#finally done

oh god— days pass by, and nothing ever happens—

▶ now playing ; nothing ever

Once upon a time, and a very long time ago indeed, a creature was left or lost on the steps of a grand, sweeping castle. She was presented to the lady of the castle, who could not bear the thought of leaving the child to survive in the harsh and cruel world outside. In her graciousness, the lady of the castle accepted her into her home, her world, and even her domain. Though the creature grew into something quite strange, something that coveted the forbidden touch of sunlight, the lady of the castle would never cast her away. The harm of tearing the creature away from her only familiarity would hurt too much to bear, and she's sure she would not survive it.

No, that's not right. This story is much too fanciful.

There is a one-sided game as old as time itself, played by the Unseelie Court. The Seelie presents them with a gift, and peace will spread across the feywilds for as long as this gift entertains. When it is destroyed — and the gifts are always destroyed, for it eventually always becomes the will of someone very powerful —the fighting will begin again. The Seelie ache from playing with the lives of their own, but this time, the gift was a girl who shared the boons of the Unseelie, supposedly blessed by the moon and winter herself. A rare sort within the Seelie Court, but hopefully so rare that she may survive. And hoping has always been worth it, for the deer, the girl, was gifted to a proper Unseelie countess, who finally had someone to share an understanding of summer with.

A bit too convenient, no? The world would not be so kind.

There was once a lonely fey noble, who like all other young fey with power, was prone to fits of instability. No amount of screaming or crying could fix that she felt something missing from within her. One day, she met a fey who walked in the light, not of the unforgiving sun, but of the gentle moon. Sent away from her home, she understood, seeing the fey truly and completely. Her touch was tender, and mended her broken heart, making her whole. The archfey knew nothing but gratitude for her, and kept her safe from the world who would surely extinguish the light of such a gentle soul.

That doesn't seem true either. The story we're looking for does not end this easily.

In the hallowed halls of the Unseelie Court, there is a noble lady with a love for the animals that flit about the feywilds. There is a rumor is whispered by lesser fey of her and a doe, her dearest friend. They'd been together for centuries, they believe, but one day she let the doe out of her sight, and found her body broken and discarded. She wept over the body of her doe, her sorrow breathing new life to the creature, now a proper fey, all so they could live the rest of their lives in peace.

So many stories, and yet they're all equally devoid of truth. Or maybe they're all entirely truthful?

Though, if you must have a true answer, all four of these stories are true, in a way. Dolce has become more myth than person, as most fey do. The one truth is held in old records, but is otherwise forgotten by all. And forgetting a fact when among the fey is dangerous work. The rumors fester, and something giggles at the absurdity of what lesser fey want to think.

I suppose Dolce's story is a matter of perception, stitching together truths and discarding facts. Perception is reality among the fey. Do try and see truly.

What we know is true and real, is this: a Seelie fey resides among the Unseelie. She does not know this, nor does she know her own story. She is a weak druid, she knows this. She is a serving maid for a noble fey, who loves her dearly. She is mortal, and has and will continue to die and live and die again. Her Lady likes her too much to lose her forever. She yearns for something, but naiveness that was not intended keeps her from knowing what it's called. She will die a thousand more times before she admits it.

(just for the record, Dolce knows the word of what she wants and understands the concept. It's more that she looks at freedom as something she already has. She wants something she knows is missing but she can't place it because she thinks she is already free. Admitting that she doesn't know what she wants is admitting that she is trapped, so she doesn't speak a word. She wants to pretend she has everything she could ever want. This is happiness, surely.)

Dolce and Her Lady, Thyone, have been living like this for years upon years upon years. Thyone's day is a week for Dolce, who has been gently chastised for taking so many naps. There was once a time where Thyone spent a year lounging among flowers, just for the chance to see her sun. Dolce remained by her side the whole time, only now she struggles to stand without remembering the feeling of having a year in a day. Flowers no longer grow in the Thyone rested in. Dolce's days are slow and long, painfully so.

But that's okay. She loves the days spent in Thyone's domain, safe and hidden away from anything that could ever hurt her. Dolce lives in a gilded cage. Though, a cage covered in spikes is still some strange torture device, no matter how beautiful. Thyone doesn't mean to, Dolce swears. She just doesn't understand what it is like to be mortal. And maybe she doesn't. When does that become willful ignorance?

Dolce and Thyone's relationship defies all explanations. Or maybe it's much simpler than I assume it is. Dolce is Her Lady's creature. Somewhere between a toy and a love, I think. Because this relationship is so inherently strange and undefined, Dolce finds that Thyone is something akin to a goddess and a caretaker. But not in a parental sense. Friends maybe, a servant and her princess even more, a doll and a child most of all. There is also an inherent possessiveness there and in that possessiveness is a thought that only Thyone could ever know Dolce's true self, that she knows everything that could be known about her, so on and so forth.

