What pronouns do the Xehanorts use? And doesn't Aqua call Vanitas kisama at one point? I feel like Aqua, if not "swearing" then saying the most rude and insulting words that are basically the closest equivalent to swearing is a thing?
I spent like all day researching this for you buddy because I too was immensely curious re: the norts and I’m glad I looked lol.
PRONOUNS (AGAIN)
- Xehanort/Xemnas/Ansem all use watashi, which admittedly I wasn’t fucking expecting??? Young Xehanort uses ore but. I mean. he is a Teen so.
- Xigbar uses ore. he was the only other nort I checked.
- fun note: Ansem the Wise uses watashi
- bonus fun note: Ansem when possessing Riku, the “I’m Ansem, Seeker of Darkness!” line? he uses wa there. I’m not surprised.
- EXTRA NOTE: turns out Goofy and Donald both use boku.
SWEARING
- AND YEAH ACTUALLY AQUA SWEARS A LOT??? She definitely calls Vanitas kisama. also I asked my friend aera and she just “off the top of my head, I remember Three Instances”. Aqua is the rudest girl.
- also did you know: Aqua’s Defining Quote is “Bullshit”? At least, it’s the voice clip that’s attached to her medal in jp khux. Every time you use the medal, she calls you out on your bullshit. can you believe it.
- relatedly: Invi also says “bullshit” when she and Aced are arguing in the abandoned cafe
- also: my friends and I spent an entire night quickly running through jp bbs to see how often Terra swears. He’s a good boy who only swears Like, Twice, and both of those times are at Xehanort. he gets “chikuso” (which is oh shit).
James please give me the play-by-play on "Must Be (This Tall) To Ride."
HOO BOY
This was a prompt I got for an Adoribull Prompt Sunday that immediately tickled me. It’s been done before, but I wanted to take a silly approach.
The thing to understand about this fic, though, is that it’s entirely gratuitous Chargers speculative characterisation cunningly disguised as a story about them coming to (grudgingly) accept Dorian as a growing fixture in Bull’s life. I had a scattering of ideas about them, but this fic is where I really hammered out how I wanted to write them consistently.
I was narrating my thoughts to toft as I considered where to take it, and the entire story coalesced around Krem’s line in the second to last scene: “I am surrounded… by several shits.” I am STILL super proud of this punchline, because I am hilarious.
Actually I wrote this entire thing to laugh at my own jokes, disregard all of what I just wrote.
ALSO: the original title was something along the lines of "If It Weren't For Those Meddling Kids" and to this day I still regret how I forgot this upon posting.
Commentary for 'and something else in its place' Also how did I not know you've written yoi fic? I am fucking delighted!
100% SELF INDULGENT PROJECTING TBHsomething that stuck with me from the first episode was Yuuri's line about how he had been depressed for a while and then got bored enough to drag himself out of it. I see a lot of people writing about him in a state of depression mid-show and I... disagree with that characterisation. It's an important part of who he is that he is actually able to get out of it; he's got a lot of emotional stamina as well, and it seems like what really trips him up is his imposter syndrome and his fairly large ego.So I'd had this in mind for a while. Recently I've been struggling with a nasty depressive episode, and being frustrated and bored out of mind, so it was lowkey cathartic to write about Yuuri escaping a similar state. Doesn't help that Yuuri is the character I most relate to of all time, really.And then of course there's the part about how Yuuri gets his skating mojo back via Viktor, which is another key theme in the show, and also I'm a huge shipper at heart. We're all shocked, I know.And yeah! I keep forgetting to link to fic I've written, since I had gone so long without posting anything, but I'm firmly ensconced for the duration. Gotta keep working on that magical realism wip...
there was a meme in the days of livejournal where people picked a fic, or a scene from a fic, or an excerpt or chapter or whatever, and the author provided a DVD commentary on that piece of writing
what they were thinking, struggling with, almost included, etc etc. I loved it and cannot find a tumblr version of that meme I like, so reblog this post with a link to your AO3 and I (and hopefully some of your followers) will barge into your askbox and ask for a commentary on some bit of your fic
This may be odd, but I am your Secret Santa for the Adoribull holiday exchange and I wanted to clarify that the anonymous question sent to you about a fic where Dorian is conditioned to hate his sexuality was not from me. That idea makes me very uncomfortable, and I didn't want to be associated with it when our exchange becomes public.
Totally understandable, and I appreciate that—and you. I’m looking forward to seeing your work!
