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eikotheblue · 6 months

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Behold! This absolutely incredible drawing of me as a Pokemon gym leader, drawn by my wonderful and incredibly talented friend Fen @salt-and-bramble 💙💙💙

I love it so much as a work of art and as a drawing of me and I'm using it as my profile picture everywhere now.

Fen did a wonderful job of - capturing lots of details that match up with things I actually wear (the heart gems I put on my forehead, my favorite top with the boob window, the galaxy print on my favorite dresses, the color of the glowy wheels on my skates), while also adding so many delightful little things that spark so much delight in my soul (the heart-shaped pupils, a much fancier design on my gloves than I currently have, the poi-pokeballs, a lil bit of embellishment on the cleavage) and. the hair.

Gods, the hair. Y'all have to understand - I've legit never seen a picture or depiction of my hair I've loved anywhere close to how much I love this. I've gotten a lot of compliments on my hair over my life, and despite historically really hating it, lately I've been figuring out ways to get it in a state where I can appreciate it myself, which has been a slow and strange process. But when I first saw this drawing, I felt like I understood for the first time what people are seeing, when they look at my hair and tell me it's beautiful. (When I told Fen this, they said I have the curls of the ocean... ;-; this has stuck in my head, and I think of it when I look at my avatar or my hair.) And the action lines in the rest of the piece really enhance the wave vibes...

it's just so perfect ;-;

#there's more to the story of how this image came to be and why the comment about smarthome bullshit and the other people involved #but - I'll be posting that later #because I've been writing this post in my head for the last several weeks and today it finally came out like this #and the perfect should not be the enemy of the good #and I know I've already said this but #thank you so much Fen #I love this I love you I'm so so so glad you're a part of my life #these last 2 months have been horrible but your support has made them so much more manageable #and this picture was one of the purist and brightest spots in that darkness #and it means the world to me #💙 💙 💙#personal #art #gym leader sona saga

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clowningaroundmars · 1 month

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my absolute fave thing to read in punkflower fics is lovesick puppy hobie brown

cool-as-a-cucumber hobie overthinking miles' every move, leaving lingering touches on him, longing glances thrown his way

certified BAMF hobie hanging by a doorway or window just a second too long before leaving miles

"skinny-hot" hobie refusing to believe someone as ✨️cool✨️ as miles would be into someone like him

badass punk hobie just yearning and pining and practically draping himself all over miles in desperate attempts but then pulling back all scared when anyone even hints that they should get together

god, i need pining lovesick loser hobie like AIR rn 😭

#mine #punkflower #spiderverse #can yall tell i am Not Normal rn #COOL HOT BADASS FUNNY HOBIE JUST!! *clenches fist* JUST!!! just fuckin swooning #like a victorian lady whenever miles does Anything #i mean do yall SEE the way he pays attention to and looks at miles in the movie?#i am unwell. i will never be able to emotionally recover from this #just... god. i love it #hobie brown spider punk just trailing after miles #joking with him and wrapping him up in all of the clothes he can manage to bring #practically screaming silently for miles' attention at every moment #showing off a lil bit when theyre swinging #dont get me wrong hobie is a very very cool guy. when miles isnt there #miles: shows up #hobie: immediately turns into the worlds biggest clumsiest clown to ever exist #miles: smiles #hobie: crashes into 2 walls a telephone pole and falls over a fence #bonus points if miles literally has zero clue the entire time #bc like obviously miles KNOWS hobie is ridiculously hot. this is canon #but SURELY someone like hobie has nooooo interest in him whatsoEVER right guys? …right? ahaha #IDIOTS the both of them #idiots in love #this is a trope i will never tire of ever #also the skinny-hot comment is a reference to the official atsv script #LOOK IT UP IF YOU HAVENT ALREADY #it is filled to brim with homosexuality and plenty of funny ass lines of miles being jealous #but miles my boy. my baby boy #look at me #you need not be jealous of hobie. YOURE the one in the middle of the love triangle NOT GWEN

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screambirdscreaming · 6 days

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At the bus stop one time there was a gaggle of preschoolers waiting to catch the bus for a field trip day, and someone walked past with a couple of friendly little dogs, to great general delight.