Thyone's domain is also the only safe place for someone like Dolce to be in the entirety of the Unseelie Court. As much as her Lady's actions are cruelty, they are protection too.

Overtime, Dolce began to yearn for something real. She is soft, and her Lady loves it so, but that softness can be weak, and there is nothing the Unseelie love more than feeling empowered. As it stands now, Dolce is something small with nothing but impractical magic to her name. It's quite easy for her to soothe and allow others to find respite, as well as to allow others to understand her own dreamy wonder. But she wants something tangible. She wants to be able to choose to be soft, rather than for it to be expected from her. Though that's a thought she won't be able to verbalize for much, much later.

Being a Paladin came very easily to Dolce, who has spent her entire remembered existence dedicated to someone else. This is how it starts, but slowly it becomes something of a rebellion, secret to everyone including herself. Deep within the little pockets of Thyone's domain, hidden from her eyes, there is a little deer who practices sword forms with a switch broken off a weeping willow, mimicking tapestries of battles she'd never heard of.

In Thyone's domain of peace, dreaming of something real or better is of the upmost disrespect. But it's in Dolce's nature, a force that can't be stopped. And as she sleeps, she dreams of adventure and seeing the outside. It's overwhelming to think about, some secret world outside the pocket of domain tucked deep in the Unseelie court tucked in the feywilds. Somewhere beyond all those borders, there is ... something. Something she can't name. These dreams and these feelings stay when she wakes, lingering in the same place where the songs she wishes she could sing go.

When Dolce swears her oath, it's to Thyone. Of course. Why wouldn't it be? It's how she presents the idea of being a paladin of this archfey to her, down on one knee with a wooden sword in her hands. A patch of clover sprouts where she kneels.

And Thyone laughs.

Her laughter is cruel and unkind and sharp, but bubbly. She does not mean to be so dismissive, she promises. But how can you take something so small that seriously? Dolce's hands are soft for lack of work, her legs slow for lack of practice, her body weak for lack of trying.

For the first time, Dolce is upset. Really truly deeply upset. And her Lady just hates to see her pout, so she agrees to the oath, on three conditions. Fey are ever so fond of agreements.

Fey are weak and desperately so to iron. If Dolce really wishes to protect her, she must use something that will work. A blade made of pure iron, to the very hilt, will do.

There must be some magic failsafe. She trusts Dolce dearly, but not the other archfey or unseelie, who might be able to turn her most precious fawn against her. Dolce will not know about the truth of this failsafe.

This development must remain a secret, just in case. What would the other Unseelie do if they knew she had her own personal knight?

Dolce swears it anyways. If the agreement is broken — which it will not be, for Dolce is so good at doing what she's told — her Lady will punish her as she deems fit. Though banishment was a thought she threw around. When Dolce takes on the burden of the oath, a patch of clover sprouts beneath her feet. Her Lady does not grimace, but she does not smile either. A juvenile seelie trick, and she remembers it even if Dolce doesn't know what it is.

And now our story can really, truly, begin.

does it break your heart? will it ever start?

▶ now playing ; model human being & dreamer's plea

Dolce starts the game off as an Oath of Devotion Paladin and a Circle of Dreams druid! While her oath represents her deep-seated loyalty to Thyone, her druidic circle represents herself, her magic, her freedom. But we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

In each dark night in the Unseelie Court, there is a domain that glimmers with false light and tranquility. Nobody in this domain may leave the side of her lady of peace, Thyone. But her dearest serving maid creeps away under the cover of the stars anyways. She'd be back quickly, she promised to herself. She'd return to the inner sanctum of her Lady's domain before the false sun rose. She'd hate to leave her Lady to wake up alone and wonder if her dear Dolce had finally chosen to abandon her and the peace she tried so hard to make for her. It is here, looking at the patchwork seams between the quiet land of her lady and the chaos of the rest of the feywild, that she is taken.

She does not return before the sun rises. In fact, she never sees the sun rise in Thyone's domain ever again. It's one of her many promises that are to be broken, now that her future has been plucked from the embrace of her Lady.

This section doesn't go into specifics, mostly because I haven't actually played the game yet ^__^; i have a fewww ideas on how her arc works from act to act but it's more character development rather than any true events.

When you find Dolce after the crash, you find her in the grove and she presents herself as a druid! But a very weak one at that. Her starting at level one is because she has no true experience. Honestly, it's a little out of left field that she'd not just hide something so seemingly inconsequential, but that someone like her would choose a path of resistance at all.