On your list of Adoribull fic things you had something like "Dorian feeling ashamed of his sexuality" under hard no. I was thinking about writing a fic where his past is a little harsher, thus he's been more conditioned to think something's wrong with him, then have him overcome and become proud of his sexuality through the course of the fic. I'm not a member of the LGBT community, so it's very possible that I'm making a big mistake with this idea. Should I change it?
Please do not write that story for me. Thanks for asking.
ETA: I’d also recommend that you, as someone outside a marginalised group, use that two-question rule someone coined: “Does this need to be written?” and “Does this need to be written by me?” Personally, I don’t want to read this kind of story ever, especially if it’s written by someone not part of the LGBT community.
there are two options here and I’m not sure which fits best, so here’s both:
1. post-trespasser fic about the difficulties of long-distance relationships. probably involves a lot of ~artsy~ jumps around chronological order, juxtaposing the little time they have together with the constant background ache of being apart. simulacrum metaphors.
2. vague-horror casefic involving a literal shadow (or shade) and a body and having to unspool the mystery of what caused it, which hits a little too close to home for Dorian’s tastes, and puts him in a particularly dangerous position while requiring his knowledge of necromancy to sort out. this is the backdrop for the Bull and Dorian finally having to reconcile their very different relationships with magic.
...looking at these I realise all over again how much I am a parody of myself
well my first thought was Bruce Springsteen’s song of the same name, just for context
Something of an AU, I imagine, in a Thedas where Corypheus was never a problem. The Iron Bull continues to lead the Chargers, slowly slipping further and further from the Qun and trying to employ as much plausible deniability to himself as possible. It happens, of course, that a job takes them across Dorian’s path.
Dorian has left Tevinter after Felix’s death clinched his loss of hope for changing anything there, or maybe did eventually find himself actually being forced to leave. He’s been in the South for a while, long enough to do some of that growth he does in-game, but without much of a purpose. He’s tired of keeping parts of himself hidden, but the consequences of being found out as a mage are somewhat more drastic than being found in bed with other men, so he’s keeping at it. He’s frustrated, aimless, and diverting himself with drink, sex, and picking fights, not necessarily in that order.
Which happens to be how they meet. Dorian, not nearly as drunk as he’d like to be (money’s been tight since he left the north), is delighted by the prospect of a qunari, Vashoth or otherwise, to take offense to him. When the Bull doesn’t provoke him, Dorian does the honours. There’s no physical fight (a shame, Dorian thinks, because all else aside he does so love to be manhandled and the Bull certainly possesses certain qualities Dorian may or may not appreciate especially) but they do get into a good not-exactly-an-argument. And (we’re all shocked) end up in bed.
They don’t mean to make it more than that, but they keep fucking because it’s damn good sex, and, well, pillow talk happens to the best of us, and conversation while drinking together is only natural. And their situations are weirdly similar, but from different angles of approach; this is where they get into actual arguments, but keep coming back to it as well.
In the end they both end up with some kind of catharsis for the better, and either they part ways on with the implication that they will cross paths again, or the Bull offers to have Dorian travel with them.
and predictably now I actually want to write this, look what you’ve done
HI SORRY I forgot to update this before assignments went out. I hope this doesn’t inconvenience you too much. Anyway, here's a list of likes, dislikes, and hard nos.
YES
- unresolved tension, especially unresolved romantic tension.
- mutual pining
- Bull being the more unsteady of the two, emotionally speaking
- ridiculous Tevinter/regency/etc clothing
- subtle gestures of affection
- Dorian with body hair, and being generally tall/broad for a human/mage
- burly fat Bull
- besotted expressions
- f/f side pairings
- Sera, Krem & Chargers, or any other inner circle
- your inquisitor, original characters, minor characters!