But after a little bit, the dogs were getting overwhelmed, and the preschoolers were gently coaxed to back off so the person with the dogs could continue on. Specifically, one of the preschool teachers said, "Sometimes, when you're small, being surrounded by big people can be a bit scary and overwhelming. Even if they are friendly."

This was recieved as great wisdom: after all, the preschoolers were also small, and understood how scary and overwhelming big people could be! And the dogs were indeed even smaller than the preschoolers, so it made sense.

What was funny and charming was that, upon absorbing and reflecting on this wisdom, they all felt the need to tell it to one another. In tones of great insight, they turned to one another and said, "Did you know? Sometimes when you are small, being surrounded by big people can be scary and overwhelming! Even if they are friendly!" Back and forth, without any particular concern that they were all saying the same thing. Have reached comprehension of an insight, it must be shared!

I must say that this behavior is less charming in tumblr users than in preschoolers. Not least because tumblr users, having gained a little analytical skill to misuse, insist on Summarizing and Generalizing and Unifying the insights they repeat, quickly turning any interesting new information into formulaic dogmatic mush.

#i made the mistake of looking in the notes of the beach sand post i reblogged to see if anyone else had interesting comments #And the rate at which it went from like #1) person states with moderate confidence an opinion based on their personal observations #2) multiple people reply with “wow thats so insightful!” (aka it aligns with my preconceived notions of how things work)#3) someone else adds additional personal observations which are not really relevant but which can be absorbed into the narrative #4) people start outright stating the underlying belief on which this bias is constructed as if it were a fresh insight #5) general derisive attitude towards people who haven't seen the Obviously Correct solution to this complex real world problem yet #It's very.......#It's not like it's a high stakes post but it's such a microcosm of the whole dogmatic phenomenon #Also this js a more specific gripe to My Field or w/e #But the degree to which people react to the problems caused by the whole “Control of Nature” era of engineering #with this equally reductive “Nature will Fix Everything” type of attitude #Is sooooo frustrating.#Yes a great many of our current problems could have been avoided if we had not made massive changes to ecosystem processes on the assumptio #That they were simple and we understood them. And that they would respond in predictable ways.#the simplicity in retrospect of “wow we Should Not have done that” does not mean that they are simple to undo!#You can't go back in time. You can't turn back the clock on chaotic processes #Which is. Almost every process ever.#Restoration is hard! Returning to previous regimes of sediment or flooding or fire is tricky and full of foibles!#Moving towards a future which doesn't suck as much even if the past cant be recreated is also uncertain and difficult!#It's frustrating to see people act all high and mighty about how they Respect Nature unlike whoever is making all these decisions #When their understanding of the natural processes in question is AS simplistic as the people who caused the whole mess back in 1910 or w/e #Like I'm not saying there's not bad interests standing in the way of functional restoration on all levels #That's very much a fight to be fought.#But looking at that fight-in-process and saying “wow none of you Respect Nature like me uwu let nature fix it”#Is.#Ugh.

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spacedlexi · 10 months

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it honestly frustrates me when i see people reduce the ericsons cast down to "just some teens in the woods" acting like theyre no different than any other group of lone teenagers from other existing properties and treating them like an overused trope

it is sooo important to acknowledge the "troubled youth" aspect of the whole equation. theyre not just some random teens in the woods clem stumbles across. these kids were abandoned by their families for their various "difficulties" and fucked up by The System before the outbreak even began. and then once zombies started roaming the streets their familes never came back for them and the adults that were in charge of taking care of them just left them there to rot in that old boarding school (except for ms martin who was like their lee 🥺 the only person who ever saw them as the scared traumatized kids they were and died protecting them)

the whole aspect of them already being fucked up by the adults that controlled their lives is like.....kind of important when discussing the whole "delta is stealing kids to force them to fight in a war they have no real part in and want nothing to do with" aspect of the season. and its important when comparing them to clem and her journey of also suffering at the hands of the adults around her forcing her to become self reliant. AND its important when discussing the "just trying to build a safe home (and future) worth fighting for in this world that wants them dead" aspect of the season as well

these kids were forced to come together to survive. and a Lot of them didnt... theyre the only family they have left and you can tell that even when they argue with each other theyre still a close knit group who looks out for each other. theyre a Real family before clem even gets there (and its why what really happened with the twins and brody and marlon hits them all so especially hard)