At the start of the game, Dolce is not rude on purpose, really. She's just.. quite disagreeable, refusing to do anything that gets her hands dirty. She complains about the soaking of a skirt when traversing through a river, wonders aloud about how you humans (or mortals, she says, as if she does not face mortality herself) can adapt to living in such conditions. It's few and far between, but enough that she's saying no more than she used to. It gives her quite a rush, even if this absolutely isn't a situation where one should be learning about the inane concept of 'wanting'.

Where she shines is in her ability as a paladin, and in turn, her genuine care for those around her. Though she's frail, she's always ready and willing to tank hits for her allies, and her slight excitability in battle tends to work out in her favor more than it should (durable and lucky feats). Her paladin's charisma doesn't hurt either, and it's very easy for people to be so taken by her doe-eyed wonder that they don't notice the lies that slip from her mouth (actor feat).

Dolce's paladin status is hidden from the party for a little bit of time, likely just a little longer than Astarion's vampirism. She can be a little bit of a dead weight at the start BUT SHE GETS BETTER I PROMISE. 'Dead weight' is such an interesting way to refer to her. As if her only worth is in the ways she can be used.

Anyways, the reveal is likely some spur of the moment cinematic, where during some sort of skirmish going wrong, Dolce procures her trusty iron sword from who knows where. It's not not with expert skill by any means, but it's enough to turn the tide and win the battle. There's a conversation to be had afterwards, and in that conversation is the reveal of the failsafe! There's not much to be done about it now, though. Nobody knows what it is, and there are more pressing matters at hand!

Don't try to offer her a new weapon that isn't made of iron at the start. She's entirely convinced that she fights better with the weight, and the sting on her hands from wielding it. Dolce may be a bit uptight, but she would do anything it takes to protect those she cares about. Even if it means getting a little hurt while doing it.

Dolce is chipper and a bit prissy, and it could very easily be assumed that she's been spoiled as her Countess' favorite servant. This is true, but also, this spoiling may be more of a curse than a blessing. Her being so headstrong about getting back to her Lady and detesting the need to sleep on the floor is something new to her. The ability to feel things freely and express these feelings is intoxicating, so much so that no matter how much of a non-presence she wants to have, these little things shine through.

Which brings us to her current feelings on her Lady, her entrapment.

Dolce has lived on the inside looking out for so long, and suddenly being the person in control of her own life is horrifying. Sometimes she feels such intense fear and disgust by her companions and their strange way of doing things, other times she watches then with doe-eyed fascinating and wonder and maybe, finally, love.

In the first part of Dolce's arc, she is so happy to be outside, so happy that she finds she doesn't want to mention Thyone for whatever reason. There is a deep sadness to her when others mention going home. When she is reminded that this will end soon. On the occasion that she does mention her, it's in hypothetical ideas. Maybe Thyone would want to be out here with her, or, gods forbid, run away with her to somewhere as beautiful as here. The sun is real and warm against her skin, and she wants to share that with the only one who also loves the sun.

Only, she doesn't.

Lets take a little romance interlude, shall we? Dolstarion / Bloodmoon is actually extremely relevant to the progression of Dolce's story, though it doesn't ALWAYS have to happen. Their friendship is enough very often ♡ this first part of their arc is really relevant because on Dolce's side, she is understanding what it is like to be treated as if she is wanted, even if she recognizes Astarion very much just acts like that. She gets a little in her head about it, to the point where she wonders if she actually feels anything for Astarion or is just deeply flattered and charmed by the idea that someone wants her. It is the former, for the record. That much is made clear when Astarion reveals himself as a vampire, and when Dolce chooses to let him feed from her.

Chooses. Does not feel forced to or indebted. What a funny idea. It starts to turn her stomach, the ideas of choice and personhood and identities.

Which leads us to act 2, and the start of her deconstruction of Thyone and the wonder of why she kept her hidden, kept her subservient, kept her living in so-called peace. Everything is so complicated and scary and surely Thyone couldn't have been hurting her too. If anyone is a victim here, it's Thyone. She's the one who's been forced out and treated so poorly. But did that give her the right to treat Dolce like she did? Where does victimhood become weaponized? How many days of darkness did Dolce spend trying to soothe the terrors of her Lady, knowing she would not see the artificial sunrise until she calmed?

All of these millions of questions eventually culminates into the discovery of the purpose of the failsafe. If activated, it will overpower Dolce's will not with Thyone's but of that of a creature who has only ever known Thyone, whose days start with her smile and end with her goodnight. Effectively turning her into a single-minded creature that will cut down anyone who gets in the way of her and her Lady, or even anyone who even slightly threatens her safety.