- both of their glorious noses (for illustration)
- conflict
- alive Felix in AU
- Dorian being sweet, bluster intact
- Dorian also being a little shit
- both making mistakes, and neither of them being always right or wrong
- rough sex, bondage, Dorian’s size kink
- intensely emotional sex, which goes well with the above point
- action, physical fights, sexy physical fights
- indirect kissing; as toft put it, sharing a cigarette, drinking from the same spot of the glass, that kind of thing
MAYBE
- forbidden relationships (it can’t be because Dorian doesn’t want to go public)
- D/s (only in the bedroom, and without Dorian losing his contrariness)
- het background pairings being extremely background
- Inquisitor Trevelyan -- Adaar, Cadash, or Lavellan preferred but not mandatory
- alive Felix in canon (context depending)
- fluff in fic -- it’s welcome but I’d prefer it not be the only content
- drunk sex -- they both have to be drunk, and not too drunk
HARD NO
- rape/non-con
- a/b/o
- mpreg, or inclusion of pregnancy or childbirth in general
- kidfic (others having kids is fine tho)
- sexual feminisation
- lifestyle BDSM
- Dorian feeling ashamed about being gay, himself in general, or Bull
- Dorian being self-loathing in general (anger/disgust with himself is great)
- slavery
- Cullrian, Fenders, Dorian/any woman
- jealous Bull (envious is fine though)
- Vivienne hate in particular, overall character bashing (Anders is okay tho)
- sexual punishment (I love spanking, but just if someone wants it)
- Christmas. Thedosian holidays are A-OK though!
1. “They could have him,” says Skinner as she taps the flat of her knife against her chin, “by the balls.”
2. Dorian rolls his eyes, apparently finding the Bull’s flirting less offensive than this line of questioning. “Oh, yes, my insidious intentions to stop being taken hostage.”
3. “Manners!” crows Dorian, delighted. “Why, Bull, you’ve been holding out on me this whole time. Tell me, what other surprises should I expect to witness here in the wild?”
So if (hypothetically ofc) your black emporium assignee was interested in one of the requests you have not yet gotten to writing about, what would you want them to know? (asking for a friend, don't mind me) Also on the subject of your Emporium letter, what is the "Certain Exception" you refer to?
Oh! Let me just get around to finishing that letter now, thanks for reminding me. The Certain Exception is for Solas/Varric, UNLESS (as I will add) you’re going for the full on purple prose Randy Dowager type sex scene, in which case, the more ridiculous the epithets the better.
Hello! Thank you for participating, and I hope you’ve found something to be excited about in my requests.
(If not, I urge you to please find a way to anonymously contact me, and we can figure something out.)
I talked briefly about my thoughts for each request, but I’ll go more into detail about my likes and dislikes here, in general and also specifically per prompt.
General Likes
Plot! I am all for the romance being flavour in a larger story, so long as it has a decently large presence.
Conflict! It doesn’t have to be between the two characters in question, although it absolutely can be, but external sources and/or one character’s struggles are also really compelling.
Humour! Conflict doesn’t have to be painful. it can, in plenty of circumstances, be hilarious. It can mean something like “Josephine has lost an Important Document and Isabela is being really unhelpful and distracting” or “Alistair is trying to surprise Duncan but he’s really bad at hiding things”
Featuring other characters! Someone like Varric (or Hawke) for instance would be highly social and also often approached or harassed by friends, fans, and Seneschal Bran.
Nonsexual stuff! I mean don’t get me wrong, I like a good sex scene as much as the next fan, but I don’t need it at all. If it fits, by all means (with a Certain Exception), but it’s certainly not required.
Sexual and/or romantic tension! gimme that sweet sweet longing
(Pre-existing relationships are also good too.)
Isabela!
which speaks for itself, really
General Dislikes
Embarrassment squick. I mean I don’t mind someone being embarrassed, but those obvious setups for humiliation stress me out so much.
Pure fluff. Nothing wrong with it, of course, but it’s not for me. Happiness is just as compelling as struggling/upset, but a thousand words of sweet nothings is not really my cup of tea. (Unless, of course, you are going for the comedy approach. Rule of Funny applies.)
Jealousy narratives. Not to say that a character can’t feel jealous, but basing the story around their acting on their jealousy (vs working it out w/ the other person or on their own) also stresses me out a lot.
Kink for the sake of kink. If it fits the story, or your perception of the characters, I’m totally down! I guess for everything, really, context is the name of the game. I’d just prefer to prioritise the characters over hot sex. Awkward, imperfect sex that makes sense for them is far more appealing to me, and honestly, way hotter.
Pregnancy. In any context. Can’t deal with it.