all of this is what REALLY makes ericsons such a perfect home for clem. its a Real community of her True peers. theyre not Just teens. they mightve had a layer of safety clem never had by at least having walls to keep them safe. and having the benefit of the school being hard to find. its the only reason theyre still alive when clem shows up. but theyre also some of the only people who can Truly understand where clem and aj are coming from. and its why it hurts so much when they vote to kick them out. but its also partially why she merges back into the fold so easily when she returns. plus the fact that shes Really the only one who has any idea what shes doing. shes their rock and she makes them feel safe because underneath it all theyre still just those scared traumatized kids ("EVERYONE is scared, clem..." vi was Definitely including herself in that 'everyone'), and on some level, so is clem

they saved clementines life. and she saved theirs. "the school was supposed to help them with their trauma, now they help each other" its about the LOVE the COMMUNITY the SUPPORT!!!! and thats the shit that makes good zombie media honestly 👌

#it speaks #twdg #there i go again writing another essay but i will Always defend the ericson cast theyre one of the strongest out of all 4 seasons #complaints ive seen about s4 typically include mentions of the teens as a trope being overused and im like.......did you even pay attention #the fact they were branded “troubled youth” and basically thrown away by everyone who was supposed to take care of them is SO IMPORTANT #these kids are Fucked Up but theyre Trying to make a kinder world #nobody talk to me i fucking love the ericson cast 😭😭😭 theres not a single one of them i dont like im serious #them using poor pilgrim of sorrow in ep3....ericsons is heaven to clem 😭 all the comments she can make about feeling safe there 😭😭#clem being everyones rock but violet being clems rock back 🥺😭💕 waaaaahhh thats why it was over for me when vi stood up for them in ep 2 #vi having the courage to stand up to her group for aj........... yeah she had me in a vice grip after that. she fought for them so hard #and if it wasnt for her advocating so hard for them to stay they ALL would have been taken or killed #vi cared about clem so much she undoomed them all #and aj loved clem so much he undoomed her :')#s4 is just the perfect ending to clems story truly itll make me happy for the rest of my life im so happy for u clem 🥺#tfw the media you like gets a good ending and the main characters are respected and it feels like it was made from a place of love #instead of being like...actively hostile to its fanbase and destroying its own characters for the Laughs #and when i say “good” i dont necessarily mean “happy” i just mean “competently written"#i wouldnt call it perfect but it survived both a cancellation AND the financial collapse of a major game studio. its perfect to Me #for what it is (and what it originally almost was with the clems house plot) we truly lucked out so fucking hard #truly a return to form of season 1 but with less despair and more hope which i appreciate :')#all the things ive liked over the years that were destroyed for me by bad or weird writing decisions... clutches onto twdg like a lifeboat #god i love s4 so much nothing has ever been More Specifically Written For Me Personally

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wcvensouls · 6 months

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uenominako i let my intrusive thoughts win and didn't regret it for once! it was time for a much needed personal growth 💖 lately i've been thinking about how much i've changed over the years and how many things i've gone through. the person i saw in the mirror was familiar, yet she didn't feel like me anymore. she was still that excited little girl who moved to the big city on her own to see the world and realized things weren't that simple. the little girl that had to learn to fall down and pick herself back up again over and over, but that always refused to give up. i have every love in the world for her, but it was time to let her go. the road to healing and self-love is long and never-ending, but i'm proud of how far i've come. now, i wanted the outside to also reflect this new version of me, forever a beautiful work in progress, as it should be.

comments : hayashi.emi woman, you look stunning! why didn't you tell me you were going, i'd have gone with you. i can believe i missed this life changing moment 😭 i would have taken so many pictures! you are the most stunning person i've ever meat, both inside and out. i love you with all my heart, baby girl. s.ayaka this is a good look on you. you know i don't do well with these things, but being by your side through this journey has been a privilege. universe.sehyun 😍😍 that's my favorite girl, i'm literally barking and on my knees for you. you are perfect in every way possible adelineeee you look prettier and prettier every day, i think i'm in love starishnacchan i can't believe my baby cousin is all grown up and beautiful like this 🥺 i'm so proud of you, mina-chan~ i love you so so much ottokun always do what makes you happy 💕 you're one of the brightest stars i have ever met, don't let others dim your light fujioka.rina never thought i'd see you not blonde, but you are glowing more than ever before 🥰 you look happy jijihye SLAAAAAAAAAY QUEEN you deserve the world! kotochan oh my god i'm obssessed with this jiyoon.sugar my beautiful little sunflower💗 joodances did you know that you are my girl crush and i would do literally anything for you? because i would

