighborhood. She then decides to show the letter to her friends. Her best friend, Yuka Mochida, says she has a bad feeling about this, for one line in the letter stood out in her mind:

"At midnight, the coffin of your heart will open and be offered up."

Yuka tells her friend that she knows once Satsuki enters the mansion, she will never be able to leave. However, Masami and Rina treat the letter with contempt, saying it is trying to make a fool of them.

Despite Yuka’s warnings, Satsuki feels something inexplicably compelling about this particular letter, and she heads out to explore the old abandoned manor with Masami, Rina, and Sugimura. Yuka, worried about her friends’ safety, convinces her older brother and his girlfriend to tag along.

Not long after entering the property, the seven soon realize that they have become trapped...

GAMEPLAY

CORPSE-PARTY II Satsuki's Heart is a survival horror adventure RPG/visual novel hybrid. Take turns controlling two different parties with unique styles of gameplay!

Satsuki Mizuhara's gameplay is focused on turn based RPG battles and managing scarce resources. In contrast, Satoshi Mochida's side of the story is focused on exploration and puzzles.

As you lead these two parties, you must also be wary of the timer and making sure the clock does not strike midnight. The longer time passes, the more stronger enemies are and the more likely creepy events will happen. And once it reaches midnight...

Other features include:

Gorgeous PC-98-inspired art style and graphics

Custom retro OST inspired by Mao Hamamoto

Visual Novel elements and Voice Acting

CREATED BY: team shibu!

GENRE: Survival Horror RPG / Visual Novel

PLAYTIME: Approximately 1 - 2 hours

DOWNLOAD HERE [itch.io]

#corpse party #rpg maker #game dev

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escapingpurgatory · 1 year

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Welcome To The Shitshow...

welcome in 🤯 my name is taylor, but you can call me tay if you want!

facts about me!

i love horror and gore, so please be prepared for that whilst looking at my blog

i'm a cis female, my pronouns are she/her

i'm a metalhead and a punk 🤘

my favorite colors are red and black

i'm bisexual 😱

I AM A MINOR!!

If that makes you uncomfortable, no need to follow or interact. This also means: creepy old men, FUCK OFF.

DNI if...

you're homophobic

you're transphobic

you're a nazi

you're racist

you're a pedophile

you're a p0rn blog

you're a terf

you're a z00ph1le

stay away from me and my blog if you are any of these things.

Favorite Bands/Artists

45 grave, 55gore, 6arelyhuman, abscess, acid, acid bath, alex g, alice in chains, anthrax, apati, artillery, autopsy, a7x, ayesha erotica, babes in toyland, bathory, bauhaus, beherit, bethlehem, bikini kill, billy joel, bio-cancer, black flag, black sabbath, blod besvimelse, bodily stew, bolt thrower, bon jovi, bones, bratmobile, cannabis corpse, cannibal corpse, carnivore, car seat headrest, christian death, cigarettes after sex, corneus, the cramps, crass, crystal castles, the cure, cursed pumpkin, dark angel, darkened nocturn slaughtercult, darkthrone, david bowie, dead kennedys, death, deftones, deicide, destruction, doom, the doors, d.r.i., duster, dystopia, ecpatia, the electric hellfire club, entombed, erotic gore cunt, ethel cain, evanescence, exhumed, exodus, fiona apple, fluids, forgotten ruin, forgotten tomb, ghost, ghoul, gorepot, grave, green day, grausemkeit, haggus, happy days, have a nice life, hellhammer, him, hole, hulder, hypothermia, immortal, insane clown posse, iron maiden, jack off jill, joan jett, johnny cash, joy division, këkht arähk, kittie, kmfdm, korn, kreator, kvävning, lana del rey, last days of humanity, leviathan, lifelover, mäleficentt, mayhem, mazzy star, megadeth, melanie martinez, mercyful fate, metallica, mindless self indulgence (fuck jimmy!), ministry, misfits, mitski, morbid, morbid angel, mortician, mortuary drape, mötley crüe, municipal waste, murderdolls, mxmxm, my bloody valentine, my chemical romance, nails, napalm death, nausea, nicole dollanganger, nine inch nails, nirvana, nocturnal depression, nuclear assault, obituary, the offspring, opiated devilsperm, overkill, party cannon, pierce the veil, pink floyd, pisdati bylat, possessed, psychonaut 4, queen, putrid stu, radiohead, rammstein, rob zombie, the runaways, salvia palth, sarcófago, scary bitches, sebum excess production, shining, sign crushes motorist, sisters of mercy, skag, skinny puppy, slayer, sleeping with sirens, slipknot, slowdive, the smashing pumpkins, the smiths, sodom, s.o.d., sorry..., specimen, spectral decay, subhumans, suicidal-idol, suicidal tendencies, system of a down, tankard, tenebris, toxic holocaust, tu carne, tv girl, vampirska, venom, watain, weedeater, whiplash, white zombie, xasthur, and many more!