Specific Sexual Dislikes/Things I’m Not Interested In At This Time
absolutely no noncon, please.
piss or scatplay. you understand, I’m sure.
daddy/parent kink
slave/pet play
a/b/o
food play? it’s not a strong no but it’s also a little distasteful to me, barring Rule of Funny of course. (but please nothing that could lead to yeast infections, wince)
differences in enthusiasm. I really don’t like it when one person is totally wrecked and the other is unmoved. (playing at it is a different story)
But I Do Enjoy:
competitive sex
mishaps and imperfect sex. at some point, someone’s gonna get elbowed in the face or fall off whatever surface, or trip, or miss. it feels more real, and by extension, far hotter.
likewise: laughter and having fun
roughness. doesn’t have to be painful at all, but like, tussling, getting shoved against things, etc etc. Not that I object to painful, mind.
competitive sex
Prompt-Specific Suggestions
Varric/Male Hawke
I was so delighted upon finding out Varric had become Viscount of Kirkwall. It seems like such a good culmination to his character arc, going from “professional younger brother” to someone able and willing to be responsible for a whole city-state. And I’m fascinated with how this would tie into Hawke have been/being Champion. For this prompt I’d be really interested in something slice-of-life, exploring the situation and how it affects their dynamic. maybe it causes tension between them. or like, you could have them being little shits in the throne room. Hawke bawling at the coronation? whatever feels right.
(Actually, if you’re an artist, Hawke bawling at the coronation would be amazing)
Josephine/Isabela
Like I mentioned in the request itself, I really would love to see them matching wits. This could be working against each other or together--can you imagine the kind of damage they could do working together. Maybe someone needs to go down. I like the idea of having them meet during Josephine’s brief time as a bard!
While I’d love to see them develop a relationship, I would equally love to see Isabela’s outrageous flirting, and how Josephine reacts differently to it than from someone like the Inquisitor who she idolises a bit, if this is indeed the case. Does she catch on, does she like it? Can Isabela tell? Does Isabela care?
Another note for artists--ostentatious fashion/jewelry is absolutely encouraged. My single greatest request, however, is that you get her nose right. what. it’s a good nose.
Alistair/Duncan
I do enjoy me a competent Alistair. Obviously he’s not gonna be all that sexually competent/experienced, but I mean in terms of things he has reason to know how to do. Especially since I imagine he’d want to prove himself to Duncan, both in general and in the direction of a romantic relationship.
One of the things that annoy me about depictions of age difference ships is when the older character is all-knowing; I’d like to see Duncan’s imperfect side. Maybe a clash between himself as person vs himself as a leader? etc etc etc
In terms of the topic itself: I do love pining, and this ship is prime for it on both sides. Longing or sexually charged looks, loaded physical contact, etc etc etc. AU is always fun, so long as you preserve the dynamic (Duncan’s position of authority, the situation he led Alistair from, etc etc) whether in writing or in art. I’ve also been meaning to write such a fic for almost two years now, but if you wanted to write something about Alistair reuniting with Duncan in the Fade, post Here Lies The Abyss or during the sloth demon’s dream in Broken Circle, that would be absolutely amazing.
Female Trevelyan/Florianne de Chalons
This one’s fairly straightforward: I just want them to have messed-up potentially hatesex, where they don’t trust each other and are both trying to take control, and hella getting off on it. I like the idea of Florianne getting the advantage, but honestly any outcome would be fantastic.
This one’s also an exception to a rule, which I mentioned in the request itself: I am super okay with dubcon here. I want them both to enjoy themselves with enthusiasm, but I am super down for Florianne initiating without bothering to ask permission, and not responding to any initial resistance. This would be prime material to illustrate as well; it doesn’t specifically have to be the sex you depict, because the anticipation is equally delicious.
Solas/Varric
I want this to be ridiculous but also in character; I was honestly really intrigued by their in-game banter. It seemed like they both respected and liked each other, and found some solidarity despite their differences, and their conflict tended to involve their opposing positions about the importance of nature vs nurture, and fate vs agency. Manifesting, of course, in their respective relationships to Cole.
(I’d prefer a Cole who hasn’t yet settled into human or spirit.)
So: the Parent Trap AU, because if Cole can drive them apart, I think Cole could also bring them together. Certainly I believe he’d want to. Also, please no sex--UNLESS you’re doing this in the style of something the Randy Dowager might present, in which case all bets are off.
Also, having thought about it, I’d actually also enjoy something more serious about their in-game conflict and how Cole might try to intercede because having his pseudo-parents fight is upsetting and he Loves To Help. You could either go the full romantic route, which I’d be really interested to see how you depict it, or you could make it more vague, because it’s the conflict I’m more interesting in this interpretation.
I realise these prompts aren’t very useful to artists, so I encourage you, if planning to illustrate, to take from any potential scene you find compelling and interesting to draw.
Thank you so much! I’m really looking forward to whatever you happen to take on.