#ueno minako : visage .#handcrafted flower crowns : edits .#this is a very important moment for her ( and me ) okay #i'm emotional rn dont touch me #im also crying at how many muses wanted to comment on this #LIKE YES ITS WHAT MY GIRL DESERVES #idk ok shes just. still my favorite muse ever #she means the world to me #i'm tearing up a little thinking about it bc i'm a little bitch #it's been like almost 2 decades of looking n being the same #and it just feels so freeing for her to just... let go of that signature look and embrace something new #idk am i being overly dramatic about this? maybe but idc

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starryoak · 1 year

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Me: I am a totally reasonable person capable of accepting that some people won’t enjoy my favorite media and not freak out over that.

Someone: (expresses even a mildly negative opinion about Psychonauts)

Me: I am no longer reasonable, I am ready to murder.

#i have to admit I have an extremely parasocial relationship with psychonauts #because my dad is/was personal friends with Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer #(wrt tim less so but still)#so I feel like I have a moral obligation to stan all their works #and objectively yes criticism isn’t the end of the world #but any time someone makes like a subjective value judgement like #”oh this sucks so bad they were so stupid for doing this”#I want to smash someone’s kneecaps #excuse me those are my dad’s friends and you are being mean to them!#objectively it’s not like they read mean comments about them on social media #but frankly on principle I think calling developers stupid for not agreeing with your subjective tastes #is extremely shitty of someone to do #psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #One part of why I think I feel this way also has to do with the fact I was following the development of the game since it was announced #and if you aren’t aware #microsoft fairly late into the game’s development gave Doublefine a huge amount of money towards development #and the creators have made statements that prior to that they legit weren’t even going to have boss battles #because they had to cut them out as a result of the budget issues #so I feel like basically any criticism of the second game for being rushed or underdeveloped or even like anything #NEEDS to keep that in mind and factor it into their critique #treating flaws of a game as deliberate failures on the part of developers is my berserkbutton

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doublekanble · 2 months

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Can I tell you that you write as a song of Hozier sound? That I caught myself biting on my fist, gigling, kicking my feet of the bed at your writing? The way you write obsession and DEVOTION drives me wild? Just wanted to let you know.

i hope you know i screamed into my pillows because of you /positive

#/kbask #THANK YOU SO MUCH I WAS SO WORRIED NO ONE REALLY UNDERSTAND IT #all of my pieces for Al is made with him being utterly head-over-heels one way or another unless i explicitly stated otherwise #im just a thing juggling like 2 things at once (being normal and being into alastor) im so happy someone can tell #general fear of coming off as unapproachable and worried that my writing would looks like crows feet #i dont know who Hozier is but i did look him up and i take it as a massive compliment!!!#ALSO im so sorry for not being able to reply to all of your comments you left on my other fics!#please know your words means the world to me!!! i love reading them!!!#wasnt expecting it at all literally stand up walk around my tiny room screamed into my pillow/positive

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biblicalhorror · 1 year

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Reading a court of thorns and roses bc it's been rec'd to me many times (by the same two friends mostly) and also I've never really read a smut novel before and Jesus christ this protagonist is insufferable