Favorite Films/TV Shows

orphan, a nightmare on elm street, kill bill vol. 1, death proof, i tonya, scarface, willy wonka and the chocolate factory, the dark knight, billy madison, terrifier, terrifier 2, spider-man (2002), meet the parents, the cable guy, dumb and dumber, the evil dead, evil dead II, studio 666, house of 1000 corpses, morbius, the nightmare before christmas, school of rock, hannibal, the silence of the lambs, speak, pulp fiction, walk the line, the emperor's new groove, kronk's new groove, ratatouille, barbie, joker, beetlejuice, happy gilmore, wayne's world, beauty and the beast, the princess and the frog, scream, black swan, metal lords, x, pearl, howl's moving castle, christine, mulan (animated!), beavis and butt-head do america, girl interrupted, zoolander, anger management, e.t., the wizard of oz, doctor strange, mr. deeds, twilight, edward scissorhands, coraline, the virgin suicides, a goofy movie, an extremely goofy movie, the great outdoors, superbad, monster house, liar liar, the conjuring, signs, annabelle, annabelle: creation, napoleon dynamite, mean girls, the truman show, the simpons movie, jennifer's body, the menu, clueless, dracula (1931), heathers, american psycho, the breakfast club, thirteen, the craft, disturbing behavior, the shining, hell's kitchen, kitchen nightmares, the simpsons, gilmore girls, death note, beavis and butt-head, wandavision, a series of unfortunate events, brooklyn nine-nine, metalocalypse, hotel hell

That's All! Have A Good Rest Of Your Day/Night. Take Care Of Yourselves!

#get to know me #mine #intro post #blog info #obsessed with how this turned out #blog intro #thrash metal #death metal #grindcore #goregrind #black metal #metal #80s punk #punk #goth music #goth rock #alternative

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obscure-horror-game-protagonist · 1 year

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BEST OBSCURE(?) HORROR GUY, ROUND 1

SUMMARIES:

Clancy Jarvis (Resident Evil 7: Banned Footage) - Clancy was the newest member of the Sewer Gators, a paranormal investigation group responsible for a moderately successful Internet series by the same name. As his first assignment, he was to work as the cameraman for the group as they investigated the Dulvey Haunted House, only to lose sight of his coworker Andre within the abandoned building. After finding Andre's corpse, Clancy awoke in a room with his other coworker, Peter, only to then witness Peter be decapitated. Afterwards, Clancy awakes in a basement and is hunted by Jack Baker and monsters made of a mold-like substance, then he awakes in a bedroom where he is forced to escape from Marguerite Baker, then he awakes in a shed where he is forced to play a life-or-death game of blackjack, before finally awaking at a birthday party scavenger hunt, where he is brutally burned to death after the cake explodes. Most notable trait: The ability to eat rotten meat and mold until he dies, if you so wish.

Simon Jarrett (SOMA) - Simon Jarrett was a Torontonian comic book store employee who, after sustaining severe brain trauma in a car accident that cut his life expectancy down to mere months, volunteered for an experimental form of brain scan that had the potential to vastly extend his life, or at least improve his quality of life for the time he had left. The scan, while being fully comprehensive and effectively a form of cloning, ended up putting Simon in critical condition. This created a divide, where "Simon 1", the original Simon, lived the last months of his life, eventually dying on his death bed, while "Simon 2", the brain scan, lived on. 100 years later, "Simon 2" awakens within the PATHOS-II facility, an underwater research facility, and has to do "Some Amnesia shit idk the game is a spiritually successor" with the help of another brain-scan person named Catherine, who resides in a handheld device that Simon 2 carries around. At one point, Simon 2 transfers himself in what he believes is going to be a "brain" transplant, only to realize he has effectively cloned himself once more, and is now "Simon 3." Simon 3 is given the option to either kill Simon 2 or spare him (undertale) and Simon 3 eventually does one last brain scan to effectively clone himself aboard "The ARK", so that Simon 4 may live in a utopia. Simon 3 is forced to spend the rest of his existence underwater, and Simon 2 is either dead or alive depending on player choice, while Simon 1 died 100 years ago in Canada. Most notable trait: Based on his appearance, personality and profession, he really seems like he would have been a YouTuber in 2009.

#poll tournament #resident evil 7 #soma #resident evil #gaming #horror #clancy jarvis #clancy javis #simon jarrett #round one

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verai-marcel · 4 months

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Your Hearth Is My Home (BG3 Fanfic, Astarion x Female Reader, Part 13 of ?)

Summary, Notes, Tags, & Part 1 are here.

AO3 Link is here, my dear.

Word Count: 6,000 on the dot

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

Act II, Chapter 1 - The Shadow Cursed Lands

With everything packed, Gale summoned a floating disk to carry the traveling chest. You recalled with a wry grin when he had first conjured the damn thing, before you had packed up the camp near the grove.

