#ask that one

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"Talk to me about tables! Who are you sad to see parted? Who are you excited to see together? Who do you wish got split up? Anyone you're glad is getting space from someone else?"

(thoughts from puzzle cont., part 2/2)

These are more along the lines of general curiosity thoughts than my-brain-is-gnawing-on-this-like-a-dog-with-resource-guarding-issues-over-its-chew-toy-and-wont-let-go thoughts (see part 1 for those), but I'm very intrigued to see Wick and Tyranny as schemers. Ngl early on Wick often got on my nerves (in the way where it's like objectively I know that he's evoking these feelings because Sam is playing this character so well and I admire that, but also. I just wanted to shake Wick by the shoulders and/or knock him upside the head at times lmao) but I reaallly liked the arc of convergence Wick and I'm super interested to see where he goes from here. As well as how his and Tyranny's often more...impulsive approach may or may not drive a certain two veteran schemers up the walls lmao (*cough* Azune & Murray *cough*...Hal at least I feel like will be able to adapt and improvise more easily)

I do feel like, at some point later in the campaign, it could be really interesting to see Wick and Tyranny split up. They've very much been a bonded pair so far and I'm curious to see who they are independent of each other and how they cope with that, but I also don't think we're quite at the point in either of their arcs yet where that would make sense.

Speaking of schemers, I'll be honest, I have NO IDEA what to expect from seeker!Bolaire. Like he's just so schemer shaped in my brain that I think it'll be interesting to see him out of his element like this, but I am not actually sure what that will look like. Tbh I'm not sure he knows either; he's been very comfortable and set in his routine in dol makjar for a while now and this is an abrupt and unexpected change not to mention one brought about by an event that low-key shattered one of his two fundamental rules of being (kill gods & love your siblings - he may love termina, but she tried to permanently kill him) and we've already seen it starting to send him into some kind of existential spiral, so who knows how this will shape him moving forward

And then, to close it out, some not really table related things that nonetheless my brain won't shut up about:

DRAGON!AZUNE. That is all. No, I do not feel like this requires any further elaboration

More of Vaelus coming to grips with the emotional abuse inherent in the elves' relationship with Sylandri, esp in the wake of Hannans death.

Literally anything and everything fae and Faerie related that I can get my hands on

(there is nothing in fantasy stories that is more like catnip to me than a) dragons -- specifically ones we can ally with, NOT evil dragons we want to kill, let me be friends w the dragons pls & ty -- and b) the convoluted morality and weird shenanigans that come along with the fae. So. Dragon!Azune and whatever fae bullshit Julien and Thimble (and Aranessa? 👀) can get up to are high on my list)

And with that I conclude my Ted talk and thank you once again for attending,

-🧩

(also, side note, sorry if you said this already and I missed it or something, but That One, what are your thoughts about the new tables?)

Standing ovation for the Ted Talk! I admit I was one of those people hoping for a Wick / Tyranny split up. Yeah they have some good moments together but it feels like they grow more apart, some of my favourite Tyranny moments have been with Kattigan, and I loved Wick with Teor and Thimble.

I've been rotating seeker! Bolaire in my head for weeeeks. I think overall it'll be good for him and I'm anticipating a different side of him away from his comfort zone and so very vulnerable. I have a thought that he's going to stay very close to either Julien or Thimble. If it's Thimble he's leaning into "I'm a Thing to be Owned and if i can't be owned by who I want it's going to be her". If it's Julien he's leaning into Julien-as-little-sibling shaped which may be 50/50 tormenting and defending. Either way I think we'll see him unstable, lashing out at allies sometimes and overly accommodating in others.

I need Azune Nayer to ride a dragon. And it be the most thrilling and terrifying experience of his life. And for him to be breathless and polite about it.

What does this one think? Oh goodness that's a whole nother Ted Talk. But since you asked I'll see if I can put some of it to paper. Pixles. What have you.

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Both Occtis & Wickander sleep in some variation of that

The difference is mostly just the amount and placement of ruffles:

Mostly the front & bottom, in reasonable amount for Occtis, he chose this because he slept like that his entire childhood, so he's just so used to it + can wear ruffles w/o social anxiety. Paired with some variation of pajama pants over underwear. Or just underwear if it's hot. Has complicated relationships with wearing socks to bed (I'm projecting again. Don't get kids used to wearing socks to bed all the time or at some point they'll catch a cold in about +25°C at night in the summer because they didn't have socks because it felt too hot. I was the kids.)

Ruffles on the sleeves, on the neck, on the bottom, and there's a shit ton of thouse, in Wick's case. He is too wears it out of habit, but also he believes it's good for one's health to wear no underwear to bed, or swich to loose pajama pants, still with no underwear. Airing out. Socks on when cold. And when hot sometimes. Will be fine regardless, it's a comfort thing

People (mostly Azune because he thinks it's hot, but with Occtis also Thaisha because she likes feeling her partner's skin) might be a bit obsessed with getting their hands under the gown. One curious familiar might think it's really cosy to fully crawl into the gown.

-♦️-

Oh Pin loves this and maybe isn't particular about who's wearing it!

Azune would absolutely love to tuck Wick in close and he might mean well but getting a hand slowly under there, even if just to rest against skin while they're sleeping would be sooooo tempting.