#first of all its like the author tried to recreate katniss everdeen without any fundamental understanding of her character #like the reason the whole 'i hunt and provide for my family because no one else will' thing works for katniss is that her mother is ill #and her sister is like 8 years old #so like yeah obviously she'd be the one to provide #but feyre is like 'i have to do everything around here because my two OLDER sisters simply dont feel like doing chores'#like what????#i get that her dying mother for some reason put the responsibilities on her but it makes 0 sense #like whoever wrote this was clearly a youngest sibling with a martyr complex because its just. so heavy handed #also her insistence that nesta is simply too shallow and vapid to do what she does makes me roll my eyes every other page #honestly justice for nesta #1) if my sister started doing all of the hunting and providing without ever communicating why i would probably assume she wanted to do it #2) if after our mothers death she started completely resenting everything i do and glaring at me constantly id think she blames me for it #3) being around that kind of smug negative energy would absolutely make me start to be a little mean too even just as a defense mechanism #4) shes constantly assuming the worst in nesta and is proven at least twice to be an unreliable narrator in regards to nestas priorities #also that comment feyre made about how smug she felt after leaving knowing that her family would 'starve without her' god what an asshole #like you cant present yourself as so much morally better than your sisters and then turn around and say shit like that #anyway im hoping she becomes less insufferable as the story goes on #im told the first book is the worst in the series so i just gotta power through for the sake of world building #j reads acotar series #<<<feel free to blacklist if u dont want spoilers and/or critiques of this series bc i plan to vent on here a lot abt it

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storfulsten · 1 year

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servers down, so lazily doodling my wol simping over his beloved for no reason bc why not

wooh

mostly based on this

bc I can’t think for myself nowadays ha dang

#doodling catbois is hard pls help me #sorry for lack of other stuff but as it is ffxiv got an iron grip on me rn #so motivation for other stuff is next to nonexistent currently #both artwise and gamewise #dragonflight's releasing this month and I literally could not care less and feel less motivated to play wow rn #idk I just really like being a catboi doing all the things saving the world feeling way more involved in the story that i ever did in wow ha #eh I'll play dragonflight eventually but it will not be at launch ah well #anyhow basic doodle is basic so not much to comment on #dunno if it's worth tagging for spoilers or not since I mean if you don't know the dude it just looks like 2 random catbois right lol #so uh yeah keeping it vague I guess ha #ffxiv good game can recommend if you wanna feel things ha #I draw what I want

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chalkrub · 2 years

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hey since its happening soon i would like to ask if youll be participating in artfight? i would love to draw one of ur guys this year :]

hello!! YES i am wildly excited, art fight was so much fun last year, I've been looking forward to it since the last one ended lmao...here's my page!

anyone reading this feel free to drop your artfights in the comments/reblogs/whatever by the way, I'll have a look through and bookmark some characters!

#ask #anon #art fight #also thank you anon you're sweet...very flattered you wanna draw one of my little guys :^)#fun fact I have a big soft spot for art fight cause I wouldn't be posting my art on social media without it......#it was my first art fight last year and people were SO nice and a bunch of really cool artists said they liked my stuff #and some people even asked me if i posted my art elsewhere so then I HAD to finally set up my art accounts #it really gave me such a confidence boost #speaking of i once again wanna say I'm so grateful for all the support and nice comments people leave - it really means the world 2 me

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violentdevotion · 1 year

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I had multiple dreams last night.

I had a bf </3

someone in my family got bit by a zombie </3

some guy made me explain narrative structure to him </3

#ameera speaks #1 expanded) it was someone ik in real life 😔 which sucks soooo bad anyway he was at mine and we were watching a movie in my bed on my #laptop < (loser behaviour) and okay so im lying by referring to him as my bf bc we were just friends in the dream but then he started like #acting well intimate and i wasnt not into it so i was like hey whats going on here and we had a talk and then i had to sneak him out of my #house. dream 2) zombie apocalypse im in my room my nephews and nieces come in and i usher them out. the world is the samw just + zombies.#like think covid when it was dire but schools were still open? (my dream was a commentary on the countries failures to manage covid) so i #usher my neohews and nieces out and i make a comment to my sister in law like ooh im scared one of them got bit and my nephew was like some #girl bit me at school today and i told his mum and i stayed in my room and like an hour later i rang her like whats the update #and she was like oh yeah and came into my room to find my journal on zombie stuff and sge was like should i just cut off his arm and i was #idk try but if that doesnt work youre gonna have to... and she was SO CASUALLL !!!! and as she was leaving she started like picking things #up off the floor and i made a comment like your sons dying and youre sweeping and she was like way harsh tai and i woke up #that one was a commentsry on covid and also how i might be too mean to my sister in laws sometimes #3) i was in a library with friends researching smth and some asian guy sits on our table turns his back to us and talks to his friends.#then he starts playing music loudly from his phone and i move back to my table and as im walking he stops me and starts talking to some #girl on the table next to mine who he knows and is like hey i have an assignment due where i have to write a compelling narrative from my #own life ur clever can u help and she was a stem girly and went highschool with me and she pointed at me like ask her she does english #and he was like no u just tell me and she started helping him but i felt the advice she was giving was.. bad. so i interrupted like dont #you think that you should do __ instead and we had a discussion about it till i woke up. < that dream was a commentary on how useless my #degree is and how i wish it wasnt useless