“Why in the hells didn’t you cast this before?” you nearly screeched.

Gale shrugged. “Hadn’t occurred to me.”

“So you let poor Karlach carry the chest on her back?”

He looked contrite. “She just picked it up like it was nothing! I was a bit too distracted to think of the spell.”

You immediately picked up on his shy comment and grinned like a cat. “Too distracted by her glistening muscles, you mean?”

“What? No!” He immediately glanced over at Karlach to see her raising an eyebrow at him. “I mean, they are nice muscles,” he floundered, gesturing frantically. “Wait. That’s not what I meant. I mean they’re fine, but—”

Astarion’s laughter carried across the camp as he watched the poor wizard ungracefully fumble his words. “What he means to say,” he said as he sauntered over to Karlach, “is that he was so impressed by your feat of strength that all he could do was look on in awe.”

“That’s it. That’s it exactly,” Gale said, sounding relieved.

“And he was probably imagining your amazing thighs crushing his skull, too,” Astarion added with a flirty wink.

Karlach laughed. Hells, everyone laughed, while Gale sputtered and walked away, his face bright red.

You snickered to yourself at the memory. With your pack on your back and the floating disk following you, you and your companions opened the door to a new land.

The greenish-black ambiance immediately made you grimace, and you hadn’t even walked through the doorway. With lit torches, you stepped forward and traveled south, lighting every brazier on the way, just in case you had to run back for any reason.

For example, being pushed back by a horde of enemies.

You swallowed. You were in the middle of the group, being protected on all sides. You felt bad about being such a liability in such situations. All you could do was guard the floating disk with your own body. You still hadn't learned how to use your dagger properly. You needed to ask someone, but they all seemed so tired at the end of the day that you always hesitated and then finally chickened out.

Lae’zel might teach me… but her training might be too harsh for me. Wyll would teach me, but I’m not sure if daggers are his thing. He was teaching the young tieflings how to fight with swords before he joined the group.

You glanced at the dagger on Astarion’s belt. I could ask him… but would he say yes?

Suddenly Lae’zel and Wyll stopped at the edge of a gnarled bridge, holding their fists up to let everyone know to stay still.

A woman on the other side called out to them. “Who goes there?”

You watched the scene unfold, wariness on both sides making you grit your teeth with unease.

Then your seal tingled.

You looked at Astarion. He was watching the strangers, but he glanced at you for just a moment. “Tingle?” he mouthed.

You nodded.

He gripped the hilt of his dagger.

The yells of the people beyond drew your attention back to them, one of them being dragged into the darkness. Preoccupied with the search for one of their own, their attention on your party wavered.

Halsin stepped forward. “It is the shadow curse. He has been taken.”

The woman who had spoken first ignored him. “Yonas? Can you hear me?”

When Yonas burst from the shadows, green glowing eyes and covered in shadows, you knew that he was gone. He was just a corpse, powered by dark magic.

The party leapt into battle, Gale and Shadowheart suddenly appearing on either side of you, throwing spells left and right as they kept you safe.

You pulled out your dagger, wielding it in your shaky grasp, and hoped you wouldn’t need it. Fear of the enemy kept you from moving. Fear of getting in the way of the others kept you from acting.

When the battle was over, the strangers introduced themselves as Harpers, and told you of a safe area called Last Light Inn.

Karlach’s eyes lit up. “Harpers? As in the ones who saved Baldur’s Gate all those years ago?”

You looked at her with a questioning look. As you followed the Harpers to this inn, Karlach ended up giving you a run down of certain events in the past that you had only heard of in passing, having grown up north of Neverwinter, far from the moderate climes of Baldur’s Gate. Wyll and Gale would occasionally interject with an additional fact or two.

“And that’s how Jaheira—”

Karlach suddenly stopped and stared. You followed her line of sight to see a half-elf with braids and severe expression. She looked as if she had seen the world burn and had saved it through sheer grit.

“So… this is Jaheira?” you mumbled.

The conversation between your group and the Harpers had been going on in front of you while you were with Karlach, and you watched as Jaheira’s eyes glowed green. You got a very strong zing to the base of your spine, and you immediately backpedaled as vines grew from the ground and ensnared the rest of your party.

Jaheira gave you a strange look, but continued to address everyone else. With the help of the Harpers the party had saved, and with the surprise vouching from Mol, one of the tiefling kids, Wyll managed to talk her down. In fact, he even convinced her to offer a space behind the main building to set up a campsite.

While everyone else headed inside the inn, you headed to the site with Scratch and Owly.

To the north of the main building, past a makeshift graveyard and tucked away along the shoreline, was a small area for you and your companions, away from everyone else. It was clear that Jaheira wanted your companions nowhere near everyone else, in case they turned into enemies. All right, that’s a fair assessment, all things considered.