And one night, one terrifyingly beautiful and real night, Dolce finds herself whispering something to Astarion. She doesn't want to see Thyone ever again. She does not wish to go back. It makes her feel sick as can be, but she is also .. free. The rune on her belly pulses and it hurts, hurts so badly she's sure she may die.

But then the pain eases, and she is real again. And she is with someone who understands what that is like. Someone who is also revolted by touch at times, someone who is using violence as a means to be free. Someone who is just like her. Camaraderie, at last.

Dolce becomes incredibly vocal about what she wants and doesn't after this point in the story. Not in a way that's obstructing, but she shares when she's worried and when she's upset. That's more than she's ever done, and it's so deeply freeing.

So, it comes as quite a shock when all of that is taken back in act 3.

I'm not sure how it happens (but i have been playing around with the use of faerie rings), but eventually i want there to be a quest or something where you return to the feywilds, or at least somewhere incredibly populated with the fey that Dolce once knew. Here in this strange place, you see how out of place Dolce is, how perfectly she fits in, and how she forces herself in. Her eyes meet her Lady's, and it's as if a switch is flipped as she wanders over to her side.

BASICALLY Dolce spends this entire quest fawning so horrifically and terribly badly. It's almost as if some charm has been cast on her, laughing with Thyone as if nothing has changed, calming her worry again and again and again and again and again and again—

So, yes, I imagine it's deeply upsetting.

She's realized the errors of her ways, or so she says. She was so harsh, so cruel, so selfish. Her lady needs her! She can't leave, she couldn't, not ever.

But luckily for you and her and Astarion also i imagine this is deeply upsetting for him, there is a point to being here! And that point is NOT kissing and making up but GOING ON TRIAL! Because Dolce is an olive branch at the most and a missing seelie kidnapped years ago at the least, the not just loss but assumed murder of Dolce de la Flor sort of kind of inspires a liiiiitle bit of . Well not outright war but a call to arms, at least a few battles. And her reappearance is A Bit Problematic!

Basically you have to defend Dolce's supposed desire to leave and her want to truly really live or insist that she was taken against her will and followed the path of least resistance. Basically it's Dolce v The Fey Courts, and whichever you choose heavily impacts what ending you'll get!

By the way, the "you" here is both you and Dolce. The way you've spoken to her about her history will impact the way she perceives herself when she was kidnapped, and how she perceives herself now.

If it's decided that she wanted to leave, you focus on her wonder with the world itself. Her love of people and being among friends and so so many things she wouldn't have known had the curiosity not taken her, and how this means she needed to leave to keep living (guilty). If it's decided she wanted to stay, you focus on how she was treated, how it caused her fawning to be so detrimental that she never would've chosen to leave for fear of her Lady's safety (innocent).

ALSO im not exactly sure how to marry the two concepts, but I imagine the trial is judged through some strange game of human (and fey. And Others.) Chess. The fey are ever so fond of rules, after all. If Dolce is so changed, show us. If Dolce is so delicate, show us. If she is thought to be guilty, she will be pardoned. If she is thought to be innocent, this will be the final ruling.

The party gets assigned Chess Pieces, and i haven't figured everyone's piece out, but I know Tav is the king and Dolce is a pawn. Always a pawn. Though, pawns can change too, can't they?

Dolce's ending is completely determined by this game, so let's talk about that, shall we?

here we have a death you can agree to // burn the fucking world down with your ire

Dolce has quite a few endings, by nature of how split her character is. i imagine that similarly to Gale, she has a certain points system that leans her towards guilty or innocent! These endings are ordered from best to worst and I make it very clear what endings are bad, there are still ways to interpret them as good I Guess ? B.G3 is interpretation so I guess it's up to you ♪

FEY OF TRUEST REVERIE

▶ now playing ; grand restore

Fey of Reverie becomes an Oathbreaker or Oath of the Ancients Paladin and remains a Circle of Dreams Druid! This ending is achieved by believing Dolce is guilty and finding some way to nullify Thyone's Failsafe before the chess match, likely through seelie intervention. It surprises Dolce very deeply how people she doesn't know care about her as one of their own.

The start of this ending is .. hard, to sit through. It is so difficult. But I hope it's worth it, I really do.

After the battle, Dolce is breathless, understanding how it feels to move without worrying about the will of someone else coming before her own. It's nice. She quite likes it. And now, the Seelie Court gives her a gift, one that can be accepted or rejected, and they will still love her the same. Now that she is here and alive and breathing, now that they see their dearest child of moon at last, she can return to their ranks. A special spot in their court, just for her, that's been waiting for her for who knows how long. They certainly don't. She can come home, at last. Rebuild. Heal.