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findingthespark · 2 years

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Pride’s Folly (Part 2)

She walked through a world of nightmares. Every step she took brought a new horror before her. First came the twisted, desiccated bodies circled around her, frozen into whatever shapes death had caught them in. Not just a few, but hundreds, maybe even thousands as she picked a path through them. Their agony had a uniformity, the terror and pain stretched across their bones so achingly familiar, made all the worse knowing each body had contained its own person, complex and multitudinous, living an entire life, now nothing but a husk of their death.

When she finally stepped past the last ring of them, a pain flared up in her left hand and an eerie green light emanated from the source of the pain. It tore into her nerves, sharp like fire, and simultaneously draining, as if it would consume her. She fell to her knees with a cry, cradling her hand against her until the pain subsided. Relief she had, but she could still feel the echo of it in her flesh. She couldn’t be free of it.

Looking closer, she saw a distinct mark left on her hand where the pain had flared. It was a curious thing. It looked like a tear in her flesh, warped like a scar, but it seemed as if at any moment, it might split open, a hungry mouth where none should be.

“Help!” someone shrieked in the murk ahead of her.

She knew that voice.

“Please! Anyone! Help me!” they called again.

She took off running for her clan mate, for Suviel.

She came upon her in time to see a huge, burly human man snatch Suviel by the hair and drag her back towards him. He locked her in against his chest with one meaty arm and then brought a knife up to her throat. He held his stance, easily resisting Suviel’s frantic struggles, as if he were made of stone. He looked her in the eyes, challenging her to stop him, daring her.

Suviel caught sight of her and cried out, “Fiacha! Help me, Fiacha!”

She rushed forward, not knowing how she was going to save her friend, especially when she had no weapons to hand, but knowing she had to try. But as soon as she reached them, as soon as she threw her hands out to try and wrench the man’s arm away, she found they passed right through both of them. Fiacha looked at them flabbergasted and reached out again. And she passed through again.

Suviel’s pleading eyes were locked on her.

“Fiacha, please!”

The man began to slowly bring the knife to her throat. Fiacha kept trying to grasp at his arm and pull him away, but she was helpless. She was forced to watch the inexorable moment of the blade opening Suviel’s soft skin, the desperate fear in her eyes, the disappointment in Fiacha, too. Would she not do anything for her friend?

Suviel’s body was dumped at her feet, the man just staring at her without coming for her. She had only a moment to begin to process the whole event when new screams reached her ears.

She turned around and other members of her clan were being pursued by humans hunting them. Some had knives like the first, others had torches, while still others only used their hands to wreak havoc, crushing bones and snapping necks. Each time she turned to help, she faced the same helplessness over and over. Her fingers slipped through every time, and she had to witness the extinction of her clan one by one as they called her name and begged for her help.

After everyone she knew lay dead about her, the pain in her hand flared up again. Her stomach roiled with the intensity of it and the scene of brutality laid out for her benefit. What kind of hate was this? What had she done to merit this kind of revenge?

Dazed, she looked around and noticed the edge of a forest had appeared only a few yards away. She stumbled for its cover, though none of the men were pursuing her. They only watched her as she left them behind.

For a breath, Fiacha could almost be lulled into thinking that she had finally come home. There were the tracks the rams and deer had staked out, the tracks the halla liked to wander when given the freedom to roam. The elfroot was plentiful, as were the wild tubers they often gathered for their meals, and the fish glimmered visibly in the streams. Everywhere she looked, everything blossomed and grew to abundance. She breathed in the cool scent of moist earth and decaying bracken.

Had everything been a bad dream?

As soon as she questioned it, the whole of the forest began to rot from within. The trees, vines, shrubs, anything and everything green or alive blackened and shriveled, cracking open, trailing mold. The streams choked with the decay dropping into them and the fish popped to the surface, belly up, already beginning to molder. Rams trotting along in the depths stumbled and bleated cries of misery before they fell, flailing. Flies and worms gathered on them as if they were three days dead.