There was a small waterfall that led to a small creek that flowed to the water’s edge, essentially splitting the camping area into two parts. You mentally started to map out where everyone’s tents should go as you looked around. After setting the floating disc down in the central part of the site and unsummoning it per Gale’s instructions, you asked the two animals to guard the packs and traveling chest.

They seemed to understand, and you could faintly hear Scratch's voice uttering an affirmative sound, though it wasn't quite as intelligible as when you had drunk the speaking with animals potion.

Walking back to the inn through a back door, you saw the tieflings from the Grove and greeted them briefly. You found Astarion standing to one side, holding up the wall as he observed everyone else mingling with the refugees. You joined him, leaning against the wall and giving a shy wave here and there as familiar faces passed by. It appeared to you that Wyll was doing the most talking, flitting about like the most social of butterflies.

“He certainly has a talented tongue, that man,” Astarion said with what sounded like admiration.

You could only nod in agreement. The Blade of the Frontiers, silver of tongue, sharp of blade. Ever the gentleman, gallant, and when he turned around, well, you had to admit, you didn’t mind watching him walk away.

With everything that had happened and was still happening, you hadn’t really thought about your growing fondness for, well, everyone. They were all physically pleasant to look at, of course, but that wasn’t what made your heart glow with affection. No, they were all quirky, genuine, strong, brave, and proud. They all felt so real, not like the nobles you had to deal with in Waterdeep.

That’s why your initial impression of Astarion rubbed you the wrong way. Like he had on a disguise, a specious smile, a fallacious front. The fact that he seemed to be so highly guarded had put you on guard too.

But the facade had fallen, the mask had cracked. And even when he put it back on, you could still see a sliver of his real self, hidden away, vulnerable.

You wanted him to feel safe with you. Safe enough that he’d be himself, his true self, around you, and maybe someday, around the others as well. Maybe one day, he’d tell you more of his story.

Then maybe one day, you’d feel safe enough to tell yours.

Movement close to your legs drew your attention downwards. A hairless cat was walking by, or rather, prowling, as if he was assessing its territory. You slowly slid down the wall so you could look at him.

“Hello there.”

The cat stopped and hissed at you.

What a prima donna. “My apologies, your majesty. I only wished to admire your grace.”

He glared at you, then sat on his haunches and preened haughtily. You didn’t dare reach out to touch him, given his attitude. After a few moments, he licked his paw, gave you one final arrogant look, and wandered off.

“Good day to you too,” you muttered as you stood back up. You glanced at Astarion, who was watching you with an amused smirk on his face.

“So you can be nice.”

“Excuse me? I am nice.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I seem to recall someone purposely leaving my tent cold one night.”

You huffed and turned away from him.

He chuckled softly.

You returned to observing the room, and one by one, your companions returned to you as they finished making their rounds. Once everyone was back together, Wyll relayed his meeting with a councilor who worked under his father.

“A councilor works for your father?” you asked.

“Oh, right,” Wyll said sheepishly. “My father… is Duke Ravengard.”

Astarion blinked. “That Duke Ravengard, of Baldur’s Gate?”

“Yes, that Duke.”

The conversation continued with you barely following, but you got the gist of it all. The Duke had been kidnapped and was held at Moonrise Towers, along with some of the tieflings and a group of deep gnomes.

Astarion rolled his eyes. “This is getting to be more and more like a quest to save the world,” he muttered. “I just don't want to turn into a squid.”

Ignoring his grumbling, Halsin added his own request, since he had spoken with a man who lay ill in one of the larger rooms, watched over by the Flaming Fist. When he finished conveying what he knew, he looked each person in the eye, including you. “Please help me save Thaniel.”

Everyone agreed, even Astarion to your surprise, although he looked begrudgingly so. When Halsin looked at you again, you only shrugged. “I can’t do much, but I’ll help where I can.”

Halsin smiled at you. “You can do much more than you think,” he said softly.

I can only cast a few cantrips. But whatever, he can think what he wants. You smiled back at his kind words anyway.

“I will try to talk to him a bit more, see if we can glean any more information from him,” Halsin said before leaving the group.

As you gazed around, you caught Astarion suddenly straightening up. You followed his gaze to Mol, who was playing chess with a gaudily dressed man.

Before you could ask, Astarion made a beeline for him. You quickly followed, turning back to the others to see them also following, grim expressions on their faces.

They seem to recognize him too. Who is this man?

Through the conversation, wherein Gale offered some advice so that Mol could win, you gathered that this man, Raphael, was some kind of information broker. His gaze turned towards Astarion, and the base of your spine tingled.

Godsdamn, this has been happening far too much as of late.

“Now, let’s talk about you. I sense there’s something you want to ask me.”