Even still, Thyone approaches her.

And what ensues is painful and awful and terrible, but it must be done for her freedom. Dolce quite literally cannot walk away from Thyone by herself. But between you, your party, and the Seelie Court, the thread is finally cut. Dolce is inconsolable for quite a while, bouncing between wishing she could help her and being so relieved to be free, and it's difficult. If this adventure hadn't changed her so, she's sure this would be her demise. But she is stronger now, and she has people who understand her and what she's going through. Dolce is herself, and was never meant to be a tool for someone else.

REGARDLESS of all that, Dolce becomes much more unburdened after this. Be it from her newfound freedom or the allowing of her sunlight and moonlight to exist together, she is finally at peace. True peace. Thank goodness. She's saved, by her friends, her family, and most of all, herself. Dolce is finally allowed to be dream incarnate, soft and sweet and warm, in a way of her very own.

ABT ASTARION ; a new story is told now, of a dreaming fey and a charming vampire spawn. Though this fey loves her home very much, she wishes for adventure still, and the vampire spawn is more than happy to deliver. Beneath the light of the gentle moon they work, finding playfulness and respite in one another, in spite of having felt like they'd never feel so at ease again. The fey does not need to magically soothe his nightmares as she'd been forced to for others before, the vampire spawn never worries for any true nature to be revealed or for any harm to come. They are safe, and on the occasion that the fey returns home, the doors are always open to the vampire spawn. A fey brought to the underdark must bring a vampire to be in the feywilds. Nothing has ever made more sense. Her court wonders how it is she's fine traveling in such discomfort — the spawn questions it as well despite himself, why waste her court's opulence? —, but they don't know that inside their shared tent is a young domain of dreams, where they shall never need to act on fear again. Her court calls them heroes, and for once, maybe for the first time in his long life, the spawn does not scoff.

Somewhere else, far from us, there is another story. This story is not as sweet, nor as safe.

There was once a fey who loved a man very much. Her love was misplaced, as it often is, as her court often says. She cannot help but want to see the best in others. Her lover, who was once just as scared as she was, did something unforgivable, though it's been stricken from history. He lived, of course, monsters always find a way to live in spite of themselves. And she knew he was not the same. She knew that in his act of violence, he may as well have ended his own life. He could have changed the way the world spun and she would have understood, but this change was not as easily forgiven nor understood. There are whispers that he now resembles a banished and jailed Lady of the Unseelie, but without a name to call her, it is difficult to say. Now, once a year, the fey will mourn on the day he changed, as if her love were dead. As if he has not been banished from the Seelie for all eternity. She will speak of him with warmth and love, but not the him that exists today. As if he is nothing but a faded memory.

DREAMY WANDERER

▶ now playing ; good grief!

Dreamy Wanderer becomes an Oathbreaker Paladin and remains a Circle of Dreams Druid! This ending is achieved by believing that Dolce is guilty, and keeping Thyone's Failsafe intact. Dolce will be making constant saving wisdom throws through the fight. She will fail sometimes. But that's okay.

Battered and bruised after the battle, Dolce is offered the same things by the Seelie Court. Eternity in the sun after she finishes her quest, when she comes home safe and sound to her people. Those who never stopped looking for her, or watching over her. The story still isn't straight. She does not take it.

What changes is that Dolce simply .. wants more, this time around. She understands the perspective of the Seelie, but she wants time to experience the world at her own pace. To understand the things she left to understand. Not just the mortal world, but the feywilds as well. And while she traverses the feywilds, she will have safe passage under the wing of the Seelie. They are not one, they likely never will be, but Dolce is free now. She can go wherever she wishes, with no tether to anything. No responsibility to return to. Freedom is so very scary and overwhelming, and this will leave Dolce something of a mess for a while. But she is outside now, and forever will be. Her life is hers. Finally, she can breathe.

I imagine something similar happens between her and Thyone here, but it's not as intense. Because Dolce truly understands what she wants now, but instead of figuring it out somewhere safe she's figured it out in the midst of torture. She had already been through the worst of it, and it pains me to put her through any more.

ABT ASTARION ; Dreamy Wanderer works very naturally with any good ending for Astarion really ♡ their relationship is very similar to Fey of Truest Reverie except without the community stuff ? Because these two good endings are very similar for Dolce in characterization, there's not really much to be said! However you must imagine the situations they get into. There's not many things that Seelie protection can't get you out of in the Feywilds, but i think it's silly anyways!