Three years ago the Iron Bull is standing on a cliff facing a choice that shouldn’t be. He has already failed the Qun. Before him, Gatt is offering a third chance at existence, and behind him, duties he has assumed beyond his orders and the people who depend upon and need him. He is frozen in something he never expected to comprehend.
Indecision.
That someone else makes the call in the end, the Iron Bull will not remember with pride.
Now, the ghost of it haunts him. He stands side by side these people who have become his own, and the Viddasala offers certainty while his life now has none to give. A second chance, here, to choose for himself.
He knows by now that the most important questions never have the simplest answers. And yet.
“Not a chance, ma’am,” the Iron Bull says, and finds certainty in the words after all.
Our tiny little Exchange of upstarts has reached A HUNDRED AND ONE FOLLOWERS! FOR REAL! LOOK:
THAT’S LIKE THE DALMATIANS! WE’LL PROTECT YOU FROM CRUELLA DE VIL, YOU SWEET LIL NUGLETS. Or like, the DA equivalent. Meredith Stannard? Probably.
Anyway, we would like to show our appreciation by launching a little giveaway! We will run a lottery, the winner of which will receive one guaranteed treat by the time the Black Emporium Archive opens, written about any eligible rare pairing of your choice (i.e. the pairing must be on our nominations list). The winner will be given ample opportunity to give us their preferred pairing, plus any other relevant information (rating, prompt, content specifications. We will do our best to make you a treat tailored specifically to your interests).
So what do you have to do to win this prize?
REBLOG this post! Everyone who reblogs this post will be incorporated into the lottery. If you reblog multiple times, your name will be added to the pile for every time you reblog. This giveaway will run from now up until July 31st 12:00AM EST. You do not have to be signed up to participate, though obviously we would welcome you with open arms if you did!
If you’d like to join our Exchange, you can learn how to sign up over here.
If you’d like to look at the list of Requests and Prompts so far, you can look over here.
If you’d like to peruse the list of eligible nominated pairings, you can look over here.
This is both an entry for the prize (have I got some extra rarepairs to request!) and also a chance to clue anyone who wasn’t aware into this really cool exchange! The due date is September 25, so if anyone else is concerned about the Adoribull Minibang, fear not. That’s the only reason I allowed myself to give in to my temptations and sign up, tbh.
My only regret is that I didn’t get in on it while nominations were still going. there would have been even MORE Isabela ships, let me tell you.
Hello! I dunno if you're still taking these, but here's a one-sentence prompt for you if you want (and I mean, I follow for the dragon age stuff, but whatever strikes your fancy!)... "It's... It's not that," he sighed, and shuddered in the cool breeze.
Now, of course, the rest of the camp had turned to listen thanks to Cadash’s complete unawareness of her own volume. In addition to the scouts, not only Cassandra and Vivienne had noticed, but Sera and the Bull as well, who had come to relieve the injured parties.
Dorian shot a glare to the observers behind him, then upon Cadash for good measure.
“Then what?” Cadash asked, thankfully not quite so loud this time. “Because from where I’m standing, Dorian, it looks bad.”
A moment passed while Dorian pushed down the sudden hurt. Cadash trusted him, he knew. But she needed to put the Inquisition first. Her scrutiny wasn’t reserved for Dorian alone, even if he faced it more than most of her inner circle. He was, of course, closely related to the Enemy.
Another gust of wind hits the camp, once again reminding Dorian of his foolish choice of attire. Teach him to try out some optimism. Whyever did he think the Emerald Graves would be warm, even in comparison to the rest of southern Orlais?”
“Inquisitor,” he said, and didn’t wince when she failed to correct him. “I wouldn’t betray our cause or my companions. I didn’t think–”
“Damn right you didn’t,” Cadash muttered. Once more Dorian had to remind himself that in this case, he had earned it.
He sighed again instead. “He had sensitive information. Not about the Inquisition, but me.”
“And you allowed him to blackmail you?”
Dorian’s laugh wasn’t a particularly nice sound, but then, he wasn’t really amused. “Do I seem the sort to back down so easily? No, Inquisitor, I meant to learn what he knew that I might either take steps to combat it or at least prepare for the oncoming shitshow.”
Encouraging: Cadash raised her eyes to the heavens but did not narrow them. “I hope it was worth it,” she said, “given our own shitshow just now.”
Unavoidable that Dorian look to the Bull, and inevitable that the Bull look back. “Not especially,” Dorian replied. “It was nothing I wanted particularly to keep hidden.”