You stayed silent as Astarion talked his way into a deal, and you finally pieced together that Raphael was a devil. Your heart seized in horror, but you had to trust that he knew what he was doing. Astarion was trying to be subtle about his wording, to reveal as little about himself as possible in front of the others. However…

“What scars?” Karlach asked.

You glared at Karlach. Dammit, now isn’t the time for innocent questions!

“You haven’t told them? And you’ve kept your clothes on this whole time? How unlike you.” Raphael’s grin was slick and slimy. “Why not let them see? Don’t be shy.”

With a snap of his fingers, the clothes on Astarion melted away, leaving him exposed in the middle of the room.

“Gods damn it,” Astarion mumbled, a sad resignation in his tone.

Immediately, you stood in front of him, your protective instinct roaring to life. Wyll, Gale, Shadowheart, Karlach, and even Lae'zel followed suit, standing around him and shielding him from any passersby.

Raphael continued with his spiel, but all you could do was glare at the devil until he disappeared in a flash of infernal flame.

You turned to Astarion, taking off your outer shirt and wrapped it around his waist, tying the arms off at his side. At least now his most private bits were hidden. You tried not to brush against his skin, since now your arms and shoulders were exposed, but it was nigh impossible. When your forearm accidentally touched his torso, you realized you didn't need to worry about it; he was shielding again.

“Well. Now you know,” he said, a slight frown on his face. From his facial expression, you could tell that this wasn't the first time he'd been stripped naked against his will, and it bothered you greatly.

“We could have helped you,” Wyll said.

“All you had to do was ask,” Karlach added.

Astarion looked around at the others. “I… perhaps I should have. I’m not exactly used to asking for help and being met with, well… help.” He frowned. “But what’s done is done, so how about we stop talking about it and just get on with things?”

He tipped his head, his usual smirk returning to his face. “Although I should probably get dressed first…” He laughed, but you caught a hint of nervousness in his tone.

Spotting a back door, you led him outside along the pathway by the water, past the graveyard, back to where you had dropped off the camping supplies and gear. It also helped that Gale cast a minor illusion and distracted anyone nearby from looking at the two of you leaving.

When you got back to the campsite, he went for his pack and pulled out his extra set of clothes. You turned around, giving him privacy while you petted Scratch and Owly, thanking them for watching the party's things. Kneeling on the ground, you checked them both for any burrs and debris in their fur.

Suddenly you felt your shirt being gently draped over your shoulders. Looking up, you caught Astarion's gaze, his attention flickering to your neck for a brief moment.

“All that delicious exposed skin is too tempting,” he said quietly. “Let's head back before I decide to keep you here to myself.”

You quickly turned away and put your shirt back on before following him quietly back to the inn.

Once inside, you noticed that everyone had gathered around Jaheira's table.

“Ah, the two others of your party are finally here,” Jaheira said, her eyes lingering on you for just a moment longer.

The base of your spine tingled.

Ah shit, what now.

When she offered everyone a drink, you felt an even stronger zap in your back. Holding the cup and staring at the wine, you subtly gave it a sniff.

Oh. I know this herb.

“I can’t drink wine,” you immediately said. “It gives me headaches.”

Astarion glanced at you before putting his drink down. “You know, thank you for the offer, but I’ve been meaning to cut back.”

Lae’zel, Gale, and Shadowheart just held their cups without taking a drink, but Karlach and Wyll drank from theirs. Whether it was to be polite to a legendary hero, or they didn’t pick up on your discomfort, you didn’t know.

The conversation continued, and by the end of it, you knew that the others had been tasked with quite the undertaking. Following them upstairs to see whoever this Isobel person was, you noticed Shadowheart frowning. You touched her arm.

“I’m alright,” she said. “Just… not particularly comfortable getting a blessing from a Selunite.”

You nodded. She must be feeling conflicted, and yet she was still going along with it. The shadow curse, though it affected her less than the others, still affected her nonetheless.

Standing back, everyone let Wyll do most of the talking. Isobel gave everyone the blessing after a bit of discussion. You felt its gentle light surrounding you. Just as you thanked her, you felt a tingling, a strong one. Out of instinct, you reached out and tugged on Astarion’s sleeve.

He immediately looked at you and raised an eyebrow.

“Seal,” you mouthed to him.

He reached for his dagger.

“While you’re in the towers, I’ll be sure to—” Isobel suddenly stopped talking and looked around. “Wait. Do you hear that? Something’s wrong…”

You started to walk backwards towards the exit as a man with wings landed on the balcony and began to speak. After a heated discussion, the man made an eerie howl. In the distance, you could hear the flapping of wings.

Wyll turned to you. “GO!”

You turned to run out the door, only to stop short at the sight below you. Looking out over the balustrade, you could see winged horrors had invaded the building, flying all over the place. You saw one fly past you, and it took you far too long to realize that it was carrying Mol.

“Mol!”