Bile rose in her throat. Fiacha searched for a way out, any sign of untainted wilderness, but she found no avenue that was not sick and decomposing. She closed her eyes and could only see the mangled bodies of her clan. Sinking down, a sob finally escaped her. Tears poured out of her, a broken vessel.

And then, after an impossible span of time, something shifted.

The air was no longer clogged with rot. It was the fresh air of the forest again, a soft breeze lifting her hair, and birdsong calling out from the depths of the trees. And beside her, a presence.

It was immense, almost titanic, but nonthreatening in spite of that. A chill rolled off of it, but it was the cool of deep stone or the high mountain, simply a part of its nature, not an indication of its mood. It drifted around her, but did not settle into her bones.

Opening her eyes, she was stunned to find only a man next to her, a shaft of sun illuminating him. He was an elf, unmarked by vallaslin, but he didn’t give off the air of the city-dwelling kin she had encountered from time to time. His green and neutral toned clothes were too well-suited to living in the wilderness, wrapped up in thick wool, practical fur lining his vest. His head was devoid of hair, not even a hint of fuzz to suggest that he might shave it off himself.

Feeling her gaze, he looked down at her, fully revealing the sharpness of his features. His eyes had a piercing quality to them, as if they could search out every secret she had ever hid, every thought flitting through her mind. He offered her a warm smile.

“Are you alright?”

“I don’t know,” she stammered.

“An honest answer. Do you know what’s happening?”

“Not at all. Who are you?”

“I am Solas,” he told her, reaching down to pull her to her feet.

“I am Fiacha,” she said in return, savoring the touch of his skin.

“You are in the Fade right now, Fiacha. The things you have been seeing are your fears playing out. The Fade molds itself to your will. If you can shift the focus of your mind, it will remain peaceful as it is now.”

“So you...?”

“I am projecting my will onto our surroundings. If I wished to see something else, I could command it to materialize. But your forest is lovely, and familiar, I believe?” There was just the slightest lilt to his voice.

“It was one of the ones my clan frequented in the Marches.” She looked about and marveled at how much it was like the one in the waking world. “Thank you for setting it to rights.”

“You can do it, too,” he protested. “Here.”

A portion of the trees began to undergo the same decay that had eaten at them before Solas arrived. Her heart picked up speed, panic gripping her as the thought of walking through that nightmare world again.

“Steady your breathing,” Solas advised. “Remember, it is reacting to you. You can return it to the shape you know. Or you can mold it into something else, if you wished. You need not get exact details right. Just the feeling of it.”

Fiacha frowned, completely unsure of herself. But Solas stood there with an expectant expression, as if she were actually capable of what he described. She sighed and shuffled a moment, then squared to face the portion of forest that he allowed to be affected.

The thrill of fear zipped through her, but she recognized it and closed her eyes to slow her breathing. She let the fear writhe around for a moment longer before recognizing that she was safe. Nothing was chasing her. Nothing was tormenting her. She called to mind the comfort she drew from the wild places she had seen with her clan, the homes they had conjured with nothing but a campfire and the shelter of their aravels. She remembered the joy of the stars and the moon on crisp nights that seemed to sharpen the light of them. The tales and songs they shared with their meals.

She opened her eyes again and the blackness was gone. Life flourished before her. In fact, it seemed as though the entire area around them sparkled with fresh energy. It contained a vibrancy she had never known before.

“You have a strong will,” Solas smiled again. “You will manage well.”

He inclined his head to her and began to disappear into the trees.

“Wait!”

He paused.

“Won’t you stay here?” Fiacha asked.

“I’m afraid there are things I must take care of, but I am confident you can fend for yourself. I hope you will join us in the waking world soon.”

Before she could say anything else, he left her to her own company. Gods, why could he have not taken her with him?

#solavellan #solas x inquisitor #solas #lavellan #dai #dragon age #inquisition #part 2 of this untitled arc #thank you guys so much for the lovely comments #it means the world to me #you are fantastic #and if you have suggestions for a title throw them at me #trying a different title #Pride's Folly #Part 2

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