Dolce still cannot stand Ascended Astarion. But rather than Fey of Truest Reverie who sees them as separate beings, here, Dolce is a bit more cynical about it. She loved him dearly and absolutely nothing, nothing on earth could change that, but of course it had to be this way. Dolce sees something of herself in Astarion, in a way that makes her hate him. She was that scared too, what on earth would have happened had she not had people to help her walk away? To move on? More than anything, seeing Astarion now brings her more pity than anything. He was fine as he was, more than fine, amazing and lovely and so so darling, and now all that's left is the shell of a man she once loved. And she's so angry and disgusted and so, so betrayed.

DAWN TRAVELER

▶ now playing ; run rabbit

Dawn Traveler becomes an Oathbreaker Paladin but she remains a Circle of Dreams Druid! This ending is Dolce's 'neutral ending', gotten if you skip the feywilds quest as a whole. Thyone's failsafe will remain forever and Dolce will start to feel its pull after the removal of the tadpoles, but one day, she will feel its magic desplve dissolves. But, this also signals the start of a new feud or war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.

Effectively disappearing from the feywilds, Dolce can never return, not for fear of being tried for causing the current conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, but because she has been completely banished from both courts. Even if she found a way to go back to live in the feywilds, no court in their right mind would think to claim her, even if domains on both courts remains forever unclaimed. Eventually, the sacrifice and disappearance of Dolce de la Flor will be forgotten, and only a patch of clover that never wilts will remain.

Dolce has lost any sort of home she had, but then again, she never had that in the first place. And now, she has something better. Freedom. She doesn't have to go back. Your indecision was a decision, and now she's trapped in this world, on this plane, and she is better for it. Maybe not the best, but better. It will hurt to avoid the forest and the clusters of mushrooms, to know you are seen but not allowed in, to wonder about what could've been. But it's a new day, and a new life, and her shackles are finally gone.

ABT ASTARION ; I typically pair this ending with the ending you get for Astarion from not killing Cazador but him remaining with the Gur, but you can pair this Dolce up with any of Astarion's good endings and it should work out just fine ♡ though they're both going through a lot always and forever, I imagine that finding someone who gets it in a way that they do helps. They're both a lot worse off in a lot of aspects, Dolce develops severe paranoia and Astarion's fate is much much worse if another ending is triggered. It's a strange state of unrest and looking over their shoulders, but there's someone else looking out for them now. A rogue protects his paladin from the shadows, a paladin puts on a brave face for her rogue.

Dawn Traveler refuses to be with Ascended Astarion outright. Though she has not truly confronted it, Dolce is aware that the way he acts is so deeply disgusting to her. There will never be any of the softness they used to have. And what's worse is that she knows Astarion would do so many things for their eternity. He did the ritual to keep them safe. Just as Thyone did when she plucked her from the Unseelie Court and into her domain. Much like Fey of Reverie and Dreamy Wanderer, this Dolce is aggressive when provoked by him. Unlike them, Dolce can't rival him in power. And now that she's forced into the true world, the real world, she will always need to take extreme precaution to avoid him.

KNIGHT OF FANTASIA

▶ now playing ; equinox

Knight of Fantasia becomes an Oath of Devotion Paladin and a Circle of Wildfire Druid! This ending is achieved by romanticizing Dolce's anger at the Unseelie whenever possible, as well as using extreme violence against creatures that reflect things that Dolce would relate to her time in the Unseelie Court. She must be believed to be innocent, and her anger will drive her to kill Thyone, not only fighting her failsafe but overcoming it entirely. Similar to Dreamy Wanderer, Knight of Fantasia will be making constant wisdom saving throws, but the roll needed to allow her the strength to kill Thyone is at an advantage.

Knight of Fantasia is characterized by Dolce turning on the night as a whole, and is inherently connected to Bishop of Nightmare as they're both two extreme sides of the same problem.

While KoF keeps many of Dolce's bubbly mannerisms, she is far more serious, somehow more 'holier than thou', and quicker to respond to problems against undead / other "darker" forces with violence. She now has an incredibly black and white sense of morality and a worse sense of pessimism, and while still gentle, she is only gentle to those she feels deserve it. Though that gentleness has increased ten fold, her touch is soft and sweet and healing. Her charm is true now, as is the charm of any member of the Seelie Court. It's easy to forget that her protection was forged in stinging iron, that she is not entirely herself any longer. That anyone undeserving of her softness will die quick deaths at the end of her mace, just as Thyone did.

The Seelie weep at the loss of their child, though she's sworn herself to them. Her obsession with so-called justice will keep her anchored to her entrapment and her Lady forever, and she will never endure a day without nightmares. Anything left of the dreamy girl with hope in her heart is gone, replaced with supposedly righteous anger. Dolce hates more than she protects.