Taking a step towards it, as if that would have done any good, you suddenly felt yourself being dragged back into the room with Isobel, just as one of the creatures landed nearby, its clawed hand slashing the space where you had been. Seeing Astarion’s white hair in your peripheral vision, you let him pull you towards a wardrobe in the back of the room. He opened it, and shoved you inside.

“Don’t come out until we get you,” he said before slamming the door shut.

Through the crack, you could see him leaping back into the fray, his dagger making swift work of a creature nearby. Hearing the raised voices, the commotion outside, the fighting… You trembled as you curled into the smallest ball and covered your ears.

I wish I was better at handling this sort of thing. I should be better, given how many times I’ve been in this situation.

You weren’t sure how long it took. Through the crack in the door, you could see the winged man fall, and the others leaving the room, presumably to help the others. You moved your hands away from your ears and listened.

You could still hear some fighting, but it was muffled and sounded far away. Perhaps I can get out of here?

No. Astarion told you to stay put. So you did. The last time you had disobeyed a direct order when danger was close… Well, you didn’t want to think about that.

The sound of a door opening in the room was almost a relief. Maybe they’re back.

But the cadence of the steps was different. It sounded… strange.

Then you heard a soft hiss, like a creature letting out a breath through its teeth. You stared at the crack in the door, your heart pounding in your chest.

Oh fuck oh fuck

The steps came closer to the door.

Your breath hitched and you held a hand around your mouth, trying to force yourself to breathe slowly and quietly.

Suddenly an eye, undead and glowing infernal red, appeared in the crack of the doors.

OH FUCK OH FUCK

It pulled back and slashed at the wood, the splinters flying. You pulled out your dagger, ready to fight for your life as it kept hacking away at the doors. It let out a shriek, and made one mighty swipe, tearing one of the doors off its hinges.

You were face to face with the demon, and all you had was a shitty dagger.

You had one moment to strike, but a red blur rammed into the demon, taking it across the room. You could hear Karlach’s raging yell, accompanied by the crushing of bones and flesh. You dropped your dagger and put your hands over your ears, curling back into a ball again.

You felt a presence coming close and opened your eyes. Shadowheart was reaching for you, and you couldn't help yourself.

You flinched.

She stopped and looked at you kindly. “It's alright, it's safe now,” she said softly. “Can you stand?”

You slowly climbed out of the wardrobe, your legs a bit wobbly. “Yes, I'll be alright,” you said, taking a deep breath.

“Perhaps you'll feel better when you're setting up camp, take your mind off things,” Astarion said.

“You're going to make her work when she's not feeling well?” Shadowheart snarled at him.

You touched her shoulder to calm her down. “No, he's right, I'll feel better with something to distract me.” You straightened your back and started walking towards the door, but not before you caught Astarion giving Shadowheart an ‘I told you so’ grin.

So petty…

As you walked downstairs, you could see everyone helping to clean up the chaos after Marcus and his minions had attacked. You offered to help on your way out the building, and after a few little chores here and there, you eventually made it back to the campsite.

You were happy to see Scratch and Owly, seemingly unharmed. Getting down on your knees, you hugged them tightly. As if they sensed that you needed some comfort, they nuzzled you, little Owly making cute hoots and chirps while Scratch let out small whimpers of sympathy.

“Thank you, my loves,” you said when you finally felt like you had recharged your morale. Their floofy bodies were perfect for making you feel better. Giving them one last pat, you took off your gloves and began to unpack everyone’s tents and set up the site.

After a few hours, you had finished setting up everyone’s tents, making sure the temperature was just right. You had learned everyone’s preferences and had tweaked your warming cantrip to each person, humming either faster or slower depending on how warm they liked it. Karlach got your special cooling cantrip, of course. Next, you began to set up the campfire circle, collecting rocks and building the circle. Scratch and Owly helped you collect firewood, and with a high pitched little ditty, you snapped your fingers twice. Sparks came from your fingertips, setting the kindling on fire.

Looking at the small flames and the amount of smoke, you realized that the wood wasn’t quite as dry as you had hoped. You glanced back towards the inn in the distance. It seemed like everyone was still busy cleaning up, so there wasn’t much of a chance of anyone coming back here…

Reaching up, you released your hair from its usual loose bun, letting it fall down your back in waves. You ran your hands through your hair, detangling it. You took off your boots and your outer clothes and pulled on your sleeping dress. The soft, thin fabric swished around your legs as you walked up to the campfire circle. The flame had nearly died down to just a feeble ember, trying to sustain itself on the damp wood.

One step back. Then one step to the side. You stared at the fire and began to sing, a slow song as you danced around the firepit.

O flame and fire, come to me

Come and keep me warm

Stay awhile, hear my plea

Be my hearth and home…

Your dress twirled around you as you danced, the cream colored fabric reflecting the soft orange flames that grew steadily each time you completed a circle. When the fire was crackling and large enough to burn without the help of your magic, you finished the song and stopped your dance, letting yourself twirl one last time for fun.