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@petvampire I cannot hard yes enough the thistle&spire lingerie inspo (I definitely see the Julien vibes in the second one, that would look so good on him...like 'this is inflating his ego too much and he needs to be ruined a bit for it' good)

I'm scrolling their website myself (window shipping for lingerie for fictional characters is WAY more entertaining than it has any right to be lol), and I have some more offerings for the group (I may need That One to attach pictures for me though or y'all can just google them, bc anon ask :/):

For wick - thoughts on either the Magdalene bodysuit (though I'd like it even better if it came in white) or the Pegasus set? I'm pretty sure I don't even need to ask about the Harlow set, we've already agreed he's pretty in pearls

Occtis with the Medici skirt - those long legs in a black leather mini skirt? Neither Hal nor Julien stand a chance tbh

Thaisha also could absolutely pull off a snake vibe, luckily we've got options. Maybe Gaya gets Scylla (the one petvampire sent) and Thaisha gets one of the Medusa bodysuits

Idk why but I also feel like Thaisha would rock the constellation bodysuit too

Is the Dracona bodysuit too on the nose for Azune? Maybe sometime else wears it to show they're his (not at his request of course, because he would never. But you can't tell me the draconic sorcerer doesn't get at least a little possessive shiver down his spine when he first sees someone so clearly marked as his. Just because he doesn't ask for anything literally ever doesn't mean the instincts aren't there)

-🧩

Ohh @petvampire , mail call from puzzle! I'm afraid we've gone above my pay grade for fashion but I'm enjoying watching it all go down.

... And Azune would go a little feral. Eyes shifting, stock still visibly needing to calm himself. Unless there was someone there to let him off his leash and then who knows what would happen he certainly doesn't.

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"Talk to me about tables! Who are you sad to see parted? Who are you excited to see together? Who do you wish got split up? Anyone you're glad is getting space from someone else?"

Oooh SO MANY thoughts and the one person I know irl who also watches c4 somehow is STILL BEHIND (they're on episode 29 and it's driving me insane you've had so many weeks) so I've had no one to talk to about this yet, which means I already can tell this ask is gonna end up long as hell lmao

My biggest feeling going into these tables is that I'm ecstatic that we're gonna get the Julien-Thimble-Occtis trio, that was my main hope for the new splits. They have SO MANY complicated relationship dynamics and histories between them and I cannot wait to see how it plays out.

Especially to get more Julien and Thimble, with their mutual animosity and yet shared childhood memories of the golden orchard and concern for it in the present. Like yessss make it harder to blindly hate each other because you actually have so much in common but neither of you know how to do shades of grey emotions like that and so it's a whole clusterfuck of a mess and nobody says what they actually feel (because even if they were inclined to be truthful, which they're abso-fucking-lutely not, they don't have the emotional intelligence to actually know what they're feeling anyways lmao).

And also you all know I'm just weak for knightingale in general so that's pretty self explanatory. Like tbh even tho currently I have almost zero expectation of them becoming a thing in canon (just from how Alex has talked about Occtis absolutely not being focused on relationships rn if nothing else, which is actually so valid, the kid did just get ritually murdered by his own family, who to boot are likely still actively hunting him) but that somehow just makes all of the delicious moments of "not giving a shit" (sure) we get from Matt and Alex even more juicy because of it???? There are just so many lines to read between and fill with phenomenal fanfics and headcanons, I cannot wait to see them continue to Care So Much and Vehemently Refuse To Acknowledge It

This is then closely followed by the fact that I am utterly devastated that Thaisha and Vaelus are splitting up because I need more yuri bird hell in my life and slowly coming to understand someone who's supposed to be diametrically opposed to your main, core, foundational belief that makes you who you are (can you tell the og seekers were my favorite table lol)

Also I know it's scheduling logistics and I'm very happy Aabria is getting a decent amount of maternity leave for her and the Wizard See like she deserves, but I'm also devastated that there won't be more Thaisha just in general. Cannot wait to see Grandma Lloy again though lmao, even if it's just in a cold open

(Okay this is getting long and I still have so many thoughts, but those are the strongest ones, so this feels like a good place to split into a second ask)

Thank you for coming to part 1 of my Ted talk, stay tuned for part 2 🫡

- 🧩

That's what this space was made for to yell together!! You're always welcome to Ted Talk Here puzzle!

Also haaard agree on the Julien/Thimble/Occtis. The scene with Thimble almost but not landing on Occtis's shoulder... How tentative they are around each other. And on the other side Thimble and Julien just starting to find mutual respect and some comradeship with their shared background and shit going down in the Golden Orchard but immediately then a certain Shadow between them....

And of course I will follow you into the dark Davinos over here with Occtis coming into his own internal conflicts about who and what he is...

We're gonna be eating so good at that table.

I am hooooping we might get some longer adventures of Thaisha but I guess we'll have to see!

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"Wulfric patrols and then comes back to flop against Julian's back...sometimes just licking and grooming Julien's hair into a more proper wolf-like order like he does with Kat."

Oh Julien is gonna HATE this when he wakes up in the morning lmao. He actually had his hair exactly how he wanted it thank you very much

-🧩

He did and now it's all slobbery. :(

... Also if he's using that Fae-Anti-Tangle what happens when Wulfric eats it? Is his fur suddenly smooth and wavy and extra soft????

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another day, another dress-up!

today’s theme: we are putting these bitches in thistle & spire lingerie because it’s fire and I love it.

seems very Occtis.

Julien vibes, mayhaps?

… listen the only thing I can reasonably think about here is my BELOVED SNAKE WIFE shoutout gaya seremai gone but not forgotten

Oh these are lovely!! Immaculate vibes as always, @petvampire .

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If Occtis was a dog he would be a silken windhound (looks a bit funky in a good way, long thin and kinda noble looking thing, somewhat like a borzoi in appearance, but smaller), specifically he would look like that:

(I'm aware it's probably a pretty young dog on the pictures, but hey, the guy in question is 20, it's not much)

Add the «I'm nervous» leash cover and constantly slightly sad expression, and you have a dog version of Occtis Tachonis (though I would say he's more cat coded to me, but it's okay, we can turn him into various critters)

-♦️-

I'm agreeing that Occtis is more cat-coded, but if he was a dog this good boy is a good one for him!