* a small note! Knight of Fantasia has something of a signature weapon, that being the Blood of Lathander! In game Dolce will gravitate towards it and I imagine it'd be one of the best weapons for her to have, and in narrative it puts emphasis on her connection to the Seelie Court. I haven't quite decided if it's what kicks off this arc but it's definitely a nail in the coffin. Her innocent love of the sunlight has become all consuming.

ABT ASTARION ; Knight of Fantasia is the only one of Dolce's endings that will always leave Astarion, no matter what. Here, Dolce will see Astarion's faults first, see how he treated her when they first started their relationship, and connect this behavior to how the Unseelie has treated her. She will harbor a resentment secret to herself, but to everyone else in the world, she presents and feels a deep sorrow. How such a wretched creature could have had his moments of sweetness will confound her for the rest of her life. She can't think about it for too long, lest her ideology will come crashing around her. So, she doesn't.

But now that she's out and alive and supposedly free, Dolce would have broken it off anyways. She refuses to compensate, she will not be dragged down to twilight again, forced to live in the shadows. Some wretched creature of the night, shallow and afraid, could never truly have loved her as she is now anyways. Her conviction is clear and she is so truly dedicated to her cause, in a way that he could not understand. No matter how sincerely or softly he gazed upon her during her knighting. She will stay standing beneath the sun, even if it means never seeing him again. In fact, that might make it better.

This secret resentment becomes outright hatred and gets much worse if Astarion is ascended. In fact, there are whispers that there is one creature that Dolce hates more than the Unseelie, the the only man, the only creature, that's ever been able to trick her. She wants him dead more than anything, and he relishes in that hatred. I imagine their relationship is built very heavily on taunting. They know one another so intimately but their relationship has all but been burned to the ground.

BISHOP OF NIGHTMARE

▶ now playing ; everything stays

Bishop of Nightmare becomes an Oath of Redemption Paladin and a Circle of the Moon druid! This ending is achieved by approaching the Unseelie with kindness and understanding, and leading Dolce to believe that her anger should be directed at the Seelie for not saving her in the first place. She must be believed to be innocent, and during the chess match, Thyone will die, by her hand. But not for justice, as she could have done in a different world. This time, this murder is for believing Thyone to be unfit for the Unseelie.

Bishop of Nightmare is what remains of a fawning Dolce when Thyone dies. There is relief, so, so much relief, but when she sees the gaping hole Thyone left in the Unseelie Court, the mess she created, the grief is overwhelming and so horrifically painful. She has done something unforgivable, something terrible. Not killing Thyone. Not at all. But fundamentally changing the way the Unseelie Court must operate. Seeing this, and knowing that Dolce has always been a game to them, the Unseelie take her in, but truly this time. Even though the Seelie are calling for her. This is her home. She loves these people she has seen flitting through Thyone's domain. She can't leave them, not when there is so much to learn. Not when there is so much to change, to ensure this never happens again.

Dolce has good intentions. Really. She just doesn't understand mortal morality. She wants to bring change to the Unseelie, show them the ways that the gloaming could be gentle. The fleeting twinkle of stars is something to be revered and loved, not feared. But the influence of the Unseelie has never helped anyone, and with the power of Thyone's domain, Dolce's domain, at her fingertips, Dolce begins to change. On the surface, Dolce is so much kinder and more patient than she was before. She won't complain about the grime on her hands or the strange way mortals sleep in the dirt, nor the blood staining her dress. Really, she has thousands now. Why would that make any difference?

She's afraid. So very afraid. Her pushing at the Unseelie and her talk of redeeming them begins to dwindle, and she develops a taste for control, as well as occasional cruelty. It becomes all too easy to start seeing mortals as entertainment now that she's here and accepted by those she once feared. But don't worry! She's doing this to make everything better!! Nobody will ever have to go through what she did now that she monitors every single action the Unseelie take. That doesn't desensitize her at all. Regardless, She's nice to you. She sees you as an equal. Doesn't that make everything better?

ABT ASTARION ; now completely bent on becoming one of the Unseelie court, Dolce does not choose to stay but puts all the weight of the decision on Astarion, for fear of .. well, everything. Fear of wanting to be chosen, fear of being saved, fear upon fear upon fear. And in this better world, Astarion sees Dolce, now his greatest temptation, powerful and pliable, his love turned into a creature with so much blood to spare, blood even richer than the already rich blood of a fey.

He sees all of this and leaves, refuses to be taken, refuses to see his love drive herself to insanity for the approval of those who would see that dream-infused blood on every surface. And if he'd stayed, he would have seen all of it, every morsel of kindness and reason slip from Dolce's mind until she became nothing but the picture of a perfect Unseelie Archfey, clapping along to the shows of violence that would have made her sick a mere century ago. What has happened to his mad love, indeed?