Then you turned around and saw your whole party staring at you.

Gods fucking DAMN IT.

You shyly waved at them. “Erm. How long have you been there?”

“Not long enough,” Wyll said as he walked up to you and held out his hand. “I didn’t know you could dance.”

He looked a bit enchanted, and you immediately felt shy. “I only know dances related to spellcasting. Sorry.”

Wyll's hand dropped, but he still smiled. “That's alright. It was a pleasure to watch.”

“You looked like a goddess!” Karlach said excitedly.

You just shook your head. “Alright, alright. I need to make the hot water rune. And we need meat for supper, can someone find a non-cursed deer or something?”

Wyll and Karlach laughed and saluted you as they left to go hunting. The others went to their tents to relax for the night but you noticed Gale giving you another curious look.

“Gale?”

He scratched his beard. “About two years ago in Waterdeep, the goddess Eilistraee was seen dancing along the walls of the city, gathering her followers to the city so they could build a shrine to her.” He gestured towards you. “Your dancing reminded me of hers.”

You shrugged. If he was trying to figure out where your skills came from, he was pretty far off.

“Not even close, am I?”

You shook your head. Why does he keep trying?

He smiled. “Can't help but guess,” he replied. “Oh well, perhaps another answer will come to me.”

You put your hair back up in a loose bun and prepared other things for the meal in the meantime. You had traded for some flour and sugar in the inn earlier so you could make a cobbler for dessert. Placing it on a makeshift rack high above the campfire to bake slowly, you looked over at Lae'zel, who was practicing her maneuvers.

No time like the present.

You headed over to her, a bit anxious about what she would say.

“Speak,” she commanded without looking at you.

“Erm, could you“—you pulled out your dagger and laid it in your palms—“teach me how to use this?”

She finally looked over to see your dinky little dagger. Facing you, she picked it up and turned it this way and that, assessing its condition.

“This is a poor weapon,” she said, “but well maintained.” She handed it back to you, handle first. She put her sword away and pulled her own dagger from her boot. “Watch closely.”

Twenty minutes later and you were partially regretting asking her. She was tough, not telling you how to correct yourself, just showing you her own form for you to figure it out for yourself. Just as she was about to show you how to lunge properly again, Wyll and Karlach came back with a small carton of eggs.

“That's all?” you asked.

They explained that the guards said there was no hunting in the area because of the shadow curse. Not a single wild creature was unaffected, and any farm animals had to be brought in carefully. There were some chickens for eggs, one cow for milk, and one ox for pulling carts, and that was about it. So the two of them had done some chores in exchange for some eggs.

“Oh. Well, I guess I should have thought of that,” you mumbled, taking the eggs from them. “I'll think of something.”

You whipped up a quiche and let it bake in a dutch oven while you returned to Lae'zel to practice some more with your dagger. Wyll came by to comment, and before you knew it, the two of them were debating the pros and cons of offense versus defense.

Sensing that your quiche was done, you left the two of them to check.

“Food's on!”

As everyone ate, they discussed their plans for the next day. With the area being so dangerous, they decided to stay as one big group and do some reconnaissance in Moonrise Towers, southwest of the inn. Hopefully, they'd be able to save the tieflings and gnomes that had been kidnapped.

You left them to their planning, heading towards the small waterfall nearby. Out of curiosity, you took off your outer shirt and climbed around the rocks. Carefully making your way around the waterfall, you found a small grotto hidden away, a little spot perfect for meditating.

Or practicing a few spells. No one can see me dance in here.

It had been a while since you had performed some of the spells you had been taught. You mentally ran through them sometimes, so you wouldn't forget, and you had a notebook filled with diagrams and lyrics, with side notes that you wanted to remember for later. But nothing beats physical practice.

You stepped through the waterfall this time, and went ahead and cast your hot water rune above head height around the waterfall to create a nice shower.

Drying off and returning to camp, you realized that Gale had taken your cobbler off the fire and was serving it to the others.

“You were gone for quite a while,” he commented as he scooped out a portion for you, then himself. “Karlach kept staring at it, and it seemed ready.”

For once, he was being a little modest. He had pulled it out of the fire at the exact correct moment. The cobbler looked perfectly baked, the crust golden brown, the sugar caramelized, the fruit soft and flavorful. You dug in and sighed contentedly.

“Gods, your cobbler is the best,” Karlach said as she also happily chowed down. “You could open a bakery in the Gate, call it the Dancing Witch Cafe.”

You laughed. “That sounds cute, but food service is not really for me. If anything, I'd open an apothecary.”

“Really?”

You nodded. “Making potions, growing different herbs and mushrooms, foraging for new plants… That sounds like a dream come true.”

The others began to share their own dreams, and it was quite a lovely chat. Futures imagined, optimism indulged.

It was a pleasant evening, a balm to all of the darkness that was looming around you, around everyone. You knew they had a hard road to come, and you hoped that just by having a place to return, to rest and recharge, would keep them going through the dark days ahead.

As everyone went to bed, you washed up the dishes, and cleaned and mended clothes. Quietly tiptoeing along, you set each person's stack in front of their tents before returning to your own bedroll by the campfire.

Staring at your pillow, you noticed a shiny new dagger, smaller in size, polished and sharpened. You picked it up and noticed it fit your grip much better than your older one, and it was much lighter as well. You tried a few swings with it, just to test the grip, and you found it much easier to adjust. Just as you were about to lunge forward again, Astarion suddenly appeared, his dagger deflecting yours easily, the high pitched clink echoing in the silence.

He smirked. “You need to be more aware, darling.”

You sighed. “I know.” As you were about to drop your arm, he gripped your forearm, keeping you in place. His hand was slightly cool, and you could sense some fondness through his touch. Slowly, he stepped closer to you, sheathing his dagger, his gaze meeting yours. He changed his grip on your arm as he stepped behind you, wrapping himself around you. His other hand enclosed yours as he adjusted your grip on your new dagger.

“This one is smaller, better to hold it like this.”

You relaxed your arms, letting him mold you like clay as he nudged and pulled you to the right position. Tucking your hair behind your ear, he murmured soft commands.

“Imagine the enemy in front of you. You want to take him out as swiftly as possible, since you don't have much strength.”

His lips were so close that you could feel them move against your ear.

You took a deep breath and stepped out of his grasp, doing what he told you to do. Moving as he directed, aiming where he told you to aim. He moved in front of you and held up his knife.

“Now, attack me.”

You frowned.

“Come now, darling. Do you honestly think you have a chance of landing a hit on me?”

You frowned harder, but he had a good point. Maneuvering your feet to be in a balanced, solid position, you lunged.

He dodged easily and tripped you, but grabbed your arm before you fell on your face.

“Come at me like you actually want to hurt me,” he said as he pulled you back up. “Right now you're just like a helpless little animal.”

You sighed as you stepped out of his grasp and turned to look at him. “I don't think…” I don't think I'm cut out for this.

He tipped his head, then in a sudden flash of movement, he grabbed your neck and pulled you close, his grip only tight enough to keep you in place, not to choke. His other hand grabbed your wrist, his thumb pushing on the inside of your wrist, forcing you to drop your dagger.

You didn’t sense any malice in his touch, only frustration. You could fully empathize; you were frustrated with yourself as well.

“It doesn't matter what you think, kitten,” he growled. “The enemy is going to take advantage of every opening you give them.”

You swallowed. “I… I know that.”

“I don't think you do.”

You glared.

He glared back.

You finally relented and closed your eyes. “I know,” you whispered. “I’m weak, I can’t fight, I’m just a liability.”

The grip on your neck loosened slightly. You barely noticed, your thoughts spiraling ever downward.

“I don’t know why you all keep me around. At some point, all the benefits I offer will be outweighed by the fact that you have to slow down your travels because of me.”

His hand moved from your neck to your shoulder. “Look at me.”

You looked up at him. He seemed blurry. Ah fuck, I didn’t want to cry in front of him again.

“If we wanted you gone, we would have already dismissed you.” Astarion looked infinitely uncomfortable as he patted your shoulder awkwardly. “Now stop crying. I don’t like having salt on my sweet treat.”

Through your tears, you let out a soft huff of amusement.

“Besides”—he cleared his throat—”I’ve grown accustomed to having you around.”

You blinked and looked at him. His head was turned to one side, but he glanced back for a moment before looking away again, as if he was too embarrassed to maintain eye contact after such a confession.

He finally let go of your shoulder. “Right. Well. I think we’ve had a long enough day.” He stepped back. “You should get some rest.”

Grateful for the excuse to get some time alone, you nodded and went to your bedroll, but not before retrieving the dagger from where you had dropped it. You turned your head to look at him, but he was already starting to walk away. “Thank you for the gift,” you called after him.

He shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I wouldn’t know where it came from.”

But you caught a hint of a smile on his face.

Liar.

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

Act II, Chapter 1 End notes: Here we go into the Shadow Cursed Lands, and we’re already a quarter of the way through, I think? I don’t think the rest of the chapters will be this long, but I couldn’t find a good stopping point, and also I was hedging my bets about posting next week, since I’ll be out of town with the fam, and I sure as hell don’t want to be caught writing fanfic in front of them, haha. So there may or may not be a chapter next week, but hopefully this extra large chapter will hold y’all over until then. Thank you for your continued reading of my story, I hope you all have a great end of the year!

Tag List: @numblytemporary @xalphafox @avitute

#bg3 #bg3 fanfic #astarion #astarion x f!reader #baldur's gate 3 #female reader #writing #bg3 spoilers #your hearth is my home

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