VAMPIRE LORD'S FEY CONSORT

▶ now playing ; me and mr wolf

aka dolstarion's bad ending. there is only one single ending that results in Dolce staying with an Ascended Astarion, and that's Bishop of Nightmare.

Fey of Truest Reverie will mourn him as if his life was also lost in the ritual, Dreamy Wanderer will see and hate what power has turned him into, Dawn Traveler will run from him like she does her past, and Knight of Fantasia will hate him more than the Unseelie. But Bishop of Nightmare? Oh how she loves him. How she'd give anything to grovel at his feet for just another minute.

Ascended Astarion is also the only ending where Astarion will stay with Unseelie Dolce.

This is a worse world.

Ascended Astarion loves Dolce, but is fundamentally incompatible with the person she becomes, the person who wants and needs and thinks. Bishop of Nightmare is not that person. She presents what she believes people will want to see, and Ascended Astarion sees and understands this, but does not care about what lies beneath her performance. What matters is that beneath her silly talk of freedom, there has always been someone who cannot live without subservience, and that someone has come into a grand amount of power. Wouldn't it be fascinating to make someone who could overpower you completely dependent on you? And he hardly even had to try! She's already so disgustingly eager to please.

One day, centuries from now, there will be a story told of a lord scorned by a bitter faerie, and so begins the start of another fairy tale.

watch the people from your gilded tower, knowing they're all as good as mindless.

little bits of trivia i dont know where else to put !

I've referred to Dolce as the dark urge to Romy's tav, and that's because I've kiiiinda been playing around with adapting durge traits into Dolce's lore through the Magical Failsafe. It's not true durge stuff (mostly because I don't know the implications and lore of the durge) BUT i think it's a very fascinating idea for Thyone to want to have a knight that remains righteous in spite of evil urges. Kinda mirrors how Dolce first saw Thyone in a way? Dolce sees her for what she is, Thyone sees her as a doll.

Dolce's wild shape is a fawn! Much faster than she is normally, but she is also much smaller and much frailer. On account of her purse doggy nature.

Knight of Fantasia is meant to be easier to get when playing a good tav and Bishop of Nightmare is easier to get when playing an evil tav! I think it's interesting because their demeanors are so opposite to that, Knight of Fantasia being serious and closed off and Bishop of Nightmares being happy-go-lucky and optimistic. But you really can't let yourself forget that despite all her judgement, KoF wants to keep people safe. And despite all her talk of change, Bishop of Nightmare would sooner behead someone than truly listen to them. Like I said, the same extreme but different ends of the spectrum.

Speaking of KoF, it's intentional that in the ending where Dolce gets supposed "freedom", she becomes a single minded weapon against her cause. Which is exactly what happens to her if her failsafe gets activated. Haha. She's so doomed.

KoF and BoN are chess references on purpose. Dolce is a game to these people or she turns herself into one.

it's meant to be a little implied that fey of truest reverie is well on her way to becoming an Archfey >.< a much LESSER Archfey than whatever Bishop of Nightmare has going on but one just enough to be that much more ethereal. I think she's allowed.

Faves:

Music to Soothe The Savage Beast - I absolutely love the music in the background of this episode. It really gives us a superhero movie feeling while watching. I also really like the idea of Aelita going for her dreams, even though she's scared. I do wish Jeremie wouldn't have missed her show the first time, but I'm glad he figures it for the return.

Wreck Room - I really like watching William chase Ulrich and Sissi around in this one. Also, Jim and William playing ping pong is so funny for some reason.

I'd Rather Not Talk About It - Jim. That's all. I just love him, and he really steps up for his kiddos. Also love his and Jeremie's talk, and the fact that Jeremie is willing to continue his training. Sort of feels like a filler episode, but in the best way.

The Lake - Another filler-ish episode, but I really like this one. Aelita and Yumi figuring out things pretty much themselves is top tier. A super scary xana attack, but the vibes of this episode make me happy. Also, I don't know why, but they're back in their original clothes, and I just love that. Bonus points for Odd sneaking Kiwi with him to the lake.

Least:

Echoes - Hear me out. I don't (typically) like clip shows. Like, I know what happened, I watched the show. You don't need to recap this for me. I completely understand why clip shows happen, but I really don't like them. I don't mind a flashback here and there, but the whole show? No thanks.

I do like how this season wraps up, generally. Do I wish something could have been done for Franz Hopper? Absolutely. Do I wish we saw more about Aelita's mom? Of course. Did I want this show to end? Never. But alas.